Question:
I have my first Visual FoxPro app that runs fine in the development environment, but will not run in runtime. What do I need to do to keep it going in the runtime?

Answer:
In Fox 2.x apps, you had to create what was referred to as a “foundation read.” This read level (e.g., READ VALID glDontQuit) was used as an event loop: a loop that kept the application alive and waiting for events to occur. When it was time to leave the application, the READ VALID expression (glDontQuit) was set so that the read was ended, allowing the executable to end.

VFP has a command called READ EVENTS that does this for you. READ EVENTS starts the VFP event loop, and ends the event loop only when you execute the command CLEAR EVENTS. Put the following code in the main program of your executable:

DO MyMenu.MPRDO FORM MyFormREAD EVENTS

In the menu option that is supposed to close the application, put the following:

CLEAR EVENTS

This will end the event loop that keeps the executable in memory. The code that follows the READ EVENTS command then will execute.