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Beginning Dreamweaver® MX 2004

Charles E. BrownImar Spaanjaars

Todd Marks

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Charles E. BrownImar Spaanjaars

Todd Marks

Beginning Dreamweaver®MX 2004Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.10475 Crosspoint BoulevardIndianapolis, IN 46256www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except aspermitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the priorwritten permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy feeto the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax(978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department,Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317)572-4447, E-mail: [email protected].

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Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Wrox, the Wrox logo, the Wrox Programmer to Programmer logoand related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and/or itsaffiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.Dreamweaver is a registered trademark of Macromedia, Inc. All other trademarks are the property oftheir respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor men-tioned in this book.

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About the Authors

Charles E. BrownCharles E. Brown, Ph.D., is a noted author and teacher in the computer industry today. His first twobooks, Beginning Dreamweaver MX and Fireworks MX: From Zero to Hero, have received critical acclaimand are consistent best-sellers. He is also releasing books on VBA for Microsoft Access and on MicrosoftFrontPage 2003. He is also a Fireworks MX contributor for the MX Developer’s Journal.

In addition to his busy writing schedule, Charles conducts frequent seminars for Learning TreeInternational and the PC Learning Center. His topics include Java programming, using Dreamweaver,and the Microsoft Office environment.

Charles is also a noted classical organist, pianist, and guitarist who studied with such notables asVladimir Horowitz, Virgil Fox, and Igor Stravinsky. It was because of his association with Stravinskythat he got to meet, and develop a friendship with, famed 20th-century artist Pablo Picasso.

Charles can be contacted through his Web site at www.charlesebrown.net.

I would like to thank Andy Nosalskiy at www.dreamweaverdesk.com for his invaluable assistancein designing great Dreamweaver templates.

Imar SpaanjaarsImar Spaanjaars graduated in Leisure Management at the Leisure Management School in TheNetherlands but accidentally ended up in Information Technology (IT). After working for a large corpo-ration and doing some freelance work, he is now working in the software development department of asmall IT company in The Netherlands that specializes in Internet, intranet, and wireless applications. Asa software architect and lead developer, he’s responsible for designing, building, and implementingmedium- to large-scale intranets and wireless solutions. His current project involves the design andimplementation of an application that allows employees to connect to enterprise data in real-time whileon the road using a Pocket PC running the .NET Compact Framework.

When he is not busy writing software or teaching other people how to do so, Imar likes to read as muchas possible about new developments in the software industry. He’s a fanatic squash player and enjoysplaying 3D shoot-’em-up games if he’s got the time for it.

Imar lives in Utrecht, The Netherlands. You can contact him at [email protected].

I would like to thank the people at Wrox for making this project possible. I would especially like to thankBrian MacDonald and Meryl K. Evans for their efforts during the editorial process.

I would also like to thank my parents, Jos and Bep, for the inspiration and motivation they have givenme over the years.

Finally, I would like to thank my girlfriend, Fleur, for her love and her support during this project.

Todd MarksTodd Marks is an avid developer, designer, instructor, and author of information display technologies. In2000 Todd moved from teaching mathematics and computer science in the public sector to becoming VPof Research and Development at digitalorganism (www.digitalorganism.com). In 2002 Toddfounded information technologies portal MindGrub Technologies (www.mindgrub.net). Todd cur-rently works as a multimedia engineer for the MediaEdge division of Exceptional Software(www.media-edge.com). You can contact him at [email protected].

Todd has worked extensively with ActionScript, ASP, PHP, Lingo, and numerous other development lan-guages, placing cutting-edge code in several projects. Todd’s efforts have earned three Flash Film Festivalnominations, a Macromedia Site of the Day, two ADDY Awards, and several educational partnerships.Todd is a Macromedia Certified Developer, Designer, and Subject Matter Expert, and has written and con-tributed to several books, including Flash MX Video, Foundation Dreamweaver MX, Beginning DreamweaverMX, Advanced PHP for Flash MX, Flash MX Most Wanted Components, and Flash MX 2004 Magic.

I would like to thank everyone at MediaEdge and Exceptional Software for their support. I would par-ticularly like to express my love to my wife Betsy and daughters Sadie and Kara.

CreditsAuthorsCharles E. BrownImar SpaanjaarsTodd Marks

Vice President and Executive Group PublisherRichard Swadley

Vice President and Executive PublisherRobert Ipsen

Vice President and PublisherJoseph B. Wikert

Executive EditorChris Webb

Development EditorBrian MacDonald

Editorial ManagerMary Beth Wakefield

Executive Editorial DirectorMary Bednarek

Technical EditorMeryl K. Evans

Production EditorWilliam A. Barton

Copy EditorStefan Gruenwedel

Project CoordinatorRegina Snyder

Graphics and Production SpecialistsCarrie FosterLauren GoddardKristin McMullan

Quality Control TechnicianCarl William Pierce

Text Design & CompositionWiley Composition Services

Media Development SpecialistKit Malone

Proofreading and IndexingTECHBOOKS Production Services

Introduction

The rise of the Internet over recent years means that, for many of you, Web sites are now part of every-day life. You use them for research, news, purchases, tracking shipments, games, and information. Thereis a huge amount of information out there, and it is growing all the time.

In spite of the volume of information on the Web, and the sheer number of Web sites in existence thesedays, it’s still possible to create a new Web site, get it out there on the Internet, and get it noticed. Ofcourse, it’s a good idea to have something interesting to say on your Web site, but that’s not all — youcan make your Web site attractive with a suitable page design and the appropriate use of features, andyou can make it more functional and useful with the help of some back-end data storage and datamanipulation.

That sounds great in principle, but how can you do it in practice? If you don’t know the basics, then theamount you need to learn about each Web programming language (and how they work together) seemsdaunting. Even if you already know the basics of HTML, JavaScript, Active Server Pages, and so on, it’sstill more practical to use your knowledge to build attractive Web sites quickly and effectively, withoutthe hassle of typing every last line of code.

For both types of Web developer, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 provides a solution.Dreamweaver is a powerful Web-development tool that helps you create attractive, dynamic, powerfulWeb sites. Its many tools and features not only enable you to create Web pages and Web sites quicklyand painlessly, but they help you structure your Web sites in such a way that they are easy to maintainafter you’ve built them.

If you’re new to the various coding languages of the Web, fear not — Dreamweaver MX 2004 writes mostof the code for you. If you’re familiar with the basics, then Dreamweaver can help you create feature-richWeb sites with considerable ease. It generates the code for you and allows you to change the code it gen-erates so that you have complete control over the final result.

What Does This Book Cover?This book is a practical introduction to Dreamweaver MX 2004. In this book, we will quickly get youused to the features of Dreamweaver. We use step-by-step examples to show you the basics, and alongthe way you build three attractive, functional Web sites.

We also take a look at the code that Dreamweaver generates and explain how it works. This is impor-tant: You can achieve a lot just by using the point-and-click features of Dreamweaver, but you canachieve even more if you have an understanding of what is going on behind the scenes. Therefore, inthis book, we examine both.

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How Is This Book Structured?In this book we create three complete Web sites. We use a step-by-step approach to build the sites andexplain each step so that you know what’s going on. We also provide the complete source code for allthree sections at www.wrox.com so that you have the option of building as much as you like of each sitefor yourself, or simply placing the source code on a Web server and watching it work.

Each Web site is quite different in nature and achieves a different purpose. You can use each of the sitesas a basis for your own ideas and, hence, develop them into sites that you will be proud to publish.Briefly, the three Web sites are as follows.

Section 1: The Cooking PlaceIn Section 1 of the book (Chapters 1–6), you create a hobbyist site called The Cooking Place. The purposeof this site is to be a resource for all things culinary: cooking techniques, recipes, equipment, news, andso on. As you build this site, you’ll learn how to use Dreamweaver MX 2004 to do the following:

❑ Plan, create, and set up a Web site

❑ Add Web pages to the site and edit their content

❑ Use style sheets and templates to create a consistent style across the site

❑ Use tables and layers to control the layout of Web pages

❑ Add dynamic effects (like drop-down menus) to Web pages using JavaScript and DHTML

❑ Write a form to enable visitors to submit information and use dynamic ASP Web pages tocapture submitted information and react to it

Section 2: The Soccer SiteAs you progress through the book, the sites become increasingly ambitious. In Section 2 (Chapters 7–13),you build a soccer fan site that provides information on upcoming events for soccer fans around theworld. As you build this site, you’ll see how you can use Dreamweaver to do the following:

❑ Add logic to your ASP pages so that you can display different information to different users(depending on who they are or even what time of day it is)

❑ Keep track of users as they move around the site so that you can find out what parts of yoursite are the most popular

❑ Secure parts of the Web site so that only authorized users are allowed to see sensitiveinformation

❑ Personalize the Web site for individual users so that the site appears in the colors of the user’sfavorite team or that they see only events occurring in their home country

❑ Store and extract information about users and upcoming events in a database and use thisinformation to create Web pages dynamically

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Section 3: MediaEdge and Building BlocksIn Section 3 (Chapters 14–18), you build a site that shows off many of the advanced features ofDreamweaver MX 2004. As you progress through these chapters, you’ll see how to design a modular,extensible, and scalable Web site and create a set of dynamic Building Blocks that you can quicklymodify and reuse in different sites.

As you build this site (which is used to display a set of images that users can view and purchase), you’lllearn how to use Dreamweaver MX 2004 to accomplish the following:

❑ Create a set of Building Blocks whose look and content is determined dynamically by thesettings in a database

❑ Create a content management page that you can use to mange the database that stores informa-tion about the images on the site, including their title, price, and how they should be laid out

❑ Put the Building Blocks you created earlier to a variety of uses, including a news blogger, amedia display, and a product display

❑ Use Dreamweaver extensions to make your Building Blocks easy to reuse and to add e-commerce functionality to the site

The AppendixesAs you work through the book you learn enough about languages such as HTML, JavaScript, andCascading Style Sheets (CSS) to have a good understanding of what Dreamweaver does for you behindthe scenes. This is knowledge that will help you create better, more effective Web sites.

You also learn about server-side Web programming using Active Server Pages (ASP). This is a valuableskill in itself, but this will also prove useful if you plan eventually to build Web sites with JavaServerPages (JSP), ASP.NET, PHP, or ColdFusion MX. Dreamweaver MX 2004 supports all of these server-sideprogramming technologies; indeed, programming in any of these languages is very similar inDreamweaver and the core concepts you learn in building Web sites with ASP are applicable and easilytransferred to other languages. To help, this book includes four appendixes that provide fast-pacedguides on getting started using JSP, ASP.NET, PHP, and ColdFusion MX with Dreamweaver MX 2004.

Why Not Try . . .Each chapter concludes with a Why Not Try . . . section, which suggests tasks and exercises that youmight try, using the concepts and techniques covered in that chapter. They’re designed to help youreinforce the ideas for yourself, or to extend them — and to encourage you to experiment with newfeatures of Dreamweaver and Web site development in general.

Some of the suggestions come with hints for how you should set about the task — but more detailedguides for each can be found at http://p2p.wrox.com/exercises/.

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Who Is This Book For?This book has two primary audiences. If you are new to the world of Web development and you haveaccess to Dreamweaver MX 2004 (or you’re thinking of buying Dreamweaver MX 2004) then you can usethis book to learn about Web site development using Dreamweaver. We’ll show you what to do andyou’ll learn enough about the important topics and about what happens behind the scenes to startcreating attractive, functional Web sites very quickly.

If you’ve already done some Web site programming in the past but you’re new to Dreamweaver (or justnew to the latest version of Dreamweaver), then this book will show you how to achieve the tasksyou’ve been working on, but in far less time and with far fewer bugs! Dreamweaver generates as muchcode as you want it to and it’s a great tool for rapid application development and proof-of-conceptdevelopment.

What You Need for This BookTo build and run the Web sites featured in this book you’ll need the following:

❑ Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or Server, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XPProfessional Edition

❑ Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0, 5.1, or 6.0, which comes bundled with theoperating systems listed above and which includes the necessary features to run server-sideASP coding

❑ Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004

If you don’t already own a copy of Dreamweaver MX 2004, you can download a 30-day evaluation edi-tion from Macromedia at www.macromedia.com/downloads/. The evaluation edition is full-featuredand you’ll be able to use it to work through the examples in the book.

If you have Microsoft Windows 98, Windows XP Home Edition, or Mac OS, you will need access to aremote server in order to run the ASP Web sites in the book. Appendix E and the Dreamweaver HelpDocumentation contain information about setting up a site to work with a remote server.

ConventionsWe use a number of different styles of text and layout in the book to help differentiate between the vari-ous styles of information we provide. Here are examples of the styles we use along with explanations ofwhat they mean.

Try It Out ConventionsThe Try It Out section is an exercise you should work through, following the text in the book.

1. They usually consist of a set of steps.

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2. Each step has a number.3. Follow the steps through.4. Then read How It Works to find out what’s going on.

How It WorksAfter each Try It Out, the code you’ve typed in will be explained in detail.

Background information looks like this.

Not-to-be-missed information looks like this.

Bulleted information is shown like this:

❑ Important words have a special italic font.

❑ Any code fragments or file names within normal text are highlighted in a special font.

❑ Menu items that require you to click on multiple submenus have a special symbol thatlooks like this: ➪ . For example: File ➪ New ➪ Folder.

Code shown for the first time, or other relevant code, is in the following format:

Dim intVariableintVariable = 10Response.Write(intVariable)

Less important code, or code that you have seen before, looks like this:

intVariable = 10

Customer SupportWe offer source code for download, errata, and technical support from the Wrox Web site atwww.wrox.com. In addition, you can join our mailing lists for author and peer discussions athttp://p2p.wrox.com. (See the last section in this introduction for more info on the P2P site.)

Source Code and UpdatesAs you work through the examples in this book, you may choose either to type in all the code manuallyor use the source code files that accompany the book. All the source code referenced in this book is avail-able for download at www.wrox.com. Once at the site, simply locate the book’s title (either through theSearch utility or by using one of the title lists) and double-click the Download Code link on the book’sdetail page to obtain the source code for the book.

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ErrataWe have made every effort to ensure that there are no errors in the text or in the code.

To find the errata page for this book, go to www.wrox.com and locate the title using the Search utility orone of the title lists. On the book’s detail page, click the View Errata link. On this page you will be able toview all errata that have been submitted for this book and posted by Wrox editors. You can also click theSubmit Errata link on this page to notify us of any errors you’ve found.

While we’re on the subject of submitting errata, if you find an error in this book we definitely want tohear about it. In addition to the link on the book’s detail page, you can also e-mail the information [email protected]. We’ll check the information and, if appropriate, post a message to the book’serrata page and fix the problem in subsequent editions of the book.

If you do e-mail us, your e-mail should include the following things:

❑ In the Subject field, include the book’s title, the last six digits of the ISBN (555243 for this book),and the page number on which the error occurs.

❑ In the body of the message, include your name, contact information, and the problem.

We won’t send you junk mail. We promise! We need these details to help you as quickly as possible.

E-mail SupportIf you wish to query a problem in the book directly with an expert who knows the book in detail, thene-mail [email protected], giving the title of the book and the last six numbers of the ISBN in theSubject field of the e-mail. A typical e-mail should include the following things:

❑ The title of the book, the last six digits of the ISBN, and the page number of the problem in theSubject field, for example: “Beginning Dreamweaver MX 2004, 555243, Page 42.”

❑ Your name, contact information, and the problem in the body of the message.

When you send an e-mail message, it will go through the following chain of support:

1. Your message is delivered to our customer support staff, who are the first people to read it.They have files on most frequently asked questions and will answer anything general about thebook or the Web site immediately.

2. Deeper queries are forwarded to the technical editors responsible for the book. They have expe-rience with the programming language or particular product and are able to answer detailedtechnical questions on the subject.

3. In the unlikely event that the editors cannot answer your problem, they will forward the requestto the authors. The publisher does try to protect authors from distractions to their writing; how-ever, the editors are quite happy to forward specific requests to them. All Wrox authors supporttheir books. They will e-mail the editor with their responses so that all readers benefit.

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p2p.wrox.comFor author and peer discussion, join the P2P forums at p2p.wrox.com. The forums are a Web-basedsystem for you to post messages relating to Wrox books and related technologies and interact with otherreaders and technology users. The forums offer a subscription feature to e-mail you topics of interest ofyour choosing when new posts are made to the forums. Wrox authors, editors, other industry experts,and your fellow readers are present on these forums.

At http://p2p.wrox.com you will find a number of different forums that will help you not only as youread this book, but also as you develop your own applications. To join the forums, just follow these steps:

1. Go to p2p.wrox.com and click the Register link.2. Read the terms of use and click Agree.3. Complete the required information to join as well as any optional information you wish to pro-

vide and click Submit.

4. You will receive an e-mail with information describing how to verify your account and com-plete the joining process.

You can read messages in the forums without joining P2P, but in order to post your own messages, youmust join.

Once you join, you can post new messages and respond to messages other users post. You can read mes-sages at any time on the Web. If you would like to have new messages from a particular forum e-mailedto you, click the Subscribe to this Forum icon by the forum name in the forum listing.

For more information about how to use the Wrox P2P, be sure to read the P2P FAQs for answers to ques-tions about how the forum software works as well as many common questions specific to P2P and Wroxbooks. To read the FAQs, click the FAQ link on any P2P page.

The Wrox support process can support only issues that are directly pertinent to thecontent of your published title. Support for questions that fall outside the scope ofnormal book support is provided by the community lists at http://p2p.wrox.com.

Contents

About the Authors vCharles E. Brown vImar Spaanjaars vTodd Marks vi

Introduction ixWhat Does This Book Cover? ixHow Is This Book Structured? x

Section 1: The Cooking Place xSection 2: The Soccer Site xSection 3: MediaEdge and Building Blocks xiThe Appendixes xiWhy Not Try . . . xi

Who Is This Book For? xiiWhat You Need for This Book xiiConventions xii

Try It Out—Conventions xii

Customer Support xiiiSource Code and Updates xiiiErrata xiiiE-mail Support xiv

p2p.wrox.com xvContents xvii

Part I: The Cooking Place 1

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Dreamweaver MX 2004 3

A Brief Overview of Web Technology 4Static Web Pages 4Dynamic Web Content 7

The Macromedia Suite 10Installing Dreamweaver MX 2004 11

Try It Out—Installing Dreamweaver MX 2004 11

Installing a Web Server 14Try It Out—Installing and Testing IIS 5.x 15

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Exploring Dreamweaver MX 2004 19Try It Out—Building Your First Web Page 19

The Dreamweaver Workspace 26Panel Groups and Panels 26The Property Inspector 28The Insert Panel Group 28

Setting up the Preview Browsers 30Try It Out—Configuring Dreamweaver for Browser-Based Page Previews 31

Summary 34Why Not Try . . . 34

Chapter 2: Creating a Web Site 35

Creating Your First Web Site 35Physical Directories and Virtual Directories 36The Site Definition Feature 37

Try It Out—Creating a New Web Site 37

Creating a Web Page 44Try It Out—Creating Your First Web Page 44

Adding Metadata and Header Information 50Try It Out—Adding Metadata to a Web Page 50

Building the Page Design 51The Table Structure 52Browser Compatibility 53Preparing the Workspace 54

Try It Out—Preparing the Workspace 55

Building the Top Table 57Try It Out—Creating an HTML Table 57

Adding Content to the Top Table 60Try It Out—Adding Content to a Table 60

Building the Middle Table 65Try It Out—Building the Middle Table 65

Building the Bottom Table 72Try It Out—Building the Bottom Table 72


Chapter 3: Site Structure, Navigation, and Content 77

Site Structure and Navigation 78Expanding the Site 78

Try It Out—Duplicating Files in Dreamweaver 78

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Building a Navigation System 79Implementing Navigation Buttons 80

Try It Out—Creating a Navigation System 81

Try It Out—Configuring the Navigation Buttons on news.htm and regions.htm 85

Pop-up Menus 86Behaviors 87

Try It Out—Creating a Pop-up Menu 87

Organizing the Site with the Files Panel 91Site Synchronizing 94The Site Map 95

Tools to Assist the Team 98Check In/Out 98Design Notes 100Managing Links 103Site Reports 104

Adding Content to Pages 106Inserting and Formatting Tables 107

Try It Out—Adding Content to news.htm 107

Inserting Text 113Try It Out—Inserting and Styling Text 114

Inserting Graphics in Text 117Try It Out—Inserting Graphics 117

Adding Links to the Text 122Try It Out—Adding Links 122


Chapter 4: Style Sheets and Templates 127

Cascading Style Sheets 128HTML and Structure 128How Styles Works 129CSS Rules 129Creating and Implementing a CSS Style Sheet 130

Try It Out—Creating an External Cascading Style Sheet 130

Adding More Styles to a Style Sheet 134Try It Out—Adding More Styles to the Style Sheet and Linking It to Other Pages 134

Techniques for Inserting CSS 139Editing Styles 140

Try It Out—Creating Embedded CSS 140

CSS Classes 141Try It Out—Using a CSS Class 142

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Classes and Logical Markup 144Try It Out—Logical Markup Using CSS Classes 145

Pseudo-Classes and Pseudo-Elements 148Try It Out—Using a Pseudo-Class to Create a Rollover in a Text Hyperlink 149

Templates 151Creating a Template 151

Try It Out—Creating a Dreamweaver Page Template from an HTML File 152

Creating New Pages from a Template 153Try It Out—Creating Pages from a Template 153

Editable and Noneditable Regions 154Editing Template-Based Documents 155

Try It Out—Editing Template-Based Documents 155

Adding a Template After the Fact 159Try It Out—Applying a Template to an Existing Document 159

Breaking the Template Link 161Libraries 161

Try It Out—Working with Library Items 161


Chapter 5: Layers, Behaviors, and Dynamic Effects 165

An Overview of Browser Scripting 166Dynamic HTML 166

Try It Out—A JavaScript Demonstration 167

Targeting a Browser 169Attaching Multiple Behaviors to an Element 171

Try It Out—Attaching Multiple Behaviors to a Single Element 171

Layers 173Try It Out—Constructing Layers 173

Hidden Layers 177Try It Out—Controlling Layer Visibility 177

Using Layers to Provide Extra Information 180Try It Out—Attaching a Pop-up Layer to a Hyperlink 181

Swapping Images 186Try It Out—Creating Disjointed Images 186

Using Image Maps with Behaviors 189Try It Out—Image Mapping 190


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Chapter 6: User Interaction with ASP and Forms 195

HTML Forms 196Try It Out—Creating a Simple Form 198

The tag 205The tag 205

Sending Form Data to the Server 206Form Validation 207

Try It Out—Setting Up Validation Rules 207

Improving Forms with CSS 209Try It Out—Applying CSS Rules to Forms 209

Introduction to Dynamic Content 211Dynamic Web Pages 211Active Server Pages 214Creating an ASP Page 215

Try It Out—Building Your First ASP Page 215

Using Forms with ASP 218Try It Out—Using Forms with ASP 218

Conditional Output 220Try It Out—Having Your Form Make a Decision 220

Bringing It All Together 221Try It Out—Finishing Up the Cooking Place 222


Part II: The Soccer Site 227

Chapter 7: Adding Logic to Your ASP Pages 229

The Sample Site: GlobalSoccerEvents.com 230Creating the Basics of Your Site 232

Try It Out—Creating the Site 232

Creating the Site Structure 235Try It Out—Creating a Template 235

Try It Out—Adding a Menu to Your Template 238

Try It Out—Spicing Up the Template 243

Try It Out—Implementing the Menu as a Library Item 245

Try It Out—Applying the Template 246

Passing Values from Page to Page 248Creating a Form That Uses GET 249

Try It Out—Sending Values with GET 252

Try It Out—Retrieving Values 254

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Sending and Receiving Values Using POST 255Try It Out—Using POST 255

Using Postback to Post Back to the Current Page 256Try It Out—Creating a Calculator Using Postback 256

Using Information on Multiple Pages 260The Session Object 260Enabling Session State 261

Try It Out—Enabling Session State 261

Exploring Session State 263Try It Out—Exploring Session State 264

The Global.asa File 267Try It Out—Adding Code to the global.asa File 267

The Application Object 269Try It Out—Using Application_OnStart 270

Creating a Hit Counter 271Try It Out—Creating a Hit Counter 271


Chapter 8: Keeping Track of Users 275

Saving Information About a Page 276Cookies in Detail 276

Try It Out—Saving the Number of Hits to a Page 278

Forewarned Is Forearmed 281Improving the User’s Browsing Experience 284

Try It Out—Creating Intelligent Drop-Down Lists 284

Site Tracking 291Grouping Code Together 291Using Include Files 293Page Monitoring 295

Try It Out—Tracking User Behavior 295


Chapter 9: Securing Web Sites 305

Creating a Login Form 306Try It Out—Creating a Login Form 307

Enhancing the Login Form 313Try It Out—Adding Client-Side Validation to the Login Form 313

Try It Out—Adding Style Sheets to Your Login Form 316

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Protecting Your Pages 324Try It Out—Protecting Your Admin Menu 324

Improving Usability: Using the Referrer 327Try It Out—Redirecting to the Referring Page 328

Preparing for Growth 331Try It Out—Using the FileSystemObject 332


Chapter 10: Personalizing Web Sites 341

Using Themes 341Try It Out—Creating Themes 342

Try It Out—Creating changeSiteTheme.asp 348

Remembering the User’s Theme 354Try It Out—Applying the Theme 354

Creating a Custom Color Picker 357Try It Out—Building a Custom Color Picker 358

Changing the Site Badge 365Try It Out—Creating the Country Drop-Down List 366

Try It Out—Changing the Site Badge 370

Try It Out—Finishing the Badge Chooser 375


Chapter 11: Getting Information from a Database 383

What Is a Database? 384The Sample Database 387

Different Kinds of Databases 389Securing a Database 390

Try It Out—Restricting Access to the Database 391

Creating a Database-Driven Web Site 396DSN Connection Strings 396

Try It Out—Creating a DSN 396

DSN-less Connection Strings 398Try It Out—Creating a Connection in Dreamweaver MX 2004 399

Enhancing the Login Page 402Try It Out—Making the Login Page Database-Driven 403

Fine-Tuning Access to Your Site with Access Levels 408Try It Out—Applying Access Levels to the login.asp Page 409

Try It Out—Changing the Admin Page So It Uses Access Levels 411

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Extending Access-Level Functionality 414Try It Out—Protecting Page Regions 414


Chapter 12: Retrieving and Displaying Data from Databases 421

Displaying a List of Events 422Try It Out—Making the Events List Database-Driven 422

Try It Out—Displaying the Events on events.asp 425

Extending the Repeat Region 433Filtering Database Values Using a Drop-Down List 433

Try It Out—Filtering the Categories 433

Filtering Values by Date 436Try It Out—A Date with the WHERE Clause 436

Try It Out—Your Second Date with the WHERE Clause 438

Viewing Details of an Event 440Linking the Event List to the Details Page 440

Try It Out—Adding View Event Details Links 441

Showing Details of an Event 443Try It Out—Displaying Details of a Requested Event 443

Adding Error-Handling 448Try It Out—Adding an Error Message 448

Paging Data 451Limiting the Events List 451

Try It Out—Limiting the Number of Events 451

Navigating the Data 452Try It Out—Creating Navigational Links 452

Performance Considerations with Paging Data 455Improving the Navigation System 455

Try It Out—Selectively Displaying the Navigational Links 456


Chapter 13: Storing Information in a Database 461

Maintaining Your Events 462Introducing JOINs 463Viewing Available Events 465

Try It Out—Showing a List with Available Events 465

Try It Out—Enhancing Your Dynamic Table 471

Creating New Events 473Try It Out—Modifying the View Events Page 474

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Contents

Adding a Simple Insert Form 475Try It Out—Adding the Insert Form 476

Spicing Up the Form 484Try It Out—Adding the Cancel Button 484

Try It Out—Adding Validation 485

Try It Out—Creating a Form Validation Function 486

Changing Existing Events 492Try It Out—The Record Update Form 493

Deleting Events 500Try It Out—Changing the showEvents.asp Page 502

Try It Out—Adding the deleteEvents.asp Page 504

Finishing GlobalSoccerEvents.com 507Summary 508Why Not Try . . . 509

Part III: MediaEdge and Building Blocks 511

Chapter 14: Designing an Effective Site with a Modular System 513

The MediaEdge Web Site 514Overview of Building Block Technology 515

Navigation and Content 516The Layout 518

Creating the MediaEdge Site 520Try It Out—Creating the New Site 521

Creating Index.asp 522Setting Up the Page Properties of Index.asp 523

Try It Out—Setting the Page Properties of Index.asp 523

Adding the Table Layout for the Building Block System 525Try It Out—Creating the Table Layout for Index.asp 525

Adding a Search Field Using Flash MX 2004 527Try It Out—Adding Macromedia Flash Objects in Dreamweaver 527

Creating a New Server Behavior 529Try It Out—Adding a New Server Behavior 529

Implementing the New Server Behavior 531Try It Out—Implementing a Server Behavior 531

Using Images 533Using Cascading Style Sheets 534

Try It Out—Creating the CSS File 534


xxvi

Contents

Chapter 15: Creating the Building Block 539

The Building Block 540The Building Block Database 541

Creating the Database 541Try It Out—Creating the Sections Table 543

Try It Out—Creating the Content Table 545

Try It Out—Creating the Section_Content Table 546

The Database Connection 547Try It Out—Connecting to the Database from Dreamweaver 548

Using the Database in buildingBlock.asp 549Try It Out—Creating the buildingBlock.asp file 549

Adding a Rollover Image to the Building Block 553Try It Out—Adding a Rollover Image to the Building Block 553

Creating the Building Block Recordset 554Try It Out—Creating the Building Block Recordset 554

Creating a Dynamic Image Server Behavior 556Try It Out—Creating a DynamicImage Server Behavior 556

Making the Building Block’s Images Dynamic 559Try It Out—Making the Building Block’s Images Dynamic 560

Inline Frames 563Try It Out—Creating an iFrame Server Behavior for the Building Block 563

Dynamic Dimensions for the Center Cell 566Try It Out—Giving the Building Block’s Center Cell Dynamic Dimensions 566

Creating Content 568Try It Out—Creating blockContent.asp 568


Chapter 16: Creating a Content Management System 575

Updating the Database 576Adding Fields to the Content Table 576

Try It Out—Adding Fields to the Content Table 576

Creating a Subnavigation Table 577Try It Out—Creating a Subnavigation Table 577

Overview of a Content Management System 578Content Creation 579Content Storage 583Permissions Storage 583Content Publishing 585Content Presentation 585

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Contents

Building a Content Management System 586Creating a User Options Page 586

Try It Out—Creating a User Options Page 586

Adding the Edit and Delete Buttons 587Try It Out—Building the Edit Content and Delete Content Functionality 588

Developing a Content Creation Page 590Try It Out—Creating the Content Creation Page 591

Try It Out—Customizing the Form’s Appearance 593

Developing the Content Update Page 595Try It Out—Developing the Content Update Page 595

Try It Out—Removing the ID Field 598

Developing the Content Deletion Page 598Try It Out—Developing the Content Deletion Page 599

Extending the Forms 601Summary 602Why Not Try . . . 602

Chapter 17: Completing the Building Block Structure 603

Block Navigation 604Creating the New Files 606

Try It Out—Creating the blockNav.asp File 606

Using location.replace 611Session Variables 611

Try It Out—Adding a Session Variable 612

Preventing Page Caching 613Try It Out—Preventing a Page from Caching 613

Creating blockMain.asp 614Try It Out—Creating the blockMain.asp File 614

Search Capabilities 617Try It Out—Creating the blockSearch.asp File 618

Adding Content Data 622Adding Content to the Sections Table 622

Try It Out—Adding Content to the Sections Table 624

Adding Content to the Content Table 625Try It Out—Adding Content to the Content Table 625

File Associations 626Try It Out—Adding Associations in the Section_Content Table 626

Try It Out—Adding Associations in the Sections_Nav Table 627

Loading Different Types of Content 628Summary 629Why Not Try . . . 630

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Contents

Chapter 18: Going Beyond with Dreamweaver MX 2004 Extensions 631

Dreamweaver Extensions 631Installing the Extension Manager 632

Try It Out—Installing the Extension Manager 632

Using the Extension Manager 634Extension Format 634Macromedia Exchange for Dreamweaver 636Ratings 637

Adding the PayPal Shopping Cart Extension 638Try It Out—Incorporating E-commerce Functionality in the Building Block Structure 638

Try It Out—Adding Values to the Database Content Table 641

Try It Out—Sign Up for a PayPal Business Account 642

Try It Out—Adding the E-commerce Functionality 643

Try It Out—Adding Dynamic Values 645

Try It Out—Opening PayPal in a New Browser Window 646

Summary 647Why Not Try . . . 648Additional Resources 648

Part IV: Appendixes 651

Appendix A: Using ASP.NET with Dreamweaver MX 2004 653

What You Need 653Setting Up the Site 654Setting Up an ASP.NET Page 656Creating a Database Connection 658If Something Goes Wrong 664Finding .NET Tools 664Further Reading 665

Appendix B: Using PHP and MySQL with Dreamweaver MX 2004 667

What You Need 667Dreamweaver MX 2004 and PHP 668Preparing the Database 668Setting Up the Site 672Setting Up a PHP Page 674Creating a Database Connection 676Finding PHP Tools 680Further Reading 681