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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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Alpha Software Corporation may amend the guidelines from time to time and may also vary the procedures it sets out where appropriate in a particular case. Your agreement to comply with the guidelines will be deemed agreement to any changes to it.



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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First, make sure you are posting your question in the correct forum. For example, if you post an issue regarding Desktop applications on the Mobile & Browser Applications board , not only will your question not be seen by the appropriate audience, it may also be removed or relocated.

The more detail you provide about your problem or question, the more likely someone is to understand your request and be able to help. A sample database with a minimum of records (and its support files, zipped together) will make it much easier to diagnose issues with your application. Screen shots of error messages are especially helpful.

When explaining how to reproduce your problem, please be as detailed as possible. Describe every step, click-by-click and keypress-by-keypress. Otherwise when others try to duplicate your problem, they may do something slightly different and end up with different results.

A note about attachments
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Similarly, if you are uploading a zipped archive, you should simply create a .ZIP file and not a self-extracting .EXE as many users will not run your EXE file.
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requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

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    #16
    RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

    There is nothing wrong with not understanding the docs or thinking things should be done a different way. What is important is that when you have your question, you give us exact steps that you are taking so we can duplicate your issue. It is the only way we can find a resolution for you.

    You can certainly add all the comments you want afterwards, but if we cannot duplicate your problem, we cannot possibly figure out how to fix it without a lot of great intuition and guesses.
    Cheryl
    #1 Designs By Pagecrazy
    http://pagecrazy.com/

    Comment


      #17
      RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

      ""when you have your question, you give us exact steps that you are taking so we can duplicate your issue. It is the only way we can find a resolution for you... ... if we cannot duplicate your problem, we cannot possibly figure out how to fix it without a lot of great intuition and guesses.""

      Cheryl,

      I hope you don�t conclude I am just trying to be a thorn in your side, but in my opinion you are going too far with something like the above. In my experience, in a majority of cases giving the exact steps that result in a problem is very hard to do, and when tried often a step or a fact is inadvertently left out anyway. I know I have spent many hours detailing a problem in the kind of detail that, for example, Selwyn often requires, only to later realize I left out a crucial fact. For the most part little would ever be on this board if that kind of detail were required here. Moreover, a general description will often provide enough of a clue for someone who has been there and done that (or just has more expertise) to suggest a possible solution or a way to proceed in finding a solution. One final point: if it were to become too burdensome for people to post questions or problems here, it would not be good for Alpha. All kinds of users getting help (and helping!) all kinds of other users is the strength of this board, and it is a tremendous asset for Alpha Software.

      Just my 2 cents.

      Ray Lyons

      Comment


        #18
        RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

        Ray,

        I understand you feel it takes a big effort to detail exact steps, but Cheryl is 100% right. There is a fallacy in believing that someone other than you will intuitively know all the details of your problem. In addition, if you expect someone to put in the effort to help you, the you need to put in the effort to make it easy for them to help you.

        Comment


          #19
          RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

          I respectfully disagree 100%. But I won't repeat my reasons. I would bet, however, that a review of almost anyone's requests for help over the years, including most you may have made, would show that they largely fail to meet the "requirement" Cheryl has suggested.

          Ray

          Comment


            #20
            RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

            Hi,

            This is a community. In a community there are rules and people who obey those rules and people who disobey rules. There are even people who don't know there are rules, here. If you can speak of rules. I simple charter will do.

            Let it flow. As in the real world the people who don't follow the rules will be neglected and will ask themselfs after a while why their questions are not answered. They correct themself.

            Then there are a lot of differences between people, structurized one, chaotic one, theoretical thinking, picture thinking and all types between them.

            I've discovered that if someone wants to help he will help. And when I do not get an anwer back its because very few people have the knowledge on that particular issue.

            And in the meantime I do the same as Cheryl, reading, reading, pushing on all kind of buttons, get mad sometimes, give a yell, take a walk, take a bath; refreshing....

            My 2 Euro cents

            Marcellino
            Marcel

            I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
            ---- Confusius ----

            Comment


              #21
              RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

              Cheryl,

              First let me state that I am thrilled to have a tool like A5v6. What is amazing is the number of ways Alpha has provided to help learn the software, then to think this phorum even exists kind of blows your mind.

              I have read a great deal in the different help files. A problem I have is that I will do a search for a particular topic and go to one of the pages listed. If a page says enter some code here, it may not tell you where "here" is so I need to determine the context in which the page was written. The thing is there may or may not be any information as to the section containing the page I just read. It would be helpful to have previous and next links on each page, or at least identify the major heading under which the information can be found. This isn�t a complaint, merely an observation.

              All those who wander are not lost."
              The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

              Well, I�m lost but I�m having a great time discovering the many treasures hidden within A5v6. The people who respond to and answer the questions posed in this phorum are part of the treasure. I�m so new that when someone asks a question, just the question itself can be a learning experience.

              I guess what I�m trying to say is �Thanks� to all of you.

              Jerry Gray



              ps Yes, Cheryl, I�m still lost when it comes to tree lists, but it�s not important at this time. I can't see the lists for the trees. I�ll try them again later...

              Comment


                #22
                RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                Ray,

                Perhaps Cheryl's suggestion goes a bit too far. There are occasional situations where general advice will help solve a user's problem. But in most cases here the user has a specific question about something that's happening (or not happening) in a very specific context. I think her statement is good advice for anyone seeking help in that situation.

                Volunteers who offer to help other travelers in this forum have limited amounts of time. Often that time is spent doing two entirely different things: (1) trying to understand what it is happening on the user's machine; and (2) identifying a correction, fix, or work around for the user.

                A step by step, mouse click by mouse click, description of the sequence leading to the user's problem helps us get to step 2 much more quickly. By spending a little more time describing the context in which the problem occurs and documenting the terms used in a broken script, the user dramatically increases the chance that a useful solution will be received. It improves response time, too.

                It's fun to play darts sometimes. Even darts blindfolded. But if someone has a serious problem that's blocking their project I would hope they could see the wisdom in avoiding a game of 20 questions to see who can correctly identify the specifics of their particular situation.

                All too often I see a new topic that says in so many words: "I'm trying to do _______________, and it's not working. Any suggestions?" At best this can only engender very general responses, none of which may be relevant. If the user wants a specific response, I think they need to frame the question specifically, furnishing as much detail as they can muster.

                In short, if you're looking for help, try to make it easy for people to help you.

                -- tom

                Comment


                  #23
                  RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                  My posts fail to meet 'requirements' a lot of the time. This is not a matter of rules or requirements. It is very simple:

                  1) Respect the time of the people offering help
                  2) How bad do you need your issue resolved

                  Sure we can all 'guess' and theorize and whatever else you want to call it. In some instances that is actually the kind of help that somebody is looking for.

                  However, if I only have 10 minutes available at the time I am reading posts and I have to spend 10 minutes first trying to figure out what the problem is, I do not have time to try and find a resolution. If clear and concise steps are provided, I just spent 2 minutes duplicating the issue and can now spend the other 8 minutes brainstorming and testing a resolution.

                  The more detail and samples provided, the quicker the resolution. Troubleshooting is a process and whenever provided with the proper information to duplicate the issue, there is 100% probability that it will be resolved. Without the proper information, you take pot luck.

                  Cheryl
                  #1 Designs By Pagecrazy
                  http://pagecrazy.com/

                  Comment


                    #24
                    RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                    As a new user my Database experience is or was nil and I agree with most of what has been said and bow to others experience.

                    However I've taught and trained people over many years and I always find one statement sums up support. "What is the question?" Like many in a new field knowing the correct question is the secret. Sending files and 200 words mean nothing without the correct question.

                    Alpha it has been said has great help files, probably true.

                    So I need some information on percentages - not mentioned in the index.Addition?, subtraction no mention,

                    where do I go from here calculations! page 196 and 197 off we go!

                    No real information, where next? Calculated fields So here is the information at last

                    Ok so lots of you are saying what an idiot but you have to know what to ask. And nomenclature can be a pain

                    take the following addtions to my vocabulary concatination ( can't wait for the next game of scrabble) random_percent-records, DOW,Jdate, etc,etc

                    What can I say! Thanks to the forum who interperate my Giberish into viable English and point me in the correct direction.

                    Ian

                    Comment


                      #25
                      RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                      What I would find usefull is for Alpha to publish a short list of known bugs that are (a) currently being worked on for the next build or (b) are known but are not going to be worked on the short term (for what ever reason) - this would no doubt save time for those who put together a test database and supporting words to show an issue - only to be told that yes we already know it is a bug and a fix is either in the pipeline or somewhere further down the track.
                      It would no doubt also save Alpha time in replying to questions from multiple people regarding the same bug.

                      Details relating to some bugs can of course be found here in this forum, while other bugs are emailed directly to Alpha and therefore can not be located in this forum.

                      Regards,
                      Scott

                      Comment


                        #26
                        RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                        For Tom Cone and others from above:

                        I did not mean to suggest that giving as much info as one reasonably can is not good idea when asking for help. But if this is pushed too far (as I have suggested Cheryl may be doing), large numbers of novice and not so novice users will be turned off to this board. Is that what we and Alpha really want? I hope not.

                        A simple �Could you please give a bit more detail about what you are trying to do� is far better in my mind than �I am sorry, but I have absolutely no clue what you are trying to accomplish,� which, I�m sorry, sounds way too much like �Look here you imbecile...�

                        Also, if you don�t feel enough detail has been provided for you to offer help, just not responding is not a bad idea, at least until you see if someone else is going to take up the challenge. That way you don�t waste your precious time. (The latter �you� is not directed at Tom, who we all know is not one to take such an attitude.)

                        Ray Lyons

                        Comment


                          #27
                          RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                          Perception is an amazing word in the English language.

                          ""I have absolutely no clue""

                          Implies that 'I' am the imbecile since I am the one that has no clue ... it does not mean this of the poster.

                          ""if this is pushed too far""

                          I am not pushing anything. I provided tips and suggestions to help all of us get quicker resolutions to our problems.

                          I respond to posts requesting additional information because I truly want to offer help and am unable to with the data provided.

                          I am sorry if you or anybody else does not approve of my ways ... but I have helped a considerable number of posters here and will continue to do so. I do not see any of them complaining about my asking for additional information.
                          Cheryl
                          #1 Designs By Pagecrazy
                          http://pagecrazy.com/

                          Comment


                            #28
                            RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                            Is this a new sport for the next Olympics?

                            Gold to ........

                            Comment


                              #29
                              RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                              I am dropping out of the race, I am not here for a medal.

                              I apologize if I offended anybody as that certainly was not my intent with this thread. My last post was uncalled for and I would like to retract it.
                              Cheryl
                              #1 Designs By Pagecrazy
                              http://pagecrazy.com/

                              Comment


                                #30
                                RE: requests for help on the boards and bug fixes

                                Cheryl, et al,

                                First off, Cheryl, for quite some time, I've been thinking of doing what you did. It's become obvious that 'manners' are needed. Oh, BTW, A H or Adam Henry is the phonetic code for A???ole AND you are NOT an AH.

                                FWIW, I have been on this board for, oh maybe 5 years or so. I suggested the first Alpha conference (in the recent series) so it was some time before that. I've worked with a number of databases including Access, several versions of Alpha 4 and several versions of Alpha 5. I've also asked a bunch of questions, some pretty goofy ones. And, I've tried to answer questions, some with pretty goofy answers.

                                I have replied to a LOT of posts which contained extremely vague information, so vague that I felt like giving a 'smart' answer. But, like Cheryl, I bit my lip and simply asked for a better description and more information.

                                I responded to many posts, knowing full well I didn't have a total answer or the right answer but since there had been no responses, well, it was time to give the car a shove.

                                My 2 pet peeves......1) Persons who ask for help with no or little more information than, "hey, my computer's making a funny noise, any idea what's wrong?" ....2) persons who ask for help and after suggestions and/or solutions are posted, thre is no response. Not one word, Not a word of thanks or even 'Go jump in the lake'. Maybe I'm too old fashioned but the lack of a thank you or words of appreciation is simply "rude". Go ahead, search the last 6 or so pages and see how many posted a request but never acknowledged the responses.

                                Keep in mind, it's important for everyone to know what solved your problem.

                                Now for a suggestion: Establish guidelines which Alpha will post at the top of each page. The guidelines shoould be established by 6-12 persons including a person from Alpha.

                                OK Cheryl, you're the pres so recruit your committee.

                                kenn
                                TYVM :) kenn

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

                                Comment

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