Alpha Five books question

[Mike Konoff]

RE: Alpha Five books question

I started using Alpha products with Alpha Four Version 6. When I received the product I thought that the books supplied were fantastic. As I dug in and used to products more, that feeling was reinforced.

When I finally tried Alpha Five and learned of their manuals situation, I was very disappointed.

I'd suggest something like what you had in Alpha Four Version 6.

Thanks for your inquiry.

Mike

[Stephen Williams]

RE: Alpha Five books question

I would also like the pdf file indexed - the current one is linked from the contents pages so you click on the page and it goes there, but there is no bookmarking and indexing as other packages have.

And I am incredibly persistent. I will get stuck, go do something else, then return and work at the damn thing some more till I finally get there. All the time wishing there was some better documentation!

[rtbtat]

RE: Alpha Five 3rd Party Book

� Although I don�t agree with all of the previous suggestions, I think there were some excellent ones posted in this thread. However, I think most people are missing the point reference the original question about a THIRD PARTY book. I think they are, for the most part, providing suggestions as to what features the Users Manual[s] should contain. In my opinion, a 3rd party book serves a very different role and that�s what makes it so valuable.

� A users manual is essentially a reference resource. When you are having a problem, you want the ability to look up the source of your problem in a rock solid, reliable index and then find several examples / explanations that show you how to resolve your problem. The users manual should provide examples/solutions for ALL levels of users, from beginners through sophisticated developers. After all, this should be the bible that sits next to their computer at all times.

� A 3rd party book serves a different role, a unique frame of reference if you will. Unlike a reference manual, it should be a book that you can sit down with and actually read. Hence, the author must do his/her best to make the subject matter interesting and appealing to the readers.

� As you work your way through the chapters, you should find answers to your WHY and HOW questions that aren�t fully addressed by a users manual. For example, why must I understand relational theory, how do I create tables that fully comply with sound database theory, when should I use a Set and when should I use a stand-alone table, how do I create reports that utilize grouping, etc?

� A 3rd party book should teach you how to develop an application [or applications] for a small business. The book should take you from the beginning of the process through all of the intermediary steps, and then put it all together in the end. It should be similar to the Alpha Four book Sherry Martin wrote back in the days of the DOS program.

� A Book should also provide tips and insights that generally aren�t included in a users manual, such as guidance on setting up a network. Although it would be quite a challenge, a 3rd party book should appeal to both novices and advanced users. Of course in a perfect world, Alpha would have the resources to develop separate books for novices, intermediate users, and developers. But that does not appear to be a likely alternative.

� I don�t think we can find a 3rd party book that does all of the above, however, I think it�s clear that we don�t need a clone of the manual. Once again, a 3rd party book should provide different frame of reference.

� Let me refer to Tom Cone�s suggestion for writing multiple books which appears very unlikely. However, let me point out that Alpha Software already has a book in print that continues to be a valuable resource for many users. I am referring to �Using Functions & Expressions�, written by Jeffrey Benson back in 1993. I believe Alpha Software should improve the layout of the chapters, and update all of the functions that have been added in the past 7-8 years. I for one would definitely purchase a new and improved version of this useful resource.

And one last unrelated comment. Someone mentioned the search capabilities of a pdf file. I for one find pdf files cumbersome. I use the MS Word version where searches are extremely fast and readability is far superior to the pdf format.

Robert Tishkevich

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Alpha Five 3rd Party Book

Robert, I appreciate your comments. I think I was confusing a rewrite of the user's guide with Richard's request for feedback on a third party book. However, it does seem a bit like you agree that the user's guide should be rewritten. I think that's right, and feel it might be useful to organize it into two books, or possibly one book with two parts.


I agree that the third party reference book should be tightly focused. In fact I think orienting the third party reference towards building basic business applications for others, including chapters on installation, setup, and advanced xbasic scripting makes a lot of sense. It could even include working examples on diskette or CD. I'd buy a book like that in a heartbeat.


-- tom

[russ Boehle]

RE: Alpha Five 3rd Party Book

Either way I'd like to see ONE improved index for both (all) books.

Russ

[Stephen Williams]

RE: Alpha Five books question

Tom -
I think I would figure book count based on printing costs. Forget whats new - put that in a word document. At most an appendix. The books should start fresh with version five. The books should reflect the common circumstances of people staring at the screen.

Alpha Five without programming
New to databases. Discussion of how database technology works, and how it satisfies some information needs - where and how data is kept, manipulated (during data entry, screen display, printing), protected.
New to Alpha Five. How Alpha Five accomplishes the database functions. I am not an Access programmer, but from Frances Peakes web site she suggests Access is primarily query focused, Alpha Five is field rule focused. Help people release the mind set of other languages. This is very frustrating, even from DOS to windows within Alpha.
All the default tools. Current documentation layout is actually pretty darn good in my opinion, but needs to be fleshed out to keep current with all the parameters, functions, and options available. We currently have to refer to update documentation along with ship date documentation.
Action scripting and how to use the script recorder.

Programming in Alpha Five
A thorough listing of all xbasic stuff - object naming, events, etc as well as all the commands, functions and expressions. Again, current documentation is pretty good in layout - just bring it up to date.

Developing in Alpha Five
Interfacing from Alpha Five. ActiveX, DLL's, BLOBS, ODBC, OLE.
Distributing and mainaining Alpha Five applications
Networking Alpha Five.

Then create a position on Alpha Fives staff as an industry liaison to encourage and support developers and third party books and papers. Papers would be documents on anything of interest and value that was not ready for putting into book form. Liaison role would be to help these third party people work out solutions that worked with Alpha Five, and take the ones that don't work back to the programmers. With the right third party material Alpha Five could leverage to make a huge dent in the market for database products. Exactly what this thread is all about! Keep the ball rolling!

[Stephen Williams]

RE: Alpha Five books question

Bolding looks a little wierd.. I see three groups of people.
Non programmers, programmers and developer-distributors. One book each. Plus support for others documentation.

[rtbtat]

RE: Ver 5 Users Manual

Hi Tom:

[However, it does seem a bit like you agree that the user's guide should be rewritten]

I agree 100% with you. By this point in time, I am tired of using a manual written for version 3 as my resource for XBasic. In addition, I think it's fairly obvious that the old manual needs a heavy-duty upgrade.

I also agree with your suggestion for two user manuals, one for using the application and one book dedicated solely to XBasic as they did with Version 3.

In addition to ugrading, I am hoping the new user manual [I'm assuming there will be one] will have a much improved interface and a more complete/detailed index. In additon, I think there should be multiple real world examples of how to use/implement every XBasic feature. I think the version 3 XBasic manual was a step in the right direction, but once again, I think most of us will agree that we need a major overhaul.

I have no specific knowledge Tom, but I have a feeling the Version 5 XBasic manual will in fact be a huge improvement. Let me say that I will be greatly disappointed if they fail to significantly enhance the usefulness of the written manual.

Would I pay extra for a well designed, XBasic manual with plenty of real world examples, and a detailed index? I sure would. If the average user is happy with online help, I don't think they should have to pay extra for a conventional book. But for those of us who live and die with books that we can open and read, it is well worth a reasonable extra fee.

Don't know if you caught my comment on Jeffrey Benson's old "Functions and Expressions" book, but that is still a valuable resource the company already has in it's arsenal. It is / useful as an adjunct for writing complex expressions that make our applications more feature rich and useful.

Robert T

[russ Boehle]

RE: Ver 5 Users Manual

I already have Jeff Bensons book (and really don't use it much, but occasionally it helps)but many don't. I wonder if Jeff would agree to put the book on the Alpha site, either in word or pdf and make it available either for free or for a few dollars per download. As far a I know it is no longer being sold so a few $ for Jeff would be better than nothing.
Also perhaps all the info on Learnalpha.com and Alpha forum could be put into a book and sold. Production costs certainly would be low depending on how it was integrated and it would be another resource. There is a tremendous amount of information on these sites that could perhaps be better used if it was all integrated. I would pay for it although I can''t speak for others.


Russ

[Mike Konoff]

RE: Ver 5 Users Manual

Robert,

I guess you're right. I answered a question that wasn't asked.

Maybe I, and many others, answered in that respect because before we'd like 3rd party books we'd like a solid set of books & manual for Alpha Five from AlphaSoftware, such as the great quality books & manuals that were supplied with Alpha Four.

My opinion is that it was a pretty poor decision to not supply manuals with A5 and I really hope that changes in the future.

Thanks,
Mike

[russ Boehle]

RE: Ver 5 Users Manual

I think this really is a cost issue. How many programs with manuals on th CD can they sell vs how many programs with books at a much higher price can they sell. I don't mind buying the program and books separately. I suspect overall sales will be higher this way.

Russ

[forskare]

RE: Alpha Five books question

Just a thought,

Both Access and A5 have an invoicing system that comes with the product. Perhaps "walking through the creation" of this application would be appropriate. Explaining why sets are made in one configuration vs another. Explaining the why and use of each field rule; how and why a form with a tabbed subform is created & what kind of a set is needed to create it. Ditto for the operations and code created in the Operations and Code tabs.

Since it seems the invoicing application offers the most variables that a developer can face, we could learn by creating a duplicate invoice sysstem, perhaps altered to fit an individuals needs.

kenn

[bobsk]

RE: Alpha Five books question

Of all the books i have bought over the years Using Functions and Expressions by Jeffrey S. Benson was the most helpful. Maybe you could find that guy and ask him to start writing another one.
Bob

[nick marodis]

RE: Alpha Five books question

I have a 1500 page book on using windows API calls with VBv5. I would happly pay for such a book for A5.


Nick