Who Uses FoxExpress?

Who doesn't use FoxExpress would be an easier question to answer. In 1995, the readers of DataBased Advisor Magazine voted to award an honorable mention to FoxExpress as the best FoxPro Add-on. FoxExpress' customer base includes a very high percentage of independent consultants, including well-known consultants like Whil Hentzen, Dave Frankenbach, Doug Dodge and others that are among the best in the business. A number of larger consulting companies, government agencies and corporate developers also use FoxExpress.

Following are quotes from a number of FoxExpress users (posted on CompuServe's FoxUser forum in May of 1995).

Peter Sweeney

"I have used FoxExpress for two projects. It's very good. It allows you to create multi-user, event-driven applications very, very easily. The multi-user stuff is solid, and was a big reason I bought it. It generates regular old FoxPro code, so you are free to customize what you need. I did not need to customize very much, though, the generated code did just about everything I needed. It will save you a lot of time coding and debugging.

"A big plus is that FoxExpress was written in... FoxPro!

"It has a great data dictionary, which I'm told is better than VFP's. The data dictionary allows you to modify key aspects of your system, without having to recompile your code!

"If you're not going to buy it to generate apps with it, you might want to buy it just to look at some of the code that NEON has written. Think of it as a teaching tool. It's well designed and well written. I've already gotten some ideas from it. The data dictionary implementation alone is worth it.

"I've met the head developer, he's a former employee of Fox Software. Great guy. He's written a great product. The code is solid."

Charles Hankey

"I've been using FoxExpress as my primary RAD tool since last summer. I can't imagine a better value for the dollar in Fox 3rd party apps. Since it generates 100% Fox code (and, in my opinion, very_good_code at that) you can modify in any want you like with the power tools, and still have the ability to work on it further from within FoxExpress.

"Support from Mike Feltman here on the [CompuServe] Forum is outstanding.

"I would suggest trying the product to see what it can do. Most who do so are extremely pleased. I have found that it exceeded expectations in pretty much every area. I turned a profit on it the second day I had it.

"Cooperation between Neon Software, Flash, MicroMega, and Korenthal Assoc. will lead to only better things in Visual FoxExpress.

"If you are paying your programmers more than $5.00 and hour I think you will find FE very cost effective."

Larry Manire

"I have developed five FED apps for two RI state agencies and a contract archaeology lab (along with several in-house apps). All have been in production for at least several months and the clients love them. In fact, I have just been asked to do $50,000 more in FE apps for the same state agency. FE is especially good for poor clients like state government. The early days of FE were kind of tough but FED 2.6 is solid as a rock with great doc. NEON has been great for tech support. Their small size makes for personal service but Mike could get run over by a truck.

"Since FoxPro is only one of my tools (I also do a lot of GIS) I can't be an expert at it, but FE makes me look like an expert to my clients. Frankly, for most applications I think it's a waste of time to develop in native FoxPro when you can develop in 10% to 30% of the time with FE. VFE should be dynamite and my clients are slowly retiring their 386s so we can move to it under W95 by end of year (I hope)."

Jeff Fleitz

"I have been a user for over two years now, and this is the most productive tool I have ever used, and I've used just about all of them. I have built some really big apps with it that I wouldn't even have attempted by myself otherwise, in an astonishingly short period of time. The support from the FE community here on the [CompuServe] forum is excellent, as is the printed documentation. You can be productive in a very short period of time. I can usually prototype a large app in a day or two for demo purposes, and then flesh out the details.

"Here are reasons why I use it:

"1. Active data dictionary, which can even be modified while the application is running live.

"2. Event handler. FE uses an array-based event-handler which relieve you of having to worry about creating modeless applications.

"3. Table-based program structure. All of FE's default procedures, functions, screens, control panels, and menus are stored in FoxPro tables, and accessible through the FE front end. You don't *have* to do things their way. If you want to customize some default code, you can change it through the FE interface, and every subsequent build will include your changes.

"4. UDF manager: a great way to store custom procedures and functions. There are hooks in FE which allow you to place references to these in you GET VALIDs, WHENs, etc. Now you can store custom procedures within the data dictionary through the use of a #NAME directive.

"5. Neon is one of the major players in Flash Creative Management's Codebook Compliance Alliance, along with MicroMega (FoxFire!), Hentzen Werke (FoxZen), Performance Dynamics (RAIDAR), Cascade Interactive Designs (CAPCON), etc. I use most of these tools, and its great to know these folks are working together to make integration of these tools easier.

"6. Mike Feltman pays me the big bucks for saying things like this <gd&r from Mike>.

"There are a lot of very good programmers hanging out here which use FE as a matter of course: Doug Dodge, Dave Frankenbach, Lee Harrington, Whil Hentzen, Krystine McDaniel, Sue Cunningham, David Tansey, Will Tartak... just to name a few. FE allows you to concentrate on that 20% application specific customization, instead of the whole sha-bang.

"I'm sure some of the others will chime in also. Really a good investment, and there is a money-back guarantee."

David S. Hendlish

"I've been using FoxExpress for about 6 months. I would consider myself a beginner Fox user and I've already built four outstanding applications with FoxExpress. These are not very simple apps. Some of the applications contain multiple related databases and up to 600 fields. With FoxExpress, I've been able to build all the inquiry and lookup screens (browses, etc.) in relatively No Time At All. The code seems to be very solid and they have a very good tech support group that will really give your questions and problems the time it deserves."

Steve Moore

"I programmed in Turbo Pascal and APL since 1983 and have never run into anything as smooth as FEW. It does all the BS for you so you can focus on making a few bucks. And remember the number 1 rule of business:

"To be in business you have to stay in business.

"You don't make any money reinventing security logins, etc.

"In fact, even though I consider myself an advanced Novice in FP and FEW (having only really used both for a year), I am thrilled about how easy it is to add enhancements - which are different from work-arounds. I have posted a few notes on this forum on my discoveries - not for the real heavy hitters like Frank and Lee - but for the lurkers like me who may be to shy to ask the question.

"And that's the key thing - there is always somebody here to help; FE is popular and it is only that way because the users love the sucker! If it were a dog, you would see no traffic on the net regarding it.

"Bottom line: My business would be dead in the water without it."

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