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Pulling my hair out

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    #31
    Re: Pulling my hair out

    To All --

    In my opinion, A5 is actually very solid (at least on the desktop, which is what we are doing). In fact, I switched to A5 three years ago because the wizards in Access seldom worked correctly. A5 is much more solid than several MS products I have used (Access 2000, Outlook 2003).

    I did install version 3218 and immediately saw problems. Reverted back to 3216, and the problems disappeared. I was planning to submit a bug report with my code, but it appears that the users on this board are way ahead of me.

    It is not uncommon to see problems in new releases. If you are not prepared to deal with this, then I suggest you consider whether you should be developing your own software.

    I would choose A5 over Access or FM, even if the price were twice what they charge. Alpha's product is a great value in my opinion.

    -- Dick James

    Comment


      #32
      Re: Pulling my hair out

      Originally posted by DickJames View Post
      To All --

      In my opinion, A5 is actually very solid (at least on the desktop, which is what we are doing). In fact, I switched to A5 three years ago because the wizards in Access seldom worked correctly. A5 is much more solid than several MS products I have used (Access 2000, Outlook 2003).

      I did install version 3218 and immediately saw problems. Reverted back to 3216, and the problems disappeared. I was planning to submit a bug report with my code, but it appears that the users on this board are way ahead of me.

      It is not uncommon to see problems in new releases. If you are not prepared to deal with this, then I suggest you consider whether you should be developing your own software.

      I would choose A5 over Access or FM, even if the price were twice what they charge. Alpha's product is a great value in my opinion.

      -- Dick James


      Dick,

      Sorry, but I disagree with you. Yes, many people who try to develope their own database stuff are not suited for it, but that has nothing to do with an unacceptable level of instability in the current A5 product.

      You said "It is not uncommon to see problems in new releases. If you are not prepared to deal with this, then I suggest you consider whether you should be developing your own software."

      To me that is like buying a hammer at Home Depot & when you swing it back the head falls off of it. Then someone says "It's not uncommon to have problems with tools. If you are not prepared to deal with this, then I suggest you consider whether you should be building your own house".

      Regards,

      Scott

      Comment


        #33
        Re: Pulling my hair out

        Scott --

        I don't want to seem argumentative, but I have a fairly sizable application running in 45 different locations on Version 9, and we are not seeing the "unacceptable level of instability" to which you refer. To the extent we have problems, they are virtually always caused by my application rather than by A5. Compared with other product choices in this price range, I think A5 is the easy winner.

        I also think you are being a little unfair to A5 to compare the complexity of their product to that of a hammer. However, I do agree with your last comment in that I am not prepared to deal with the tools to build a house, and I would not attempt to do so!

        I did not intend to sound critical, and if I seemed that way, I apologize.

        -- Dick James

        Comment


          #34
          Re: Pulling my hair out

          Dick,

          No problem. I too really like what I see in A5 but I've been writing database applications for 25 years and I know that even the slightest instability in the underlying database upon which you base your application can be devastating in the problems it creates for your customers and thus for you. I once had a database bug that came close to putting me out of business (I kept having to fix my customers data and since it was being caused by a bug in the database I was unable to bill for my time, thus months of unbillable time while we tried to track down the problem in our code).

          Anyhow, I'm glad it's working well for you and I hope I get the same long time results.

          Regards,

          Scott

          Comment


            #35
            Re: Pulling my hair out

            A new patch has been issued, what great service, I doubt you would get that from a leviathan.
            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


              #36
              Re: Pulling my hair out

              Hi Lance, this info will also save my sanity. I downloaded the latest patch thinking that it was an improvement. Seems not to be the case! Better go back to the previous one. Luckily I keep all patches so I'll be able to do that easily. Bit of a bummer as I've bought the Unlimited Run Engine bundle for a client. Ho Hum more support calls. I don't mind fixing my own bugs but inventing workarounds is a nightmare!

              Ted
              See our Hybrid Option here;
              https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


              Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
              You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

              Comment


                #37
                Re: Pulling my hair out

                Yes Ted,

                Only just downloaded the latest patch and seeing things that I reported as bugs still there does not instill me with confidence!!

                Comment


                  #38
                  Re: Pulling my hair out

                  Richard,

                  The link you mentioned did not work for me. I got the following message :
                  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  The page cannot be found
                  The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
                  etc. etc. ..........................................
                  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                  Regards,
                  Teun.

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Re: Pulling my hair out

                    Teun,

                    that link should be http://downloads.alphasoftware.com/a...nate/index.htm

                    Then scroll down to nearly the bottom for 3218
                    Last edited by Lance Gurd; 12-03-2008, 05:05 AM. Reason: Sorry that should be 3216, which is slightly more stable

                    Comment


                      #40
                      Re: Pulling my hair out

                      Just to re-iterate, as I have tried e-mailing Selwyn with this and not getting any response, the latest build 1884-3220 the onchange event does not fire in a tree control on a form. This was broken in the last build as well and is used as a menuing system on our jobs form, which is mostly used for customer queries when they phone. At present I cant switch between customers as their calls come in, which leaves them frustrated while I circumnavigate the bug. Looks like I will have to go back to build 3216 again!!"!

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Re: Pulling my hair out

                        An effective bug report gives the folks at Alpha Software a working model that illustrates the problem in context. This means attaching a zipped copy of a database that illustrates the problem, with instructions for them to follow to see the issue. A post here on the message board will not be seen. A bug report containing only a narrative description of the problem will probably wind up on the back burner, as will bug reports containing only screen shots. I've found that when I take the time to submit a formal bug report, including a working model that shows the problem, I invariably get a response and a fix (or explanation if the issue is not caused by Alpha Five itself.)

                        Comment


                          #42
                          Re: Pulling my hair out

                          Tom,

                          That is the frustrating thing, I like others in this thread have sent zipped samples which take time to create and have heard nothing back from Alpha at all.

                          I actually posted a message on here to see if anyone had heard anything back from Alpha and nobody has responded to that, does that tell you something?

                          My last emails to Selwyn had delivery and read requests attached and still nothing. How do we know what we are sending is getting through when we don't get any response back?

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Re: Pulling my hair out

                            Lance, I understand your frustration. Sending emails to Selwyn is not the method I recommend for submitting a formal bug report. I use the "Send a Bug Report" option on the Help menu.

                            I actually posted a message on here to see if anyone had heard anything back from Alpha and nobody has responded to that, does that tell you something?
                            The fact that nobody responded to your post does not mean that nobody received responses to bug reports. You seem to be assuming that everyone reads your posts and everyone has the time and inclination to respond to you.

                            Comment


                              #44
                              Re: Pulling my hair out

                              No Tom,

                              Maybe I did not explain myself, or that of others who state they have done the same (see Scott Walker post 25 above).

                              I submitted a bug report in the normal manner, via the help menu. Got a response from Selwyn stating he needed more information, I then sent what he requested by replying to him so that it would not be taken out of context if I sent to bugs@ etc. It is then that I get no response, the line goes cold, we get two further builds which further compound problems which I send both bug reports and messages to Selwyn and still here nothing.

                              By attaching a delivery request one usually gets a receipt report even if the receipient decides to cancel the read receipt, yet nothing!!

                              It is as though we are being blanked.
                              Last edited by Lance Gurd; 12-03-2008, 08:30 AM. Reason: reference added

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Re: Pulling my hair out

                                Lance, right. You did not explain yourself. I suppose it's possible we are being blanked. That's possible I suppose, but there may be other explanations. Is it possible your imagination may be working overtime? Perhaps folks are taking a bit of time off, something that's not all that unusual at this time of year. I've found it often to be a mistake to assume the worst about someone's behavior when confronted with silence.

                                Comment

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