Alpha Software Mobile Development Tools:   Alpha Anywhere    |   Alpha TransForm subscribe to our YouTube Channel  Follow Us on LinkedIn  Follow Us on Twitter  Follow Us on Facebook

Announcement

Collapse

The Alpha Software Forum Participation Guidelines

The Alpha Software Forum is a free forum created for Alpha Software Developer Community to ask for help, exchange ideas, and share solutions. Alpha Software strives to create an environment where all members of the community can feel safe to participate. In order to ensure the Alpha Software Forum is a place where all feel welcome, forum participants are expected to behave as follows:
  • Be professional in your conduct
  • Be kind to others
  • Be constructive when giving feedback
  • Be open to new ideas and suggestions
  • Stay on topic


Be sure all comments and threads you post are respectful. Posts that contain any of the following content will be considered a violation of your agreement as a member of the Alpha Software Forum Community and will be moderated:
  • Spam.
  • Vulgar language.
  • Quotes from private conversations without permission, including pricing and other sales related discussions.
  • Personal attacks, insults, or subtle put-downs.
  • Harassment, bullying, threatening, mocking, shaming, or deriding anyone.
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
  • Sexually explicit or violent material, links, or language.
  • Pirated, hacked, or copyright-infringing material.
  • Encouraging of others to engage in the above behaviors.


If a thread or post is found to contain any of the content outlined above, a moderator may choose to take one of the following actions:
  • Remove the Post or Thread - the content is removed from the forum.
  • Place the User in Moderation - all posts and new threads must be approved by a moderator before they are posted.
  • Temporarily Ban the User - user is banned from forum for a period of time.
  • Permanently Ban the User - user is permanently banned from the forum.


Moderators may also rename posts and threads if they are too generic or do not property reflect the content.

Moderators may move threads if they have been posted in the incorrect forum.

Threads/Posts questioning specific moderator decisions or actions (such as "why was a user banned?") are not allowed and will be removed.

The owners of Alpha Software Corporation (Forum Owner) reserve the right to remove, edit, move, or close any thread for any reason; or ban any forum member without notice, reason, or explanation.

Community members are encouraged to click the "Report Post" icon in the lower left of a given post if they feel the post is in violation of the rules. This will alert the Moderators to take a look.

Alpha Software Corporation may amend the guidelines from time to time and may also vary the procedures it sets out where appropriate in a particular case. Your agreement to comply with the guidelines will be deemed agreement to any changes to it.



Bonus TIPS for Successful Posting

Try a Search First
It is highly recommended that a Search be done on your topic before posting, as many questions have been answered in prior posts. As with any search engine, the shorter the search term, the more "hits" will be returned, but the more specific the search term is, the greater the relevance of those "hits". Searching for "table" might well return every message on the board while "tablesum" would greatly restrict the number of messages returned.

When you do post
First, make sure you are posting your question in the correct forum. For example, if you post an issue regarding Desktop applications on the Mobile & Browser Applications board , not only will your question not be seen by the appropriate audience, it may also be removed or relocated.

The more detail you provide about your problem or question, the more likely someone is to understand your request and be able to help. A sample database with a minimum of records (and its support files, zipped together) will make it much easier to diagnose issues with your application. Screen shots of error messages are especially helpful.

When explaining how to reproduce your problem, please be as detailed as possible. Describe every step, click-by-click and keypress-by-keypress. Otherwise when others try to duplicate your problem, they may do something slightly different and end up with different results.

A note about attachments
You may only attach one file to each message. Attachment file size is limited to 2MB. If you need to include several files, you may do so by zipping them into a single archive.

If you forgot to attach your files to your post, please do NOT create a new thread. Instead, reply to your original message and attach the file there.

When attaching screen shots, it is best to attach an image file (.BMP, .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, etc.) or a zip file of several images, as opposed to a Word document containing the screen shots. Because Word documents are prone to viruses, many message board users will not open your Word file, therefore limiting their ability to help you.

Similarly, if you are uploading a zipped archive, you should simply create a .ZIP file and not a self-extracting .EXE as many users will not run your EXE file.
See more
See less

"Converting" desktop app to web app

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    "Converting" desktop app to web app

    Good day, all.

    I am at the start of a project to "convert" (i.e. rebuild) a desktop app into a web app. My question is this:

    Is there a quide or tutorial on the "best" way to start a project like this? I know that I have to recreate all of the screens used for data entry and build all of the file/field links, but having a starting point would be helpful.

    I originally built this is A5V4 and made rudimentary improvements up through V10. Due to a change in business focus, it has been shelved for a few years but I have a new opportunity to monetize it and I want it as a web-based (potentially) subscription app.

    My background is non-programming oriented. I consider myself a high-end user with just enough programming and design capabilities to get the job done, but inelegantly and probably non-optimized. That said, It's not a terribly complicated system. It essentially takes in raw material and labor input, plus business overhead data, and pumps out individual item pricing using a formula of my own design.

    So, if anyone knows anything about the resources I seek, I will be eternally grateful.

    Thanks,

    David
    David L. Feldman Consulting

    #2
    Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app (please note quotes)

    Is your data in the dbase format?

    Comment


      #3
      Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app (please note quotes)

      Yes. But the existing data is irrelevant. Since I am looking to commercialize the program, my personal data is a non-issue. I can easily start from scratch, as regards the data format.

      Comment


        #4
        "Converting" desktop app to web app

        ****NOTE: I originally posted this in the A10 Desktop forum, but I think it should have been posted in this group.*****

        Good day, all.

        I am at the start of a project to "convert" (i.e. rebuild) a desktop app into a web app. My question is this:

        Is there a quide or tutorial on the "best" way to start a project like this? I know that I have to recreate all of the screens used for data entry and build all of the file/field links, but having a starting point would be helpful.

        I originally built this is A5V4 and made rudimentary improvements up through V10. Due to a change in business focus, it has been shelved for a few years but I have a new opportunity to monetize it and I want it as a web-based (potentially) subscription app.

        My background is non-programming oriented. I consider myself a high-end user with just enough programming and design capabilities to get the job done, but inelegantly and probably non-optimized. That said, It's not a terribly complicated system. It essentially takes in raw material and labor input, plus business overhead data, and pumps out individual item pricing using a formula of my own design.

        So, if anyone knows anything about the resources I seek, I will be eternally grateful.

        Thanks,

        David
        David L. Feldman Consulting
        Edit / Delete Edit Post Quick reply to this message Reply Reply With Quote Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message
        Last edited by Al Buchholz; 03-21-2017, 02:30 PM. Reason: Threads merged into one.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app (please note quotes)

          I would suggest a restart with a sql database, because dbf is not so suitable on the web. Of course all the screens, reports and everything else has to be built as new.
          Dave Mason
          [email protected]
          Skype is dave.mason46

          Comment


            #6
            Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app (please note quotes)

            Thanks, Dave.

            So other than using my existing app as an outline, virtually nothing I have done to date will be useful in creating a web app, correct?

            David

            Comment


              #7
              Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

              Having converted a number of desktop applications from Alpha and Access to web... I've come to consider the new paradigm a chance for a fresh look at the app. Your existing forms, browses, etc. will need to be re-created. It's possible that XBasic logic can be transferred with modifications... as well as reports.

              Go through your app with a re-design in mind... considering where to use UX, Grid, and other components... what fits where best. Repeating Sections or Lists can take over from Browses.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                Thanks for the supportive thoughts, but that wasn't what I was hoping for...

                Lots of work ahead. Sigh.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                  I know... there's no magic process. Desktop and web apps are different worlds though... mobile different again. I had a visual basic app, re-wrote to an Alpha 5 desktop app, and re-wrote again to a web app. Nothing to do but dig in and start understanding the new stuff.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                    And so it is. One thing that (potentially) disturbs me, however, is the fact that I'm been informed by an Alpha Sales Rep that they possess the ability to "convert" an app. What follows is a sentence from my email thread:

                    "Our Engineers wouldn't recreate your app, they would do a pure conversion. If you'd like to schedule a no-charge discussion, please let me know."

                    If such a tool exists internally, it would be nice if it were offered to the public. Frankly, it should be included with the price of an A12 license, IMHO. But that's just me...

                    Now off to my PC.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                      Find out what that means... what the details of the conversion are... and report back.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                        That's my intention. Gotta wait until tomorrow to schedule the chat.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                          So, there is no real "conversion". There are ways to convert the DBF files to SQL files, but there are no ways to transfer FORMS to UX module elements. Those must be recreated from scratch. Clearly, for $200/hour, Alpha will rebuilt an existing desktop app for you, but that doesn't quality in my book as a conversion tool.

                          I spoke with Dion McCormick (a software engineer) and he was certainly nice enough to walk through certain things that will help me to rebuild the app on my own, and, of course, he offered to look at my app for the purposes of quoting the job, but I haven't received that info back yet.

                          In the end, I have come to agree with other more experienced Alpha user's opinions that "conversion" is an art and not a science or a tool. Because of the flexibility and power of the UX interface, you can make wonderful apps, but much like the "song into a painting" analogy, the end result may give you similar senses of pleasure and completion, but the methods by which you get that piece of art ready for the public are very different.

                          The end result? Either pony up for more experienced people to do the work or get ready for a learning curve and time investment.

                          David

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                            The end result? Either pony up for more experienced people to do the work or get ready for a learning curve and time investment.
                            the former will probably give you money ( may be!), the latter will definitely give you pleasure, pride, and may be, money to boot.
                            i can tell you that this message board will be your faithful guardian, teacher, rant outlet whatever. but an amazing asset for alpha, you will come to realize.
                            i would say, start learning and leave behind the desktop frame of mind. you will find it is really fantastic with alpha and this message board behind you.
                            good luck.
                            thanks for reading

                            gandhi

                            version 11 3381 - 4096
                            mysql backend
                            http://www.alphawebprogramming.blogspot.com
                            [email protected]
                            Skype:[email protected]
                            1 914 924 5171

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: "Converting" desktop app to web app

                              If I was in your shoes, I'd talk to Steve Wood about his "V4 Framework". It will start you off with the security, a number of pages and a bunch of code you can look at and learn from. Will save you lots of time. I agree that SQL is the best, and don't let Alpha talk you into the "fast start genie" or whatever they call it. You will just end up redoing everything you converted. I like MySQL or MariaDB with Navicat for tables, views and stored procedures.

                              That is several hundred dollars worth of investment that I think will save you about 6 months in doing the conversion.
                              Pat Bremkamp
                              MindKicks Consulting

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X