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A Review
By Dennis Smith
 I have been using a flat
file database for over 10 years and I was searching for a relational database
program as a replacement. I have tried many different database programs over the
past few years but none fulfilled all of my requirements.
I recently had the opportunity to review the Alpha Five database program from
Alpha Software and I believe that I have finally found a program that does all
of the things that I require of a database program and is easy to use.
Alpha 5 is a relational database management program that is suitable for the
home user and for a small to medium size business. Some of the typical uses are
for maintaining and manipulating mailing lists, inventories, personnel
information, club/church membership information or information on rental
properties. It runs under Windows 95/98/ME/2000
The online documentation is excellent and the "Getting Started" section is
particularly useful for the first time user. It leads the user through the
functions of creating a database, adding tables and setting up forms. The core
of the Alpha 5 database is the Control Panel. This is a tabbed window that
organizes all of the objects e.g. tables, forms, reports, letters and labels.
I imported the data from my old database program. It was as simple as exporting
the information as a DBF file and then dragging the file into the Alpha 5
control panel. From there, I was able to use the Alpha 5 default form to easily
set up a data record form to view all of the fields in my records. Using the
form design mode, I was able to modify the placement of fields and field names
on the form and, a nice feature was the facility to place radio buttons on the
form to perform functions such as printing a record or print previewing. Another
option is to design a form from scratch. This is facilitated by the drag-drop
list of fields from which the user can drag the appropriate fields to the
desired position on the form.
The search and search and replace functions are straightforward but the replace
function only works with text. This caused me a bit of a problem when I
attempted to change the dates from my old database information (the old database
suffered from a Y2K problem which resulted in dates being displayed as 1901,
1902 etc instead of 2001, 2002 etc).
I solved this problem by exporting my old database into another program that
allowed me to search and replace the dates. I then imported the corrected
information into the Alpha 5 database program.
Other features included in Alpha 5 are the expression builder, report writer,
form letter writer. The program supports the usual cut, copy and paste
operations. There are many templates included with the program.
I found this program to be easy to learn. The various templates that include
sample data and the Genie's which assist the user in setting up the various
objects such as forms and queries were particularly useful. The version tested
was Alpha 5 version 4.5. Version 5 is currently in beta testing.
I was unable to find a price for this program from a Canadian vendor. The price
quoted on the Alpha Software Web site is US$149.00. A full-featured 30-day trial
version of Alpha 5 version 4.5 is available for download at:
www.alphasoftware.com/promo/trial/
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