5 comments about Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide.

1. Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide covers everything and more that I wanted to learn about Crystal Reports. The information is easy to digest and there are regular 1-Minute checks along the way. Hands-on experience, in the form of Projects, are dispersed through each chapter (the completed projects can be downloaded from the web). Answers to the Mastery Checks, at the end of every chapter, are given in the Appendix.

   My only complaint about the book is that, I feel, there is not enough hands-on experience because the projects are too simple. There are plenty of projects, but most of them are simply a number of steps and very little critical thinking. After reading Crystal Reports: A Beginner's Guide, my knowledge of Crystal Reports has vastly increased though I still have little experience with actually creating reports.




2. This book needs some serious editing
   Right now I'm on Chapter 4 and so far this book is terrible in regards to the Projects. The project instructions don't correspond with the results intended and shown. For example, the instructions say open the Customer by Country report, but then it says 'your report should look like this' and shows you an entirely different report! And sometimes the report you worked on doesn't even work for the task you're trying to learn. The author must have had his friends write the other customer reviews. Don't buy this book! It's just unfortunate though that there aren't many choices.



3. It is a beginners book as the title says, but there is a pittfal, the author should consider for future books.
   Not every chapter has a step-by-step tutrial. The user have to download the samples and use them to be able to follow the author, which defeats the purpose of learning by doing.
   Chapters 4 & 5 make are mutually exlusive, since chp 5 requires reports from chp 4, that was not a step-by-step tutorial.
   Either make it a step-by-step or don't. Just be consistent.



4. I'm afraid I have to agree with the review from "A reader from Cupertino, CA" - I, too, am on Chapter 4 and am frustrated beyond belief because my reports look very little like the examples in the book so far. In the case of the second tutorial in chapter 4, again the other reviewer is correct - it's not even the same report!

   I bought "A Beginner's Guide to JavaScript" by the same company and was thrilled with it. It was clear, concise and had a "mini-project" at the end of each chapter for the reader to complete to ensure mastery of the concept being taught. I was expecting the same thing with this book, and am sorely disappointed. The explaination of each topic is general at best, incorrect at worst, the tutorials are simplistic and don't include half the information being covered in each chapter, if indeed a tutorial exists at all.

   I need to get up to speed on Crystal Reports in a fairly short period of time, and be able to generate some fairly sophisticated reports. This book is becoming a hindrance to that goal.




5. I am coming from a VBA background learning about this new software. This book is a great resource tool for making such a transition. Mr. McAmis stepped me through the learning process in a clear and concise manner. The information was learned in progressive manner, in that, the further through the book I read, the more complex issues were handled. At the end each chapter the author challenged me with key questions to help me remember the most important issues.

No comments about Pro SQL Server 2005 High Availability.

5 comments about Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2000 DTS Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)).

1. I have gone through half the book.

   The good part:
   Walks you through many areas step-by-step. Repeats steps in other excerises. You will learn a lot.

   The bad part:
   The book doesn't teach you a process from the making of a connection to processing a cube. I need to Extact, Transform, & Load, and then process a cube. The book teaches ETL. Try another book.

   TC




2. I found the beggning chapters are good, but in the latter half, the number of steps became so many that it's painful to follow them. Chapter 7 has 70 pages of step-by-step and I found I am like a robot just going through the steps. (Well, I didn't do it until the end, I am not a robot).

   If you are really patient, I'm sure you can learn a lot from this book. Well written and I found the "If you skipeed chapter XX" really helpful.




3. The book is a good way for learning DTS.
   
   But DTS being still ful of bugs does not help the author (try loading a flat file with more then 78 characters par lign and you will understand what i mean...).
   
   Also - there is not much on XML - and some XML-related new patches Microsoft has added to its original SQL Server 2000 product.
   
   I recommend this book in this only case: DTS has already been choosen as the ETL for your company - for some other reasons than simple of use or speed (it might be the price which is low -DTS being part of the SQL Server 2000 package).
   
   I all other cases i recommend choosing another ETL.
   
   Hope SQL Server 2005 (the new release of Microsoft's solution) will be a better product...
   
   Gab.



4. This book makes for a well-written and relevant introduction for a beginner to DTS, which is what I was when I picked it up.
   
   However, as a decade+ computer professional I was through it and the building of the sample application in a short time.
   
   I have given 4 stars because the book is great for what it is; it does not get 5 stars because it makes for a lousy reference book. Not only is it not comprehensive, but the information is always tied in with the sample application you build throughout the book. So you almost have to stay familiar with the sample app (and where it is in the development process) to get what they're telling you about the subject.
   
   I find myself turning to the Wrox DTS book over and over, and I probably won't open this book again. That said, I'm glad I started with this one.



5. The only application of DTS I had used prior to reading this book was using the Wizard. The step by step instruction got a bit tedious with repetition, but at the end you get a good picture of how all the different processes can work together to create a fairly sophisticated application. I LEARNED A LOT of good stuff which I can apply to my own projects. If you are new to DTS and like to learn by example, I would recommend this book.

No comments about Microsoft® SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (Microsoft Sql Server).

5 comments about Joe Celko's SQL Programming Style (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems).

1. Too many database books are written by developers whose expertise is OOP and not SQL. While I don't agree with Mr. Celko on every point, keep in mind that he was on the SQL Standards Committee for 10 years. Even if you don't agree with him on every point, his level of expertise is undeniable - unless, perhaps, the questioner can provide evidence of greater knowledge and expertise.
   
   This book is to SQL grammar and style as "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White are to English grammar and style. Mr. Celko explains, in terms that should be easily understood, why SQL should be written in standard SQL while still allowing that there can be exceptions just as verbal communications, in any language, should follow the standard grammar of the language unless there is good reason to slip into a localized dialect.
   
   Where one reviewer rated the book with 1 star because that reviewer disagrees with Mr. Celko on a single point of database design, his antagonistic remarks have nothing to do with the point or the value of this book.
   
   As the editorial review states, this book is not for beginners. If you have been programming SQL for a year or more and you want to fine tune the quality of your work, this work is something you should surely read.



2. Wading through badly written SQL is a nightmare on the best of days. Proper--and consistent--attention to capitalization, indentation, and other formatting standards makes SQL much more readable and therefore maintainable. The standards outlined in this book are for the most part very well thought-out, and a great starting point for creating a set of enterprise SQL development standards. If more SQL developers would read this book, I would have many less headaches in my day-to-day work, so I believe this is a valuable purchase.



3. This is a great reference for how to write clear, concise, and efficient SQL. If you are looking for good ideas for SQL coding standards, you will find them here.
   
   In my career, I've seen a lot of poorly written, nearly incomprensible SQL, which is always harder to maintain. I just wish more novice SQL developers and DBAs had read this book.



4. If this review finally goes in, I shall be pleased but surprised, There is something wrong with Amazon's linking. I have spoken to support and they don't know what it is. Anyway...
   
   This is a mixed bag, but mostly very good. Lots of excellent information about different versions of SQL vs. standards, and fascinating excursions into the underpinnings of coding systems, measurements, scales, ratios, etc. We should all be a lot more aware of the work that has been done and codified in many international standards. Apart from anything else, it would save people from re-inventing so many wheels - and making some of them square!
   
   There is an excellent and much-needed stress on the need to use relational thinking when you are working in the SQL environment, with the focus on natural keys and set-oriented processing. He rightly decries the use of "external locator" keys (which most of us call "surrogate" keys, though he defines that term differently) - anyway, basically the "Identity" type. He is perhaps a little too extreme in pretty much absolutely outlawing them, but I agree with the general principle. They are an expedient pushed by people who don't understand relational design. Natural keys are much better. (But I have to agree with another reviewer that the SSN is problematic. Coming to the US from Canada, I couldn't believe the SSN was not a check-digited number, unlike the Canadian SIN, or any credit card number, or banking ABA's. I guess the age of the system was one issue. But the result, anyway, is that duplicate SSNs exist and that they are frequently invented or stolen.)
   
   As a self-described "old fart" he castigates the design errors that may be committed by those (like me!) who grew up in the age of punched cards and magnetic tape. But surely few current database designers have ever seen a punched card, and rarely encounter a good old sequential fixed-length-record file, let alone a mag tape. The model that leads them astray these days is not the sequential file, but the Excel spreadsheet! Time and again I see HORRIBLE designs, violating all the normal forms from 1 to 3 and beyond, based on the columns of an Excel spreadsheet. Another factor is the lack of relational training - how many people have read Codd or Date? and the harm done by the early PC databases that were just a kind of disorganized dumping-ground for data, draining meaning from the term "database."
   
   Some of his mandates are perhaps a little too absolute "Don't use cursors" - well, 99% of the time, very true. You should be thinking sets, not serial access. But there are a few occasions where a cursor can be a useful weapon in your armory and can even execute faster than a set manipulation. Not many, but a few - beyond the outlying cases he describes. Similarly with triggers - yes, generally DRI is far preferable (if your DBMS supports it). But if you want customized transaction audit capture, triggers are the natural way to go.
   
   A few beefs:
   
   There's a sprinkling of typos, and I did spot one actual error: on p 114, he presents "WHERE a = b + 2" as the alternative to "WHERE a + 2 = b - 4." Oops! Obviously the valid alternative is "WHERE a = b - 6."
   
   The discussion of Camel Case is too limited: there are a lot of variations and his definition is at odds with the widely used Microsoft definition, which would have been worth mentioning. For MS, camel case is like "thisCase" and Celko's camel case, "ThisCase," is called Pascal case.
   
   I found his advice on formatting and display of code sometimes odd. Often when he showed example A and then "see how example B is more readable " - I thought example A was clearer! He refers to studies on visual perception, eye movement, etc., but I am not sure that such studies done in the context of reading normal prose are valid for SQL, or other programming-type text. Comprehension likely occurs in different stages or chunks.
   
   Also, surely Hungarian notation is found in strongly-typed, not weakly-typed, languages. In a weakly-typed language like REXX, a variable can be a string one minute, an integer the next. What prefix can you use? Whereas in VB, for instance, up to version 6, MS recommended prefixes to remind the programmer of the fixed type as defined, so he would not be tempted to write "intAccountID = "New Customer" or suchlike.[...]
   
   Summary? Well, OK, I've listed a few problems, but overall, get this and study it - there's lots of fascinating and rewarding material, from someone who has been working in this field a long time and has gone very deeply into many aspects of it. Many of the SQL examples will really stretch your brain - his other books do that too!



5. I'll expand on that when I have time; but for now, real quick:
   PROs:
   
   - As usual for Celko's books, you get this feeling of conversing with a knowledgeable and overall very likeable individual with a good sense of humour (he got me laughing on page 2, see his comments on the making of fine furniture).
   
   - Good justifications are given for many rules of thumb that, as of now, you're likely to be adhering to on faith.
   
   - A number of unobvious, sharp, mind-stretching tidbits (an ever-present feature of Celko books).
   
   - Very good bibliography. Celko is not a "narrow specialist": reading pointers he gives are varied and very interesting. Also, links to a lot of net material. Great.
   
   - He writes simply.
   
   -----------------------
   
   CONTRA, the one and only problem: the book appears to be written in a terrible hurry, which is manifested by the following occurrences (not exhaustively):
   
   - Sometimes the author has something to say, but does not say it intelligibly (e.g., section 1.2.7)
   
   - Sometimes he doesn't have anything to say, but gibbers on anyway (e.g., section 3.15)
   
   - Sometimes he belabours the obvious or maybe even spurious: for example, there's too much of this "unlearn OO to understand SQL". One doesn't need to unlearn what one knows to learn something he doesn't; there's no clear-cut distinction: for example, operating on STL collections is very set-like, quite SQL'ish actually: you provide a predicate and it's then applied internally in a set-scoped operation. Matlab is very similar. BLAS is very similar. Fortran is similar. Iow, thinking in sets is an important thing to point to -- once; but after that it's beating a dead horse; move on already. Especially since it isn't really as black-and-white as the author suggests.
   
   (4) The book is very inadequately indexed: index is very small; nothing can be found. What's SQL/PSM? I don't think it's been defined anywhere, but perhaps I missed it; off to index I go... and find nothing there. How nice. I mean, come on -- a five-page index in a technical book?
   
   (5) Dropping French. Is it really necessary? "Sistemé International d'units", OK.
   
   There's more stuff to talk about, both good and bad; but I've no time to write it up right now. So, finally: is it a worthy book?
   
   Well, the book is flawed but not useless by any means. It's not a must read, but if you got a few discretionary bucks and a bit of free time, it's worth reading. I've learned a few interesting things here; ~1/3rd of the reading has been pleasant: in addition to knowing a lot of stuff, DB-related and beyond, Celko's got a real good sense of humour and a gift of gab. Were this book a brochure one-third its current size sold for five bucks, I'd give it five stars. OK, ten bucks.

1 comments about PostgreSQL 8 for Windows (Database Professional's Library).

1. I was interested in learning a bit about PostgreSQL, and coming from a SQL Server background on Windows systems, this seemed like a good place to start (I will pick up some more Linux knowledge another day). The book provides a good overview of components and processes, and for someone with experience in other database platforms, the material makes a good bridge.
   
   It will probably not provide much new information to a PostgreSQL "expert", but that is not likely the intended audience. Basic admin topics are covered , as well as some development examples in MS Access, .NET, C++, and Java.
   
   A highlight for me was the discovery of some SQL methods in PostgreSQL that were only supported in the latest release of MS SQL Server, and a few that still are not.

2 comments about Pro SQL Server 2008 XML (Pro).

1. I was amazed to see how well this book explain the concept of Spatial Data and all different techniques of loading and transforming XML from diverse format and systems. It shows so many examples at a very granular level. This book is a "must read" for everyone that has any interest on learning great powerful XML techniques on SQL Server 2008. It is definitely great!
   
   Rosa Lopez
   MS Information Systems



2. The Pro SQL Server 2008 XML book dives right into the details of XML from the first page. This book was written by a developer for developers, and the author goes to great lengths to demonstrate all the concepts presented in the book. In my opinion, this book scores highly in many areas.
   
   The author assumes a basic knowledge of SQL, but he thoroughly explains every step of SQL Server's XML functionality along the way. The book even compares and contrasts the SQL Server implementation of XML to the W3C and ISO standards, pointing out where the SQL Server implementation differs.
   
   However, while the book assumes this basic understanding, any developer interested in getting the most out of SQL Server's XML functions will find the book both informative and enjoyable. The author goes to great lengths to explain XML and why it's relevant in the database. This is absolutely the best reference for SQL Server XML that I've seen.
   
   
   The author provides what he calls "Cross-Platform Tips" at various points to call attention to limitations of the SQL Server implementation, or areas where it differs from the standards. These types of tips, generously portioned throughout the book, are designed to keep people from wasting hours trying to figure out why the XQuery code sample they copied from the Internet (or some other source) isn't working as advertised on SQL Server. While this book is written for SQL Server 2008, much of the functionality described works with (or is similar to) SQL Server 2005 functionality (as the author points out, some notable exceptions include the added support for Geography Markup Language "GML", and the FLWOR statement "let" clause). As the book explains, the difference between SQL Server 2005 XML functionality and SQL Server 2008 XML functionality is not nearly as large as the leap was from SQL 2000 to 2005. New SQL Server 2008 features aside, this book works equally well as a reference to SQL Server 2005 XML functionality!
   
   
   
   Another thing I like about this book is that the author builds on the code samples from one chapter to the next. There is a particularly detailed example of a hierarchical "bill of materials" that the author continually adds newly introduced functionality to over the course of a few chapters. He uses this example to demonstrate how to layer XML functionality to build an intricate application from a very basic premise. I really like the fact that this book provides examples and addresses the problems that most books go out of their way to avoid. Where many books give you a simple top-down hierarchical organization chart that's been done 100 times by 100 different people, this book gives you recursive XML Schemas. Instead of just rehashing the well-advertised SQL Server limitation that Document Type Definitions can't be used to validate your XML this book gives you working examples of code to get around the issue. The book provides many more real world examples, with some pretty intriguing ideas as well (like grabbing an XML RSS feed or searching eBay directly from SQL Server). A nice bonus: Almost all examples are designed to run directly in the AdventureWorks 2008 sample database, and all are freely downloadable from the publisher's website.
   
   
   
   And this book doesn't just stop at the server. The author provides analysis of client-side tools including LINQ to XML, SQLXML, HTTP SOAP Endpoints, and a wide supporting cast of XML support tools - many that are provided "out of the box" with SQL Server.
   
   
   This is the ultimate reference for all things XML on SQL Server 2008.

5 comments about Programming SQL Server 2005.

1. As a new student to the field of SQL Server 2005, I was hoping to obtain a book learning the various methods of programming in SQL Server 2005. I was initially hearted by the first paragraph in the preface:
   
   "You don't need to be an experienced SQL Server 2005 programmer to use this book..."
   
   which is indeed the case if you intend to use it as a paper weight.
   
   The book suspiciously looks like the syntax guide found in most MS products: the procedure name and inputs followed by a description of the inputs. It is not for the beginner/intermediate learner and is somewhat of a disappointment comming from the O'Reilly range ("SQL on SQL Server 2005" is an excellent counter point to the book being reviewed from the same publisher). This book serves mainly as a reference (which on page 7, it clearly states that it is not a reference) to new doctrine in the SQL Server evolution.



2. This is definitely one of my best SQL programming books. It covers the newer programming concepts; such as XML storage and handling in SQL 2005, very well.
   
   I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is serious about SQL Server 2005 programming.
   
   It also covers CLR programming in SQL Server. Good book.



3. User does not have to be experience SQL Server 2005 programmer to use this book; as it is designed for users of all levels. This book also suggests that user does not have to be experienced with SQL Server 2000. However, I disagree with that. This book only covers new features of SQL Server 2005. Understanding of fundamental relational database concepts is helpful to digest and accept the concepts introduced in this book.
   
   This book covers following perspective of SQL Server 2005 new features.
   * Tools and utilities
   * Data types
   * T-SQL enhancements
   * Programmability enhancements
   * XML support
   * Native XML web services
   * SQL Management Objects
   * SQL Server Integration Services
   * SQL Server Reporting Services
   * SQL Server Notification Services
   * SQL Server Service Broker
   * Replication Management Objects
   * SQL Server Agent
   * SQL Server Mobile Edition
   
   The code used in the book is available for download on O'Reilly web site. I always like this as I really do not like to retype examples from the book. Most of the examples of this book use C# code and Visual Studio 2005. One good thing about this book is it uses AdventureWorks sample database, I always prefer book which uses samples database which comes along the SQL Server, this makes it easily useable by developer. This book is also Safari enabled.
   
   Appendix of this book has in depth explanation of the ADO.NET 2.0, which can be quite useful to users interested in the topic. There are very few good books which covers this topic such in depth.
   
   Rating: 4 stars
   
   Summary: This book is quite good for new learning; I enjoy reading it and learning new concepts from this book.
   
   Pinal Dave
   Principal Database Administrator
   (blog.sqlauthority.com)



4. This book is very inaccessible, not because it is too complex, but because it is poorly written. If you'd like to actually learn SQL Server programming I'd recommend Professional SQL Server 2005 Programming (Programmer to Programmer).



5. This book covers nearly all topics on SQL Server programming. It begins with the differences between the SQL Server 2000 and 2005. 2005 has new tools (SSMS, Profiler, BIDS, command line), data types, xml support, and .NET integration. Chapters 1-4 go over these topics in turn. The next series shows the reader how to program using the Visual Studio IDE, deal with XML programming, and web services (Chaptes 5-8). Chapters 9-14 are on programming SQL Server management and reporting tools plus interfacing with the objects exposed by SQL Server through .NET. The remaining chapters are on programming services: SS agent, intergrations services, broker, notification services, and analysis services.
   
   The book is quite thourough and has a large number of examples, code, and pictures for each topic. The book is generally easy to read and well indexed. Programmers will feel right at home with all the extra help provided by the book.
   
   Folks who have no programming experience of any kind will likely struggle with the information in the book. Basic SQL is shown but not explained. It is clear the book is meant for people programming and/or automating SQL Server topics rather than just running basic queries. That being said, the chapter on XML was very helpful even from just a querying point of view. Using XML as a bulk load technique was particuarly useful and turned out to be very fast when loading text based data to the server. Querying XML data was covered by using both FOR XML statements and using XQuery type statements. The chapter sovering SSIS was also very useful as there is not much material on SSIS yet.
   
   This book is a must have for SQL Server DBAs, programmers, and professionals.

3 comments about Pro SQL Server 2005 Integration Services.

1. Not sure how to study it since there is no source code to download. I can not believe it.



2. I've read several books on SSIS and this is by far the best yet. Explains it at a more advanced and PRACTICAL level than the others while still being easy to follow. Higly recommended. Source code is available at apress.com.



3. Not sure why even one reviewer can rate this bad, this author is awesome. He is very encouraging, he had me drawn by his enthusiasm and love for SSIS. I am still making my way through the book, but wow, I am truly impressed, not only with the way the author elucidates the info, but by the power of SSIS.
   
   Microsoft rocks......

5 comments about Crystal Reports 8.5: The Complete Reference.

1. As you become more and more proficient, this book is more and more frustrating. There are so many things just touched on and not explained or not in the book at all!



2. I purchased this book as a reference. Fortunately, I had a separate training course for learning the Crystal application. And I now teach the product.

   It's a good reference. I truly haven't had a question yet regarding basic or advanced procedures in the application that I couldn't find. But I would not recommend it for learning the application. It is dense.

   I'm also disappointed that it is not very different from the CR 8.0 manual published by Crystal Decisions. The layout and procession of the book are virtually the same! It could have included more tutorials, too.

   One thing that I would love for any CR reference/manual to include is a list and description of all the formulas in the system. To my knowledge, this does not exist anywhere, even in Crystal's own documentation.

   PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
   If you need a solid reference and didn't purchase manuals with Crystal, this will work. If you need to learn the product, get something else.




3. I develop financial reporting applications for various companies using VB and VBA. Recently I have completed a financial reporting system completely within Access 2000 making extensive uses of Access's report objects.

   Although the Access report object does its job well, it lacks a lot of power features, i.e., limited grouping capabilities, formula in text boxes is limited to a simply expression unless you make a call to UFD, then you would loss your object encapsulation, etc, The Data Report object is VB6 is still some what of a joke, but let not open this can of worms. Thus, I have chosen Crystals reports for my developing needs.

   I find George Peck's Complete Reference series very helpful. The book has 800 pages to teach me every nuance of Crystal. This book does not teach me anything about VB coding nor does it contain a reference to the object model within the RDC or any of the other object models in Crystal. I didn't buy this book to learn how to code. The author noted in page 659 specifically that the book is not meant to teach you Visual Basic.

   Overall, this book gets me up to speed quickly and it's a good reference source for my future needs. Personally, I don't find the crystal help files very helpful.




4. After reading positive reviews of this title, I decided to purchase the complete reference and was extremely disappointed. The most common problem with crystal books (or any other software application manual-excel, access, etc.) is that the author try's to appeal to all crystal report's users. There are generally three types of software user's out their, 1. database administrator/computer programmers who want reference manuals with excellent indexes. 2. Basic users who can get by with your classic "for dummies" title. 3. User's who don't understand VBA or SQL but want to be able to create reasonably advanced adhoc reports.
   This title is to basic for the database administrator who would have to read 4 pages of babble to find the specific piece of information they need. There are no practice assignments for the beginner/intermediate report writer to do just that "practice". And when you do find a title that contains tutorials/assignments they are often to basic and lack real relevance in the business world. With the number of access, excel, crystal, etc. titles on the market you would think that there would be enough room to specifically appeal to the different types of software user's out their.



5. I frequently use these reviews to select books of all types. I consider myself a power user able to learn rapidly from good texts. This book has not been very helpful for my work in Crystal Reports.
   
   I need to be able to program Crystal Reports to perform a variety of complex reporting on databases that are completely denormalized. Thus, the ability to parse strings and execute stored procedures is critical.
   
   This book completely fails to provide the information about built-in commands that I need. For instance, no information about string commands is present. No discussion of the use of arrays in Crystal Reports is provided.
   
   I was deeply disappointed with this book.