Special Edition Using Filemaker Pro 5

Rich Coulombre and Jonathan Price, the authors of Special Edition Using FileMaker Pro 5, fight two battles. In the first, they strive to overcome dullness, complexity, and other traditional challenges of technical writers. They undoubtedly prevail here, with careful organization, clear prose, excellent sample material (both printed and on the companion CD-ROM), and helpful schema diagrams. The outcome of the secondary battle--the one for developers' minds, in which Coulombre and Price promote FileMaker Pro as a platform for serious work--remains to be determined, but there's no question that these two men make a strong case for the FileMaker environment. Read this volume if you're familiar with FileMaker and want to extend your knowledge, or if you're considering multiple database solutions and want to see what this one can do for you.

This top-quality technical book acknowledges that relational databases intimidate many people, and explains them with extreme clarity. Having done that, they proceed to unlock a library of FileMaker wisdom: Coulombre is a FileMaker consultant with a lot of experience. The coverage in this book is full of attention to the practicalities that make database programming interesting. A section on picking surnames out of long Spanish name strings is interesting and typical, as is a section called "Dumb Portal Tricks" that explains how to use portals to make interfaces much more capable without a lot of extra effort. Throughout, the authors emphasize detail and accuracy, and never forget that most of their readers are out to make a buck as developers for hire. --David Wall

Topics covered: FileMaker Pro 5 for Windows and Mac OS computers, and explained in terms that intermediate-level developers will understand and advanced developers will appreciate. Database planning, UI design, reporting, scripting, and Web integration. The authors emphasize programmers' tricks, miscellaneous hacks, and doing a high-quality job under commercial pressures.