5 comments about Advanced FileMaker Pro 5.5 Techniques for Developers (With CD-ROM).

1. If you are a developer or just a keen user who is looking at enhancing what they can do with FileMaker this is the book for you. There aren't many books of this type for FileMaker but luckily this is a really good one. A little short (at 350 pages) the first 120 pages are on relational basics and design that are applicable to any database. Some may skip these chapters but they contain a wealth of information that helps you understand the fundamental structure of your database and how to improve it.

   Following chapters go over audit trail, creating a secure login system, advanced use of portals (e.g., using a portal as a selection list and "type-ahead" finds) and rollbacks.The chapter on enhancing your reports with "bucket reports", i.e., subsummary reports that run horizontally across the page instead of down, was particularly useful. Other chapters cover recursive data structures and complex calculations.

   If you are not fairly literate with FileMaker you may struggle with some of the concepts as the book assumes you already have reasonable knowledge and pretty much jumps straight in. However, even if you have problems following the text the CD that comes with the book includes the databases so you can pull these apart to see how they work.

   While FileMaker is easy to use for most things, there are some higher level functions that developer need that aren't necessarily straight forward to implement - even if you only get a couple of tips from this book it is worth the purchase as many of the examples covered here simply aren't easily available elsewhere




2. This book is a must for the FileMaker developer, and a great study for the beginner.
   It covers many developer questions and shows new angles to get more specific in designing, scripting and creating applications.
   -Use it as your reference guide, technical dictionary and inspiration book.



3. I've been a Filemaker Developer for over 7 years. My bookshelves are lined with a variety of FM titles. That said, I purchased this book solely on the authors experience (they frequently contribute to FM Advisor Magazine). The techniques shown here are pretty much available within the documentation and tutorials included within Filemaker when you do a standard install.

   The examples and layouts are bland- functional but bland. I suggest spending 1/3 less $ and finding the John Mark Osbourne-Matt Petrowsky CD sets. They pack their CDs with great layouts and designs as well as very advanced scripting and calculation information. I still rely on those CD's frequently.

   These gents do know Filemaker, and the text and CD do a fine job of explaining very basic database terms, expressions, and design theory. If you are brand new to databases and Filemaker specifically- this would do an adequate job.




4. If you have a multi-page Acrobat Form and want to automatically fill the form with Filemaker data, optionally emailing/faxing/encrypting it, PF-Merge will do that job for you, without programming. It also merges images! Setup time is under 3 minutes.

   Thought I share the above freely downloadable treasure with my fellow Cyberfriends. PF-Merge supports over 20 database platforms and its utilities do not time-out.




5. If you are using FileMaker 7, you will probably regret buying this book. If you are not planning on moving to FM7 any time soon, it's a good investment.
   
   This book deserved 4 (or maybe 5) stars before FileMaker 7 was released. But so much of the material here is how to do advanced things that FileMaker 6 and earlier versions made fairly difficult, and that FileMaker 7 makes much easier, and sometimes trivial. That makes this book hard to recommend today.
   
   There's still good material, including possibly the best description of the "relational" part of relational databases available in the FileMaker canon. FileMaker 7 is more complete in the relational area, making understanding of this topic more important than ever.
   
   I *do* very much hope that the authors will release a 2nd edition covering FileMaker 7, and will definitely buy it!

5 comments about Database Publishing with Filemaker Pro on the Web.

1. If you are looking for a way to get your database online and looking professional this book will do nothing for you. It is too old to be of any use, the techniques are aimed at people who would think that animated gifs are pretty groovy, and I wonder if the author actually knows anything about Lasso at all. (excuse me if I am wrong there) To have a whole chapter on what is the top Filemaker publishing tool (Lasso) on the market and to give less info than what is already in the manual is just terrible. What would be nice is the list of tags and then explanations of what each tag does and where it could be used, and examples that did something more complex than adding a file would be nice. But then I believe it shows the age of this book, anybody in the year 2000 who is making web pages using Homepage, Pagemill or Frontpage should have their computer taken off them. Maybe this book rocked in 1998, though I doubt that too. If you need to get a database online and need to do it with minimum fuss buy Dreamweaver and Lasso Studio, the manual with Lasso Studio will have you running in very little time. If you want to waste money on something that can be found off Blueworld's website for free then buy this book.



2. In comparison to the value of Scriptology ([price]) every cent I paid was wasted on this book. I cannot recommend it to anybody. Instead read the online help of FileMaker



3. The editorial reviews and table of contents fail to mention this book does NOT apply to web hosts on UNIX. Oops.



4. This book wasn't great when it was first written. Hard to understand and badly organized for beginners and hopelessly chatty for people who already knew something about web development. But it was all there was to get started. Now it is completely out of date. The CDML language that that was current with FileMaker Pro 3 has been superseded in versions 5 and 6. You can do better with a good all around book on FileMaker Pro.



5. Contrary to other reviews, CDML was not done away with in Filemaker 5 or 6. It was still the primary method for connecting Filemaker Databases to the web. In Filemaker 7 and 8 it has been done away with but many solutions still use CDML and many databases are still in earlier versions. If you are in that situation and need or want to learn CDML there are not many good references out there, but this book is a good hands on way to walk yourself through creating CDML web pages if you are new to that sort of things.

5 comments about The Book of FileMaker 6: Your One-Stop Guide to FileMaker Pro, Pro Unlimited, Developer, Server, and Mobile.

1. The Book of FileMaker 6 is the first book that I have asked friend to buy and Fedex for me. It's an excellent text book that I've ever had to lead me through my simple database development. Although English is not my native language, I found that the book is written in a very simple way and easily for understanding.
   Another wonderful thing is that the book is covered entire feild on FileMaker 6. For example, the FileMaker Developer, FileMaker Server, FileMaker Mobile and FileMaker Pro etc. You'll find it very useful once you have it. I do looking forward to see the book of FileMaker 7 thatis going to be written by Chirs Kubica.



2. Though it does give elaborate a bit on most ins-and-outs of Filemaker Pro 6, it doesn't go much into scrip wrtiting: a few lines, a few examples, not much 'general' syntax, and all its parameters. Anybody knows of a book that just teach you about (Filemaker Pro 6) scripts and scripwriting?



3. 
   Databases have always been difficult for me, even after 20 years in network design. FileMaker seemed to be the answer - power, clean design - everything a non-database person would love. But there is a learning curve, even with a great program like FileMaker.
   
   Needing additional assistance, I turned to Chris' "The Book of FileMaker 6" because it was a) thick, meaning lots of information, and b) it came with a CD of examples.
   
   After spending some time with his book, I can heartily recommend it as a "must-have" for anyone using FileMaker - beginner to pro. The book is well laid out, lacks the usual techno-jargon that crams other books and causes many reader's eyes to glaze over, and contains wonderful examples that allow even a new user to get working quickly.
   
   Having written many articles and step guides myself, I can appreciate the work it took for Chris to put this book together. The examples, both those in the book and on CD, are useful, straightforward, and practical.
   
   Bottom line - if you use FileMaker, you need this book...



4. Even though this book was written for an earlier version of FileMaker, I am glad to have it in my library as a reference. It is readable and many of the principles described apply to any database, regardless of version.
   
   The writing style won me over. I could pick a quote from nearly any section of the book, but I'll choose one from early on: "Every time you wait in line to get grocery money out of an ATM, you are waiting to access a database."
   
   It could have been written: "Every time you get money out of an ATM, you are accessing a database." Dull! The example was made immediate by including the
   "grocery money" and the "wait in line" parts of the experience.
   
   The style includes humor, of course: "...if you had a degree in mathematics or were, yourself, a robot..." (p. 10, talking about creating unique IDs for your database).
   
   I started at Chapter 0 and worked my way through the entire book. Even with my background, which was not that of a beginner, I learned something from nearly every page.
   
   The most helpful chapters to me have been:
   Chapter 15: Designing, Estimating, Planning, Developing, and Managing FileMaker Projects
   Chapter 5: Developing Relational Databases
   Chapter 12: FileMaker at the Center: Emulating or Integrating FileMaker Pro with Other Software (an eye-opener to me).
   
   The chapters I refer to most often (after 15 and 5) are:
   Chapter 14: FileMaker Pro Development Conventions
   Chapter 7: ScriptMaker
   Appendix A: Useful FileMaker Tips and Tricks
   
   These are the chapters that have tattered the book.



5. I'm developing a database for a local community library using Filemaker version 8. I found this book in a second hand bookstore and this is the most useful book of three books I use. The other two are "Using Filemaker 8" and "Functions and scripts".
   
   This book is on Fimaker 6, so a lot of material is absolete (or incorrect) in version 8, but still the basic functions and concepts are very well structured and presented. Especially I like the description of functions -- when we use them and when we don't. You may buy it for $0.50 or $9 at amazon.com. It is a steel.

No comments about FileMaker Pro 9: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Bundle VTC Training CD.

5 comments about Learn FileMaker Pro 7 (Wordware Library for FileMaker).

1. This book did a far better job of explaining FileMaker 6 than FileMaker 7.
   The book cover states "Level: Introductory to advanced", but as far as Version 7 is concerned, it is little more than an introductory primer.
   In many cases it just ignored the great leaps forward of the program, or, (far too often) just referred the reader to the help files (as reported by another reviewer) rather than giving examples or explaining the concept.
   Examples are:-
   1. The let statement enabling users to create variables in a function; users referred to the help files.
   2. Recursive calculatuions and scripting; simply ignored.
   3. Pull through relationships.
   Despite its shortcomings as a version 7 I found the book an admirable reference to Version 6.



2. This is the best Computer tutotial book that I ever bought, and I buy quite a few. This is the kind of book you read & work with from cover to cover and come back to all the time.



3. I just brought your book this morning.
   
   I have the FM7 Bible, Visual Guide one and the big yellow one and some other FM book. This is the best out of them.
   
   The Big yellow one written by Schwartz is good for a rookies to start make a simple phone list template. But, it is too much explanation,no real tips, you know. Making a Phone book is all you learn from this big book.....
   
   The 24 hours FM book is rubbish. This may be the first book published on the market about FM7. I brought it with high expectation but it turn out only some dry manuel.
   
   The FM Bible by QUE is also filled with theory but little demo. I can say it give a good example of lookup and relationship. But it is simple not economic to read 350 page to learn this skill.
   
   The Visual Quickpro is the second best,I could say. It divided FM into many tiny parts for you to digest. The worst thing is --- there is no DEMO for you to practise. Hey, how can you grasp the idea of "One-to-Many Relationship" by 2 or 3 snapshots?
   
   One funny thing to share. At first, I consider johnthan stars book is simply rubbish when I am FM7 rookies. It flip and scan the book and got the impression that it is a theory book because of the absence of snapshot. After reading the above FM books, I brought this book because I read a webbog called Filemaker Fever which recommended it. So, I take the risk and it is worth.
   
   Let's take some example. Every chapter have the demo for you to download. It has also Author tips and many other extra FM template. The best thing is that you can learn the useful things with the most direct language. Before I read this book, I never learn what is Drag-and-Drop. I never know the how to really use "Replace Command' to make renew serial no. Some practical tips like you are better to use g to name the gobal field and pf,fk to label key field.
   
   But there is also room to improve. It is much better to have more coverage of script because this section should be the main focus for many users. I urge Johanathan to write another book which focus on relationship and script. I will buy it surely.
   
   In sum, don't believe me. I know many professional writers boost their book. Go and flip this book. Try to read some sub-title and you will know Johnathan explain things quick and to the point.



4. I found this book spotty in its development.
   As another reviewer wrote, you'll need to buy a magnifying glass to see the computer screen images in this book-No Joke!



5. The author takes you by the hand from the beginning of the book to the very end. Sometimes he stops and start discussing about some trivial facts, e.g "Why it is better to sort a contact list by last name rather than by first name ...".
   
   Well, I didn't really appreciate the book because you can hardly use it as a handbook wich you can refer to in the phase of devlopping an application.
   
   The book is good to begin vhen you bearly don't know what is a database and how to operate a soft like File Maker. But for more curious or for more advanced users I'm afraid it's no the book to have.

No comments about FileMaker Pro 5.5 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide).

5 comments about Scriptology: Filemaker Pro Demystified.

1. After using a customized filemaker pro solution for two years at work, which the company had outgrown, I decided to start from scratch and create my own. I have purchased several filemaker books over the past few months and this is the only one which supplemented the filemaker pro manual. It says it covers Filemaker Pro 3.0 and 4.0 but everything applies to Filemaker Pro 5.0 also.

   Absolutely every technique I was trying to do was described in detail here. This book explains some of the workaround techniques that are not instantly built in to Filemaker but are possible with a little work. The supplemental CD has each technique as a seperate database file making it easy to analyze and adapt to your own database.

   Filemaker Pro is much easier to use than Access and superior when creating both an interface and printed reports, especially graphic intensive reports such as catalogs.

   Read the Filemaker Pro manual, then buy this book. The high price of the book is completely covered in the fact that it is so comprehensive and covers advanced techniques in such easy to understand language.

   I got a lot of ideas for my own databases from reading this book and was highly impressed by such detailed content.

   If you are deciding between Visual Quickstart's Filemaker Pro (it only covers what is covered in the Filemaker manual), Filemaker Pro Bible (hardly comprehensive enough to be called a bible), Automating Filemaker Pro (more theory and description than how to automate it), and Scriptology, ONLY buy Scriptology. It will save you a lot of time and money (unless you are stupid like me and buy all the other books first).




2. When I first started doing database development back in 1995, I searched long and hard for a good book that'd teach me all about many of the "hard to get your head around" features of FileMaker Pro such as advanced scripting, understanding calculation formulas, dealing with related data and portals, and how to build killer user interfaces. At the time, there were no good books (to my knowledge). Later, after I'd finished my first subcontracting gig as a FileMaker developer and started my own company, I stumbled across Scriptology. I don't even remember where I found it (it was some unlikely place like a mall bookstore or something.)

   I have to say that the book helped a great deal in my efforts to become a professional Filemaker developer, an advanced scripter, and a careful database planner/architect. I had already learned many of the techniques illuminated in the book by the by...from colleagues or by surfing the Web, but never before had all the greatest tips and techniques been collected in one place. Enter Scriptology.

   One point, though. While I'm sure John and Matt are putting together a new edition as we speak, the book is dated in some respects (it doesn't cover FileMaker 5's new features). It also doesn't cover some very advanced FileMaker topics such as ODBC connectivity, Web development, or the use of plugins. For these reasons, the book seems pricy, but it'll still add a great deal to any developer's FileMaker database-building arsenal.




3. This is the perfect book to have on hand once you get past the stage of learning how to create layouts and relationships. All the other books seem to brush over scripting quickly or make the assumption that the reader somehow instinctively knows what a vested If statement, loop, or set field is, when each might be used in a script and why. For weeks I understood none of this. After an evening with this book it's finally starting to all come together. This book explains everything very clearly and intelligently, is extremely well organized and I believe perhaps the best computer book I've ever purchased. I, too, was afraid I might regret paying ..., but I have no regrets at all (and I certainly have no affiliation with the author). Two thumbs way up!



4. A MUST for any and all Filemaker developer. Much more than a simple 'how to' book. Gets to the heart of how to create solutions with FileMaker Pro.



5. I'm developing FileMaker applications since 1988. No other book paid for itself in a shorter period of time. I advice everybody who is serious with FileMaker to buy this collection of technique files you find in the accompaigning CD. The first FileMaker book I didn't feel cheated.

3 comments about FileMaker Pro 6 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide).

1. I wrote the book, so call me biased. Still I wanted to highlight that FileMaker 6 is not just another upgrade and the book not just another revision (I know because I've been doing this since FileMaker 4). Two cool features, highlighted in the book, make FileMaker 6 worth the upgrade: full XML support and auto-importing of digital camera images (Mac only).

   * While XML is a blessing to database geeks, it's also accessible to plain folks via FileMaker's support of XML-based templates. You'll find a free collection on the FileMaker site (www.filemaker.com) that will let you do nifty things like add live package tracking to a FileMaker database or import songlists from iTunes. If you are a database geek, the XML support means the barriers are finally down for using FileMaker with corporate-scale databases.
   * As for importing digital camera images, FileMaker doesn't just grab the photo but also grabs all the metadata for each image. Such data includes camera settings, which FileMaker can dump directly into several of the 20 templates included in the program. If you use lots of digital images, this alone can make sorting and finding photos way easier.

   Just like the program, FileMake Pro 6 Visual QuickStart Guide's been fine-tuned and honed from top to bottom. And it's got the best index in the business, so you can actually find the answers to your questions.

   HTH,
   Nolan




2. I knew almost nothing about FileMaker Pro but needed to learn it fast for a project. I read this book in about 5 hours and after that, I could do all but the most coplicated things in FileMaker. I have a Mac and this book is great for Mac or Windows. Unless you need to do very complicated scripts and formulas, this book is great for you. I hope he updates it for FMP 7. All in all, read this book and you will gain a skill you never knew how useful it could be. I make databases for all sorts of things now, and it just takes me a couple hours.



3. If you know absolutely nothing about Filemaker, this book is easily the best. Some may pass it up because of a lack of practice files. However, I think that is a plus. I found it easier to develop my own practice database(s) as I went along.
   
   If you want to learn more, I recommend moving on to the Advanced Peachpit book and then to Kubica's, which is too comprehensive and advanced to be used as a learning tool, but an excellent reference manual.

5 comments about FileMaker Pro 6 Developer's Guide to XML/XSL (Wordware Library for Filemaker).

1. This book is a great guide for all FileMaker Pro developers interested in working with XML. Beverly Voth clearly has a strong grasp of both FileMaker Pro and Markup Languages. I found this book well organized, easy to follow and filled with useful information.



2. Finally a handy book that clearly explains XML and XSLT from a FileMaker perspective.

   It is obvious when reading through this material, that Beverly Voth writes from experience. Her book is well researched, has a firm grasp of the FileMaker XML grammars and provides lots and lots of examples that make it easy for a developer to adopt this technology.

   This book is full of useful tips, hints and clear explanations. There are many simple step by step exercises, XML and XSLT examples along with many do's and dont's that take the pain out of the development cycle.

   The guide is complete with a useful list of resources, links and references and a glossary of acronyms and terms.

   I use FileMaker applications everyday, I write stylesheets and now I always keep this book next to my computer as a quick reference and useful guide.




3. I've read many books regarding FileMaker Pro. In the few that mention XML, it is an afterthought. Beverly Voth's book is in depth, detailed and formatted in a manner that makes it readable, understandable and usable to both novice and professional developers.

   The page layouts and presentation of the code and formatting is first rate. I was able to put what I learned into practice on day one of reading the book. This is a must have for all FileMaker Pro Programmers. I've recommended it to all my programmers. I recommend it to all who plan to ride the wave of the future with FileMaker Pro's XML features.

   Ray Clements




4. The release of Beverly Voth's Guide is well worth our wait. While exhaustive, the writing is clear and not exhausting. She has given us the definitive textbook on this thorny, difficult subject, starting at the outside and working in. While breaking apart the various layers into edible morsels, Ms. Voth does not sugar-coat the complexities of her subject; she simply makes them disappear.



5. Beverly Voth has written the "bible" on FileMaker Pro/XML integration. She takes what can be a daunting subject, and leads you logically from topic to topic, with demo files and plenty of code examples to illustrate her points. From the eight-page table of contents (in outline form) to the detailed index, this book is exceptionally well laid out, and has plenty to offer both the novice and the veteran FileMaker developer. This book does not suffer from the "we didn't have time, budget or inclination to proofread adequately" syndrome that plagues so many computer books these days... it flows beautifully, and I have yet to find a single typo.

No comments about Filemaker 9 & PHP Foundations VTC Training CD.