Mastering SQL Queries for SAP Business One

Very helpful if you don't have experience building querys on SAP B1, I've been learning a lot of details, I recommend it 100%

My programmer says this book is a great tool.

I have found it very useful. Would have give it 5 stars if the book had included some compendium about operators, sap tables and relationship and the formatting for kindle were better adapted.

A+ great product and was everything I expected!

Easy read with good SQL / Crystal Reports for SBO.

Wow, what can I say - Gordon Du has done a superb job of stitching together everything a SAP Business One implementer needs to know about SAP B1 query support inside the product. It is this query support which makes SAP B1 stand out against its competitors and it is this Query knowledge that makes the end users happy and makes it worthwhile switching to B1; it is this Query support that makes end users of B1 productive every day at work and hence provides a tangible return on investment by consolidating multiple data gathering activities into a single easy to use report from queries. Queries will simplify our clients work flow and data accessibility where it is needed without expensive programming. The great design of Business One allows for use of queries as if it is part of customization of product and will enhance the product and every implementer needs to know about this customization with Queries. I am a SAP Certified SAP B1 consultant and have done multiple implementations and going forward, I will use many queries right out of this book and modify a few others slightly to fit into my client needs such as client UDFs, UDTs etc. Mr. Du has done a wonderful job of covering everything one needs to know about Query generation, reports and screen formatting, great real product pictures to show how it is actually customized, securing the queries, great insight into why something is done and not to forget Stored Procedures which may be 10% of implemented query customization. Mr. Du is very well known to SAP Community and he has been helping them for many years actively and now this great book is a giveaway and will save months if not years of effort and hard learning!

This book is exactly what is required to understand and use the SQL tables associated with SAP Business One. Gordon has taken us step-by-step through the key tables, how to use them and join them, and how to report from them. Not only that but he also takes us through how to use reporting tools such as Crystal Reports and Query Manager. When you think you have covered it all, you then find details of how to make a good query and what the common mistakes are with SAP Business One query writing. The book ends as good as it starts with an appendix crammed full of useful information such as transaction types and object codes. Who is the book for? I have recommended it to many SAP Business One users. The writing style is aimed at end users with many pictorial examples. For my part, I am a certified SAP Business One Consultant and am well versed in SQL queries, but there is only so much information that you can carry in your head. I wouldn't be without this book. It is a one place reference to everything that you need to know about SQL Queries, so I would recommend it to everyone, Consultants and end users alike. The fact that it is also available as a download is an added bonus! Gordon is a genius when it comes to SAP Business One. If you ask a question on the SAP forums you know it will be answered if Gordon responds. He has been the top contributor for many years and will hopefully continue to contribute for many years to come. If you use SAP Business One and need to look at SQL scripts you must have this book.

Packt Publishing has come out with some good books for IT folks and they are starting to gain a reputation for providing both technical and functional books. "Mastering SQL for SAP Business One" is another example of what this publishing house is striving for: IT books which provide both theory and actual application of a topic with a hands-on, sensible approach. Packt has the catch phrase of "professional expertise distilled" for their publications, which might be more on target of what this book is all about. Many of Packt's books are excellent self-teaching tools, and this book definitely falls into that category and goes a bit beyond. I might have some skin in the game on this one, but if you deal with SAP Business One (SAP B1) at all, you quickly realize one of the most useful tools to have around is the ability to write SQL to provide additional information which users require throughout the life of SAP B1's usage. The author might refer to it as "Business Intelligence" and "Data Mining", but I tend to be old school and think of SQL's purpose as: the user needs information which is in the databases, and IT needs some special SQL written to get it into the hands of the users. Besides the obvious benefits of the skills you will receive from the book, an additional benefit of this publication deals with the author: Gordon Du is widely and openly recognized in the SAP B1 Forums as being a complete, well-rounded expert on SAP B1, and one of the best SQL writers to be found in helping others straighten out or improve the SQL that is posted on the SAP B1 sites. If you are at all slightly familiar with the SAP sites, you know this fellow has some pretty incredible credentials. We are talking about someone with real, hands-on expertise in a field with is fairly tight; you might not be able to get better advice than what Gordon Du provides. This book hits the subject head-on and, without a doubt, is one of the books you must have on your shelf before you start using or implementing SAP B1. Having taught non-technical users how to write SQL many times during SAP B1 implementations, I wish I would have had this book at hand. It will be an excellent teaching tool for me in the future where those learning can refer back to the book over and over again to solidify their skills. The book provides just enough technical information without getting too technical. By the way, I like the limited amount of technical references: the technical aspects of the book are balanced pretty good - enough to explain to the novice for basic understanding and enough for the advanced to research further what is being said. The book also provides a good amount of actual SQL which can be copied into SAP B1 and used immediately. I do not know how many SQL statements are contained within the book, but it must be over 100 (maybe 125?) actual SQLs you can have for every day business usage. The icing on the cake is when the author provides the many different ways in which SQL can be used within SAP B1: formatted searches, user-defined fields, stored procedures, using SAP B1's function of creating a report layout directly from the Query Manager, etc (check the index and table of contents). These are some subjects which directly relate to SAP B1 and how they are used. The author brings together a lot of points which are scattered throughout other sites and publications (some of them are almost impossible to find). So the consolidation of these topics in one book is another great benefit to anyone interested in SQL for SAP B1. But the previous points are not the best part of Gordon Du's work; the best part is that the author takes the time to show what he was presented with from various users in actual business scenarios and how he changed and/or improved upon the SQL to get the user the answer they needed. I can easily see how he worked through the problem and can learn what to do in similar cases. If there is a good indication of the author's intent, it can be found on page 19 with his constant slogan and approach to any SQL which he has written: "Keep it simple is the key to success...simple, simpler, the simplest" is the way to go - cut it down to bare bones where possible and forget the fancy inclusions sometimes found. In juxtaposition to many other books on SQL, the intent is to make it and keep it simple, and thereby, making the subject less intimidating for folks new or just starting to stretch their wings in writing SQL. It is a lesson often overlooked and causes immense problems when any change or enhancement to SQL is done. Many SQL authors think the SQL has to be complex to be appreciated, but the real appreciation comes in when others have to understand or touch up SQL previously written by someone else. Still not convinced to order this book? Then let me put it in a format which drives any business: costs and money. If you figure the average hourly rate for an SAP B1 Consultant to come in and write some SQL for your company (say with a low-ball estimate average of two hours per SQL), and if you end up using only one, just one, of the SQL given in the book, you will have already covered the cost of the book by itself. If, however, you study and pick up some skills in writing SQL without the aid of an SAP B1 Consultant or classroom training, you will actually be saving your company money with the demand made by users within a short time of going live with SAP B1. The topics are so different, I doubt anyone would have all of the SQL the author presents - I know I don't have all of these, and I have been doing SQL for some time now. And don't be easily fooled, the need for new SQL after going into production mode will be there time and time again! Save yourself some headache AND time AND your company's money. I am suggesting to everyone I have dealt with on SAP B1 that they buy this book and take 15 to 30 minutes each day to do one example from the book in their test system. Copy both the problem SQL and Gordon Du's solution SQL, run both of them, and see the results with what the author suggests. If they do that small task every day, their skill level and understanding of SQL for SAP B1 will increase since the author peppers various SQL pointers throughout the book. They might not immediately become an expert like Gordon Du (he does have over 20 years of experience after all), but they will surely become one of the best in their company when users need additional information out of SAP B1. And, believe me, if you have SAP B1 at your company, someone internal MUST become proficient at SQL for SAP B1 or the outlay of cash can skyrocket. If you are familiar with my reviews, you know I am really stingy with 5 stars on Amazon, but this book will receive it. But if I had a choice to give incremental ratings, the rating would be a 4.75. Why not a five star if incremental ratings were available? One technique I would have liked to have seen used in the book is a version of how an ending SQL standardized structure would look like - too complicated to get into here, but a technique which goes along with the author's intent of "keeping it simple" - Gordon knows what I mean. Another improvement would be if the book had a listing of all tables in SAP B1 (like Teufel has in his SAP B1 book). The last suggestion I have for the author deals with including some specific SAP B1 "gotcha" situations (Query Wizard does not show all tables, certain words which stop one from getting drill-down arrows, etc). I would have gone over the top with the incrementals and said a solid, no doubt about it five star rating if those three suggestions had been present. But, again, that is just my own personal opinion. According to the Sample Chapter provided by Packt, Gordon Du will be working on other books on SAP B1 - maybe he will include these items in his upcoming publications? But let me give you the bottom line: order it and thank Gordon later on, after you have reaped the benefits.

5 *

Tutto ok. Consegna perfetta

I am very satisfied with the book. It gradually leads you to complex queries with explanations for a novice user.

The software version is not working.. Skipping pages. I have ordered paper back edition