Migrate Visual FoxPro to .NET

By Ghulam Nabi Shah | Published on April 1st, 2015 | Last updated on June 26th, 2019 |

VFP to .NET Conversion

Before we can migrate Visual FoxPro to .NET it is imperative to understand that Visual FoxPro developers have an exceptional skill-set that comes from working with a product that successfully covers all three layers of an application (front end, middle tier, back end). Quite a few of these developers are at present gifted SQL Server developers, and almost all Visual FoxPro developers have successfully transitioned to C# or VB.NET

To migrate Visual FoxPro to .NET conversions calls for assessment tools such as:

VFP to SQL Server:

The VFP Upsizing Wizard is a reputable starting point for projects where data is currently stored in DBFs and will be moved to SQL Server. However, this wizard is occasionally overwhelmed if your DBF has a large number of tables. A way to work-around this is to change 50 tables at a time. Remember to pay close attention to the SQL Server data types that the VFP Upsizing Wizard converted. A good way to measure this is to use the VARCHAR type for columns over 10 characters wide that are often not occupied. (Such as First Name)

Form Conversion:

Standard business applications encompass many forms so understanding what to write before you migrate Visual FoxPro to .NET is very important. The prospect of re-writing all those forms is daunting-and can devour a conversion budget very rapidly. In some instances, you’ll decide to re-write the timeworn form formats, but in most cases, you’ll rewrite only a few, either due to economic constraints or because the existing format works well for users.

Something else to think about is another dire step that I have seen in this procedure to migrate Visual FoxPro to .NET is the libraries. These libraries are accessible to the point that they incorporate the bulk of Visual FoxPro’s normal function calls into .NET. Remember that these libraries offer a functionality that VFP developers might not catch in .NET, but not only that, it also flattens the .NET understanding, as VFP developers will find a more aware surrounding.

In order to migrate Visual FoxPro to .NET transformation procedure of any size, you should establish metrics to deliver measures of growth.

Join the community of people already taking the next steps

Ghulam Nabi Shah

Chief Executive Officer at Macrosoft Inc

Shah is a forward thinking, institutional leader with eighteen years of experience. During his tenure as CEO, Shah has delivered top notch customer solutions in large scale and enterprise environments. His proven abilities as a technology visionary and driver of strategic business systems development allow Macrosoft to deliver best in class software solutions. Shah is the catalyst that brings IT to organizations, enables innovation, and expands the delivery of global capabilities. He also fuels business growth, and optimizes delivery while managing risks and costs. Shah currently holds a compiler patent with the US Patent Office.

Shah holds an MBA (Computer Science), in addition to 20+ professional and technical certifications. While he is proficient in a variety of development languages, his preferred language is Python. His areas of expertise include enterprise-wide architecture, application migration, IT transformation, mobile, and offshore development management. Shah’s ultimate goal, at Macrosoft, is to create a larger offering of product-based services while adopting new technologies.

In that rare instance when he has time for leisure, Shah is an avid cricket and football fan and a weekly racquetball player.