Customer Reviews

FileMaker Pro 9 Bible

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Whether you are a beginner or a well-seasoned professional FMP developer, the FileMaker Pro 9 Bible is a must-read book. Dr. Cologon covers an immense range of important information, and he will stretch your mind to the full range of possibilities with FileMaker Pro, all the while holding your hand and breaking it down with a remarkably effective teaching approach.

Topics range from the general (how databases fit into real life and your business needs; comparisons with other database development tools; a broad discussion of integration with existing systems and software) through the building-blocks of FileMaker solutions, and on up to state-of-the-art advice on concepts of optimization, modularization, innovative and sophisticated user-interface design, dynamic elements, logic, cutting-edge calculations, publishing your database to the Web, FileMaker's brand-new ability to integrate tightly with SQL databases via "ESS". The book also includes the special developer tools available in FileMaker Pro Advanced, and covers topics too oft skipped over in other books on the market -- backup how-to's and strategies, must-read information about good database husbandry and file recovery, etc.

In spite of handling this vast sea of facts, particulars, instructions and guidance, there is nothing about this book that is intimidating even to folks facing database development for the very first time. Cologon -- whose crystal-clear and engaging writing style is well-known to those who have read various discussion lists and forums over the years -- has organized and presented the information in a brilliant fashion that makes this book work both as a good read and as a reference tome. Information is presented in a sort of iterative fashion, covering certain areas of development (for example, creating layouts or scripts) several times over throughout the book, on increasing levels of refinement and complexity. Therefore, whatever level of experience you have under your belt, it is easy to figure out "where to jump in" when you have a question in mind, simply by scanning the table of contents. The TOC is organized the way I wish _all_ such books were designed -- its chapters and sections correlate with the kinds of tasks you need to accomplish and the series of questions that arise in your mind organically as you gain experience, rather than the menu-by-menu approach taken by so many technical books.

A word about the book's personnel:
Ray Cologon, to anyone who has looked at his demos, attended one of his Developer Conference sessions, or read the volumes of help he has offered on forums over the years, is indisputably one of the world's topmost FileMaker wizards. Among the other credits, tech editors Corn Walker and Jason DeLooze stand out similarly as geniuses in their field who, like Cologon, have contributed their patient and top-quality assistance to the broad population of FileMaker users and developers, from newbies on discussion lists to FileMaker Inc. itself. Having been so connected to the community over the years, these developers understand intimately what folks need to know and how best to present that information, and working in concert they comprise a FileMaker instruction dream-team. (I am not familiar with the other book personnel.)

Whether you are looking for your first FileMaker Pro 9 book or already have a shelf-full, whatever level of expertise you may have, I strongly recommend you click the Add To Cart button.

-- Ilyse Kazar

I'm a full time FileMaker developer. I have been for fifteen plus years. I work alone.
Most of my clients are wineries or wine retailers with the occasional steel wholesaler and convention bureau to keep me honest. I use a lot of the advanced features of FileMaker.

I mention the above to frame my recommendation to buy this book. I bought it because Dr. Cologon's name is on it. His name may not mean anything to you, just yet, but it will after you read and use this book.

In FileMaker there are, seemingly, always several ways to accomplish your intentions. The trick is to plan your strategies in advance of doing a lot of needless or imperfect work. The way this book is laid out and the quality of the information will really advance your cause.

I decided to read "FileMaker Pro Bible 9" from page 1 to page 735 and overcome the temptation to skip over things I already knew - or thought I knew. It was worth it and not at all painful. If you read this book and know your client's business and objectives, you can't go wrong.

Having this book on the end of my desk means that I really don't work alone.

Extremely well written and well researched, the FileMaker Pro 9 Bible is an excellent book, and Ray Cologon is an excellent writer. His depth of understanding, both of the product and of the greater database world in general, is awe-inspiring. The FileMaker Pro 9 Bible really does have something for everyone. It covers the topic of FileMaker Pro in a very comprehensive manner that is suitable both for database beginners as well as for seasoned FileMaker veterans.

Ray begins with an overview of what makes up a database, independent of the FileMaker paradigm itself. He then moves on to discuss how FileMaker fits into the database world, and then goes into detail on each aspect of the product. And he does it all with a deft touch that never confuses or intimidates the reader.

Whether you consider yourself a FileMaker Pro developer or merely use it as a tool to organize your information, this book is the essential reference for FileMaker Pro.

This is an astonishingly good book, independently of its subject matter. Technical books, particularly those within series, must fight to remain interesting, to rise above the constraints imposed by the publisher. This book shows no evidence of such a struggle, and yet it is so comprehensive, while taking such a broad overview, that it ought by rights leave out the '9' in its title.

It has become a back-of-the-book cliche to say that a book has something for the beginner and the professional, but it would be more accurate to say that what at first blush seems written for the beginner actually describes Filemaker, and its place in the larger database world, in a view few professionals have grasped. This is a big-picture book that, at the same time, delves into a lot of very advanced detail and both theory and practice. But it is mostly just a good read that made me proud to be a professional Filemaker developer.

I've previously looked at most the of "bible" style books for FileMaker and found them OK or underwhelming. This one is very different.

Ray knows his stuff very, very well and his advice is well regarded in various fora. When I received the book, I was concerned that it would only be useful to experienced FileMaker users. However, what I found was that the first two Parts of the book (up to page 260) do a great job of what most how-to style books do in a concise and practical way without needless padding. I really hate the way lots of other books stretch out their content just to bulk up. This book is bulky, but it's all good content. New users will love it.

Then Parts 3, 4 and 5 build on the foundations taking new and intermediate users into areas they probably have never considered with lots of stuff they can use immediately. Ray seemingly covers everything most users will experience with FileMaker. I think advanced users will get much out of this too. I've been using FileMaker since 1987 (professionally since 1991) and I'm finding lots of little gems in the book. The examples are actually useful and I confess to including some of the techniques in my work. On two occasions recently, I resorted to this book to find the words to explain some abstract concepts.

FileMaker is often considered "quirky", meaning it has particular ways of achieving things. I like the way Ray addresses these concepts, comparing and contrasting the way things are in other environments, then looking at the design decisions of FileMaker to achieve the same.

I think anyone using FileMaker should seriously consider buying this book. Congratulations Ray - well done.

There are three things I look for in a good book on FileMaker: (1) Does it help the beginner to bridge the gap between finishing the User Manual and that moment when they put the manual down, consider their real life database problem, and realize they still have no clue how to use what they just read and get started actually building a database. (2) Does it make it easy for the intermediate developer to find what they need for a specific challenge, and does it provide both specific guidance *and* context for understanding what you're being told. (3) Can the advanced developer pick it up, skim, and easily find more and better ways for what they've already been doing, and some great ideas for features they haven't taken the time to work out themselves. Dr. Cologon has done all three with this book, and `bible' seems particularly apt for a book you can read sequentially to get smart, dip into for immediate hand-holding, and look to for inspiration.

I especially like the insertion of Tips, Cautions, Cross-Refs and Notes as sidebars throughout the text. Dr. Cologon's mega-hours spent directly supporting developers in the various forums have paid off for us yet again: he's `been there'; he knows and shares all the typical gotchas, occasional ambiguous dialogs, possible pitfalls. He's been watching us for years, and it shows. The Tips/Cautions/Notes, and especially the Cross-Refs, are also ways to bring topics full-circle, which is not easy in a manual format - how you construct a layout (chapter 6) may impact how you write a script (chapter 13) that interacts with that layout, and Dr. Cologon will notify you as needed.

Most valuable is the wisdom, judgment and long experience shared throughout the book. This isn't just a thorough contextual explanation of FileMaker features and capabilities; it contains a lot of horse-sense advice on building databases that are well-structured, stable, scalable, secure, and intuitive to use. Bravo. This is a must-have book for anyone who uses FileMaker.

I've been using FileMaker for almost 20 years and have read most of the books written for this product. The FileMaker Pro Bible stands tall amongst the others. It's extremely well-written with tenacious attention to detail that is quite valuable to developers of all levels.

Ray Cologon gently introduces concepts and best practices to the new developer in a manner that encourages thorough learning. As you progress through the chapters he not only exposes more advanced topics and techniques but also uncovers deep product behaviors that offers value to even the most advanced developers.

I imagine almost any novice could use this book to springboard their learning curve into successful FileMaker Pro database development. I heartily recommend this book to developers of all levels. It should be the first book for any new FileMaker Pro developer and a cornerstone reference piece for all seasoned developers.

As a beginning programmer in FileMaker Pro, this book has been a God-send! I learned more in the first six chapters than all the reading I had done prior to getting this book. I wish I had started here instead of on forums and the FileMaker documentation. Very clear descriptions, examples, and expert user tips fill every page, makeing this a must have for almost any leve of programmer. Highly recommended.

This is logically set out and easy to read. The explanations are succinct and concise. The practical examples make the theory very relevant. The cross referencing in the text to other topics and chapters makes it easy to follow particular ideas rather than continually looking in the index.

This book is worthy of being titled the "BIBLE" for FileMaker. Written by none other than what some would call a prophet in the community. I often times ask myself when perplexed by a custom function or complex calculation... "What would Ray do?" I highly recommend this to any one working with FileMaker and especially if you make a living developing FileMaker solutions.