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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:
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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.

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Need help deciding to using A5 for development

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    Need help deciding to using A5 for development

    Hello,

    I'm in the process of evaluating AlphaFive for database development. So far, A5 appears to be an effective business tool for database development. However, I have encountered many small UI bugs while using A5. My concern is that there might be data integrity bugs that I will encounter after spending valuable time developing a database application. Has anyone experienced significant data integrity bugs? If you have a part-time or full-time business using A5 then how well is it working for your business?

    I would appreciate an honest assessment about using A5 to develop business applications.

    Thanks,
    Derrick

    #2
    RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

    Derrick:
    I would respectfully submit to you that the "UI bugs" you have encountered are the result of a lack of understanding of the scope and power of Alpha Five. I can assure you, as a 20 year veteran with Alpha Software (we are developers and use Alpha exclusively), the only problem that arises regarding data integrity is the result of "user errors". Alpha is an incredibly stable platform which in our case has served us well in the development of over 200 applications ranging from Alpha Four version 2 through the current version (Alpha Five version 5). These applications range from the very small "mom and pop" business to the multi-user large institutional requirements and do all of them in a manner that makes us proud to have our name on the screen.

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

      John,

      Thank you for the reply. I hope my question was OK for this forum.

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

        Sure it was, and if you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact my office.
        Data Management Solutions, Inc.
        (772) 223-9265
        www.dmsi-south.com

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

          Derrick,

          We developed an in house system to track our customers door hardware, locks & keying information. Development of the latest version began with ver. 4.5, but truly came alive with ver. 5.

          I should add that there is NO programming involved but relies heavily on action scripting & utilizes Alpha's intuitive abilities. Ver. 5 was the break through that allowed this complicated an application to be developed. I know of no other data base that could begin to touch the abilities of A5.

          While ver 4.5 did suffer from index problems, they appear to have been eliminated with ver. 5. We have been operating for over a year with no data integrity problems.

          Feel free to email me if you need further info.

          John

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

            Derrick,

            Welcome to the 'club'.

            In addition to what John said, you can develop applications with Alpha Five using Action Scripting to an extent unheard of in other development tools and never write any coe, if you don't want to. If you want, you can view the underlying XBasic code and analyzed it to your heart's content. What you have is the ability to let Alpha write the code for you and then you can extend and expand your comfort with A5 at whatever speed meets your needs.

            On this messageboard, you will find developers and users at all levels of skill gladly helping each other in their A5 development. You very possibly will post a question and get a response from Selwyn Rabins, one of the two brothers who are Alpha Software. Try that with MS.

            Dave
            Dave Jampole
            www.customalpha.com

            Women and cats will do whatever they want. The sooner men and dogs realize that, the happier they will be.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

              Derrick,

              In a multi-user networked setting Alpha Five uses a file sharing model rather than client-server (client-server is in development). In high volume data entry situations your design should take this into consideration. Alpha Five has the tools to help you minimize the conflicts than can occur when multiple workstations try to use and / or edit the same records at the same time. -- tom

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                #8
                RE: Need help deciding to using A5 for development

                I'll confirm the presence of what you call "UI bugs", though I would probably not limit it to (nor focus especially on) the user interface, and I would probably use the word "quirks". :-) I'm still surprised daily by things that A5 does.

                One problem I have never had, however, is corrupted data. It doubtless happens, and doubtless it happens more in high-traffic multi-user situations. But the DBF is an old and solid standard for a reason.

                The other A5 files, the ones that hold your database application information seem rather susceptible to corruption (at least during development), but actual application data seems to be about safe as it can be.

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