FMP Books

Granted, it is written for FMP 6, but that should not stop anyone from reading it. My recommendation is to train on FMP 6 with this book and then spend an hour catching up to speed on FMP 7 with the tutorial. Converting FMP 6 files to FMP 7 should not be a concern; any 5th grader today can figure it out.

The complaint that this was not written for beginners is ridiculous. I have an art history degree and do not consider myself a "quantitative" person, but yet I l leared FMP. Learning about software requires time and patience, something many are unwilling to invest. The rewards, personally and professionally, are huge.

This book was excellent. I highly recommend it.


Just What I Needed!   April 8, 2004
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I had used Filemaker briefly and superficially several years ago to do a relatively simple favor for a friend. However, now ... I belong to a theater group and we needed a database to use in doing our ticketing process. So I volunteered! Silly me! At any rate, I upgraded my copy of Filemaker and set to work learning its intricacies as quickly as possible, not realizing yet how complicated the product as I envisioned it would be. Since the documentation supplied with Filemaker is kind of sparse, I bought a book, several in fact, including Chris' book, specifically. I wanted something that would teach me to use the product at a level beyond a simple discussion of the tools, and I found it in this book! Chris's book is readable and full of useful examples. I read it, turning down corners and marking passages like a fiend, until it looked pretty ratty. But I learned! Chris covers not only the basics of how to use the tools, but also the planning, the"philosophy" if you will - the way to think about and organize a project, the things to consider in actually implementing it. Before I retired, I spent 30 years doing programming and I understand the way to do a software project, and this book seemed very familiar in its approach. There are lots of other books on Filemaker, but this one seems to me to be one of the best in the way it covers all facets of doing a Filemaker project. One thing in particular that I found very helpful is the size of the index! It sounds silly, but having a thoroughly detailed index is very helpful in a book running nearly 800 pages, especially when you want to review some minor topic whose location you can't quite recall. All in all, I have used this book more than any other in doing my theater project (which is now almost finished) and I'm very glad I spent the money on it.


Great for a beginning "FileMaker guru"   April 8, 2004
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

A chap named Ed who is a friend of mine asked me to post my review of this book on amazon even though I don't order from here myself. So here goes. I am new to computers and to databases. This isn't even my computer. I am writing on my son's computer. But I had to set up a database for my work which is a no-kill cat shelter to track cats, expenses, shots, inventory, etc. A tall order for me.

So Ed, my friend, gave me this book and told me to read section one. I did, and after piddling around for a few hours I was able to make up my first database and first relationship (before I thought you meant moms and dads for relationships...not how databases link to each other!!). Anyway, the book is very tutorial style at first, or aat least as much as is needed for a starter-upper like moi.

So I guess some people expect great amounts of hand-holding from books. There is some of that here, but only so much and then you get into building bigger and better things, based on the stuff you learned in earlier chapters. AND THE CD CONTAINS ROCK SOLID EXAMPLES YOU CAN START USING NOW.

Good afternoon, readers!


This Best FMP Book Available - The last reviewer is wrong   April 8, 2004
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

What does your difficulty with converting FMP files from 5.x and 6.x to 7.x have to do with this book??? Honestly, a one star review of this book is not only totally off base, it is cruel. The author put quite a lot of work into the book, it is the most complete, most encyclopedic reference out there, it covers topics that NO OTHER FileMaker book touches and, impressively, it is still helpful and relevant what with FileMaker 7 around.

Why don't you rethink your TWO (I can't believe it...you posted TWO one star reviews. That is totally childish and unprofessional) one-star reviews and maybe give the book a little more credit. The first whole section is for beginners. I'm not sure what you expect in a "step by step" guide. Maybe you should take a class or hire an expert developer to do your development for you...but this book will certainly guide any reasonably computer-competent person from the absolute basics of databases in general through the FileMaker user environment, the basic controls, how to build databases, enter records, find stuff, print stuff, etc. If you are confused, there are ready-made examples on the CD.

Seriously, grow up. And please PLEASE do not post another one-star review just to send your reply. Post your complaint to one of the many FileMaker-related forums. Not on here, please. Gosh, the nerve!


The Zen and Art of FileMaker II   April 6, 2004
 2 out of 10 found this review helpful

Yes, it is true that I am new at FileMaker and yes I expect files to convert without errors from FileMaker 6 to FileMaker 7. I purchased the book based on the positive reviews and unfortunately ignored the negatives. If you scroll through all of the reviews you will find that other "amateurs" do not rate this book with 5 stars and criticize its ability to teach FileMaker fundamentals to the new user. Maybe, for the FileMaker guru this is the perfect book, but keep in mind that it is sold under the promise to teach to the beginner.

Unfortunately, at this time there are no FileMaker 7 step-by-step guides available. As an alternative I recommend purchasing the "Professional Training Foundations Series" offered by FileMaker at a cost of $99. Although this training series has been written for FileMaker 6 and is a little pricey its instructional value is 1000 times beyond Kubica's work. It has also been authored to teach by a competency project based approach. It reminds me of the work authored by David Planchard to teach SolidWorks 3-D Modeling to new users.

Ultimately, the choice is yours....