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Alpha5V7 still as slow as V6

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    #31
    Originally posted by Peter.Greulich
    P.S.


    If that's the same "My Database" I'm thinking about, I don't think so. As far as I could tell, that program was a piece of junk - with <i>extremely limited</i> functionality.
    I agree Peter. My Database is a piece of junk.

    However, I agree with some here. Alpha has gotten so slow. Loading times are slow. Changing forms is slow and of course other issues such as the browse. I love Alpha and find it to be so easy to use, but have left it for now. I recently converted my small application that I and many folks where I work use to RealBasic. Its not as easy to program with and it has no reporting facility, but it creates small and fast applications. Most of my users complained about the load times and how sluggish the Alpha app worked and its a very small service log/inventory application.

    Its a shame Alpha can't compile an application to machine code. I've looked at developement tools like Clarion which will do that , but its nowhere as easy and quick to use as Alpha.

    I keep checking back hoping to learn more about version 8. For some reason I just cant leave Alpha alone. It hooks you in and I'm hoping for improvements down the road.

    Jason

    Comment


      #32
      MS recently made the express version of Visual Studio completely free with no strings attached. It may not be for the faint of heart, but with the free training videos one can go from zero to a pretty decent programmer fairly quickly. Lately, I have used A5 to rapidly design some apps and then re-write them using Visual Studio. I still enjoy using A5 and I am sure it will always have a loyal following.
      Tommy Thompson
      Thompson Consulting Services
      Beautiful Kentucky Lake, Springville, TN 38256
      [email protected]

      Comment


        #33
        Originally posted by Thontlb
        For those using the web server...more power to you and I mean that literally. You need more power to keep up with the new reasonably priced web based application generators hitting the market every 6 weeks or so. There are some rather expensive (but GREAT ones with OOP i.e. Iron Speed Designer & Visual Data Flex, each around 2 thousand bucks. Then there's NAMO AT 79.00 bucks that you add your own database tables to from many sources.
        I took a look at the above three. Here are my quick impressions:

        Both NAMO and Visual Data Flex appear to be web page designers not unlike Dreamweaver, which of course you can tie into a db. But they don't appear to offer the ease of Alpha's WAS.

        Iron Speed Designer is a very powerful template driven web db designer. It's VERY cool and VERY powerful, it would seem. BUT: it's not a database. You still need a backend database, and apparently it must be either Access, MS SQL Server or Oracle (ugh). And as you point out, Iron Speed is very expensive. So, from what I see of Iron Speed, it is way cool, but it has a lot of drawbacks for the rest of us.
        Peter
        AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

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


        Comment


          #34
          anger

          yup I was frustrated and angry last night. I have used Access since V2 along with Alpha which at that time was truly an easier application to write what little code your could add on your own. My main reason for using alpha was to have a reasonably priced runtime distributable and I liked a few of it's unique features. I was first attracted to the DOS version application generator before the windows version appeared briefly.

          Every time I try to duplicate an access application w/Alpha I run into obstacles and dead ends, never the reverse. Usually it has to to with populating a list box or dual list on the fly filtered by a SQL clause with a variable or a multi-select list that moves items from one to another. I understand that it the latter can be done with xdialog if one wishes to learn two language syntaxes to write a program. I find VBA a simple way to code. I've yet to run across a task in Alpha which I could not readily duplicate in Access using VBA or one of it's own wizards. I guess that I just run across too much repetitive coding with Alpha..... and Access has it's fair share also. My biggest frustration with A5 is it's definition of a major release. The new Alpha releases don't cost much and don't offer much respectively. There hasn't been a major one except for web users since V5. The killer is to have to purchase a new runtime version to wrap up a function or two that one rarely, if ever needs. If V7 files would compile under the V5 runtime (less the missing functions and statements) it would be nice. Optionally, Alpha could offer existing runtime owners a deal on the runtime upgrade.

          Obviously I wanted it to work or I wouldn't have spent a fortune on the documentation. I fully expected to find more solutions in them than I did.

          You're correct in that Visual FoxPro is a bear to learn but many software companies have sucessfully added ways to re-use code and offer some sort of inheritance more efficiently than Aplha.

          The runtime creator for msAccess is cheap at $349.00. Where Microsoft nails you is that you have to own Visual Studio to use it. Fortunately, I have both.

          I'll probably give myself another shot at Alpha when a release worth paying for the runtime appears, hopefully V8.

          Comment


            #35
            Free Visual Studio 2005

            You won't get very far with the free release. it's a teaser.

            Comment


              #36
              Sorry Guys - It's still to slow

              I've been working on a new app in V7 and after 2 days I'm going back to V5. The V7 is still to slow in both loading and getting around. Like I said earlier. Give me V5 with some of the newer add in's and I'd be happy. You just cant beat V5 on quality and speed.

              Comment


                #37
                Visula Data flex

                VDF does in fact have it's own database. It is a very sophisticated web or desktop appliction generator with classes that can be sub-classed. It is object oriented, but one would be hard pressed to need anything other than the built-in classes. The demo is free. The program is well over a thousand dollars.

                Comment


                  #38
                  I was wondering if I can develop an app with version 7 and save it as V5. Then use my v5 runtime to distribute it. As long as there's no code that is unsupported by v5, it seems like it should be possible. V7 has some ide features that I'd like to continue using.

                  Comment


                    #39
                    web apps built with alpha five

                    In terms of building web and desktop apps in Alpha Five, we will soon publish these links on our site showing examples of what people are building with Alpha Five.

                    If you have apps that you think we should include here please email me

                    To see complete Web applications http://www.alphasoftware.com/products/review/Web_Applications_01.htm

                    Desktop applications examples http://www.alphasoftware.com/products/review/Desktop_Applications_01.htm

                    web/desktop applications
                    http://www.alpha2go.com/examples.htm

                    As an aside, the first two links are from a demonstration/training tool we have created internally using Alpha Five.
                    Richard Rabins
                    Co Chairman
                    Alpha Software

                    Comment


                      #40
                      I beg to differ

                      Originally posted by Thontlb
                      You won't get very far with the free release. it's a teaser.
                      Since April the Express edition is totally free. Teaser it ain't!
                      Tommy Thompson
                      Thompson Consulting Services
                      Beautiful Kentucky Lake, Springville, TN 38256
                      [email protected]

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Originally posted by Selwyn Rabins
                        Fred, I think you may be missing an important point.

                        Web database applications don't necessarily have ANYTHING to do with the Internet.

                        Even small companies are attracted to the idea that they can deploy an application in their organizations without having to install anything on each user's desktop. Just put the app on the server and have the user point their browser at the server (which would be running on a server inside the company's firewall and not even accessible to the internet).

                        That's the great attaction of Web based applications, and I suspect that you could easily interest your customers in Web based applications if you described the benefits of this scenario to them.

                        I agree that not everyone needs to build a shopping site like Amazon.com. But most consultants are creating multi-user applications that are used by several users within an organization. Web based applications can be very attractive in this scenario. These are often called 'intranet' applications, and I think that you will find more and more customers demanding this.
                        I can't imagine that a client would consider giving up the speed of a deskbase app to go to a web app. V7 is slow enough as it is.

                        Comment


                          #42
                          Originally posted by Thontlb
                          I can't imagine that a client would consider giving up the speed of a deskbase app to go to a web app. V7 is slow enough as it is.
                          Not sure how you can make such a blanket statment. It would seem to me that it would depend on who the client is and what the app does.

                          For some clients who need to make an app available to all users in an organization, installing a thick client (such as the a5v7 runtime, or an .exe file that might have been made by Visual Studio) will be a real pain in the neck. Updating each client machine when the app changes will futher complicate their lives. Being able to tell any user who needs access to the app to just point their browser at a server on the network - thereby eliminating all installation issues - is very attractive.

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Understood.... I only know how slow it is for me to navigate within websites. I have a P4 3.2 gz with 2 megs of ram & I wouldn't want to try doing my work on the web.

                            Also: Can A5 have back end and front end (GUI) databases like MS Access does? Putting the GUI on client machines only, with the data on the server is a nice way to go.

                            Comment


                              #44
                              Terry,

                              When you network optimize and use shadow databases, the data is only on the server. Not sure what you are asking?
                              Cheryl
                              #1 Designs By Pagecrazy
                              http://pagecrazy.com/

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Web does not mean Internet

                                Terry,

                                If you reread Selwyn's earlier post, you will see that he is saying that some companies would use the server technology on their LAN not the internet. In this case, your connections are super quick with the resulting app feeling a lot like a desktop version.

                                As a matter of fact, many people (companies) use all kinds of "Internet" apps locally on their LAN. IP on a lan opens up a lot of interesting opportuniites.

                                HTH

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