Advantage Database Server: The Official Guide

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Summary: Client / Server To Go
Review: I have been programming with Delphi for a number a years now using Borland's Database Engine. It became time to move to a Client/Server environment and the "The Advantage Database Guide" convinced me this is the way to go. The book is a well written being it is easy reading for a technical guide, plus there are many solid examples. The main focus is on the ADT table types and the data dictionary use. The data dictionary is a new feature to the latest version of ADS. It became evident from the book that it was very important to cover this thoroughly because all the latest security, referential integrity, stored procedure, and triggers work from inside the data dictionary. This was especially appreciated when the examples covered creating complex stored procedures and triggers were in my native development language. This may not be the nitty-gritty of details for database development but that is what the software documentation is for. Instead, this book gives you a clear overview with just enough real world caveats to put you on the right track of where ADS can take your development. All in all, this was great coverage of the ADS, with full featured explanations of the new features. As a bonus, the accompanying CD allows for practice with a Local version the database engine and contains all the examples. I found the book just right for someone moving from the desktop database world to client server.

Rating:
Summary: Advantage Database Server
Review: I have been using Advantage Database Server (ADS) for several years with clipper, then VO, and finally Delphi. There is an abundance of useful information about ADS and its various tools throughout this book. The book also explains the new version 7 features very well. I have only been using the Data Dictionary for about a year, and much of what I struggled for weeks to figure out is well documented and explained in this book. For me, the SQL chapters were also especially useful, as I do not as yet have a firm grasp on the finer details of SQL. If you are new to ADS or you want to learn more about it, this book is a good place to start. It will be an excellent reference tool for me now, but I wish it had been available when I first began using ADS.

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Summary: A great resource for a great database
Review: I have been using the Advantage Database Server for the last 3 years. This book has been a very useful tool in coming up to speed with the newest additions to this already comprehensive database solution.

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Summary: Advantage Database Server Is A Winner - A++++++
Review: I have been working with Advantage Database Server for several years. Many of our customers have (and are still) using Advantage 5.x. We are planning to use some of the newer features of Advantage in our 2004 release and upgrading our customers to ADS 7. This book came at the perfect time as we seek to understand data dictionaries, stored procedures, triggers, and other features that were not available in older versions of Advantage. This book is a life saver and has taught me so much about this powerful database server. I particularly find useful the chapter on the ADS .NET data provider.

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Summary: Excellent ADS Resource
Review: I highly recommend this book for anyone using Advantage Database Server. We purchased ADS at the recommendation of a vendor to help support their software application. This book gave us a better understanding of how the application works and is a resource when problems arise.

Rating:
Summary: Great resource
Review: I was a beginner at database usage, but I was able to pick up the nuances of ADS through the use of this book. It is my main source of reference for questions concerning ADS, and has helped solve many of my problems. ADS is a great resource, and this book is the ultimate companion.

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Summary: The Reference Guide I've been looking for
Review: If you are a developer or you use Advantage Database Server in any way, this is the book you have been waiting for! I recommend this book to all levels because it guides the introductory level reader through the concepts and features and it helps the advanced level reader exploit the power of those features. This book clearly explains why you may want to add new features to your Advantage applications. The authors do a great job explaining how to use ADS using simple examples. This is a "must have" reference for all Advantage Developers.

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Summary: Excellent guide to ADS
Review: Our company (Hudson Medical Systems) has been using the Advantage Database Server in our medical transcription and dictation products for over 3 years now and we could not be more satisfied with its ease-of-use, performance, and cost. I was pleased to see a new book devoted to this remarkable product that explains the unique features of ADS in such a logical and straight-forward manner. We especially liked the dicussion of the new features in version 7.0 that we are interested in. I would recommend this book to any database developer, regardless of their familiarity with ADS, as a great resource when developing applications.

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Summary: MS-Access upgrade option...
Review: We came across Advantage Database Server when our in-house development project grew beyond the capabilities of MS Access and we started researching database upgrade options. We'd been using Access since version 1.0 and were at the point where we needed to make some serious decisions about the future of our company. We realized that our database had been holding us back. After reviewing the capabilities of several products, including MS-SQL and Oracle, we concluded that ADS was the only solution that met our requirements. We needed a reliable database platform that could service data on our Linux file servers as well as easily house information residing on dozens of laptops running various incarnations of Windows. We also needed the ability to create extremely wide tables to handle the information on numerous legal forms. ADS was the only database that gave us the option to work with large sets of un-normalized data. If you think that MS-SQL is your only option as an upgrade path from MS Access, do yourself a huge favor and get a copy of The Official Guide.

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Summary: This is the book every new or existing ADS programmer need!
Review: We have been making Point Of Sale Applications since the DOS days and have been through several databases over the time. Advantage Database Server has performed far beyond than we ever expected from any Database Server Software. Programming in Delphi, we found the Advantage Database Server to be the most flexible and powerful Database Server and still reasonable priced. I wish we had have this book from the start. We have used Advantage Database Server for over three years and we have learned a lot by reading this book. You, definetly, need this book if you are looking for a new database server or you are already using Advantage Database Server. You don't want to miss out on this book!!!