Macromedia Dreamweaver UltraDev

Richard Price
1 August 2000

I have some bad news for dedicated Macromedia Drumbeat users - the program no longer exists.

The good news is it has been replaced with Dreamweaver UltraDev which now gives complete control over source code, and allows previewing and editing of server-side data without leaving the workspace.

Think of Dreamweaver 3 on steroids and you will have some idea of what Dreamweaver Ultradev is like.

DreamWeaver UltraDev includes all the power of Dreamweaver 3 while allowing developers to create ASP (Active Server pages), JSP (Sun's JavaServer pages) or CFML (Allaire's ColdFusion) applications in a single visual development environment.

Web designers familiar with creating static web pages using HTML now have a way of creating dynamic, database driven sites web site, without having to learn a whole new set of skills.

It is not all point, click and drag. Hardcore programmers can still edit all the code they want.

The program is easy to come to grips with, and, anyone who has used Dreamweaver will be quite at home with UltraDev's user interface.

The guided tour and tutorials help familiarise new users with UltraDev's capabilities.

Dreamweaver UltraDev manages to combine the flexibility of Dreamweaver 3 with a set of features for adding database connections, displaying server side content, adding server side scripts and previewing dynamic content.

Dreamweaver UltraDev comes with a library of built-in Server behaviours that allow web applications to interact with databases - inserting, updating or deleting records.

Database objects make it easy to instantly add all the code you need to connect to a database.

One thing I never liked about working with ColdFusion was always having to upload something before it could be tested.

With Dreamweaver UltraDev it is possible to preview data returned from the application server while you design.

Live Data mode in Dreamweaver UltraDev replaces ASP, JSP and CFML scripts with dynamically generated output. Live Data remains fully editable, making it possible to lay out pages and logic while working with server data.

The Design Notes feature allows you to attach comments to your files. This is useful when working in collaboration with other designers and programmers.

Drumbeat users will still find most of their favourite features in UltraDev, although they may have moved to make way for Dreamweaver UltraDev's extended features.

To make effective use of UltraDev's tools on a site created with Drumbeat a fair amount of reconstruction surgery may be required. Converting a Drumbeat site to Ultradev will take some time depending on the number of elements you want to integrate, but if the site is going to be constantly changing it will be worth it.

The only thing I didn't like about Dreamweaver UltraDev was installing it. If you are not using Microsoft Office 2000, you need to download and install Microsoft data Access Components (MDAC) 2.1 first. It's a pity Macromedia never included this 7.5 MB file on the CD.

UltrDev is just as customizable as Dreamweaver 3 and is tightly integrated with the Macromedia family of web design tools.

Visit the Macromedia web site to download objects, behaviours and commands to further enhance UltraDev capabilities

I only looked at the Windows version, which runs on Windows 95, 98, 2000 or Windows NT 4 (with service pack 5).

Dreamweaver UltraDev is available for both Windows and Mac platforms with a RRP of AU$1095. Dreamweaver 3 users can upgrade for AU$559.

Drumbeat users can upgrade for AU$199. If you purchased Drumbeat after 5 April 2000, you get a free upgrade.

www.macromedia.com
Price: AU$1095

By Richard Price, Editor EnergyME.com

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