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double entry capability

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    #1

    double entry capability

    The Alpha website mentions that the current version (5.5) allows for double entry verification. I am very interested in this capability, because it is very common in applications for our industry (clinical trials data management). I am an Access developer and have programmed a home-grown solution to this requirement, but the built-in feature sounds appealing. Has someone had an opportunity to implement this feature in an app they have developed? If so, can you give me a brief description of how it works? I am also intrigued by the extensive field rules genies. Field-level and cross-field/cross-table validation is invaluable in our environment because so much of the data is denormalized (on purpose) on the entry forms. Glad I discovered the site/product. I expect to take a test-drive very soon. Thanks.
    Tags: None
    #2
    RE: double entry capability

    Steve

    You haven't downloaded the trial yet?

    How can you wait? ;-)

    Actually, the double entry is implemented in one of two ways, both by clicking a couple of times to set it up.

    One way is that it is always required, the other is that it is conditionally required and you describe the condition.


    Steve Slack wrote:
    -------------------------------
    much of the data is denormalized (on purpose) on the entry forms.

    I'm assuming this is done to make the queries easier?

    Download the trial, get started, and prepare to be amazed at how much easier Alpha is than Acc......

    Alpha also has a trial helper program (in addition to this message board), so you should be able to get a fast start. Be sure to reply to the Alpha helper when they contact you after you get your trial.

    Thanks and keep on Alpha-ing!
    Al Buchholz
    Bookwood Systems, LTD
    Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

    Occam's Razor - KISS
    Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
    Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
    When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
    "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
    Albert Einstein

    http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

    Comment

      #3
      RE: double entry capability

      Maybe this is formatted better....... easier to read?

      Al Buchholz wrote:
      -------------------------------
      Steve

      You haven't downloaded the trial yet?

      How can you wait? ;-)

      Actually, the double entry is implemented in one of two ways, both by clicking a couple of times to set it up.

      One way is that it is always required, the other is that it is conditionally required and you describe the condition.


      Steve Slack wrote:
      -------------------------------
      much of the data is denormalized (on purpose) on the entry forms.

      I'm assuming this is done to make the queries easier?

      Download the trial, get started, and prepare to be amazed at how much easier Alpha is than Acc......

      Alpha also has a trial helper program (in addition to this message board), so you should be able to get a fast start. Be sure to reply to the Alpha helper when they contact you after you get your trial.

      Thanks and keep on Alpha-ing!
      Al Buchholz
      Bookwood Systems, LTD
      Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

      Occam's Razor - KISS
      Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
      Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
      When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
      "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
      Albert Einstein

      http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

      Comment

        #4
        RE: double entry capability

        I've never used the double entry requirement in an actual deployed app, but I've taken a look at it. After setting the double entry field rule requirement... once you enter the value into the field and attempt to leave that field a dialogue box pops up prompting the user to re-enter the value for that field. As long as it matches... all is cool and focus advances on to the next object in the tab order, but if not, a warning pops up telling them their values entered did not match. You can also set the validation to fire conditionally if desired.

        Alpha's field rules are very powerful and I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the functionality possible by using them with no programming required.

        Kevin Anderson
        Anderson Software

        Comment

          #5
          RE: double entry capability

          Thanks for the reply, Al. I just started reading about Alpha 5 last night, and I'm very intrigued. I decided to finally go to bed at 3:00 am when my eyes started to give out. Anyway, to answer your question, the design of the data entry forms is mainly driven by the needs of the industry. The forms tend to be very long (20-80 pp) and have a lot of fields (400-800+). The forms are filled out by hand, so the main requirement is to make filling them out as simple as possible. Unfortunately, this means data integrity is jeopardized to a great extent. Massive amounts of (human) resources are then expended in the data cleaning effort to ensure accuracy - lots of corrections. The FDA requires an audit trail for all data changes, so Alpha 5 is appealing for that reason too. Later, the data is processed through a large number of queries/data transformations to prepare it for analysis in an advanced statistical package (usually SAS). By the way, the clinical database market is a prime opportunity for Alpha 5 and/or an ambitious development team, provided that one is willing to address the compliance requirements - mostly software testing & validation out the wazoo. The major vendors of off-the-shelf solutions are charging a pound of flesh to the pharma companies (read: 5 & 6-figure license fees), and in most cases, a client-server database isn't really necessary since the datasets aren't that large. Just as long as good backup procedures are in place. There are a lot of home-grown Access solutions out there, but Access has lost favor due to its lack of an audit trail and its less-than-robust security model.

          Comment

            #6
            RE: double entry capability

            Thanks for the reply, Kevin. It sounds like it might be a bit different than what I'm accustomed to. In our environment, data is keyed in by data entry clerk #1, followed by data entry clerk #2 entering the same form. The two versions are then compared by the software for discrepancies. A third party will then come in and resolve the discrepancies that have been flagged by the software. It's not absolutely necessary that two versions of the data be stored, but the multiple entry clerk requirement is pretty standard. Do you think the Alpha 5 feature meets this requirement?

            Comment

              #7
              RE: double entry capability

              Steve

              The Alpha capability is not designed to do that type of double entry checking. But creating that functionality would only require a couple of programming steps.
              Al Buchholz
              Bookwood Systems, LTD
              Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

              Occam's Razor - KISS
              Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
              Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
              When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
              "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
              Albert Einstein

              http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

              Comment

                #8
                RE: double entry capability

                once you enter the value into the field and attempt to leave that field a dialogue box pops up prompting the user to re-enter the value for that field

                FYI: the clever user can copy the 1st entry & paste it into the 2nd dialog w/o retyping (or at least you used to be able to do this).
                Peter
                AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

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

                Comment

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