1. Alpha is AJAX-Powered - your web applications can be secure, complete and as fast as desktop applications

Alpha allows you to easily build web 2.0/ AJAX-enabled web apps that perform with speed of desktop apps. The move towards the web for database applications is accelerating for a lot of good reasons such as

1. No requirement to install software on the client computer
2. The ability to run the application from any browser on any hardware
3. The ability to be mobile
4. The ability for everyone to working with live current data with no need to synchronize

Filemaker’s Web capabilities are limited – with Alpha Five you can build complete web solutions rapidly and easily and now with AJAX support – your web applications can perform as fast as desktop application

Previously, building AJAX apps has been a complex process for developers, with a steep learning curve. Now, with Alpha Five Platinum, the learning curve is gone, and the process has been simplified to a drag+drop operation. No other developer tool builds AJAX apps faster. Extensive knowledge of JavaScript, XML, or an AJAX framework is not required. AJAX applications are built in a fraction of the time other tools require.

Learn more about how you can build your own robust web applications using AJAX techniques with Alpha.

2. Active-Link Tables – Alpha Five allows you to build complete web and desktop database applications with reporting against MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Enterprise DB, DB2, Postgres and other SQL databases

Active Link Tables allow you to work with data in remote SQL databases and turn several SQL databases into one. With Alpha Five you can now build complete desktop and web applications using SQL databases as the backend database. Just a few clicks links multiple SQL databases—including those with stored procedures—into virtual tables, complete with insert, delete, and update support. Developers can build Forms, Browses, Reports, Labels, Letters, and more against distributed SQL data, as if they were native tables.

Watch a Video to see how you can create active-link tables for all of the tables in a remote database in a single step.

According to Filemaker’s technical documents, they offer limited SQL support and do NOT recommend building complete applications against SQL databases

3. Robust, Interactive Reporting

Alpha Five has Interactive Reporting that allows for drilling down or drilling through data to provide business intelligence.

Watch a Video for a demonstration of the new of drill through reporting features of Alpha Five.

Filemaker does not offer the same level of rich and interactive reporting

4. Form Supercontrols

Alpha Five now offers 11 new very powerful controls that you can add to your forms along with the standard form objects, like fields, text, boxes and buttons. Supercontrols allow developers embed hyperlinks, Web content, clocks, calendars, PDFs, live reports, and more in their database forms, with point and click ease.

Learn more about Supercontrols (you won't find Supercontrols in Filemaker).

5. Action Scripting

Alpha has more powerful scripting and full blown programming language if you want it. FileMaker is all scripting, no programming.

Alpha Five offers Wizards (genies), Action Scripting which goes much further than what is offered in FileMaker, and an extremely powerful programming language (Xbasic and Xdialog)

Learn more about Action Scripting, Xbasic, and Xdialog

6. Powerful web apps

Alpha Five enables you to build complete and powerful web apps, something that is not possible with FileMaker.

Examples of Web apps that can built with Alpha Five rapidly include:

• Video: Ecommerce application built easily 5 to 10 faster than with tools like PHP, JSP, .Net and Ruby
• Demo Web Site: For Ecommerce Product
• Demo: Shaw Millworks Production and Drawing Management
• Demo: MDOffice Track Demo

Some more examples of fast web 2.0 apps that were recently built using Alpha Five v9 include:

• Publishing company tracks the work flow of ad sales and approvals for both internal users and customers
• Insurance company gives 24/7 access to policy information and claim submission
• Database driven catalog publishing system with ecommerce built in
• Sales forecasting system with CRM for a Fortune 100 company with sales people spread out in 40 countries
• Marketing event tracking and reporting system for a medical device company
• Health Care accounting system with reporting
• Defect logging and reporting system in a manufacturing environment
• Project tracking system between HQ and stores in the retail industry

Alpha Five's Unique approach to application development is achieved through a comprehensive set of visual point and click re-usable components that makes short work of web application development (which includes reporting in web applications). Learn more about building web applications and web components.

7. Rapid Application Development

See examples of comprehensive web, desktop, and hybrid (web and desktop) applications built rapidly and easily with Alpha Five.

You will find Alpha Five applications in companies and organizations of all sizes. View some of our customers.

8. Speed

Alpha Five performs MUCH more rapidly against SQL Data.

• View our Benchmark Comparison pitting Alpha Five against Filemaker
• View thoughts from a FileMaker User

9. Cost

Alpha Five has a lower relative cost including runtimes for economical deployment of desktop apps and an application server for deployment of web applications with an unlimited number of users on a web server. With Alpha Five, multiple application servers can be "chained together" to provide huge scalability for applications.

10. A more intuitive and powerful report writer

Learn more about Report Genie, Reports via email, fax, and PDF, and Enterprise Reporting. Or, view sample reports.

11. More control over the look and aesthetics of your application

Alpha Five provides more control over the look and aesthetics of your application. View examples:

SUMA

Golden Bear Stained Glass

Event Planner

Sierra Nursery

12. Integration with QuickBooks

Alpha Five has the ability to integrate with QuickBooks data and build applications and reports with Quickbooks data.

13. Full security framework for both desktop and web apps

Alpha Five offers a full security framework for building both desktop and web applications. This security framework alone will save a huge amount of time when building web applications where you want to control which users and can see and/or modify/edit information.