Introducing FoxGet Package Manager

If you've worked with Visual Studio, you've likely used NuGet, which is a package manager for .NET. The idea is that you can search for libraries you'd like to add to your application, download and install them, and then have them managed (automatically download again if files are missing, update to a new version, etc.).

FoxGet is a new tool that's the VFP equivalent of NuGet. You run FoxGet when you want to add a library to an application. You search for a library you're interested in and if one is found, you can download, install, and add it to your project with a single mouse click. Of course, you'll have to do the coding part such as calling the library yourself.

FoxGet is available now at https://github.com/DougHennig/FoxGet. In a little while, it'll be available via Thor Check for Updates. All you need is FoxGet.app. There are currently installers for 24 popular VFP open source libraries.

To use FoxGet, open the project for the application you want to add a library to and DO path\FoxGet.app, where path is the folder where you placed FoxGet.app. If you installed it using Thor Check for Updates, you can choose FoxGet Package Manager from the Thor Tools, Applications menu. Select a library (also known as a package) and click Install. FoxGet downloads just the necessary files (no samples or documentation), puts them into a subdirectory of a new Packages subdirectory of your application folder, and adds the necessary files to your project. Uninstalling is just as easy: select the package and click Uninstall.

I look forward to any feedback you have: create issues or discussions in the GitHiub repository.

Geek Gatherings 2024: Save the Dates!

We have locked in our dates for our 2024 conferences and hope you will save the dates to attend.

Our one-day Virtual Fox Fest 2024 will be Wednesday, May 8, 2024. It still has the same great features everyone loves about VFF: great speakers delivering great sessions, live chatting during presentations, and getting to hang out virtually with new and old friends. This event will feature classic sessions from previous conferences, updated for 2024.

We’re excited to offer you Southwest Fox 2024, a hybrid conference, September 26-29, 2024. You decide whether to come in person or watch online! The in-person event will be held at the Hampton Inn & Suites Phoenix-Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The virtual event will use the Ring Central Hopin platform (the same platform we use for Virtual Fox Fest).

Web sites will be updated in the new year. Call for speakers will be announced later in February so get your ideas prepared.

Formatting Strings

In the category of building on the shoulders of giants, I adapted the idea Eric Selje presented in String.Format for Visual FoxPro and added support for string interpolation. This makes it much easier to code and read statements that combine expressions into a string.

For example, rather than writing (and later trying to understand):

lcMessage = 'The balance for ' + lcUser + ' on ' + transform(datetime()) + ;
    ' is ' + transform(lnBalance)

use this:

lcMessage = Format('The balance for {lcUser} on {datetime()} is {lnBalance}')

You can get Format.prg from my GitHub repository.