Dreamweaver Ultradev 4: A Beginner's Guide
Authors: Ray West, Tom Muck
Venue:  (2001)

From the Book:Introduction It's amazing to think of how far the Web has come in the past few years. In a short period of time, the Internet has gone from a specialized tool for research to a mass-media marketplace. Fueling the new economy, the Internet has become the stomping ground for today's top computer programmers. The Web developer has to wear many hats. You may y be lucky enough to work for a company that delegates the various tasks to specialists in each field, but many Web developers have to be designers, programmers, database administrators, and network administrators. Servers are complex beasts, and a Web application requires a database server, a Web server, and an application server to work seamlessly together. We will introduce all of these topics in the book. Who Should Read this Book This book is not meant as an exhaustive look at U1traDev as a program or Web development in general. Instead, it is meant to be an introduction to the best tool out there for a Web developer. Like all good introductions, this one will start with the basics and try to get you up to speed using this complex tool by simplifying the different aspects of U1traDev. You'll get the most from this book if you already know a few things: Basic computer skills Can you navigate your hard drive? Do you know how to open, save, rename, and close programs? Do you know where the files reside after you save them? Design A Web designer needs to have a certain amount of design sense. Can you put colors, shapes, and graphics together in a way that looks good? HTML Basic HTML knowledge is not a strict necessity, but you should at least be familiar with the term and know what the language is used for. We'll attempt to introduce each topic in a way that a total beginner will be able to pick up on it. What this Book Covers The book is divided into four parts: Getting Started With U1traDev; Creating Web Applications With U1traDev; Working With Your Data; and Adding Advanced Features To Your Site. Part 1: Getting Started With UltraDev Part 1 contains a brief introduction to the Web before getting into the nitty gritty of building Web pages. Module I-Getting Started With UltraDev Begins with an introduction to the Web and the different protocols of the Internet. The installation procedure of UltraDev is then described, as well as a brief introduction to the installation of Internet Information Server. Module 2-The UltraDev Environment Describes UltraDev and shows you how to find your way around the program. Most of the floating palettes are described, as well as how you can set up your own preferences for the program and tailor the environment to your own method of working. Module 3-Creating a Web Page Shows you how to work with individual pages in UltraDev. The process of adding text and images to the page is explained. HTML tables are introduced and various methods of working with tables in UltraDev are explained. Module 4-Creating a Web Site Shows you how to define a site within the UltraDev environment and add pages to the site. UltraDev has its own FTP process built into the program. The module introduces the process of uploading and downloading files, and synchronizing the site. Module 5-Planning the Site Goes into the principles of creating navigation schemes. The purpose of the site is discussed as well. Pages are added to the site by using the Site map feature of U1traDev. The UltraDev Find and Replace features are introduced. Part 2: Creating Web Applications With UltraDev Part 2 moves into the content creation and then some of the server-side components that make up a Web application. Module 6-Adding Content To Your Site Talks about creating the home page. Fireworks is introduced as a program to create your Web graphics. Finally, the process of creating templates in UltraDev is explained. Module 7-Essential Language Components Gives you a brief overview of the three server models that work with U1traDev. ASP is the predominant application server for the first-time application developers; JSP is the Java-based server suited for enterprise-level applications. ColdFusion is Macromedia's own server known for its ease of use. Module 8-Creating a Database Explains the process of database creation and normalization. A database is one of the primary components of the dynamic Web application. Module 9-Choosing Your Database and Connecting to It Shows the features of several different database applications available on the market today. Several of the methods of connecting to the database from within UltraDev are shown as well. Module 10-A SQL Primer Introduces structured query language (SQL) as the primary method of "speaking" to your database and retrieving the information you need for your application. Part 3: Working With Your Data Part 3 begins to integrate the concepts and features shown in Parts 1 and 2 in an actual Web application. Module 11-Displaying Your Data Shows some of the basic methods available in UltraDev to display data from the database. Module 12-Searching Your Data Explains the procedure for developing a search page for a Web site. Forms and form elements are introduced as well. A basic search on a Web page is explained. Data validation is also introduced in this module. Module 13-Recordset Navigation Demonstrates some of the built-in server behaviors and live objects of UltraDev that allow you to page through your recordsets. Module 14-Creating Dynamic Form Objects Introduces the user to the concept of "binding" the data by discussing the ways that you can attach server-side code to form elements. Module 15-Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Data Covers some of the more advanced database interaction that a typical Web application will contain using built-in U1traDev server behaviors and live objects. Module 16-User Registration, Loginond Site Security Shows some of the built-in user authentication server behaviors that allow you to set up login forms and page protection. Part 4: Adding Advanced Features To Your Site And, finally, Part 4 introduces you to the more advanced elements of UltraDev. Module 17-Extensions and the Extension Manager Shows some of the advanced features of UltraDev that actually allow the user to customize the program by creating extensions or downloading extensions written by other people. Module 18-Troubleshooting Your Site Goes through some of the more common problems that people have building dynamic Web sites. How to Read this Book The book is structured in such a way that it makes the most sense to read it from front to back. The projects in each module build upon each other, and demonstrate many of the key features of U1traDev by building a simple Web application. You'll get the most out of the projects if you do each one step by step and actually get them working on your own machine. Special Features Each module includes Hints, Tips, and Notes to provide additional information wherever needed. Detailed code listings are included in gray boxes, many times with certain tags or features highlighted for further explanation. All modules contain Ask the Expert question-and-answer sections to address potentially confusing issues, as well as step-by-step Projects to give you a chance to practice the concepts taught thus far. These Projects will build a sample site that you can use as a learning tool. Mastery Checks are included at the end of each module to give you another chance to review the concepts taught in the module. The answers to the Mastery Checks are in Appendix A. You can download the content for the eFlea site built in the projects from Osborne's Web site (www.osborne.com) or the companion site to this book (www.basic-ultradev.com/beginnersguide). Any errors found in the book after it goes to press will also be listed on our Web site. We hope that as you become proficient in U1traDev and want to expand your knowledge even more, you'll seek out our other books, Dreamweaver UltraDev 4: The Complete Reference and Building Dreamweaver 4 and UltraDev 4 Extensions. The Complete Reference goes into much more detail than we are able to here in the Beginner's Guide, and the extensions book will show you how to add your own functionality to U1traDev. We have an open-door policy on our Web site-if you have problems with anything you find in our books, you can send us an e-mail and we'll try to address the problem as quickly as possible. Also, feel free to drop us a line if you have any suggestions.