Alpha Software Mobile Development Tools:   Alpha Anywhere    |   Alpha TransForm subscribe to our YouTube Channel  Follow Us on LinkedIn  Follow Us on Twitter  Follow Us on Facebook

Announcement

Collapse

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:
  • Be professional in your conduct
  • Be kind to others
  • Be constructive when giving feedback
  • Be open to new ideas and suggestions
  • Stay on topic


Be sure all comments and threads you post are respectful. Posts that contain any of the following content will be considered a violation of your agreement as a member of the Alpha Software Forum Community and will be moderated:
  • Spam.
  • Vulgar language.
  • Quotes from private conversations without permission, including pricing and other sales related discussions.
  • Personal attacks, insults, or subtle put-downs.
  • Harassment, bullying, threatening, mocking, shaming, or deriding anyone.
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
  • Sexually explicit or violent material, links, or language.
  • Pirated, hacked, or copyright-infringing material.
  • Encouraging of others to engage in the above behaviors.


If a thread or post is found to contain any of the content outlined above, a moderator may choose to take one of the following actions:
  • Remove the Post or Thread - the content is removed from the forum.
  • Place the User in Moderation - all posts and new threads must be approved by a moderator before they are posted.
  • Temporarily Ban the User - user is banned from forum for a period of time.
  • Permanently Ban the User - user is permanently banned from the forum.


Moderators may also rename posts and threads if they are too generic or do not property reflect the content.

Moderators may move threads if they have been posted in the incorrect forum.

Threads/Posts questioning specific moderator decisions or actions (such as "why was a user banned?") are not allowed and will be removed.

The owners of Alpha Software Corporation (Forum Owner) reserve the right to remove, edit, move, or close any thread for any reason; or ban any forum member without notice, reason, or explanation.

Community members are encouraged to click the "Report Post" icon in the lower left of a given post if they feel the post is in violation of the rules. This will alert the Moderators to take a look.

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.

When you do post
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
You may only attach one file to each message. Attachment file size is limited to 2MB. If you need to include several files, you may do so by zipping them into a single archive.

If you forgot to attach your files to your post, please do NOT create a new thread. Instead, reply to your original message and attach the file there.

When attaching screen shots, it is best to attach an image file (.BMP, .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, etc.) or a zip file of several images, as opposed to a Word document containing the screen shots. Because Word documents are prone to viruses, many message board users will not open your Word file, therefore limiting their ability to help you.

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.
See more
See less

The Big Step: A4 v2.1 to A4 v8

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The Big Step: A4 v2.1 to A4 v8

    Fifteen years with A4 v1.1, v2 & 2.1 and now I am contemplating moving to A4 v8 for my new XP Pro machine. I have been on this forum on and off for more years than I care to remember and all have been enjoyable.

    With a lot of work and personal research data bases in A4 v2.1 to transfer, will I be disappointed moving to A4 v8? Are there any serious caveats for a transition? I am getting too old to become a computer scientist but I can hold my own.

    I have read most of the old and new threads on the transition over the last few years. I only need a single user edition without all the extras or fax and don't need the A5 Windows version with all the bells and whistles and learning curve. The simple .dbf and memo fields data base program will suit me just fine and I'm not concerned about the speed issues mentioned here, just a smooth transition.

    When I think about using an alternative data base such as Access, which I have, I would rather commit hari kiri. I've tried it and hate it. What were you thinking Microsoft?? I'm a hobby user, not a professional! I want it to run my way, not your way! My previous use of A4 v2 & 2.1 has been most enjoyable but Microsoft has pushed the envelope of compatibility to the limit. My research data bases are simply too large for an attempt to use Excel and this wouldn't be practical anyhow.

    My choices are either A4 v8 for XP Pro or keeping this old P3 Dell for Alpha4 v 2.1 Windows ME until it gives up the ghost, or both as a nice additional backup solution. Installing operating systems and programs again, along with the small home network in Windows ME on this old Dell is not my idea of enjoyment.

    I have even contemplated soliciting to buy an unwanted and unused full A4 v7 version to register because funds are tight. My decision will most likely be based on any comments or suggestions posted here (if any).

    Not only that but I accidentally posted this new thread in Alpha 5 V 4 too. They're going to kill me! :)

    With Best Regards,

    Dave McClain

    Alpha 4 Forever!

    #2
    Hi Dave, I'm not sure about v2.1. I support a v3 application and copy nightly all the tables and support files over nightly to a v8 query only system. And it works great. No problems, v8 reads all the old stuff from v3. Now there is some new stuff in v8, so if you change forms, Browses, etc in v8 you will not be able to use them back in v3.
    Dave

    Comment


      #3
      Dave,

      Reverse compatibility is not important as long as the .dbf and memo fields update. I can create new browses and forms and anything else that would not be reverse compatible.

      Will old browses and forms transfer direct? If so, then it's encouraging and not an issue. These never change at this point in time anyhow.

      V3 had mouse support. That's the only difference from v2.1.

      Thank you very much.

      Dave

      Comment


        #4
        A4V2.1 to A4V8

        Dave & Dave,

        Is this thread restricted only to people names 'Dave'? Anyway . . .

        I have not used A4V2.1, so I cannot address compatibility between it and A4V8, but I can tell you that A4V8 runs fine on Win XP Pro - as long as you run SP2. I had some problems with SP2, but since upgrading the OS, the problems went away. I still support a few clients with A4 and I haven't heard of any A4V8/XP Pro SP2 problems.

        Dave (3)
        Dave Jampole
        www.customalpha.com

        Women and cats will do whatever they want. The sooner men and dogs realize that, the happier they will be.

        Comment


          #5
          Yes, Data, forms, browses, reports, search/sorts, scripts all seem to work fine in v8. I have not had any problems. Of course I would make sure you back everything up before the conversion... to be on the safe side.
          Dave

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by davej
            Dave & Dave,

            Is this thread restricted only to people names 'Dave'? Anyway . . .

            I have not used A4V2.1, so I cannot address compatibility between it and A4V8, but I can tell you that A4V8 runs fine on Win XP Pro - as long as you run SP2. I had some problems with SP2, but since upgrading the OS, the problems went away. I still support a few clients with A4 and I haven't heard of any A4V8/XP Pro SP2 problems.

            Dave (3)
            Dave (3),

            Most problems with programs running on XP SP2 occurs because SP2 is gradually installed after your programs. I have not had this problem personally because this is a new computer and install of XP Pro upgraded to SP2 before installing any programs. Helluva a difference from a Dell P3 1000MHz to a dual core AMD........... :D

            I am tempted to try your link for the A5 v 7 30 day trial. I can live with constructing new forms and browses, etc., but after 15 years with A4 I can do it blindfolded without much of a learning curve for A4 v8 if any. Still thinking about it.

            With Dpawley's reassurance it's difficult to make the switch to A5. Thank you all for the advice.

            Dave (1) :)

            Comment


              #7
              The Big Step

              Dave (1),

              If you try the A5 30 day trial, get ready for a new experience. The only thing that will run directly from A4 are the .dbf files. All the forms, reports, etc. will have to be rebuilt. However, the time spent transitioning from A4 to A5 is well worth the time and effort.

              As a great sage once said - 'try it, you'll like it'.

              Dave (3)
              Dave Jampole
              www.customalpha.com

              Women and cats will do whatever they want. The sooner men and dogs realize that, the happier they will be.

              Comment

              Working...
              X