Comments about O'Reilly Media FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual:

As a FMP developer for, now, 20 years, I find this an extremely useful resource. The book is very succinct and well-written, and helps me to round out my filemaker armamentarium. Filemaker is a product of surprising breadth, from simple actions to quite complex capabilities, indeed, I rely on FMP to run my business as well as my avocations. It is a rare book that is able to appeal to beginner and expert alike, and in my opinion, this is an excellent resource for all. It certainly fulfills its billing as a 'missing manual' and more. It seems a necessary supplement to the FMP 'Help', which is useful but somewhat fragmented. The next step up would be to obtain the FMP Training Series, but I think this is a more approachable resource. I bought the printed book (and will continue to buy every edition), and I have no disclosures.

Comments about O'Reilly Media FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual:

Excellent. Ordering a copy for a new employee now. Mine is much marked up, tabbed, dog-eared and not available to borrow. Closing out several other databases over the past two years and shifting everything to Filemaker on a network, so with all our eggs in one basket, this manual is essential to our health and welfare. We use Filemaker for text, number, financial and graphic insertions, working toward a paperless office. I've bought a copy for every employee. Instructions are to check out a question here before calling the developer. Paid for itself many times over. Remarkable that it is written in plain English and well laid out. Can't compare it with other manuals cause we don't use them any more. Seems to work for the new employee and the office expert. I could have used a fatter index and I DO hope they keep up with the newest version of Filemaker. Yes, I would and have recommended it to a very picky friend. Don't buy Filemaker without it or you'll be sorry.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: I am not a developer and they did not supply me with a review copy.

Comments about O'Reilly Media FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual:

From another review: "O'Reilly Media provided me a free copy of FileMaker Pro 11". I wish I'd been so lucky! Because I was in a hurry, I downloaded the Kindle version for my iPad. It didn't take very long to see that finding what I wanted was a bit tedious. And once I found something, I ended up going to Google and finding better explanations in the FMPro support forums.

For some crazy reason the "tips" that are included are in SMALLER type than the rest of the copy! What a great idea.

I had to hunt for the example files that the book mentions, and honestly? I haven't found what the book told me to get. Not yet.

Comments about O'Reilly Media FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual:

We purchased FileMaker Pro 11 to build a custom database to organize paperwork. First I purchased the Missing Manual Book and read thru it to make sure the program could do what we needed. I was surprised to find after buying everything that FileMaker cannot display a PDF within a container field unless you're on a MAC. The book on page 96 describes how to do it using Quicktime, but does not say it must be a MAC or detailed scripts need to be written. It's rather disappointing since I do like the rest of the program and the book so far. But that doesn't matter since we cannot do what we need. I'm not sure what else is in the book that's not correct since I'm now stopping since there is no reason to continue.

Comments about O'Reilly Media FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual:

Conflict of interest disclosure: O'Reilly Media provided me a free copy of FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual for the purposes of the review.

My review of Filemaker Pro 11 (the program) had a two-word summary: way cool. This review of Filemaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual has an even more succinct one-word summary: oh, as in "oh, that's how that works" or "oh, that's what that means".

Stuart and Gripman know how to write. And they understand Filemaker and they understand that not every user was born speaking database-ese. Databases think and operate in ways that normal people don't; much as I like Filemaker Pro and much as I like to think I know what I'm doing, it can be a tricky program – and apparently I've learned to do many tasks the hard way. The manual is well-written, in clear, plain English. It's great at explaining what Filemaker is doing under the hood and is even humorous, without being silly. And the authors also commiserate about Filemaker's idosyncracies.

At 891 pages, the manual is huge and heavy and, mercifully, well –organized. The table of contents and index make it easy to navigate. But unlearning bad habits may require reading more than a few chunks of text or several chapters.

The Missing Manual also has a missing CD; instead of including a CD with the book, the authors post practice files online, along with errata and corrections. The authors are updating the site; they've added at least one file since I first downloaded them. But I received an error message when I tried to post a minor error (there's a clunky non-sentence on page 92).

My only other criticism is an oblique reference to file care and maintenance. Prosser and Gripman refer to "appropriate care and maintenance" in order to head off injury. But, although they explain what file recovery entails, they don't offer clear instructions as to what steps users should take for ongoing maintenance. I want to know how to avoid damaging my databases.