Set children records will not display correctly

[ChopOMatic]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

Got a link to those forms?

[rmcgaffic]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

Tim,

Good to hear that your clients are happy with the applications that you have delivered with Alpha Five. Client expectations are very often a function of other software they have used, advertising, web searches, downloaded demos, what their competitors are doing, what they may read in popular and technical computer magazines, external management consulting services from the CPA firm, contract programmers, etc. For many users, the look and feel of Microsoft Office applications define this threshold.

I do not mean in any way to suggest that A5V9 is deficient; we all know it is extremely functional. But I’ve got to tell you I’m not interested in just functionality – I want both form and function! And I think Alpha has the potential to deliver big on both.

A couple of months a forum member privately chastised me for being critical of Alpha after I made a comment something to the effect – how could they have let this stuff out the door. The issue was the mixed use of different slider bar styles in the same form, something akin to wearing a plaid sports jacket with chalk striped trousers. Ugh!!! I’m no GQ type, but I try to avoid such fashion faux paus.

Listen, I don’t have time to waste being randomly critical. And, no I am not picking on Alpha. I have spent the last twenty years of my career helping clients re-engineer business processes, benchmark, and use information technology to either maintain a competitive advantage or at least competitive parity. Along the way I have seen standards and conventions evolve and best practices emerge, that allow others to avoid re-inventing the wheel. As you may be well aware, over the last twenty years this has been accomplished more and more with standardized software, with many firms trying to minimize custom development.

I am not sure whether many forum members or Alpha team members have this background; it’s not better than the technical development route, just different. I am very much interested in creating/using software that is easy to work with and which improves a client’s productivity both directly and indirectly for such issues as error correction, training, etc. I would venture to say, I probably have worked hands on with more financial software than any member on this forum: Quicken, QuickBooks, Solomon IV, Microsoft Money, Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics, Sage MAS90, Hyperion, Lawson, and SAP. I feel that I do have a reasonably good handle on how such firms handle common interface issues.

So I am not presenting my personal opinion on some of these design issues, but endeavoring to document that the are widespread practice. When a forum member challenged me with a comment “who says so” , I provided chapter references to my personal library of GUI design books, and provided links to Amazon for ordering and full bibliographic information. I never heard anything further from him.

As far as wanting Alpha to be better? I realize that I shouldn’t give a shit. But I feel a little like the neighbor to a tadpole like a young Michael Phelps. If this kid had real potential, wouldn’t you want to encourage his parent’s to get the best possible swimming coach?

And so was the motivation in suggesting better design services for the Alpha web page, product packaging, icon design, third party manual book design, and yes even A5V9 samples, which are held out as the best Alpha Five is capable of.

I learned quickly how intensely loyal and protective many forum members are of the Alpha team. So rather than simply express a personal opinion, I have endeavored to show what other leaders in the marketplace are doing that might be worthy of emulation.

If you ever have listened to Garrison Keeler on PBS radio, you may know that the one the sponsors of the show is Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery Store. (“Remember, if you can’t find it at Ralph’s, you probably don’t need it”). If you live in the midwest’s mythical town of Lake Wobegone, Ralph’s is “good enough”. For many clients, that’s all they want. But once they’ve been to Minneapolis or St. Paul, their horizons tend to be a little wider.

I guess you can say I am trying to encourage Alpha to take a more cosmopolitan approach to their product, to learn from the best on the market, and equal or better that.
Every since one of the weaknesses I have identified, I think could be easily remedied.

I also realize that Alpha as a private company does not have unlimited resources and need to wisely allocate its development resources. Therefore, I push hard only on the controls that I can’t replace or work around easily. If you visit the code library, you might be interested in a paper I wrote in using A5V9 with an activeX control to achieve advanced functionality impossible with the native A5V9 tree control.

I am trying to gauge whether other users feel as do to make a case to Richard or Sewlyn or whether I should just take my bat and ball home, returning to Filemaker. I have definitely noticed that the newest forum members (presumably new to A5) tend to agree with my perspective, while the veteran members are just fine with things the way they are, thank you.

Bob McGaffic
Pittsburgh

[G Gabriel]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

I was about to respond, but Selwyn already did. I don't see anything in that form that cannot very easily be done in alpha, with only one exception:
The one-sided slanted tabs at the top.

Those could very easily be accomplished in alpha as well with a little bit of immagination.

You want to be blown away with forms?
I've got few I could show you, but in all seriousness it won't do you any good. It's something you have to do on your own as you learn more and more about alpha.

Robert:
I have a general comment:
I admire your meticulous attention-for-details approach, but in all fairness:
There must be some reason why, with all he things you do not like about alpha, there must be some reason why you are using it and trying to make it even better. Or are you using the other programs you mentioned?

[G Gabriel]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

Same form, made in alpha:



Do the math!

[rmcgaffic]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

G,

Please help me understand your statement:

I don't see anything in that form that cannot very easily be done in alpha, with only one exception:
The one-sided slanted tabs at the top.

The screen prints indeed show something that I have not been able to figure out how to do with A5V9. Again, if I've overlooked something, please tell me where I have errored.

Both the fields Title (Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc) and Telephone type (Home, Office, Cell, etc.) exhibit the following properties:

1. The fields are displayed on the form without a V button to the right of the field
2. Only when the field receives the cursor, does the V button appear to allow the user to select from a list of values
3. The list of values is left aligned with no row selector buttons, no indentation, just a simple list.

Can you tell me how to accomplish all three of these objectives with A5V9?

Here are the problems I am running into with A5V9:

1. If I use a combo box for fields Title or telephone type, the little V button is permanently displayed on my form. I don't want this clutter, and the screen prints show that File Maker allows you avoid it.
2. If I use a field rule lookup based on a table, the list of values can not be displayed without row selector buttons, regardless of whether a custom browse or a default browse is used.

My example offered to simply show what a competing package offers is what I am trying to achieve with A5V9.

The point had absolutely nothing to do with tab controls. I'm sorry if I gave that impression.

In summary the FileMaker screen shots show two important capabilities that I think would be useful additions to A5V9:
1. The easy presentation of a single, "default" or "main" record for address or phone information (a one-to-many relationship with the parent table of Person) which was the original subject of my posting, that many forum members challenged me on.
2. More importantly, the easy hidding of a pull down arrow until the focus was received with a values list that is displayed without the needed for row selector buttons.

Bob McGaffic
Pittsburgh

[G Gabriel]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

Robert:
I don't see those fields: Mr. Mrs. etc on the form but it is not hard to figure out what you might be referring to.

Can you tell me how to accomplish all three of these objectives with A5V9?

I am afraid not. I cannot offer any suggestion as to how to do it in v9, but it's easily doable in v8. I would expect it to be just as easy or easier in v9. I will defer to others who are on v9 to offer suggestions.

That said, why do you want to print the screen anyway? why not a report? I am not disregarding the annoyance associated with a permenantly displayed icon, but just as an aside.

[rmcgaffic]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

G,

You are exactly correct: what I am trying to achieve is easily doable in Version 8. But it seems impossible in Version 9. I was hoping for better backwards compatibility.

Bob McGaffic
Pittsburgh

[G Gabriel]

Re: Set children records will not display correctly

Robert:
That is a question I think Selwyn will and should jump on. I could not possibly envision a newer version that is less versatile than the older one!

At any rate, as someone who had the benefit of working both with Filemaker and alpha, what do you see in alpha that is lacking in Filemaker and attracts you to alpha even with what you believe rightfully or not to be shortcomings on alpha's part?