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| FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual | 
 enlarge | Authors: Geoff Coffey, Susan Prosser
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Category: Book
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $23.09
You Save: $11.90 (34%)
New (37) Used (9) from $16.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 16980
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 799
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 0596514131
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.74
EAN: 9780596514136
ASIN: 0596514131
Publication Date: August 2, 2007
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| Customer Reviews:
 Mixed Bag February 17, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Pros:
- The writing style is accessible and easy to understand
- You can download the database examples used in the book.
- It's the best FileMaker Pro 9 book I've seen.
Cons:
- Like a lot of computer books out there, this one is unnecessarily wordy. The publisher said, "I need a 750-page book," and the author complied.
-And you gotta read ALL of it (especially beginners), because important information is distributed like buried treasure.
- The wordiness and lack of consistent structure makes it easy to get lost. Let me give you an example:
This is my first stab at FileMaker Pro. The first chapter shows you how to find records. It starts out nicely with bolded text showing the steps to perform a find. Then it gets wordy. And then it shows a few figures of what you will see. Huge paragraphs of smaller, italicized text accompany the figures.
I skipped the figures and went on. Suddenly, I couldn't access most of my database entries. I went back to Browse mode, like the book told me to do, and still couldn't see them.
Finally, after much digging, I found the crucial step I had missed, buried in the smaller, italicized text of the gargantuan paragraph accompanying Figure 1-17. Inconsistencies like this make the book a tough slog.
I just brushed up on my Access 2003 (I haven't used it in 7 years) with one of those procedure-based illustrated books. It took me 3 hours to get through the 250-page book. It took me about an hour to get through chapter 1 (27 pages) of this book.
I recommend downloading the examples from their website (I doubt you got a CD-ROM with your book). See the Missing CD-ROM link on this book's web page.
 A Smart, Affordable Investment for any FileMaker User or Developer February 3, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
One of the first things that I noticed about "FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual" is it's size. It's a big, heavy book, clocking in at 778 pages. But there is a good reason for this: This book covers a lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of ground. As such, it has something for everyone. From newcomers to veteran developers, you're bound to find something new here. So don't let it's size scare you away!
Written by Geoff Coffey (of Six Fried Rice fame) and Susan Prosser (president of dbhq, a FileMaker certified consulting firm based in Gilbert, Arizona), FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual is part of a series of books published by Pogue Press. Like other books in the series, it is very well written, and is presented in a way that allows a lot of information to be presented without overwhelming the reader.
The book is divided into seven parts. Part One provides a good introduction to FileMaker Pro and is a good start for FileMaker newcomers. Part Two covers layouts, including all of the tools that are available to us in layout mode. Part Three dives into relational databases, with information on modeling, relationships, table occurrences, data tunneling, and more.
Part Four deals with calculations, and does a good job of explaining topics that can be hard to grasp, including the Self function, the Let function, and variables. The "Power User Tip" in this section is one of the best examples that I've seen yet on how to put the Let and Self functions to good use. It shows how to use these functions, and a few others, to clean up and format a user-entered phone number.
FileMaker users who have yet to automate their databases with scripts will find Part Five of FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual especially useful. Everything from script basics and how to use ScriptMaker, to advanced scripting techniques, is covered. The information presented about script parameters is especially informative. Readers will learn how to pass multiple parameters to a script, as well as how to pass parameters to subscripts. Script variables, and error handling techniques, are also covered.
Part Six covers FileMaker security and integration. Readers will learn how to use FileMaker's built-in security model to protect their databases. In terms of integrating Filemaker, this section explains how to share data in FileMaker databases with other systems, and vice versa. The authors do a great job of introducing what many believe to be one of the most compelling new FileMaker features: External SQL Sources (or "ESS"), which was introduced in FileMaker Pro 9. Rounding out Part Six are terrific explanations of some of the developer utilities that are only available in FileMaker Pro Advanced. Copying and pasting database structures, the script debugger, the data viewer, the database design report, tooltips, custom menus, and more are covered.
And finally, Part Seven includes two helpful appendixes. Appendix A, "Getting Help," offers a good review of other places that developers and users can turn to when they run into trouble. Appendix B provides a list of FileMaker Error Codes.
At a list price of $34.99, FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual is a smart, affordable investment for any FileMaker user or developer. Reading the book is like taking a crash course in FileMaker Pro development. Read it, and your FileMaker skills are sure to benefit!
FileMaker lifesaver! December 18, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
It's been years since I used Filemaker, and then only as a database user...not the creator of the application. So when I set out to create a new FM database solution for a small private school I needed help! The tutorial provided with Filemaker9 is VERY basic and the application's "Help" tool is very thin. (I finally stopped clicking on it when search after search yielded no real help at all.)
I picked up a copy of the Missing Manual hoping it would save my neck. I found that I already knew the material in the first half of the book, which was actually comforting. It was the second half where I found the help that I needed to make my FM solution do what I wanted it to do. The Missing Manual is well written by real humans...even with a bit of a sense of humor thrown in. And downloadable files on the Missingmanuals.com site make it easy to learn through hands-on exercises.
I'm now rockin' & rollin' on my new database application! FileMaker is a powerful tool and the Missing Manual has helped me to unlock its secrets! A few dollars very well spent!
 FM 9 December 1, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This manual is thorough and complete. It is clearly written and easy to use.
FILEMAKER 9 .. MISSING MANUAL November 25, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The book is as massive and complete as Filemaker 9 software. I found that it was at first intimidating because of the 750 + pages but after you dive in and learn to use the index the book because a lifesaver and close companion. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to use this powerful program.
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