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The Alpha Software Forum Participation Guidelines

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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Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

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    #1

    Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

    Hi all

    I have only asked one question recently - so I am an absolute beginner having just downloaded Version 6 for evaluation. Can I put to you all a point mentioned to me by a professional programmer many many years ago (about 1988). Maybe it is no longer relevant but here goes...

    The programmer I think used to work day to day with the likes database programs I believe were called DbaseIII or DbaseIV and also a name like FoxPro.

    Being interested in computer products at the time, I had purchased a little database package which basically even in those days, allowed you to put in a field by simple selection include a colour in the field, and continue like this to produce a sort of database table. Then you could create another table like that and a field could INHERIT values from elsewhere and so on. Quite advanced I suppose looking back. Sorry I can't tell you more because of recall!! No coding at all just making menu choices.

    However, the point he made was this. He accepted that it produced a nice little input and retrieval database for the money, and that it worked - but it had a major drawback. "What" David he said "are you going to do, when what you think should happen doesn't occur"? Very little he thought - but have to start again with a new design.

    Having designed from original code he explained, you go back line by line and find out where the problem is occurring and why. Then you would have to amend the code until you or your customer if you have designed for others had a product that worked correctly. Now that is where this programmer felt things break down with a simple selection system such as I have outlined above.

    Does the simplicity with which AlphaSoftware allows beginners such as myself to produce (at my level anyway) a simple input and retrieval database - suffer from the sort of problem situation I have tried to outline. Initially things might seem to be OK, and then suddenly say 5 months down the road - maybe an autoincrementing number does not compute correctly. Where do we go in such a situation?

    I know this is only a hypothetical situation, but when I recalled his conversation I thought I would bring it up here as a matter of interest only - not a problem I am facing.

    Also my own feelings are anyway, and I believe were his too, no matter what computer software program is produced and in whatever manner, it will not be perfect. It can never anticipate every situation users of the product might bring to bear day after day.

    In fact I think one of the tests he said would be carried out was to bring your hands down on all the keys on the keyboard and see if it just gave up - if not you were on the right road!!!

    Many thanks for listening.
    ----David
    Tags: None
    #2
    RE: Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

    1) One nice feature about Alpha Five that comes to mind as I read your post is that Alpha keeps the user's code & layouts in files that are separate from the user's data, itself. If the worst should happen the data is accessible with a host of other tools, since the format (DBF) is so pervasive.

    2) Developing and using a good backup system is critical whenever you invest time, money and energy in a computer related project. This is especially true for databases.

    3) Alpha provides a nice level of 'granularity'. When you need to update or fix a problem in one part of an application you can do that without having to carefully run through all the code in the other sections of the app that are running correctly.

    -- t

    Comment

      #3
      RE: Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

      David,

      Alpha5 goes many steps beyond your simple database program you bought in the past.

      While Alpha5 allows you to completely create a workable solution without coding, it also allows you to learn as you go.

      Every script that is generated by a genie can be viewed as xbasic code. While it may not make much sense to start with, the help files will help you understand what is going on when you look at the xbasic code.

      If you decide in a few weeks that something isn't quite working right, you can convert a script into xbasic code and "tweak" it to your satisfaction. Alpha5 has backup routines you can run to protect yourself from screwing up too badly. If you screw up, delete it and recreate it with a genie or restore everything from a backup. Backup, tweak (play) then restore if necessary.

      If you decide to really get serious, Alpha5 has a tremendous amount of information in the help files. They have provided tutorials for almost anything you might want to learn. You will find many demo routines showing you step by step how to accomplish a particular task on the Alpha5 website.

      If that isn't enough, there are the people who use this forum. If you provide the information requested, you may have some of the most experienced people helping you to resolve a problem, not just developers, but Alpha5 staff as well. Just reading the different threads is a learning experience.

      Good luck,
      Jerry Gray

      Comment

        #4
        RE: Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

        This product is very very flexible & very very powerful.
        You can change the way your database works today, tomorrow, next year or further down the road. Not to worry. It is an investment that will work for and you not against you.
        Peter
        AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

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

        Comment

          #5
          RE: Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

          Peter Greulich wrote:
          -------------------------------
          This product is very very flexible & very very powerful.
          You can change the way your database works today, tomorrow, next year or further down the road. Not to worry. It is an investment that will work for and you not against you.

          To you Peter and all the others that have already responded, many thanks for all your comments.

          I have really every confidence in the product and the help that I would receive from this Forum, and inevitably have to ask for.

          Many of you who have years of database programming I am sure on reading my post, at least related to much of what my old programmer friend had said at that time.

          Time has past things have moved on nd now we have Alpha Five V6. So I had better get ddown to learning fast - and get my feet wet. The only way I suppose to gain knowledge and eventually confidence. But not over-confidence!!

          Thanks again.
          ----David
          (Based in United Kingdom)

          Comment

            #6
            RE: Newbie - Alpha and the original code?

            Go ahead and get over-confident. Those of us who already know everything there is to know will then set you straight. ;)

            (After about 15 years of working with Alpha databases I think the biggest thing I've learned is how much more there is to learn.)

            Cal Locklin
            www.aimsdc.net

            Comment

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