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Alpha 5 upgrade to Alpha Anywhere

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    Alpha 5 upgrade to Alpha Anywhere

    I need to upgrade our Alpha5 Database to Alpha Anywhere. I have the software installed and I added the workspace using a backup of our current Alpha5 Database.
    Our Card Stack did not load, but I think I read somewhere that would be the case. I'm guessing I can just create a form that was our card stack and set that as the start up screen.

    However, what else if anything do I need to do convert and start using our old database with this new software - wanting Desktop Application use - not Web based?

    Thanks in advance for any help.

    #2
    What version of A5 ?
    Why not just open the existing app with AA?
    I have gone as far back as V9 without issue.
    Typically Alpha DT opens earlier versions but not the other way around.
    See our Hybrid Option here;
    https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


    Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
    You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

    Comment


      #3
      Alpha Five Version 4.5 Build 255

      I just wasn't sure if I have to convert anything else other than the card stacks to forms so it opens the first screen.
      But if anything else doesn't convert - operations/reports/etc.

      Comment


        #4
        Ah. Thats different.
        Not A5, it's A4.
        A bit more problematic.
        Probably needs some rewrite.
        See our Hybrid Option here;
        https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


        Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
        You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

        Comment


          #5
          You have Alpha 5 - not the DOS Alpha 4.

          But you are many versions ago and you may need to rebuild some of the objects (forms, browses, reports) and scripts.

          The data structure is compatible.

          It's really not a difficult task - depending on the complexity of the application.
          Al Buchholz
          Bookwood Systems, LTD
          Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

          Occam's Razor - KISS
          Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
          Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
          When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
          "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
          Albert Einstein

          http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

          Comment


            #6
            Sorry, Al, mis read that
            See our Hybrid Option here;
            https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


            Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
            You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

            Comment


              #7
              A lot has changed since good old 4.5. Version 5 right was after the software was purchased back from Softquad, and the present / original owner went ballistic to surpass the competition. (He was successful.)

              As such, you may have some work cut out for you.

              If you wrote arrays in your code, you will need to change parenthesis to brackets.

              Any Action Scripts are going to need to be re-created.

              Any custom toolbars need to be re-created.

              Alpha Five browse tables were recoded since then, making them more stable. So you probably want to make new ones.

              I think the XBasic lines of code to open a form were different around version 8, so you may need to add an extra parameter like "POPUP" to the line of code.

              As you pointed out, card stacks are now forms. You can simulate card stack bahavior with topparent.swap(), which opens the named form inside the previous forms window frame.

              Your choices for colors and gradients in the properties of forms will allow you to modernize the look.

              In some ways, I envy the job you have ahead of you.

              Comment


                #8
                I started out in V5 version 4.01 in late 1998. About 2 or 3 years ago I moved a client from 4.5 to V12 (AA).
                It was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be, but I finally got it working.
                If you are quite fluent, and given the advice already given, you should be able to do this yourself, otherwise you may need help.
                Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
                972 524 8714
                [email protected]

                ____________________
                "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

                Comment


                  #9
                  Martin I did V4.5 app a couple years ago. It went pretty easy. Found a few things off but easily taken care of. I took it to v12 2999 and put the client on shadowed since they had an almost new server. I am sure you can handle it. Made a copy of the app and did the work on that. We made a lot of changes in the app the client wanted so took a bit longer. Wish I could share it with you, but Social Security might not like that.

                  Dave Mason
                  [email protected]
                  Skype is dave.mason46

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Thanks everyone - We actually purchased the licensing and everything for Alpha Anywhere back in Dec 2013 but when I tried back then to convert I thought it would be easy and it was to an extent that I wanted to add some features because AA was so packed with what I felt was program friendly tools. But I hit a wall on a time taking tool I was working on that the company really wanted and stopped.
                    In the mean time I've added alot to the A5.4 and now need to move that over too. So I'm starting from scratch again.
                    I tried reaching out to a programming company (we were to get some help included in our price) but they didn't seem very willing to help. Not that I expected much from "free" time, but I did think they may want to try to "sell" their service. We would have paid for a module to be built.
                    Our licensing and getting updates has lapsed, and we never even got to use AA, so it's all frustrating now.

                    But now since Windows 7 is out of support and we can't use Virtual XP on Win10 I need to get us off the old and great A5.4.

                    I've made some progress, addressing all the forms first and noting where I need to update/change them to make it so they work. And I am working on Operations (which seem pretty much good - no changes needed).
                    Next will be reports - which I hope to condense as I can use more of the tools to allow users to sort the way they want, instead of 5 reports all set to sort/group differently.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Jennifer, I'd suggest making a plan, possibly a top down approach.
                      One step at a time, and keep records.
                      When I work on other people's software, I add a Change Control table to record what I have done, problems and workarounds/fixes.
                      That way, if it's data related I can hunt the issue down.
                      If you haven't got a copy of A5Doc, the documenter, it is a good tool to explore all the existing stuff.

                      Don't be afraid to ask for help. There are a lot if us who do free stuff.
                      See our Hybrid Option here;
                      https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


                      Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
                      You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Thank you so much Ted - I was keeping documentation in an excel spreadsheet - much like I'm assuming your Change Control table.
                        I didn't know about the A5Doc, the documenter though, so I will definetly check that out.

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