Book Bytes – MyMac Magazine #43

FileMaker Pro 4 Companion
by Maria Langer
<http://www.gilesrd.com>
AP Professional/FileMaker Press
<http://www.mkp.com>
ISBN 0-12-436575-2, 736 pages
$39.95 U.S., $55.95 Canada

Newcomers to FileMaker Pro 4 will appreciate Maria Langer’s friendly, informal writing style. FMP4 can be intimidating to learn and use, and it is comforting to have a helping hand along the way. Maria takes readers from the most basic material (“What is a Database”) through all of FileMaker Pro’s modes, templates, and functions. Small side-by-side Mac/Win screen shots illustrate the itemized text.

Langer is liberal with her Notes, Tips, and Warnings, such as: “If you plan to publish your database on the web using FileMaker web Companion or any other web publishing tool, make sure the Use Smart Quotes option is turned off! Smart quote characters are not properly interpreted by web browser software so they will not appear correctly on web pages.”

FileMaker Pro 4 Companion is a blend of reference information and specific lessons, to enable users to understand FMP4 by actually working within the application. Maria utilizes humor to get the reader through many tedious aspects of database management. I consider myself fairly comfortable with FileMaker, but I am tempted to start from scratch with this book and learn correctly, rather than continue from the seat of my pants.

Regular users of FMP should plan to keep the FileMaker Pro 4 Companion in close proximity, to fine tune and improve existing working methods. The pages are printed in large type, with loads of space in the margins for reader comments.

The chapters are long and comprehensive, covering the material in a logical manner. Chapter Eleven, on Scripting, is my personal favorite. I learned more here than I ever thought I didn’t know, if you get my point. In Chapter 17, Langer emphasizes the most crucial step of all, backing up your data! Do it religiously, or wish you had.

There are four appendices: a menu and keyboard shortcut reference, a function reference, a ScriptMaker reference, and a FileMaker Pro version history. Thanks, Maria.

I have now read and reviewed three very different books on FMPro 4, all of which I can endorse. How does this latest RECOMMENDED book compare? For the same price, readers should decide for themselves, after looking also at Steve Schwartz’s FileMaker Pro Bible (IDG), or Nolan Hester’s less expensive FileMaker Pro 4 Visual Quickstart Guide (Peachpit).

 
Macworld Photoshop 5 Bible
by Deke McClelland
<http://www.dekemc.com>
IDG Books Worldwide
<http://www.idgbooks.com>
ISBN 0-7645-3231-6, 913 pages
plus an *exceptional* CD
$49.99 U.S., $69.99 Canada, £42.99 U.K.

If you are not already a world-class, advanced user of Photoshop 5, quit horsing around and buy Macworld Photoshop 5 Bible. I am a huge fan of the IDG/Macworld Bible series, and this book is as good as they get, friends.

Macworld Photoshop 5 Bible is large, heavy, exhaustive, and surprisingly enjoyable to read. The CD is loaded with McClelland’s personally-selected “150MB of original imagery from 16 of the finest artists working with Photoshop today;” plus stock photos, plug-ins, and comparative examples from 27 different digital cameras!

Every feature in Photoshop 5 is explained in detail, with a generous sprinkling of screen shots, charts, tables, and keyboard shortcuts. Would you believe a 25-page table comparing versions 4 and 5 of Photoshop, entitled “The Great Grandmother of all Shortcut Tables: Photoshop’s Hidden Shortcuts and Modifiers”? Please go away for a long time, while I digest it.

All the fundamentals are here too, starting with Understanding Digital Imagery, Selecting and Editing Colors, and Printing Images. The color pages are inserted into the middle, and offer an extensive range of vivid examples.

The second half of the book gets into the strenuous stuff, including “Retouching, Repeating, and Restoring” in Chapter 10, and “Layers and Transformations” in Chapter 13. And there is more, like “Full Court Filtering,” “The Wonders of Blend Modes,” and yes, another bunch of illustrative color plates. Thanks, Deke. Just when you think he has done it all, we get “Creating Graphics for the web” in Chapter 20. Nice way to wrap up the book.

I apologize. I am not doing this book justice. Do yourself a huge favor, and get yourself to the nearest bookstore for a first-person look at Macworld Photoshop 5 Bible. If I had another lifetime to live, I would consider becoming a digital photo guy, armed with this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

 
Fundamental Photoshop 5, Fourth Edition
by Adele Droblas Greenberg and Seth Greenberg <http://www2.infohouse.com/~addesign>
Osborne/McGraw-Hill
<http://www.osborne.com>
ISBN 0-07-882579-2, 988 pages
$39.99 U.S., $57.95 Canada

This should be interesting, seeing how Osborne’s Photoshop 5 book ranks with IDG’s Macworld Bible on the same application. Book Bytes is glad to have Osborne books again to review, after a several-month absence. Welcome back!

The author/publisher have placed color versions of many of the book’s images at the Osborne website, and offer a $12.95/U.S. custom CD, available in both Mac and PC versions. I understand their intention to keep the book affordable, but I wonder if regular users of Photoshop would rather have the CD included with the book, and pay a bit more. What do you think?

The basics of the application receive extensive coverage in the early chapters, and are handled in a tutorial fashion, with enumerated steps for systematic learning. The quality of the photographic illustrations is very high. Occasional “Photoshop 5 In Action” examples demonstrate real-world usage of the software, and the actions taken to create the designated images.

I like the sequential evolution of material, which will be particularly helpful for newcomers to Photoshop. The physical book is very easy to read, with dark, legible type on brilliant white pages, and plenty of white space. It would be nice if all books received such high-quality production.

Advanced tools and techniques are introduced gradually, until all has been revealed, discussed, and taught. A modest, but truly gorgeous insert of color pages grace the center of the book. Itemized credits are listed in Appendix D. The CD imagery is, I expect, well worth the cost for serious users.

I do not feel qualified to judge Fundamental Photoshop 5 as a professional visual artist would. This RECOMMENDED book is a winner, from my perspective, but you should form your own opinion. Please spend a little while at the authors’ website, for additional information.

 
Deconstructing Web Graphics.2:
Web Design Case Studies and Tutorials
<http://www.uncom.com/decon2/>
by Lynda Weinman
<http://www.lynda.com>
and Jon Warren Lentz
<http://www.uncom.com>
New Riders Publishing
<http://www.newriders.com>
ISBN 1-56205-859-2, 229 pages
$39.99 U.S., $56.99 Canada, £36.99 U.K.

Yes, here is another $40 U.S. web graphics book. The pile is getting higher every day. In the intro, Lynda explains that:

We chose to focus this book on the jewels of the web: the few and far between inspiring examples of what the medium is truly capable of. We profiled the artists and programmers who created each site, dissected their work, got into their heads to find out what inspired them, frustrated them, challenged them, and rewarded them.

This title is the second, entirely new edition of a similarly titled book that is still valuable. If you already own Deconstructing Web Graphics (the first one), you will be pleasantly surprised by the upgrade in the second edition. Conversely, if you like this newer book, see if the first one can also be helpful.

Now, on with Deconstructing Web Graphics.2. This book is SERIOUS, and is geared for experienced designers. The authors explore every appropriate application and technique necessary for producing striking, effective web pages. Along the way they provide book titles and ISBNs for many additional books which cover the material in greater depth. Ditto for recommended URL links. Bravo!

The sites selected range from one-person shops to large institutions. Extensive individual credits are listed. HTML code examples are printed alongside columns in which “deconstruction” of the tags and elements are explained. I always wondered how “rollover” or “mouseover” buttons worked on web pages. Now I know (but don’t ask me to explain the JavaScript to you, please).

Each of the six well-focused chapters contains dozens of screen shots and illustrations. Many of them are physically small, but significant in their impact to the makeup of the project at hand. A valuable “site summary” wraps up each section.

My sense of this ambitious book is that it is more about essential understanding of technique than it is about design, which is fine, given “deconstructing” in the title. The Appendix provides extensive, practical information on web color, image compression, and web file formats. The Contact Appendix should be a model for every similar book in the future: names, snail and email addresses, URLs, and fax numbers are provided for each featured design team member, referenced by page.

I am repeating myself by insisting that all books, yes, even art/design books, use a decent-size serif font. Deconstructing Web Graphics.2 does not, which ultimately is a minor complaint. Jon Warren Lentz is a newcomer to Book Bytes, and I congratulate him. Lynda has been here before, and we expect to see her quality books many times in the future. This book is RECOMMENDED for working web designers.

Author John Warren Lentz adds, via email:

Yes, our book is STRONG on technique, but that technique is handled as one aspect of the creative process, which also includes site architecture and site design. In Deconstructing Web Graphics.2, design is discussed in each chapter by looking at the practice of web designers as they work from brainstorming through implementation.

Consider the National Geographic site covered in our book. There was a design challenge, and most of the chapter is about HOW that challenge was met via design which, necessarily, requires both good architecture and good technique for that design to mature into a web site.

 
Web Security and Commerce: Risks, Technologies,
and Strategies
by Simson Garfinkel with Gene Spafford
O’Reilly and Associates
<http://www.oreilly.com>
ISBN 1-56592-269-7, 483 pages
$32.95 U.S., $46.95 Canada

Oh, how much we take for granted in the area of Internet security. Our email is private, our personal information is secure, and our commercial transactions are safe. Or are they? I am currently reviewing a fascinating and rather scary thread of experiences on this topic from the TidBITS Talk List (see <http://www.tidbits.com>, and search TidBITS Talk using “network security” or similar keywords).

The web is vulnerable, and so are you and your networked data. No, I don’t mean the hoax email warnings about Microsoft and AOL infiltrating your private hard disk files, or the endless warnings to avoid all cookies. I am speaking about the genuine article.

Web Security and Commerce acknowledges that “web security is a complex topic that touches on many aspects of traditional computer security, computer architectures, system design, software engineering, Internet technology, mathematics, and the law.” The two authors are acknowledged experts, and present their material in a straightforward, no-nonsense fashion.

The book addresses its topic from every angle, from network administrators to end users. Typical subject headings are “JavaScript-Enables Spoofing Attacks” and “Faults, Bugs, and Programming Errors.” I got a personal kick out of the sidebar on page 269: “Mac as web Server,” claiming “If security is your primary concern in running a web server, then you should strongly consider running your web server on a Macintosh computer. Because the Macintosh does not have a command-line interpreter, it is very difficult for attackers to break into the system and run programs of their own choosing.” Never a dull moment for us Apple advocates.

Through 19 chapters and five appendices, Garfinkel and Spafford cover the waterfront thoroughly. If web security is your concern, especially for network or commercial usage, take a long look at Web Security and Commerce. RECOMMENDED.

 
GoLive CyberStudio 3.1 for Macintosh,
Visual QuickStart Guide
by Shelly Brisbin
Peachpit Press
<http://www.peachpit.com>
ISBN 0-201-35374-1, 310 pages
$18.99 U.S., $28.50 Canada
(see My Mac Review of CyberStudio 3.1 at
<https://www.mymac.com/reviews/software/golive.html>)

It seems like just the day before yesterday when no one had heard of GoLive CyberStudio (GLCS), “a web authoring tool with a comprehensive approach to page design and site management that isn’t available elsewhere.” I know that if I was creating a professional web site today, this application would be a serious contender for my webtop publishing software of choice.

After a very brief intro to the web, Brisbin has readers “Learning Your Way Around” CyberStudio. The two-column Visual QuickStart Guide format is well-suited to the many graphics, screen shots, procedural steps, and tips scattered through the text. Oops. Here’s a complaint: too much empty space on many pages, probably caused by the pressures of publication deadlines. I forgive you, Shelly, but in future please fill those pages. You could always use larger illustrations.

The web is very much a colorful medium, and GoLive CyberStudio 3.1 for Macintosh suffers somewhat from its austere grayscale appearance. We readers understand that this is necessary to keep the price of the book under $20 U.S. Fair enough.

Chapters are in logical sequence, and are written patiently and comprehensively, using consistent “Working with …” titles, for text, links, forms, frames, plugins, color, and a few more. A slim color section brings a general view of the GLCS window to life. Chapter 16, “Managing Sites,” is particularly well-conceived, to assist webtop publishers in doing the much-needed follow-up work.

GoLive CyberStudio is a rather expensive application that pays for itself in quality of design and ease of use. This modestly-priced book may be all that the web author needs to supplement the software documentation. If GLCS is in your toolbox, consider planting GoLive CyberStudio 3.1 for Macintosh, Visual QuickStart Guide on your bookshelf. RECOMMENDED.

 
The QuarkXPress 4 Book for Macintosh and Windows
<http://www.peachpit.com/blatner/>
by David Blatner
Peachpit Press
<http://www.peachpit.com>
ISBN 0-201-69695-9, 909 pages
$34.95 U.S., $48.95 Canada

Here is another heavy-hitter. This book is substantial! But is it good? For openers, Blatner promises: “It seems there is a need for a consultant who not only knows the computer and graphic design, but also one who can sit there, patiently, and — at 11 p. m. — walk with you through building a better registration mark, making a drop cap, or explaining how master pages work. All for a low-cost flat fee. That consultant is this book.”

The companion website extends the book’s reach, and is itself a valuable resource for users of QuarkXPress. The many screen shots are taken from Blatner’s Macintosh, which is very welcome to our Book Bytes readers, I’m sure.

If you never get past Chapter One: “Learn QuarkXPress in 30 Minutes,” this book will have paid for itself! Then comes the more impressive “QuarkXPress Basics” in Chapter Two, and we are off to the races. The visual make-up of The QuarkXPress 4 Book is of the highest quality: clear text and graphics on bright, sturdy paper stock. I wish I had some mammoth project to tackle, so I could lock myself with the book, the app, and a month’s supply of stir-fried tofu, and let the rest of the world look after itself.

The third chapter, “Tools of the Trade” is 100 pages of outstanding information on what XPress actually does, and how it works. Can I give a few examples? No! Get on to the rest of the book, John. The following chapters continue the pace, with:

• building documents; word processing; type and typography; copy flow; and long documents

• pictures; fine-tuning images; where text meets graphics; and color

• printing; and going online with QXPress.

Then come the excellent appendices: Mac vs. Windows, XTensions and resources, scripting, XPress tags, and ANSI codes. The author includes a removable keystroke reference chart inside the rear cover. Blatner concludes with: “If anything shows that I practice what I preach, it’s this book. The The QuarkXPress 4 Book was created using almost every technique and many of the tips that I divulge throughout the chapters.” Good for you (and for us), David.

Whew! May I please take a year off to lean all this powerful stuff? I now have to force myself to get back to work, because The QuarkXPress 4 Book is one of the most satisfying application-specific books we have seen in quite a while. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

 
Xtravaganza! (The Essential Sourcebook
for Macromedia Xtras)
by Chuck Henderson
Peachpit Press
<http://www.peachpit.com>
ISBN 0-201-68893-X, 1255 pages! plus CD
$49.99 U.S., $69.99 Canada

For sheer bulk, I haven’t encountered a book with as much physical mass for a couple of years. This one is a monster. You will notice that most of the books reviewed this month are quite large. Well, Xtravaganza is the biggest of all. I just broke my office postal scale attempting to weigh it, so let’s guess that it’s a few milligrams short of a kilo or two, at least.

What’s the big deal? The author explains that “Xtravaganza is intended to bring into focus, for one split second, the quickly evolving field of Xtras for all Macromedia products.” There is no end in sight for this rapidly-evolving field of development. The book “contains information on over 450 Xtras, XObjects, XFCNs, XCMDs, graphic filters, MCS scripts, cast (behavior) libraries and Director Movies.” There are URLinks (a new word I just coined) for each Xtra, many of which are included on the CD. This disk is “really packed,” which I certainly applaud.

Eleven Macromedia apps receive individual attention. I was previously familiar with Director and FreeHand, but not with Extreme 3D, SoundEdit 16, or the seven other titles. My hunch is that this book is one of those “You know if it applies to you, and you sure know if it doesn’t” situations. Intriguing, to say the least.

Xtras are analogous to plug-ins, from the “paradigm usually referred to as object-oriented programming” derived from MOA, or Macromedia Open Architecture. The Xtras themselves have been compiled, but not tested or evaluated. What fun for the intrepid readers/users.

One by one, the author and his contributors plow through each Macromedia application, starting with Director 6 “multimedia authoring tool” and finishing with Deck II v 2.5.1, which “functions like a multitrack cassette mixer/recorder.” Many of the Xtras do their magic with more than one program (I think; allow me some slack here, please).

The book is organized so that each chapter deals with a specific Xtra type, and within each chapter every Xtra is methodically covered in alphabetical order, so locating a particular item is straightforward. Henderson includes easy access information for each Xtra: web site address, contact, phone, snail address, email address, and fax number. Readers can know right where to go to find updates and new info.

Chuck Henderson generously provided the following clarifications:

• Please tell your readers that this is a reference work that covers the essentials for just about every Xtra made since Macromedia embraced Xtras, and certainly is a great way to familiarize yourself with what Xtras are really out there.

• Also, the book includes the core documentation for each Xtra, including command lists, descriptions, sample code, and error code, making Xtravaganza a kind of “machine-side” reference for the Director or Authorware programmer that uses Xtras.

• Xtras make Director a true “application programming environment,” and a very high-level programming environment tool. Object-oriented or plug-and-play type programming has never been easier than using Director with off-the-shelf Xtras made by over 90 independent third-party developers.

It is rare that I receive a review book which breaks so much new ground for your humble reviewer that I need a front-loader to replace all the displaced terrain. I expect that regular users of Macromedia Xtras will jump for joy knowing that Xtravaganza is now available for them to use. We mortals will be satisfied to appreciate the creative results.

Book Bytes could use some assistance evaluating this mammoth RECOMMENDED volume. If you have any informed commentary to contribute, please send it to me. Thanks.

 

NEXT MONTH we will announce the first annual Book Bytes Award winners, plus offer a bonus section with some more nifty stocking-stuffer gift suggestions; and, as usual, eight more complete reviews. See you then, and thank you for reading Book Bytes and clicking on our Amazon links.

John