Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro 8: Visual QuickProject Guide [Paperback]

Steve Schwartz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2005

If you want to make a great-looking, practical database fast but don't want to get bogged down with the details, then you need a Visual QuickProject Guide!

If you've never created a database before, the task can be daunting. Recognizing that you don't necessarily want or need to know about every FileMaker Pro 8 feature, this low-priced, compact guide is the quickest route to creating a functional, organized database. Whether you're a small business owner looking for a better way to track inventory and invoices, someone just looking for a streamlined way to keep track of your contacts, or your boss simply needs a a project database, this book covers the FileMaker Pro 8 basics with full-color illustrations and step-by-step instructions to help you get your project done quickly. The guide also includes a companion Web site with downloadable graphic buttons, custom forms and templates, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

If you want to make a great-looking, practical database fast but don't want to get bogged down with the details, then you need a Visual QuickProject Guide!

If you've never created a database before, the task can be daunting. Recognizing that you don't necessarily want or need to know about every FileMaker Pro 8 feature, this low-priced, compact guide is the quickest route to creating a functional, organized database. Whether you're a small business owner looking for a better way to track inventory and invoices, someone just looking for a streamlined way to keep track of your contacts, or your boss simply needs a a project database, this book covers the FileMaker Pro 8 basics with full-color illustrations and step-by-step instructions to help you get your project done quickly. The guide also includes a companion Web site with downloadable graphic buttons, custom forms and templates, and more.

About the Author

Steve Schwartz has written hundreds of computer-related reviews and articles for magazines such as Macworld and PCWorld, in addition to more than 50 books, including Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide . He was a founding editor of Software Digest, the business applications editor of MACazine, and technical services director for Funk Software. Steve holds a doctorate in psychology and lives with his pets in the fictional town of Lizard Spit, Arizona. He can be reached via his official Web site: www.siliconwasteland.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (December 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321414837
• ISBN-13: 978-0321414830
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A professional computer-industry writer and author for over 30 years, Dr. Steven Schwartz has written 60+ books on computer and game topics. In recent years, he has specialized in Microsoft Office and other Microsoft products (12 books) and FileMaker Pro (11 books). He pioneered the game book industry, writing the first trade paperbacks for Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo games, as well as many official, authorized guides for video and computer games. His writing credits include 15 years for Macworld, as well as many other popular publications, such as PC World and Computerworld.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent starter for first time users, March 6, 2006

By 

Wiley J. Ehrke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro 8: Visual QuickProject Guide (Paperback)

This is an excellent, concise, self paced beginners tutorial on Filemaker 8. It gets you started immediately in the development of a database (investment minder) covering the main features of the program. It is not a detailed tutorial covering all the aspects of Filemaker 8. Still you will come away with a good enough understanding of the program's basics to create a database of your own design. My only real criticism of the book is that I would have liked to have had more illustrations showing what instructions should actually look like once entered on the computer screen. This is especially the case in the section dealing with scripts. However this is a minor issue in an otherwise excellent book. I would highly recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn the basics of Filemaker 8.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FMPRO8Createdbfile, March 17, 2006

By 

Asundria - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro 8: Visual QuickProject Guide (Paperback)

Easy to follow, excellent examples. Shows how to create the relational files and the portals.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Creating (not using) a database, September 6, 2007

By 

KWSeattle (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro 8: Visual QuickProject Guide (Paperback)

The good: This book was easy to follow. There was enough repetition that I got the hang of how to do things. I know what's available in FileMaker Pro.

The bad: It was tedious to create the database (and I'm a patient person). The book told me mechanically *what* to do (i.e., what steps to follow to create the database), but it didn't explain the big picture of what I was creating or why I was doing certain things thus I'm not walking away with an understanding of what I did. (Maybe I got lost in the tedium of creating the database.)

The ugly: I was shocked that it ended where it did. I was expecting a part on actually *using* the database so that I could get a feel for what a portal is and how it works, see what the scripts do, and so on. Nope. None of that. It left me to fill in records and try it for myself. That doesn't sound so bad except that the context is an investment database, and I don't know enough about money market accounts, stock and mutual funds, CDs, and savings bonds to really do that. I will play around with it some more, but I am disappointed.