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Developing and Mentoring

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    Developing and Mentoring

    I have used and developed in Access for 15 years and have always been able to find resources on the web to help me build apps. With Alpha5 the capabilities are far greater, especially for web apps but there is a lack of resources.

    How do I find a resource to help me create the app but also teach me on how it is done?

    #2
    Re: Developing and Mentoring

    Scott,
    Please contact Theresa Johnston, Alpha VAR and Consulting Services Manager at (781) 229-4500 ext 12 to sign up for Mentoring services.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Developing and Mentoring

      I tried speaking to Theresa for 3 weeks without success. All I ever got was voice mail and some e-mail replies saying I needed to fill out a form.

      Based on the requirements of my app I wanted to make sure the resource at Alpha was qualified before I committed.

      This was not a great experience and gave me some concern over using Alpha's technical support.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Developing and Mentoring

        Sorry about that; she is often busy. Have you tried email?
        [email protected]
        Otherwise you can post your messages here. Also, go to Help and type in "creating database" and go to Creating a Database. The AlphaMovies database has worked for some of my Newbies to Alpha when I am mentoring them.
        Fred

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Developing and Mentoring

          Hi Scott,
          There are a number of message board members here and also at IADN who do mentoring as well. Rates will vary but I believe they will be close to or below Alpha's rate. I suggest contacting some of the web gurus here (not me yet!) or try IADN and you should be able to hook up with someone in short order. My signature has a link to IADN if wanted.
          Mike
          __________________________________________
          It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
          It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
          Henry David Thoreau
          __________________________________________



          Comment


            #6
            Re: Developing and Mentoring

            Originally posted by scottl View Post
            I have used and developed in Access for 15 years and have always been able to find resources on the web to help me build apps. With Alpha5 the capabilities are far greater, especially for web apps but there is a lack of resources.

            How do I find a resource to help me create the app but also teach me on how it is done?
            Here is more info about training courses etc.





            Alpha University starting as soon as next week. Courses will be Recorded - so you can review at your convenience and Catch Up on Any Classes You Have Missed. But to get these recordings, you MUST register now for Alpha University (you will still qualify for "early bird" savings, but classes are almost full)
            Online courses - ALL from the convenience of your home or office. To ensure a high quality learning experience, registration for each course is limited - These courses are selling out fast. Lock in your slot now Acceptance of Alpha Five is building rapidly world wide with an expanding customer base building exciting and productive database apps. Along with this surge of usage of Alpha Five, we have been inundated with requests for more training. We are happy to respond with these new online courses that are delivered live (with recordings for later review!) Recently Alpha Software has gone on the road giving training courses in Boston, London and Las Vegas. These classes have been a tremendous success - with positive feedback from our participants (see below).

            Many of you were not able to attend for logistical or other reasons - so we have created a new set of courses that you can take online at your computer. Unlike webinars we have given in the past - these are comprehensive training events and cover topics that will really help you take your Alpha Five proficiency to the next level. Each class is 9-15 Hours (see details below. Courses are divided into a few hours per day a few days per week - and each course will be recorded - making it ideal for people who have time constraints and cannot take long amounts of time off.

            And because these sessions are live, you'll be given a chance to ask questions in the chat window while the course is in session. You'll also receive a certificate for each course you complete and a recording of each session for later review or to make up a session that you may have missed. Note: If you have attended In Person training in the last year....You will be eligible for free recordings of one or more of these upcoming classes. Eligibility depends on what course(s) you have taken. For example if you attended the recent Xbasic class you will be automatically sent the video recordings of Xbasic course as they are produced. It is our way of saying Thank You!
            Here are the new courses: Javascript, jQuery and Alpha Five - The Basics and more for integrating Alpha Five with jQuery: This class is for people who want to integrate jQuery and sophisticated Ajax and JavaScript functionality into their Alpha Five web apps. (12 hours) | see details below
            Xbasic 101 - For those of you who want to delve into the actual coding that underlies many great Alpha Five Desktop and Web applications, The instructors will demystify what it takes to unleash the power of Xbasic. (9 hours) | see details below
            Introduction to Alpha Five AJAX Web Application Development - This course will walk you through the critical paths to building complete and secure data driven AJAX web sites and applications based on using SQL databases. (15 hours) | see details below
            Building Alpha Five Desktop applications - Going beyond what you already know. Learn the advanced methods, techniques and procedures you need to produce effective, efficient and very powerful desktop applications. (15 hours) | see details below.

            Save with Early Bird Registration NOW. Class sizes are strictly limited to ensure a high quality learning experience.
            Here's a representative sampling of what past Alpha Training attendees had to say:
            (Praise for Steve and Jay) The training was awesome! With Alpha Five, there is not always the right way to do things, there are many ways and the circumstances dictate which is best. Steve does things so they are solid and function. Jay likes to code and shows you that anything is possible with XBASIC. I look forward to more training from Alpha.
            (Praise from Jeff's last class) I thought it was an excellent course. I came away from it feeling that it was money and time very well spent. I'd literally spent months try to teach myself Javascript and things came together very nicely in the three days spent in Boston
            Xbasic 101
            Get the Xbasic skills you need to solve your daily development challenges
            9 Hours

            Jay Talbot at a recent Alpha U course in London, England



            Steve WorkingsThis course will be taught by Steve Workings and Jay Talbot. Each have more than ten years experience working with Alpha Five. Both have published DVD training videos (available in our online shop) - and both have received rave reviews from attendees in conferences in Boston, Las Vegas and London where they have taught as a team.
            Their combined experience, and well paced teaching styles will help you take your Alpha Five skills to a whole new level.

            This course is designed for those of you who have been perplexed by the actual coding that underlies great applications. Steve and Jay will demystify the lines of code that you may have been avoiding.

            If Xbasic scares you then
            we can help you
            end if.....

            This nine hour course will give you the Xbasic skills you need to solve your daily development challenges. The Xbasic we cover will be applicable to the desktop and to the web side.

            This course will include the following topics:
            What is Xbasic, Why is it important
            Variables
            Interactive window
            Xbasic explorer
            Action scripting
            Letting Alpha write your Xbasic
            Simple scripts
            Using the debugger
            Using Xbasic to get data (message boxes, Radio buttons, dates, etc.)
            Interacting with tables
            Manipulating forms, objects, and other items
            Using Xbasic in an Application
            Alpha Functions
            Creating user functions
            Details
            Where/When:Training is divided into 3 hour training sessions, dates are shown below. Classes are held live between 11am and 2pm eastern time. (4-7pm in the UK, 5-8pm in Western Europe, and 8-11am in California). Each class will be recorded and the recording will be provided to you by the following day (or sooner). So if you miss a day you can catch up. The recordings can also be used as reference tools.
            System RequirementsTo attend the course live, you will need a broadband Internet connection (Cable, FIOS, DSL, Wireless Broadband or equivalent) and headphones or speakers to hear the audio. You can use either a PC or a Mac, and you will be able to ask questions of the instructor via a chat window.

            $399

            January 11th, 13, and 18th (11am-2pm EST)
            Standard Price: $699
            Early Bird Price:$399






            Introduction to Web Application Development
            Building Secure data driven websites from A to Z
            15 Hours
            This course will be taught by Steve Workings and Jay Talbot (bios above). This course will give you a basic understanding of what it takes to create a web application. Steve and Jay will walk you through the critical path to produce a complete and secure data driven web site, focusing on using a SQL backend.

            This course will include the following topics:
            Web versus desktop
            The web development interface
            Connecting to your data
            Moving from dbf to SQL
            Creating components
            Creating an .a5w page
            Create a tabbed UI
            Publishing your web application
            Understanding and using variables
            Implementing the security framework
            Hosting your application
            What is AFAS?
            Adding reports
            Using Action javascript
            Building a simple Ajax callback
            Additional resources
            Details
            Where/When:Training is divided into 3 hour training sessions, dates are shown below. Classes are held live between 11am and 2pm eastern time. (4-7pm in the UK, 5-8pm in Western Europe, and 8-11am in California). Each class will be recorded and the recording will be provided to you by the following day (or sooner). So if you miss a day you can catch up. The recordings can also be used as reference tools.
            System RequirementsTo attend the course live, you will need a broadband Internet connection (Cable, FIOS, DSL, Wireless Broadband or equivalent) and headphones or speakers to hear the audio. You can use either a PC or a Mac, and you will be able to ask questions of the instructor via a chat window.

            $599

            January 20, 24, 25, 27, 31st (11am-2pm EST)
            Standard Price: $899
            Early Bird Price:$599






            Building Alpha 5 Desktop Applications
            Going beyond what you already know
            15 Hours
            In this course, Steve and Jay will introduce you to the core methods and procedures you need to produce an effective, efficient and very powerful desktop application. This is a "200 series" course, assuming that you already have some familiarity with Alpha desktop development.

            This course will include the following topics:
            Planning and overview of an application
            Exploring Form construction and functionality Introducing Xbasic and Action Scripting
            Building an Autoexec script
            Using Backup and Revision Controls
            Constructing Better Reports Using "Holding Tables" for Exports and Reporting
            Making the most of Conditional objects
            Working with events
            Building Fantastic Supercontrols
            Creating Custom menus and toolbars
            Introduction to SQL
            Adding Web tools to desktop applications
            Details
            Where/When:For maximum impact and convenience, training is divided into 3 hour training sessions. See below for dates. Classes are held live between 11am and 2pm eastern time. (4-7pm in the UK, 5-8pm in Western Europe, and 8-11am in California). Each class will be recorded and the recording will be provided to you by the following day (or sooner). So if you miss a day you can catch up. The recordings can also be used as reference tools.
            System RequirementsTo attend the course live, you will need a broadband Internet connection (Cable, FIOS, DSL, Wireless Broadband or equivalent) and headphones or speakers to hear the audio. You can use either a PC or a Mac, and you will be able to ask questions of the instructor via a chat window.

            $599

            January 26,28, Feb 1, 3, and 4th (11am-2pm EST)
            Standard Price: $899
            Early Bird Price:$599


            Advanced Web Application development with Javascript, jQuery and Alpha Five12 Hours
            Instructor Jeff Cogswell is a well respected author, presenter and guru. His books include the C++ Cookbook (2006, O'Reilly Media) and ASP.NET 2.0 for Dummies (2006, Wiley Publishing, Inc.) as well as many others. Jeff is also the author of the training video jQuery and Alpha Five v10.5, available in our online shop.

            In this course, Jeff brings you up to speed with the use of JavaScript and the world's most popular JavaScript library jQuery. Learn the absolute cutting edge techniques used to build today's most powerful and innovative web 2.0 / AJAX applications.

            This course will include the following topics:
            Getting up to speed with JavaScript
            Getting up to speed with jQuery
            Integrating jQuery with Alpha Five
            Alpha Five's JavaScript Model
            Digging deeper into Alpha Five's JavaScript Model
            Fusing Alpha Themes with jQuery Themes
            Adding more jQuery Components


            Details
            Where/When:For maximum impact and convenience, training is divided into 2 hour training sessions, starting Monday, January 10th. And will run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for two weeks. Classes are held live between 11am and 1pm eastern time. (4-6pm in the UK, 5-7pm in Western Europe, and 8-10am in California). Each class will be recorded and the recording will be provided to you by the following day (or sooner). So if you miss a day you can catch up. The recordings can also be used as reference tools.
            System RequirementsTo attend the course live, you will need a broadband Internet connection (Cable, FIOS, DSL, Wireless Broadband or equivalent) and headphones or speakers to hear the audio. You can use either a PC or a Mac, and you will be able to ask questions of the instructor via a chat window.

            $699

            January 10,12,14, 17, 19, and 21st (11am-1pm EST)
            Standard Price: $999
            Early Bird Price: $699

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Developing and Mentoring

              Scotti,
              You made the good choice. Alpha5 is nothing short of amazing. Like my grandfather said, "Never eat a restaurant without a line."

              Try Alphatogo.com. Steve has everything from good advice to a ready made Alpha product.
              Bob

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Developing and Mentoring

                "Never eat a restaurant without a line."
                I was taught find the one with all the fate..uh...obese people in it. LOL






                .
                Dave Mason
                [email protected]
                Skype is dave.mason46

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Developing and Mentoring

                  I'm available contact me (private message) you you like.

                  I just posted this on the board to help someone - it will give you an idea of my style.


                  View the post.


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

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Developing and Mentoring

                    From my experience, you'll have to dig and teach yourself. I can't comment on the live training. As a small business owner, I can't afford either the time cost or the money cost.

                    I wasted $279 on a 4 hour mentoring block. My first "mentor" notified me that he'd be on vacation for the next two weeks. AlphaSoftware was very responsive and set me up with a new one. After putting together a pretty detailed picture of my status quo, my goals and my wishlist, I was told, "I feel that you will be able to accomplish your project using Alpha Five, however, it is complex and would take time to complete. I can help you as you need it." This board seems to be fairly responsive to most questions. I wouldn't call it mentoring. By spending the $279, I was hoping to have guidance, not another q&a source. I'm sure that others have had great success with their mentor. If you choose to go this route, I would figure out some sort of interview process. This board my be a good place to fish. My mentors were assigned by AlphaSoftware.

                    I will plow forward through a very complete library of videos and manuals. If it have been written or recorded about A5V9 or V10, I own it.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Developing and Mentoring

                      If you are just staring Alpha Five web applications, get the Steve Woods templates. The source code contained in these templates is terrific when learning Alpha Five. Go with the SQL version if possible.

                      Additionally you might seriously consider the Feature Pack(s). Currently, I am getting the most use out of the Action Buttons feature pack.

                      In no particular order:
                      http://www.screencast.com/users/SteveWood/folders/wt
                      http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/alphaforum
                      http://www.alphadevnet.com
                      http://forum.alphadevnet.com
                      http://wiki.alphasoftware.com
                      http://www.alphatogo.com
                      http://www.alphasoftware.com
                      http://news.alphasoftware.com/v10preview/videos.htm
                      http://support.alphasoftware.com/Wha...V9/NewInV9.htm
                      http://support.alphasoftware.com/Wha...0/NewInV10.htm
                      http://downloads.alphasoftware.com/A...easenotes.html

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Developing and Mentoring

                        Kevin,

                        Often when someone is starting out, an orientation is a good place to start, to learn your way around Alpha Five. Mentoring really comes after you have a decent footing. An orientation is not so much about your application, but Mentoring absolutely should be about the application you want to build. Mentoring has to be hands on, not a Q&A, hands on YOUR application. Or if not your application, then your specification or rough outline. As someone starting out, you not only need to know IF you can get your project done in Alpha, but the general path, and a little discussion about expected cost, performance, etc. That's a lot to cover in a few hours! But the right person can do it.

                        I see you are Western US, come join my Friday Noon webinar. I have them every Friday and we cover anything about Alpha that comes up. I've been doing these free for a couple years. See my website for Webinars.
                        Steve Wood
                        See my profile on IADN

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Developing and Mentoring

                          Originally posted by losthorn View Post
                          From my experience, you'll have to dig and teach yourself. I can't comment on the live training. As a small business owner, I can't afford either the time cost or the money cost.
                          Kevin, I agree that you need to get through all this stuff by doing it and learning for yourself, however, there's so much with Alpha 5 web applications that having a good push will certainly help. I went through the Alpha University jQuery course in January and the cost per hour was certainly worth while. Like you, I run a small business and own and manage a fitness centre here in Toronto, Canada and find time a bit tough to get. My partner covered my time while I took this course and it was well worth the time cost and dollar cost. I had 2 screens set up so that I could follow the webinar and actually do the work in real-time. Jeff Cogswell instructed and Dave McCormick moderated and they did an amazing job of delivering complex material - complex to me, at least.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Developing and Mentoring

                            Kevin,

                            Call me if you want, I'd be glad to review what you want to do and provide some guidance.
                            Steve Wood
                            See my profile on IADN

                            Comment

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