Grover Park George On Access: Unleash the Power of Access (On Office series) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "On more than one occasion, I've worked with programmers and database developers who dismissed Access as a "toy database"..." (more)
Key Phrases: underlying record set, personal contact database, smallest meaningful values, Grover Park George, Private Sub, Finish Figure (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"You've taken the first step in becoming a database expert by selecting this book. Bottom-line, if I can understand how to develop databases from reading this book, anyone can."

Product Description

A textbook and study guide for new and intermediate Microsoft Access users, this book takes Access developers through the development process step by step. Terms and concepts are explained as they arise and relevant examples are provided to keep users on track and to teach them how to the use the appropriate Access features in the same context in which they will use them in their own work. Users are guided through the process of creating a working database from the first step (defining the business problem it is intended to solve) through the last (deploying the application into an organization and providing ongoing support to users). Also included are case studies that provide practical guidelines for situations Access users might find themselves in.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Holy Macro! Books; illustrated edition edition (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972425896
• ISBN-13: 978-0972425896
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #683,161 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best I've Seen on Designing a Database, August 31, 2004

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Access has changed the way the world looks at database programs. Sure SQL was invented by IBM and Oracle, and their products are first rate. But go try to use them to keep track of your collection of whatevers. The graphical front end on Access makes it practical for you to develop a database in a relatively few minutes.

With its popularity have come a lot of books on how to use Access. I have a problem with most of them because they leave out what I consider to be the most important part, the initial design of a database that will contain what you need in an easy to understand, easy to work with, and easy to modify when you need to add features later on. The couple of chapters on normalization are worth the cost of the book. This is as clear and simple an explanation as I've ever seen. Basically the book says: "Think about these things before you start punching keys."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New DB user review, May 13, 2004

By A Customer

I'm self-taught in database use and needed help. This book answered questions about db fundamentals that I did not even know I had. The author takes a difficult topic with a lot of rather abstract concepts and uses commense sense language to explain things. Highly recommend this book for new Access users and more experienced users who need to improve their understanding of real database design and use concepts.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for non-geeks who just need to get the thing done, October 20, 2004

By	tabhastal (California) - See all my reviews

This book is designed for one thing - build the database so you can get on to other work. Exactly what I needed.

I'm a non-IT manager and I've used Microsoft Access since version 2. After using this book, I finally think I know what I'm doing. I routinely need relational databases to collect and analyze data, but I don't have the time or interest to master the six-inch thick books on Access that cover the shelves at my local bookstore. Most of them are full of the same rehashed Microsoft text anyway. I've tasted other database programs, MySQL included, but I'm not trying to build the next Amazon.com; I just need to catalog information from various sources and analyze that data to make decisions.

This book was a breath of fresh air! It did exactly what I needed - showed me how to use Access to knock out a useful relational database. Simple need - simple solution - let's me get on with my other work.

The book may work for beginners although some experience with Access will be helpful. There are some minor errors; sometimes the text in the paragraphs doesn't match the text in the graphics, but these only create momentary confusion. Also, although the author states that you can skip around the book, I recommend reading from first page to last as the concepts and sample data the author uses are sequentially constructed.

Summary, if you just need to create a database in a short amount of time, use this book. If you want to make money from the database, go find a guru.