Drumbeat 2000

Richard Price
December 1999

I am not easily impressed. It probably comes from looking at so much poor software. Let me then start by saying that Macromedia's Drumbeat 2000 is impressive and packs quite a punch when it comes to building dynamic, data-driven web pages.

Drumbeat is not a new program. Originally developed by Elemental Software, it has been around for awhile. Macromedia liked it so much they purchased the company and have now released 3 versions of Drumbeat 2000. An Active Server Pages version, a JavaServer Pages version (for IBM Websphere), and an eCommerce version.

I am looking at the eCommerce edition, which appears to be the Active Server version with eCommerce extensions. Like all Windows software these days, the installation is simple and involves nothing more than following the screen prompts.

Drumbeat 2000 can be used to create static web pages. However, its big strength lies in creating dynamic data-driven pages. These pages require an ASP (Active Server pages) server. So, if you are developing on a local machine, you would need to install something like Microsoft's Personal Web Server. This free software turns any machine running Windows into a web server, and lets you preview the pages you are developing as if they were running on an actual web server.

The Drumbeat 2000 interface is intimidating at first glance, but the user manuals are comprehensive and include a helpful "Quick Start Guide". There are 5 major works areas and 6 toolbars. The layout area is where you place all the elements on the page. The attic lets you access content, interactions and script centres. The basement holds elements that are not visible on the page, such as cookies or hidden form elements. The Site Manager holds the site structure and allows you to set the attributes of all the elements. The Asset Centre holds all the assets like text, graphics and styles.

You can choose to hide or show an area or resize the windows by dragging the boundaries. All of the tools are easily accessible, but Drumbeat is not something I would like to use with a 15" monitor.

As a graphics-orientated designer, I found the Drumbeat interface quite easy to come to terms with. I like the way you can drag-and-drop elements into the layout area and then set their attributes by right clicking on them. You can preview the page by clicking on the preview tab, although I found this to be a bit on the slow side.

The DataForm Wizard, steps you through the process of developing a database-driven site. Drumbeat Starting Points provide examples of what you can do with Drumbeat.

Starting Points can also be modified and used as the basis for your own site.

Drumbeat 2000 is not a design tool. You cannot use it to create graphic images and it's far to powerful to use if you just want to put together basic HTML web pages. It's a development tool that supports the latest Web standards.

Experienced programmers will find Drumbeat a powerful and flexible program, that lets them do the job of building complex data-driven sites without having to worry about a lot of coding.

Although HTML code can be inserted onto a page, which Drumbeat will publish unaltered, I haven't found any HTML code editing views yet. I suspect this is because Drumbeat only generates the code once you "publish" the site.

Drumbeat also handles advanced Web pages features like DHTML. You can also choose which browsers you want Drumbeat to configure the pages for. Drumbeat then publishes browser-sensitive Smartpages.

Drumbeat gives a lot of power to non-programmers, but it comes at a price. Sure, you may not have to worry about JavaScript, VBScript, ASP or any client/server-side scripting, but you are going to have to spend sometime with the Drumbeat manual. There is a steep learning curve.

http://www.macromedia.com

By Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com

For information on getting a product reviewed email richard@energyme.com