Alpha Anywhere Basics

Description

Alpha Anywhere is a feature-filled database and application development tool for Windows that lets you track, report, and manage information. Alpha Anywhere is compatible with the versions of these operating systems that display 8 bit character sets. Alpha Anywhere is easy to learn because it is menu-driven. The menus are self-explanatory; novice and expert alike can quickly make use of Alpha Anywhere's many features.

  • Starting_Alpha_Anywhere

  • Alpha_Anywhere_Database_Structure

  • Basic Concepts and Terminology

  • Table Overview

  • Set Overview

  • Layouts

  • Field Rules

  • Ordering and Selecting Records

  • Operations

  • Functions and Expressions

  • Applications

Starting Alpha Anywhere

When it starts, Alpha Anywhere displays a scrollable list of the last 30 databases opened. This screen gives you quick access to menu actions (shown in blue so to distinguish them from the recent file list). You may edit the recent file list.

Starting Alpha Anywhere in Debug Mode

You can hold down the Shift and Control keys while Alpha Anywhere is opening a database to open the database in debug mode. If Alpha Anywhere detects that the Shift and Control keys are depressed, you can make one of the following choices before the database is opened.

  • "Do not open the start-up Form"

  • "Do not run the autoexec Script"

  • "Do not display the WindowBar"

  • "Prevent this dialog from appearing in the future"

You can prevent this dialog from appearing even if the user is holding down the Shift and Control keys by selecting View > Settings > Preferences, and navigating to Startup > Debug Mode Allowed.

Alpha Anywhere Database Structure

A database is a collection of data. Databases are used for sorting, retrieving, or in some way manipulating the information stored in the database. Information in a database is stored in files called tables. Each table consists of a series of records, where each record represents one person, inventory item, transaction, and such. Each record has several fields, and each field contains one item of data. For example, in a table of employees, there is one record for each employee, and individual items of information about that employee are contained in fields for that record. Information like name, address, social security number, and such, might make up the fields for the employee's record.