Tech Support

[Larry Davis]

I am currently trying a limited trial edition copy of Alpha Five ver 4.5 and have run into problems on my first day that I can find no answer for in the help documents.
1) I succesfully opened an old Alpha Four database and then created a new Query by Form which I then saved. I ran the query with no problem. Later, after restarting A5 and reopening the same database, I tried to run the saved query, but got the following error message:
could not load that saved setting
Then, when I close that message, new new one appears
invalid query specified
2) When accessing the help menu, then the books submenu, then selecting any of the books, Adobe Acrobat Reader opens and then the following error message appears:
There was an error opening this document. The file does not exist.
After closing this message, I get the following error message:
There was an error opening this document. The path does not exist.
3) And can someone explain the following paragraph on the Alpha Five Technical Support page:
Internet Access
Technical Support information for all products can be found here. Choose the product you would like support for from the drop down choice, and then click the Go button. You can also leave messages to the technical support department on our message board. To access the message board, click on the "Message Board" icon at the top of any page.
There three things wrong with this paragraph:
1) There is no drop down choice field anywhere on the page.
2) Other than the button for subscribing to the newsletter, there is no Go button on the page.
3) There is no "Message Board" icon at the top of the page.
I did find the Message Board link at the side of the page, however, which apparently is the only hope I have of getting in touch with tecnical support.
I have to say this does not bode well for a positive evaluation of this product when they make it so difficult to contact Alpha Software tech support.

[CALocklin]

RE: Tech Support

#1) Exactly what did you do to re-run the query? Is the query still visible on the Operations tab? If so, you should be able to run it.

As far as the two messages are concerned, they seem a bit redundant. If the system can't find the query then it would obviously think the wrong one was specified. I would say this is just a fluke of the way the error trapping is being done. (I guess two warnings are better than none?)

#2) Acrobat: It sounds to me like something is amiss with Acrobat or with some system settings. (My acrobat docs open OK.) Maybe it doesn't mean anything but this sounds mysteriously like your query issue - can't find it. Very odd!

#3) A5 Website: I hadn't noticed those details before. It looks like a transfer of some text from their old board which didn't get updated properly. The old board had a drop-down window on the left with a GO button below it. The new board has a list of options under each heading and you just click to access it.

[Ohlen Cartmell]

RE: Tech Support

What was called a database in A4 is called a table in A5. The A5 database is like a container that holds the tables. To sucessfully operate in A5, first create a database and then add your old databasees (now called tables) to the new database. Also, it's much safer to operate with copies of your old tables than it is to work with the actual data. There is a learning curve and you'll want to avoid messing up your live data. Once everything works, then transfer the live date to the new A5 application.

1) I succesfully opened an old Alpha Four database and then created a new Query by Form which I then saved. I ran the query with no problem. Later, after restarting A5 and reopening the same database, I tried to run the saved query, but got the following error message:
could not load that saved setting

I can't find anywhere to save a Query by Form.so I'm not sure what you mean here. However, if you didn't create a database in A5 (as above), there is no container to hold your query and I would expect a failure.

I can't answer the question on opening the help books. I tried it here and all worked a expected. Try opening Acrobat Reader without opening A5 and seeing if you can then open the help books. If it works then there's something wrong with the link between A5 and Acrobat. If not, then there's something wrong with the reader.

Hope this helps a little.

[Ohlen Cartmell]

RE: Tech Support

P.S.
Adding to my previous message: Regarding your question on the tech support page: It sounds like you are somehow accessing the old alphasoftware site. It had a drop down box where you selected the product. I just visited the new home page at www.alphasoftware.com and did not find a drop down box like you described.

Regarding the help books: When you installed A5 I think you had the option of installing the books or not. Did you install them?

[Larry Davis]

RE: Tech Support

Ohlen, you are correct, sort of. I am accessing the new site, but as one of the other contributors to this thread noticed, the text at the new site was transferred from the old site but never amended. And this was my point. The new site does not have the drop down list or the go button, but the text clearly says that it does.
Yes, I did install the books, and as I recently discovered I can access the books if I open Acrobat seperately and then load the books by using the file menu, open dialog box.
Apparently there is something wrong with the links in the Alpha 5 program because it looks for those files in the wrong location. Again, I guess that's my point: there is something wrong and how do I fix it?

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Tech Support

Larry,

You said:

I succesfully opened an old Alpha Four database and then created a new Query by Form which I then saved. I ran the query with no problem. Later, after restarting A5 and reopening the same database, I tried to run the saved query, but got the following error message: could not load that saved setting.


This problem usually occurs when a new database is not correctly created. Let me suggest a plan for getting started:

1) create a new folder; use a different folder for each database; use only one folder for each database. (Remember, in A5 a database is not a table... as Ohlen has already explained.)

2) copy your A4 DBF and DBT files into the new database folder; don't bother with the NDX files.

3) open A5; select new database off the file Menu; then navigate to the database folder you created in step 1; furnish a name for the database and Save it in the folder you created in step 1.

4) In the process of saving the new database, Select Create an empty database, and when prompted supply the names of the tables (DBF files) you wish to 'add' to the database.


My guess is that you managed to put your dbf files (A5 tables) in one folder and your database file (ADB) in another, and Alpha Five is now confused about where everything is located.

-- tom

[Larry Davis]

RE: Tech Support

Sorry, Tom. I followed your suggestions to the letter, but I still get the same error messages. However, I did discover a way to run the saved query that does work and maybe this is way it is supposed to work, but if so, A5 still has a bug.
If I open the newly created database, select the Operations tab, and run the saved query before I try to view the Table/Set, then I get results with no error messages. After running the query, I select the Table/Set tab, select the table which represents the former A4 database and then select View, I get a browse view of the database with the query in effect.
If this is the way it is supposed to be done, you would think that the Run Saved Query command in the Query menu would be disabled once a browse view window is opened for a particular table (and the same could be said of the Operations tab in the Control Panel). However, since they are not disabled, I would expect that a query can be run even if a browse or form view window is open.
Am I offbase here?
One of the other writers questioned whether or not there might be something amiss with my system settings and that this might be causing my problem with the Run Saved Query and with opening one of the "books" from the A5 help menu.
If so, how do it go about isolating and fixing the problem?

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Tech Support

Larry, you should be able to drop a button on your form and use it to 'Run Saved Query' just fine. The menu equivalents should work, also.

If you care to zip up a copy of your database, and attach it to a message here, we can take a look at it and advise with specifics.

-- tom

[Larry Davis]

RE: Tech Support

Very well, Tom. I have attached a zip file containing the created database and associated files (five in all).

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Tech Support

No dice. You omitted the tables and their related dictionary and index files.

If you followed my suggestions, all your files for this database will be in a single folder. Zip them all up and send them along. If you prefer to email them to me privately, that's ok, too.

-- tom

[Larry Davis]

RE: Tech Support

Sorry, Tom. I did as you suggested and zipped all the files in the common folder I created. The file is attached.

[martinwcole]

RE: Tech Support

try this till Tom gets back

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Tech Support

Larry,

The query functionality you are seeing is normal. It's the terminology that's a bit confusing. Let me try to explain.

If you do a query by form the resulting recordset and the definition of the query are saved only temporarily. The last four QBF's that you run in the current session will be available. However, you don't get the option to actually 'Save' the query definition to disk. Prove this yourself. After doing a QBF, release it by selecting ShowAll off the top menu. Then Open the default form for table; select Records off the top menu; select Advanced off the drop down list; select Index/Query off the next drop down list. You should be able to select the query from the resulting list. If you ran 5 different QBF's in a row, the 1st one would no longer be accessible. It's the last four that you can toggle among. All four QBF definitions are lost when you shut Alpha Five down.

Contrast that with what happens if you use the Query Genie to build and save a Query Operation. (Or if you go directly to the Operations tab of the A5 Control Panel and define a new Query Operation) (Or if you define and save a query using Query by Table). In these cases the *definition* of the query list is saved as an Operation which you can run over and over without having to redefine it.

So, if you're trying to retrieve the results of a QBF thinking it's a saved query, you're out of luck. You must define the query as an operation (with the Genie), or using Query by Table. Once defined you must 'save' it to disk. Once saved you can retrieve and run it any time you wish.

I keep all this straight by putting QBF and the QuickFilter in the same mental pigeonhole. Useful for quick one shot views of the table. Easily discardable. Temporary. If I anticipate needing to run the same query over and over, I define it as an operation and save it to disk.

A saved query can be run from a browse or form. If the default form or browse is closed while such a query is in effect, the query will be reloaded (reasserted) when the table is opened again with either the default form or default browse. Alpha Five is trying to display the table 'just like it was', when it was closed the last time. You are correct, the Run Saved Query menu item is available and can be used to run a different query against the table even then. The effect in such a situation is to release the first query, just as the second saved query is run.

I hope this clarifies things for you. Let us know if you have other questions.

[Larry Davis]

RE: Tech Support

Thank you, Tom. That is a lot clearer, now. I am afraid I was misled (or led myself to draw conclusions) based on an incomplete knowledge of A5, an A5 help file which recommended that I use QBF and my own previous experience with MS Access. Thanks for straightening this out.
Larry Davis
[email protected]