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34 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST HAVE , WHAT A PITY IT'S THIS BAD, August 23, 1999
A MUST-HAVE , for me . What a pity it is this bad .Volume One The Language Reference . */2 WORST REFERENCE TEXT I HAVE EVER BOUGHT It's ALL there . Fine . And it's a very second rate piece of design publishing . The Language Ref volume isn't cross indexed . The volume doesn't have an index full stop ! SO , WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS , ---- WHY ARE THE PAGES NUMBERED ?? Is it so you can tell mom how far you've got already ? Text layout throughout is about as bad as it gets . Large lists of properties and methods are set out as plain text paragraphs . These lists should have been columnar in the same page area . Many of the code examples use the VB line sharing {space and underscore } , yet on these pages there is plenty of room !! i.e. Nobody has even bothered to layout the code for this publication ( Two days work for an apprentice ) . These books are rushed out ; but this is " version 6.0 " , there has been plenty of time to ammend those errors . In other words ------ here is a reference text which is very hard to refer within . Maybe the guys at MS Press are kinda learning about this kind of stuff . ------ slow learning ! I have also purchased "Microsoft Office 2000 Visual Basic Programmer's Guide " ISBN 1-57231-952-6 . WHAT A CONTRAST . This Office 2000 book is fine . Really quite good . Layout, text organisation , indexing , cross referencing { even the idiot slogan on every single page to remind you of what book you are currently reading has been moved to the footer , out of the way } . Finally , a detail point for the book trade , Microsoft Press have failed to mark the jacket of the book with an ISBN number . The set sells in a box , and the ISBN is on the box . On the MSOffice2000VBA set , the ISBN is on the box AND ON THE JACKET OF EACH VOLUME . So it's not that hard . Real Publishers know about all this stuff . GreedySoft seem to be taking their time . Volume Two , Controls Reference . * Index at the rear , but STILL NO CROSS REFERENCING WITHIN THE TEXT . {Something that used to be very hard to do before computers came on the scene ! } So , you look up an object . Properties are listed straight after the definition/remarks . Every single one of them is labelled "property" and they are listed in plain paragraphing . So finding one is like playing that stupid childhood game "Can you find a donkey hidden in this picture of the clowns " === except , the fun has gone out of it !! How about , you want to check for the absence of a property . Volume Three , Component Tools Guide 960 pages *** Using ActiveX Controls , Creating ActiveX Controls , ..... " the Controls formerly known as Prince etc .. etc . " The one of the set with a pass grade . An extensive account of what you can do with controls , and how to make your own . Shines , compared to the other two of this sad set . Useful . A MUST-HAVE , for me . What a pity it is this bad . (sounds familiar ? , -- where would you have liked to have gone , today ? )
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by Microsoft Press
by Microsoft Corporation
by Francesco Balena
