THE FoxPRO FAQ
PART1: INTRODUCTION
Comment and suggestions are invited.
WHAT IS COMP.DATABASES.XBASE.FOX (C.D.X.F)?
The newsgroup comp.databases.xbase.fox is a forum for anyone who is
interested in the FoxPro database management system.
The newsgroup is presently unmoderated, meaning that anyone can post
anything without any type of moderation being done. This means that
posting is very simple and quick, but that it can result in many posts
which are difficult to understand, are repeatedly-asked questions, or
have nothing to do with FoxPro. Please read on for information about
how this can be avoided.
c.d.x.f is NOT an advocacy group; please do not start discussions
about whether your Mac is better than the next guys IBM box.
Also, you should avoid general slamming of products.
A conversation about the differences between the FoxPro and Paradox
screen builders would be extremely informative; a post stating that
"Paradox Sucks" is in poor taste.
WHAT IS A FAQ?
FAQ is short for "Frequently-asked-questions".
These are questions that get asked over and over again in the newsgroup
and the answers are then collected and posted on a regular basis for
easy reference.
FAQ's also have a lot of background and other information relevant to
the newsgroup in question.
WHAT IS FOXPRO?
Foxpro is a database management package.
Initially developed as a PC xBase DOS based product, FoxPro was later
extended to the multi-user UNIX environment.
It was then purchased by Microsoft, enhanced and transported to MS
Windows and Macintosh environments.
A new 32bit product called "Visual FoxPro (VFP)" has now been completed.
This was designed to be used on MS Windows NT and Win95 environments but
will run in MS Windows 3.x with the MS Win32S extensions. It is
regarded by Microsoft as a Client/Server development tool and is a
generational step up from earlier versions. DOS, MAC and UNIX versions
are not available at the moment and it is uncertain when or even if they
will be developed.
FOXPRO CHRONOLOGY (Pre-MS) : (thanks to Dave Fulton)
The actual chronology of Fox Software's products prior to the acquisition by Microsoft was:
FoxBase 1984 MSDOS
This was a dBASE II work-alike
Multi-User FoxBase 1985 MSDOS & UNIX
Also a dBASE II work-alike but with primitive multi-user features
FoxBASE+ 1986 MSDOS
A dBASE III Plus work-alike that (together with a celebrated lawsuit)
helped put Fox Software on the map.
FoxBASE+/Mac 1987 Macintosh
This first Macintosh product of Fox Software's captured a majority
the Mac database market within a few months of its release.
It could be viewed as an initial design study for the first MSDOS
version of FoxPro in 1989-90.
FoxPro 1989 MSDOS
This product supported a superset of the dBASE IV language but
an entirely new interface most similar to that of FoxBASE+/Mac.
This interface has persisted both in the character-oriented MSDOS
world and, in graphic form, in both the present-day Windows and
Macintosh products.
FoxPro 2.0 1991 MSDOS
This version of FoxPro should be mentioned separately from the
1989 version because it is the first one that incorporated SQL and
the Rushmore Technology. The first versions of FoxPro basically
incorporated the FoxBASE+ engine under the hood and it wasn't
until FoxPro 2.0 that the full flowering of Fox's reputation for
stellar performance occurred.
It might be noted in passing that FoxPro for Windows was essentially complete at the time of Fox's acquisition by Microsoft in June of 1992 and was released a few months later.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE NET
Take some time to subscribe to and read the newsgroups news.answers
and news.announce.newusers.
These two groups contain a wealth of information on newsgroups and
etiquette. It might take a few hours, but it is well worth the time.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR POSTING TO THE NEWSGROUP
The beauty and power of the USENET newsgroups is that they are
available to everyone at little or no cost (depending on who provides
your Internet access). Presently, there are very few people who are
paid to contribute to the newsgroups. This means that the answers you
get are coming from people just like you. This doesn't mean that you
shouldn't use the newsgroup as your primary source of help for FoxPro
questions; just that you should be careful not to waste other people's
time.
If you can, try to find the answer yourself, using the sources listed
below. But don't feel that your questions are not worth the attention
of the rest of the newsgroup readers; there are probably many other
readers who are having or will have the same question you have.
HOW TO FORMULATE AN EFFECTIVE POST
If you've followed the newsgroup regularly, you've probably already
seen some good examples of both how TO and how NOT to post. For those
of you who are new (and maybe some of you who are not so new), here
are some guidelines that will help to get the answer you need.
THE SUBJECT
Most people will decide to read your post simply from the subject you
choose. It is in your best interest to choose a subject that is
pertinent and useful to the reader. Subjects such as "HELP: New user"
give the reader absolutely no information about what your post is, and
give lots of information about who the poster is. A subject like
"[Q]How to optimize queries" tells in a few words that the post is a
question, and summarizes what the question is about.
It would also be helpful to start the subject with a quick reference
to the applicable version of fox:
[FB] FoxBase
[FPD] FoxPro DOS
[FPW] FoxPro WIN
[FPM] FoxPro MAC (Should only be use for MAC specific Q)
[VFP] Visual FoxPro
[UNIX] Unix Flavors of Fox (Should only be use for Unix specific
questions.
and if you have room, also try to fit the version number (including any
patch level if applicable) (e.g. FPW2.6b, VFP3.0a, etc.) .
THE BODY
The body of your message should be concise, but give enough
information to help a reader answer your question. Posts that say
"Problem with xxx - how do I fix" will not generally result in answers
you can use. Posts that include a short description of the problem,
relevant table/index structures and code, and the results of different
attempts that have failed will almost always yield many useful
suggestions.
State the platform (DOS, Windows, Mac, etc) and the complete version
of Fox* (including patch level) in your post.
Many times problems you're having may have fixes in a patch release
or upgrade.
Also, some of the things you can do in FoxPro 2.5/6 will not work at all under FoxBase+, or on the Unix flavors.
Tell people about the environment.
If you have databases linked with SET RELATION, please mention it.
If you are using .plb files or SQL, mention it.
If you have the files in a project, mention it.
If you are using the distribution kit, and the problem only appears
when you are running it under the distribution kit, mention it.
If you are migrating an application from another xBase product, mention
it!
Mention anything odd that you are doing.
Please be sure provide enough detail with your post to allow people
to help you. Code samples are always nice, as is a short (or long)
description of what it is you are trying to do.
If you're posting a follow-up to an article, please quote enough
of the previous article to provide a reader with an understanding of
what you are answering, but please edit unrelated information out of
any long quotes as unnecessarily long posts can be difficult to read.
When writing your post, keep in mind that this is an international
forum, and though you don't have to translate to every language, you
should try to write in clear English without using any region-specific
idioms or jargon (except FoxPro jargon, of course).
Do NOT ask people to email responses.
All of the people who answer your questions are doing so (solely) to
contribute to the newsgroup.
There are many people who are interested in both answering and reading
the answers to your post, and to remove that by asking that answers be
emailed defeats the purpose of the newsgroup.
If you don't have time to read the newsgroup, please don't waste our
time, either.
And PLEASE READ THE obvious parts of the MANUAL before you post.
FOX PRODUCTS
The Fox database management packages are available for many different
operating systems and environments. The various packages are:
Microsoft:
FoxPro 2.5 (DOS)
FoxPro 2.5 (Windows)
FoxPro 2.5 (Macintosh)
FoxPro 2.6 "Standard Edition" (DOS)
FoxPro 2.6 "Professional Edition" (DOS)
FoxPro 2.6 "Standard Edition" (Windows)
FoxPro 2.6 "Professional Edition" (Windows)
FoxPro 2.6 "Standard Edition" (Macintosh)
FoxPro 2.6 "Professional Edition" (Macintosh)
FoxPro 2.6 Unix
Visual Foxpro 3.0 "Standard" (Windows 32bit)
Visual Foxpro 3.0 "Professional" (Windows 32bit)
Fox Software*:
FoxBASE+ (DOS)
FoxBASE+ (Macintosh)
FoxPro 1.1 (DOS)
FoxPro 2.0 (DOS)
SCO (Santa Cruz Operation):
SCO FoxBASE+ (Unix)
*Fox Software has been bought by Microsoft. Their products are no
longer available, but are included here since many of their products
are still in use.