Alpha Anywhere Developer Environment: First Launch
Description
The first time you launch Alpha Anywhere, you will need to configure the development environment. This guide discusses what you need to do activate Alpha Anywhere and what to expect during your first launch.
Important Notice for Community Edition Users
This tutorial was built using the full Alpha Anywhere Development Environment. Community Edition users may encounter screens that don't match their environment due to differences between the two development environments.
We strongly recommend starting with the tutorials in the Alpha Software Learning Center to start learning Alpha Anywhere.
Registering Alpha Anywhere: Enter Your License Number
The first time you launch Alpha Anywhere, you will be prompted to enter your License number. A valid license is required to activate Alpha Anywhere.
Locate your license number. If you do not have a license, you can request a free Alpha Anywhere Community Edition license. Your license number will be emailed to you, so it is important that you enter a valid email address.
If you purchased an Alpha Anywhere subscription and cannot locate your license, contact [email protected].
Enter your Alpha Anywhere license number and click OK.
Once you have registered Alpha Anywhere, you can start using the software. The next step is to familiarize yourself with the Select Workspace dialog.
Understanding the Select Workspace Dialog
After you register Alpha Anywhere, you will be shown the Select Workspace dialog. Select Workspace has two tabs: Workspace & Tasks and News & Updates.
The News & Updates tab is where you will find details about new releases for Alpha Anywhere, upcoming webinars and events, and links to informative articles.
On the Workspace & Tasks tab, you can load or create a workspace. The workspace options available will depend on the type of application you want to build. Click the Web/Mobile checkbox to expose the options for building web and mobile applications.
There are no application type options in Community Edition. This is because only Web and Mobile applications can be built with Community Edition.
Selecting Web/Mobile exposes the options available for creating or opening existing web and mobile applications. Each of these options are explained below:
Open an existing Workspace
The Open an existing Workspace option lists all Recent Workspaces that you have opened. If this is your first time launching Alpha Anywhere, the Recent Workspaces list will be empty.
Create a new, empty Workspace
Choose the Create a new, empty Workspace option if you would like to create a new workspace.
Restore a backed-up Workspace...
If you have previous backed-up a Workspace in Alpha Anywhere, use the Restore a backed-up Workspace... option to restore the workspace. See Backing Up Workspaces for more information on how to create a backup.
Sample and Tutorial Workspaces...
Alpha Anywhere ships with a number of examples These examples can be installed using the Sample and Tutorial Workspaces... option. Examples include popup dialogs that provide further instructions when you open the example workspace after the workspace is installed. To learn how to install sample and tutorial workspaces, click here.
Now that you are familiar with the Select Workspace dialog, the next step is to learn how to create a new Alpha Anywhere workspace.
Create a New Workspace
Since this is your first time launching Alpha Anywhere, you will need to create a new Workspace before you can start building applications with Alpha Anywhere. A workspace will contain all files your application needs, including components, javascript libraries, images, HTML pages, .a5w pages, and css style sheets. Creating a new workspace can be done using the Create a new, empty Workspace option.
Click the Create a new, empty Workspace and then click the OK button to create a new workspace.
Name your new workspace. Then click OK.
If the Startup Control Panel dialog appears, check the box for Open the Web Control Panel when this Workspace is opened if you plan to use this workspace to create a Web or Mobile application. The Web Control Panel is where resources for a web or mobile application are listed. Click OK to finish creating your new workspace.
Alpha Anywhere may ask which Control Panel should be used for your workspaceIf you are using the Community Edition, you will not see this prompt. The Web Control Panel is always opened in Community Edition.
Now that you have created a workspace, you can start building your application.
We have designed several Getting Started tutorials that will guide you through the process of building your first mobile or web application. Click the button below to start building a Web or Mobile application. Or choose the tutorial that best suits your needs to get started.