ExampleSourceCode:http://www.paulmcnett.com/vfp/09MCNESC.

zip
ThisarticleoriginallyappearedintheSeptember2003issueofFoxTalk.
Ifyouenjoythisarticle,pleaseconsidersendingaPayPaldonationtop@ulmcnett.com.Thanks!

ExploringPythonfromaVisualFoxPro
Perspective
PaulMcNett

VisualFoxProisquitecapableinalmostallaspects,exceptforapplicationdeploymentaccordingtoMicrosoft,youmay
onlydeployyourapplicationstoWindowssystems.Feelingsomewhatlimitedbythissituation,IdiscoveredPython,an
opensourceprogramminglanguagethatisacompellingchoiceforseasonedVisualFoxProdevelopersanditrunson
multipleplatforms!Inthisarticle,I'llintroduceyoutoPython,andshowyouhowtoaccessVisualFoxProdatawithit.

ManyVisualFoxProdevelopersfeelthattheirchoicesofdevelopmentenvironmentsareeffectivelylimited
toVisualFoxProor.NETVisualFoxProbecausethatiswhattheyknow,and.NETbecauseitis
compelling,capable,andrichwithfeaturesandanastronomicaladvertisingbudget.Bothoftheseoptions
linkagainsttheWindowsGUI,andarethereforelimitedtorunningontheWindowsplatform(unlessyou
wanttouseaworkaroundsuchasWineoravirtualmachinesuchasWin4LinorVMWare).Thislimitation
isobviouslybydesign.Otherlanguagesanddevelopmentenvironmentsexist,separatefrom.NET,suchas
thevariousflavorsofC,C++,andJava,thataremultiplatformcapable,butinmyquestforamultiplatform
programminglanguage,onerosetothetoppreciselybecauseofitssimilaritiesinlotsofwaystothe
experienceofprogramminginFoxPro.I'dliketosharewhatI'velearnedaboutPython,andhowthis
knowledgemayapplyvisavisVisualFoxPro.
YouareprobablyaskingwhyshouldIcare,whyshouldIlearnyetanotherlanguage?TothatI
mustanswer:justhavealook,followmytutorialandseewhatPython'sstrengthsandweaknessesare.Ifit
isn'tforyou,youhaven'tinvestedmuchtofindthatout.Butifyouendupappreciatingit,asIknowyou
will,you'llhaveanothervaluabletooltoputinyourkit.
PythonataGlance

Sportingasnakeicon,PythonwasactuallynamedaftertheMontyPython'sFlyingCircusBBCtelevision
show,byitscreator,GuidovanRossum,startinginthelate1980's.Itcomeswithanenthusiasticcommunity
ofverysmartpeoplethatareonthewholeveryhappytosharetheirrecipesandhelpnewbiesgetstarted.
Pythonisaninterpretedlanguagewithanelegantandreadablesyntax,andlikeVisualFoxProyou
canmixandmatchOOPwithfunctionalprogramming,allvariablesareineffectvariants,andthereisa
strongandflexiblebutquitedifferentdatamodel.Pythonconsistsofthecoremodulesandisaugmented
byadditionalmodulescontributedbydevelopersallovertheworld.
Pythoncomeswithaliberalopensourcelicense,whichmeansthatyouarefreetomodifyand
redistributethecodeprettymuchasyouseefit.ThePythoninterpreteriscompiledCCode,anddoesn't
haveanydependenciesonanyGUI,sothereforeisquiteportabletoallknownplatforms,evenincluding
DOS,olderversionsofWindows,andembeddedsystems.Writeyourcodeonceonagivenplatform,andas
longasyouhaven'tlinkedagainstanymodulesthatareplatformdependent,yourprogramwillexecuteon
anyotherplatform.WhilemostPythonprogramsarebuilttorunonWindowsandLinux,MacintoshOSX
isalsowidelysupportedandanyPythonprogramcanbemadetorunonmanyotherplatformsaswell.
ErrorhandlingiseasywiththenowubiquitousTRY...CATCH...FINALLYblockswhichcanbe
nested.Therearestandardexceptionsthatcanbecaughtorthrown,andyoucanmakeyourownaswellby
simplysubclassingtheExceptionclass.Unittestinganddocumentationaresonaturalandeasythatyou
actuallyhavetotrytoignoretheseimportantfeatures.
Pythonisstrictcase:capitalizationmattersinyoursourcecode.However,dependingonthe
operatingsystemyouarerunningiton,capitalizationmayormaynotmatterwithregardtofileand
directorynames.
Functionsarefirstclassobjects,whichmeansthatyoucangetanobjectreferencetoafunction
(eitherastandalonefunctionoramethodofaclass),andpassitaroundtootherfunctions.Garbage
collectionhappensautomaticallyinthebackground,andcanbeoverriddenifneeded.

Sourcecodeisplaintext,whichmeansyoucanuseyourfavoriteeditor,andPythonsourcefiles
(scripts)byconventionhavea.pyextension.Compilationtobytecodehappensinthebackgroundbythe
Pythoninterpreterasneeded,whichgenerates.pycor.pyofiles,dependingonhowyouhaveitset.Youmay
also,asinFoxPro,fireuptheinteractivePythoninterpreter,andexecutestatementslinebyline.The
interactiveinterpreterisactuallymorecapablethanVisualFoxPro'scommandwindow,inthatyoucaneven
executecontrolstructuresanddefineentireclassesorfunctions.
Python,unlikeVisualFoxPro,doesnotcomewithanygraphicalwidgetsforconstructing
Windowsapplications.Itis,however,distributedwithamultiplatformGUItoolkitcalledTkinter,which
youarefreetouse.InmyopiniontherearebetterchoicesthanTkinter(PyQtandwxPythontonamethe
toptwo),butmypointhereisthatPythonprogramsaresimplescriptsthatcanoptionallylinktoaGUI.Itis
nicenotcarryingalongtheGUIbaggagewhenagivenprogramdoesn'tneedit,anditisveryliberatingto
beabletochooseforyourselftheGUIthatworksbestforyou.
PythoncomeswitharudimentaryIntegratedDevelopmentEnvironmentcalledIDLE,althoughI
usuallyjustusethecommandlinebecauseIfindthatsimplerandmoreefficientformypurposes.I'llutilize
IDLEinthistutorialsincemostWindowsdevelopersaremorecomfortableusingaGUIthanacommand
line.
InstallingPython

PythoniseasilyinstalledonWindowsbydownloadingandrunningtheinstallerat
http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.2.3/Python2.2.3.exe.WhiletherestofthisarticleassumesaWindows
installation,youmayinstallitonotherplatformsaswellbyfollowinglinksat
http://www.python.org/download.Makesureyouleaveallinstallationoptionscheckedsothatyouhave
everythingyouneed.Pleasealsoinstallthewin32allextensions
(http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/downloads/win32all152.exe),whichincludesfunctionalityfor
Windowsdevelopment.Pythonandthewin32allextensionsarecompletelyfree,asinfreedomandasin
beer.
AfteryouinstallPythonandthewin32allextensions,I'llguideyouthroughashorttutorialand
showyouhoweasyitistotalktoFoxProdatafiles.Alongthewayyou'lllearnPython'sbasicdatatypes,
controlstructures,andOOPimplementation.
AShortTutorialDataAccessinPythonandVisualFoxPro

ThistutorialwillshowhowtousePythontomanipulatetablescreatedinVisualFoxPro.Alongtheway,
you'llbeintroducedtoPython'sbasicfunctionality.Intherealworld,InolongerusenativeVisualFoxPro
tables,butratherchoosetouseMySQL(orotherdatabaseservers)onthebackend.FromVisualFoxPro,I
connecttoMySQLusingtheMyODBCdriver,andfromPython,IconnectusingtheMySQLclientlibrary
directly.Forsimplicityinthisarticlethough,I'lljustusenativeVisualFoxProtablesandthenmanipulate
thosetablesbothfromVFPandPython.
Thefirstthingyou'llwanttodoismakesureyourPythoninstallationwassuccessful.Whilethere
aremanywaystousePython,I'llguideyouthroughusingthePythoncommandlineinterpreteras
implementedbyIDLE,thePythonIDE.HavealookinyourWindowsstartmenu,underPrograms/Python
2.2.ClickontheshortcutlabeledIDLE(PythonGUI).DoingthiswillbringupawindowtitledPython
Shell,completewithacommandinterpreterandablinkingcursor.Thecommandpromptis>>>.To
aquaintyouwiththemostbasicPythoncommands,followtheseexamples:
>>>printhelloworld!#thestringisoutput
helloworld
>>>helloworld!#astringobjectisoutput
'helloworld'
>>>1+2#Addition
3
>>>12#Subtraction
1
>>>75*57#Multiplication
4275
>>>1/2#Divisionofinteger
0
>>>1.0/2#Divisionoffloat
0.5
>>>breakfast=eggs#bindingnametostring
>>>count=3#bindinganothernametointeger

>>>#simpleoutputformatting/linecontinuation:
>>>printforbreakfastyou'llhave%d%s.\
%(count,breakfast)
forbreakfastyou'llhave3eggs.
>>>importsys#importingexternalmodule
>>>sys.platform
'win32'
>>>importodbc#testifwin32allisinstalled
>>>defmyFunction(string):
printMyFunction:,string
returnyes
(pressreturntwiceheretogetthepromptback)
>>>printmyFunction(hereIam!)
MyFunction:hereIam!
yes
>>>printmyFunction
<functionmyFunctionat0x8176084>

Okay,sobasicallythePythoninteractiveinterpreterisyourfriend.Itisgreatforquicklytryingthingsout
andgettingusedtoPython'ssyntax.(Hmmmm,soundfamiliar?Kindalikeadotprompt?OrtheVisual
FoxProCommandWindow?)Andyougetadditionalbenefitsfromusingtheinteractiveinterpreterwith
IDLE:namelysyntaxcoloringandfunctionargumentToolTiphelp.Ifyounoticed,youlearnedseveral
thingsintheabovesession:commentscanappearonalineoftheirownorinline,alinecanbecontinued
withthebackslashcharacter,normalPythonscriptscanbeimportedintootherPythonscriptsasmodules,
thebasicprintoutputfunctionalityisadequateforquicktesting,andfunctionsarefirstclassobjectsand
thuscanbepassedtootherfunctions.Ifyoudidn'tgetanyerrorsimportingtheodbcmodule,youareready
tocontinuewiththistutorial.
MygoalistointroduceyoutothesimplicityandeleganceofPython,andI'lldothisbyshowing
youhowyoucanaccessandmanipulatedatabasetablesfromPythoncode.I'llwalkyouthroughthedesign
ofsometesttablesfromVFP,accessingandmanipulatingthetablesfromVFPwiththeFoxProODBC
driver,andthenaccessingandmanipulatingthetablesfromPythonusingthesameODBCdriver.
Firstofall,makesureyouhavetheVisualFoxProODBCdriverinstalled(opentheODBC
Administrator,gotothedriverstab,andlocatethedriver.Notetheexactnameofthedriver,whichyou'll
needwhenyouentertheconnectstringlater.Myversionis6.01.8629.01,andthenameisMicrosoft
FoxProVFPDriver(*.dbf).Ifyoursisnameddifferently,you'llhavetosubstituteyournameinmy
examples.
Timetocreatethetable.FireupVisualFoxPro,andfollowalonginthecommandwindow:
mkdirc:\temp\pytest
cdc:\temp\pytest
createtablemenu(iidi,citemc(32),;
npricen(8,2))
insertintomenu(iid,citem,nprice)values;
(1,Pancakes,4.50)
insertintomenu(iid,citem,nprice)values;
(2,CoffeeCake,2.89)
insertintomenu(iid,citem,nprice)values;
(3,TofuScramble,5.00)
use
*connectusingODBC:

cString=[driver=];
+[{MicrosoftFoxProVFPDriver(*.dbf)};];
+[SourceType=DBF;SourceDB=c:\temp\pytest\]
iHandle=c:/temp/pytest/"
*iHandleshouldcontainapostivevalueifit
*returnsa'1'value,itmeansthecommand
*failed
=SQLEXEC(m.iHandle,select*frommenu)
BROWSE

Ifyouseeyourthreerecordsinasqlcursorcalledsqlresult,thenallisasitshouldbe.Timetotrythe
samethingfromPython.

Beforegoingon,IshouldbackawayatthispointandexplainthatPythonconsistsofacorethatis
extensiblebyimportingexternalmodules.ThesemodulesmayhavebeendistributedwithPython,orthey
mayhavecomefromoneofhundredsofdevelopersworldwide,ortheymayhavebeenwrittenbyyou.The
pointI'mmakinghereisthat,unlikeVFP,Pythondoesnotloadupalotofbaggagethatyoumayormay
noteveruse,butinsteadleavesituptoyoutoimportthemodulesthatyourequire.Indeed,yougetto
choosethemodulesthatworkbestforyou,insteadofrelyingononevendortomaketheonecorrectchoice
foryou,orrefusingtoprovidefunctionalitythatyouneed.
Accessingdatabasesrequirestheimportingofanappropriatedriverforthedatabaseinquestion,
andtomakeitalesslowlevelofanexperienceI'veborrowedarecipefromThePythonCookbookcalled
'LazyDB',writtenbyJohnB.Dell'Aquila,andwrappeditwith2layersofmyownmodules,onethat
definesadbAccessbaseclass,andoneexamplesubclassthatcanbeusedtoaccessVFPtables.Other
subclassescouldbemadetoaccessotherbackenddatabases,suchasMySQLorMicrosoftSQLServer.
Anyway,thereare3filesinthedownloadsectionthatyouneedtosaveforthetutorialtowork.
Theyare:lazydb.py,dbaccess.py,anddbaccess_vfp.py.Savethemtoc:\temp\pytestcode\.dbaccess_vfp.py
containsasubclassofdbAccess,whichisdefinedindbaccess.py.dbaccess.pyinstantiatestheConnection
classasdefinedinlazydb.py.
Takealookatthesethreefilesinatexteditor(hint:openIDLE,thenFile/Open,andviewthefiles
thatway,asyougetthebenefitsofsyntaxcoloring).Notethateveryscriptexceptforlazydbhasanimport
statement.dbaccess_vfpimportstheodbcdriver,becausethatishowtoconnecttoVFPtables.Formy
projects,Iactuallyuseadbaccess_mysqlscriptthat,insteadofimportingodbc,importsMySqlDbwhich
connectsdirectlytoMySQLwithouttheneedforODBC.BoththeMySQLandtheVFPscriptsaccessthe
commondbaccessandlazydbmodules.
Anyway,takealookatthecodeinthesethreefilesasyouarenewtoPython,youwon't
completelyunderstandit,butyoushouldnoticethatthecodeisreadableandtheclassdefinitionsare
simple.Noticeatthebottomofdbaccess_vfp.py,thereisablockoftestcode.Thisis,ineffect,awayof
includingunittestingwithyourmodules.Thecodewillonlyexecutewhenrunasscript(bytyping'python
dbaccess_vfp.py'attheDOScommandline),butwillnotexecutewhenimportedfromanotherfile.Itis
verysimilartotheconventiongoodVFPdevelopershaveadoptedofputtingunittestcodeintheirprogram
classesthatwillexecutewhenyourunthecodeasaprogram,butnotwhenyouinstantiateaclassfromthat
programfile.ThedifferenceisthatinVFP,youwouldputsuchtestcodeatthetop,butinPythonitmustgo
atthebottom.Justforkicks,whydon'tyourundbaccess_vfp.pyandseeifeverythingisworkingcorrectly.
OpenupaDOScommandline(cmd.exe)anddothefollowing:
c:
cdc:\temp\pytestcode
pythondbaccess_vfp.py

Ifyousawthetestoutputalongwiththe3menuitems,everythingisworkingjustfine.Ifyougota
TraceBackmessage(Python'sdefaulterrorhandler),youprobablyneedtoeditdbaccess_vfp.pytochange
theconnectstringtoconformtoyourodbcsetup.Itishardcodedintherenotnormallyagreatpracticebut
itdoesjustfineforthisexample.Changeitappropriatelytomatchyoursetup.IfyougotaWindows
messagethatthepythonexecutablecouldnotbelocated,thenyouneedtomanuallyaddthePython2.2
programdirectorytoyoursystempath.Alternatively,ifthe.pyextensiongotregisteredcorrectly,youcan
probablygetawaywithsimplytyping:
dbaccess_vfp.py

Okay,sothescriptruns,provingthatyou'vegottendataoutoftheVFPtable.Itismorefuntointeractwith
tables,soitistimetostartIDLEagainandfollowalonginthePythonshell.I'llbeimportingthe
dbaccess_vfp.pymodule,whichisstillsittinginc:\temp\pycode.Becauseitisn'tinPython'ssearchpathfor
modules,I'llneedtoaddthepathmanually.Whilethereareotherwaystoachievethesameendresult,this
oneintroducesyoutoabasicPythontype:theList.
PythonisparticularlywellsuitedfordealingwithdatabecauseofitsList,Tuple,andDictionary
datatypes.Theseareallsequences,andsequencescancontainothersequences,resultinginapowerful
matrixofpossibilities.Alistisamutablesequenceofitems,andisspecifiedbyusingsquarebrackets([]).
Contrastthistoatuple,whichisanimmutablesequenceofitems.Atupleisdesignatedbynormalparens

().Listsareagreatwaytohold'records',wherebyeach'record'isanotherlistof'fields'.Anyway,the
pathingissue:
>>>importsys#basicsystemfunctions
>>>printsys.path
(Iomittedtheresults,butdothisyourself,
andyou'llseealistofstrings)
>>>#appendourpath:
>>>sys.path.append(c:\\temp\\pycode)

Nowthatyouhavethepathsetup(didyounoticethatthelistisactuallyanobjectwithanappend()
method?)youcanfollowalongwiththefollowinginteractivesessiontoreadfromandmanipulatethetest
data:
>>>#importintotheglobalnamespace:
>>>fromdbaccess_vfpimport*
>>>#getarecordset:
>>>menu=dbVFP().dbRecordSet(select*
frommenu)
>>>#showalltherecords(notetheclean
>>>#iterationstyle):
>>>foriteminmenu:
printitem.citem,item.nprice
(twoCR'stoexittheiterationblock)

Youshouldseeonerecordperline.Ok,timetohavesomefunbyupdatingandinsertingrecords:
>>>#thistimegetapersistentobjectreference
>>>#todbVFP:
>>>vfp=dbVFP()
>>>vfp.dbCommand(updatemenusetcitem=
'PancakesandSpam'whereiid=1)
>>>#thistimedefineafunctionwecancall
>>>#overandoveragain:
>>>defshowAll():
menu=dbVFP().dbRecordSet(select*from
menuorderbyiid)
forrecordinmenu:
printrecord.iid,record.citem,\
record.nprice
>>>#nowwhenwechangesomething,wecanjust
>>>#callshowAll():
>>>vfp.dbCommand(insertintomenu

(iid,citem,nprice)values

(4,'RiceCakesandWater',14.50))
>>>showAll()

Playaroundinteractivelyforawhile,andstartexperimentingwithwritingyourowncustomscripts.You
maynotbeallthatexcitedyet,becauseyou'venoticedthatsofaritsbeenalltextoutput,nofamiliar
graphicaluserinterface.Thiswastokeepthetutorialsimple,tointroduceyouPythonbyshowingyouone
waytoaccessFoxProtables.Restassured,therearemanywaystocreateprofessionalGUIapplicationswith
Python.Justsoyoudon'tfeeltotallyleftoutinthecold,hereisalittleteasertoshowyouhoweasyitcan
betoaddagraphicalinterfacetoyourapplication(enterthiscodeinthePythonShellinteractively,orif
youarefeelingmoresureofyourself,makeitintoascriptandthenexecuteit):
importsys,Tkinter
Tkinter.Label(text=Enoughspamforya?).pack()
Tkinter.Button(text=Bye,command=sys.exit).pack()
Tkinter.mainloop()

PythonResources

Pythonissupportedbyacommunityofenthusiasticvolunteers,inacademiaandtheITindustry,from
aroundtheworld.AgreatplacetostartisattheofficialPythonwebsite,athttp://www.python.org.There
areplentyoftutorialsandlotsofdocumentationtheretokeepyoubusylearningthisexcitinglanguage.
Thereisalsoamailinglist/UseNetgroup(pythonlist@python.org/comp.lang.python)thatrangesfrom
newbietoultratechnicalandthatI'vefoundquitefascinating.Thereareanumberofbooksavailable,of

whichIcanhighlyrecommendPythoninaNutshell,byAlexMartelli,O'Reilly2003asagreatdesktop
referenceandPythonCookbook,editedbyAlexMartelliandDavidAsher,O'Reilly2002,whichcontains
recipes(howto's)fromthePythoncommunity.
PythonandVisualFoxProcanworkwelltogetherinsituationswhereyouhaveadesktopapplicationanda
webapplicationaccessingthesamedata.ThedesktopapplicationcanbewritteninVisualFoxProwhilethe
webapplicationcanbedoneinPython.ItcanbedifficulttodeployaVFPapptothewebbecauseofthe
loadVFPtendstoputontheserverunlessyouhaveadedicatedserverforyourVFPwebapp,you'll
probablybebetterservedwithaPythonwebapponanApachewebserver.Or,ifyoufindthatyouneedto
deployyourdesktopapplicationtoplatformsotherthanthelatestversionofWindows,youcanconsider
rewritingitinPython,coupledwithagraphicaltoolkitsuchasQtorwxPython.Whenitcomesto
developmenttools,therearemanyalternativesoutthere,andinmyobservationsPythonisworthalook.
PaulMcNettisanindependentsoftwareconsultantinHollister,California.Whiledesigningdesktopandweb
applicationsusingVisualFoxProisstillhisprimaryfocus,heisalsousingdevelopertoolsfromtheopensource
community,includingPython,todeploytotheOSX,Linux,andWindowsplatforms.Hecanbereachedbyemailat
p@ulmcnett.comorbyphoneat831.636.9900.