From the very beginning this book has accuracy problems, on the cover it says "900 plus pages packed with ..." well the book is only 714 pages long. Looking up anything in the index is futile, because the page numbers do not match up at all, if you're lucky it will only be a few pages off.

i purchased this updated version of sql server secrets because of my experience with the previous version, sql server 6.5 secrets. that version was accurate, informative, and thorough. the same cannot be said for sql server 7.0 secrets. in particular, i noticed that there were several references to both tables and procedures in the replication chapters that no longer exist or are no longer applicable. it looks as though those sections were just cut and pasted over on top of sections from the previous version without being reviewed prior to going to press. i would go so far as to say the errors are so blatant that it is obvious the authors either never proofread the book or never actually performed the procedures themselves at all. i ended up contacting microsoft for the accurate replication troubleshooting techniques that i expected to find in this book. save your money.

Not a bad book, but like most books on SQL 7, it's raw, and sometimes inacurate. My biggest complaint is the quality of examples. Guess people who wrote it didn't have time to use their brains (had they any..?). Still this book is better than 'Inside SQL 7' by MS.