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| FileMaker Pro 9 Bible | 
 enlarge | Author: Ray Cologon
Creator: Dennis R. Cohen
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $26.39
You Save: $13.60 (34%)
New (47) Used (11) from $18.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 17601
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 768
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.7
ISBN: 0470177438
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.7565
EAN: 9780470177433
ASIN: 0470177438
Publication Date: March 14, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 I love this book! June 4, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Why?
It's fun to read. It is packed with wisdom about how to create an "industrial strength database" just like the back cover promises.
It's a gentle yet challenging route to understanding how Filemaker works and then for firm guidance on how to make Filemaker work for you.
It's also packed with excellent practices from the aesthetics of layout design to efficient, effective script and calculation writing.
Okay, maybe I should state I've been using Filemaker since version 2.1 so I'm not a beginner. For complete beginners, maybe reading the Filemaker manual or watching the teaching videos online at lynda.com or elsewhere will get you better prepared to understand the book.
But then come back because this book holds the keys you will need if you aspire to develop "industrial strength" Filemaker databases.
Personally, I profoundly grateful for it!
 Help! June 3, 2008
8 out of 17 found this review helpful
The Filemaker Pro 9 bible contains tons of information. No dispute there. But this book, contrary to nearly of the other reviews, is both limited and confusing.
It is limited because it requires the reader to build a solution exactly as it is descrbed in the text. Therefore, if you need information on a specific element of Filemaker, is often not possible to derive the information through looking at a specific section of text. Information is presented contextually and while this has certain advantages, it also has grave disadvantages.
It is confusing because the author consistently presents fairly complex scripting steps and calculations without providing any explanation to the novice or SOMEONE LEARNING THE APPLICATION. And this is the key point. The book requires extensive knowledge of Filemaker language and techniques in order to be understood.
This book is, certainly, not for the beginner and, in many cases, it is not for the intermediate user. Its range of use is really quite narrow and it is for this reason that I have trouble understanding all of the accolades for this volume.
Finally, the writing style of the book is often lacking in clarity. The author assumes so much on the part of the reader that many of his examples are rendered inexplicable.
This book is recommended only for Filemaker experts and for them, the information, maybe pedantic.
I believe that this book could have been vastly improved if it didn't follow a contextual approach, but one that was more pedagogical, where techniques were taught from the perspective of generalized problem solving.
Great book--but not for the beginner June 1, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you know the basics of developing a Filemaker solution, then this is, bar none,the best book you can get. It has so many little tricks and tips about how to implement the advanced stuff that you just cannot get anywhere else.
If you are a stone cold beginning, get the Missing Manual, and then move on to Special Edition. At that point, you'll feel pretty good about your burgeoning skill. Then, get this book and bask in the Cologon genius, and realize that you are a novice.
The examples and code in this book are just too advanced for beginners, with no question. And Missing Manual and Special Edition have a better beginner section and explanation of the basics.
As long as you know that this is most beneficial to for more advanced users, this is a five star, very useful purchase.
Seriously impressed May 31, 2008
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
I've previously looked at most the of "bible" style books for FileMaker and found them OK or underwhelming. This one is very different.
Ray knows his stuff very, very well and his advice is well regarded in various fora. When I received the book, I was concerned that it would only be useful to experienced FileMaker users. However, what I found was that the first two Parts of the book (up to page 260) do a great job of what most how-to style books do in a concise and practical way without needless padding. I really hate the way lots of other books stretch out their content just to bulk up. This book is bulky, but it's all good content. New users will love it.
Then Parts 3, 4 and 5 build on the foundations taking new and intermediate users into areas they probably have never considered with lots of stuff they can use immediately. Ray seemingly covers everything most users will experience with FileMaker. I think advanced users will get much out of this too. I've been using FileMaker since 1987 (professionally since 1991) and I'm finding lots of little gems in the book. The examples are actually useful and I confess to including some of the techniques in my work. On two occasions recently, I resorted to this book to find the words to explain some abstract concepts.
FileMaker is often considered "quirky", meaning it has particular ways of achieving things. I like the way Ray addresses these concepts, comparing and contrasting the way things are in other environments, then looking at the design decisions of FileMaker to achieve the same.
I think anyone using FileMaker should seriously consider buying this book. Congratulations Ray - well done.
Outstanding Book May 27, 2008
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
As a beginning programmer in FileMaker Pro, this book has been a God-send! I learned more in the first six chapters than all the reading I had done prior to getting this book. I wish I had started here instead of on forums and the FileMaker documentation. Very clear descriptions, examples, and expert user tips fill every page, makeing this a must have for almost any leve of programmer. Highly recommended.
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