Hello all,
I have been developing applications in M$Access since 1995 (v2.0) and have become very proficient in it's use and design; however, I also have realized that in order to migrate some of my applications to the web (cheaply and quickly), I needed another tool to do so. That is what primarily brought me to A5. I have for the past 2 weeks (in my spare time) tried to become familiar with A5 and it's capabilities. I have bought all the books from Liberty, and all the videos offered (thanks Steve!). I am currently working on my first 'web' application, and I just can't get my head around come conceptual differences between the two, so I thought I would ask them here and hope this panel of experts can guide me in the right direction.
First:
I am a VB nut, and I am finding XBasic similar but NOT. In Access I use the recordset objects and methods almost exclusively by SQL queries called against the MDB tables. So I am used to creating a recordset based on a SQL statement, looping through the set, and updating information as needed. How is this done in A5? Am I to create a new table or set (based on a SQL?) and then work with it? What methods are in XBasic that perform this? Basically, how do you manipulate data with XBasic?
Second:
Classes..Can we create new classes with properties and methods?
Third:
If I create a 'named' operation, how can I call it from the XBasic script? I am using the genie to create the operation, and I can copy it to the clipboard and then to the script, but is there anyway to call the 'named operation' from the script?
Fourth: (AND MOST IMPORTANT)
Since this is a web application, and there will be no forms, just A5 pages and grids, my requirements are to 'pull in' MySQL data from different DBs, 'wash' the data, and then display it on my pages. I have stressed over whether to use the .dbf files (that will get put on the application server), or to use an additional MySQL DB backend. Since the multiple MySQL DBs are of similar but different structures, I won't be able to work with them directly, so this method of 'pulling' the data into A5, conforming it to the way I need to work with it, and then to update the backends as needed allows me to create a scalable application that extends beyond a few multiple MySql platforms. Now that being said, If I use the .dbf files included with A5, is there a performance hit with them? Should I use an additional MySQL DB backend instead of the .dbf?
I know this post is lengthly, and I apologize up front if I am asking novice questions, but this is like learning Russian, and I am from Texas!
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Rick.
I have been developing applications in M$Access since 1995 (v2.0) and have become very proficient in it's use and design; however, I also have realized that in order to migrate some of my applications to the web (cheaply and quickly), I needed another tool to do so. That is what primarily brought me to A5. I have for the past 2 weeks (in my spare time) tried to become familiar with A5 and it's capabilities. I have bought all the books from Liberty, and all the videos offered (thanks Steve!). I am currently working on my first 'web' application, and I just can't get my head around come conceptual differences between the two, so I thought I would ask them here and hope this panel of experts can guide me in the right direction.
First:
I am a VB nut, and I am finding XBasic similar but NOT. In Access I use the recordset objects and methods almost exclusively by SQL queries called against the MDB tables. So I am used to creating a recordset based on a SQL statement, looping through the set, and updating information as needed. How is this done in A5? Am I to create a new table or set (based on a SQL?) and then work with it? What methods are in XBasic that perform this? Basically, how do you manipulate data with XBasic?
Second:
Classes..Can we create new classes with properties and methods?
Third:
If I create a 'named' operation, how can I call it from the XBasic script? I am using the genie to create the operation, and I can copy it to the clipboard and then to the script, but is there anyway to call the 'named operation' from the script?
Fourth: (AND MOST IMPORTANT)
Since this is a web application, and there will be no forms, just A5 pages and grids, my requirements are to 'pull in' MySQL data from different DBs, 'wash' the data, and then display it on my pages. I have stressed over whether to use the .dbf files (that will get put on the application server), or to use an additional MySQL DB backend. Since the multiple MySQL DBs are of similar but different structures, I won't be able to work with them directly, so this method of 'pulling' the data into A5, conforming it to the way I need to work with it, and then to update the backends as needed allows me to create a scalable application that extends beyond a few multiple MySql platforms. Now that being said, If I use the .dbf files included with A5, is there a performance hit with them? Should I use an additional MySQL DB backend instead of the .dbf?
I know this post is lengthly, and I apologize up front if I am asking novice questions, but this is like learning Russian, and I am from Texas!
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Rick.