FileMaker Pro 6 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide

If you know absolutely nothing about Filemaker, this book is easily the best. Some may pass it up because of a lack of practice files. However, I think that is a plus. I found it easier to develop my own practice database(s) as I went along. If you want to learn more, I recommend moving on to the Advanced Peachpit book and then to Kubica's, which is too comprehensive and advanced to be used as a learning tool, but an excellent reference manual.

I knew almost nothing about FileMaker Pro but needed to learn it fast for a project. I read this book in about 5 hours and after that, I could do all but the most coplicated things in FileMaker. I have a Mac and this book is great for Mac or Windows. Unless you need to do very complicated scripts and formulas, this book is great for you. I hope he updates it for FMP 7. All in all, read this book and you will gain a skill you never knew how useful it could be. I make databases for all sorts of things now, and it just takes me a couple hours.

I wrote the book, so call me biased. Still I wanted to highlight that FileMaker 6 is not just another upgrade and the book not just another revision (I know because I've been doing this since FileMaker 4). Two cool features, highlighted in the book, make FileMaker 6 worth the upgrade: full XML support and auto-importing of digital camera images (Mac only). * While XML is a blessing to database geeks, it's also accessible to plain folks via FileMaker's support of XML-based templates. You'll find a free collection on the FileMaker site (www.filemaker.com) that will let you do nifty things like add live package tracking to a FileMaker database or import songlists from iTunes. If you are a database geek, the XML support means the barriers are finally down for using FileMaker with corporate-scale databases.* As for importing digital camera images, FileMaker doesn't just grab the photo but also grabs all the metadata for each image. Such data includes camera settings, which FileMaker can dump directly into several of the 20 templates included in the program. If you use lots of digital images, this alone can make sorting and finding photos way easier.Just like the program, FileMake Pro 6 Visual QuickStart Guide's been fine-tuned and honed from top to bottom. And it's got the best index in the business, so you can actually find the answers to your questions.HTH, Nolan