Best Practice - Convert from VFP


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Charles R Hankey
Charles R Hankey
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Even with significant structure changes at some point you have to move the VFP data into SQL tables. My approach, since I was most familiar with manipulating data in VFP was to do my changes there, creating prgs that work on a copy of of my VFP data, doing ALTER TABLE commands to add fields, copy data, transform data, allow null, generate integer keys etc.



The I pointed Full Convert at that and it moved it to SQL without a hitch.



And if I found something I didn't like I could tweak the prg, tweak the Full convert project, then blow away the SQL database, recreate it from DDT and rerun the process.



Suppose I could have done it with remote views but that turned out to be a lot more work.
Howard Bennett
Howard Bennett
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Now - that's a good idea (restructuring tables in VFP - then using Full Convert to move.) Hadn't thought of that.



Thanks again!!!



HB
Michel Levy
Michel Levy
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Charles

playing with the trial version of FullConvert, I'm unable to automatically convert VFP autoinc fields as SQL int identity, nor to convert PK.

Is it a limitation in the trial version? do you really convert all  referential integrity with this tool?

Charles R Hankey
Charles R Hankey
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All my VFP stuff used GUID pks and I was originally drawn to Full Convert because unlike the "upsizer" it would let me map my GUIDs to UIDs. I never used autoinc integers in VFP databases.



Most of my VFP -> conversion was done for other peoples apps as I started developing VFP apps exclusively against SQL starting about 2002.



I usually found that RI ( especially straight VFP RI without Steve Sawyer's brilliant mod ) wasn't something I wanted to even think about converting so I just moved the table data and set up the RI triggers where appropriate in SQL itself after the data was moved.



When on the Table Setting screen I would only check Recreate Data ( having already created the structure I wanted with DDT ) and then check Skip Indexes and Skip Constraints.



I found it was better to move the data from VFP to SQL without indexes or RI or defaults - ie. data only - no metadata - and then set things up in sql the way I wanted it. I don't trust any "automatic" conversion of that kind of stuff as I always assumed ( perhaps incorrectly ) that the VFP implementation of some of that stuff may have been done to look like SQL it really was different ( RI being a good example )



Full Convert's primary utility for me was in mapping the fields and doing the actual data transfer and storing those setting in projects so they were reproducable and tweakable. I found the VFPOLEDB driver flakey or I would have done it from the SQL side with DDT / SSIS.





Michel Levy
Michel Levy
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Thank you for that explanation, Charles.

New upsizing wizard allows us to create clustered indexes on PK, and migrate VFP RI triggers in SQL constraints. Of course, it's not a magic tool, and I never trust it, and always set the final conversion in SSMS and DDT.

Since VFP6, I use RI with no failure or problem. Moving apps in VFP8, I used autoinc PK.

We have different experiences with Fox and SQL, so we can learn each from others.

GO

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