FileMaker Pro 7 Bible

Rating:
Summary: Not great for the middle of the market
Review: Apologies--this is a long review. I am an intermediate user of Filemaker, and this book did not work too well for me. Beginners will find a nice primer on how to design and execute databases, and advanced users will find documentation for some of the new features in version 7. Where this book falls short for me is in examples. I am not a database pro--I am a person who relies on a home-made database to make a living. Most of the new features are described in a "this is definition of the function, here is the syntax" way. Very businesslike, but the fact of the matter is that I can't tell from the text provided what the functions are actually for. This, to me, is a major weakness, because the main strength of Filemaker is how accesible it is to any Joe Bloggs like me. The beauty of the program is that it can allow you to execute a design of astonishing complexity without having to study programming. But to do this, you have to be able to understand all the tools at your disposal. Sometimes, until you know how easy a particular task can be, you don't even dare to dream about being able to accomplish it.

So if the authors happen to see this review, I'll offer the following constructive criticism for future editions:
1. More examples of the "this function can do this--here is what you might use it for" type, particularly on any new functions.
2. Formatting--the book uses a different font for the text you are to type into windows. The same should be done for script steps, etc. As it is, the first letter of the step is capitalized, but you have to be familiar with the list of functions to know exactly what is being discussed.
3. My first Filemaker book was the Filemaker 3 Bible, and I have to say that some of the example databases in the current edition look awfully familiar. I am fully aware of the challenges of putting together a 1000 page book, but I was not psyched to see the old Video Rentals example still in there, without even so much as an effort to change the look of the layout. FM 7 is a major overhaul, but seeing that in the book suggested the authors were treating it like an update. Based on all the changes made (many of them behind the scenes), maybe the progam should have been called Filemaker 15.

The FM pro Bible series are very useful books to people of the appropriate skill level. My current FM based system was initially designed totally with information from the Bible for version 3, and has been upgraded since. It's now a pretty cool system that tracks inventory, contacts, sales and purchases, and even writes checks, but it was not the Bible series that really got it to this point. I may have grown out of it in one sense and not grown into it in another.

Rating:
Summary: As Comprehensive as Can Be
Review: I've been using FileMaker Pro since version 2, when it was a Claris product. I contributed shareware databases to the FileMaker Pro 4 Bible CD-ROM years ago, but have no commercial interest in this volume or any other book in the series.

Now that I'm finally upgrading to FileMaker Pro 7 I turned to the latest edition of Steven Schwartz's book to get up to speed, and I wasn't disappointed. Like the 1998 edition (for FileMaker Pro 4), this "Bible" is thorough and touches upon every aspect of the program in a clear, organized manner. I read the entire volume, and now feel that I have a solid grasp of everything that's changed thanks to helpful pointers and highlights of what's new. You won't find advanced techniques for experienced developers in this text, because they're not the intended audience. However, that does not detract from the book's rating because Schwartz and Cohen make it clear whom they're addressing, and keep things straightforward throughout.

The included CD-ROM contains some fairly specialized content that's already kept me busy for hours. The book's glossary and appendices, including a complete function reference that I use all the time, round out this hefty volume. Kudos to the authors for covering all the bases with this comprehensive format.

Rating:
Summary: All of the Details at My Fingertips
Review: I've been waiting for this one! FileMaker Pro 7 has added many very useful features to this venerable database product and I've been anxious to figure out how best to use them; the FileMaker Pro 7 Bible nicely fills the bill.

All of the basics are covered, of course, but what I find most valuable are the more advanced capabilities of FileMaker: scripts, web publishing, relationships between tables (the relationship graph), access to XML and ODBC, and much more. Of particular personal interest is the ability to do things like send an email in response to a change in the database (which I've wanted to do in my bug database).

Whenever I'm tweaking my various FileMaker databases this book will certainly be open on my desk-it's a wonderful reference!

Rating:
Summary: Thorough Update for New Features (Author review)
Review: The folks at FileMaker, Inc have produced the most significant update to FileMaker Pro in many years/versions. And, they did it without changing almost anything in the comfortable UI -- they just added a whole bunch of new features, almost seamlessly. We enjoyed updating this book to cover the new version and think that you'll find the new functionality we discuss easy to follow and exciting to use.