Distributable and Restricted Visual FoxPro Features and Files

  • Article

Visual FoxPro and its development environment contain many files and features that are licensed only for your use in designing, developing, and testing your applications. If your application contains any of these restricted features or files as well as files other than those authored by you or in Redist.txt, you must remove them. Under the terms of the Microsoft License Agreement you received with this product, you cannot ship these files in your application or on your disks.

You can distribute any Visual FoxPro file that is not restricted. For a list of redistributable files, see Redist.txt, which is located in your Visual FoxPro directory (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual FoxPro 8), and the guidelines for including redistributable files in this topic.

Restricted Visual FoxPro Features

You cannot include the following restricted Visual FoxPro menus and their menu commands in a distributed executable (.exe) file:

  • Database
  • Form
  • Menu
  • Program
  • Project
  • Query
  • Table

The following table lists commands for which your application returns the error "Feature not available" if included. Although you cannot include commands that create or modify menus, forms, or queries, you can run compiled menu, form, or query programs in your application.

Unavailable commands  
APPEND PROCEDURES MODIFY DATABASE
BUILD APP MODIFY FORM
BUILD EXE MODIFY MENU
BUILD PROJECT MODIFY PROCEDURE
CREATE FORM MODIFY PROJECT
CREATE MENU MODIFY QUERY
CREATE QUERY MODIFY SCREEN
CREATE SCREEN MODIFY VIEW
CREATE VIEW MODIFY CONNECTION
SET STEP  

The following table lists commands that are ignored when used in a distributed application.

Ignored commands  
ASSERT DEBUGOUT
SET DEBUG SET DOHISTORY
SET DEVELOPMENT SET ECHO

Restricted Visual FoxPro Files

Visual FoxPro installs files on your computer that are restricted and cannot be reproduced or distributed, including:

  • Some wizard files
  • TrueType fonts
  • Visual FoxPro Help files

Distributable Visual FoxPro Files

Pursuant to the Microsoft License Agreement you received with this product, you must distribute files in conjunction with a corresponding application. The following guidelines apply to distributable files.

Samples

Visual FoxPro provides files in the ...\Samples\ directory for you to learn from and build on. Although you cannot distribute unmodified Visual FoxPro samples, you can refer to portions of sample application code as examples for building your own application.

If you use any files in these directories, including all .bmp, .ico, and .cur files, you must include them in your project and application build. They must not appear by name on the distributable disks and cannot be distributed independently of your applications.

Class Libraries

You can use any .vcx file, including those in the \Ffc and \Gallery directories, the wizard class library, Wizstyle.vcx, and the sample class libraries without modification in your applications. You must include the libraries in your project and in your application build.

ODBC Files

Please refer to the Microsoft License Agreement you received with this product for specific restrictions with respect to your redistribution of ODBC files.

ActiveX Controls

Visual FoxPro includes a set of ActiveX controls (.ocx files) you can add to and distribute with your applications.

See Also

Distributing Applications | Preparation for Distributing Applications | Resource Files in Applications | Including Files with Applications for Distribution | ActiveX Controls Overview