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is alpha five better than filemaker?

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    #16
    Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

    Thanks for the plug Richard, I just started it recently. For me the blog format is a great place where I can expand on ideas that come up during programming assignments. Frankly its a good place to write down how I did something for my own reference! Although people can comment on any of the articles, its different than the forum -- I try to update each article as I get new information, keeping the article current.

    Most of my articles will be about the WAS. If anyone is interested, the current set of articles are:

    Giving Filtered Pages a Title
    Coding a "Tell A Friend" Utility
    Using Alpha WAS to Track your Email Campaign
    Mass Mailing Software
    Web Project Profiles "missing"

    I have additional ones coming, xml export, reports from WAS, PDF in New Window, and a few others.
    Steve Wood
    See my profile on IADN

    Comment


      #17
      Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

      Then would you consider refunding me the $30.00 I spent on the desktop ($129.00) version with what was the "last chance ever" to get it for less than $349.00...or upgrade me to the full version which is advertised at $99.00

      Comment


        #18
        Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

        I'm curious as to why Richard says Alpha has the web development over Filemaker. I wrote a solution 7 years ago in Filemaker. This year they wanted to go on the web. I put it on the web. No changes needed to any of the forms. Not cheap, but very easy. I felt like I was learning a new program when I tried to web publish an Alpha database.

        Bill Belanger

        Comment


          #19
          Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

          So you mean Filemaker converted your FM application from a Windows desktop application to a 100% browser-based application, available to anyone anwhere in the world with no software required on the users desktop? Do you want to clarify?
          Steve Wood
          See my profile on IADN

          Comment


            #20
            Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

            Steve,
            Not sure what is not clear. You develop a desktop app with forms, scripts etc. Under preferences you tell it to publish to the web. Now anyone with a browser and your IP address can use the app. Anyone with a copy of Fiemaker can access the database and even develop the app if you give them that privelege. Limit of 5 concurrent users if you use the single user version. With a server product, you can have 100 concurrent Filemaker clients and 250 web clients. My app is 100 miles away. I actually develop the app while other users are working in it just as if I were there. Filemaker has it's own networking scheme. After you make a change to a form, the user just needs to refresh his screen. You set up groups that have different priveleges. Some can only view data, some can add and only edit their own data, etc. Couldn't be simpler. Alpha desktop is much more powerful, and less money to distribute. Filemaker web apps require almost no extra work after developing the initial desktop application. Again, not cheap. But that's why I use both.

            Bill

            Comment


              #21
              Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

              This is not clear:

              Originally posted by [email protected] View Post
              Now anyone with a browser and your IP address can use the app.
              vs.

              Originally posted by [email protected] View Post
              Anyone with a copy of Fiemaker can access the database...
              Peter
              AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

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


              Comment


                #22
                Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                If you have a copy of Filemaker Pro, you can access a shared database, over the web, using a protocol called fmnet. It's just as if you accessed an Alpha file using the runtime. But you can't do that with Alpha. You just start Filemaker and when it comes time to open a database, you just click "remote" and type in the url. In addition, that same database can also be published to the web so that some people can be using the app using a browser at the same time others are connected to it with Filemaker Pro. Those connected using a browser are not able to design anything, but those accessing it with Filemaker and fmnet can.

                Bill

                Comment


                  #23
                  Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                  Bill,

                  I'm actually interested; not attempting to thow stones. I recall DataEase had/has a function like this where it wrote the screens and fed data using xml. It automatically removed all of your navigation buttons and replaced it with a mandatory, though editable, left and upper border, which contained all of the navigation peices. I went to the FM site and found that it deploys in the same way. See the graphic, is this how it look on your app, your screen in the center, and the navigation frame to the left?

                  FM might be doing it right, but I absolutely hated the way DataEase ended up in the browser. I figured it had to be this method, or a quasi-citrix style implementation. I am very happy with the Alpha WAS and have become quite fluid with my design in terms of speed and effectiveness, but I admit this came with lots of flight time and building several products. But I consider the Web an entirely different environment than a desktop LAN based system. Just like Windows is different than DOS, and you would not want to just port DOS to a Windows environment, I can't understand just porting a Windows desktop system to the Web. But its a neat trick if it works well and you tailored your screens to work in the web environment.

                  I know FM has a special Web Viewer, not sure if it is mandatory. I also know it will not or did not work in Netscape so is it dependant on some IE technology?
                  Steve Wood
                  See my profile on IADN

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                    There are few navigation differences, but nothing that any of my users are unhappy with, except for the fact that there is no longer a spell check when you're using a browser. I've tried every browser I can think of with no differences. And it's cross platform, so I can use my Mac do do design work on a database that's hosted with Filemaker Server on a windows 2003 server.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                      For a neat browser spell checker, go to my website and under For Developers find ieSpell. Its free for personal and cheap for enterprise use.
                      Steve Wood
                      See my profile on IADN

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                        Originally posted by [email protected] View Post
                        Those connected using a browser are not able to design anything, but those accessing it with Filemaker and fmnet can.
                        Can a user with a web browser (only) add & edit data?
                        Peter
                        AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

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


                        Comment


                          #27
                          Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                          They can manipulate the data but not the structure (with a browser)

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Re: is alpha five better than filemaker?

                            Things to note about Alpha 5:

                            - Cheaper than Filemaker
                            - MUCH easier to create web applications
                            - More logical design interface for a semi-technical/power user type
                            - A couple of weird bugs that are mostly minor
                            - Only available for Windows, no direct mac support

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