Cover Art by Jean-Pierre Martel
(Click on the book cover to go straight to AuthorHouse to order the book ...)
Published by:
The dBASE Book
Updated: August 27, 2007
This is where I will post any information about The dBASE Book, which is now available for order (The Second Edition).
Published by:
The Second Edition -- Why? What Is In it?
When the first edition of the book was released it contained errors. Considering the size,
that's not surprising, but still ... one of the first things done with the second edition
was to try to fix the errors. I didn't get everything (there is an errata sheet for
the second edition that will be available once the book is available for order), but
I got most of 'em. In the meantime, the developers at DataBI have been busy, and I tried
to include updates to objects (new properties, methods, events), and such in the book.
Microsoft released Vista, and I added some discussion of Vista in the book. I added a chapter
on working with the Grid (in addition to the chapter on Form Controls); and I completely
revamped/re-wrote the chapter on deployment. Finally, the index was re-done, hopefully making
it much more useful.
May 3, 2007 -- The Second Edition of this book is now available for order. As before, if you can, please order directly through the publisher (AuthorHouse), as that will get me the best royalties, but I also understand that it may not be feasible or desirable for you to order from them for some reason. but if you can ...
Q: What is the price?
Q: When I order the book, can it be delivered to <MyCountry> (not the USA)?
A: The publisher has stated that they will handle international orders, including
handling the conversion of monetary values and shipping. So you should be able to order the book and have
it delivered directly to you from the publisher, no matter where you live.
Q: What Credit Cards does the publisher take?
A: I have no idea. However, I would be surprised if they did not take the standard
cards -- MasterCard, Visa, American Express. Please don't quote me on this -- I really don't know. I've
never ordered from them.
Q: How many copies do you anticipate selling?
A: I have no idea how many I will sell. I hope I sell enough to make at least a bit of profit after what
I paid the publisher to do this.
Q: How big is a print run?
A: The beauty of working with a Print on Demand shop is that I don't have to be concerned with this --
copies are printed when orders come in. This means a smaller profit for me, but it means I do not have to be concerned
with warehousing, handling orders, and shipping of books (which gives me time to work on other ventures).
If I knew I could sell, say, 100,000 copies, then I might have considered a different print option,
but I can't say how many I will sell ... The market isn't as large as it once was.
Q: Can I get the book translated to <MyLanguage>?
A: Sorry, but the cost of translation, compared to the potential number of sales in any language other than
English, is not enough to pay for itself. Translation for a book this size (which is over 800 pages, and
very technical by its nature) is really expensive.
Q: What about Electronic versions of the book?
A: I have no plans to distribute an electronic version of the book (eBook), because
at this time security measures on these are not strong enough to keep an individual who has purchased it
from distributing it at will. As one of the reasons I wrote this was to attempt to make a bit of money,
an eBook version is not really a good idea.
I have been asked for the Table of Contents to give folk some idea of the topics covered in the book. I can't see how that could hurt, and might help get more interest in the book, so ...
The dBASE Book, Second Edition Table of Contents
(This is a PDF file ... 
)
The following are from folk who have received their copy of the (first edition of the) book, and used with their permission ...
"An hour ago I received your book at my home address here in the Netherlands.
I don't have words enough to let you know how glad I am with this book. So complete and so proving where dBASE is able to do with. It is in one word GREAT!!
Thank you very much and also all they who have helped you with this." -- Wim Huizing, Netherlands
"Got your book a week ago. Was hoping for insights comparable to thoes in books like Ted Blue's , and Rhinehart's; I was apprehensious.
My expectations were exceeded!!
I have used dbase since dbII summer of 84.I am now writting a major app for a network, my first net work app. Your book has given me more confidence, and is a permanent part of my desk.
This book, I think, will do alot for dbase and dbase community!" -- Donald R. Plum
This review came in email yesterday, and was posted on the newsgroups, in French. The translation in English the reviewer sent me was done by Google and not very good. Luckily I know other folk, and J. P. Martel took the time to translate it for me. Thanks to both of you!
Excellent book by Ken Mayer. Nothing to do with Ted Blue's "Getting Started".
The goal of Ken's book is to really help the 'average' dBASE developer. It is full of details on the difficulties which one meets when upgrading from dBASE II, III or IV to object-oriented programming and on the multiple possibilities offered by dBASE PLUS 2.5. Even I, who is not very good in English, was able to understand the book with no particular effort.
The return on investment when one buys that book is a positive one. Thanks to that book, I was able to debug a program that used to freeze for reasons that I couldn't understand. Step-by-step, the author explains his subjects, with an obvious pleasure to be helpful.
This is a book to place into the hands of anyone who knows how to use the procedurial language of the DOS dBASE but who have difficulties when it comes to develop programs using OOP.
A French translation would be welcome: however that one is already a formidable one.
I must say that I have no interest in the promotion of that book. I am only giving my impression as a developer fluent in dBASE-IV 2.0 but who have (or had?) problems with the latest version of dBASE. dBASE is already a formidable tool and it is pity that it has lost it notoriety in France. With that book, dBASE can appeal and win back those who used to like that development platform.
If you are already fluent with Windows' API calls, SQL, OOP, Interbase and Oracle, that book might be slightly too light reading for you. However that was not the author's intent to write a book for experts only.
Before I had taken my decision, I hesitated to buy that book because if its price. Now that I have decided to buy it, thrust me: you will be satisfied of the profitability of your investment.
Of course, this opinion binds only me. Since I've also bought books previously published about dBASE (in French as well as in English), which often only describe the basic features of the program and often ignore or look superficially at how to program on that platform, I think it is useful for me to share my view about this new book.
I was able to unravel when upgrading from dBASE 5.5 to 5.7, but since dBASE 7.x I had the impression to have been set aside (development being not the essential part of my job). In this book, we feel the author's will to help us to migrate from old DOS habits to the new powerful object-oriented way of creating programs.
My only regret is that I didn't order that book directly from the author's web site. I thought that if I order it from Amazon.fr, I would get it within 48 hours: actually, it took 15 days to be delivered to me. I don't think that it would have taken more time ordering from Ken Mayer's web site.
This book is the one to own to rediscover the joy of programming with dBASE, thanks to the author's clear and handy explanations.
M. Abraham.
I have created some pages that deal with errata -- discussion of minor problems in the book, or changes in the software between getting the manuscript to the publisher and newer releases of the software. This is in a PDF file format, which you can print. It is not large.
dBASE Book Errata Pages (Second Edition)
dBASE Book Errata Pages (First Edition -- for those who have not "upgraded")
(This is a PDF file ... )
The source code for the Second Edition is here: Source Code for the Second Edition (this is substantially larger than the source for the first edition).
The source code used for first edition of the book is here: Source Code (first edition).
This is in a .zip file, and when unzipping it, it is best to find a location, and then use the option to "Use folder names" (or whatever it is called for the app you use for unzipping files). This will create folders for the chapters that have source code, and place the files in those folders. For example, using WinZip (which is my software of choice for this), clicking the Extract button on the main form (after opening the file in WinZip, of course):
If you click the "new folder" icon, create a folder on your hard drive, then select that, check the "Use folder names" checkbox, and then click the "Extract" button:
All the files will be in folders contained within the new folder you created. In dBASE, you can then go to those folders using the Navigator, and the "Look in:" combobox ...
Note: The source code is not really useful without the book, but if you really want to download it anyway, go ahead. Not all of the sample code in the book is included. The shorter code samples are ones that can be entered easily enough. The zip file includes the more complex code (there are places where the code samples cover several pages ...) and some of the custom classes, forms, etc., that are used in the book.
Drop Ken a note:
(NOTE: Please do not send "I need help with my program ..." type questions,
for technical support/programming questions,
please use the dBASE newsgroups -- visit the dataBI website for details ...)
Ken's dBASE Page Ken's dBASE Books Page