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Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating book...
Review: Author covers all necessary aspects of forms development in a true hands on fashion. However, I found numerous inconsistencies between the text and sample data, references to topics not yet discussed and typos in the code.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely helpful textbook
Review: I have studied Baman Motivala's book thoroughly and found it extremely helpful. The author has done a great job making it an interactive textbook. He begins each chapter with simple well-defined learning objectives and then clearly explains the material step by step making the student perform a lot of exercises which is very important if one wants to acquire certain skills in Oracle Forms. Multiple-choice Self-review Questions at the end of the exercises of each chapter help to test those skills and motivate students in deeper studying.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for introducting students to Oracle Forms
Review: I work in a position where I train professional programmers for our client. Most of our programmers are transferring from Legacy systems to our new Oracle system. We have started using this book as an alternative to more expensive classroom/online training and have found it very useful. The chapters are small enough to do in a sitting and the exercises help reinforce what was learned in the chapter. The current users are programmers who have been doing mainframe programming for 10-20 years and are just now transitioning to Windows programming. I'm amazed at the progress they are making through the use of this book.
All of the data and sample forms are available online at a website listed in the books introduction. It's designed to be run on a personal installation of Oracle DB, but I was able to run the provided data creation scripts in our enterprise installation without issue. I used our developement environment and created the data without any modifications to the scripts and no DBA security rights (other than the right to create new tables). Took about 5 minutes of setup and then all my students were able to work with it under their normal developer rights.
There is only one downside I've found, and that's the binding. For a book that's designed to be read while doing exercises on the computer, it should have a spiral bound rather than normal book binding. The book does not want to stay open, the margins are too close to the binding, and after several times of forcing it open the bindings are wearing very badly after just a few months. Some copies even have pages starting to fall out. It's a minor thing in comparison to the content, but is awfully frustrating for my students.
In summary, we've looked at countless resources and have found this to be one of the best (cost vs. effectiveness) training tools for our programmers.
Rating:
Summary: It is mainly to learn more than to just begin
Review: I would say, this book is strictly not for new forms developers, because some of the reviewers have given bad reviews for this book, it is only because this book goes only with some knowledge of developing application using forms. The main objective is not to teach you how to develop an application using forms but to understand, better way of developing application using forms. So if you are new then I would recommend, read Oracle Certified Professional Application Developer Exam Guide first and then try using this book. This book has got an excellent way of explaining things in the simplest manner as well as same techniques can be applied in your day to day project requirements. Same programs which you are suppose to download and you have to work on those are excellent in nature because there are no errors as well as it works in the same manner, way it is mentioned in the book. Last 3 topics about Multi Form Application, Passing Parameters and Menu Application Role concepts, I am sure you will not find such examples in any books or even in manuals. So I would say, it is worth going through this book provided you are smart enough to work on forms.
Rating:
Summary: Good coverage of material - annoying workbook style
Review: The book has a good coverage of the material but I found the workbook style annoying. You are often asked to perform a task in the lab that was never fully explained prior to the lab. There is a solution with explaination is at the end of the chapter but it means that you flip back and forth a lot. Don't get me wrong otherwise the book is very complete and clearly explains the main topics. If you have a solid understanding of SQL and PL/SQL and are ready to work on client/server forms this is a good book to work from.
Rating:
Summary: Riddled With Errors
Review: The workbook does a fair job of exposing the reader to Oracle forms, but there were errors on almost every page, which makes it extremely frustrating to figure out what was meant. You have to read between the lines. Also, the writer's style leaves a lot to be desired. For example, he says, "what would happen if you were to do such and such" and then 3 steps later you figure out that you were actually supposed to do that thing. Other times he presents you with this question, so you assume you're supposed to do what he says, and then later you realize you shouldn't have! No consistency whatsoever. I don't believe anyone proofread this book before it was published. There are literally hundreds of serious typos which leave you scratching your head. A current book on Oracle 9i forms is desperately needed.
Rating:
Summary: excellent workbook for Oracle Forms Developer
Review: This book is rare find. It is by far the best book for someone new to forms. It walks you through (step by step) the creation of an Oracle Form. The presentation is solid and easy to follow. Other books on this subject are scattered and confusing. All the major topics are covered and then some more (Wizards, LOV, Alterts, Triggers, Built-ins, Canvases, Windows, Subclassing, Property Classes, Visual Attributes, Program Units, Multiple Form Applications, Parameter lists and Menus). It should be noted that this is not a manual, you learn by working through the lab excercises. The book covers far more than the two Oracle Education class Forms I and Forms II, so forget about taking them if you complete this book. The companion web site includes forms to download that are the solutions to the excercises at the end of the chapters. This book will keep you plenty busy but if you want more the web site also includes some multiple choice practice questions.
Rating: 
Summary: The worst book ever
Review: This is the worst book ever written. It has so many errors in it that one would wonder if they even edited it before they decided to publish it. If you are smart you will not buy this book. In addition to all the errors, it is extremely hard to follow. There is almost NO text. The "text" consists of tedious exercises that teach you very little if anything at all. Each exercise contains very vague instructions and "Test Your Thinking" sections which rarely make any sense.DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! YOU WILL REGRET IT!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: We need more books like this. The pace is logical and thought provoking. The questions that are asked, and the research required to get the answers, lead the reader from very simple solutions to very complex ones. I found material covered in this book that wasn't even mentioned in the Oracle books. There are no missing steps or "assumptions". You cannot fail, even if you mess up a lesson, because the next lesson starts with all new, and correct, forms.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible layout
Review: While this book is good for learning Oracle Forms 6i, and allows you to learn in the step-by-step as advertised, the layout of this book is horrendous. The chapters are literally 2-3 pages long. Then there are 3 pages of questions, followed by 20 pages of answers and their explanations. As another reviewer said, the questions asked are not meant to be known by the reader. Instead it's a quick way to make a point about what should be known, and then it's answered for you later. What I hate and got more and more frustrated by with each passing chapter, is that while the answers section of each chapter relist the question, it does not relist the steps you're supposed to do between each question. So while it would be nice to just skip the questions and go to the answers where the questions are anyway, you're constantly flipping back and forth to know what to do next. It's good to learn Forms 6i, but be warned that you're going to be frustrated by the format/layout.
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