Re: BROWSE PREFERENCE PreferenceName command - some questions

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From: Fred Taylor (ftaylor_at_mvps.org!REMOVE)
Date: 12/27/04 

Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2004 17:47:06 -0700

"Peter Rooney" <magnetix@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:eSnzd.12884$Z47.1967@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> "Fred Taylor" <ftaylor@mvps.org!REMOVE> wrote:
>
>> FWIW, I've never seen any resource that explains exactly just what is in
> the
>> FOXUSER table.
>
> Why does the resource file (FOXUSER) exist if nobody understands how it
> works? Is it a vestigial organ, like the appendix?

I see it more as a useful tool in storing information for use by the IDE,
not for runtime usage. The fact that some of the info that is stored in
there can be used by the runtime is a side effect, but not necessarily a
good one.

>> For VFP, you probably shouldn't be making extensive uses of BROWSE in a
>> running application, use a grid instead. You can write your own code to
>> store the settings of the grid and keep track of as much information as
> you
>> want/need.
>
> I've heard this before, but I don't see how I could easily or within a
> reasonable time make a grid with the built-in power of BROWSE. And I don't
> see the harm of giving this power to the user. For example, I like giving
> the user the power to rearrange columns and widths as they individually
> prefer.
> In short, I would like an explanation of why "Browse is considered
> harmful". I am ready to be convinced by a reasonable explanation.

BROWSE is a very powerful command, but again, not necesarily a good thing to
unleash to a user.
While some users could certainly benefit from the freedom it provides,
storing those "freedoms" with the ability to retrieve the settings easily is
a difficult task to be all things to all people.

>> While some people like everything handled for them, others enjoy the
> freedom
>> to "roll their own". That's the beauty of VFP, you're mostly free to
> extend
>> and enhance things in any way you want.
>>
> I think the profusion of features in VFP is one of the problems with the
> "language" (or "database system" or whatever it may be called).

Additional features and maintaining backwards compatibility is a delicate
balancing act. For the most part, VFP does an incredible job keeping this
up. Sometimes, it is better to "just let go" of some ways of doing things. 

-- 
Fred
Microsoft Visual FoxPro MVP

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