dBASE for Windows: Introduction for Clipper Developers
Table of Contents
Leverage Existing Knowledge While Moving to Windows and Client/Server
The syntax used in dBASE for Windows is very similar to that used
in Clipper. Features such as code blocks and multidimensional
arrays allow you to use techniques you've already perfected while
breaking out of the DOS world and developing true Windows applications.
Not only that, but the applications you develop are client/server
applications that can access a wide range of external database
engines such as Sybase's SQL Server, Oracle's Oracle Server and
Borland's InterBase Server.
Use Object Orientation to Create Reusable Code, Faster
As you probably already know from your work with Clipper, object-oriented
languages create classes that contain all the code necessary to
perform a given task. Since these classes are completely self-contained,
it is easy to reuse them in many applications. The more code you
can reuse, the more applications you can produce, which means
more money earned. Reusing existing code also means less time
spent in maintenance, since the code has already been tested.
Open Architecture Provides Support for Windows Environment
dBASE for Windows supports OLE and DDE, and allows direct access
to common Windows dialogs. You can choose whether to use built-in
dBASE for Windows commands, functions and DLLs to write Windows
applications, or to use the Windows API to call native Windows
functions. Either way, the result is a, event-driven, true Windows
application.
Seamless Scalability from Desktop to Enterprise-Wide Systems
Although your applications may now be managing well with .DBF
files, you might eventually want to move to the security and larger
capacity of an SQL server. In fact, many corporations use applications
that use both local tables stored in .DBF files and SQL tables
stored on a centralized server. dBASE for Windows isolates you
from the specific syntax used by any one database engine, and
allows you to seamlessly access data stored in SQL, .DBF and Paradox
tables. This means you can choose the appropriate engine for the
task at hand.
Clipper has long been known for its powerful, elegant language.
Whether you started programming in dBASE or whether your experience
is in other languages such as C, Clipper has been a popular choice
for developing DOS applications.
But what happens when DOS is no longer enough, and your customers
are calling for Windows applications? What do you do when you
need object orientation built into the language? How do you answer
your company's demand for SQL support from the language vendor?
Truth is, with Clipper, you can't.
You made the right choice choosing Clipper for DOS development,
but it's time to move on. The things you like and are accustomed
to in Clipper are right here in dBASE for Windows. Multidimensional
arrays, code blocks, object orientation, and many others. There's
no need to learn a whole new language, and a lot of your existing
Clipper code can be used without changes. So why wait any longer?
dBASE for Windows is a powerful, easy to use language from
a vendor with years of experience developing programming languages.
In this paper, we'll show you just how easy the switch can be.
We think you'll like what you see.
Continue to "Write Windows Applications, Today!"
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Copyright © 1995 Borland International, Inc.
Last modified March 26, 1995