What is the Technical Structure of Sage 100 Contractor?

One of the questions I get repeatedly is about the technical structure of Sage 100 Contractor. This question is often generated by mis-information that is suggested or stated by Sage 100 Contractor competitors. While some of the information is a bit technical, it should clear up any misunderstandings about the construction of Sage 100 Contractor (S100C).

1) S100C does
NOT use Microsoft Visual Foxpro
in any part of its system and it never has.

2) S100C is written in current version of .NET using C# as the primary language. This was done as a conversion from Visual Basic several versions prior (I believe it was version 13) to version 19 – which is the current release. The primary development platform is Microsoft .NET – which is a current industry standard for general software development.

3) S100C uses a SQL database engine with the actual data files stored in an XBase format. XBase is a standard file format that has been around since the 1980’s. There is an
article on Wikipedia
that gives a decent overview of the XBase file format.

The reason there is confusion about Microsoft Visual Foxpro (VFP) and S100C is that VFP has the ability to open and use XBase files easily and is completely compatible with them. This makes it a good tool to use when writing add-ons, doing data repairs, or exploring the data of S100C. However, the XBase files are also accessible with SQL, LINQ, Crystal Reports, Excel, MS Access, and an host of other tools.

Is it the most modern file format for database files? No. Is it a reliable, well-tested, and extremely open architecture? Yes. Could it be replaced by another database system? Yes. Should it be replaced/upgraded by another database system? Yes – eventually, depending on any other priorities for the continued development of Sage 100 Contractor.

posted by
law