Alpha Five 7

The highest compliment we can pay the latest version of Alpha Five is that it builds on the successes of its immediate predecessor: Alpha Five 6, which served (and still serves) as an all-in-one solution for users needing databases that support desktop and Web applications. Alpha Five 6 delivers its own Web server, includes a project control panel for managing online databases, provides support for HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) coding, and has the ability to accommodate ActiveX components.

Alpha Five 7 continues that tradition admirably, adding support for navigational toolbar menus and the Authorize.Net credit card payment gateway service, among other things. Once the database is posted online, authorized users can log in to the proprietary Web server to view and modify its content from any computer that has access to the Internet.

The program’s qualities extend beyond the Web, of course. Alpha Five was designed to appeal to a broad audience, so it features an effortless installation, point-and-click design forms, and an array of intuitive wizards (called genies) and sample templates. The program doesn’t quite achieve the ground-level simplicity of FileMaker Pro, though, and it took us awhile to get the hang of things. A hard-copy users manual would have helped greatly in this regard. But once we learned the ropes, the program became easier to use.

For instance, the Query Genie turned the query process into a simple matter of selecting criteria from a drop-down menu, and we used one of the program’s templates to build a simple image catalog with minimal effort. Experienced users will appreciate Alpha Five’s ability to accept custom coding and scripts written in the proprietary XBasic programming language. And everyone gets free phone-based tech support for installation problems.

On the downside, Alpha Five 7 generated some cryptic errors, which we hope the developer will resolve before the final release. The program also has a relatively high price tag, so we recommend that prospective users take advantage of the free 30-day trial period to evaluate the program before purchasing it.

[tags]Alpha Five, database[/tags]