The DataWindow is the best gift Powersoft could have given to the development community. A primary marketing tool used to sell PowerBuilder, the DataWindow is the one you save for the end of the argument (and win), the exclamation point in the discussion with the VB guys. Why has no one dedicated a book to it until now?

Over two years in the making, The Definitive DataWindow captures the essence of the DataWindow with countless little details that Brooks learned the hard way: working with Powersoft engineers, fighting it out in the trenches and trying to build the perfect application. His highly developed experiential knowledge forms the basis of this book. To quote from Little Man Tate, "It's not so much what he knows, but what he understands."

It Spoke to Me...
The first half of this book is fundamental, perhaps overly so. The first nine chapters cover information that's well covered in the Sybase classes - "Mastering DataWindows" and "Using the DataWindow Object" - although in far greater detail than a three- to five-day class. This section will serve the beginning PowerBuilder developer well; you'll want to work through the code examples, try out the SQL and make use of the excellent advice on tables and data.

Brooks does the newer developer the courtesy of covering the essentials of SQL and database design. The subjects are so interrelated to the DataWindow that it's hard to really approach it without some of this fundamental knowledge.

Don't lose heart, those of you who've been in the game awhile. Although the first half may seem rudimentary to some of us, perhaps even tedious, Brooks suggests that fine-print details will emerge in those early sections. Use the bold-type method when looking over these section titles, italicized points and chapter summaries. These summaries include many golden nuggets of information; you may also want to simply move on to later chapters.

Content (Where's the Beef??)
Brooks uses easy-to-follow examples throughout, as well as lots of screenshots and diagrams so you get some idea of expected output. Many books give code examples without any idea of what you should be seeing at the end of the rainbow. The Definitive DataWindow is rife with screenshots. After all, presentation is a major facet of what this book is all about.

The later chapters go into the DataWindow role as it relates to distributed PowerBuilder, the basics of object orientation and the Web DataWindow. The PB7 examples show interfaces with PowerJ and PowerSite. There is an extensive section on DataWindow controls, and DataWindow properties have their own area as opposed to including them in each section. A lot of the meat is in Chapter 14 - over 150 pages of tips, techniques and heartburn relievers.

Extras
I spoke with Richard Brooks about the writing process. He said this book was born in stages. It began as a book about the basic functionality of DataWindows. However, as it grew in length and scope, his original publishers said they didn't want it to be "definitive." Upon hearing this Brooks created his own private classroom setting and used it to help guide his writing, which helped form his informational style. He'll also be teaching the "DataWindow Magic" class at TechWave2000.

The CD has several sample applications with loaded pibbles, bitmaps and lots of code. You should be able to follow the examples on the CD. It also comes with an evaluation copy of SQL Expert and SQL Wizard.

The Definitive DataWindow will be available at TechWave2000 in the book area. It's also available through dot-com sources such as Amazon, FatBrain and Barnes & Noble.

Conclusion
I give this book my highest recommendation. While basic at times, it's excellent for classroom settings and is an interesting read. It'll prove to be an invaluable reference and SQL guide. If you've been using DataWindows for some time (PB junkies), this book will show you more advanced techniques and mechanics.

The key is to glean from this book the parts that will be of most importance to you. After all, it wouldn't be definitive if it didn't cover all aspects of the DataWindow - from the simplest to the most complex.