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2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

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    #1

    2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

    Hello,

    I have some newbie questions about Alpha Five and MySQL. I've pored over the Alpha Five site and figure I should be able to puzzle out the answer but as a nonprogrammer probably don't know enough terminology to see the answer staring me in the face.

    * When it says the Platinum edition lets you "use Alpha Five with SQL backend data sources, like MySQL or SQL Server," does that mean you can create Web database solutions that don't require the Web Application Server in order to run online?

    What I want to end up with is a database site using PHP and MySQL on the virtual host I'm already using, which does not offer the Alpha 5 application server. Using Alpha Five, could I build and test my database offline, then push a button that says, "Translate all this for MySQL, and create Web pages with PHP scripts to run the queries I've specified"?

    (And if so, I'd need Platinum, right?)

    * Years ago I used Alpha Four v3 and PageMaker to crank out catalogs -- used the reports to put PageMaker codes around product data and printed to file, then imported into PageMaker. Piece of cake. Then when we decided to put the catalog online, I was able to do the same thing with HTML tags. Without programming. This was the early '90s, and the boss thought I was a genius. (I miss those days <g>)

    But when the first versions of Alpha Five came out, I didn't have so much luck with the Windows way of doing things. "Print to file" did not work the same way at all. Got lots of empty spaces and garbage characters. I surfed your message boards off and on over the years and saw lots of people with the same problem, and they were advised to do tricky things with Xbasic.

    Too complicated for me, I'm afraid. I just wanted "print to file" to work like it used to. I think I read somewhere that people are using FileMaker to crank out Quark-ready documents, but am loathe to try to figure out another database. I've got some catalog-type projects coming up in the future and thought I might ask you guys again. Does Alpha Five v9 make it easy again to print cleanly to a file? Or is some sort of programming involved?

    Thanks for your time,

    Lauren W.
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: 2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

    Originally posted by LaurenW View Post
    * When it says the Platinum edition lets you "use Alpha Five with SQL backend data sources, like MySQL or SQL Server," does that mean you can create Web database solutions that don't require the Web Application Server in order to run online?
    No, it means you can use mySQL or SQL Server databases with desktop applications.

    mySQL is a database, ALpha5 is a development tool (which offers .dbf file-based database functionality). They are two very very different things.

    Comment

      #3
      Re: 2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

      Thank you.

      Lauren

      Comment

        #4
        Re: 2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

        Hi Lauren,

        Using Alpha Five, could I build and test my database offline, then push a button that says, "Translate all this for MySQL, and create Web pages with PHP scripts to run the queries I've specified"?
        Yes you can build and test your desktop database offline with SQL as the backend, but unfortunately there is no button to translate this into anything.
        What you can do is use the SQL tables both in a desktop application and in web pages.
        You cant run it as a web application without the Alpha Web Application Server. It is the WAS that does the translation of all the code Alpha has created.

        You will be able to do all you want on your web pages without PHP. Saving hours of coding and testing.

        the boss thought I was a genius
        No wonder that with all that work with printing. Going from one format to another, things have moved on a bit and I'm sure that with Alpha you will be able to show your boss you are still a genius, but in a different way.
        Regards
        Keith Hubert
        Alpha Guild Member
        London.
        KHDB Management Systems
        Skype = keith.hubert


        For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

        Comment

          #5
          Re: 2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

          Thank you, Keith. I think I'm going to give the standard version of Alpha Five a try.

          Best wishes,

          Lauren

          Comment

            #6
            Re: 2 newbie questions: MySQL and print-to-file

            Originally posted by LaurenW View Post
            Thank you, Keith. I think I'm going to give the standard version of Alpha Five a try.
            If you want to use mySQL I believe you need Platinum (the same as you used to need Enterprise in older versions):

            (removed broken link)

            Get the Standard Edition if you plan to use only the database engine built into Alpha Five for building your desktop or web applications (you don't have the option of building your web or desktop database apps against SQL data sources, like MySQL, Oracle, DB2 or SQL Server).
            Last edited by Lenny Forziati; 06-02-2023, 01:52 PM. Reason: removed broken link

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