[AccessD] Alpha Five

First of all, I haven't switched so much as opened a new avenue. I still do
occasional work in Access, almost always against a SQL BE. But I am very
much intrerested in Alpha Five, for these reasons:

-- It offers a whole bunch of web-dev tools, and integrates with Ajax,
Javascript, HTML5. ASP.NET, PHP and most anything I can think of.
-- It hasn't abandoned the desktop model. At the start of any given
project, you can choose to target Desktop or Web; Halfway into a project,
you can change horses, as it were.
-- There are abundant wizards to perform common tasks; the abundance and
power of these make the Access wizards pale in comparison.
-- The programming language, Xbasic, is similar to Access VBA but much more
powerful. It also offers true object orientation.
-- There is a collection of Feature Packs, available at extra cost, which
provide additional capabilities. One such is dedicated to Graphics and
Charting. There are many more, some created by Alpha and some by third
parties. Alpha gets behind any creators of Feature Packs.
-- There are dozens of example programs and video tutorials. In this
respect, Alpha leaves Access in the dust.
-- Whenevr I've asked for help, I have received a response the same day,
and sometimes within the hour.
-- Once you're ready to turn pro (I'm not there quite yet), Alpha offers a
subscription plan that gives you not only updates but any new Feature Pack
that may be introduced (not including the third party packs, of course,
just the ones created by Alpha).
-- Alpha Five has its own data-file format, but the company is well aware
that it's going up against Access, and for that reason its next two back
ends are Access and SQL Server. Beyond that, it can connect to virtually
anything that supports ODBC. Further, you can change back-ends very easily.

Not all is a bed of roses. There are a couple of down sides:
-- To run a web app requires the Alpha application server, which means that
you'll need an additional license enabling you to install the app server on
your client's machine. The fee is well within reason, and it allows you to
install the server on multiple client locations. But it is a cost to factor
in. (The product includes a copy of the app server, so you can develop and
test your app, but subsequent client installations require the license.)
-- Despite the similarity of programming language, a lot of the event names
are slightly different -- it's still pretty obvious which Alpha events
correspond to which Access events, but it is a consideration.
-- The largest problem is that the web-app server runs only on Windows. So
other approaches (say, PHP and/or Javascript + jQuery) may be your only
avenue, should you need your app to run on a Linux server.

That's a quick summary of my impressions thus far. You can always visit the
site (www.alphasoftware.com) and read more about it, and download a trial
version if so inclined.

On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 9:10 PM, Tony Septav <TSeptav at uniserve.com> wrote:

> Hey Arthur
>
> Tell us why you have switched to  Alpha Five (or whatever it is called).
> And
> the benefits you see in using this program.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Tony Septav
>
> Nanaimo, BC
>
> Canada
> --

Arthur
Cell: 647.710.1314

The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is
by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We
cause accidents.

-Nathaniel Borenstein<http://www.quoteland.com/author/Nathaniel-Borenstein-Quotes/63/>