Preview PHP and ASP in Dreamweaver

PHP and ASP in Dreamweaver Preview, first you have to ensure that you have downloaded and started a Web server, regardless of whether it is ASP or PHP must have one.

Define Dreamweaver Site

After configuring the system used to develop the WEB application, define the Dreamweaver site that is used to manage your files.

Define local Folder

You can define Dreamweaver local folders for each new WEB application that you create. A local folder is a folder on your hard disk that you use to store a working copy of your site files. Defining a local folder also enables you to manage files by clicking a button and to transfer files to a Web server and receive files from a Web server.

To define a Dreamweaver local folder, do the following:

1 Create a folder on your local hard disk to store a working copy of your files. You might want to create subfolders to store image files and other resources.

2 in Dreamweaver, select Sites > Manage sites, click the New button in the Manage Sites dialog box, and then select Sites from the context menu. The Site Definition dialog box appears.

3 If the wizard appears, click Advanced, and then select Local information from the categories list (it should be the default option).

4 in the Site Name text box, enter a descriptive name for the Dreamweaver site.

5 in the Local root folder text box, specify the folder that you created in step 1th. You can enter a path, or click the folder icon to browse to and select the folder.

6 You can complete the settings for other options in the local information category as needed (these are not the options that are necessary for the site to work). For more information about these options, click the Help button in the dialog box. Leave the Site Definition dialog box open. Next you must specify a remote folder.

Defining remote Folders

After you define a local folder, you can define a remote folder for the Dreamweaver site. A remote folder is a folder that you create for a Web application on a Web server. You do not need to define a remote folder if the folder that you defined in the Define local folder can have the same functionality as the root folder of your Web application. (This means that the WEB server is running on your local computer.)

To define a Dreamweaver remote folder, do the following:

1 If the Site Definition dialog box is not open, open the Site Definition dialog box by selecting Site > Manage sites, selecting your site from the list in the Manage Sites dialog box, and then clicking Edit. The Site Definition dialog box appears.

2 If the wizard appears, click Advanced, and then select remote information from the Categories list. The Remote Information dialog box appears.

3 in the Access pop-up menu, select one of the following options: local/Network, FTP, or RDS. Depending on your selections, Dreamweaver will know how you transfer files between the local folder and the remote folder.

Note: To use RDS, the remote folder must be located on the computer that is running ColdFusion.

You can also send files to the SourceSafe application by selecting SourceSafe Database. (The developer uses SourceSafe for file versioning.) If you select this option, you need to define a separate folder.

4 after you select the Access method, set the appropriate access options as needed. For more information about these options, click the Help button in the dialog box. Leave the Site Definition dialog box open. You next need to define a folder that processes dynamic pages.

Specify where dynamic pages can be processed

After you define a remote folder in Dreamweaver, specify the folder in which you can work with dynamic pages. Dreamweaver uses this folder to generate dynamic content and connect to the database while you work. Typically, you specify that the root folder created on the Web server "creates a root folder for the application"), because the server may also run an application server that can process dynamic pages.

Note that the root folder can be local or remote, depending on where your WEB server is running.

To specify where Dreamweaver can work with dynamic pages, do the following:

1 If the Site Definition dialog box is not open, open the Site Definition dialog box by selecting Site > Manage sites, selecting your site from the list in the Manage Sites dialog box, and then clicking Edit. The Site Definition dialog box appears.

2 If the wizard appears, click Advanced, and then select Test Server from the Categories list.

The Test Server dialog box appears. Dreamweaver needs to test the server's services to generate and display dynamic content as you work. The test server can be a local computer, a development server, an intermediate server, or a production server. As long as the test server can handle the dynamic page types that you plan to develop, it doesn't matter which one you choose.

3 Complete the dialog box settings, and then click OK.