Archive for October, 2007
It seems as though the cause of the European clock change crashes on Dreamweaver CS3 is a corrupted file called WinFileCache-[random_numbers].dat. On Windows XP, it’s located at C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration. On Vista, it’s at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration. Simply delete the file and restart Dreamweaver. This still hasn’t been confirmed as the definitive solution, but it seems to work on most systems. It certainly fixed the problem for me.
[Update]: This has now been confirmed as the solution. Dreamweaver creates a new version of the file as soon as you relaunch the program.
October 29th, 2007
The Dreamweaver forums have been ablaze with reports of simple PHP and ASP code causing Dreamweaver CS3 to crash. I have tested many of the sample code snippets, and can confirm that CS3 is crashing on Windows XP and Vista, but not on Mac OS X. It also affects the PHP code in my books.
The cause of the crashes appears to be the clock change following the end of summer time in Europe. Since the United States is still on daylight saving time until 4 November, American users have reported that they are crash-free—for the time being, at least. It’s not clear whether it’s an Adobe bug or one caused by the Windows operating system, but there’s little point getting into the blame game. What’s needed is a fix—and quickly.
The temporary solution appears to be to change your system clock back to any time before 2 am on 28 October. Alternatively, use Dreamweaver 8.0.2, which isn’t affected. Neither solution is ideal, but Adobe has been alerted to the problem, and hopefully a permanent solution can be found soon.
[Update]: The solution is to delete WinFileCache-********.dat, which was apparently corrupted by the clock change.
October 29th, 2007
I have just upgraded my Mac PowerBook G4 laptop to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). The installation went fine, but there are a couple of issues you need to be aware of if you use your Mac to develop PHP, as they could affect your decision to upgrade—at least for the time being.
Leopard installs Apache 2.2.6 instead of the Apache 1.3 series that was used in all previous versions of Mac OS X. As a result, when you restart your computer for the first time, web sharing will be disabled. Turning it on is exactly the same as described in all my books. However, if you use the Mac OS X PHP package from Marc Liyanage, it won’t work.
Although Marc offers an Apache 2 version on his site, that won’t work on Leopard, either. According to a post from Marc on 26 October in this thread in his forum, he needs to figure out how to integrate it all, but is currently very busy at work. The same thread discusses using the version of PHP preinstalled in Leopard. Apple has inexplicably decided to install PHP 4, even though it comes to the end of its support life in just over two months’ time. [Updated 28 Oct 2007] As Dan Brown points out below, PHP 5 is, indeed, preinstalled in Leopard. The confusion is caused by Apache being in a new location. I suspect that the old versions of Apache and PHP were left on my machines because they were upgraded from OS X 10.4, and that a completely fresh install of Leopard would have only Apache 2.2.6 and PHP 5.2.4.
Following Dan’s instructions below will get PHP 5 up and running in Leopard. However, the default installation of PHP doesn’t read php.ini. You need to create that yourself. I’ll try to get some instructions up on my site in the next day or two.
I have no idea how long it will take Marc Liyanage to work his usual wonders with his PHP package, but if you want to use Mac OS X to develop PHP sites, either delay upgrading to Leopard follow Dan’s instructions below or use the all-in-one package from MAMP. I have never used MAMP, but it has a good reputation. Perhaps it’s time for me to give it a try.
[Added 28 Oct 2007] MAMP seems to work without problem on Leopard, and is definitely worth considering if the idea of working in Terminal sends cold shivers up your spine. After downloading it, simply copy the MAMP folder to Applications, and then double-click the MAMP icon inside the MAMP folder. I suggest that you select Preferences > Ports, and click “Set to default Apache and MySQL ports”. If you do this, it’s important not to switch on Web Sharing in System Preferences. You must also close down any existing MySQL server. It’s also important to realize that the Apache and MySQL versions installed by MAMP are completely independent. The site root and MySQL data store are in different locations. Any databases created in a previous installation of MySQL must be exported, and reimported into the MAMP version of MySQL. The need to move things around detracts from the attraction of MAMP if you already have several databases stored in an existing installation of MySQL.
October 27th, 2007
One of the nice things about being an author of books about PHP and Dreamweaver is that I get an opportunity to talk directly to the software development team. Devin Fernandez, one of the Dreamweaver product managers, dropped into London today on his way from Adobe MAX to a meeting with the former InterAKT Team (now Adobe Systems Romania) in Bucharest. We met for lunch, and for several hours he gave me an exclusive insight into how he and Adobe see the future of the Web and Dreamweaver in particular. That’s the nice part… However, it goes without saying that he wouldn’t have told me anything if he knew I’d spill the beans in my blog. Still, there are things that I can say without breaking the confidential nature of our discussions.
A major focus at MAX in Chicago was on Adobe’s plans for Flex and AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime). If you’re unfamiliar with these two, they’re at the forefront of what Adobe calls Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). Flex is based on Flash and ActionScript, but makes it a lot easier for non-programmers to build highly interactive forms and online catalogues without the need for complex back-end programming. AIR is closely integrated with Flex and, in a nutshell, lets you build applications that run directly on the desktop outside a web browser. AIR applications are capable of communicating both with the local file system and with remote data sources across the internet. So for example, you can build simple widgets to display the local weather, or more sophisticated applications to search your hard drive for MP3 files and play your favourite music.
With all the razzmatazz surrounding Flex and AIR, not to mention a new project codenamed Thermo, you might be forgiven thinking that Dreamweaver’s days are over. Think again… Dreamweaver is Adobe’s flagship editor for (X)HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which remain the core technologies underpinning most of the Web today, and which are unlikely to go away in a hurry. Devin estimates that there are perhaps as many as 4.5 million people using Dreamweaver in one way or another. They’re important to Adobe, and the Dreamweaver team is determined to keep the program fresh and vital to their needs.
The difficulty is how to do that. Dreamweaver users tend to fall into two broad categories with divergent interests and needs. On the one hand, there are individual developers and web designers, who either work entirely on their own or in small groups. They need Dreamweaver to perform a wide range of functions, and their priority is ease of use. On the other hand, Dreamweaver is also used by production studios, where a large team splits up the work according to each individual’s speciality. The specialists all want improvements in their own particular area. Programmers want better code hinting and introspection. Designers want better integration with Fireworks, Photoshop, and Illustrator. And everyone wants adherence to standards.
The impression I got from Devin is that the Dreamweaver team is aware of these demands, and has what it hopes will be some pleasant surprises up its sleeve when the wraps are finally taken off the next version of the program. When will that be? That’s always a secret that even authors aren’t let in on (which is why there’s often a delay of several months between a new version and the books to go with it). However, most software companies work on an 18- to 24-month development cycle, so I’m hoping that I’ve still got plenty of time before I need to start pounding away at the keyboard for my next Dreamweaver book.
One final thought… and something that might have slipped your notice in the coverage of MAX. Although much of the focus was on Flex, if you visit the AIR site on Adobe Labs, it says “Adobe AIR lets developers use their existing web development skills in HTML, Ajax, Flash and Flex to build and deploy rich internet applications to the desktop”. Notice that: HTML and Ajax (JavaScript) are listed first, a sure sign that Dreamweaver’s unlikely to be put on the back burner for a very long time to come.
It was a glorious sunny day in central London—definitely something in the air to put a spring into my step. 
October 5th, 2007
At long last, Adobe has created an extension to update the version of Spry in Dreamweaver CS3. You can download the extension by going to the Spry section of Adobe Labs. The extension is free, but to obtain it, you need to log into Labs using your Adobe ID. If you don’t already have an Adobe ID, it’s easy to create an account (also free).
Use the Extension Manager to install the Spry Updater for Dreamweaver CS3. When you first launch Dreamweaver after installation, you’ll be presented with a dialog box explaining how the updater works. It lets you update the Spry library files on existing sites, and gives you the option to replace all files or just those that you want to change. And if anything goes wrong, you can retrieve the old files from a backup folder.
The extension updates the Spry files to version 1.6 (the version that shipped with CS3 was 1.4), and adds code hints for the new features. However it does not add any new features to the Dreamweaver interface. To use the new features in Spry 1.6, you need to hand-code them yourself.
October 2nd, 2007