4 stars (Fundamental Olap principles) - I was impressed by the quality of this book; this is probably the most complete book on OLAP theory and is a fundamental reading for professionals involved in the design of olap systems. In most cases it gives all the details and information needed to master this technology. It also contains some practical examples that are very useful to see how the theory can be applied in the real world. I didn't read the first edition, but the second edition contains new sections and many updates, like a description of SQL-99 OLAP extensions. The author chose to be vendor-independent, so all practical examples are based on a multidimensional language that he created, called Located Contents (LC). However, when I read it I had already used a couple of OLAP tools (Microsoft Analysis Services and Microstrategy), and I think that this helped me understand many of the concepts contained in the book. 4 stars (Good OLAP Methodology) - OLAP is a somewhat arcane corner of the IT universe and this book is a good guide to it for information and business professionals. It covers the basics well and provides decent exaples to get you going. Of course, the hardest part of OLAP is making the conceptual leap from relational databases and transactional processing to the world of analytical processing, but finance experts and accountants will appreciate OLAP and its ability to summarize data in a way that is hard to do in most ERP and legacy systems. 5 stars (A must read for anybody involved in Olap design) - A book which gives you a comprehensive theoretical foundation together with useful, pratical techniques to design Olap solutions. In the first half of the book the author explains you all you need to think clearly in N dimensions, in the second half he guides you through the design of a rather complex application, stepping into the purchasing process, the material inventory analysis, sales & marketing, and activity-based management. He teaches you ... John Wiley - Sons Inc :: Information Management :: Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Database Management - General :: Computers :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Business & E :: OLAP Solutions- Building Multidimensional Information Systems
4 stars (Very good overall coverage) - This book is very useful if you want to get overall coverage of data warehousing related features in Oracle 10g. The book does not covers any topic in details but does covers all areas (SQL, Utilities, OWB, Discoverer, ODM) related to the DW/BI space. 5 stars (Well I am Happy) - Well I found this book extremely useful. Okay so you could wade thru the doc, but this book has everthing in one place with some easy to follow examples. It also encouraged me to take a look at using EM rather than typing everything in on the command line. 3 stars (Good overview, but frustated by errors and lack of source) - I'm new to both Oracle and Data Warehousing and I haven't found many Data Warehousing texts specific to Oracle. I was hoping this would not only be a source for an architecture and design overview, but I also hoped to setup and work through the examples I saw in text as I perused it in the book store. I mean, no one would publish a modern computer book without providing downloadable source, would they? Maybe I missed something, but there is no CD, no reference in the text, and I checked the publishers web site. Found nothing! Especially for a topic like Data Warehousing, where learning to manage large amounts of data is the point of the whole subject, I found it amazing that no sample data is provided. Along this same line, the Appendix that shows the schema setup for the example database has errors in the script code, plus the steps are out of order. Apparently the authors expect you to use the Enterprise Manager to setup your database. The setup scripts appear to be an afterthought, and do not appear to be edited. If the authors had provided downloadable scripts and data, perhaps they would have been forced to work through this setup themselves and would have avoid this problem. I'm building sample data, and reading through the text, but for $60.00 I expected more. ... Digital Press :: Technology-General :: Computers-Database Management - Data Warehousing :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Shilpa Lawande :: Susan Hillson :: Lilian Hobbs :: Oracle 10g Data Warehousing
5 stars (Fantastic Book for an Advanced Beginner) - My favorite feature of this book is the emphasis on defining basic concepts clearly and in a logical order. I've bought a number of these self-teaching computer books over the years (several on Access), and this is the first one I've gotten any real good out of. I'm half way through, and find I'm learning a lot about databases and how they work, not just the SQL language. I've been writing databases in Access for years and always found it a struggle. I'm having a much better time with that now, and I've got to believe it's due to studying the materials in this book. I'm half way through the book and still going strong. I never made it more that 25 pages into any of the other books I bought. Maybe I won't have to go take an SQL class at the local community college after all! That should tell the story right there. 4 stars (Takes longer then 10 but great) - This is an excellent reference and quit source for anyone trying to get the feel for SQL programming. Simple enough for a novice user and techical enough to more seasoned. I would recommend it to anyone using databases. 4 stars (Great for Beginner or Refresher for casual SQL user.) - This is a great quick book for a beginner or casual SQL user. I don't use heavy sql everyday so I often forget syntax especially when working between different DB environments. This book is a quick refresher that allows me to pick it up and find what I need right away. The chapters are split into specific funtions (i.e. inserts, queries, grouping etc...) So you know exactly where to look. For a beginner the cost to familiarize oneself can't be beat. I would buy this book before the more expensive learning books because this one hits the raw basics without diverging into other topics and causing confusion. ... Que-Sams :: Computers-Database Management - SQL Server :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Ben Forta :: :: Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
1 stars (Not Worth One Star) - Worst book of all time, sorry guys and gals but whoever wrote and edited this book should buy a book themselves "Learn to Write and Edit by DUMMIES". To many typo's and script errors which did not work! Actually I would give the book a 5 star rating if they changed the name to Trouble Shooting Script Errors, Test Your Skills! 5 stars (Great beginner's book) - This is a great book for beginners. It covers everything you will need to start out and it's written very well - very easy to understand. The appendeces at the end are also wonderful, they cover php functions, mysql data types, etc. Also very helpful is the fact that you can access help forums that are specific to this book as well as downloadable files for every project in the book. I have several other php books and this is by far the best: the easiest to understand, the most comprehensive. 5 stars (Easy to Understand) - I was forced into the world of PHP, MySQL and Apache by my boss, and I wasn't sure which book to get. I chose this book and I thought it was great! I did see a few typos, but in a way it made me actually learn the stuff, instead of blindly typing away and hoping the programs worked. I understood what they were doing and it has made me catch my own mistakes too. For someone who didn't really know what they were doing, I feel like an expert now! And it was nice to have useable applications when I was done- we are actively using several of these now (such as the emailing script and the user/login script- and we have plans to do more). My boss thinks I'm a genius. I was reading these other reviews and while I can't speak for other books, I had no problems with deprecated code (I never saw that "mysql_create_db" function once in the whole book and I've been through most of it already) or the missing sql script from chapter 6 (it was the same database used in chapters 3, 4, & 5.. duh!) so I don't know what's up with these other guys. But oh well to each his own. ... Wrox :: Database Management - SQL Server :: Computers-Database Management - SQL Server :: Computers :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Michael K Glass :: :: Beginning PHP- Apache- MySQL Web Development
5 stars ( FileMaker Pro 7 Bible (Bible (Wiley))) - I have used this book to learn enough for advanced programmong of a complex Filemaker database. Reading it from front to back and highlighting what I need to know/do is extremeley easy, enjoyable and clear. I love this book. Simple, well-written and complete. 4 stars (An excellent revision to the series) - The FileMaker Pro Bible series has been consistently good, much better than many others in the line, such as cloying, annoying PhotoShop Bible. Schwartz and Cohen do an excellent job of compiling material on using FileMaker Pro 7. Yes, you could find it all in the FileMaker Pro Help file on the FileMaker site or in a various news groups, not as mere regurgitation, but as a well organized compendium But they save the reader the effort and frequent trouble of doing so. The material is well-organized, coherent and free of the forced amateurish attempts at humor that mar so many technical books today. In short, if you use FileMaker Pro 7, you need this book. I've been using FileMaker since its release . . . and the progressive volumes of this series have always been at hand. Jerry 3 stars (How about a break for both versions - book AND pdf?) - I have never paid such a hefty fee for an ebook but I will this time for one reason - when travelling, I like to have the reference with me without the hefty book. However, I'd prefer having the book on my desk for when I'm in the office. Why not give a break to those of us who would like to purchase both? ... For Dummies :: Computers-Database Management - General :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Dennis R Cohen :: Steven A Schwartz :: :: FileMaker Pro 7 Bible
1 stars (The (im)practical approach to DW design) - If you work for a large corporation which has millions of $ to spend on DW projects, maybe you should look at this book and even consider some of the ideas that it contains. But if you need to develop a data warehouse using limited resources and within a certain timeframe, your time will better used reading other books, because following the Inmon approach will lead you to an unnecessary complicated and expensive design. I found that the arguments used by Inmon to demonstrate the limits of the dimensional approach are not convincing at all. For example, at page 142 he says "Because there is a different data structure for each data mart, making any data mart into a data warehouse doesn't make sense." Having personally implemented several data warehouses using the "conformed dimensions" approach, I can guarantee that it worked and produced a very elegant and clean data model. 5 stars (Everything you wanted to know about building a Data Warehouse) - An extremely well written book that not only is wide in scope but also tells the story - shows how and why the data warehouse evolved. The author details the subject thoroughly, points out the pitfalls, explains the proper methodology for success. The illustrations are terrific! This is a must have for anyone involved in Data Warehousing projects. 1 stars (Pedantic and sluggish) - I know the Inmon vs. Kimball thing has turned into something of a feud. Having owned the first and second edition of this particular book (the first edition is now more useful than ever hollowed out with a knife to hide jewelry) and having browsed through the third edition that a colleague purchased, I must say that the major change since the obscure first edition is that Inmon has now taken a much more defensive tone now that Kimball is out there presenting clear, concise and useful real-world concepts and implementation techniques and gathering followers. I also own Inmon's "Using the Dat... John Wiley - Sons Inc :: Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Database Management - Data Warehousing :: Computers :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Client-Server Computing - G :: Building the Data Warehouse
3 stars (Nice consise intro - more useful for clients than consultants) - The scope of this book is so huge there's just no way it could be anything other than a consise intro to the major functionality of each of the modules. For me (as an Apps Consultant) it's a decorative paperweight. I never refer to it myself however this is the book I always toss to the clients when there is no budget for any training whatsoever and some poor accountant has to switch to Oracle from another ERP - it's certainly easier to understand than the help screens ;) Overall I liked it - I think the guys from BOSS did a nice job summarising the financial applications. Of course, it's getting a bit out of date now but for an accountant it's worthwhile. 4 stars (Excellent Reference for Oracle 11i ERP implementation team) - This book gives an excellent overview of the non-CRM modules in Oracle 11i suite - Financials, HRMS, Manufacturing, Projects. What is refreshing about this book is in addition to information on 11i, this book also provides thoughtful discussions on Project Management and on consulting. The authors have indeed succeeded in packaging these exhaustive material within one volume. This book is a "must have" as a reference for anyone who is involved in ERP implementation project. Hopefully we will soon have a similar book on CRM modules that includes inter-relationship between different ERP-CRM modules. 2 stars (Not for most developers) - This book does not provide the level of detail that would help most Apps developers. This book is designed more for functional analysts responsible for setups, than for developers who need to understand the underlying architecture and functionalities. Most of the content of this book can easily be gathered from Oracle User Guides. This book also tries to cover too many modules, but fails to provide much detail in any areas. ... Que-Sams :: Management Information Systems :: Management - General :: Database Management - Oracle :: Computers-Management Information Systems :: Computers-Database Manag :: Special Edition Using Oracle 11i
