If you have a recommendation for any Clipper resource material that
would be good reading for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
I will be taking over a position which entails continuing the
development of accounting applications writen in Clipper S'87.

Thank you,
PRo

Dear PRoBiSoNe:

On Feb 16, 11:01 am, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you have a recommendation for any Clipper
> resource material that would be good reading
> for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
> I will be taking over a position which entails
> continuing the development of accounting
> applications writen in Clipper S'87.

I'd look at conversion to a language you know.  Because resource
material for S'87 will be dog-eared and / or hard to come by.

What programming languages do you know?
What libraries did the code you inherited use?
What operating systems do you need to run on?
What is your budget?

You can stay with Clipper, and get updated via either Harbour or
xHarbour to current operating systems.  There are a few more research
materials for these available.  And they are free.  xHarbour has a
commercial version available, that makes program maintenance and
development easier.  (And the same can be said for any other language
you might already know.)

David A. Smith

On Feb 16, 10:09 am, "dlzc" <d...@cox.net> wrote:
> Dear PRoBiSoNe:
>
> On Feb 16, 11:01 am, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > If you have a recommendation for any Clipper
> > resource material that would be good reading
> > for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
> > I will be taking over a position which entails
> > continuing the development of accounting
> > applications writen in Clipper S'87.
>
> I'd look at conversion to a language you know.  Because resource
> material for S'87 will be dog-eared and / or hard to come by.
>
> What programming languages do you know?
> What libraries did the code you inherited use?
> What operating systems do you need to run on?
> What is your budget?
>
> You can stay with Clipper, and get updated via either Harbour or
> xHarbour to current operating systems.  There are a few more research
> materials for these available.  And they are free.  xHarbour has a
> commercial version available, that makes program maintenance and
> development easier.  (And the same can be said for any other language
> you might already know.)
>
> David A. Smith

David,

I am a neophyte programmer, wait, no, I am not a programmer at all,
but I want/need to learn Clipper to support and continue development
of our accounting/branch software. Since I do not know another
language, I do not want to dive into any conversion and make a huge
mess of things.  Once familiarized and comfortable with Clipper I may
decide to migrate to another language, possibly v.5.3 or Visual
Objects.  Other languages said to be familiar to Clipper would be:
FoxPro and xBase++, or so I have read.  But at this time, I need to
focus on Clipper solely and be able to append functionality to the
existing programs as well as compose new programs to suit the
company's needs as required.  Any publication(s) which would assist me
in getting to where I need to be would be greatly appreciated.
"Clipper for Dummies"?  (laugh)...

PRo

Dear PRoBiSoNe:

On Feb 23, 10:17 am, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 16, 10:09 am, "dlzc" <d...@cox.net> wrote:
....
> I am a neophyte programmer, wait, no, I am not
> a programmer at all, but I want/need to learn
> Clipper to support and continue development of
> our accounting/branch software.

Then bite the bullet and migrate to a current language.

> Since I do not know another language, I do not
> want to dive into any conversion and make a
> huge mess of things.

Then you need to learn three things:
1) make backups,
2) you *will* make a huge mess of things,
3) make backups.

Oh, and *never* alter production code without extensive testing.

> Once familiarized and comfortable with
> Clipper I may decide to migrate to another
> language, possibly v.5.3 or Visual Objects.

I would not spend effort learning any obsolete version of any
language.  Go with Harbour, xHarbour, or Visual Objects.

> Other languages said to be familiar to
> Clipper would be:  FoxPro and xBase++, or so
> I have read.

They will highlight the differences, since they are not concerned with
backward compatibility.  VO may or may not be backward compatible.

> But at this time, I need to focus on Clipper
> solely and be able to append functionality to
> the existing programs as well as compose new
> programs to suit the company's needs as
> required.  Any publication(s) which would
> assist me in getting to where I need to be
> would be greatly appreciated.
> "Clipper for Dummies"?  (laugh)...

17 years ago, you might have found a few for S'87.  10 years ago for
5.0 or higher.

xHarbour is free, will compile older code with little modification,
and there is current documentation available from www.xharbour.com
(though you can still use the free version of their compiler /
linker).

For VO, I'd ask a question on their newsgroup about migrating from
S'87 code to learn the language from scratch, and see if they know of
programming guides.

I can point you to internet resources if you want for Clipper 5.x, and
a tiny bit of source code for S'87 (where you can learn style and
usage).

But paper?  You'd have to scour used book stores, and I've never found
a book I used as much as the manual that came with the compiler.

David A. Smith

On 23 Feb 2007 09:17:45 -0800, "PRoBiSoNe" <probisone@gmail.com>
wrote:


>
>I am a neophyte programmer, wait, no, I am not a programmer at all,
>but I want/need to learn Clipper to support and continue development
>of our accounting/branch software. Since I do not know another
>language, I do not want to dive into any conversion and make a huge
>mess of things.  Once familiarized and comfortable with Clipper I may
>decide to migrate to another language, possibly v.5.3 or Visual
>Objects.  Other languages said to be familiar to Clipper would be:
>FoxPro and xBase++, or so I have read.  But at this time, I need to
>focus on Clipper solely and be able to append functionality to the
>existing programs as well as compose new programs to suit the
>company's needs as required.  Any publication(s) which would assist me
>in getting to where I need to be would be greatly appreciated.
>"Clipper for Dummies"?  (laugh)...
>
>PRo
>

Hello Pro,

I agree that Clipper S'87 is old, but also agree that if it is what
your company is using and is satisfied with, there is no inherent
reason to change away from it. If you have been hired to support it,
that is what you should do first....then learn what could/should be
changed...not the other way round. I have a few customers who still
use S'87 applications and are very happy to stay with them, despite
the demonstrated modern features that alternatives offer. The customer
is always right.

A couple of books that might be available via eBay or Amazon are:

Clipper Programming Guide Rick Spence- 1989 - Data Base Advisor
series ISBN 0-915391-31-7


Programming in Clipper - second edition 1988  Stephen J. Straley.
ISBN 0-201-14583-9

Feel free to ask questions. That is what this area is for.

Regards,

Ross McKenzie
ValuSoft
Melbourne Australia

valusoft AT optusnet DOT com DOT au

On Feb 16, 1:01 pm, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you have a recommendation for any Clipper resource material that
> would be good reading for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
> I will be taking over a position which entails continuing the
> development of accounting applications writen in Clipper S'87.
>
> Thank you,
> PRo

Clipper S 87 is about 99% compatible with Microsoft Visual FoxPro
9.0.  With a few minor changes, you can run your code under VFP 9.
There is a  wealth of material available for VFP.

Later versions of Clipper are a different matter but we have developed
quite a few tools to facilitate those conversions as well.
http://www.erw.com/html/clipper.htm

If you need help, we do Clipper to VFP conversions.

Wes

wesleygwilson@gmail.com wrote:
> On Feb 16, 1:01 pm, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> If you have a recommendation for any Clipper resource material that
>> would be good reading for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
>> I will be taking over a position which entails continuing the
>> development of accounting applications writen in Clipper S'87.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> PRo
> 
> Clipper S 87 is about 99% compatible with Microsoft Visual FoxPro
> 9.0.  With a few minor changes, you can run your code under VFP 9.
> There is a  wealth of material available for VFP.
> 
> Later versions of Clipper are a different matter but we have developed
> quite a few tools to facilitate those conversions as well.
> http://www.erw.com/html/clipper.htm
> 
> If you need help, we do Clipper to VFP conversions.
> 
> Wes
> 
Hi Wes. Have you guys figured out how to make a VFP program console app? 
I would love to run a VFP6.0 program from the cmd.exe command line.

-- 
Joe Wright
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                     --- Albert Einstein ---

On Feb 24, 2:03 pm, Joe Wright <joewwri...@comcast.net> wrote:
> wesleygwil...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Feb 16, 1:01 pm, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> If you have a recommendation for any Clipper resource material that
> >> would be good reading for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
> >> I will be taking over a position which entails continuing the
> >> development of accounting applications writen in Clipper S'87.
>
> >> Thank you,
> >> PRo
>
> > Clipper S 87 is about 99% compatible with Microsoft Visual FoxPro
> > 9.0.  With a few minor changes, you can run your code under VFP 9.
> > There is a  wealth of material available for VFP.
>
> > Later versions of Clipper are a different matter but we have developed
> > quite a few tools to facilitate those conversions as well.
> >http://www.erw.com/html/clipper.htm
>
> > If you need help, we do Clipper to VFP conversions.
>
> > Wes
>
> Hi Wes. Have you guys figured out how to make a VFP program console app?
> I would love to run a VFP6.0 program from the cmd.exe command line.
>
> --
> Joe Wright
> "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
>                      --- Albert Einstein ---- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Joe,

Sorry, we have not.

Wes

On Feb 24, 1:03 pm, Joe Wright <joewwri...@comcast.net> wrote:
> wesleygwil...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Feb 16, 1:01 pm, "PRoBiSoNe" <probis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> If you have a recommendation for any Clipper resource material that
> >> would be good reading for a newbie Clipper programmer, please adivse.
> >> I will be taking over a position which entails continuing the
> >> development of accounting applications writen in Clipper S'87.
>
> >> Thank you,
> >> PRo
>
> > Clipper S 87 is about 99% compatible with Microsoft Visual FoxPro
> > 9.0.  With a few minor changes, you can run your code under VFP 9.
> > There is a  wealth of material available for VFP.
>
> > Later versions of Clipper are a different matter but we have developed
> > quite a few tools to facilitate those conversions as well.
> >http://www.erw.com/html/clipper.htm
>
> > If you need help, we do Clipper to VFP conversions.
>
> > Wes
>
> Hi Wes. Have you guys figured out how to make a VFP program console app?
> I would love to run a VFP6.0 program from the cmd.exe command line.
>
> --
> Joe Wright
> "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
>                      --- Albert Einstein ---- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I run foxpro program (vfp5 and vfp7) from cmd.exe box.  Just compile
it - I must be missing something.

To the original poster - I agree with Ross that S'87 app that is
working and to not try to force your employer to upgrdrade.  I suggest
that you download the NG for S'87 and use it to look up commands.
That should be enough for maintenance.

One thing I learned long ago was that if I chose to run S'87 programs
(estimating and billing), no one could force me out of it.

If you are in UK I have the book

any one has clipper 87 book?
please contact <subhodip14@sify.com>

Dear rags:

On Tuesday, June 19, 2012 10:44:19 AM UTC-7, rags wrote:
> any one has clipper 87 book?
> please contact <subhodi***@sify.com>

I do, but as part of the full box.  Not for sale, but can I scan pages of interest if required.  The NG can be found on the internet.

http://www.ousob.com/ng/sum87/

David A. Smith