I've been buying WROX books for years and I have to say this is one of the most poorly written ones I've gotten my hands on in quite a while. I do'nt know if its ignorance or arrogance, but there are areas right off the bat that this author chooses to ignore. Especially in clearly documenting the references and using statements. Man, the Errata is even wrong! For example the Errata for page 44 states:

Error in Code
The Select() and Select(int id) methods should call the HRPaidTimeOffDataContext that takes a connection string:

using (HRPaidTimeOffDataContext db = new
HRPaidTimeOffDataContext(DBHelper.GetHRPaidTimeOff ConnectionString()))

Where in the hell did "DBHelper" come into play in chapter 44?

In Chapter 3 on page 49, he starts to describe what one shoud do to create the clases, but omits the references to "System.Transactions" and the fact that a reference needs to be made to the root of V2.PaidTimeOffDAL. For most of my hand-typed code there were squiggly lines everwhere due to this ref being missing. At some points, its hard to tell the diff between what he is trying to explain, and what he intends for you to type. I'm REALLY dissapointed in this book.

OzAmaro: We appreciate your questions and I'm sorry the book didn't live up to your expectations. Based on most of the reader questions here and the author's many responses, you seem to be in the minority in thinking the book is bad, but we still value what you have to say.
What we don't value are the insulting words and approach in the question. Thanks for keeping that in mind in any future comments.

__________________
Jim Minatel
Associate Publisher, WROX - A Wiley Brand
Did someone here help you? Click on their post!

Yeah I know.... that's how I felt. I bought a book for almost $55.00 and lost more hours in first few chapters trying to chase down references and debugging the example then I spent on learning. I'd allocated time and money and was spinning my wheels WAY too early. I feel there's a big responsibility one takes on when they ask $55.00 for a book. Especially in these hard times. No book is perfect, but I can honestly say that the problem here is that BIG problems came up TOO early on. Even beforfe one gets a chance to get the groove of the mindset, one is distracted by the lack of detail to make things work. Then there's that Errata that one counts on to correct missprints and errors. Well, that takes you even further down the trail of "WHAT THE F$%@ IS GOING ON!" So, I"m sorry if it seems harsh, but 55.00 and several hours of my time means something and yeah, I was frustrated and felt like this was the "preview of coming attractions" for this book. I own 10 books from you that I was happy with... but you lost my trust. I've returned it and found one from Apress that fit my needs better. Good luck in the future guys

I think you should buy a book for absolute beginners. Adding references is no big deal, it's so easy and yet you're making a big fuss about it. There's nothing wrong with the errata as DBHelper is discussed way before chapter 4.
I think the book is great and very useful.

Samples are working, there is no problem but the code in the book is sometimes different from sample codes. Some parts aren't described clearly. But these aren't change the reality that this is one of the best books about its topic. Thanks Varallo

I am still in Chapter 2 and noticed several issues. First and foremost, there are several code lines in the book that I don't see in my project. Example in Chap 2 "
1.
This class implements the INotifyPropertyChanging
and INotifyPropertyChanged interfaces. A PropertyChangingEvenArgs object is declared as
a member, and there are private member variables for each feld in the table.
".

2.
two events, and two methods.
The events and methods are required because the class implements the INotifyProperyChanging
and INotifyPropertyChanged interfaces

3.If you expand this region, you will see a bunch of partial methods. The OnLoaded method
can be used to run code after the object’s data has been loaded from the database. The OnValidate
method is called before the object’s data is saved to the database, and OnCreated is called when the
object is instantiated. There is also a Changing and Changed partial method for every property. You
can use these methods to inject code when a user changes any properties in this object.

I don't see any of the above mentioned in my code. I am hoping this won't create an issue as I move along. Over all, so far I am happy with the book contents

Yeah, when I mentioned this. I was told that instead of owning up to the fact that there were missing refs that need to be inserted....it must be me. So, I was informed to go get a beginners book. I guess I have'nt gotten up to par on the mind-reading. Sure anybody can add refs...if you know they need it...and of course if you have memorized every namespace to know where to find it. You know, between their rush to blame the reader, errogance, and outragous e-book pricing. I think WROX has lost thier minds. Apress and Amazon are godsends to the strugling developer. They know how to write AND sell.

To Ozmaro: I'm not connected with the author and wrox in any way. I'm just here to tell what I feel is right and fair.

In order to add using statements automatically, place the cursor in the offending code and press Ctrl+. and select the option to generate using statement automatically. Also, you can use VS Help to easily find the needed reference.

To sarangn4u: If I'm not mistaken, that code can be seen in the generated C# code of the .dbml file.

Happy reading!