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Alpha five books question

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    Alpha five books question

    Many of our users have expressed interest in third party how-to books.

    To that end, and to avoid the kind of redundancy found in the books published about products such as Access or Visual Basic, we're asking users what kind of reference books they would like to have written and made available to them through Alpha Software.


    I know that many of you on this message board are knowledgeable users who will want books that cover more advanced topics, but we're also looking for
    suggestions from (or on behalf of) new users who are just starting out. I'm hoping that many of you who work in an Alpha Five consultant capacity can make valuable suggestions of what the more uninitiated need.


    Please email me with any and all suggestions for titles, topics and content that you would like to see published.

    Thank you,
    Richard Rabins
    [email protected]
    Richard Rabins
    Co Chairman
    Alpha Software

    #2
    RE: Alpha five books question

    Hy, Selwyn.
    I have used A4 and found those books very helpful, when I started using a4. There have to be examples for beginners and the more advanced ones.
    But the books didn�t help with all the problems. When I used ALPHAFORUM I found the best of all informations beside your forum).
    I didn�t start using a5 but will prbably do, if there are some books available (and European numeric format like 123,44)
    Lu from Germany

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Alpha five books question

      Richard:

      I'm one of those Alpha 4 users who tried (briefly) to use your first version of Alpha 5. I did not like the program and felt that the documentation that came with the program very lacking.

      Now for the positive suggestions that you are soliciting. I would like a reference manual that parallels the reference manual that you provided when I purchased Alpha 4, Version 6. I consider that manual one of the better manuals from any source. I know that the industry has gotten away from decent documentation for its software.

      Although the Version 6 reference manual may not cover everything, one can sure obtain a lot of information from that manual. I would be happy with a manual with the same level of depth for Alpha 5. If that level of documentation will be provided or made available at a reasonable price, I will be in line to purchase the new Alpha 5 software when it is released.

      I hope this response is helpful.

      Al Palmer

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Alpha five books question

        One of the better manuals I have purchased from Alpha Software is "Alpha Four Using Functions and Expressions" (The How-to Guide for Novice and Expert Users) by Jeffrey S. Benson which was first printed in February 1993.

        I now develop exclusively in Alpha 5 .... a revised printing of this book (with Alpha 5 techniques included)should shorten the learning curve of those who are new to the product.

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Alpha five books question

          With regard to Xbasic, one of the most helpful tools for developers and users is lots of examples. The more sample code, the better. Actually, the current Xbasic guide has some very good examples - we just need more of them.

          Otherwise, it would be similarly helpful if many of the subtleties of Alpha were brought out. e.g. that you need a cond1.refresh() statement to properly display a conditional object. There are hundreds of such subtleties (although none come to mind at the moment - sorry).
          Peter
          AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

          [email protected]
          https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


          Comment


            #6
            RE: Alpha five books question

            When I started with Alpha 4 (Back when it came on 5 1/4" Floppies) the audio tapes that came with it were extremely helpful. I have since learned to program in 'C' and have come to understand the complexities of developing truly helpful instruction manuals for software. A truly detailed manual might take one or two CDs alone.
            An industrious Alpha 5 programmer might consider a 'hands-on' interactive instructional CD to teach users techniques for various levels of learning.
            As I am being told that Alpha Software is not detailed in its instruction manuals, those with the unlimited runtime version should have no great difficulty in selling CDs covering basic, intermediate, and advanced Alpha Software topics. (If Alpha Software chooses to invest its resources in developing new software, rather than on detialed instruction manuals, that creates a niche just waiting to be exploited by one of Alpha's own customers.)
            As long as you own the unlimited runtime version of Alpha you should be just fine with copyright laws. Whether or not you choose to include an actual runtime package will depend on your skills. There are several shareware or freeware utilities available to record screen activity in either '.avi' or '.mpg' format. This 'might' be a way to save on disk space for a distribution package. (I use them myself as non-interactive instructions for some of the 'C' packages that I have sold.)
            With the open and friendly comments and suggestions made by many of the Alpha Software staff, they might even be willing to make your package available directly through this website. If your efforts are of the highest quality, and would serve to help Alpha Software customers, who knows what might happen?

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Alpha five books question

              May as well put m 2 cents in also.
              For a non-programer who also started with Alpha on 5 1/4's, I found one of the best way to greatest lessons were from ALPHAFORUM series, The Virtual Classroom written and illustrated by Jim Chapman.
              Course #101:Beginning Alpha Five

              Unfortunately it never got beyond Lesson 9.
              This would be a great format.
              Dr Wayne's books are also excellent. (Ihave them all)

              Good work,
              Al Lipsky
              [email protected]

              Comment


                #8
                RE: Alpha five books question

                Allen Palmer wrote:
                -------------------------------
                I would like a reference manual that parallels the reference manual that you provided when I purchased Alpha 4, Version 6. I consider that manual one of the better manuals from any source. I know that the industry has gotten away from decent documentation for its software.
                --------------------------------
                Hear, hear!

                A program's help files are written by a human being. If one is looking for some obscure fact, one has to think like the person who wrote the file. Not always easy.

                A manual on CD is better than nothing. But sometimes I want to have the program on-screen and the manual in my lap or beside me on the desk while I attempt to solve something.

                Heck, sometimes I just want to get away from the computer entirely and read the manual in the living room, or even take it to bed with me.

                I know, everything costs money. But I'd be willing to put up another $20 or so to get a manual such as Allen describes.

                Gary

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Alpha five books question

                  I initially licensed Alpha Five with a desire to create distributable (runtime) programs. I quickly found Alpha Five to be very user friendly. However, a very limited user manual, Dr. Wayne's books and the message boards soon left several key questions unanswered. And how to move from a single user application to a distributable runtime application became increasingly unclear. (I also had some unfortunate issues with a Visual FoxPro ODBC driver that complicated one possible internal company use.)

                  Although others have focused on previous or existing Alpha Software documentation, I would suggest that a better course of action might be to consider publications that are currently available for other database software. I'm sure that anyone considering database options has considered (and probably purchased) books such as Access Database & Design In A Nutshell, Access 2000 Developer's Handbook or Mastering Microsoft Access 2000 Development.

                  Just a suggestion from a dedicated new user.

                  -Tom

                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: Alpha five books question

                    I think a great How-To idea would be a book on Form design techniques. This could be done from a process flow perspective, design tips and enhancements as well as design examples. This book wouldn't have to be Alpha specific and could reach across platforms.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: Alpha five books question

                      I also vote for printed manuals. 500 pages or whatever is too much to print out, and searching piecemeal is awkward and time consuming. I also vote for lots of example scripts in the x-basic manual. I am fairly new to programming, and have learned only with Alpha 5, and examples are very helpful.
                      Richard Urban

                      Grocery Delivery Software for Stores and Entrepreneurs: http://www.urbangrocery.com

                      Comment


                        #12
                        RE: Alpha five books question

                        Richard,

                        I have been developing applications using Alpha4 for mamny years and have to say It's my favorite. Untill Alpha5 came along I would blow away other VB and Access developers by developing Apps in 1/10th the time with more functionality.
                        I realy got a lot out of the Ref manual for Alpha4V6. It covered a lot of ground and saved me countless hours of experimenting. The only improvment that I can suggest for Alpha5 is to add more real type examples such as usinf variables for report selection ( Begining and Ending Dates...). I'm now using Alpha5 and enjoying it but find it slower to develop in with out better documentation. Keep up the good work with this product. It is still the leader in development ease and power.

                        Fred Daniel

                        Comment


                          #13
                          RE: Alpha five books question

                          Hello Richard;

                          I think, having completed an AIT diploma from ITI recently, I discovered that books along the lines of, "Learn X-Basic in 21 days" would be great, with a step by step approach, while developing an actual application provided on an accompanying CD-ROM. I found this method invaluable in learning other applications or languages. I don't know about others, but it would be nice to see these books at Chapters and such, instead of just Access!

                          Regards,

                          A.W. Janert

                          Comment


                            #14
                            RE: Alpha five books question

                            My vote would be for an "Alpha DB Developers Workbook", spiral bound with white space for notes. It would be an A to Z guide for becomming a developer of apps using the Alpha product. It would follow a person through all stages of the development cycle with a "typical" fictitious company. If it included a section on practical "real world" implementation problems i.e., deployment in various network environments and a section of how to use xbasic to "supercharge" the example application, I believe it would find a whole new market of potential developers.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              RE: Alpha five books question

                              One thing to consider would be an in depth explanation of each XBASIC function. EG: What is the difference between card_swap() and card_goto()? What does card_activate() really do? Clearer examples are needed tham just a partial code segment.

                              You might also consider including some of the applications that have been uploaded to the Code Library section of this BBS. That would serve the double purpose of acknowledging those whom have contributed and also provide useful examples.

                              Comment

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