Ended 14 July 2026
SQL Server 2016 support
Extended support has ended: no more free security updates. Paid Extended Security Updates run to July 2029. If your FoxPro system feeds or sits beside a 2016 database, its moves need planning now.
Entidex Bridge for Visual FoxPro
Old systems.New control.
Connect to your FoxPro data, import into it, export it to SQL databases and your other software, and manage the routine work hands-off. Every write is previewed, approved by a second person, read back and reversible.
In development. Tested in a sandbox on the real Visual FoxPro 9 engine with synthetic data. Not yet used on a live system. See progress.
How Bridge sits beside your systemSchematic
Your FoxPro system
- Visual FoxPro 9 applicationUnchanged: no code edits
- Tables and indexesWritten only through the FoxPro engine
- Your server, your site
Entidex BridgeRuns on your machine
Outbound-only
Outbound-only
Where it goes
- SQL Server · PostgreSQL
MySQL · SQLite - CSV for spreadsheets
- JSON Lines for your other software
1 Stage2 Check3 Dry run4 Approve5 Apply6 Read back7 Record
Visual FoxPro 9 firstThe first edition
Read-only to startA survey changes nothing
Second-person approvalOn every write
Outbound-onlyRuns on your own machine
Why now
The deadlines are already
moving old systems.
FoxPro applications still run stock, orders, freight and invoicing in thousands of firms. Three dates are forcing the server, database and invoicing work around them. Each one is a reason to find out what your system writes, reads and depends on — before anything moves.
Ends 12 January 2027
Windows Server 2016 support
Many FoxPro applications still run on a 2016 server. Moving them is the moment to map what they write, what reads them and what can be exported cleanly to a supported database.
From 2029
UK mandatory e-invoicing
The government has confirmed that VAT invoices must be structured e-invoices from 2029, for business-to-business and public-sector sales. The detailed standards have not been published yet; a roadmap is due at Budget 2026. Old billing systems will need a controlled way to get invoice data out.
Sources, checked 12 October 2026: Microsoft lifecycle: SQL Server 2016 · Microsoft lifecycle: Windows Server 2016 · GOV.UK: e-invoicing consultation outcome. Prepare with our free Server 2016 legacy-app checklist.
New · read-only survey available now
Entidex Bridge for Phone Systems
Know what your phone system does, and what stops working on 31 January 2027 when the copper network closes, before anyone changes it. A fixed-price, read-only survey from £495 + VAT.
Who it's for
Firms that still key
the same data twice.
We are starting with three sectors that re-key the most data into on-premises systems and will be covered by e-invoicing. If your business runs on a FoxPro system, the same approach applies.
Wholesale & distribution
Orders arrive by email and web shop, then get typed into the order system. Stock and prices go the other way, by hand.
- Import orders as a checked, approved batch
- Export stock and price lists on a schedule
- Get invoice data out ahead of e-invoicing
Freight & logistics
Bookings and proofs of delivery are re-keyed between customer portals and the operations system.
- Import bookings and delivery updates from CSV
- Stop if a job was changed by someone else
- Export job data for customer reporting
Small manufacturing
Works orders, stock moves and job costs are moved between systems by hand, often by the one person who knows how.
- Bring stock moves in with second-person approval
- Export job costing to SQL for reporting
- Plan the move off the old system, one routine at a time
Look after these firms' IT? See how IT providers and resellers work with Bridge.
What it does
Connect. Import. Export.
Manage. Prove.
One tool for getting data into and out of your FoxPro system, with a person in charge of every change and a record of what actually happened. Status labels show what is sandbox-tested and what is still being built.
Through the engine
Bridge works through the Visual FoxPro 9 engine that owns your tables, from a small service on your machine. It connects outbound only.
Sandbox-testedChecked before it lands
Stage a CSV, see coded validation findings and a dry run, get approval from someone else, then apply with record locks and a checksum compare.
Sandbox-testedOut to SQL and files
Read tables read-only and export to CSV, JSON Lines, or SQL scripts for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server and SQLite. Once, incrementally or on a schedule.
In progressYou decide, it does
Bridge does the keying, checking and record-keeping; people only make the decisions. Stop controls halt a run. Anything unexpected stops and waits.
In developmentEvidence, not a tick
Every changed field and index tag is read back after a write. An audit export can be checked offline, without trusting Bridge.
Sandbox-testedTargets
FoxPro data into SQL databases, spreadsheets and your other software.
Exports are read-only: Bridge reads the FoxPro tables and never changes them to export. Use them to feed reporting, to run old and new systems side by side, or to move off FoxPro when you are ready.
SQL databases
SQL scripts for SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQLite, with incremental and scheduled runs.
Spreadsheets
Clean CSV of any table, for Excel, Google Sheets and finance teams.
Your other software
JSON Lines for integration tools, data pipelines and web shops.
Into FoxPro
CSV imports into FoxPro tables, through the full supervised write path.
E-invoice structure
Invoice data shaped for structured e-invoicing, once the UK standards are published.
SaaS tools
Direct pushes into cloud software. Try mock versions of these in the sandbox.
How it works
Cradle. Harness.
Migrate.
Keep the system your business relies on. Take control of the work around it. Then move on when you choose, with the data already flowing out cleanly.
Cradle
Leave the FoxPro application exactly as it is. Survey it read-only: tables, indexes and the code that writes to them. Agree one routine, its fields and who approves it.
Harness
Move that routine to Bridge: imports go through the supervised write path, exports run read-only on a schedule. Each run leaves evidence you can check.
Migrate
With data already flowing into SQL, run old and new side by side, compare the results, and retire the old path when the remaining dependencies are understood.
The supervised write path
- StageLoad the CSV. Nothing is written yet.
- CheckCoded findings for every row refused.
- Dry runSee exactly what would change.
- ApproveBy someone other than the author.
- ApplyRecord lock and checksum compare.
- Read backEvery field and index tag.
- RecordAn audit export you can verify.
Stale stop. If someone else has changed a record since Bridge read it for the plan, the run stops and leaves their change alone.
Undo. Reversing a run is a new plan, approved separately, that restores the recorded values.
This is the path tested in the sandbox on the real Visual FoxPro 9 engine with synthetic data. It has not yet run on a live system.
Safety model
Hands-off work.
Hands-on control.
Bridge is designed so the people who own the system stay in charge of it. These are the rules the design enforces, tested in the sandbox; they are not yet proven on a live system.
Independent approval
No write runs until someone other than its author approves that exact plan. Approval is tied to that exact plan: change the plan and it needs approving again.
Read-back
After each write, Bridge reads every changed field and index tag back and compares it with what was approved.
Stale-record stop
If a record changed after it was checked, the run stops rather than overwrite someone else's work.
Undo, approved
Undo is never automatic. It is a separate plan that needs its own approval and stops if the record has moved on.
Audit export
Plans, approvals, writes and read-backs export as evidence that can be verified offline.
AI proposes, never approves
AI agents can draft a change through a local connection. Approving and applying stay with people.
Try it now
Try Bridge on a mock FoxPro system.
The Bridge sandbox uses made-up data only. Nothing connects to a real system, and there is nothing to install.
- Pick a mock dataset: wholesale, logistics, manufacturing or invoicing
- Run an import through approval, then see it checked
- Export to SQL databases, CSV, JSON and more
- Download a real .dbf file to open in FoxPro
How to start
Three steps.
The first changes nothing.
You decide whether to go further after each step. No step commits you to the next.
Read-only survey
Survey tooling runs on your machine. It lists your FoxPro tables and indexes and scans the source for the places that write to them.
Nothing changes. No data leaves your site. You get a written summary and decide what, if anything, to share.
Sandbox pilot on a copy
Pick one routine, such as an order import or a nightly export to SQL. Run it against a copy of your data, with your own people approving, and check the evidence.
Supervised live use
Only once the evidence from the pilot is in and you agree it. The same approval, read-back and stop rules apply on day one as in the sandbox.
Ask about a read-only survey. Tell us the system and the routine you would take first. We reply from Entidex.
Editions
Different systems.
The same discipline.
Every edition keeps the same rules: preview, independent approval, read-back, no automatic undo. Each needs its own supported versions, tested operations, exclusions and evidence before it is called anything but planned.
Entidex Bridge for
Visual FoxPro
Critical applications built on FoxPro tables. Import, export and supervised changes through the FoxPro engine. Visual FoxPro 9 first.
First · in developmentEntidex Bridge for
Phone Systems
On-premises and ageing business phone systems before the 31 January 2027 switch-off. A read-only survey first; call data out, migration checks and supervised changes follow, each labelled with its status.
Available now:read-only survey
Entidex Bridge for
Access and SQL Server
In-house databases behind line-of-business apps, including Microsoft Access front ends. Changes made through the database with the app's rules checked, never around them.
ProposedEntidex Bridge for
Desktop accounts & ERP
On-premises accounts and ERP packages that will need to produce structured e-invoices: a supervised write-out from the old system.
ProposedEntidex Bridge for
Admin consoles
Supported admin pages with no suitable API: specific forms, explicit field mappings and independent read-back.
PlannedEntidex Bridge for
Web portals
Customer and supplier portals with no API, such as freight bookings and proofs of delivery.
ProposedEntidex Bridge for
SaaS
Cloud tools whose API cannot write the fields a routine needs, with the same preview, approval and read-back.
PlannedPlanned and proposed editions are not available. Product names in descriptions identify system types only and imply no endorsement.
Partners
For IT providers
and resellers.
Managed IT providers are already in the room when a 2016 server has to move. Accounts and ERP resellers run the migrations that end the old system. Bridge gives both a supervised way to harness the old system, then migrate.
Partners can install and demonstrate Bridge, and refer or resell it. Partners never get approval rights over a client's writes, and Bridge stays outbound-only on the client's machine.
Partner with Entidex BridgeFree tools
Useful whether or not
you ever use Bridge.
Practical, vendor-neutral, free to use and share. No sign-up.
Checklist · printable
Server 2016 & SQL Server 2016 legacy-app checklist
What to inventory, protect and test before moving an old application off a 2016 server or database.
Open the checklist → Checklist · printableWhat stops working on 31 January
The alarms, lifts, door entry, fax, card terminals and ISDN lines to check before the PSTN switch-off, with what to ask your provider.
Open the checklist → CalculatorRe-keying cost calculator
Minutes per run, runs per week, staff cost and error rate: see what typing the same data twice costs you each year.
Work out your cost →Progress · 12 October 2026
Where development
stands today.
An honest account of what exists, how it was tested and what has not been done yet. All test evidence below is from a sandbox with synthetic data.
The supervised write path runs on the real Visual FoxPro 9 engine.
In a sandbox, against a synthetic table, a development build:
- stages a CSV import and reports coded validation findings
- shows a dry run of exactly what it would write
- waits for approval from someone other than the plan's author
- applies with a record lock and checksum compare
- reads back every changed field and index tag
- stops on a record someone else changed
- undoes a run as a separately approved plan
26 of 26 connector checks and 21 of 21 worker checks pass in that sandbox. This is development software, not a production-grade connector.
Exports, approvals and AI proposals.
- Single-use approvals bound to signed grants, being added now
- Read-only export of FoxPro tables to CSV, JSON Lines and SQL scripts for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server and SQLite, incremental and scheduled
- An approval web app with sign-in through Microsoft Entra, Google Workspace and GitHub, tested only against simulated sign-in
- A development control plane with independent approval, signed grants, stop controls and an offline-verifiable audit export
- A local MCP connection so AI agents can propose changes but never approve them
No live system has been written to.
Read-only survey tooling has been run on one real FoxPro estate: nothing was changed and no data left the site.
Bridge has not written to a live system. There is no production service, no vendor certification, and no claim that it covers every FoxPro estate. A pilot needs a copy of the data and a test environment first.
Which versions of FoxPro does it work with?
Visual FoxPro 9 first. That is the version the connector has been built and tested against, in a sandbox with synthetic data. Earlier Visual FoxPro versions and older FoxPro DBF files are not claimed yet. A read-only survey tells us exactly what you have before anyone promises anything.
Do we have to change our FoxPro application?
No. Bridge works alongside your application, not inside it: no changes to your code, forms or reports. Writes go through the Visual FoxPro engine, the same way your application writes, so indexes stay in step. Bridge does not edit the table files directly.
Does our data leave our site?
The survey and exports run on your own machine, and exports go only where you point them. Bridge connects outbound only: nothing on the internet connects in to it. For a write, the person approving sees the proposed changes so they can decide. Your tables stay where they are.
Can we use it on our live system today?
Not yet. Bridge has not written to a live system and there is no production service. You can try the sandbox now on mock data, start with a read-only survey of your estate, then run a pilot on a copy. Supervised live use comes after that, once the evidence is in and you agree it.
How does AI fit in?
AI agents can propose a change through a local connection (MCP), the same way a person drafts a plan. They cannot approve it or apply it. A named person approves every write, and the approver must be someone other than whoever authored it.
Can every change be undone?
Undo is a new plan that puts back the values recorded before the change. It needs its own approval, and it stops if someone has changed the record since. Anything that happened outside the table, such as an invoice already sent on, is not undone automatically.
Is it certified or production-ready?
No. Entidex Bridge is in development. It holds no vendor certification and is not yet production software. The progress section on this page says exactly what has been built and tested, and how.