Is it possible to remake a FoxPro 2.6 program in a modern form?

Question

Windows

At work in a government hospital, there is a program written in FoxPro 2.6 that runs in DOS. The Department of Statistics enters data on patients and departments into forms, then prints reports according to certain forms. The database files, as far as I understand, are stored in DBF files.
Tell me if it is possible to remake this program into a modern look, with a normal interface, the ability to print to a usb printer and to work under Windows 7. And also preferably with the ability to transfer existing data.
I don't understand anything related to DOS at all. I would be grateful if you could at least tell me how to correctly ask this question to Google.

Answer 1

And you do not need to understand DOS, it is enough to more or less understand the subject area and have the source code of the old program. Well, or not to have source codes, but to understand the subject area well in order to understand the logic of the program.
There are tools for working with DBF for almost all languages, so you can write a program that works with the same databases, or convert databases to another format and make at least a desktop or web application.

Answer 2

You need to rewrite and pull data. Or keep using what you have.

Answer 3

Your main task is to import data from DBF. This is the most valuable thing.
And pick up a new wrapper based on the requirements for modern systems. By a wrapper, I mean a platform, a programming language, a type of database where everything will be stored.
You need a smart software architect.

Answer 4

I also have a very old FoxPro 2.6 project. At one time, they wanted to start rewriting in Visual FoxPro, but they never got around to it. Now, from the height of experience, I think it's better to write everything anew on a more modern stack, just export the data and that's it.
Oh FoxPro 2.6 nostalgia... :)

Answer 5

It is worth not only rewriting, but also rethinking the functionality. Throw out the trash, add a new one.
You can rewrite to other modern technologies (for example, .NET) and DBMS before it's too late.
Чтобы хоть немного оттянуть неминуемый конец цикла программы, можно провести короткий эксперимент по адаптации к Visual FoxPro 9.0 (VFP) для запуска в Windows 7/10 или через Wine в GNU Linux.
You can use this calculator to estimate the financial return on migrating software from FoxPro.

Answer 6

You can try to compile on [x] Harbour. This is such a project that is already 100% compatible with CA Clipper 5.3, which had some compatibility with FoxBase. It depends on what FoxPro chips were used. Most likely it will be necessary to adapt the source codes.
Can, really, to rewrite anew?