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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 $18.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 31478
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:
 Outstanding book for beginner, intermediate & advanced FileMaker developers July 16, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
As an advanced developer, I initially wondered how much I would benefit from this 735 page tome, but was pleasantly surprised; I would even go further and say that I was astounded! There is just so much information here that I still find I'm able to learn something new almost every time that I pick it up.
No familiarity with FileMaker is assumed, although a basic acquaintance would be helpful and you probably wouldn't be reading this book if you hadn't already dabbled with FileMaker at least a little bit. The main sections of this book are as follows: The Fundamentals, Introduction to Database Design, Beyond the Basics, Integrity and Security and finally, Raising the Bar. Each section includes chapters covering pretty much everything you would ever want to know... and then some!
Unlike some other books that I've read about FileMaker, this one is not a repetition of the FileMaker Help file; it does not list every function and script step in alphabetical order, explaining what each one does. Rather it takes those very features and demonstrates ways of using them to help improve your development skills. Furthermore, the author's insights into the way that FMP functions `under the hood' actually appear throughout the book as tips, further enhancing your own knowledge. These demonstrations and tips put you, the developer, in a far better position to then know how best to design and develop your own solutions.
The chapters are well organised, but I'm not keen on some of the arrangements used within chapters; they sometimes seems to wander off on a tangent or two before getting to the point. However, to be fair, FileMaker is a complex beast and as we all know, there are more often than not, twenty seven different ways to address a single challenge. Therefore, praise where praise is due, this book shows you the many different ways to approach any challenge and should arm you with the knowledge to choose which method is the best one.
Worth almost more than the book itself, are the many sophisticated demonstration files that the author refers to throughout the book. These files demonstrate and improve upon the techniques in the book and greatly enhance your ability to understand the concept being presented. Your immediate reaction when downloading many of these files will probably be, "I didn't know you could do that in FileMaker!" and then you'll spend hours ignoring your wife and kids learning exactly how it works and replicating it in your own solution.
The only chapter I felt could have been improved was the one about Custom Functions, a much undervalued feature of our chosen development platform. If you don't already know, FileMaker Pro Advanced is required to create and edit custom functions, although once created they can then be used in FileMaker Pro as well. The author explains what custom functions do, how they work and provides several basic examples, but the examples are of little use in every day database development. Some samples of more useful custom functions would have been beneficial and will hopefully be included in a future edition. No need to wait however, since there is a excellent source of useful custom functions at Brian Dunning's website.
There is a wise saying, "Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime". This book is not a fish, it teaches you how to fish, or in FileMaker terms, how to become a knowledgeable and self-sufficient developer. My minor quibbles aside; I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
This book loves FileMaker and developers June 25, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Adding my kudos to the reviews so far...
Ray Cologon is the best mind in FileMaker today, and has been for a long time. Ray's depth of knowledge makes each section of this book riveting. While you might not read it like a novel, it is worth reading every word, because not one is wasted.
The book provides an essential and thorough explanation of both the simplicity and power of FileMaker, making it invaluable for developers at every stage. It also offers the insights of a unique, dedicated, and generous thinker. As I both skimmed and read in depth, I felt that, through this book, Ray wants all FileMaker developers to succeed by knowing both the steps and the thinking behind them, and by using our imagination to apply this knowledge to our own particular situations.
Thanks for all the hard work, Ray!
 Get ready to swim June 19, 2008
4 out of 10 found this review helpful
I'm sure this book is amazing, but it throws your right into the deep end of the pool and and expects you to swim. I started following the exercise in chapter 5 on building a database. Chapter is not broken down into segments. It simply just chugs along telling you what to do as if it were telling a story. There is no break or explanation of why one setting is chosen over another, or what the formula you are entering means.
I followed the instructions to adjust the "Control Style" in a "field control/setup" dialog box, and then found myself asking "well, where did it get this information from?"
My guess is that this book was not meant for me. I'm not sure who it is meant for. A beginner can follow directions, but doesn't really understand what they are doing in each step. An advanced user, I assume wouldn't need to follow directions or a whole chapter on how to build a database.
I was also frustrated by the entire first chapter describing what a database was. Yeah, I get it, original databases were not based in computers. They were in filing cabinets or on spreadsheets. They didn't have "relationships" between files. Just get on with teaching me what I need to know.
Maybe I'm just frustrated by the three days I spent building the sample database, and not being sure why what seems like simple relationships which should be there are not.
A great comprehensive tome of FileMaker Pro knowledge June 17, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have been a fan of the FileMaker Pro Bible Series for quite a few revisions now. The goal of the series, as I've come to understand it, is to provide a comprehensive text covering most of the resources and techniques needed to truly leverage FileMaker Pro. This book takes this to a new level with a thoroughness that I believe must be due to this version's author.
No single book can cover every topic in both the simplicity and the depth that every reader may want, but I think this book covers that range better than most I've read. It has invaluable sections introducing the reader to very necessary basic concepts, such as database design and data modeling for FileMaker Pro, and yet gets into lots of more advanced techniques such as modular code design, logging techniques, recursion through custom functions, and more.
I would not suggest using a book like this for learning a subject, like FileMaker, from start to finish. Rather I'd suggest it, as a very comprehensive tome of FileMaker Pro knowledge -- knowledge that would take many years of developing complex systems to learn for oneself -- all presented in an easy to reference format.
From a seasoned developer standpoint, I think the advanced topics and provided examples (by the master of excellent example files, Ray Cologon), are more than worth the price of entry. I highly suggest this book to anyone who uses FileMaker Pro, at any level.
At last a good FileMaker book! June 17, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The authors of the FileMaker Bible have written the most comprehensive book on FileMaker ever attempted. There are parts of this book that document aspects of FileMaker development that have probably never been documented or explained outside of the actual source code, and this book explains them in a clear, concise and unambiguous language. This book is an essential for every FileMaker developer.
The biggest advantage of this book is that it's very thorough - quite often technical books will explain one side of an issue, or leave out details, or present ideas in ways that could be interpreted ambiguously. When you read a section of the FileMaker Bible, you get with a complete and accurate view of the ideas at hand without confusion or ambiguity.
This book also fills a need from a new developer starting out to someone who's been working with FileMaker for a while. The sections work through from basic to advanced in a way that works well, but also means it's full of snippets of useful information for someone who has a high level of experience in FileMaker.
I'd recommend this book over any other FileMaker book. Most of the other books I've seen either parrot parts of the FileMaker Help (errors, omissions and all), or only cover one aspect of FileMaker. This book is all new material, and leaves no stone un-turned. Well worth the money.
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