Welcome to SB+ Solutions! Since we released the first edition back in January of 1997, we've received countless feedback from people who have found this reference to be a most valuable asset for SB+ programming. We sincerely hope that this becomes true for you as well.
Also since 1997, there have been a number of changes. SB+ has gone from version 2.x to version 4.x. Numerous new features have been added throughout the product, and generally speaking, it's much more powerful today than it has ever been. Yet, despite all the changes to SB+ over this time, the first edition of "the big green book" continued virtually unchanged. Fortunately, most of the text in the first edition has been applicable to versions 3.x and 4.x. As a result, while the text was useful and largely applicable, it was notably spartan in documenting the newest features.
Now, in the second edition, we're changing all that. Using the first edition as a starting point, we've gone back through the text and added dozens of pages about many of the newest features of the product as well as improving many of the existing sections. While the book still doesn't cover every aspect of the product, it does explore most of the commonly used features and techniques.
Rather than distributing this edition in a multi-pound book (which some say could have doubled as a booster seat for small children), we've decided instead to use a web-browser interface. This new format allows us to create links from place to place throughout the text, thus virtually eliminating the need for an index. As an added benefit, you can also use this format to cut-and-paste examples from the book right into your own work, instead of entering the examples manually! We believe this new format adds a powerful new dimension to the text, making it easier for you to find the information you're looking for without having to invest a good portion of time or valuable desk space.
A couple of items of note:
You'll notice that there are no buttons on the pages for moving backward through the text. Most browsers (perhaps all) support this on their own button bar, so we've decided not to invest the screen space for functionality you already have. Also, because of the numerous links throughout the text, and because of the numerous browsers available, the time required to implement the combinations of features to enable navigation functionality for every environment would have been prohibitive.
Care has also been taken to make the HTML as generic as possible so the text will format properly using literally any browser. For this reason, and also for the sake of display efficiency, all of the links from page to page are textual, nearly all of the screen images are GIFs, and all the text is formatted via cascading style sheets instead of embedded font commands. (Having said all this, you'll find the text appears better using Microsoft IE4 (or later), though Netscape Communicator 4.5 isn't too far off the mark.)
Our primary concern is, and always has been, your productivity. We hope you find this book to be a valuable reference for creating wonderful SB+ applications each and every day. And if you happen across a new and exciting technique that you'd like to share, drop me a line at kevin@precisonline.com or come visit our web page at http://www.precisonline.com!