ImVin
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not sure how to proceed
I'm a business owner who is a little techie - but its more of a hobby and I know my limitations - this is it!
I have an application written in the early 2000's in Foxpro. It works just fine. HOWEVER, Foxpro has been unsupported and I'm afraid as MS puts old operating systems to bed (like XP) at some point, this software is simply not going to run.
Couple that with the server is ancient - Windows 2000. Right now we run the Foxpro based application on our desktops and the server basically hosts data. For reporting we use R&R Report Writer and query the database sitting on the server by using mapped network drives.
My question is this: Can I use some type of cloud solution to host my data and use Report Writer to query against this data hosted off site? Also should I be migrating this data to a new database program? If so, can I do this through an internet based application?
Anyone want to take a look at what I'm doing and give me an estimate for the rewrite?
Thanks
Vin Carrano
I have an application written in the early 2000's in Foxpro. It works just fine. HOWEVER, Foxpro has been unsupported and I'm afraid as MS puts old operating systems to bed (like XP) at some point, this software is simply not going to run.
Couple that with the server is ancient - Windows 2000. Right now we run the Foxpro based application on our desktops and the server basically hosts data. For reporting we use R&R Report Writer and query the database sitting on the server by using mapped network drives.
My question is this: Can I use some type of cloud solution to host my data and use Report Writer to query against this data hosted off site? Also should I be migrating this data to a new database program? If so, can I do this through an internet based application?
Anyone want to take a look at what I'm doing and give me an estimate for the rewrite?
Thanks
Vin Carrano
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As time passes by the maintenance costs are going to rise.
Entropy hits the hardware, the OS, the software and the data itself.
It is a good idea to plan a replacement, which is not necessarily based on foxpro.
Is there perhaps open source software that does 80% of what you need?
I suggest that you find a local developer and get a quote.
If you have exact specs for what you need then freelancer web sites maybe a good fit.
Entropy hits the hardware, the OS, the software and the data itself.
It is a good idea to plan a replacement, which is not necessarily based on foxpro.
Is there perhaps open source software that does 80% of what you need?
I suggest that you find a local developer and get a quote.
If you have exact specs for what you need then freelancer web sites maybe a good fit.
ASKER
VFP. It does basically what we need it to do. My concern is as MS continues development of Windows, at some point, VFP won't run on some new OS. My server is so old, it seems like the right time to take it out of my office.
Regarding cloud services - can I leave my database in the cloud and query from a desktop application?
Regarding cloud services - can I leave my database in the cloud and query from a desktop application?
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No, absolutely not. If you keep the operating system as is, and software under it as is, it's going to run just fine. Have a backup in case the computer dies and you need to put it on new computer.
If you at some point want to integrate this solution with something else, that's when you are likely to run into problems. But if the solution is isolated from everything else, it will run infinitely. "Not supported by Microsoft" means that if you run into new problem with it, you won't be able to call Microsoft and have them help you. You however will be always able to find an independent consultant familiar with your platform, same as currently there are people who support VAX/VMS, for example.