I like to learn about things that I'm not an expert in: basically, I'm learning all the time. To that end, I picked up a copy of Tony Scalese's new book on FDMEE, called Oracle FDMEE Scripting: Essential Elements .

There is an assumption of knowledge, as Tony mentions, about FDMEE and some core concepts. This is not an "overview of FDMEE" book. His other book, The Definitive Guide To Oracle FDMEE , would help with that.

There are three chapters in the book. The first chapter deals with syntax and the right way to do things, from simple indenting and case sensitivity to more complicated scripting techniques like error capturing. The second chapter explores the FDMEE Java API by listing many of the methods and associated keys available when developing scripts. The last chapter gets into script development and debugging, including an introduction to FDMEE development mode, where scripts can be tested without impacting data.

Throughout the book are code examples to illustrate the point being made, which are helpful in seeing a particular technique, key, etc. being applied.

What I would like to see more of are a few common FDMEE scripts with notes that apply the knowledge in the book to the scripts. The book covers all of the pieces, but there's no overall example that ties them together. Like show a smart replace event script and point out the classes being imported, the indenting, the use of fdmContext, etc. Or a batch script that runs a data load rule, executes the check validation report, and then emails the log and the check report to the admin with the lessons being applied from the chapters. Reminds me of a Stave jigsaw puzzle, where you get the elegantly crafted pieces but not a picture of what they look like when put together.

If you are an FDMEE administrator with an implementation that was done by consultants or are new to the job, this will be a great book for you. Review the scripts you have, read the book, and then review the scripts again now that you know more about the syntax and the techniques. If you are new to writing FDMEE scripts and don't have a folder of scripts to refer to, you may want to do some looking around (Oracle forums, blogs, samples, Google, etc.) to find a few to provide some context.

Overall, a good book to understand FDMEE scripting. Here's the link to it on Amazon.com:

Oracle FDMEE Scripting: Essential Elements

Also, if you're going to Kscope, Tony will be there and I'm sure glad to sign your copy.