Rating: 
Summary: Best of the Litter! VB and Database development with ADO
Review: Did not like the part that the book covers for the most part DATA controls for MS-Access programming. Not benefecial if your are gonna be using referencial code based coding reference source.
Rating: 
Summary: Learns you the basic about database-programming
Review: Giving this book ratings is a difficult task - it depends mainly of the readers VB skills.The title of the book is "Beginning Databases...". It's recommended that you have read "Beginning VB" (also from WROX), before starting this book. In my case I was often frustrated about how John Connell spend time learning me basic VB stuff. I wanted to learn using databases with VB6, not how to program. Most of the book takes focus on the Data Wizard and Data Control - both excellent functions in VB6, but Connell uses far to much time describing and using them because they both are pretty simple and intuitive if you are used to controls in VB6. Connell should have focused more on using references to DAO/ADO, specially since he wants to learn you how to make "profesional" applications. The most positive side is, that he introduces you to both ADO and DAO - even though ADO is most modern, mastering DAO is often an advantage.
Another positive thing is how Connell introduces you to databases and SQL. After reading the chapters you have the basic knowledge how to design a database-application. The book promises to "build functional VB user interface for database access". The book is from 1998, so they don't have a modern look.
The interfaces Connell builds are very simple and does not look profesional. For example does he mention the HFlexgrid-control (shows data in a grid where fonts and colors can be modified), but doesn't really explain how to use it. My conclusion is, that if you know basic about VB but consider yourself as a beginner and want to know more about databases, then this book is relevant. But if you already master VB then only a third of this book is interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Hurray for John Connell
Review: Hurray for John Connell he speaks to us beginners on our level. It was also very encouraging when he mentioned that he did not get it the first time, he had a light bulb moment. I have never heard a guru admit that before they usually give the impression that it came very easy for them. The exercises seemed to encompass a lot of VB functions, uses, and neat tricks. The explanations are complete, well thought out, and unambiguous. With little or no exposure to VB any programmer should be able to follow along.
My next goal is VB.Net I hope Mr. Connell will write/has written a book that addresses it. Wrox should adopt his style for all of their text books.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent starting point to learn practical VB skills
Review: I strongly recommend purchasing a copy of Beginning VB6 Database, John Connell, Wrox, ISBN 1-861001-06-1. This book is superb. It's well written, easy to follow, and uses practical real-world-example-type labs to get you quickly up to speed on DB access and writing GOOD user interfaces. It also shows how to write re-usable code for those interfaces. If you don't feel like coding the examples they can be downloaded from the Wrox web site. I've learned a bunch of simple little things to improve my VB skills in the first 200 pages. This is essential reading if you want to learn VB skills that you can apply to business solutions, and it doesn't take a lot of time to get through the chapters. I can't say enough good things about this book. Probably the best "how to" computer book I've ever read. It also covers ADO 2.0. I checked it out from the library and was so impressed I purchased my own copy.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Litter! VB and Database development with ADO
Review: I strongly recommend purchasing a copy of Beginning VB6 Database. WHY?
Top quality code that works!
Great working examples!
Gets you into the "preverbal" guts of VB Database programming. Want to learn how ADO works? You will find in Johns book. John's book has taken me well beyond the "basics" of VB database programming, with... First rate screen shots of the applications development and the real world examples he presents as you move along from one chapter to the next. And yes all with excellent easy to follow explanations and code. Solid examples of good Class development. Well document/written/
Useful API code and more importantly it works! And guess what John explains why!!! I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Soooooooooo....
If you what get a grip on ADO, I can't think of a better place to start then with...
Beginning VB6 Database!!! THANK YOU JOHN!!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Must for VB6 Database Programmers
Review: I would like to congratulate you for producing Beginning VB6 Database Programming by John Connell. The book is well structured, the chapters can be studied independently. The explanations are very thorough, and clear, the style gave me complete confidence in the author and the feeling that no stones were left unturned. This opinion is evidenced by the Bullet Proof User Interface which is built, incrementally over chapters 4 -7, leading to an excellent Data Control Class Module and Form Templates which have been designed for code reusability. Chapter 10 provides an excellent Address book application using many features of VB for the design and implementation of the foundations of a professional contact management system. The background and history of ADO is clearly and thoroughly documented to provide a solid understanding of the many technologies involved in Database access and how ADO simplifies data access using Universal Data Access for both relational and non relational data sources. Chapter 12 provides an excellent ADO Data Bound ActiveX Control which enables code re-use in a multitude of applications. Chapter 13 is an excellent introduction to Acitve Server Pages and ADO with a really useful Cookie application which incorporates many of the features of using Active Server Pages, using HTML, Server Side Scripting using Visual Basic, ADO for database connectivity and an Active X Dynamic Link Library to exploit the power of VB6 and keeping the Data Centric code close to the database, separate from the User Interface, and again, designed for re-usability in other applications. Chapter 14, Advanced ADO Programming - Data Mining. This is a suberp application which has huge potential in many organisations with corporate data. The data mining technique is employed in a professional front end, user interface, which can easily be tailored to many business specific scenarios which require Business Intelligence uncovering hidden trends in their corporate databases. Finally, Chapter 15, really tops it off, with the capability to provide data exporting features for all database applications. The ability to export data from a database in a variety of formats, including Excel, HTML and CSV is invaluable to every application developer. The ability to disconnect a Recordset and make it persistent has huge potential in Internet applications. The book has, throughout, many useful coding tips to improve the speed of display of Forms, using Events, and writing fast code using the With Statement and storing of static values as variables for fast code execution. Very Professional. I started the book in the Cookie Chapter 13, then 14 then 15. I then worked my way back to Chapter 8. Then I worked forward, to finish with Chapter 7. Thank you, I've learned heaps from the book. Big respect to John Connell, he is the man.
Rating: 
Summary: Builds a great foundation...
Review: If you're still using VB6 (many, many are despite the .NET hype) and you need to put together a database-driven application this is the first book you should buy. It covers all of the basics you'll need to go forward with database programming. It includes chapters on good data design, definitions of databases and good interface design (the chapter "Creating a bulletproof user interface" is useful for any VB6 application, not just database-driven ones). All of this is essential for creating good DB apps, and the author explains these concepts clearly and not too verbosely. It goes beyond the coding and shows you the "why" behind data storage and manipulation. You'll learn much more than VB code. If you're already conversant in VB6 (the book doesn't assume you are) you will fly through this book. I ossmosized this book, it's that well written, and I was able to absorb everything well in time for a VB project deadline. If you need to learn quickly, this is also the book to get. The book focuses mostly on Microsoft Access DB programming (which makes sense since most beginners do not have an expensive copy of SQL Server just lying around begging for data), and it covers DAO and ADO and delineates the important differences between the technologies. Though the book provides a good foundation for any VB database programming, it will not teach you how to program using VB6 and SQL Server. In short, a great introduction to database programming for Visual Basic programmers. Expect to learn a lot, but don't stop here. Move on to a more advanced book after ingesting this one.
Rating:
Summary: Good Solid VB Programming - Not Just Database
Review: John Connell should have been a teacher. I have about 1 dozen VB books, and this is in the top two of my favorites and probably always will be. If you understand basic (sorry, no pun)VB and want a good intro to database connectivity(DAO, ADO, ASP, SQL)stuff then definitely buy this book. There are also great sections on object-oriented programming like creating data handling classes and Active X controls for code reuseability. I found the midsection discussion on relational database design (normal form design, key constructs, SQL queries, etc.) an excellent refresher. The ending section and example on Data Mining was just too cool and really showed me how database programming could be much more than simply keeping track of who has what zip code. If I had one suggestion for improvement it would be to look at connectivity issues with databases other than Access. Connecting to legacy systems like Dbase, or more esoteric ones like Filemaker are currently "try and see" experiments for me. I sure wish John would hold my hand there too!
Rating:
Summary: I soon made $5,500.00 with this book
Review: Prior to picking up John's book I had some familiarity with 'desktop' databases like Lotus Approach and MS Access, and had a beginner's understanding of the Basic Language, but felt to intimidated to actually code my own database from scratch in a major programming language.
After studying John's material and hand coding the examples (no copy and paste), I gained the confidence necessary to bid on a Database contract in the manufacturing sector. I won the contract. The database has been in production for over 4 years now.
The client recently asked me to upgrade it. This IS IMPORTANT, because John's emphasis on good database design, code optimization, and component reuse HELPED me to write code that I can easily return to and understand later when it's time for maintenance or upgrades.
And yes, there were two examples in his code that were broken, but they were minor mistakes and he teaches so well that I was able to fix it myself and make the examples work.
P.S. In the recommended titles below:
The first - is actually a great VB/MS HTML help reference.
The second - is by Dan Appleman. Dan's books are a MUST HAVE for serious VB developers.
Other Recommended Titles:
Microsoft Access 97 Developer's Handbook - MS Press
Developing COM/ActiveX Components with Visual Basic 6 - SAMS
Professional Active Server Pages 2.0 - Wrox
Java 2 Primer Plus - SAMS
Rating:
Summary: Good book on database programming
Review: This is a good book on using Visual Basic 6 and databases. The earlier chapters in this the book cover Data Access Objects (DAO). Although there is lots of legacy code that uses DAO/RDO (Remote Data Objects), you will find most Visual Basic development shops may have converted to ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). ADO is covered in the later chapters but it is 2.1. The current version of ADO is 2.7. DAO/RDO/ADO are the "bridges" between a database and Visual Basic applications. For a developer who is going to be supporting Visual Basic 6.0 and ADO 2.5 or later then this is a good starting point in database programming using Visual Basic 6.0. This book covers Microsoft Access and small amount of SQL Server. There is very little discussion about other databases such as Oracle. I combined this book and John Smiley's "Learn to Program Visual Basic Databases" to give me a solid foundation on databases, ADO, and Visual Basic. I would recommend "Beginning SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic Developers" or "Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0" by Thearon Willis (both from Wrox) for developers who need to use SQL Server and Visual Basic 6. These books are both excellent and will augment this book.
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