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H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

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    H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

    We recently began using a remote server for our web application.

    But we need to publish our A5 data to the remote server from our local hard drives. That means the data that is served out over the internet is only as current as our last update.

    The VPS guy suggested that we have our live db reside on the server, and set up our local computers to access/revise/update that live db. That way the server will always have real-time data to work with.

    Trouble is, he didn't say how to do that (he made some vague reference to a 'learning curve'), and I'm just not finding info on how to proceed.

    Is there Alpha documentation or tutorials that explain this? If so, I haven't found it yet.

    I hope I've just missed it. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

    #2
    Re: H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

    Hi Marshall -

    There's no fixed answer. I presume you have your catalog on the remote server. Anything else?

    One solution is to use Remote Desktop (search for it here - I know it's been discussed) but I don't know if that'll be a solution for your in-store needs or not.

    Another possible solution is an automated procedure that periodically (hourly?) uploads your in-store catalog to the server to keep it mostly current.

    Edit:
    I just realized that other readers here may not know that Marshall has a bookstore in Harper's Ferry, WV. That'll give some context.
    Last edited by Steve Workings; 01-29-2009, 06:51 PM. Reason: Realized something...
    -Steve
    sigpic

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      #3
      Re: H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

      Depending on you web app and server, just change your forms to web pages for data entering. Let your users log on through the internet and update information that way.

      Another way is to use Remote desktop to connect to you application on the server. Or set the server up with a Log Me In account and let the users log on that way.

      There are a number of ways of doing this. It just depends on which way works best for you and what your budget allows.

      If you have the A5 web server and already have a web app, the cheaper way would to be just create web pages for your users.
      Dan

      Dan Blank builds Databases
      Skype: danblank

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        #4
        Re: H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

        A few things.

        1. do you have a fast VPS. If so do you have your desktop applications running on the VPS, if So you can just use Alpha using remote desktop using the desktop apps easily, I do it all the time.

        I have both Alpha WAS running as a service and Alpha development running as an application, the WAS uses always up.


        2. If you don't have a fast link, then look at what desktop apps you are running and see how you can recreate for the Web, I've also done this several times and it's easier than you think.

        3. Uploading and downloading data is a habbit you should not get into, if you really want to virtualize the data, then do it from a central point, and that's the VPS.

        Send me some info if you want help, always pressed for time, but happy to assist.

        Peter
        Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
        Albert Einstein, (attributed)
        US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

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          #5
          Re: H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

          Thanks to those of you who have responded. Here are the answers to the questions you raise.

          I operate a used bookstore, and our catalog of abt 45,000 books is an Alpha .dbf file. What we want is to allow web surfers to search our catalog.

          Viewers go to http://65.75.250.33/ to start their search. Within a month or so, I'm planning to add the Alpha Sports web app to provide a shopping cart application. That's not available yet.

          That part works like we envisioned it.

          My concerns are two related items:

          I'd really like to have the data be in real time. If we mark a book "sold" I don't want it showing up any more in the searches.

          I want the browses, forms, reports, etc that we're used to to remain pretty much as they now are.

          Our VPS seems very fast, and it includes regular daily backups of all the data. So I'm leaning toward having the data reside on the server hard drives.

          That, to me, seems preferable to keeping the data local and creating a script that would upload regularly, as Steve suggested.

          It looks like Remote Desktop is the common theme in the three responses I've had so far. I don't know what that is, so I'll follow Steve's advice and search for it on this board.

          Peter: sounds like you're doing pretty much what I want to do. My WAS is running on the remote server, and I'm currently publishing data from my desktop to the remote server. As I said above, I'd prefer to have a secure login that I can use from my store that would allow us to view, change and add data in all the ways we currently do. The difference would be that the data is not on our local hard drive, but on the drives at the VPS server.

          Thanks for the suggestions. I can be reached at [email protected] if it's kosher to contact me off-list.

          Marshall

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            #6
            Re: H/t set up my Alpha dbf file on a remote server

            Remote desktop will be your answer, that is everything on the VPS, Remote desk top will let you use the VPS just as easily as if it were sitting on the desk in front of you.

            Peter
            Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
            Albert Einstein, (attributed)
            US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

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