Software Books

The built-in vfp report writer, is with no question a powerful tool, but when it comes to end-user report customization, MS Excel is still the report writing tool of choice. This is a great book for those starting to get acquainted with office automation specially for those who wanted to make use MS Excel as the report writer via VFP. The accompanying ebook makes it a lot better...

After 28+ years in this business I have finally stumbled upon an author who knows how to write technical books. This one should be a "how to write" example for other alleged authors.

The book, is clear, concise, and well designed. No assumptions are made; yet it is structured in a manner that one can easily skip over items of familiarity. It is an ideal book in that it spans the needs of users at all levels of expertise and is loaded with real "meat and potatoes" practicality and minimal blue sky theory. No matter what your level of expertise (or the lack of it), you can be creating quality applications within the first hour!

My hat is off to these writers and editors!

This may be one of the best 'how-to' development books on the planet.

Generating complex Office output from any development language (be it VFP, VB, etc.) can be a daunting task. The first time you try it on your own, invariably you hit a wall and think to yourself, 'how do I do this, how do I get around that, etc.'

Tamar and Della do an incredible job of covering the details. I recently finished a project where I had to generate some of the most complicated formats in MS Word that I've ever seen. (Anyone who is 'new' to Fox should also check out Tamar's "Hacker's Guide to VFP", another strong title).

99% of the time, if I did a search through the PDF version of the book, I came across a meaningful code sample that helped me out...or at least pointed me in the right direction. This book could have sold for three times the price and I'd still feel the same way about it.

Even 5 stars doesn't do this book the proper justice. It has an almost endless supply of tips and techniques. The examples cover so much of Office Automation that the book is a 'de facto' reference manual as well. I've been in the business since 1988, and average about 8-10 book purchases a year. Along with Allen Holub's compiler books and Ken Henderson's 'Guru Guide to SQL Server', I'd rate this as one of the best technical 'how-to' books I've ever seen.

I wish someone would write a good .NET applications book along the lines of this book. The difference between a valuable reference book like this one, and a good % of the junk that's been published on .NET, can only be measured in conceptual light years.

Prior to this book, I had been dreading my foray into automation. Literally, within minutes of opening the book, I was automating Excel. And within a couple of hours, I had already built my first automation component for an application. These guys make it so easy!

Every book and article I have ever read by Granor and Martin has been superb, and this book is no exception.

A good book for combine two powerfuls application like vfp and office

This book is a compilation of various functions and commands available to the VisualBasic 5 environment. It provides examples and supplimental information to help users with different levels of expertise.

Recommended if you want to really program in VB 5.0.

I found this book to be helpful with my everyday programming. This book contains example code for every command in it. This bok also gives you the correct arguments for each command. I find this book to be one of my best developement tools in my arsenal. I recommend this book strongly to anyone looking to do serious VB programming.

This reference book is a mirror image of the online help, but a lot more convenient. It contains pretty much all you need to know...and unlike the majority of tutorial books out there, the example code actually works.

How can you not love the VB5 Language Reference.

I teach VB for a living, and I tell my students to re-read this Reference guide every 3 months---there's always something new that you'll see in it.

Others will tell you that this information is provided with Books Online (and it is), but I prefer the printed version.

Though you can get the exact same information online, I find that sometimes it's just better to have the hard copy in front of me. The book does a good job of not only showing the syntax, but what arguments to use and situations where the item applies. It's proven to be very, very useful and people would do well to pick this up if they prefer to use hard copy as I do.

There are many good reasons to want to enhance your skill in using Microsoft Excel. One might be for getting certified my Microsoft as an expert in Excel in order to enhance your employment opportunities. Another might be for a person who hasn't used Excel to learn about the package from the ground up. Yet another might want to add some specific topics such as pivot tables or to begin learning about the statistics features in Excel. For any of these reason (and others0, this is a great book to get well grounded in Microsoft Excel 2000.

This book is organized by "projects". Each project covers a broader collection of specific skills such as modifying a worksheet, improving the appearance of a worksheet, working with functions, creating pivot tables and pivot table reports, and many more. There are 18 of these projects and each has eight lessons. Each lesson is short and focused to one task. For example, in the Working with Functions project, the eight lessons are: Analyzing Data with AVERAGE, MAX and MIN, Calculating a Loan Payment with PMT, Creating a Loan Payment Table, Evaluating Investment Plans with the FV Function, Using IF to Display Messages, Using IF to Calculate, Using MOW to Display the Current Date, and Using VLOOKUP to Convert Data.

Although this is a book, it is very visually based and uses images of the screens discussed in each lesson with many labels pointing to the specific portion of the screen it identifies. Each project begins with a short introductory statement under the heading "Why Would I Do This?" and ends with a brief summary. Each project also has a few true or false questions and some multiple choice questions to help the reader check their understanding of concepts and terms. If you are unclear about the correct answer, a reference to the appropriate lesson in the project is provided so you can go look it up.

Each project also has a Skill Drill a Challenge, and a Discovery Zone. Some of these use files that are on the accompanying CD. Since this book is also focused on helping its readers prepare for certification testing, the CD also contains PinPoint Assessments that help the reader understand where he or she stands in mastering the skills necessary for successfully passing the certification exam.

The introduction to the book provides good orienting material including a chart of which projects and lessons focus on specific skills. The end of the book also has information on how to use the PinPoint software, how to register for certification testing, a glossary, and an index.

This is a very helpful book.

Excel 2000 was my last exam on my way to master certification. Before I purchased this book I was very lacking in my excel knowledge. This book helped me gain a better understanding of excel functions. I passed my excel 200 exam and missed perfect by only 40 points.

If you want to know the essentials of Excel, not just to pass the MOUS Exam, but also for your daily use, this book should be on your library. The clear illustrations help you to quickly navigate through the lessons. Furthermore, CD-ROM is especially useful if you want to take the Exam.

I am a computer instructor at a local college. This book is a wonderful book to prepare for the MOUS and the CD is a must also!!!

I highly recommend this as a study guide for the Expert Exam.

Not a beginner's book: The technologies presented are relevant to (gasp) some real life problems. The treatment of Distributed Constraint Satisfaction problems was well written and usable. The initial treatment of all subjects was broad, delving into details after laying a sound foundation. Assumes a bit of mathematical sophistication on the part of the reader, but on the whole, well written, well organized and well worth it.

I have been using this book probably for an year now, and this has become indispensable to my work. The collection of authors in this book reads as an 'who's who' in multiagent systems and distributed AI research. Although, its' difficult to maintain continuity in edited books, the editor has done an commendable job. The authors provide a readable introduction to their area of expertise, and supplement them with an excellent bibliography...enough to get u started fast.

Thogh edited the book looks like a single authored text. The definitions are clearly presented with illustrations. The presentation is highly comprehensive. The book is thus highly readable with minimum effort. I liked the chapters on distributed problem solving and planning (Chapter 3),Learning in multiagent systems (chapter 6), Formal methods in DAI: Logic based representation and reasoning (chapter 8)and Groupware and computer supported cooperative work (chapter 10) very much.Readers of diverse interest in distributed artificial intelligence will find the other chapters equally interesting and useful.The book should be on the desk of anyone interested to learn the concepts of multiagent systems and technology.

While perhaps this should not be your first book in AI, it should definitely be your first book on agents. It took me years to accumulate the knowledge present in this book, and it's a great survey of the field for the beginning investigator. However, while this is a great way to get started in agents, understand how agents can be used in intelligent applications (from distributed AI type problem solving, to resource optimization problems), and "get the agent paradigm," coverage of agent software engineering techniques is light. This is not a fault of this book - you will simply need other resources to understand the difficulties and current research in engineering multi agent systems (or indeed any concurrent distributed system). So if you are trying to figure out what to do with agents, or how agent systems work, this is the book for you. If you already know that and want help with formal specification of an agent, verifying your agents meet the specifications, etc. this is not the book for you. Understand that to build systems you will need both!

This is one out of very few books that exist on multiagent systems and distributed artificial intelligence which won't take for granted the reader. It has really taken me from elementary concepts up to industrial applications, passing over the actual "nitty gritty" of programming an agent. Many papers on artificial intelligence are just too mathematical for many readers, and those which have any application would describe what the program does, but only sometimes you get into knowing *how* the program does the trick. I personally would say the book is a "must-have-it", not only for those seeking to understand in concrete distributed artificial intelligence or multiagent systems, but also for any mathematician, physicists, computer scientists and engineer whose background touches somehow the concepts of artificial intelligence as a whole. Come to think of it, even any cunning philosopher of science could take real advantage of this book. Now then, concerning those industries which would like to have this book on their shelves, they would have to take in mind that this book is a departure point. A good one, but nevertheless only the start for deepening towards a concrete application the industry would have in mind.

serious system testing has never been part of the culture here. One day the manager decided that it would be a good thing if we did proper, coordinated, effective stress and load testing. I got stuck with coming up with strategy. I started reading this book expecting a how to guide. I expected to be spoon fed all the nittt gritty details on how to do it. This is not what I got.

This book points you in the right direction, show you the tools you could use, explains what you need to think about and the questions you need to ask. The how-to and the answers to the questions are more for you to figure out yourslef.

At the end of it you come away with a better understanding of what you need to do, why you need to do, high level how you are going to do it and the value you and your company are going to gain by doing all of this.

I would strongly recommend it to anyone having to get involved in system analysis and performance. It gives you a great broader picture of the whole issue. You think you know what you have got yourself involved in. this book shows you that you appreciate only the tip of the iceberg.

This is an excellent book which can be used for perfomance tuning and stress testing phase of big projects

Written by an authority on the subject. This book is a treasure trove of information that is detailed and essential for covering all aspects of a properly executed stress test. Written from experience, this book is a definite "MUST" read for anyone assigned the challenging task.

This book features good discussion on performance tuning the mySAP suite that no other books have so far. This is the perfect book for SAP Stress Test Project Managers, SAP Stress Test Project Teams, SAP Basis Administrators, Oracle DBAs, Unix Administrators managing SAP systems, and project implementation teams. Those who stress test their systems well with the help of this book will have significant returns.

The ultimate reference for performance testing (certainly testing, more so than actual tuning, though the latter is covered well in the last few chapters). The author's approach is complete in that it addresses how to test along with what, when, to what degree, and with what kind of staffing resources. I'm already thinking of ways we can improve our own change control processes, and based on tools and methods covered by the author I'm convinced I can do so cheaper and with less impact to my users than I previously thought possible. Case in point, look into the two chapters on tools for testing and monitoring: in this alone, the book will pay for itself in short order.

If you are looking for good introduction.
This book is your best choice.
Very consistent, without any "poetry" (like in last Richter's book).
Mr.Tapadiya's two book about COM+ and .NET must have any Windows developer.

This book isn't as code oriented as Ferguson or Troelsen's text on c#, but seems to deal more with concepts and common trouble points with the language and environment. Much like Tapadiya's last book, it is well thought out and demonstrates a good insight in the subject matter. A good read.

This book is a treasure trove of .Net information. It is underrated and not seen often in bookstores. This book complements Richter's book on .Net Framework programming and is a boon for any C#/.NETer.

A concise, no-nonsense book. All topics are cut to the chase. This book is for C++ and Java pros who want to master C# in the shortest time possible. I also have 3 other C# books. Only this one calms me down and gives me the joy of reading while learning. However, for people who is new to programming, I recommend "Learn to Program with C#" by John Smiley. My 3rd book, "C# in a Nutshell" is a good choice for reference. My 4th one, "Introduction to C# Using .Net" is good too, but the topics covered are not as broad as this one.

For donwloading this book's sample code, it points to www.phptr.com/tapadiya/dotnet/, which no longer works. Instead, go http://www.tapadiya.net/pradeep/ComPlusBook.htm#CodeSamples, a link I finally found after 10 minutes of Google search.

I liked this book. It starts with very basic things about .NET (what .NET is and what it's for, tools, basics of C#, etc.) and takes you to advanced topics. My employer wanted to move our development to .NET platform, and with this book alone, I was able to master .NET enough to get to a pretty advanced level quite fast.

When a new topic is covered, the author provides an introduction to the problem. It often helps to get the right perspective on what you study. It's very far from being a dry reference book. I found it to be written in an easy to understand the language, detailed enough and not too wordy, and to explain things in a practical way. I like Tapadiya's style, in general. I liked his other book (about COM programming) too. I enjoyed reading it.

The book is not for those who are looking for a general programming tutorial. I think it requires some experience in software creation, although maybe not a whole lot.

I've been to the French Quarter twice in the last year. I think I left my heart there! It's such a beautiful city with so much history, and so many great and colorful people! This CD does the city justice and then some! The pictures are glorious, and I don't think there's a block in the Quarter they missed. You can take a variety of "guided" tours, or you have the option of clicking on a map of the Quarter. The map let's you click and see just about every square inch of the Quarter. There aren't a lot of interior pictures on this CD if that's what you are looking for. There are also panoramic views which are great, and an area to "meet" a couple of people from the French Quarter and get some info and perspective from them. This is just a really great buy for anyone who wants to travel to New Orleans' French Quarter, or for people like me who absolutely love the city!

I tried this CD after viewing the Armchair Tour of Charleston, SC, and I think this one is even better. Tons of information and great photos. I'd love to be able to visit the French Quarter every few months, but failing that opportunity, this has got to be the next best thing.

Wow! The quality of the pictures and the effect of the panoramic feature was impressive. New Orleans French quarter is one of my wife and I's favorite places to visit. The use of the DVD shows us some of the houses that we have not visited plus things about the ones that we have that we missed- decorative vents in the buildings. I particularly enjoyed the lady with the Cajun accent doing the audio. Love the dialect. This helps us plan our next trip. Good job.

The armchair tour series is a must for folks who travel or appreciate the unique beauty and architecture of our country. Each armchair cd uses multiple media sources to create the look, feel, and sound of a particular city. I used the the cd to prepare for travel and then passed the cd on to my son for a shcool project. The armchair cd is the next best thing to "bein there".

This is the coolest product! I have to admit I didn't know what to expect when I got it but I was floored as to the amount of information and the extent to which they go into detail. The photography is beautiful. It is so much fun to just walk down the street and see a picture of every single house. I had a ball following the clues looking for this guys lost keys and the graphic at the end was hysterical. It's like buying every single book about the French Quarter, having all the really interesting things be highlighted for you and then have pictures of it all added. It just brings the whole city, with all it's incredible buildings and fascinating stories, to life. I don't usually get this excited about things but this is really great!

This book is the same anywhere you go but it was the cheapest and when comes to school books, if can get deal then you should. I had no problems with delivery it was an easy process and got it in no time.

This item was in perfect condition.. just as described. I am very satisfied with this item and with how the seller conducted this transaction.

Good product. Just as it was described. I ordered this for my daughter for a college class that she is taking.

I'm taking Excel Spreadsheets in college this quarter. The book is clear, and easy to understand (even for those unfamiliar with using a computer, in my opinion).

One of the best parts is the great visual aids. Each tutorial gives color pictures of what you should be seeing on the screen of your computer while you work the tutorial. Sections within the chapter are also very well color organized and bolded for easy skimming if you are not new to the material.

Our teacher says that the book gets really advanced the farther on you read. Our basics & intermediate class only goes halfway through the book. The advanced excel class reads the second half, which teaches material on the level required by Microsoft in order to receive Microsoft Office Certification on the "expert" level.

On another note, Excel is an invaluable tool for personal use and in the work world.

Thsi book is great!, I'm taking an Excel class this semester at college and needed the book. Great price and easy to understand for new and old users of Excel.

I bought Office 2003 Simplified for my college class. I found it to be extremely helpful with refreshing my memory on Excel. Gives step by step instructions on how to navigate through the office programs. I would definitely recommend the book to those who need a refresher course on the programs as well as anyone who is new or computer illiterate.

This material was perfect for my computer class, it has been one of the best books I have seen that actually breaks down Microsoft Office for everyone. It does not only tell you how to do it, but instead shows you. Awsome graphics, great way to get to know the programs we use everyday better.

I purchased this textbook for my wife, even though she has experience with Office she learned a few new things. Know my son is starting to use it for his education. My rating is based on the images and simplicity of explanation.

Thank you.
Wilfredo

This single volume boasts of being a simplified approach to learning the basics of Word 2003, and it lives up to expectations. All of the instructions give actual "snapshots" of the computer screen and computer menus to show how to execute various commands. This book gives the basics of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and Publisher.

This is the manual that SHOULD have come with Office 2003. It gets to the point quickly and easily. Makes learning all of the many many functions of Office 2003 much easier. In just the first 3 chapters I picked up several "new" hints to make my work with Office 2003 much easier. A MUST for all Office users.

This book contains information about the inside workings of Authorware that will allow you to easily advance to intermediate and advanced programming methods. It even provides the intermediate and advanced developer with inside information about the inner workings of the program; I know of no other guide to Authorware that does this. What is unusual about this book is the clarity with which it is written. It reads unusually smoothly, and sets the standard for which reference manuals should be written. This is a very wise investment for the Authorware developer at any skill level.

Authorware has a steeper learning curve than most authoring programs. Taking this into account, Nick Robert's `The Official Guide to Authorware 4' takes a beginner through projects of intermediate complexity while providing experienced Authorware developers a leg up on Authorware 4. Don't flinch at buying this terrififc manual for Authorware 4 - the one that comes with the program is virtually useless. This book is written to clarify confusing concepts. It emphasizes what is really important and provides "Hot Tip" markers throughout. An accompanying CD-ROM provides examples to illustrate code and functionality. But because the Robert's explanations are already clear in the book, the CD-ROM is not that essential. On the down side, I would like to have a summary of not just new functions for Authorware 4, but also a comprhensive list. If you are new to Authorware and plan on using this book, plan to spend about ten hours reading the first six chapters (200 pages) and browsing around the authoring system, before you actually start building. This will ensure that you pick up the right building blocks for the foundations of your project. The remaining 14 chapters are task specific, and serve as excellent references.

There seem to be three types of books in circulation about Authorware. There is of course the User's Guide that comes with the product -- a good reference. Then there are tutorials, like "Authorware 5 Authorized" by Kellogg -- a good beginner's step by step how-to. But the best type of book (for me anyway) has been the "show & tell & try approach" type of book, like Nick Roberts' excellent "The Official Guide to Authorware 4." It is very well written in an interesting and casual style -- and you will find the author's enthusiasm for Authorware contageous as you delve deeper into the text. Excellent illustrations compliment the "visual" approach to constructing a piece via icons along a flow line. And you are told the logic of the "what & why" of the step-by-step examples before you do them -- a great aid in understanding (and actually learning) how to utilize Authorware's features. Too many times I've followed the tutorials of other books and end up with a nice looking functional result -- without really understanding along the way "why" I used the steps and procedures I was told to do.

And most important, this book came through for me in an area that I have not found in the other books -- variables, functions and expressions. Roberts eases the reader into this area, which is by far the core of Authorware's strength and flexibility. Then the reader gets into two or three chapters that deal with this area in depth. The material was so good I couldn't help but want more, but alas, I think an entire book could be written on just variables and functions.

Even though I use Authorware 5.1, I found this version 4 book 100% useful -- all it lacks is info on how to use 5.1's Knowledge Objects -- which surprisingly is also absent in the newer Authorware 5 books that I have seen. But from what I've heard from other folks, the lack of K.O. information is no great loss. I just hope that Nick Roberts comes out with another AW book one of these days -- maybe on AW 6 when it hits the market.

This is an excellent resource. New Authorware users as well as experienced professionals will find a wealth of information presented here. The material is well organized and explains simple tasks early, then takes the user into more complex functions. I would like to see a 'volume 2' with more attention to complex tasks as well as some additional models. If you are trying to understand Authorware, this is a great place to begin!

This is a super book for both new users and advanced users alike. Mr. Roberts takes you through all the facets of authorware and gives you super tips for developing your piece for either mac or pc. I had never used a authoring program before, including authorware and after reading this book for couple of nights, I was developing my own stand alone windows based projects. I really wish to thank Mr. Nick Roberts for writing a easy to understand book. Keep up the good work. Cheers Rick