Customer Reviews

Microsoft Access 97 Developers Handbook: With CDROM (Solution Developer Series)

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

 

 

ATTENTION: Did someone tell you to get the Access97 Developer's Handbook? Then this is not the one you want. I don't know what Microsoft Press is doing publishing a book with almost the same name as the Sybex edition.

The books are NOT the same. The Litwin et al book has been around since Access 2 and is a must-have for any serious Access developer. The Litwin book is tested, (the code on the CD actually works) and has a loyal following.

Bottom line: don't get confused by the almost identical titles. This book is not the one that Access developers have built their careers on.

I have some experience with Microsoft Access. However, most of the applications I developed were created using the wizards, creating basic applications, with basic forms, basic queries, and basic reports. Then I needed to create some utilities and more complex applications in Access that required the programming of modules. I needed to learn this fast. I already had 3 books on Access97, including the Access Bible. I spent hours in bookstores to find what these books didn't tell me. The last thing I needed was another book on Access that would give me all the information I alredy knew. When I opened this book I found what I needed. I believe the evaluation of this book depends on what you're looking for. This is not a book for beginners. For me it was just right so I give it 5 stars.

It may not be the Sybex book..but it's got nicely set up chapters that someone new to VBA programming can actually read and understand. I found new tricks in the 1st 3 chapters I could employ right away.

I had one evening to learn what Data Access Objects were and implement them in a project I was working on. I had tried previously to learn about them unsuccessfully. This book was my last chance. The information clicked for me. It took me no time at all to bang out the code I needed. Understanding higher level material is not easy. One author's way of writing may not make sense to you while another author's explanation will. This books works for me.

There is a lot of good information in this book, but as an earlier review said, it is far too rambling and quite frankly poorly edited.

Take this example from p. 265:

"You can base a recordset on a SQL string only when creating recordsets based on a database object (as opposed to other uses of OpenRecordset, which can be based on tables, queries, or other recordsets). Attempting to do so will get you a run-time error."

OK, hold on here. First, aren't tables and queries database objects? And what's with "Attempting to do so will get you a run-time error"? They just told us we CAN do this in the previous sentence.

I know, I know, if you're familiar enough with the topic you can decipher all this gibberish, but a reader shouldn't have to do that. That why we turn to these books, to make things clearer, not muddier.

Much of the book suffers from these spaghetti-like paragraphs and bad editing.

I found this book to be very helpful in getting over some rough spots. The layout of the book could use some improvement. When referencing a a particular subject the book seems to write a little here and there as apposed to keeping the same topic together. But in spite of this fact, the book is helpful and easy to understand.

A badly organized book that is neither a good learning tool nor a good reference document. I kid you not -- this book was never edited!

After searching for a book that would answer my most tedious questions and give me solutions to the most frustrating problems, I found this one. Now, all my questions are answered by a flip of a page or a spin of a C.D., which was included with the book. This book covers everything

A long time ago I bought this book and it was brilliant. I referred to it a lot for various projects I did and always found what I needed. I lost it and missed it sorely since. No bookshop stocked it anymore and there was nothing to replace it. Funny to think about it now ten years later. I just saw it again by accident now and remembered the love affair I had with it. It was a true companion and a dear friend. How could I ever loose it. Strangely, when I first bought it somebody stole my bag with the book in it. The thief tried to return it to the bookshop for a refund. Because I paid with a switch card, he wasn't getting the money and just run off and I got the book back. I don't know how I lost it. It's like a dear friend from the past and just seeing the picture again fills me with warm feelings. It was the best friend I had at that time and like a true friend helped me out of a lot of tight spots. It really did ... or should I say he.

Is not the greatest reference book yet but it got me out of trouble in a very difficult situation when i was stuck. Not as good as other Developer's books but you can added to your collection and it won't hurt to have it.