Customer Reviews

Alison Balter's Mastering Access 97 Development, Premier Edition, Second Edition (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't know whether or not I would agree with the title "Mastering Access 97 Development". Really "Introducing Access Development" would be more appropriate. I don't quite agree with the User Level of Accomplished stated on the back of the book.

With that said, however, this really is a comprehensive book that covers basically everything one needs to know in developing an MS Access97 database application (again, at a beginner to intermediate user level). If you are an accomplished developer this book wouldn't be as useful. Too much time is dedicated to the basics such as how to build tables, types of relationships, query basics, form basics and even VBA basics. This book approaches you as if you know nothing about relational databases, MS Access or VBA. Anyone who has developed DB applications before will find these explinations a bit tedius. If you have never developed a DB application or never really thought about the details of what makes up a DB application then this book really is an invaluable resource.

As with most of the Sams publishing series this book is very comprehensive and yet detailed enough to get you on your way. You will gain a workable knowledge of everything you need to build an Access97 DB application. Includes lots of examples and Tryit samples.

I would have given it 5 stars but since it didn't fulfill its own title, I dropped it one star.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: Building a Foundation for Your Access Applications. 1. Introduction to Access Development. 2. A Strategy to Developing Access Applications. 3. What Every Developer Needs to Know About Tables. 4. Relationships: You Key to Data Integrity. 5. What Every Developer Needs to Know About Query Basics. 6. What Every Developer Needs to Know About Form Basics. 7. What Every Developer Needs to Know About Report Basics. 8. VBA 101: The Basics of VBA. 9. Advanced VBA Topics. 10. The Real Scoop on Objects, Properties and Events. 11. What Are Macros and When Do You Need Them? 12. Advanced Query Concepts. 13. Let's Get More Intimate with Forms: Advanced Techniques. 14. Let's Get More Intimate with Reports: Advanced Techniques. 15. What Are Data Access Objects and Why Are They Important?

PART II: When Things Don't Go As Planned. 16. Debugging: Your Key to Successful Development. 17. Handling Those Dreaded Runtime Errors.

PART III: Preparing Your Applications for a Multiuser Environment. 18. Developing for a Multiuser Environment. 19. Using External Data. 20. Client/Server Techniques. 21. Client/Server Strategies. 22. Transaction Processing. 23. Optimizing Your Application. 24. Replication Made Easy.

PART IV: Extending the Power of Access. 25. Automation: Communicating with Other Applications. 26. Using ActiveX Controls. 27. Access and the Internet. 28. Managing Application Development with Visual SourceSafe. 29. Leveraging Your Application: Creating Your Own Libraries.

30. Using Builders, Wizards, and Menu Add-Ins.

PART V: Putting the Final Polish on Your Application. 31. Using External Functions: The Windows API. 32. Database Security Made Easy. 33. Complex Security Issues. 34. Documenting Your System. 35. Database Maintenance Techniques. 36. Developing a Help File. 37. Distributing Your Application with ODE.

PART VI: Appendixes. A. Table Structures. B. Naming Conventions.

Alison Balter has provided the reader with a book that provides in-depth technical principles in the design and implementation of database solutions that will assist the reader in all aspects of database development. The book is easy to read, provided in depth information about the processes used to develop database applications, and great code examples that can be used directly in a reader's application or modified as needed to support your needs.

Alison has provided a great tool for all developer's from the beginner to the expert, this book and her new book for Access 2000 are a must for any serious database developer. I find that her development principles apply to all fazes of database development, weather the engine is Oracle, SQL Server or Access.

My biggest problem (working for a major corporation) has been to keep everyone else from "borrowing" my book. If you want to learn database theory, development and implementation, this is the Bible of all Bibles.

If you need or want to learn how to actually *develop* applications using MS Access, then this is your book. Most Access books teach you how to *use* Access, but there are only a few a books for developers (or would-be developers). This is the best one if you do not already have VB experience or experience in some other RAD Windows development tool like Delphi or Powerbuilder, or in another desktop database tool like Borland Paradox. If you already have this type of experience, I recommend the Access Developers Handbook. Otherwise, Alison Balter is the ticket.

Since programming does not come naturally to me, I sometimes get stuck when designing the front-ends in Access. When I need the real "whistles and bells", I turn to Alison's book, and with the examples provided in the book and on the CD, I'm saved each time! Her writing style is not at 30,000 feet (as most programming books are written), but understandable at all levels.

This book has some good things for the beginner, but I think most developers will get past this very quickly and need something more. I was very disappointed with the lack of information/examples on query writing and usage. SQL is a big part of database development in general, and this book barely mentions anything about SQL.

After long hard searches for an Access book that goes much farther than simple wizards, this one is the tops. This was the only book that actually had more than 100 pages that was relevant to what I was doing. Alison has done an impeccable job in including all the essentials but giving particular focus to the more advanced functions of Access development. A perfect book for someone who is very experienced with database development but a novice Access/VBA programmer. This book wastes no time in explaining the basics and immediately contains the answers for non-Access experienced database developers.

This text is a prime example of the difference between technical and teaching excellence. Clearly Ms. Balter is a technical guru, but she does not teach the subject as well as she might have.

Without a doubt the breadth of the book is impressive, attempting to cover the entire enormity of Access 97 development, but in its breadth it sacrifices some of the depth neccesary for "Mastery" of the subject. In particular, the chapters on VBA and advanced VBA suffer for lack of clearer examples. As a reader I need to see how these concepts fit into the big picture. Instead, the book offers only terse, disembodied bits of code that do little more than teach proper syntax, failing to show how it might fit into a real-world development context. The book would have been so much improved just by giving some hypothetical examples of when a certain technique might be used. It wouldn't even be neccesary to write the code. In short, it teaches how to write code but not how to use it.

Finally, the book suffers from the way it introduces new concepts. Repeatedly, a new concept is used before it is explained. This really disrupts the flow of the writing and creates unnessary frustration for the reader. I spent a good deal of time in On-Line help trying to understand what a particular line of code meant only to have it explainined some time later in the book--NG.

I don't want to give the impression that the book is without merit. the reader, after all, comes away with a better understanding of Access 97 develpment, but the book could have been much stronger.

Writing a how-to book is as much an art as the subject it professes to teach. I would reccomend Evan Callahan's Access 97 Step by Step as a model of good writing for anyone who fancies themsleves an author. It requires much more than technical expertise and the ability to write whole sentences.

I want to start off by saying that I'm not a technically oriented person. I am a visual designer who had a need integrate aspects of my CAD work with a DBMS. I was handed Access and told to get to work on it. With the help of this book I was able to connect to my drawing DB (Sybase) via ODBC and write complex queries and reports using Access. Everyone at some point in their lives finds a teacher that makes perfect sense to them. I find Alison Balter's style of writing to be easily understandable, yet very detailed and concise. This book has been an invaluable midnight companion to me. With this book alone I have been able to write and distribute desktop applications based upon a wide variety of criteria and need. I am eagerly awaiting her next series on visual studio.net. I have lots of books on Access and SQL and there just anren't any better ones than this one (except maybe the 2000 and 2002 revisions).

As a new Access user with a target MS-Access 97 applications user group, I needed something beyond the beginner level that covered all the bases. I found this text to be most helpful to use as a self-study guide and reference. I own this one and the Sybex Access 97 Developer's Handbook.
In addition, I had a stumper issue on security I just could not quite grasp. I e-mailed the author directly. She cheerfully provided the answer I needed.
The used book source was prompt with delivery and made for a most affordable purchase.

I have read many books on the market regarding Access development and keep coming back to this one. It has helped me learn from the beginning and still has much to offer.

Anyone getting involved with Access database design would find this book invaluable.