| Tim Carden 10th July 2002 For many users, Dreamweaver was the first visual HTML editor that didn't mess up their code or otherwise frustrate them. It has enjoyed the most popular spot with web developers for a number of versions and Macromedia is showing no signs of resting on its laurels with a speedy development life-cycle and feature-rich releases. The MX platform is Macromedia's exciting and cutting edge technology suite that offers new and creative possibilities across the board. Dreamweaver MX is the ColdFusion and HTML development portion of this suite. Dreamweaver MX is actually the combination of what were three distinct products: Ultradev, Dreamweaver and Homesite. The result is a kind of hybrid environment that has HTML auto-prompting when in code mode, Dreamweaver's icons and feel when in Visual mode, and Ultradev's powerful database extensions. For those who would rather not to do it all-in-one, an enhanced standalone version of Homesite/Cold Fusion Studio (called Homesite+) is also included. The first time you run Dreamweaver MX you will be asked which sort of interface you prefer. This can be changed later but requires a restart of Dreamweaver MX. Dreamweaver MX can behave like the familiar version 4 of Ultradev or Dreamweaver, and even mimic Homesite with a code-oriented option. 
Here is the new Dreamweaver MX workspace showing the docked site window and MX-style palettes. Macromedia has enhanced their palettes since Flash MX first showcased the new Macromedia interface and they can now dock into tabbed groups as in previous versions by creating Panel groups. You can't drag and drop tabs around though, you need to right-click on the tab and select the group to dock it with. This seems like a step backwards in intuitiveness. 
If you have only used Dreamweaver, the features added from Homesite and Ultradev may be overwhelming. Homesite contributes auto-prompting when entering Tags in HTML or Coldfusion, a tag inspector, snippets (for easily storing small bits of code for dragging into your document) and editors for each tag — just right-click in code mode to open the editor for that code — and so much more. Ultradev adds visual application development tools for database integration, e-commerce and more.  
Combining these tools must have been hard enough, but Macromedia have added plenty of completely new features as well. Templates 
Dreamweaver MX has a dialogue that opens when you select File | New. It lists all sorts of new file options, including various file types, and preset style sheet designs and page layouts. A secondary tab on this dialogue box also lets you access templates you have created for other sites. 
Dreamweaver's built-in template features have also been overhauled. These features let you define region-based files and make site-wide updates by changing only the template — Dreamweaver updates the structure of any pages that use that template. There is a new templates toolbar that lets you create template objects in templates. They can now be nested, contain repeating and optional regions, and you can set individual attributes for a tag to be editable. Templates are a killer feature in Dreamweaver and such enhancements make them much more flexible. Improved CSS support 
Previously it was difficult to edit CSS styles in your document because clicking on a style in the CSS palette applied the style. Dreamweaver MX's CSS palette separates applying and editing styles into two modes. The "Edit Styles" mode shows all styles as an explorer-style list so you can easily see what style you are editing and whether it is in a linked document or embedded in the current document. Developer Dreamweaver MX has many updates designed just for Application developers. Expect to find new PHP support with MySQL recordsets, ASP.NET tag editors, tools for using the latest ColdFusion MX features and popup source hinting for older ASP objects. 
One of the simplest additions is a step-by-step guide for getting the database features up and running. When you have a page open Dreamweaver MX basically says "to use databases on this page you have to do some stuff...here it is". There are then links to the windows for each required setting and the steps are ticked off as you complete them. This makes getting up to speed a breeze for new users and provides efficient troubleshooting for the more experienced. More... There are also little changes like a new image placeholder object for inserting an image into your page without having to browse for the source. This is great when the image URL comes from a database, or if you haven't made the image yet but know where it will go. The CFML, ASP and JSP reference materials are now included by default rather than being a separate download, and there are new reference materials in the form of UsableNet Accessibility reference and Sitespring Project Site Tag reference. ...and finally, the main Dreamweaver MX help is now built using the OS's help system. No more frustrating browser windows and search applets required to browse the Dreamweaver documentation. Conclusion There is a lot to like in Dreamweaver MX. Screen updates feel faster than in previous versions and the Homesite-familiar coding mode will more than suffice for most projects. This will reduce the tedious task of switching between programs to do coding tasks. It is easier to setup dynamic data sources in Dreamweaver MX and the File | new dialogue box provides faster creation of common document types. It's debatable whether all the windows lend themselves to docking to the side of the screen, especially when it comes to larger windows such as the Site window. Fortunately if this becomes a real problem the user can just restart with all floating windows as in Dreamweaver 4. Unfortunately Dreamweaver MX seems to have lost Homesite's function insight and Javascript features. Homesite provides popup-hinting for many script functions. This is a useful feature for coding Javascript by hand. Additionally Homesite has a DOM tree for easily navigating the browser Document Object Model. These features are still available in Homesite+ but it would have been nice to see them in this release of Dreamweaver. Generally however, Macromedia have successfully integrated 3 key products, added useful new features, updated tools for the latest technologies and because the new interface is optional, they have done all this without stepping on anyone's toes. More information is available at Macromedia's web site: www.macromedia.com System Requirements For Windows - An Intel Pentium II Processor or equivalent, 300 MHz or faster
- Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT (with Service Pack 3 or later), Windows ME, or Windows XP
- Version 4.0 or later of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer
- 96 MB of available random-access memory (RAM) (128 MB recommended)
- 275 MB of available disk space
- A 256-color monitor capable of 800 x 600 pixel resolution (millions of colors and 1024 x 768 pixel resolution recommended)
- A CD-ROM drive
| For Macintosh ® - A Power Macintosh G3 or later
Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS 9.2.1, or Mac OS X 10.1 or later - Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ) 2.2 or above (included on the Dreamweaver MX CD)
- Version 4.0 or later of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer
- 96 MB of random-access memory (RAM) (128 MB recommended)
- 275 MB available disk space
- A 256-color monitor capable of 800 x 600 pixel resolution (millions of colors and 1024 x 768 pixel resolution recommended)
- A CD-ROM drive
| Copyright 2002, Tim Carden, All Rights Reserved | 