FMP Books

Examples:
- page 50 generic RecordID mentioned should really be specific CompanyID.
- page 52 PhoneNumber mentioned should really be specific Phone.
- page 63 sort toggle sort on the Mac is discussed but he never says where it appears on the screen.
- page 68 paragraph discussing how to create your first script says "Click the Done button or press ENTER/RETURN." However pressing enter/return is the equivalent of clicking Create button.
- page 69 paragraph describing how to save your first script simply does not work as described.

Skip ahead.

- page 146 @ one character and * zero or more characters paragraphs are reversed, which is potentially confusing to new users. Plus the proper @ paragraph example discussing the word John is wrong, which is even more confusing.

Put the book away for good.


Kubica becomes the Tech writer to watch!   July 28, 2003
 13 out of 15 found this review helpful

This is definitely one of the best-organized and best-written computer books that I have encountered in the last 22 years of reading technical books and manuals.

Kubica has written a book that is approachable for any novice to FileMaker and databases in general. The real genius is that he does so without making the more advanced user bored and irritated. Even in the early chapters I learned a trick or two.

The best way to learn is through examples. You'd think that technical writers would get that through their head after all of these years. I don't need syntax. I can get syntax from the manuals that come with the program. What I need is someone to show me how to accomplish more advanced and polished functions. Kubica has learned the lesson of providing examples. They are abundant, but don't usually take up unnecessary space in the pages of the book. They are referred to in the book at appropriate junctures and the accompanying CD/Rom has them all.

I have only one complaint: (1) the publisher screwed around with the book (even canceling it once!) for so long that this book is making a far too-long delayed appearance. I don't know how radical a change we are in for when FileMaker 7 makes its appearance this fall. I do hope that Kubica's guide to that version will arrive much faster.