ALPHA FIVE VERSION 9 VS. OTHER LEADING DATABASE DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS Version 1.

0 Released August 2008 Data current as of August 2008 Press & blogger contact info follows this grid (CLICK to jump there) Alpha 5 V9 Platinum Development Tools Visual Design Tools # controls supplied Use ActiveX controls Embed HTML in forms Expression Builder Expression library Code editor Code library (snippets) Programming language(s) # functions supplied Report designer Scripting language Genies/Wizards Desktop debugger Database explorer SQL query designer Portable SQL Template databases Samples Web Development Web Applications Full HTML support HTML editor CSS editor Ajax support Web debugger Drag and drop design Server programming User component library Grid component Detail view Search Dialog component Grid linker component Tabbed grid linker Navigation system Login component Maintenance builder Alpha Server (a) Y Y Y Y Y Y Xbasic Y Y Part of grid Part of grid Y Y Y Y Y Y ASP.NET, etc.* ASP.NET, etc.* Expression Web* Expression Web* ASP.NET AJAX* Visual Studio* Visual Studio* C#, etc.* Visual Studio* ASP.NET, etc.* ASP.NET, etc.* ASP.NET, etc.* ASP.NET, etc.* N N ASP.NET, etc.* ASP.NET, etc.* N Instant (5 user) N N N N N Y N N view as table view as form find mode N N N N N N Instant (5 User) N N N N N Y N N view as table view as form find mode N N N N N N Y 37 Y Y Y Y Y Y Xbasic, Xdialog >1000 Y Action scripting Y Y Y Y Y, for 14 DBs Microsoft Access 2007 Y 25 N Y Y N N N N 0 Y Scripts N N N N N 33 0 Y Scripts N N N N N 33 0 Y N Y N Y N Visual Basic (VBA) ~200 Y Macros Y Y Visual Studio* Y N 8 10 10 1 Filemaker Pro 9 Filemaker Pro 9 Advanced Y 6 N Y Y N N N N 0 Y 6

Use ActiveX controls Web browser control Role-based security Native DB Specifications Native DB format Open file format Native capacity # open tables # records/table # fields/table # indexes/table # fields/index maximum key size # bytes/record # bytes/memo field # concurrent users Transactions Audit trail

Y Y Y

N N ASP.NET, etc.*

N Y N

N Y N

.DBF Y Disk/OS 100 2 billion 1,023 40 Key size limit

.ACCDB, .MDB N 2 GB

.FP7 N Disk/OS

.FP7 N Disk/OS

DB size limit

2,048 125 open files 125 open files 64 quadrillion total records over life time of file 255 256 million total fields over life time of file 32 10

240 # fields limit 19,600 4,000 Unlimited 65,535 n/a Network 255 for SQL DBs Y for native tables N N N

n/a 9 N N 9

SQL Connectors and File Imports 1-2-3 Y Access Y ADO Y Cache Y DB2 Y dBase/Alpha Native Excel Y Filemaker ODBC Generic SQL Y HTML MySQL Y ODBC Y Oracle Y OracleLight Y Paradox Y Quickbooks Y SQL Server Y SQLAnywhere Y Sybase Y Text (CSV, TAB) Y XML Y Linking Features Remote SQL databases

Y Native Y N N Y Y ODBC N Y N Y ODBC ODBC Y N Y ODBC ODBC Y Y

Y N N N N Y N Native N N N Y ODBC ODBC ODBC N ODBC ODBC ODBC Y Y

Y N N N N Y N Native N N N Y ODBC ODBC ODBC N ODBC ODBC ODBC Y Y

Y, 255 fields

Active link tables Passive linked tables Sort linked SQL data Export Data File Formats 1-2-3 Access dBase/Alpha Excel HTML PDF SQL Database Text (CSV, TAB) Word (DOC or RTF) XML Mailings E-mail/Mail merge Bulk mailer Costs 1-Developer 1-Upgrade 3-Developer 1-End user 10-End user 100-End user Web server Supported OS Windows Vista Windows XP Windows 2000 Server Windows 2008 Server Windows 2003 Server Mac OS X

Y Y Y

N N Y

N N Y, slow

N N Y, slow

Y Access reads DBF Native Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

N Native N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Y N Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y

Y N Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y

Y AlphaMailer*

Y N

Y N

Y N

$399 $299 $999 depends $199

$229 $110 $0

$299 $179 $897 $299 $2,990 $29,900 $999

$499 $299 $1,497 $499 $4,990 $49,900 $2,499

$899 $0 $999 (Unlimited distribution license) $0 $699 (Unlimited users per server) n/a

Y Y Y Y Y N

Y Y N Y Y N

Y Y N N Y Y

Y Y N N Y Y

Footnotes * External program, service, or technology (a) Server license needed for Web access other than localhost Grid produced by Alpha Software http://blog.alphasoftware.com http://www.alphasoftware.com Please alert us to any errors or omissions.

PRESS AND BLOGGER CONTACT: Gregory FCA Main Alicia@GregoryFCA.com Buonanno Alicia Kater@GregoryFCA.com Ritchie Kate Review copies available on request.

610-642-8253 x118 x162

Filemaker Server Filemaker Server 9 9 Advanced Y 6 N Y Y N N N N 0 Y Scripts N N N N N 33 0 Y Scripts N N N N N 33 0 N Y Y N N N N 0 Y 6

PHP*, XSLT*, XML* N N N 3rd party* N Y N N view as table view as form find mode N N N N N N

PHP*, XSLT*, XML*, Instant N N N 3rd party* N Y N N view as table view as form find mode N N N N N N

N Y N

N Y N

.FP7 N Disk/OS

.FP7 N Disk/OS RAM limited

RAM limited rds over life time of file over life time of file

n/a Network N N

n/a Network N N

Y N N N N Y N Native N N N Y ODBC ODBC ODBC N ODBC ODBC ODBC Y Y

Y N N N N Y N Native N N N Y ODBC ODBC ODBC N ODBC ODBC ODBC Y Y

N N Y, slow

N N Y, slow

Y N Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y

Y N Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y

Y N

Y N

$999 $599 $2,997 $999 $3,989 $30,899 $999

$2,499 $1,499 $7,497 $2,499 $7,489 $52,399 $2,499

N Y Y N Y Y

N Y Y N Y Y

Notes

Alpha has a large number of useful genies for common tasks

Many additional Access templates available online, of varying quality

Filemaker includes APIs for PHP, XSLT, and XML sites

PHP sites can use 3rd party JavaScript Ajax libraries with Filemaker

Parent-child grids Multiple linked grids in tabs Alpha has page and file type permissions for groups Pack and reindex DB tables from Web interface

Filemaker has account-based security at the database level

(File extensions are given as shortcuts to the format) Access can split tables for additional capacity Filemaker recommends a 2 GB limit for best performance Alpha can open and close tables dynamically

Excluding memo fields Filemaker has large Text fields but no memo fields Filemaker Pro does not allow two users to edit the same record Alpha can throttle number of users if desired for performance

Filemaker ODBC and JDBC drivers ship with Filemaker

Remote table used directly via SQL, typically over ODBC or OLEDB

Native table dynamically populated from SQL source with updates Native table populated from SQL source snapshot on demand Filemaker sorts data on client instead of using SQL order by clause

Alpha does not need to export to Access because Access reads DBF files

Access is cheaper as part of a Microsoft Office bundle Microsoft has multiple volume discount programs Filemaker treats every end-user as a developer Alpha offers a royalty-free end-user license for ISVs and consultants Filemaker requires Server or Server Advanced plus client licenses Web sites using Access must be programmed, e.g. with ASP.NET Filemaker requires Server or Server Advanced for Web sites Filemaker looks like a Mac OS 9 application on all supported systems