Hi Richard,
> I am trying to port a DBMS application from Foxpro2.5 for DOS to linux.
I haven't done what I'm about to suggest, but have you tried using
dosemu (I think that's the one) to run your FoxPro app directly under
GNU/Linux?
> Everything I've read says MySQL is the best but I'm not sure where I go
> from here. I'm confident I can recreate the databases (tables) in MySQL
> but I have no idea how I will recreate the end user screens, reports, and
> write the programs that will manipulate them.
If (and only if) you understand the HTTP model *and* you can map your
application to it in a way that your users would understand, you may
want to build a Web browser interface. Even if you don't need it
usable via the public Web now, building the interface that way now
will make it a simple matter to move it to the public Web later. And
even if it's never used via the public Web, it may still be convenient
to use a browser interface. If you go this route, expect to learn (if
you don't know them already) HTML for screen (data entry form) and
report layout, and a processing language (e.g., PHP or Perl for a
script approach, or C/C++ for a compiled approach) to do "work" of
interfacing with MySQL and other server resources.
However, if you aren't familiar with the request/response model of
HTTP and/or you don't think it would map well to what you're doing
with your FoxPro app, then you'll presumably want to use C/C++ or some
other language to create a more conventional program & interface.
In any event, unless you want to give your users the MySQL command
prompt (which wouldn't fit the definition of "easy for the user"),
you'll need to provide some alternative interface using a language
that you know (or can learn) *and* that has some way of "talking" to
MySQL.
I'm moving some of the things I've developed in VFP to the Web, using
MySQL for the data back-end. The user interface is done with HTML and
JavaScript, and the server-side processing is currently done with Perl
CGI scripts. (Future versions may be built around PHP.) OTOH, some
of my FoxPro projects don't map well to the HTTP model, so it really
depends on what you're doing.
Best of luck,
Stuart (whitmore@stripped)
User of FoxPro from 2.0 to VFP 5, now becoming a MySQL user...
