date countdown

[Melv]

I am building an auction site. Live sales, online sales and combined live/online sales. I need to countdown the time and the days left before the sale ends.
I have tried the following expression for the date:

bus_days_between(system->Date,Sale->End_Date)

But I want to count all days including holidays.

I know that I can use the between_date expression,

between_date(C field,Date 1,Date 2)

I simply don't know what to enter in the C Field element.

[Archesr]

Re: date countdown

Umm there is no way to just tell the system to calculate "(Sale->End_Date)-(system->Date)"? i used to use something like that in access and it would give me the number of days between those dates (the dates switched because u want the future minus present to get the number of days)

i figured things like that would work on Alpha five as well XD i will check it might have to be a calculated field on a table tho

UPDATE---
Yes it works as a calculated field like this:

(date you want a day count to)-Date()

if you add this to a table i believe you have to tell it to update all calculated fields. i'm not sure were you would need to add this to, i'm still very new to alpha five.

[Al Buchholz]

Re: date countdown

I am building an auction site.

Is the auction site on the web? You asked your question in the desktop forum.

[Melv]

Re: date countdown

Thanks Al, sorry for the confusing post.
I currently use a desktop program for live sales (where buyers are present) and this is manually linked to an online bidding platform. The same software is used to set up the sale and as the back office, but then when the sale goes online or is a timed sale (like ebay) all of the information has to be transfered up using DAT files. When the sale ends it has to be transfered back in the same way. The software I use is the auction industries leading brand and the license costs me $2000 per year. Its slow and clumbersome.

My aim is to build a single application that can be used for either sale type. The time and date countdown is not needed in the live sale, But I want to be able to set it up on one form. I considered building a desktop version would be quicker and easier to experiment with before I started on the web.

[Melv]

Re: date countdown

Umm there is no way to just tell the system to calculate "(Sale->End_Date)-(system->Date)"? i used to use something like that in access and it would give me the number of days between those dates (the dates switched because u want the future minus present to get the number of days)

i figured things like that would work on Alpha five as well XD i will check it might have to be a calculated field on a table tho

UPDATE---
Yes it works as a calculated field like this:

(date you want a day count to)-Date()

if you add this to a table i believe you have to tell it to update all calculated fields. i'm not sure were you would need to add this to, i'm still very new to alpha five.

Archesr, thanks, I'd actually started out with virtually the same calculation, but missed out the () after Date. Then went off on a tangent without thinking it through.

[madtowng]

Re: date countdown

Hi Melv,

Just a quick sample. The code below returns Days,hours,minutes, seconds till the auction begins.

Gregg

dim auction_time as t

auction_time = {11/15/2012 10:00}
? totime(auction_time-now(),3,0)
= "6:07:44:52"

Alternate

dim auctiond as d
dim auctiont as y

auctiond = {11/15/2012}
auctiont = {10:00}

? totime((auctiond+auctiont)-now(),3,0)
= "6:07:39:07"

[Melv]

Re: date countdown

Thanks Gregg, I'm getting there. Next job is to run staged time outs for the online sales but thats relatively easy.

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: date countdown

I developed a live auction desktop app. Running very successfully now.
Live auction is vastly different to on-line.
ONLINE. very relaxed can run from a mobile on a beach.
LIVE:-Very hyped up, no time to think, in a short space of time. Instant action.
All the planning and correct theory - doesn't prepare you for hundreds of items sold in a couple of hours.
You need live switching between
- registration and deposit payment entry,
- recording paddles issued
- capturing each hammer fall on lot number linked to items and to buyer
- enable an early leaver instant statement of items, deposit and commissions due.
The pre-auction and post auction prep has similarities with various online methods.
Ask if you want pointers - or more.
Ray

[Melv]

Re: date countdown

Ray, I actually set up and manage the auctions that I run. The reason for the build is to speed up the process. We run live and online combined sales, the delay in taking an online bid is significant and I want to improve on it.

Online bidders get a different id from live bidder and then each has their own paddle number. Live start at zero and online at 1000. The problem is that the online system can only upload onto the live system manually. So an operator has to export lists out of the online system into DAT files and then import the DAT files into the live. Cumbersome at best.

I am actually better at concept and system building than the actual database development. That is one of the reasons behind using Alpha Five. It is easier for me to test systems.

Ray I want more!!!

These are the products that I use at the moment:
ATG Media Bidmaster and Autioneers Toolbox.
iBidder.com

I have been using AlphaFive since 2008 starting with V8 onto V10 and now V11.

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: date countdown

My experience in auction software design in Alpha is specific to live auctions.
Property auctions for example, are a breeze.
Smaller items are the difficulty.
The main difference is fewer buyers, multiple items with a sale as often as every minute.
When buyers leave, at any time, their final detailed account must be correct to the latest sale. Cash changes hands and goods are gone. Further sales have taken place in the meantime.

[Melv]

Re: date countdown

Ray I sell up to 700 lots with anything from 60 bidders to 150 at the sale and 200 online.

We also use the option bid process. So lot 150 could be sold with an option to purchase lots 151/152/153 for the same hammer price. I have runners between the rostrum and the cashiers office and we can do a manual invoice, but no goods are ever released until the sale has ended. We actually empty the sale room/s after the sale and the porters are them the only persons allowed back in. Everything is bought out by the porters.

It is a stressful time during a big sale and I generally do not do anything. I sit in the cashiers office and the sale. Once buyers start to filter in, I am on hand to sort any problems out. My sales can have values between �10k and �300k GBP.