67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book won't end up as a doorstop or a climbing platform for your cat(s), November 3, 2007
This review is from: FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
I've been using FileMaker Pro for over ten years now, pretty much creating simple databases and runtime solutions for myself and fellow workers.
Earlier this year, however, I was commissioned to create a safety-related database (runtime solution) for none other than FedEx and its nine feeder-carriers. Talk about instant panic-attack! When I found out that I'd be the authoring it I immediately perused Amazon.com and bookstores for books that would help me get up to speed very quickly so I could start coding away; I ordered an armful of them, some were "bible" and "idiot"-titled tomes and others were so "up there" technically that my eyes glazed over just reading their Table of Contents. More often than not they made me feel dense because there weren't enough explanations or examples in them for me to fully understand what was trying to be explained.
The book I ended up using the most--and really appreciating its real-world use and easy-to-understand explanations--was "FileMaker Pro 8, The Missing Manual" by Geoff Coffey and Susan Prosser. I can honestly say without any hyperbole that their book, and downloadable practice files, gave me a solid foundation to work from so I could build the database. After some finishing touches supplied by FileMaker developer Matt Lygo of kantala.com, I submitted the database to FedEx...and they LOVED it--so much so I earned their prestigious BZ Award for Excellence.
Since then, I've been working on another project that requires much greater power and flexibility than what FileMaker 8 or 8.5 had to offer, so after upgrading to FileMaker 9.0 _the_ first book I bought was Coffey and Prosser's Missing Manual book for FileMaker 9.0. Still a winner, I'm reading it as both a refresher and to learn the new powers that come with 9.0. It's both time and money well-spent.
So, if you're looking for a book to get you going in FileMaker, make this one your first choice; you'll be glad you did.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than a "Missing Manual.", October 21, 2007
This review is from: FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
This book is now in it's third writing. The first one (for Filekaker 7) never got printed as the release of Filemaker 8 made so many improvements to the software that a revision was mandatory. Nevertheless that early writing served its purpose as the precursor for the previous edition of this book on FileMaker 8. That edition was a real eye opener for me as it taught me so much more about the program than I had ever appreciated after many years of use. Now we have, what is in effect a third writing, for the latest version of FileMaker Pro and the benefit of those previous versions is certainly evident.
These authors have an excellent style of writing for a technical product like FileMaker Pro -- the style is both readable and accurate with plenty of light hearted quips to provide a delightful human touch to what could otherwise become fairly dreary tome. The book is thus not only a very readable tutorial on the methodology for setting up a relational database, but it also has a multitude of advice on ways to ensure that your development will follow guidelines for best practice. Explanations of "The FileMaker Way" are thus easy to follow and also display the authors' comprehensive knowledge of the program. This undoubtedly stems from their own credible work as practising FMP developers in their own right.
Some professional database gurus seem to take pleasure in deriding FileMaker for its simplicity of use and seeming inability to scale for enterprise tasks. What they overlook is that FileMaker is evolving into a data hub with its ability to exchange data so readily with an increasing number of other file formats. I can see how some of these folk will not find this book so useful as a reference work. It has not been written to be used in that way. If you come from a computer science training in DBMS, then you are only going to use Filemaker effectively if you take sufficient time to understand how and why FileMaker is different. The Missing Manual can certainly help you to achieve that but its style may not be as appropriate for your needs as it is for the database user who now wants to develop databases for their own projects.
In summary then, this book is certainly a manual "that should have been in the box" but it makes no claims to being the only source of FileMaker knowledge that you will ever need. There are plenty of other resources to meet that need but I firmly believe you will be hard pressed to find any other text or resource that can match this "Missing Manual" for its comprehensive introduction to FileMaker Pro..
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent intro to FileMaker for beginner through high intermediate, August 11, 2009
The Missing Manual series is, overall, quite good with few misses. "FileMaker Pro 10 - The Missing Manual" is no exception to the generally high quality of the series.
I've used FileMaker since its very first version when it was produced by a company called Nashoba Systems. FileMaker has always been an excellent product, but with each new version, new features add another level of complexity. The early Nashoba and Apple documentation was excellent, but bit by bit the standards slipped. Printed manuals gave way to online help.
A mini-industry developed as publishers introduced new titles. It was never a tsunami, but there were a number of books on various aspects of FileMaker, some very well developed references.
The Missing Manual neatly fills the gap.
Starting with the basics, you are guided through the basics in the first three chapters. In reality, many people will not need to go beyond this point. There's enough here to get you through the creation and maintenance of simple FileMaker databases.
Beginning with Chapter 4, on layouts, your knowledge will quickly expand. FileMaker was among the first, if not the first, microcomputer database product to allow you to design layouts to meet your needs. Since those early days, the power of the FileMaker layout engine has grown almost beyond comprehension. You can create whatever layout meets your needs - and you can have multiple layouts per database. The Missing Manual does a superb job of showing you how to create very sophisticated layouts. It is important to understand that a FileMaker layout differs considerably merely creating a user interface: in FileMaker, the various fields are also components of the database. For example, for summaries, you use a particular field and have to create a formula to manage it. The Missing Manual explains all this quite nicely.
The remaining nine chapters lead you into more complex areas of database design in general and FileMaker in particular. In order, the chapters cover using multiple tables and relationships and then advance relationship techniques. These can be difficult concepts to grasp and even more difficult to implement. The book helps you along, though it doesn't really get into very complex relationships.
The next four chapters cover calculations. You can create FileMaker fields that perform virtually any computational task. One of the reasons I've used FileMaker for so many years is because I can use it to rearrange, recombine, sort and do all manner of things with text. Though I don't it use it much for mathematical calculations, it has every function you might reasonably need. Obviously because four chapters are devoted to it, there's a lot to FileMaker calculations and the book is thorough in its approach.
Two chapters on scripting follow. Over the years, FileMaker scripting has progressed from being a hair-pulling experience to being occasionally frustrating. If you're developing databases that must perform for relatively unskilled users, scripting is a must. Only your imagination and the sometimes confusingly documented or undocumented FileMaker feature set will stop you.
The last four chapters are the ones that will be the least used. Most people simply will not need information on adding security to your database, sharing data with other systems, sharing the database itself and using developer utilities.
Overall, "FileMaker 10 - The Missing Manual" follows its earlier editions in being almost a model for a solid technical manual. If you own FileMaker 10, you need this book. It is not the only FileMaker book you'll need, since there are others that are more suited to the reference role, but it is essential.
Jerry
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