Advanced FileMaker Pro 6 Web Development

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Summary: If you want to understand FM Web Publishing - buy this book
Review: All other training and references merely scratch the surface. This book goes into detail about what you can and can't do - and more importantly - why? Not for the novice - but interemediate and advanced users will find much in this book that they can use.

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Summary: Great for Intermediate to Advanced FMPro Developers
Review: I particularly appreciated the expository style of the book. In a way that I haven't found in many other computer manuals, the authors start with a real problem the reader has and show how to solve it, adding interesting general commentary along the way. For example, I had a problem developing an XSLT document to import variable numbers of repetitions of a field - there, on pp. 330-333 is a brief statement of the problem, specification of a solution, and clear explanation of the code. I recommend this book to any FMPro user who wants to work with FMPro and CDML, PHP or XML/XSLT. Well done! I hope these authors produce other books of the same calibre.

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Summary: Excellent
Review: If you are working with Filemaker Pro files on the web, this book is essential. Although the title says, "Advanced," I think it would be perfect for beginners also.

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Summary: Good book, flawed, but only source for this topic
Review: This is a very good book, and if you're looking to web-enable your FileMaker 6 application, this is pretty much the only source for in-depth information that's available.

However, this book definitely left me wanting more. I have been building a fairly sophisticated web application in CDML using the Web Companion, the web toolkit that comes built into FileMaker 6. This topic gets less than 50 pages, and feels light. Many of my questions went unanswered. This topic could have been 100 pages, easily.

Two other toolkits, Lasso and PHP, while great options, require you to acquire and install add-on software. Each gets 60+ pages in the book. It's great that there's additional information (possibly required to cover installation), but devoting that much space to things not built into FileMaker, while not giving enough depth to the built-in component, seems like the wrong focus.

Another flaw with the book is that it doesn't really cover larger-scale applications. You get information about how to access, search, modify, and delete data, but you don't really get advice about how to structure a full-blown web application. Things like managing user sessions, authentication, etc., really are not covered at all. You'll need another book (which won't use FileMaker as an example at all) to get information about these basic web application topics.

In the end, this book gave me enough information that I could get started, and a good enough CDML reference that I've been able to figure out a lot more on my own. That makes it quite a good book, well worth the money spent. I would love to purchase an expanded 2nd edition.

I should note that it remains to be seen how well this book will hold up after FileMaker 7 Advanced Server is released. There's a lot of changes in FileMaker 7, and all of the web functionality has moved to the Advanced Server (not yet released), so many things may change...

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Summary: An excellent course in web development
Review: This is more than a book, it is really a course in web development. The authors communicate the material in a way that is easy to understand, and the book is filled with examples that you can do as you read. Although the focus is on FileMaker, the knowledge you'll glean will apply to web development efforts with other databases as well. I reviewed and skimmed the chapters out of sequence in order to get a sense of what the book had to offer. Once I had that overview, I began to read the chapters in sequence and I think that's the best approach, as material in succeeding chapters builds on the previous chapters. No stone is left unturned as XML/XSLT, Instant Web Publishing, CDML, Lasso, PHP and Web Services are covered concisely, yet in depth. Take your time with this book; after working through the material you'll be prepared to do web development using any of the aforementioned technologies.

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Summary: Finally a book that goes beyond the basics
Review: This is one of the first books that goes beyond a mere rehash of the manual, like most FileMaker books out there. This book is a treasure trove for those who already have their feet wet in FileMaker and are looking to go to the next level.

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Summary: Well Worth It For Extending FileMaker
Review: This is the second book I've read from these guys. If your a FileMaker developer wanting to get in touch with more web-centric technologies, this book not only explains how, but give you the background so you can cross-reference other sources. Good explanation of XML and XSLT with examples and the section on PHP should open up a whole new world if you're willing to live in a text editor. Good-bye CDML. Plenty of good examples, plain English, and their understanding of technology goes well beyond FileMaker.

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Summary: From a standing start, this will get you publishing with FMP
Review: Very well done. An excellent introduction to the web for experienced Filemaker users. The nicest thing is that it has parallel sections for CDML and its alternatives, like PHP. Great if you want to know which way to go. Does a good job of pointing out that even using CDML, you basically have to abandon everything about Filemaker except the data structures. Which makes you wonder why you'd use it at all, rather than, say, PHP and mySQL. Presumably, in v7, FMP will answer that question, or lose all their web programmers. (4th Dimension bigots like myself will tell you 4D is the better way to get on the web, but let's not start THAT fight.) The book is smaller - height and width, not page count - than a typical computer book, but the material is excellent. (I save five stars for the best of the best.)