Philadelphia VFP User Group invites you to join us for two special meetings
Jay Berardinelli
meetings featuring a pair of internationally-known VFP experts.
On Wednesday, June 18, Marcia Akins will present "Practical uses for the
Windows API".
Marcia Akins is an independent Consultant and software developer who for the
past few years has worked primarily with Visual FoxPro and SQL Server. She
and her husband, Andy Kramek own and operate Tightline Computers, Inc. from
their home in Akron, Ohio. She has been awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable
Professional since 1999 and also has Microsoft Certified Professional
qualifications for both Distributed and Desktop Applications in Visual
FoxPro.
Marcia co-authored the Kitbox column in FoxTalk Magazine from November, 2001
through July of 2006. She and her husband, Andy, then wrote a regular column
in The Advisor Guide to Microsoft Visual FoxPro database Development until
the end of 2007. Their popular Kitbox column is now being published in
FoxRockX magazine. Marcia's published work also includes several articles
for both FoxPro Advisor and FoxTalk magazines as well as the very successful
book "1001 Things You Wanted to Know About VFP" (Hentzenwerke publishing,
2000) and "MegaFox: 1002 Things You Wanted to Know About Extending VFP"
(Hentzenwerke publishing, 2002).
Speaking engagements include SouthwestFox(Tempe, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007),
OzFox(Sydney, Australia, July 2003), Visual FoxPro Devcon (Prague, Czech
Republic, June 2002, 2005, 2007), Essential Fox (Kansas City, 2002, 2003,
2004), Conference to the Max (Holland, May 2000 and May 2002), Great Lakes
Great Database Workshop (Milwaukee, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006), Advisor
Devcon (San Diego, September 2001 and Fort Lauderdale, September 2002),
German Devcon (Frankfurt, November 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006), as well as
user group meetings in Europe and the U.S.
Web site: www.tightlinecomputers.com
Absract: This session introduces Windows API programming for Visual FoxPro
developers. Marcia begins by reviewing what the API is and how to translates
the examples that are often in Visual Basic or Visual C++ into good old
Visual FoxPro syntax. She will then present several practical examples using
Windows API functions to do things that cannot be accomplished using native
Visual FoxPro commands. These examples include code to read the Windows
Registry and retrieve user settings from the Control Panel, code to ensure
that the screen is really locked when we must manipulate the appearance of
ActiveX controls in our VFP forms, and much more.
On Wednesday, July 16, Cathy Pountney will present "Customizing Your
Vertical Market App"
Cathy Pountney is a five-time recipient of the Microsoft VFP MVP award and
has been developing software for 26 years, many of which were as an
independent consultant specializing in FoxPro. In 2001 she had the privilege
of spending six months as a contractor onsite in Redmond with the Microsoft
Fox Team. She now works for Memorial Business Systems writing software for
the cemetery and funeral home industry. Cathy has spoken at many FoxPro
conferences and user groups across the U.S. and Canada, written articles for
various magazines, and her book, The Visual FoxPro Report Writer: Pushing it
to the Limit and Beyond, is available from Hentzenwerke Publishing. You can
contact Cathy at ca...@frontier2000.com, view her website at
http://www.frontier2000.com, and view MBS's website at www.mbs-intl.com.
Abstract: Writing a vertical market application can be very rewarding. You
write one application, sell it numerous times, and sit back while the money
rolls in. Well, that's the theory anyway. The reality is that often times,
new clients want to buy your software, as long as you can change this one
little thing. Managing custom code for various clients within your
application can easily turn into a nightmare as your client base expands.
This session shows you how to implement a customization methodology in your
vertical market application that keeps your standard code independent from
your custom code, yet have the two code bases play nice together. Attendees
will learn.
Both meetings begin at 7 PM, but the group will provide dinner at 6:30 PM.
We meet at Valley Forge Pension Management, 715 Twining Road, Suite 202,
Dresher, PA 19025, which is less than 10 minutes from the Fort Washington
exit (exit 339) of the PA Turnpike. (If you're using a GPS, be aware that
the Oreland offramp from PA 309 Southbound has been permanently closed.
Coming off the PA turnpike, do not get on PA 309. Continue straight and your
GPS should direct you to an alternate route.)
There is a charge of $5 per meeting.
The latest information about our group is at http://vfpphilly.blogspot.com/.