Last month, I talked about the scripting differences between Alpha Four and Alpha Five. This month, I'd like to take a step backwards, and talk about the first thing you see -- the user interface.

In Alpha Four, the first screen that appears when you open the program is the Alpha Four Main Menu¹.  This is quite comforting, because the menu gives you a list of actions that you can take.  With a little trial and error, you can find most of what you want to do.

When you first open Alpha Five, you see the Control Panel.  However, it isn't quite as obvious what to do next.  Actually, the Control Panel has nearly everything you'll need for creating tables, forms, reports, etc.  So, let's figure out what to do with it.

This is a good time to stop and point out a fundamental difference between the two programs.  In Alpha Four, and DBF is called a database.  In Alpha Five, it is called a table.  Although this can be confusing at first, please keep it in mind, because all discussions regarding DBF's in Alpha Five will refer to tables, not databases.  Likewise, a DBF will be called a database when discussing Alpha Four.²

You'll notice that there are 8 or 9 tabs near the top of the screen³.  Each tab is used to create a different component of your application.  For example, the first tab, Tables/Sets, is where you will create a table, and then modify the table with field rules, indexes, etc.  This is analogous to the Database/set design command on the Alpha Four Main Menu.

However, when you first look at this tab, there's nothing there (unless you open the sample application).  That's because, just as in Alpha Four, there is nothing to work with until you create something.  (If you look at any of the other tabs, they are also blank).  So, let's create something.

While the Tables/Sets is active (selected), you can create a new table several ways.  The most obvious is to click on the New button just above the tabs.  If you use other Windows programs, you are probably familiar with right-clicking to access different options.  The same is true in Alpha Five -- you can right-click in the empty space below the tabs, and you will see a menu.  You can click on New in this menu to create a new table.  (You can also click on File at the top of the screen, and then New.   While this also works, there are a lot more options, which can be confusing at this point.)

The next thing you will see is a window asking if you want to create a table or a set.  As in Alpha Four, you have to have tables first before you can create a set.  So, make sure Table is selected, and then click on Next.  Now you will see a window that prompts you for the type of table.  Create a new table from scratch is selected (the other option requires an existing template), so click on Finish.  Now you will see a window in which you can create the field for the new table.  This is very similar to what you're used to in Alpha Four.

Once you finish defining the fields, save the new table by clicking File and Save, or click on the Save button (it looks like a blue floppy disk).  Then close the window.

Now you have a table in the Tables/Sets tab.  There are all sorts of commands available to you, just like in the Database/set design command in the Alpha Four Main Menu.  To access these commands, right-click on the table.  A menu will appear, showing everything you can do with a table (when you create a set, you will access the commands the same way).

You'll notice that most of these commands are very familiar, with a few minor differences.  For example, Edit Structure is the same as Reconfigure Database in Alpha Four.  Also, Empty Table is the same as Zap in Alpha Four.

There is one command that could be quite confusing -- Drop Table from Database (see ³ below). This would be like removing one of the DBF's from your desktop in Alpha Four.  It still exists on your hard drive, but is no longer being used by the current database (container).

Now you have a table in your application.  The next thing you probably want to do is design a form.  Once again, there are differences between Alpha Four and Alpha Five.  In Alpha Four, you first open the database for which you want a form, then execute the commands to create a new one.  In Alpha Five, there are several ways to do this.  The most obvious is to go to the Forms tab, and click on New.  You will see a window prompting you to select the table to which the form will be attached.  Select the correct table, and click on Next.  You are then given two choices; Start from a blank form or Start from the default form.  Perhaps the easiest choice for a beginner is starting from the default form.  This will show the fields and field labels in a format very similar to the Alpha Four default form.  Now you can start experimenting with moving the fields around, changing their size (both done by clicking and dragging), or changing the text in the labels (double-click on the field label).  To see or change the properties of the fields or labels, right-click on them, and select Properties.

Obviously, there's a great deal more to talk about regarding form design, but I'll leave that for a future issue.  The example above is typical for most of the tabs; you create reports, browses, etc. in the tabs with those names.  The Operations tab is where you create operations such as append, copy, update, and the other operations that Alpha Four has.  And finally, the Code tab is where you create global scripts (see the article in Issue 1 for more information).

Hopefully, you can now look at Alpha Five with a little more understanding (and a little less intimidation or confusion).  Next month, I'll talk about field rule differences between Alpha Four and Alpha Five.

¹ If you have designed an application, and set the DOS command line to open the application, you will not see this menu.

² To add to the confusion, a database in Alpha Five is the container in which the tables and sets are stored.  This is roughly analogous to a desktop that you would define in Alpha Four, containing a certain group of DBF's and sets.

³ Some tabs may or may not appear when you first open the program.  If a particular tab is missing, you can right-click on one of the tabs.  This will display a menu showing all tabs available, and you can select those that you want to see.


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