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The Alpha Software Forum Participation Guidelines

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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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Alpha Developers

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    #1

    Alpha Developers

    As a developer coming from clarion and access being able to buy the developer versions of these products and distribute without purchasing runtimes comvinced me to purchase. My suggestion to alpha software is to create a developer package of their program with the right to distribute to as many endusers as needed. With this they could raise the price of their software sufficiently to satisfy the developers like myself and increase revenue at the sametime. As it is having to purchase runtimes seperately has me hesistant to commit. Let me know what you think. Thanks
    Tags: None
    #2
    RE: Alpha Developers

    Rasheed

    You only need to buy one developer app and one 1-10 runtime or more if you have a very big customer. You can copy the runtime as many times as you need. You cannot copy the developer app as it will only run on your machine. The runtime is not cheap as a one off, but once bought the cost gets spread with all of the applications you build and sell. Think of it as cooking and selling a cake, the ingredients are cheap the skill is worth more but who pays for the oven? You keep the Developer program and the customer eats the cake. And if you are very good they buy more from you. Good luck.

    Keith Hubert
    London.
    Regards
    Keith Hubert
    Alpha Guild Member
    London.
    KHDB Management Systems
    Skype = keith.hubert


    For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

    Comment

      #3
      RE: Alpha Developers

      Keith,

      I think what he's saying is that he would like the developer version to include the capability of creating exe files.

      Rasheed,

      This has been discussed with the folks at Alpha a few times. With Alpha 5, the only difference is that Runtime doesn't create exe files. It actually is the full version lees a few files so the user can only run apps. IF there was a regular version and RT was the same version but could create exe files, this would basicly be the same as Access, Clarion and others.

      I suspect Access and Clarion have a less expensive developer version than it would be to purchase A5v5 plus the v5 RT. However, one has to look at the features and the time saved in creating complex apps. I believe Alpha has so many more intuitive genies than the others. You can do more in less time.

      Also you can purchase 3 and 5 packs of Alpha w/o purchasing RT. Perhaps you might want to speak with the folks at Alpha about your needs and express you purchase concerns directly to them, 781.229.4500. There is an 800 number but I don't remember it.

      kenn
      TYVM :) kenn

      Knowing what you can achieve will not become reality until you imagine and explore.

      Comment

        #4
        RE: Alpha Developers

        I was more concerned with being able to specify the number of licenses in my distributed app before giving to to client. You are correct in that alpha is much more full featured and easier t use than than clarion or access and that is the main reason i am looking at it as my new development tool i was just looking for a way to purchase alphafive for roughly the same price as i purchase these other tools and let me determine how many licenses the client app could have without purchasing runtimes i want the runtime to be included.

        Comment

          #5
          RE: Alpha Developers

          The runtime is not cheap and it makes it a difficult sale when i just want to distribute a time limited demo without purchasing the runtime.

          Comment

            #6
            RE: Alpha Developers

            There is no way to distribute a demo without using the runtime (or having the customer buy the full version!)

            As far as determining the number of licenses for the user, I believe you may find some info at www.learn alpha.com but I can't guarantee it. You could also search this site since I believe it has been discussed before. (but not often?)

            Comment

              #7
              RE: Alpha Developers

              Well, I can't get to LearnAlpha tonight because the server seems to be down but I ran a search of this site and didn't find anything - doesn't mean it's not there, just that I couldn't find it.

              Lots of stuff on limiting time or records but nothing on users.

              Comment

                #8
                RE: Alpha Developers

                ken, you state that access can create .exe files.

                to the best of my knowledge, access cannot create .exe files. distributing an access app is much the same as distributing an a5 app. i.e. you distribute the app that you created, and the runtime files.

                also, don't be confused by programs that create .exe files. they too require runtime files to be installed. i.e. if you create a vb program, yes you get an .exe file. however the .exe file will not run unless the vb runtime files are also installed on the computer.

                so frankly i don't see much difference between the a5 approach and the vb approach.

                Comment

                  #9
                  RE: Alpha Developers

                  Hi Selwyn,

                  Thanks for the correction.

                  kenn
                  TYVM :) kenn

                  Knowing what you can achieve will not become reality until you imagine and explore.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    RE: Alpha Developers

                    >>also, don't be confused by programs that create .exe >>files. they too require runtime files to be installed. >>i.e. if you create a vb program, yes you get an .exe >>file. however the .exe file will not run unless the vb >>runtime files are also installed on the computer.

                    Visual Basic uses external DLLs, however there many other programs out there that do create true "exe" files without any external DLLs, packages or runtime files.

                    RF-ARS Motorola

                    Comment

                      #11
                      RE: Alpha Developers

                      A couple of points here.
                      The problem as I see it means that I cannot use A5 to develop for the mass market. For each copy of my application I sell I also need the runtime version of A5 and that costs me and my customer extra money. If I want to sell my product to a mass market, the price has to be competitive. For example, I might have to sell a product for under $20 because that's what my competitors charge for similar products. If the A5 run time costs $1600 for an unlimited run time license, that's a big investment that can only add very significantly to the unit price of my product. So I'm not competitive, so therefore I choose to develop using something other than A5. Sorry, but that's the reality.
                      I would also make the point that the VB runtime is freely available.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        RE: Alpha Developers

                        Clarification: I know that Access cannot create exe files so one has to purchase the developer edition, which I understand includes all of MS office?

                        Brett,

                        You make some good points are made but they need to be put into perspective. While I'm not familiar with how all the various database software vendors include/exclude Rt or exe files, I think the more well know brands all offer a full version w/o RT or exe capability. To get the RT or exe capability, you will need to pay more, perhaps several hundred more as it is with A5.

                        I don't know of any database that provides the ease and power that A5 does, including RT or exe capability, for under $300, which is what I'd want to pay if I were cranking out $20 apps (unless of course, there is a HUGE market for the $20 apps).

                        The apps that sell for under $20 are either done with, shall we say, a 'less productive database' or considerable more than $300 was paid for the development software. I don't beileve there is any database vendor who provides the attention to the cusotmers that Selwyn and his staff provide.

                        I guess if one doesn't need the advice, help or the power of A5, there certainly are inexpensive database products.

                        BTW, what is the "something" other than A5 you refer to and what are the features and the costs? What kind of service do you get from their message board and the vendor?

                        Selwyn's not afraid to see that info on this board and since you're hanging around, it may be that "something" has a bit to be desired??

                        kenn
                        TYVM :) kenn

                        Knowing what you can achieve will not become reality until you imagine and explore.

                        Comment

                          #13
                          RE: Alpha Developers

                          " For each copy of my application I sell I also need the runtime version of A5 and that costs me and my customer extra money."

                          To the best of my knowledge, this is absolutely untrue. You purchase run-time ONCE, and can distribute as many apps and clients as you wish.

                          Comment

                            #14
                            RE: Alpha Developers

                            Also, if you are selling an app for $20 I presume this is only intended for a single user therefore you do not need the unlimited runtime. You can distribute with say the 10 user runtime which is half the cost of the unlimited version. You ONLY need to purchase the unlimited runtime IF you intend to distribute applications which are networked on more than 10 machines, in which case presumably the charge to the end user is per seat used?

                            Regards

                            Glen
                            Glen Schild



                            My Blog

                            Comment

                              #15
                              RE: Alpha Developers

                              Does anybody know the true answer to this runtime question?
                              If I want to distribute my applications to anybody in the world, what runtime version do I have to purchase? I am talking about selling to individuals not companies. Back in 1996 I paid $1,000 for the runtime version of alpha Four and made that back in one week.
                              $1,600 is not much considering the work that has gone into this application for us to use. I would rather pay $1,600 and keep Alpha Software in business than pay $100 and have them go out of business.
                              So, what do I have to purchase so I can distribute my Apps without a problem?
                              Thanks in advance for any answers.
                              Greg

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