Here they go again. A software vendor publishes a book on one of its own products, and written by its own employees. The cover blurb calls this work “a must for anyone involved in the design and implementation of Rdb databases.” But this “must” is a separate purchase from the software, and that seems to be a conflict of interest. Is the company deliberately providing inadequate documentation so you will buy this book? I do not know, but the popularity of this practice does not excuse it.

That said, this is a good text. The authors know their subject and they present a wide range of material clearly. If you are a novice, you will find some description of SQL and US Department of Defense security classes. For more advanced users, there is material on distributed databases, Rdb with ODBC and OSF/1, and a quick multimedia example.

Hints are liberally scattered throughout the book. Some seem simplistic (“it is very easy to attach to the wrong database”), but in general they may save you a lot of head-scratching.

There is plenty of detail on performance, including screen shots and explanations of the Rdb tuning tools. The authors have deliberately avoided application programming; the few pages devoted to this subject use COBOL with embedded SQL.

If the regular Rdb manuals do not make sense to you, complain to Digital. Maybe they will give you a copy of this book.