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Bonus TIPS for Successful Posting

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App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

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    App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

    I was not quite sure where to post this but I just wanted to express my appreciation to the forum members. I just published the demo of my app to my website for download. The for sale versions are done. It took me far longer than was necessary that was my fault. During the time I was working on it, I posted a lot of questions that probably seemed to naive or foolish, but the members still answered. Ted Giles took me under his wing and answered endless questions that I was too embarrassed to post on the message board and provided many coding samples. Martin Cole spent time helping me sort out forms and global variables. There are so many others such as Dave Mason on installs, Raymond Lyons on cleaning test data, and others that helped.

    The app is work that will never be done; but v1 is out and I never would have been able to do it without the encouragement and assistance of the forum members.

    A truly heartfelt thanks to all!
    Regards,

    John W.
    www.CustomReportWriters.net

    #2
    Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

    Congratulations John!

    I wholeheartedly agree, this forum truly is an invaluable resource for everyone whether new or seasoned pro's. People here have helped me out on many, many occasions.

    And that is the trouble with apps isn't it? You can always think of some way to add new features or improve on existing ones to make it better

    Stephen
    Alpha Anywhere v12.4.6.5.2 Build 8867-5691 IIS v10.0 on Windows Server 2019 Std in Hyper-V

    Comment


      #3
      Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

      Well done John, I hope it is as secure as possible!

      Comment


        #4
        Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

        The forum members are great! I truly hope Alpha Software appreciate how much of the product support comes from this forum. That is a huge cost savings to them.

        Concerning being secure, A5 sadly does not seem to be designed to protect the code for developers like myself, who are building off the shelf applications. There is a huge risk by putting it out there and not much I can do. I may live to regret it. I actually looked to see if I could put my app into an .exe or .dll file. (That is to compile my app files) Sadly, while it may be possible I was not able to come up with the solution.
        Regards,

        John W.
        www.CustomReportWriters.net

        Comment


          #5
          Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

          Hi John,

          There are three main avenues open to you.

          (1) Covert all you scripts into an AEX file, then delete all code in the code tab.
          (2) Encrypt all tables and have a user login.
          (3) Finally, edit and save all layouts with a password.

          Depending on how much you charge for your application, will depend how much time and effort it is worth to hack into your application.

          Where is you demo to download?
          Regards
          Keith Hubert
          Alpha Guild Member
          London.
          KHDB Management Systems
          Skype = keith.hubert


          For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

          Comment


            #6
            Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

            As I was trying to explain to an Alpha salesguy who wants me to buy version 11 yesterday - most of the value of the product he sells comes from this forum.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

              Keith

              I sent you a pm with the information.

              I hope to sell the app for $99 per licensed user... with discounts for 5 or more. The emphasis is heavy on the word hope.

              I really don't have an idea how many A5 developers make apps for off the shelf sale. I will say this is my first attempt, and my first serious attempt using A5. That means I always have loads of room to improve.
              Regards,

              John W.
              www.CustomReportWriters.net

              Comment


                #8
                Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                As I was trying to explain to an Alpha salesguy who wants me to buy version 11 yesterday - most of the value of the product he sells comes from this forum.
                I could not agree more! Not much help from Alpha, the documentation issues have been well discussed, if it was not for the good people of the message board I suspect many people would make as much progress as they have. If my experience is any indication, especially in the early days or working with the software.
                Regards,

                John W.
                www.CustomReportWriters.net

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                  App is done
                  Wow, what is that like? I have never experienced an app being DONE before! I guess that is my first comment about "A5 apps for sale"; within the first couple sales someone is going to ask you to tweak it for them. That is good and bad. Good because they will supposedly pay you, bad because it starts the process of unraveling your product into several sub products (if you let it).

                  Regarding AEX, similar to what Keith said, but create a companion application and build all of your code there under the Code tab. that is, don't maintain that code in the same application, and then be forced to delete all Code tab prior to distribution. So like for my framework project, I have a companion framework_script project where I maintain my AEX code. Once you have code in an AEX, you can look in to truly protecting your application from unauthorized duplication, using kill code encrypted in the AEX and a licensing method.

                  Unfortunately, you also need to include something on 'total cost of operation' in your documentation, telling them what Alpha Five software they must purchase to operate the application.
                  Steve Wood
                  See my profile on IADN

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                    Steve -

                    Here is what I said
                    The app is work that will never be done
                    Actually the app is a desktop version that uses the runtime. So far as I know there is no Alpha software for them to purchase, since I provide the app and the runtime. I have no intention of doing custom work on the app. I see too many possible development forks and support issues. Hopefully, the design will incorporate the basic workflow used to do this kind of work. It is intended to be an off the shelf software solution so what they see is what they get.

                    I have never ventured down this OTS path before so I have a lot of room to learn and make mistakes.

                    I would have never gotten this far (warts and all) without the help of the forum members.
                    Regards,

                    John W.
                    www.CustomReportWriters.net

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                      A couple topics.

                      John,
                      Congartulations!

                      I don't use aex. All code is password protected.
                      I encrypt tables that will hold data that is personal
                      You can't just click a couple buttons on start and get in the "back door"
                      All is controlled in the app.
                      There are now windows, max, min, "X" buttons so the user has to close with my method.
                      There is a login and password
                      Workspace is hidden
                      "Leave no holes"
                      The registry files pertaining to the app that I need to be sure all stays in place are installed with the app

                      Tweaking is never done for 99.00 apps. If someone asks for a tweak, the best response is "We will look at it and see if it is a benefit to other users as well and if so, it will be included in an update". I learned that one a very long time ago.

                      Off the shelf is a great way to dell, because you already made something and a few sales after has covered your hard costs and the other sales just keep the money flowing.

                      Steve,

                      There is a utility in the code archive that you can use to make and recover your aex files.
                      Last edited by DaveM; 04-19-2013, 02:02 PM.
                      Dave Mason
                      [email protected]
                      Skype is dave.mason46

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                        Hi John,

                        Your app looks very interesting, not quite sure who would want to buy it. I assume you have done some market research for this?

                        I'm afraid to report your app is not done, as there is still a lot of work to complete it. eg User is not able to create new letter.

                        Also, there are other issues when closing forms. Too many to go into here. Sorry to rain on your parade.
                        Regards
                        Keith Hubert
                        Alpha Guild Member
                        London.
                        KHDB Management Systems
                        Skype = keith.hubert


                        For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                          Keith - I guess I would have appreciated a PM with your comments rather than this kind of post but it is what it is.

                          It is a targeted app to small governments in the US which is a market I know well. I don't know how that correlates to government ops in the UK.

                          I am not sure what you are seeing. I again just ran the app from the demo install and could create a new letter. I am not to sure if the closing the forms issue is part of my design or a coding issue. When I again ran through the forms they worked as I designed them. If you like to email (through the website) or send me a PM with what you are seeing so I can determine the issue it would be help.

                          You did not rain on my parade...as I said the app will never be done. If its wrong this now is the time for me to catch it.
                          Regards,

                          John W.
                          www.CustomReportWriters.net

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                            Originally posted by Keith Hubert View Post
                            Hi John,

                            Your app looks very interesting, not quite sure who would want to buy it. I assume you have done some market research for this?

                            I'm afraid to report your app is not done, as there is still a lot of work to complete it. eg User is not able to create new letter.

                            Also, there are other issues when closing forms. Too many to go into here. Sorry to rain on your parade.
                            From Alpha developer to Alpha developer.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: App is done and thanks to the members of the forum!

                              Originally posted by Keith Hubert View Post
                              Hi John,

                              Your app looks very interesting, not quite sure who would want to buy it. I assume you have done some market research for this?

                              I'm afraid to report your app is not done, as there is still a lot of work to complete it. eg User is not able to create new letter.

                              Also, there are other issues when closing forms. Too many to go into here. Sorry to rain on your parade.
                              I've heard about your efforts and bad habits, glass houses and all that!!!

                              Comment

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