Tag Archives | FoxPro

Christof Wollenhaupt (nee’ Lange), a Microsoft FoxPro MVP and co-author of FoxPro Advisor’s Ask Advisor column (which I also used to write for) posts a very thorough article on “Security in FoxPro (protecting application and data).” This is well worth reading, and ought to be part of the VFP documentation and website.

Despite some glitches and Microsoft delaying the rollout for a week, Service Pack 2 is on its way to all Windows XP users via Windows Update. Many large installations have turned off or disabled the update out of concern for the many programs Microsoft has documented as not working or needing updates in order to work with SP2. Firewalls, VPNs and SQL Server based applications seem to be the primary casualties. FoxPro applications using DBF-based data appear to be unaffected.

Microsoft is enabling the firewall by default, a reversal of their earlier configuration. While it is a step in the right direction, the firewall is still far too weak to be the sole line of defense for a machine attaching directly to the internet. The firewall included with Microsoft XP doesn’t deserve the name. A firewall is an internal structure in a building that is designed to stop fires from spreading by imposing a solid barrier. In the Windows XP case, this firewall is one-sided, blocking some traffic from ourside, but letting anything exit from inside. So, if your machine develops a problem and starts broadcasting SMTP spam, or calls the mothership and transmits your last tax return, there’s nothing in the XP firewall to prevent it. That’s dumb. Look for better solutions elsewhere.

If you are connecting directly to the internet, or take your machine on the road and connect to foreign networks, look at a software firewall like Kerio or ZoneAlarmPro. I notice that grisoft.com is promoting a nice package of their excellent AVG anti-virus software with Kerio for USD $55. Worth looking into.

Rick Strahl’s got a great article on his site that shows how VFP can
consume more complex Web Services than the silly “Hello, World”
examples, using Rick’s free wwSOAP classes. I recently worked with a
client who was transferring data back and forth (from a non-Microsoft
based service) using parameter objects, and the VFP work was not
trivial. Wish I’d had this article then. Great stuff!

[Updated, a better link and article — ed] https://www.west-wind.com/presentations/foxdotnetwebservices/

“Article: Calling .Net Web Services for Data Access with Visual FoxPro.
Find out how to create a .Net Web Service that serves up data in a
variety of ways, then see how to consume this data with Visual FoxPro.
.Net Web Services are easy to develop, debug and deploy, but consuming
the data, especially with Visual FoxPro is not always as straight
forward as you might think. This article discusses how to pass complex
data between .Net Web Services and Visual FoxPro and provides several
tools to facilitate and standardize the process of building solid Web
Service clients for your applications and workaround some of the
limitations. By West Wind Technologies.” Link via FoxCentral News