REVIEW: MASTERING Q & A 4 by Alan Neibauer SYBEX 1991 MASTERING Q & A FOR WINDOWS by Eddy & Swertfager SYBEX 1994 Q & A is a remarkable database manager integrates with a full-featured built-in word processor called Q & A Write. Its amazingly easy to use. MASTERING Q & A 4 is the complete guide to harnessing Q & A's power to perform all kinds of complex tasks with ease and confidence. You can create complicate business applications without writing a single line of code. But that comes later. First, after a concise and complete overview of what Q & A does, the tutorial-style text shows how to design and create Q & A database, add and delete records, manipulate information and print all kinds of reports from the simple to the elaborate. Then MASTERING Q & A 4 moves on to the fundamentals of Q & A Write - how to create form documents and labels using information from Q & A databases and finally how to perform some pretty complicated moves such as importing/ exporting files and merging spreadsheets and graphics into Q & Q documents. Probably the most interesting feature of Q & A is the Intelligent Assistant module which allows you to query the database using plain language. Its really cool to see this in action. The secret of this is simple - you actually teach the Intelligent Assistant its own vocabulary so you (or anyone else) can communicate with it using everyday words instead of a highly structured query language. This feature is fully covered in two easy to follow chapters. Other Q & A subjects covered include macros, menus, customizing Q & A, building templates and Q & A programming . The final major Q & A trick, the posting feature that allows you to update one database with information from another, is fully explained in a chapter of its own. Its quite a trick! In addition to the tutorial style of MASTERING Q & A 4, the appendices contain information on setup and installation, command summaries and how to use printer fonts to print like a pro. There is also Q & A for Windows and it is sufficiently different to deserve its own book, which SYBEX has produced, authored by Sandra Eddy and Michael Swertfager. The coverage parallels that of MASTERING Q & A 4 except, of course, is written to teach the program as it applies to Q & A for Windows. The important thing is that both books offer the same detailed coverage of their respective versions, so whether you use the DOS or Windows version of Q & A, there's one for the version you will be using. I personally used this book to master Q & A for my own database needs and consider myself well taught. I particularly like SYBEX' "Fast Track" speed notes that summarize the major points, steps or keystrokes explained in the section. This is the second SYBEX book I've used to learn how to take charge of a particular program - the first was WordPerfect 4.2. I was pleased after that accomplishment and MASTERING Q & A 4 didn't disappoint me either. %T Mastering Q & A 4 %A Alan R. Neibauer %I SYBEX %C Alameda California %D 1991 %O $27.95 %G ISBN: 0-89588-735-5 %P 633 pp, paperbound %K Q & A, database %T MASTERING Q & A FOR WINDOWS %A Sandra E Eddy & Michael M Swertfager %I SYBEX %C Alameda California %D 1994 %O $27.99 %G ISBN: 0-7821-1397-4 %P 684 pp, paperbound %K Q & A for Windows, database (C) 1995 Michael Crestohl Nahant Massachusetts USA mc@shore.net DISCLAIMER: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has. All opinions expressed are strictly my own. Other Internet and Aviation book/software reviews by me can be obtained by anonymous FTP from: x2ftp.oulu.fi in the /pub/books/crestohl directory.