Rating: 
Summary: A book for Access Developer & Power Users
Review: Although I am an Access Developer (6 years), I have purchased no fewer than 15 - 20 books on Access 97, 2000, 2002.
Access Cookbook I purchased in late 2002 primarily for the first word at the top of the cover page - "Solutions".
True to the meaning, this book provides "how to " programming solutions that I have struggled with and needed over the past last 6 years.
Explanations are concise, and clear. And you get a CD with the examples which is worth many times the book costs.
I have other books by the authors; Developers Handbook for Acces 97 and 2000, and VBA for Developers. These books (1500 pages) primarly benefit the intermediate to advanced users.
The Access Cookbook should be a extremely helpful even to the beginning users (which we all were at some point).
Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for next edition
Review: Having been an Access business apps developer for the past two years, I'm now beginning a MS Office automation project gluing Access and Excel. I don't have, nor have I read this book, but I've looked at the sample pages and am familiar with other titles by the authors. It seems like I'll need the Cookbook now, but I'm writing this in February 2004 and the next edition will be available next month - I'll wait until then.
Rating: 
Summary: Access Cookbook Quick Analysis
Review: I am an MS Access developer for an architectural firm in Washington DC. In evaluating the MS Access cookbook, I will first offer what I liked about it and then what I didn't like. First, I liked HOW it was written. Other reviewers have commented on the ease of understanding acquired from such a complex topic, viz, one of computer programming and the Problem-Solution-Discussion framework approach in which the book was written and I agree. The book is written in a fashion that makes it very easy to grasp MS Access programming concepts. I also thought there was a diversity of topics covered which will (or should) stimulate the reader into tapping into his/her own creative potential when using Access. What I did NOT like about the book was that I thought it lacked overall practicality. While some of the topics discussed were practical answers to real programming issues in MS Access, I thought that most of the book was impractical for typical business operations. Perhaps another chapter could be added to the book that offered MORE practical solutions for small business. Would I have purchased the book had I known what I now know about it? Yes I would and that strongly suggests the book is worth purchasing. I believe that all books are the same relative to knowledge - no one book has all the answers. You read a variety of books and pull the bits and pieces that you like from each one to create an intrapersonal, collaborative framework of knowledge and wisdom. The MS Access cookbook is just that. A book from which you pull a few practical bits of programmming to add to your own repository of knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: This book is the ticket!
Review: I have been reading Access books for months now and this one hits the sweet spot that I needed. I consider myself knowledgeable in the basics of Access, but have been wanting to incorporate code to make my databases more user-friendly. I'm a network administrator, not a full-time DBA or programmer. Other books that I have read were either too basic, too theoretical, or too technical for me. This book gives dozens and dozens of practical problems that can be addressed with code along with well-written solutions and sample code that you can import and use in your databases. Thanks for a great resource!
Rating:
Summary: This book is the ticket!
Review: I have been reading Access books for months now and this one hits the sweet spot that I needed. I consider myself knowledgeable in the basics of Access, but have been wanting to incorporate code to make my databases more user-friendly. I'm a network administrator, not a full-time DBA or programmer. Other books that I have read were either too basic, too theoretical, or too technical for me. This book gives dozens and dozens of practical problems that can be addressed with code along with well-written solutions and sample code that you can import and use in your databases. Thanks for a great resource!
Rating:
Summary: This book delivers what it promises
Review: If you know basic Access and VB programming, it will give you needed solutions to real situations that actually do arise.There's is no need to read it cover to cover. Just see what tips it has to offer from the table of contents. If it's something you need for your project, just go right to that section and start reading. You'll probably find suggestions that you never thought of too that are very useful in actual projects. This is not a book for someone who doesn't know Access or VB at all. However if you know the basics of Access and VB and have gotten a real world project for the first time in Access, this book is a life-saver. A beginner can look like an experienced database programmer when armed with this book as a reference. It gives useful solutions and tells you exactly how to do it and explains in detail how and why it works.
Rating:
Summary: This book delivers what it promises
Review: If you know basic Access and VB programming, it will give you needed solutions to real situations that actually do arise. There's is no need to read it cover to cover. Just see what tips it has to offer from the table of contents. If it's something you need for your project, just go right to that section and start reading. You'll probably find suggestions that you never thought of too that are very useful in actual projects. This is not a book for someone who doesn't know Access or VB at all. However if you know the basics of Access and VB and have gotten a real world project for the first time in Access, this book is a life-saver. A beginner can look like an experienced database programmer when armed with this book as a reference. It gives useful solutions and tells you exactly how to do it and explains in detail how and why it works.
Rating:
Summary: I'm a ColdFusion guy, so read this review with that in mind:
Review: This book I would recommend for people who use Access as their back end, and need to add some automation to their back end. It deals mostly with using VBA to solve problems, like:
* How to create an input box where you can get some better info than the standard VBA one
* Call Excel functions, and apply them to Access data
* Figure out which users have a shared database open, if you're
doing a blended Access/CF solution
* Managing report printing (see next set of bullets)
I recommend checking out this book under the following circumstances:
* You have internal and external clients hitting your database. In a situation like that, you can have your internal users access the database using a well-designed Access application, which this book will give you some tricks on how to create.
* In the alternative, you want to manage and analyze your data, and create print reports. That's where Access just as a stand-alone application gives a substantial advantage over any Web technology.
For a ColdFusion developer, there are some topics in this book that probably wouldn't do much good:
* Adding Smart Tags functionality to a database - if you're expanding beyond the reach of Microsoft Office, Smart Tags prove to be a nifty proprietary parlor trick
* Using Access' security management tools to manage user rights to database objects. If I run a Windows server, I would use Challenge and Response to create NTFS based permissions on my pages in my application that manage data. Otherwise, I'll use application-based usernames and passwords, same net result.
* Exporting Access data as XML using pre-defined schemas. Not bad, but ColdFusion has far better technology.
Don't get me wrong - those last three bullets are not any disrespect to this well-written, well-organized guide. I'm just looking at, "What topics would interest you if you're a ColdFusion developer?"
If you do want to learn more about Access database development as an art unto itself, this is not the place to begin. This is the place to arrive at.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the negative stuff...this book f*cking rocks
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite Access books (Next to Wrox's Beginning Access VBA). If you want a cool solution to common situations/problems, you can find it in this book. The search textbox for the listbox control code is one of my favorites! There are some really good ideas in here for user interfaces. This book is for folks who have some VBA experience, so it's really not a beginner's book. Get some VBA experience and you'll totally appreciate the value of this book!
Rating:
Summary: Unique resource for experienced access users
Review: Those familiar with Access may not be familiar with O'Reilly's Cookbook series. The Cookbook series takes common tough problems and provides simple recipes, often with multiple alternative takes, to solve the problem. The value is not only in reference, it also shows you new techniques for using Access or VB is new ways that you may not have thought of.
I highly recommend this book for any experienced Access user, or anyone looking to become an Access expert. This book will stretch your skills and make it easier to nod your head yes when your boss asks you to solve some tricky problem.
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