capter 4

About rapid application development

Dreamweaver offers a number of rapid application development (RAD) tools, including server behaviors and application objects, that help you build sophisticated web applications without having to write any server-side code.

· • Quickly create pages that search and modify databases and display the results. “Building Master/Detail Pages,” “Building Pages that Search Databases,”, “Building Pages that Modify Databases,”

· • Provide security by restricting access to your pages., “Building Pages that Restrict Access to Your Site,”

Where to start

This guide includes information for readers from a variety of backgrounds. To get the most out of the documentation, start by reading the parts that are most appropriate for you.For web-design novices:

1. Begin by reading the first two chapters of the Getting Started guide. If any section in those chapters seems too advanced or too complex, skip that section and come back to it later.

2. In Using Dreamweaver, , “Exploring the Workspace,” “Planning and Setting Up Your Site,”, “Managing Your Site,” on page, “Setting Up a Document,”

3. Learn about page layout by reading, “Laying Out Pages in Layout View,”

4. To learn about formatting text and including images in your pages, “Inserting and Formatting Text,”, “Inserting Images,”

5. That’s all you really need to begin producing high-quality websites, but when you’re ready to learn how to use more advanced tools, you can proceed through the rest of the static-page chapters in order. You may want to wait to read the dynamic-page chapters until you’re more familiar with creating web pages.

Exploring the Workspace

To get the most out of your Macromedia Dreamweaver MX experience, you should understand the basic concepts behind the Dreamweaver workspace and how to choose options, use inspectors and panels, and set preferences that fit your work style best.

This chapter contains the following topics:

• “Using the Dreamweaver workspace”

• “Using windows and panels in Dreamweaver”

• “Using Dreamweaver with other applications”

• “Customizing Dreamweaver: Basics” o