#1 Yes. Originally TData was an extension of TDatabase. Now TDatabase is extended a lot by itself. It is not my intention is to compare or advise any change. I rather advise *not* to change. Any change is a big effort. I just wanted to place on record that now TDatabase is a very enriched class.
#2. Keeping portability in view we are going to introduce TRecSet class. With very few changes (mostly while opening the table) TDatabase code should work with TRecSet also. If there are going to be users it will be included in
Sept release. It is not really a new work. Refurbishing the classes I have been personally using for years in my real life applications. The TRecset class transparently handles differences between harbour/xharbour and those minor but important differences between different SQL DBMSs.
#3. FWH already provides many ado functions for exporting DBFs to SQL DBMSs. The job of migrating tables is very easy. Example: FW_AdoImportFromDBF(...).
We purposefully designed XBrowse to help portability. With the same intention we added and integrated TDataRow class. Using both together we can write a table maintenance program in a very few steps that is fully portable between dbf, ado, tdatabase like objects, tdolphin, etc.
I personally advise you plan to move ahead. FWH provides the tools for you.
I think it's important to move forward, but I'm trying to evaluate just how massive this project might become.
There is no doubt it requires good effort. But it is definitely not going to be as massive as you might be thinking.