What happens if I fall under a bus?

[WokingJon]

As an independent developer of solutions based on Alpha software I am occasionally asked by a client what would happen if I was to 'fall under a bus' tomorrow.

At the moment I have nothing in place to mitigate such an event and was wondering if anybody else in the Alpha world has found an effective solution. I know there are escrow services and the such where you can file documentation, source code etc. but these seem quite expensive in most circumstances for a sole trader.

Do any of you have a cost effective solution, or would you be willing to participate in a joint venture to create one?

[Ted Giles]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

The short answer which nearly got me sacked when a director asked me this years ago was "It will probably hurt a lot!".

I believe there are enough AS professionals around to pick up the pieces.
Perhaps an AS "buddy" plan would work?
There are at least 3 people on this Forum I'd trust to carry on any of my apps if need be.

You do need something like A5Doc and a zipped origional (current, always current) saved somewhere.
Dropbox is a good and possibly free option, but there are loads of others.

I'm used to working collaboratively and have been helping someone in the USA over the past few days.

[CharlesParker]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

I have given much thought to this, one of the first mistakes someone makes is not creating a seperate business for their "software" and they mix income together with their personal taxes ( at least here in the states). This often makes it difficult to figure out what it is worth because there are rarely no documented income or loss figures.
SO first suggestion is create an llc or some sort of seperate business entity, second I would suggest bringing on a third party as owner, someone with a vested interest in keeping it going, then as Ted suggested keep a copy of your development files and ALL relevant passwords backed up somewhere KNOWN to the third party. Write a written plan for your succession, as it relates to who gets full ownership, and suggestions on where to find everything.
Personally, my wife has no clue other than she knows where my computer is that houses everything, and I printed out a hard copy of ALL of my passwords for her. If I update them I take the old copy trash it and replace the new.
Its not a perfect system but it is an answer. My solution involved GIVING away part ownership to a well known highly successful industry supplier. This will also help with distribution of the product, marketing and as I said - my succession. I have been developing this thing for 2 years plus now - it is my passion and a daily endeavor - other business owners depend on it to run their business. It is my duty to ensure it continues.
Good luck and I hope that helps!

[WokingJon]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

other business owners depend on it to run their business. It is my duty to ensure it continues.

This is exactly where I'm coming from. I may only currently deal with a handful of businesses, but I am a MASSIVE single point of failure for them. Trouble is I'm so busy doing my day job plus enhancing the existing product as requested by my customers I have very little time to do anything else.

First step must be to backup the product somewhere it can be retrieved by another developer with all relevant doc/passwords etc.

[MoGrace]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

This also applies to anyone who has developed desktop apps for their business only - like me. Assuming the business can continue without me...?

[DaveM]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

You do not need an expensive container somewhere for you product and simple or complicated instructions. You can do this on a web space somewhere.
You really don't need a partner to rely back on. You can just get a buddy that is on the same page where each of you rely back on the other.

I have every application that is current backed up on one of my websites in a special folder. The folder is password protected. There are 7 names and connection instructions in a list. There are basic instructions for each app so the others can get into the app(s). There is also a client list for each application that goes with this. This also includes websites that are a part of the sales for some of these.
My daughter has a list, instructions and all passwords in the event something goes wrong.
My other than alpha interests are handled similarly.
It is a pain to put together and a pain to keep it up, but a necessity.

[Ted Giles]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

I think Dave nailed it (again).
Robin, who could imagine life without you?

Getting into someone else's code is a PITA. I actually prefer to see the app in operation, so screen shots or PSR shots are useful. As I mostly prototype and avoid Xbasic as far as possible, ( learning JS at present ) , I can usually pick up what's supposed to happen. Maybe.

The biggest problem is a lack of Help Text I find.

[MoGrace]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

The 2nd biggest problem is creating the help text! User data entry is not so hard, explaining the forms and scripts however is.

[DaveM]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

Robin,
Why? simple to create images with jing, place them in html files and make them available with a "help" button You can have all the verbiage and images you would ever want in the html files. Place the html files in a folder under the application. Call whichever html file you wish from whichever "help" button.
Takes very little time and very helpful to the user.
You can even build it as a complete website with a menu for more or all pages.
Takes up very little space.

This is very old(first one I found - 2004?) - unzip it in a folder and tell me what you think
help.zip

I did not send any images or movies with this and can explain blank spots.

[Ted Giles]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

Google PSR, or type it into the Windows search area in Win 10 or the Programmes search in Win7
See what it can do for you.
Records keystrokes and shows screens. Awesome free Windows tool the results of which which can be edited.

[DaveM]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

Robin,
My users never hear the word "script" from me. They don't need to know about them.
They need to know how to type and press buttons only. That gets them from point a to b to c and runs the scripts for them.
Called KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid - should be for stupid of course.

[glenschild]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

As an independent developer of solutions based on Alpha software I am occasionally asked by a client what would happen if I was to 'fall under a bus' tomorrow.

At the moment I have nothing in place to mitigate such an event and was wondering if anybody else in the Alpha world has found an effective solution. I know there are escrow services and the such where you can file documentation, source code etc. but these seem quite expensive in most circumstances for a sole trader.

Do any of you have a cost effective solution, or would you be willing to participate in a joint venture to create one?

Hi Jon

As a fellow UK sole trader I have the same challenges, and it really is something I tailor to each specific client. But everything falls back on to several key areas:

Disaster recovery.
Backup, backup and backup. Not just an alpha application but everything related to an application AND the backend database.
Document, document, document.

Have everything stored securely, remotely but accessible by someone else you can trust.

Depending upon the size of the client, sometimes escrow services are preferred but it is possible to create the same form of structure much cheaper. It really depends on the strength of the working relationship.

And finally did I mention.... backup, backup, backup!

Glen

[MoGrace]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

@Dave - I didn't mean that I would write help to explain forms and scripts to USERS; I meant to another developer.

[DaveM]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

Robin,
Same method works for both
Copy paste scripts, udfs. or whatever right into the html pages if you wish.
However, most developers in alpha will figure them out very quickly without that. Any smart person is going to investigate every button and field on a form for code before they touch it.
They are going to check the sets and tables for code and break it dow.
They will do all this just as fast as to read what you write
My first is to get all tables listed out so I know what fields do what, then the same with sets, then forms, and so on.
You get the idea.

[Ted Giles]

Re: What happens if I fall under a bus?

If anyone wants a cooy of my Data Dictionary Alpha utility, just ask. I can't over emphasise how useful a DD really is.
You can build production tables from the table designer with a click.
It is designed so as to be embedded in your app so as long as you keep it up to date, anyone can pick up and follow your logic. Or illogic as the case may be.
All the relevant field level information can be saved so you can make notes about a field content, calculations affected and Check conditions.
It does not do what A5Doc does, more guides you down a structured path for table design.
Oh, and it's free.