Customer Reviews

FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is definitely a must have book for FileMaker users. Not only does it have in depth coverage of all of the front-facing features. It also has an excellent theory section on database design which is really critical regardless of what database technology you use. It's tough to find a solid practical theory lesson on database design in any book and this walkthrough is great. If for that section alone this book is worth the money.

For anyone that uses FileMaker Pro on a daily basis, this book is an absolute steal. With over 700 pages of relevant information, the authors go beyond this applications basic use as digital address book and really get into the details of what makes this a great application. With tons of pictures and clear detail how to follow along, the authors start with the basic use of displaying and inputting people data and go far beyond that, discussing design of databases and learning how to script FileMaker Pro to get this program to do nearly anything you need it to! Reports, exporting data to other formats, or publishing to the web, this book has it all!

A must read for any FileMaker Pro user who wants to get the most out of their experience and learn the ins and outs.

***** RECOMMENDED

I have developed many database applications in other software programs. FileMaker is quite different from the rest, so I had to learn "by the book" to understand many of Filemaker's unique features, so I purchased Filemaker Pro 7 Bible and Using Filemaker Pro 7. The Bible book was totally useless, giving you details for beginners and lots of useless text for someone who already understands database development. The Using books gives details, both not a straight forward approach to developing a database.
But once FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual came out (the first to cover version 8), I purchased it. To my surprise, it was so well written and loaded with practical advise, that I have read to book from end to end. It has excellent examples that I have used in the application I am developing for my company. I continually go back to the book for refreshers to concepts I learned in the book. The other two books hardly get touched!
If there is one book to buy to learn FileMaker Pro, this is it!

I hesitate to write negative reviews because I always suspect that the errors I find are my own misunderstandings. In this case I felt COMPELLED to write one. I bought this book wanting it to be great and having high expectations based on the reviews I read. I doubt many of the reviewers OR the EDITORS read this book very closely. There are so many mistakes (small and large) and examples which flat out DON'T WORK, that the book has almost driven me mad. I've wasted HOURS trying to get things to work the way the authors described. The errata posted on the oreilly.com site lists maybe 1/4 of the errors. There is ONE posted review on Amazon.com which took notice of this, but all of the others seem to miss it completely. Kudos to Raymond Smith!

Two perfect examples (in case you want to save yourself a few hours of struggle):

1. The Invoice Finder tutorial on page 372 simply doesn't work using the "minimum amount" field as they describe. It will work using the date range criterion, but when you add the minimum amount match, it fails. I built a file following along with the text and thought it was MY file that was broken. Then I tried the files supplied with the Missing Manual "CD". The authors' files don't work either. They SEEM to work with the data already in them, but if you add an invoice, it doesn't work. And if you simply open the "options..." definition of the Total Due field on the "Invoices" table, then OK the dialog box, all the existing data fails as well. It must be some kind of indexing problem, but the fact that it slipped by the editors is almost impossible to believe.

2. The Repeating Fields for Multiple Results on page 417 is totally wrong. The formula they supply will not work at all, and in fact, unless the "Price" field is a repeating field as well (which they don't mention at all), you can't do any calculations using the "Get(CalculationRepetitionNumber)" that will work the way they describe. Not to mention the fact that in the second mention of the calculation they call it "Get(CalculatedRepetitionNumber)" which is wrong and won't even take. The text suggests that you "test this calculation with a few numbers", but I doubt that any editor tried it. AND THIS IS LISTED IN A POWER USERS' CLINIC.

I don't know if this is an author problem or an editor problem, but either way, it is a REAL problem for readers.

What a disappointment and a waste of many hours... Don't listen to the majority of reviews on this book. They have clearly come from people who read it but were not actually trying to learn from the DOING the examples in the text. The book is written in a friendly easy style, but there are too many errors to make it valuable. And it's been out for TOO long for these things not to be listed in an available errata or supplement.

Are you a programmer that has been working with FileMaker for a while? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Geoff Coffey and Susan Prosser, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that explores each feature in depth, offers shortcuts and workarounds, and explains the ramifications of options that a FileMaker Pro manual doesn't even mention.

Coffey and Prosser, begin by exploring FileMaker Pro's interface; and, show you how to perform basic tasks, like entering data and then sorting through it again. Then, the authors show you how to use layouts to make data entry easier and how to create layouts that list and summarize your data. They continue by showing you how to create, connect, and manage multiple tables and how to set up complex relationships that show you just the data you need to see. Next, the authors show you how to use FileMaker Pro's 200+ functions to do the math for you. Then, they show you how scripting works, and learn how to make scripts for people to use. Finally, the authors show you how to protect your database with a password and how to use privileges to determine what folks can do once they get into your database.

FileMaker Pro comes in several flavors, and this excellent book addresses them all. Each chapter contains live examples--step-by-step tutorials that help you learn how to build a database by actually doing it!

I found this manual to be easy to use and understand. Easy to follow with wonderful illustrations and examples. Walks you through each feature and begins with a basic explanation of relational database theory. Uses a systematic design approach, building on each foundational design process while incorporating functions and features. The extra tips along the way are very useful. Light and humorous at times, making it enjoyable reading. Thorough step-by-step processes. If you are a seasoned FMP programmer, this makes a great reference for new features found in version 8 but lacking in coverage of all features. It was void of giving definitions to all of the new functions and operators introduced in version 8. It is also weak on publishing via a FMP server via the web. Only gave an introduction. I had to go to FMP to get PDF documents on specifics for publishing via server on the web. However, with respect to the authors, this book was not intended to cover that kind of detail and they disclaimed that up front.

I'm not a database expert, yet I'm not a beginner. This review is from a person with a basic understanding of database programs.

I'm about halfway through this book and it has been a great guide to learning about FileMaker. However, it is soooo frustrating that there are many errors in the examples used throughout the book. With all the dry, technical speech (the author does try to lighten it up some) my ADD may kick in a little causing me to read it wrong while thinking about something else, but there are many times when the book tells me to do something with the example file you download with the "missing cd" and it just doesn't working right. For me it doesn't matter if they have updates on misprints in the book available online. I'm the kind of person who would prefer it be printed correctly the first time and not have to check everything against an online list of typos. That said, and taking the examples with a grain of salt and just getting the concepts behind them, I really do think this book is a good resource for becoming familiar FileMaker pretty fast. I've not read any other books but this one has to be one of the most comprehensive ones.

Very good - somehow this book manages to cover the basics and get to the more complex aspects in clear understandable terms. I'm sure for the power user there's stuff missing but for a mid skill user who (for example) wants to use portals effectively it's very clear.

As the title, and most of the reviews (save Mr. Strauchs') suggest, this is the manual that doesn't exist in print. It's a nice alternative to the Help menu as it's written in a personable style that offers more direct and real-world applications for the basics of FileMaker.

However, as someone who has developed in FileMaker since version 2, I was hoping for a bundle of "tips'n'tricks" that were updated for FMP 7 & 8. But there's not even a simple explanation for a self-relation to find duplicate records (there is on the FileMaker site, but it's not documented in the TOC for Help; and it's more or less unchanged from the version 6 documentation). I'm wondering, with all the new features and new structure of FMP included in versions 7 & 8, how much is really new? It's nice to know that all the familiar tools are there to create field, layouts, and scripts, but I was hoping that the FileMaker redesign might save me a bit of time and make my scripts and calculations a bit more lean. But you won't find that here.

[I empathize with Mr. Strauchs, as I've had similar experiences with MS database products. But, at least superficially, he must have missed a Help menu item in FileMaker about importing Excel files. This may be covered in the book, but, alas, the index is of no help, and importing (or even opening Excel files from FileMaker as on page 630 of the book) is a basic operation not adequately cross-referenced, and a topic that many new users and cross-platforms users would love to know about].

My overall impression is that this is a hasty rehash of FileMaker (FMP) updated for the current version. It lacks a depth of organization and example that would make it an exemplary guide, but it covers every damn bit of the basics completely and, sometimes, without much real imagination.

This is what a technical manual should be. Well written in a style that avoids jargon. Well organized so that it covers every major point of the application, without endless excuses that certain subjects are beyond the scope of the book. Carefully indexed. Well edited. Profusely and intelligently illustrated. And, finally, designed for readability.

FileMaker beginners will find that this is a true tutorial and covers far more territory than most casual users will want to travel. FileMaker pros will find this a handy reference for the inevitable moment when they can't remember something or need to explore a function new to them.

This edition has been outmoded to a degree because of the introduction of FileMaker 8.5, but it is still eminently useful.

In short, this truly is the "missing manual" for FileMaker Pro 8 and should be considered an essential book for any user. It is far superior to "Special Edition Using FileMaker 8".

Jerry