Operation Manual

525

Last updated 3/28/2012

Chapter 20: Making pages dynamic

You can create dynamic pages that display information from dynamic content sources such as databases and session

variables. Adobe®

Dreamweaver® CS5 supports dynamic page development for ColdFusion, ASP, and PHP server

models.

You can also use an Ajax-based framework called Spry to create dynamic pages that display and process XML data.

Using prebuilt Spry form elements lets you build dynamic pages that don’t require a full-page refresh.

Optimizing the workspace for visual development

Displaying web-application development panels

Select the Data category from the Category pop-up menu of the Insert panel to display a set of buttons that let you add

dynamic content and server behaviors to your page.

The number and type of buttons that appear vary depending upon the document type opened in the Document

window. Move your mouse over an icon to display a tooltip that describes what that button does.

The Insert panel includes buttons to add the following items to the page:

• Recordsets

• Dynamic text or tables

• Record navigation bars

If you switch to Code view (View > Code), additional panels might appear in their own Insert panel category,

allowing you to insert code in the page. For example, if you view a ColdFusion page in Code view, a CFML panel

becomes available in the CFML category of the Insert panel.

Several panels provide ways for you to create dynamic pages:

• Select the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings) to define sources of dynamic content for your page and add the

content to the page.

• Select the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) to add server-side logic to your dynamic pages.

• Select the Databases panel (Window >Databases) to explore databases or create database connections.

• Select the Components panel (Window > Components) to inspect, add, or modify code for ColdFusion

components.

Note: The Components panel is enabled only if you open a ColdFusion page.

A server behavior is the set of instructions inserted in a dynamic page at design time and executed on the server at

run time.

For a tutorial on setting up the development workspace, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0144.