Amazon.co.uk Review
Rich Coulombre and Jonathan Price, the authors of
Special Edition Using FileMaker Pro 5, fight two battles. They strive to overcome dullness, complexity and the other traditional challenges of technical writers. They undoubtedly prevail here with careful organisation, clear prose, excellent sample material (printed and on the companion CD-ROM), and helpful schema diagrams. The outcome of the secondary battle--the one for developers' minds, in which Coulombre and Price promote FileMaker Pro as a platform for serious work--remains to be determined, but there is no question that the two men make a strong case for the FileMaker environment. Read this volume if you are familiar with FileMaker and want to extend your knowledge, or if you are considering multiple database solutions and want to see what this one can do for you.
This is a top-quality technical book that acknowledges that relational databases intimidate many people, and explains them with extreme clarity. Having done that, they proceed to unlock a library of FileMaker wisdom: Coloumbre is a FileMaker consultant with a lot of experience. The coverage in this book is full of attention to the practicalities that make database programming interesting. A section on picking surnames out of long Spanish name strings is interesting and typical, as is a section called "Dumb Portal Tricks" that explains how to use portals to make interfaces much more capable without a lot of extra effort. Throughout, the authors emphasise detail and accuracy, and never forget that most of their readers are out to make a buck as developers for hire. --David Wall
Product Description
Special Edition Using FileMaker Pro focuses on experienced developers who are looking for expert advice. The book provides you with in-depth techniques and helps you solve real-life problems. The book assumes a basic knowledge of FileMaker, but no knowledge of relational database theory or planning and designing a relational database. Topics covered include (all topics are taught with hands-on usage of FileMaker Pro): Understanding, planning and designing a relational database; maintaining the database; crafting a user interface; putting your database on the Web; and reporting.
