There has been a lot of talk over the years about the need for a book on Omnis Studio. That is a pretty vague request when we consider just how expansive a subject “Omnis Studio” really is. One book will just not adequately cover the subject.

So what do you think about an encyclopedia on Omnis Studio? This is the project that is currently under way. The first two volumes of the OmniScience Omnis Reference Library are already available and three others are in various stages of development.

David Swain, well-known Omnis author and trainer, has set out to build an entire library of solid, detailed information on all aspects of Omnis Studio — one which will still be viable as future generations of the Omnis product emerge. If you have read David’s contributions to the Omnis Tech News, you know how thorough and imaginative he can be. Just imagine the value of entire books of such in-depth information!

The Omnis Reference Library book series is published under the heading of OmniScience, David’s original technical journal for Omnis developers. Beginning with the basics, the first volume is on “Variables and Fields”. While this may seem like a mundane topic, there are many insights into how to use Omnis Studio more effectively included in this book that even advanced Omnis developers will find enlightening. A brief synopsis of each chapter in this volume is available online as well as a pdf document containing the first ten pages of the book (cover, Table of Contents and Introduction).

The second volume in this series was intended to be titled “List Variables”, but that volume grew too large and has now been split in two: “List Variable Definitions” and “List Variable Operations”. Volume II was released in early March of 2005. A brief synopsis of each chapter in Volume II is available online. Volume II was released in mid December of 2005. A brief synopsis of each chapter in Volume III is also available online.