Zak Ruvalcaba has been researching, designing, and developing for the Web since 1995. He holds a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University and a master of science degree in instructional technology from National University in San Diego. He served as creative director with EPIC Solutions until 1998. His expertise in developing web applications led him to a position as manager of web development at SkyDesk Inc., where he developed web applications for such companies as Gateway, HP, Toshiba, IBM, Intuit, Peachtree, Dell, and Microsoft. He has worked for such companies as ADCS, Inc., and Wireless Knowledge, and as a wireless software engineer developing .NET solutions for companies such as Mellon Financial, Goldman Saks, TV Guide, Healthbanks, The Gartner Group, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Commerce One.
His skill set includes technologies and languages from HTML/XHTML, XML/XSLT, JavaScript, CSS, ASP, ASP.NET, Visual Basic .NET, C#, ADO.NET, Web Services, SQL, T-SQL, Flash/ActionScript, and ColdFusion.
Aside from teaching and holding design lectures on various technologies and tools including Dreamweaver, Flash, and ASP.NET for the San Diego Community College District, Mt. San Jacinto Community College, and Palomar Community College, Zak Ruvalcaba is also the author of 10 Minute Guide to Dreamweaver 4 by Que Publishing, Build Your Own ASP.NET 3.5 Website Using C# and VB by SitePoint Press, and Beginning Expression Web by Wrox Press.
Zak Ruvalcaba is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer for .NET (MCAD) and a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer for .NET (MCSD).
IntroductionIntroduction
Over a decade ago—when I used Dreamweaver 1.0 for the first time, I was amazed at how far ahead of its time it was. The capability to incorporate JavaScript Behaviors, styles, and pinpoint accurate designs truly amazed me. I was a skeptic when it came to visual editors and preferred Notepad whenever possible. Dreamweaver changed that for me and made me look at web development in a whole new light.
Dreamweaver has become the industry’s leading web development environment, far surpassing any other. Still, many consider Dreamweaver a simple visual editor that accomplishes little more than aiding in the development of static web pages. The mindset is that visual editors lack the true complexity that it takes to create rich and powerful web applications that encompass client-side technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript while leveraging server-side technologies like ASP, PHP, and ColdFusion. Dreamweaver obliterates the stigma by captivating the developer in a vast, intuitive, and feature-rich environment.
If you’ve picked up this book, chances are you’re interested in the world of web design and development and, more specifically, how Dreamweaver can help you succeed in these endeavors. Whether you’re a seasoned developer, a print designer looking to expand your base of knowledge to the Web, or a home user who wants to create a family website, Dreamweaver offers the features and flexibility to get you on your way quickly and effortlessly. This book introduces you to the many features available through Dreamweaver using a fun, yet concise, approach.
What’s Inside, Part by Part
Part I, “Getting Up to Speed with Dreamweaver CS4”—Starting off gently, this part introduces you to Dreamweaver CS4. Moving from Chapter 1, “The Dreamweaver CS4 Interface,” to Chapter 3, “Dreamweaver Site Management,” you’ll learn about the many panels, inspectors, and windows that Dreamweaver reveals within its development environment. You’ll also learn about defining and managing a site, building a simple web page, and finally, defining Dreamweaver preferences for customizing how you work with Dreamweaver.
Part II, “Static Web Page Development”—Generally considered the heart of the book, this part covers topics related to static web page development. You’ll learn about web page structuring using tables, advanced page formatting and structuring using cascading style sheets, designing forms with form elements, and incorporating behaviors into your web pages.
Part III, “Team Collaboration and Task Automation”—Although most consider Dreamweaver a great tool for building web pages, the truth is that Dreamweaver provides many tools for working with web pages within teams. In this part you’ll learn about the many aspects in Dreamweaver that facilitate the collaborative process, such as file check in and check out, Design Notes, and integration with Contribute. You’ll also learn about the many components, such as templates and library items, built in to Dreamweaver for enhancing the workflow process.
Part IV, “Incorporating Multimedia and Animation”—Developers and designers who are building media-rich sites should concentrate on this part. The chapters in this part of the book cover integration with Flash, Fireworks, and Photoshop, as well as video and audio.
Part V, “Building Dynamic Web Pages”—The chapters in this part prepare you for working with dynamic web pages. As you’ll see, the chapters in this part cover an introduction to web applications, server-side technologies, databases, the language used to extract, insert, delete, and update data within databases in SQL, and retrieving data from, inserting data into, deleting data from, and updating data within databases. You’ll also learn how to build search functionality, secure your web pages, work with XML web services and ColdFusion components, and even learn to use Adobe’s Spry framework for Ajax.
Part VI, “Online Appendixes”—This part consists of various detailed appendixes on accessibility, extensibility, working with frames and framesets, and how to define preferences within Dreamweaver. These items are available free from http://www."informit."com/"register.
What’s Inside, Chapter by Chapter
Chapter 1, “The Dreamweaver CS4 Interface,” covers the Dreamweaver interface: document views, toolbars, inspectors, panels, and status bars. By the end of the chapter, you should feel fairly comfortable with the Dreamweaver CS4 development environment.
Chapter 2, “Building a Web Page,” covers the essentials of building a web page within Dreamweaver. By the end of this chapter, you’ll understand how to use page properties, various HTML elements, and graphics to create your first web page in Dreamweaver.
Chapter 3, “Dreamweaver Site Management,” covers site management, including defining a site, file check in and check out, working with site maps, and defining local and remote folders.
Chapter 4, “Web Page Structuring Using Tables,” covers traditional methods for structuring web pages using tables. In this chapter, you’ll learn about tables, rows, columns, nested tables, and more.
Chapter 5, “Page Formatting Using Cascading Style Sheets,” covers the types of style sheets, how to apply them, and the various properties for text, backgrounds, borders, lists, positioning, and more.
Chapter 6, “Page Structuring Using Cascading Style Sheets,” defines AP
s, the cornerstones for pinpoint accurate positioning of elements in Dreamweaver. Ever wonder how to make a web page look like a printed brochure? AP
s are your answer.
Chapter 7, “HTML Forms,” covers HTML forms, which are the front-ends to web applications. eBay, E*TRADE, and AutoBytel, among other high visibility sites, use forms in their applications to facilitate data collection from the user. In this chapter, you’ll learn how these types of forms are constructed. We’ll discuss forms and the various types of form elements used within forms.
Chapter 8, “Using Behaviors,” covers Dreamweaver’s JavaScript Behaviors. In this chapter, you’ll learn the basics of JavaScript, including events, actions, and more.
Chapter 9, “Building Dreamweaver Websites Within Teams,” covers features within Dreamweaver that facilitate integration and collaboration within teams. Topics such as file check-in and check-out, file column sharing, and Design Notes are covered in this chapter.
Chapter 10, “Managing Website Content Using Contribute,” covers integration with Adobe’s content management and sharing program, Contribute. In this chapter, you’ll learn about users and roles, applying user settings, and even editing web page content using Contribute.
Chapter 11, “Enhancing Workflow,” covers potentially overlooked features within Dreamweaver that might help you do your job faster and more efficiently. Features such as the Results panel, Find and Replace, various commands, and the Assets panel, are covered here.
Chapter 12, “Working with Templates and Library Items,” covers Dreamweaver templates in depth. A good understanding of templates and the workflow surrounding them can make you more efficient. This chapter also covers library items that, like templates, provide greater efficiency and global content editing from a centralized location. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to convert features (such as navigation menus) of your website to library items, which ultimately makes your navigation menus reusable and global to your website as a whole.
Chapter 13, “Incorporating Video and Audio,” covers important features for linking and embedding video and audio files in your web pages.
Chapter 14, “Integrating with Fireworks, Photoshop, and Flash,” covers integration with Adobe’s popular image-editing programs: Fireworks, Photoshop, and Flash. In this chapter, you’ll learn about round-trip graphics editing, creating web-based photo albums, and optimizing images. It also covers Dreamweaver’s integration with Flash—round-trip Flash editing, what parameters Flash movies accept, and how to trigger different Flash movie properties using Behaviors.
Chapter 15, “Introduction to Web Applications,” effectively makes the transition from static web page development to server-side web page development. You’ll learn about web architecture, server-side technologies, and database options.
Chapter 16, “Working with Server-Side Technologies,” begins to dig deeper into the world of server-side web development. In this chapter, you’ll learn about the various server-side technologies, including ASP, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, and PHP.
Chapter 17, “A Database Primer,” covers the basics (tables, rows, columns) and more advanced topics such as stored procedures, triggers, views, keys, and normalization. The chapter concludes with the development of the book’s project database.
Chapter 18, “A SQL Primer,” covers selecting, inserting, updating, and deleting da...
