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Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

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    #1

    Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

    New Member,

    I am a tech director for a school system and moonlight a bit supporting small businesses. I have a customer who has a Windows 98 network I set up years ago running Lotus Approach97. The main function of Approach is to provide a front end data entry page from which several forms have their data fields populated automatically. Data entry unique to each form is entered on the individual form page and then the form is printed to an existing hard copy form in a laser printer or to a multipart form on a dotmatrix. The 98 platform is untenable and Lotus Approach 97 does not work in the new XP platform (ha!). I don't need to design forms, they already exist, I just need to create the data entry pages and have them to print to existing forms. (if the data entry pages look like the forms that would be a plus) I'm not a programmer but a network engineer, will Alpha 5 get me there or do I need to look somewhere else?

    Thanks much,

    Barry
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

    Originally posted by bdoyle View Post
    New Member,

    I am a tech director for a school system and moonlight a bit supporting small businesses. I have a customer who has a Windows 98 network I set up years ago running Lotus Approach97. The main function of Approach is to provide a front end data entry page from which several forms have their data fields populated automatically. Data entry unique to each form is entered on the individual form page and then the form is printed to an existing hard copy form in a laser printer or to a multipart form on a dotmatrix. The 98 platform is untenable and Lotus Approach 97 does not work in the new XP platform (ha!). I don't need to design forms, they already exist, I just need to create the data entry pages and have them to print to existing forms. (if the data entry pages look like the forms that would be a plus) I'm not a programmer but a network engineer, will Alpha 5 get me there or do I need to look somewhere else?

    Thanks much,

    Barry
    Data from Lotus Approach will move to Alpha (both are dbf), but the Lotus forms will need to be re-created in Alpha - I don't know of a conversion utility...

    The Alpha forms can be made to look a lot like the Approach forms....
    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

      #3
      Re: Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

      Approach 97 does not work in the new XP platform (ha!).
      Lotus Approach 9.3 is running in XP as well as Vista. But that's not the point, Lotus (IBM) stopp any development on Lotus SmartSuite.

      It is possible to recreate the Approach's forms in Alphafive, but the print options are very few. So finally you will make use of reports to get a proper printing result. To design a report in Alphafive is easy, you can import the form and have plenty of new functions and many choice.

      Cornelius

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

        I'll support Cornelius in saying that A5 can do what you need but that you should plan to print a report - not the form that is used for data entry.

        This also frees you up to add whatever might be useful on the form for improving data entry. This might be, for a few examples:
        - A Find button
        - Buttons to start a new record, save a record, cancel changes, etc.
        - A button to duplicate a previous record
        - Help buttons
        - Explanatory text for certain fields
        - Lookup fields that would look a bit strange when printed with the drop-down icon.

        Be aware that much of what you put on a form can be copied to a report. However, having said that, I seldom do it. Optimizing a form for data entry usually means that it is not optimized for printing. As a result, very few of my reports actually look like the input form.

        And, as Cornelius said, reports are designed for printing and therefore have the features needed to control page size, start a new page, set margins, etc.

        My philosophy - Form are for viewing and entering data. Report are for printing. The two are not interchangeable - doing so restricts some things and makes maintenance more difficult.

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

          Thanks for the replies all, I'm also looking at a program by Nuance called Omniform Pro. I was not accurate in my earlier description on one issue; a couple of the forms have been created in the digital format. The new Lotus Approach did not look like a good fit, we did look at it. Alpha 5 from the on-line tutorial, looked capable in the creation of forms. Each job, whether an existing customer that is pulled from the database, or new customer, has four forms that are printed out. Having most of the data entered once and then four forms 'mostly' filled out is a great time saver for my client. In Approach you can then select any of the forms and and enter any unique data for that particular form.

          Anyway I do appreciated the responses.

          Barry

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Lotus Approach to Alpha 5

            Bdoyle,
            I too am stuck in this Lotus (since 4.00) to something else dilemma. We have been using it for over 9 years without any problems and minimum maintenance. But the time has come for a change. Alpha (and it's licensing) seem to be the most cost effective answer.

            I have been whiling away the hours learning A5, which desktop wise is pretty straight forward. The web app is another story! But is the key reason we need to update from Approach. YES, the .dbf's are easy enough to utilize, but I am afraid that all the forms, reports, and custom scripting must be recreated. One thing to keep in mind, as I have said in prior posts, is that you need to "forget" the methods you learned in Approach - they will mess you up and send you down bunny trails that will lead nowhere.

            Good Luck in your efforts.

            DAS
            David Shaw
            Manager of Media Services and User Support
            Cleveland Museum of Art
            Cleveland, Ohio

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