hi people,
as a designer i have forced myself to start learning how to develop dynamic pages.

i have been asked by my employer to setup a simple database which would provide customers with a simple music dealer list. as i am working on a mac i am not exactly sure what would be the easiest way to do this.

can i run php/mysql, jsp? on mac, they would prefer to use access but it doesn't really matter. would i need ultradev, coldfusion etc?

also - i guess a simple query like this would be quite easy to code - am i wrong in thinking this?

joe

I'm also using a Mac and I was recently on the same crossroads as you are, to go dynamic or to stick with what I know best, static HTML and JavaScript. But then I got my hands on this Macromedia DW UltraDev, and the first attempts to manage a database was achieved by the means of ColdFusion, which I got my ISP to install on their server. But there were some problems with CF and the tutorials on the web were using all but ColdFusion as their examples. So I tried PHakt PHP server model. Well, I didn't actually get it to work, because I couldn't configure it. Some months passed and Macromedia came up with what is now known as DreamWeaver MX. Now this is the product you'll really need, because now they have PHP server model built in to some degree. It's a drag-and-drop job, really. So all you need, is an Apache web server (which your company might already be running) and in addition to Apache, one great tool called PHPMyAdmin. This lets you create and alter database tables with a nice interface. It's free to download and just put it in your public_html forlder (or whatever), and read the readme.

Then you need MySQL database. That is also a pretty common solution, so odds are that it is already running in some form on your ISP's server. This combination of software is proved to work fine (at least for me). If you have to stick with Access database, be forewarned that it could get slow on high traffic and that you may have to work with the database part on an actual PC!

NB! With this PHP and MySQL solution you have to ask your ISP to open a port for remote access, to enable access from DW itself.

Good luck, it's not so hard, really <img src=../images/dmxzone/forum/icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

Less is more1

unfortunately i have to build it on access but using a pc to do that is fine. there shouldn't be any difficulty coding for it on the mac though should there?

is dreamweaver MX + ultradev quite easy to get to grips with for simple query tasks?

does anyone know of any good books to get me started? not just reference books though.

joe

joe

I bought bookd for Ultradev 4 (MX had not been heard of yet), and they have helped me out several times when I've made a longer break in "dynamic work" and forgotten some principles.

They are:
DreamWeaver UltraDev 4 - A beginner's Guide (Osborne, Ray West and Tom Muck);
Inside DreamWeaver UltraDev 4 (New Riders, Sean Nicholson).

They basically duplicate each other, although "Beginner's Guide" dives into SQL more deeply (which comes in handy, when your queries become more complex). There's also a section covering MS Access database integration in detail, in this beforementioned book.

I bought them from Amazon.com

Less is more1

There is no problem using Access databases with UD for Mac. I do it all the time. However, you wil need access to an application server to test and rollout. NT machine for ASP, CF Server for CFM, etc. You will also probably need to write a custom connection string rather than use a DSN. IMHO custom strings are better anyways.

Cheap alternative: PHP & MySQL which you could set up on an OSX machine. (By cheap, I mean the app setup. The OSX machine will still cost a fortune, but such is Mac.)

What you are trying to do is really easy. Follow the tutorial that comes with UD and you will have done what you need by the end of the day.

is the custom string also easy to write.
i am going to buy a couple of books to learn from anyway because i do intend to create a larger database for work using pictures, news articles, reviews etc...

i guess that once i get the basics right and learn a few projects from the books then this should be fairly straightforward.

wont be able to use mySQL because the company would have to pay licensing rights.

joe

Sure. Go to www.able-consulting.com/ado_conn.htm. You will find all the custom strings you need.


Book I found helpful is Dreamweaver Ultradev 4 The Complete Reference.

I am using a mac and an access database. I had no problem making a DSN connection to my Host.

I had alot of trouble trying to connect to a testing server like on a networked PC (I never got it work and almost gave up UD altogether).

I ended up uploading my database to my Web Host, made the connection to it, and started building pages and testing them right off the host. I never needed a connection string.

This is the fastet way to get you into working with UD and Database Sites so you can start developing instead of spending all your time trying make a testing connection.
I know there are other ways of doing this, but this has been the easyest and fastest way that I have found.

I am not a UD expert but this method definitly works and if you are only working on smaller database sites, it might be the way to go.

Kim

www.flyersdirect.com

ok i've finally bought studio mx

i've uploaded the sample database file to my server. now how do i make a direct connection to it?

using dreamweaver mx with built in ultradev

joe