Developing Visual FoxPro Applications

Visual FoxPro provides an extensive set of tools and technologies making it possible to rapidly build flexible solutions with powerful data handling capabilities. The rapid application development environment helps you with all aspects of application development.

To develop applications using Visual FoxPro

1. Design your application before starting. Numerous considerations make application development much easier if they are addressed from the start — for example, choosing a data store, security, and schema. For more information, see Application Development.
2. Design and build your database to create effective applications with indexes, tables, and databases based on your data requirements. This involves creating tables, records, queries, and views. For details, see Working with Data.
3. Create the user interface for your application. Using Visual FoxPro forms, classes, controls, menus, and toolbars, you can build interfaces that help users gain access to the full potential of your programs. For details, see Creating the User Interface.
4. Add online Help to your application to reduce the amount of time required to train and support users. For details, see Adding Help to Your Custom Application.
5. Build your application by compiling the code. You can create your applications one piece at a time, verifying each component as you go. When all your components are in place, it is easy to compile them into an application. For details, see Compiling an Application.
6. Debug your code and create errors handlers. Successfully debugging code is more of an art than a science. The best results come from writing understandable and maintainable code and using the available debugging tools. Writing good error handlers is a matter of anticipating problems or conditions that are beyond your immediate control and that will prevent your code from executing correctly at run time. For more information, see Testing and Debugging Applications.
7. Localize your application, adapting it for countries or parts of the world in which it will be used. You must translate the strings in the user interface, and it might involve changing the application itself where necessary. For more information, see Developing International Applications.
8. Prepare your application for distribution by including all required files and creating distribution disks. For more information, see Distributing Applications.

See Also

Using Visual FoxPro | Programming in Visual FoxPro | Optimizing Applications | Extending Applications | Creating Client/Server Solutions | Creating Enterprise Solutions | Overview of Visual FoxPro Features