Annual Elections

• Currently held positions (2011):
  • President: Jody Meyer
  • Secretary: Mike Lyzun
  • Treasurer: Mike Potjer
  • Webmaster: Jody Meyer

Annual Elections

• Currently held positions (2010):
  • President: Jody Meyer
  • Secretary: Cathy Pountney
  • Treasurer: Mike Potjer
  • Webmaster: Jody Meyer

Introduction to .NET for VFP Developers - What we will learn/discuss:

1. Comparing VFP compilation and .NET compilation
2. Pros & Cons in staff skills for .NET development
3. A bit on Managed vs. Unmanaged applications
4. What is an Assembly
5. Multi-threading models
6. Namespaces - What they are and how to use them
7. Naming conventions in .NET
8. Coding examples in VFP vs. VB.NET and C#
9. Scope
10. What you get for "free" in .NET objects
11. Maybe a bit about implicit and explicit casts. C# can be a real pain to cast variables of some numeric types to another numeric type, rounding, other "fun" issues
12. Some resources for samples
13. What to do if you want to write Apps for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7 and maybe IPad/other Tablets

SQL Server for VFP Developers Introduction

This is an on-the-fly, let's discuss it... an introduction for VFP Developers to SQL Server.

How I use SQL Sever Data in VFP

Rick's company went from xBase tables to FP tables in a mixed FPW/VFP environment to now almost exclusively using MS SQL Server. While he'll probably touch on some other techniques that they looked at, he can provide more information and answer more questions based on what they use now.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 - Implementation and Maintenance

Jody will be discussing the book "Microsoft SQL Server 2008 - Implementation and Maintenance" and talking about her experiences going through this training book.

Chapter 1:

• Lession 1 covers Hardware and Software Requirements
• Lession 2 covers Selecting SQL Server Editions
• Lession 3 covers Installing and Configuring SQL Server Instances

She will also be also be going through installing an instance of SQL Server

"How do I do this? " - An exploration in some differences between Visual FoxPro and Visual Studio .NET

In the last year I have had the opportunity to begin working on some small .NET components and it was not very easy at times. Yes, the programming language was similar but there were so many .NET specific concepts intertwined with the code that I often found myself completely lost. It all started with the question of "How do I run this piece of code to see if it even works?" Once I had my first "Ah ha" moment, things got better and it was actually fun! This is when I began to realize that maybe other FoxPro developers would have these same conceptual problems that I had. Therefore, at this meeting we will take a casual and laid back look at some of the differences between developing in Visual FoxPro and .NET. Not just in language but in thought processes as well.

Bits & Bytes... Whatcha Got? and a little SWFox

Jody would like to continue her SQL Server talk but would also like to show off some of the ParallelFox programming techniques that she has been investigating for her Southwest Fox Session.

So, bring your cools tools, fun stuff to discuss. It's always fun to see what others are working on or use to help them be more productive.

Double Header SWFox Practice Session with Jim Nelson talking about Thors: Rick Schummer and Eric Selje

Programming Standards and Guidelines for Software Craftsmanship: by Rick Schummer

Application program code not only tells the computer what to do, but should enhance the ability of another developer to read it and allow the a developer to easily understand its intent. Effectively, code is a way for developers to communicate with each other. Just as in daily life, if the developers speak a different dialect of the same natural language, it can easily lead to bad communication, misunderstandings, and other potential problems.

The purpose of programming standards and the creation of a standards document is to consolidate and clearly define the approved standards and guidelines currently being practiced by the development staff at your company. The document should be a living document; the standards and guidelines it describes should undergo regular review as the development team determines better ways to practice their craft. All code written is expected to follow these guidelines in force at the time it is written, unless technically prohibited.

Why do we need a written set of standards and guidelines for developers? Shouldn't we expect a developer to be mature enough to follow best practices and accepted industry standards with respect to software development and programming? Naturally, good and experienced developers have the innate ability to write good code and over time have developed some standards they follow. But as you bring different developers together, each with their own experiences and standards, you start to get code that is harder to read and understand. Having standards is a way to have everyone get on the same page, and enhances the ability to read, enhance, and support each others' code.

You will learn:

• Why programming standards should not be optional
• How standards mean your code has fewer bugs, which leads to solid releases, and higher customer satisfaction
• A detailed list of standard categories to consider and why each is important
• That you are not stifling creativity and outside of the box thinking with standards and guidelines
• The contents of a base document you can use for your own standards and guidelines document

Fox on the Run: by Eric Selje

It's not possible to write Visual FoxPro applications for your mobile devices, but that doesn't mean you can't write applications for your mobile devices that use Visual FoxPro. By creating FoxPro-driven web services, you can create web applications that tap your business logic and data easily. But the big WOW is that you can compile these HTML5-based web applications into Native iPhone and/or Android applications too. Then you've got the power of Fox on the Run.

You will learn:

• Basic techniques to create FoxPro-based web services
• Some new HTML5 functions for creating database applications
• Third party tools for compiling HTML5 web applications into native mobile applications

To Boldly go Where no VFP'er Has Gone Before - The Tools of Thor (Session I) & (Session II) Practice Session

There are a number of valuable tools that are available in other development environments, but are sadly lacking in FoxPro's own IDE. For some time, there has been a considerable effort afoot to expand the list of IDE tools by reproducing (where possible) the tools from other IDEs (such as Visual Studio), by building on and enhancing existing tools, and by creating brand new tools appropriate to FoxPro.

The most visible of these new tools is named Thor. Thor is a tool for managing add-on tools in the IDE. It provides a unified method for registering other tools, simplifying the task of disseminating them, and a user interface to control the assignment of hot keys and developer-defined menus. The UI provides four different methods for accessing these tools:

• By assigning hot keys to them
• By creating pop-up menus accessible via hot keys
• By adding them as bars under any of the VFP system pads (File, Edit, View, etc.)
• By creating new pads in the VFP system menu and adding them as bars under these new pads

We will be Exploring Alpha Five by Alpha Software

Alpha Five Version 11 is a new major release of the InfoWorld #1 rated rapid application development tool that lets you build powerful & secure AJAX business database applications for the web and mobile devices significantly faster than with products like visual studio, J2EE, and PHP.

Alpha Software's mission is to build cutting edge database software that enables our customers to build breakthrough applications and solve database management problems rapidly and easily.