Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!adm!cmcl2!panix!alexis
From: alexis@panix.UUCP (Alexis Rosen)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Why Does FoxBase Act Like a Virus? (IT DOES *NOT*!)
Message-ID: <211@panix.UUCP>
Date: 25 Oct 89 09:00:23 GMT
References: <1989Oct24.153944.29979@agate.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: alexis@panix.UUCP (Alexis Rosen)
Organization: PANIX - Public Access Computer Systems of NY
Lines: 32


First of all, I think it's extremely irresponsible to compare FoxBase to a
virus. The behavior described, which is quite reasonable, bears absolutely no
resemblance to viral activity. There is enough nonsense going around about
viruses (witness the latest InfoWorld Cringe Idiocy) that we don't need more
of this on the net. Sorry if this seems harsh but I'm completely serious.

That said, the reason for this behavior is simple. First of all, without the
correct file types and creator the icons wouldn't have the correct appearance.
Much more importantly, you wouldn't be able to find them in the standard file
when you tried to open them from the file menu without going through the "all
files" check box each time. I considered this issue too when I first
encountered it and decided that what they were doing was entirely appropriate.
If you don't like it, there are lots of solutions less draconian than tossing
the product.

As for the problem with globals that you describe, I've never encountered it
(as best as I can tell from a very hazy description) and I use globals quite
a bit (unusual app, in one case). That's not to say that a problem doesn't
exist.  If you post some code, I'll be glad to look at it and pass it on to
Fox if it really is a bug. They are very good about fixing bugs (turnaround
is typically on the order of two days to two weeks, as opposed to two months
to two years, which is common practice in the Mac market).

Alexis Rosen

ps- Until I iron out the bugs on this system, mail to me may vanish for long
periods, as may news. So if I disappear for a while, it's not because I don't
want to chat, but rather that I can't... If mail does fail, you can try me
at alexis@rascal.ics.utexas.edu, but it's not certain either.

cmcl2!panix!alexis@nyu.edu