Customer Reviews

Creating a Database in FileMaker Pro 8: Visual QuickProject Guide

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

 

 

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.

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

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.

Get a regular FilePro 8 book. This is cumbersome, and expensive for what it does for you.