Relational database technology has reached a considerable level of popularity among business users. In general, the user manuals of the different relational database toolsets are jargon-filled and thus inappropriate as training devices to teach new concepts, techniques, and languages.

This book discusses the Query Management Facility (QMF), a query editor and report writer for the DB2, SQL/DS, and SQL/400 relational database management systems. The book also discusses Structured Query Language (SQL) and Prompted Query Language (PQL), which is a window-based query language that helps you create SQL statements.

Chapter 1 introduces the basic concepts and facilities of QMF and its relationship with the database management system and the operating system. Chapter 2 discusses simple techniques for report generation by means of the basic QMF processing objects. The essentials of SQL are covered in detail in chapter 3, while chapter 7 introduces its advanced features, such as joins, intersections, and SQL functions. Chapter 4 discusses the PQL language and its relationship with SQL. Chapter 5 discusses different ways to customize the reports generated through QMF. Chapter 6 shows how to create control break reports in order to regroup and convey statistics and other sophisticated pieces of information. Chapter 8 discusses advanced features of QMF that are used for reports with a complex underlying logic. Chapter 9 discusses the QMF procedures and variable queries that allow you to set up ready-made reports for use by end users. Chapter 10 introduces the QMF database and workspace, and chapter 11 discusses advanced features of QMF. Finally, chapter 12 discusses problems of using QMF in a production environment and what solutions exist.

Most of the chapters end with extensive lists of overview questions or exercises that provide the reader with a checklist for his or her level of understanding of the contents of the chapter. Something I found particularly attractive is the brief table of contents at the beginning of each chapter. The authors have gone to considerable lengths to help the reader find his or her way around the text and understand the QMF facility. A large number of examples elaborate in detail the basic concepts and techniques covered in the book.

The book is particularly useful for on-the-job training as well as classroom training of industrial practitioners. I do not find it attractive as a textbook for students in an educational institution simply because one needs access to a QMF facility in order to get the full benefit of reading this book.