Building Applications

When your application project contains all the necessary files, you're ready to build a distributable file. You can build your project as a standard application that only runs when Visual FoxPro is present, or as an executable application that runs without Visual FoxPro.

Note   You can also build your application as an Automation server. For details, see Creating Automation Servers.

Building a Standard Visual FoxPro Application

You can build a standard Visual FoxPro application with the Project Manager or with the BUILD APP command. However, more build options are available when you create an application through the Project Manager.

To build a standard application

• In the Project Manager, choose Build, then in the Build Options dialog box, choose Build Application.

  -or-

• Use the BUILD APP command.

Building an Executable File

You can build a Visual FoxPro executable file with the Project Manager or with the BUILD EXE command.

To build an executable file

• In the Project Manager, choose Build, then in the Build Options dialog box, choose Build Executable.

  -or-

• Use the BUILD EXE command.

  If you include the STANDALONE or EXTENDED clauses of the BUILD EXE command, Visual FoxPro generates a "Command contains unrecognized phrase/keyword" error message. These clauses were used in FoxPro, but are irrelevant in Visual FoxPro.

You can also build an Automation server, which creates a DLL that can be called from other Windows programs.

To compile an Automation server

• In the Project Manager, choose Build, then in the Build Options dialog box, choose Build OLE DLL.

  -or-

• Use the BUILD DLL command.

See Also

Modifying the Appearance of Your Application | Creating Automation Servers