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/*DataFlex Football Pool – Ready To Kick Off At Euro 2025*/
If you’ve been part of the DataFlex community for a while now, at some point you’ve probably played our DataFlex Football Pool. What started 25 years ago as a demo to show off what DataFlex could do has become a bit of a tradition with a cult following. It’s part showcase, part friendly competition, and part live experiment in what’s possible with DataFlex. Here’s more.
Demo turned developer playing field
The original version of the DataFlex Football Pool was built more than 25 years ago for the Euro 2000 tournament, hosted in Belgium and the Netherlands. Back then, web apps were new territory. A few colleagues used it to test ideas, showcase new tech, and bring some excitement to the developer floor. When they moved on, the baton was passed to me, and the rest of the DataFlex development team – most recently Casper Toes.
Over the years, the Pool has taken on many forms. We’ve re-skinned it, rebuilt parts, and now with the launch of DataFlex 2025, we wanted to bring it back home – and push the platform further. The best part of this project? Seeing how hundreds of people from the DataFlex community get excited to jump in, collaborate, and bring it to life with us.
Web services in DataFlex Football Pool
The first DataFlex Football Pool app was written in DataFlex 6 (WebApp v3) and over time new features were added to the product. DataFlex 9.x saw the introduction of web services and XML. While usable, this wasn’t easy to implement!
This changed with the arrival of structs and arrays in DataFlex 10 when implementation of web services became much easier. Demoing their use, I added a full public list of available functions, and things really took off! 10 million requests were registered at the peak.
In terms of APIs, many modern web services use REST, which is more light weight than SOAP. The disadvantage is that there is no WSDL (WebService Description Language) or similar. Implementing SOAP-based web services is more straightforward because a WSDL is available. Here’s the WSDL for the DataFlex Football Pool.
Fully DataFlex and fully match fit
This year, we’ve completely restructured the backend. Earlier versions of the DataFlex Football Pool ran in JavaScript and web services were split between public and private. Today, we use the DataFlex Web Application Framework JavaScript modules.
From match data to predictions, from score updates to private pools – every dynamic element now runs directly on DataFlex. No more scattered logic, no more external CMS. It’s clean, efficient, and maintainable.
“DataFlex 2025’s new Composite Class and cSQLExecutor let us build smarter, leaner apps – and maintain them with ease.”
New from DataFlex 2025
To the end user, it looks largely the same – and that’s by design. But under the hood, it’s a powerful showcase of the DataFlex 2025 backend in action. In case you were wondering, here are some of the main components that Casper and the team used in the build:
- Composite Class for reusable UI components
- cSQLExecutor for executing raw SQL queries to directly retrieve database data
- cWebDrawing to build an interactive tournament bracket for the knockout rounds
- cWebHtmlList for custom list layouts, such as the overview of joined private pools
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Play along at UEFA Women’s Euro 2025
We’re putting the new system through its paces at this summer’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. It’s our first time running the Pool during a women’s tournament – and a perfect opportunity to test this all-in DataFlex version with our community.
We’d love for you to join us. Make your predictions, set up a private pool for your team or family, and yes – you can still win a dinner for two, wherever you are in the world. So whether you’re a developer looking for inspiration, a product manager exploring what’s possible, or just someone who likes football – this is your chance to see DataFlex in action. Let’s play!