Customer Reviews

FileMaker Pro 4 for Dummies

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

 

 

Rather than deal with the program this book assumes one knows nothing about databases and spends most of the time on that subject. There are very few useful examples. If it were rewritten like many of the other dummies books with lots of useful examples, especially for people who know about data bases but not this program it might be worth buying. As it is I would not recomennd it.

This book was actually very good unlike most Dummy books. After powering through the less than helpful first 3 chapters, the rest of the book contained good basics on relational databases and file management.

If you're at all intimidated by Filemaker Pro 4.0 or any other relational databases, this is a good book to break the ice.

The beauty of the original "Dummies" books was that they presented useful information in plain English -- with the bonus of a fun, irreverent tone. This author, unfortunately, has concentrated on tone (which he alone thinks is clever), at the expense of organization and helpful information. Many basics aren't even covered -- for example, how to add unique (not repeated) fields, how to set up pop-up menus. Yet he spends an inordinate amount of time non-Filemaker topics like the basics of organizing (which he didn't follow in the book) and why databases are useful (which the reader probably already knows, after spending $200 on the program). My opinion: not worth the paper it's printed on.

I found this book to be extremely confusing in its layout and organization. Books such as this must be intuitive in form and content. It is not. The help file in the program is definately more useful. I returned it.

Filemaker Pro 3 for Macs for Dummies has helped me immensely in my business. I can't imagine an easier, less threatening way of preseting the material, yet nearly all important features are covered. Very highly recommended.