Alpha5 "for non-programmers". That's BS!

[Thontlb]

Re: Alpha5 "for non-programmers". That's BS!

You are most certainly right about qiuck responses from Alpha. I've had Swelen respond within an hour. I've had all of my Access issues dealt with on independent Access forums, but a bit slower.

MS wants me to pay just to answer a question but the asweres are out there in the many forums and ms documents.

As for SQL I try to use as many complied statements as possible. I use a front end database for the GUI and a back end for the data which allows for easy. Not being able to split the db is a major con for Alpha.

Lots people are happy with Alpha, I'm just not one of them anymore and it's nice to hear someone agree to at least some of my points. Anyone who criticizes Alpha on this forum has committed some kind of crime and gets jumped all over by people, the vast majority of who have never used Access before.

[Steve Wood]

Re: Alpha5 "for non-programmers". That's BS!

Thorn,

It's B.S. that you can't criticize Alpha here; thousands of posts prove that point. But there is constructive and non-constructive criticism; your's is (most often) the later. Its hard to read your posts without shrugging off some of what you say because of statements like 'I wonder about the health of the company', and that you 'wasted your money...', and you have a nasty habit of insulting the Alpha user base and especially the 'gurus', like we are all either idiots or liars or just plain deluded by Alpha's mgmt. Hell, I agree with some of your points, but I -- and many other fine developers and users here -- deal with it in a constructive manner. Personally I both assist others here on the forum, AND work offline with Alpha on various levels with a view to the long haul. I don't threaten to stop buying their product or try to make users feel bad about using Alpha. I don't love or hate Alpha, its just a software package not worthy of either emotion. I do however respect the users on this forum and make them my purpose for being here. So I don't like having to read (or ponder responding to) such self-aggrandizing, counter-productive remarks as yours in a forum where the intention of everyone else is to provide constructive comments.

There, did I jump on you well enough to prove the point in your last post?

[SteveHanson]

Re: Alpha5 "for non-programmers". That's BS!

Good post Wood.
The long haul is why I'm hitching my wagon on here too. Considering what Alpha has done over the time frame they did it I think that the future looks bright for them and for those who take the time to understand the product. Yeah it needs some work. That's why this forum exists. And if we were all geniuses we wouldn't need help.
Who knows how far it will go. They've posted an opportunity for someone to work on documentation and from what was mentioned it sounds like they're going to come at that from a new direction. That's how they do things. And that's what impresses me about them.
Hopefully they'll never get into the large corporate mentality and start focusing on non-productive issues. If you read the Bios of Richard and Selwyn, you'll see that it isn't likely. And they've got some pretty sharp folks working with them so I think the health of their company is fine. And don't measure that health by their balance sheet. Measure it by the genius at the bottom of it - the people. Because in this business, that's all that matters.
Life is short. Someday maybe I'll pick another path, but for now this one seems the most exciting.

[Thontlb]

Re: Alpha5 "for non-programmers". That's BS!

Steve,

Yes, that was a perfect example.

And I can certainly judge for myself if I wasted my money. My own stupidity is that I've done it over and over again believing that the new versions will simplify and/or add features for the desktop user. I do get emotional over it when the list of upgrades in a version do not say clearly that the new controls are only for web users. I get emotional when they stop supporting their most solid desktop version (5) when the last 2 upgrades added nothing of value for the desktop users except some obsure funtion or method.

I recognize your fine work and helpfulness on the forums and have written you myself about the Alpha users group before you moved to West VA. The comments about the gurus being stupid or liars are your own, not mine. My intent is that Alpha is the only db that many of the users (gurus too) have experienced, so of course they are going to say that it's the easiest. If I had only used Access, of course I'd say it's the easiest, but I have 10 or so years of experience trying to get Alpha to do what Access can easily do and it can't be done. Probably Dr. Wayne, yourself and Ira can do perform some workarounds that others (like myself) can't grasp but it's not necessary when the db I use can accomplish the task simply.

You've using with Alpha presumably longer than myself, but as I said earlier I go back to DOS V2. I've seen an easy database get more difficult to use to the point that those used to programming some of it behind the scenes can no longer deal with it.

My biggest beef is the promotion. Alpha is probably more powerful than Filemaker, not easier. It's not easier or even close to as powerful as Access. Most other desktop databases have died thanks to microsoft, ADO and SQL server.

I've used the forum for questions about accomplishing alpha tasks, complaining about non-upgrades and yes, lately about my opinion that Alpha is NOT the easiest database to learn. Maybe there are others out there who know Access well and switched to Alpha because it's easier, but I haven't heard any here.

[Peter.Greulich]

Re: Alpha5 "for non-programmers". That's BS!

It's not easier or even close to as powerful as Access.

Thorntbl,

I don't mean to beat this to death. But you never answered the question: if Access is all you say that it is (and I'm not arguing that it isn't; I'll take your word for it), why are you even on this forum? Why do you care about Alpha at all? Your presence and complaints suggest that there is a reason why you are not "entirely" in th Access camp.

Most other desktop databases have died thanks to microsoft, ADO and SQL server.

As far as the health of Alpha goes, my impression is that they are VERY healthy. A small company has low overhead. Furthermore, as you have acknowledged, Selwyn & Richard are passionately committed to their product. As you alluded to in a previous post, there was a time when Alpha's heath was in question, but that was resolved many years ago.

Personally, I'm not an Alpha cheerleader, per se. I can be very critical of Alpha at times, and have been. But I usually go easy on them these days, exactly because they are a small company - and because they are trying to do the right thing. They're not perfect, that's for sure, but they try, and they have tens of thousands of users who have working dbs meeting their needs. And if I was convinced that Access was sufficiently superior to Alpha, I would switch in a heartbeat. You may be right about a lot of things that you say, but if everything you said was 100% true, I doubt you would even be on this forum.