Mastering Access 97 Development - Second Edition

COMPUTER BOOK REVIEW  

345 words

Title: Mastering Access 97 Development - Second Edition; 
Alison Balter; SAMS Publishing; ISBN:  0-672-30999-8; 
Paperback, 1112 pages, $49.99 US, $70.95 CAN

Reviewer: Blake Thurston, "Access 97 is very powerful, 
and with the assistance of "Mastering Access 97 Development" 
it will be a breeze to set up even the most complicated 
database application for the office." 

Accessing your information is easier with Mastering 
Access 97 Development 

Microsoft's Access 97 is an easy to use and very flexible 
database program. That is, if you want it to merely hold 
data for you. If you want it to turn it into a complete application 
that will handle your client database, integrate with your 
billing system, complete with invoicing and account management 
it will be necessary  to hire a programmer at $50 an hour or 
more? Or you can pick up Alison Balter's "Mastering Access 
97 Development - Second Edition" from Sams Publishing. 

This is the perfect book to take the reader from a general idea 
on how to start an Access 97 database  to setting up an 
application that can completely automate any small or large 
business. Be forewarned, however, that the book assumes 
the reader has a good understanding of computers and 
Windows 95. A little bit of programming background will 
also help, but is not required.

When I began this book, there were questions as to how 
I could design a database for my computer consulting 
business. In the first few chapters my reaction was "Oh, so 
That's how you do that!" By the halfway point, I had 
developed a plan for my own database system.

The 1112 pages may seem daunting at first,, because many 
of the chapters cover advanced topics such as Client/Server 
strategies, accessing the database from remote locations 
and putting a database on the World Wide Web as a form 
and information retrieval system. Much of which the average 
business has little need.

The chapters are cleanly written and between the examples 
in the book, and on the accompanying CD-ROM, everything 
the reader  needs to understand the material is available. 
I discovered, however, that in spots some topics were only 
lightly touched upon and others, overly emphasized. 

Overall, with each chapter the reader will have a progressively 
developing plan of attack for their own database system.

Access 97 is very powerful, and with the assistance of "Mastering 
Access 97 Development" it will be a breeze to set up even the 
most complicated database application for the office.