Hello everybody,
For those of you that really read the message board posts, I am sure you recognize my name by now :) Some of you think I am a real a**hole, and others think I have 1/2 a brain. The first group is right, the 2nd group is only 1/2 right ***winks***
I am not one to speak with a few words, so get your coffee, wine, scotch, or whatever your pleasure ... because this is going to be a novel from the soap box of Cheryl Lemire.
I have only been a user of the Alpha products for just a little over a year. In that time I have worked with Alpha Four Versions 2, 6, 7, and 8 ... and Alpha Five Versions 5, 6 and WAS. I am by no means an expert developer.
But I can tell you this, when I want to do something in an application, I simply start clicking buttons and options and see what happens. Then when I am totally frustrated, I pull up the help docs ... and I do NOT care what anybody says, the Alpha Software documentation is one of the best I have ever come across for any software.
I review the help docs, give myself major migrains, and I start clicking buttons and options again until I am once again frustrated. Then I search learn alpha.com and the message boards. I read and read and read again until my head hurts and I go back to pushing more buttons and options.
Throughout this entire process, 90% of the time I find my answers and resolve my issues. BUT, the other 10% of the time, I have to bite my tongue, grin and bare it, and post a request for help here on the appropriate message board.
I pull out my platinum 'blonde' hair dye and pray I can find a way to explain my problem that takes a 1000 words and put it in a way that I can get help from somebody.
"""Go ahead and refill your drink, I will wait for you to return"""
I am going to give you some tips to get quicker resolutions to your problems. I have done support for software for a very long time. I have been a beta tester for a lot of software for a very long time. Although I may not be the best example of how to get the answer to a question or how to get a problem fixed, I CAN tell you how YOU can.
My tips apply to message board help requests as well as bug reports sent to Alpha Software.
1) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, be negative. Negativity breeds more negativity and nobody gets anywhere except deeper than they were before they even asked the question.
2) Attach a zip file of your database. Everybody is working with confidential information. Copy your database into a separate directory on your hard drive. Empty the records in the tables. Create 1/2 dozen records with dummy information (or however many records we need to duplicate the problem). Use the A5 tools to zip your database and attach it to your post.
3) Give DETAILED steps to duplicate the issue you are requesting help with. Saying something like, I have an auto increment field that is not working, please help. WELL, just think about that. If you read that post, what would your response be?
4) Duplicate your problem using the AlphaSports database. Take one of their existing tables and add your field or fields to it. Take an existing form and add your field to that form with the expressions you are using. Whatever you need to do to duplicate it in AlphaSports.
I am going to give you a sample of a good BUG submission. Short, sweet, and to the point. Gives the problem and how to duplicate it. After that I will give you some troubleshooting steps to follow to help you help yourself.
************
Here is a sample BUG report sent to Alpha:
Alpha Five version: 6
Build: 1532
Addins: 2003
Operating System: XP Home
Bug Description: Unhandled exception
The error occurs when pressing the 'tab' key after entering data in the Field Description to go to the Calculated Field _Expression
To duplicate:
Open AlphaSports
Go to customer table structure
Add field, Date_Mod, character, 30
Go to field rules
Select Date_Mod field
Select Calculated field
Type in Default descriptive name
press tab key
type in field description
press tab key
ERROR OCCURS
Unhandled Exception. Alpha 5 will do a forced termination.
**********
Troubleshooting Tips
1) If the problem you are having is with a form or browse ... open the default form or browse for your table and see if you get the same problem.
a) If you do, the problem is within your table structure and/or field rules.
b) If you do not, the problem is within your custom form/browse.
2) Duplicate your own problem using the AlphaSports database. When you go to AlphaSports to duplicate your problem, open notepad or text pad or any other text editor on your desktop. Detail literally step by step what you are doing in AlphaSports to duplicate the problem.
3) Open the Alpha Software help files. Do a search for your issues. Read the various options. Try them out. Keep your text editor open and use it while trying things out (you will need this if you do not resolve your issue and need to ask for help).
4) Do a search on the message boards. Remember that we have a lot of boards, do not restrict your search to the V6 board because you are using V6. The issue you have concerns with can apply to other versions, so search V5 or WAS ... you might be surprised with your results. Change your search words if you do not find anything up front.
5) Go to the learn alpha.com and other links available from the support pages and search there for your issue.
6) READ the posts on these boards every day. Even if you do not have the answer and/or the post makes no sense to you. If you truly want to learn how to use the software and the power of what you can do, reading these posts will take you a long way in the shortest amount of time.
***********
I make as many mistakes if not more than the rest of you. I have had my share of posts to the board that have made NO sense. There is no such thing as a dumb question. But we all need to stop and think for a minute when we are posting a question here.
1) The end users and/or developers/consultants ... whatever you want to call all of us that respond to questions here ... we are NOT paid for our time. We are helping each other because we remember what it was like when we did not know the answer. We still know what it is like because we don't have ALL the answers.
2) Look at your post before you click the send message button. Can you click here, click there, type this, type that ... and get the same end result? If NOT, then neither can we.
3) If you read help docs and board posts and they just did not make sense, quote what you read, what you thought it meant, and what you do not understand.
4) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be negative. What goes around comes around.
****************
Now for some opinions before I get off my soap box. Hopefully many of you have taken the time to read all of this ... (and Alpha has not deleted my post, hahaha) ...
Questions have been asked in different posts on the different boards. I have stood strong with my feelings and have done my best to bite my tongue. But there are things that have bothered me.
1) If you have something negative to say and just can't keep it to yourself ... please, please, please, try to do it tactfully and without the intent of hurting or degrading somebody. Think about how you would feel if you were reading the comment and it was directed to you.
2) If you have to 'bad mouth' Alpha Software or the staff ... back up what you are complaining about. Don't say: the program costs too much money. My response to that is, compared to what? And don't come back with, well Quicken is only $50. Well, my response to that is, and does quicken have all the features that Alpha Software has? If quicken will serve all your needs for $50, then why are you here?
I believe people are using Alpha Software because of the flexibility and power. We seriously can do just about anything we want to do. Some things may be harder than others. Some things may take more time than others. But it can be done. And if we cannot figure it out, somebody is there to help us figure it out.
3) What happened to the board users that used to respond to all the posts but you hardly see anymore? Well, I am NOT speaking for them but I will give you some reasons why I think we do not see much of them anymore.
They read a post that makes no sense to them. They spend some time trying to figure out what the question is and how to duplicate it. They ask 3 questions. They get the answer to one question. They spend more time trying to figure it out and they ask more questions. Twenty posts later, they finally get the answers to all the questions (which should have been given in the original post) and five minutes later they have a resolution.
Do you have that kind of time to invest into helping somebody that you do not know, that is not paying you for your time, that is taking you away from your job or your family?
If you read the posts on the boards, you will find issues resolved quickly when the proper information is given to resolve the issue.
I know, you are saying now, I don't know what information to give. It is sooooooooo EASY.
I clicked here, I typed this, I scrolled to record #, and this is what happened. What I wanted to happen at this point is this. What am I doing wrong?
That is all we need to start. With this we can duplicate your problem. We can then determine if it is a problem with what you are doing or the program itself.
OK soap box time is over ...
Cheryl
For those of you that really read the message board posts, I am sure you recognize my name by now :) Some of you think I am a real a**hole, and others think I have 1/2 a brain. The first group is right, the 2nd group is only 1/2 right ***winks***
I am not one to speak with a few words, so get your coffee, wine, scotch, or whatever your pleasure ... because this is going to be a novel from the soap box of Cheryl Lemire.
I have only been a user of the Alpha products for just a little over a year. In that time I have worked with Alpha Four Versions 2, 6, 7, and 8 ... and Alpha Five Versions 5, 6 and WAS. I am by no means an expert developer.
But I can tell you this, when I want to do something in an application, I simply start clicking buttons and options and see what happens. Then when I am totally frustrated, I pull up the help docs ... and I do NOT care what anybody says, the Alpha Software documentation is one of the best I have ever come across for any software.
I review the help docs, give myself major migrains, and I start clicking buttons and options again until I am once again frustrated. Then I search learn alpha.com and the message boards. I read and read and read again until my head hurts and I go back to pushing more buttons and options.
Throughout this entire process, 90% of the time I find my answers and resolve my issues. BUT, the other 10% of the time, I have to bite my tongue, grin and bare it, and post a request for help here on the appropriate message board.
I pull out my platinum 'blonde' hair dye and pray I can find a way to explain my problem that takes a 1000 words and put it in a way that I can get help from somebody.
"""Go ahead and refill your drink, I will wait for you to return"""
I am going to give you some tips to get quicker resolutions to your problems. I have done support for software for a very long time. I have been a beta tester for a lot of software for a very long time. Although I may not be the best example of how to get the answer to a question or how to get a problem fixed, I CAN tell you how YOU can.
My tips apply to message board help requests as well as bug reports sent to Alpha Software.
1) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, be negative. Negativity breeds more negativity and nobody gets anywhere except deeper than they were before they even asked the question.
2) Attach a zip file of your database. Everybody is working with confidential information. Copy your database into a separate directory on your hard drive. Empty the records in the tables. Create 1/2 dozen records with dummy information (or however many records we need to duplicate the problem). Use the A5 tools to zip your database and attach it to your post.
3) Give DETAILED steps to duplicate the issue you are requesting help with. Saying something like, I have an auto increment field that is not working, please help. WELL, just think about that. If you read that post, what would your response be?
4) Duplicate your problem using the AlphaSports database. Take one of their existing tables and add your field or fields to it. Take an existing form and add your field to that form with the expressions you are using. Whatever you need to do to duplicate it in AlphaSports.
I am going to give you a sample of a good BUG submission. Short, sweet, and to the point. Gives the problem and how to duplicate it. After that I will give you some troubleshooting steps to follow to help you help yourself.
************
Here is a sample BUG report sent to Alpha:
Alpha Five version: 6
Build: 1532
Addins: 2003
Operating System: XP Home
Bug Description: Unhandled exception
The error occurs when pressing the 'tab' key after entering data in the Field Description to go to the Calculated Field _Expression
To duplicate:
Open AlphaSports
Go to customer table structure
Add field, Date_Mod, character, 30
Go to field rules
Select Date_Mod field
Select Calculated field
Type in Default descriptive name
press tab key
type in field description
press tab key
ERROR OCCURS
Unhandled Exception. Alpha 5 will do a forced termination.
**********
Troubleshooting Tips
1) If the problem you are having is with a form or browse ... open the default form or browse for your table and see if you get the same problem.
a) If you do, the problem is within your table structure and/or field rules.
b) If you do not, the problem is within your custom form/browse.
2) Duplicate your own problem using the AlphaSports database. When you go to AlphaSports to duplicate your problem, open notepad or text pad or any other text editor on your desktop. Detail literally step by step what you are doing in AlphaSports to duplicate the problem.
3) Open the Alpha Software help files. Do a search for your issues. Read the various options. Try them out. Keep your text editor open and use it while trying things out (you will need this if you do not resolve your issue and need to ask for help).
4) Do a search on the message boards. Remember that we have a lot of boards, do not restrict your search to the V6 board because you are using V6. The issue you have concerns with can apply to other versions, so search V5 or WAS ... you might be surprised with your results. Change your search words if you do not find anything up front.
5) Go to the learn alpha.com and other links available from the support pages and search there for your issue.
6) READ the posts on these boards every day. Even if you do not have the answer and/or the post makes no sense to you. If you truly want to learn how to use the software and the power of what you can do, reading these posts will take you a long way in the shortest amount of time.
***********
I make as many mistakes if not more than the rest of you. I have had my share of posts to the board that have made NO sense. There is no such thing as a dumb question. But we all need to stop and think for a minute when we are posting a question here.
1) The end users and/or developers/consultants ... whatever you want to call all of us that respond to questions here ... we are NOT paid for our time. We are helping each other because we remember what it was like when we did not know the answer. We still know what it is like because we don't have ALL the answers.
2) Look at your post before you click the send message button. Can you click here, click there, type this, type that ... and get the same end result? If NOT, then neither can we.
3) If you read help docs and board posts and they just did not make sense, quote what you read, what you thought it meant, and what you do not understand.
4) NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be negative. What goes around comes around.
****************
Now for some opinions before I get off my soap box. Hopefully many of you have taken the time to read all of this ... (and Alpha has not deleted my post, hahaha) ...
Questions have been asked in different posts on the different boards. I have stood strong with my feelings and have done my best to bite my tongue. But there are things that have bothered me.
1) If you have something negative to say and just can't keep it to yourself ... please, please, please, try to do it tactfully and without the intent of hurting or degrading somebody. Think about how you would feel if you were reading the comment and it was directed to you.
2) If you have to 'bad mouth' Alpha Software or the staff ... back up what you are complaining about. Don't say: the program costs too much money. My response to that is, compared to what? And don't come back with, well Quicken is only $50. Well, my response to that is, and does quicken have all the features that Alpha Software has? If quicken will serve all your needs for $50, then why are you here?
I believe people are using Alpha Software because of the flexibility and power. We seriously can do just about anything we want to do. Some things may be harder than others. Some things may take more time than others. But it can be done. And if we cannot figure it out, somebody is there to help us figure it out.
3) What happened to the board users that used to respond to all the posts but you hardly see anymore? Well, I am NOT speaking for them but I will give you some reasons why I think we do not see much of them anymore.
They read a post that makes no sense to them. They spend some time trying to figure out what the question is and how to duplicate it. They ask 3 questions. They get the answer to one question. They spend more time trying to figure it out and they ask more questions. Twenty posts later, they finally get the answers to all the questions (which should have been given in the original post) and five minutes later they have a resolution.
Do you have that kind of time to invest into helping somebody that you do not know, that is not paying you for your time, that is taking you away from your job or your family?
If you read the posts on the boards, you will find issues resolved quickly when the proper information is given to resolve the issue.
I know, you are saying now, I don't know what information to give. It is sooooooooo EASY.
I clicked here, I typed this, I scrolled to record #, and this is what happened. What I wanted to happen at this point is this. What am I doing wrong?
That is all we need to start. With this we can duplicate your problem. We can then determine if it is a problem with what you are doing or the program itself.
OK soap box time is over ...
Cheryl
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