Microsofta Access Version 2002 Inside Out [With CDROM]

I hadn't worked in Access for more than a decade. Suddenly I was faced with supporting a database I knew nothing about. The Inside Out book and CD really helped get me familiar with the product again. All the screens shots and disussion of how the product worked helped me get up to speed in no time. I would not hesitate to buy another bool by Ms. Feddema.

I have spent the last several days with this book building a database for a list rental company. Being used to Access 97, I appreciated the chapter devoted to the differences in version. Compared to the Access Bible by Prague and Irwin, the language was easier for a novice to understand, less technical, more end user friendly. The step by step instructions are great because of the abundance of screen shots used. When I couldn't understand the words (like when you are trying to create a complex report), the pictures were priceless. The InsideOut text boxes kept me from a few pitfalls, like the advice on wrting SQL statements. I apprecited the explanations of how to perform tasks in more than one way, both suggestions in the same place, alleviating the search thru the index and table of contents. The only thing I haven't been able to find an explanation for is manually setting a primary key when you want it to AutoNumber, but with your own number. It's probably something really simple. I've written a lot of tech bulletins, and I can appreciate the minute detail that went into the how-to's in this book.I highly recommend this, intermediate to advanced DB Admin.

In any book with over 1,100 pages, a few editing errors may be inevitable. If the book comes with a free CD, maybe it's nitpicking to expect perfection in every routine on the CD. However, when I'm depending on the book and CD to teach me how to use computer software, editing oversights are especially frustrating. I follow the instructions and they don't work, so I fear that my software has a bug or I'm failing to understand what should be obvious.To Helen's credit, when I emailed her about one of the errors (on page 554, the 0 should be a 1 in steps 3 and 5), she did respond with a thanks and said she'd file a report with Microsoft Press. (As I write this, the correction is still not posted at mspress.microsoft.com/support/search.htm, though.)Many of the errors in the book are so obvious that you can make the correction yourself. Still, if they are that obvious, why didn't the editor catch them? Here's an example from page 228: "...only four events: Updated, Enter, Exit, Got Focus, and Lost Focus."But all that is a minor nuisance in the context of a wonderfully informative and systematically written tome. As I worked through the text and activities, I felt that Helen really cared about her readers getting it all. Just notice how many times the word "simply" appears in the text.I highly recommend this book, as long as you realize the mistakes you make may not be your own.

I have more books than I want to admit. This book is in my top 4 - one of two that pertain to Access. I think this is a must have if you want to do more than just build/use mediocre databases. Her approach is well thought out, her insight is fresh and unique, and she covers what needs to be covered - something most books do not do. While other books regurgitate the same information again and again, Helen shows you what you actually need to know. Plenty of VBA code, examples, & insight.This is the first book that I have ever bought that has any real level of support. If you have not been to her web sites I encourage you to do so. They are searchable & as such it is easy to get the information you want, real examples for real situations. I have even had the author answer most of my e-mail questions - that is unusual in this day and age. She knows her stuff, she explains it well, & she supports her products.If you are looking for a really well thought out & presented book covering the stuff you really need to know and the stuff you really will use, well then, buy this book today. I am sure you will be pleased with the purchase, I am.

I have a little vice. I buy Access books at about the rate Imelda Marcos bought shoes. This Access book is quite simply the best I've come across. Every time I dip into it, I find something really useful that makes my Access experience better. And Feddema writes with matchless clarity. I liked this book enough to buy a second copy for a friend. He wanted to borrow it, and I didn't want to be without it, so I bought a second copy. Mitzi in Maryland