Microsoft SQL Server
Chris Molland
I am developing a dynamic website which will eventually be hosted on a
customer's intranet. They have informed me that they can only provide a
Microsoft SQL Server 2005, IIS 6, Microsoft Server 2003 (SP2) environment for
the data. We are about to install our own Test Server to proof our site as it
develops prior to installing completed content with the client. Now I'm new to
all this and would be very grateful for any experience which can be passed on!
Two questions immediately spring to mind:
[bullet]Does anyone know of any good guidance/information on connecting to a
Microsoft SQL Server from Dreamweaver CS4? There is plenty of support and
guidance for using MySQL but almost nothing on the Microsoft SQL
Server.[/bullet][bullet]Must we exactly replicate the Client environment or can
we implement Microsoft SQL Server 2008, IIS 7, Microsoft Server 2008 on our
Test Server and confidently 'install' the website/data in the Client
environment?[/bullet]
I assume, and I could be very wrong here, that the database connection would
be different (not too difficult to change the connection for the deployed
version) and the PHP code would be different for MySql and Microsoft SQL. For
this reason I presume we should not implement a MySQL solution in our Studio
and then try to deploy the website into a Microsoft SQL environment.
Many thanks
Chris
Dooza
CS4 supports ASP with MSSQL and PHP with MySQL. Whilst ASP can work with
MySQL and PHP can work with MSSQL, there are not any built in server
behaviours in CS4 that will let you do this.
Using 2003 or 2008 shouldn't matter at all, but using the right database
will matter, and so will using the right language (ASP or PHP).
If you want to use PHP, this needs to be installed on both servers, as
it isn't included by default. ASP is part of IIS, but will need to be
enabled.
Dooza
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Chris Molland
So PHP and Microsoft SQL Server may be a difficult combination. I have no idea
what the difference is between ASP and PHP (some homework there I feel) but it
sounds fundamental. As the customer has Microsoft SQL 2005, IIS 6 and Windows
Server 2003 it may be better to implement an ASP solution. Are there any
advantages/disadvantages between ASP/PHP that as a developer (using
Dreamweaver CS4 on Macs) I should be considering?
Thank you.
Dooza
ASP is a Microsoft product, its actually not under active development,
as it was replaced by .NET a long time ago, but is still supported on
Windows 2008 and is likely to be continued for sometime. It is a very
mature product, with loads of books and tutorials available.
PHP is relatively new, is open source, and has a huge community of
developers who can help. It does work with IIS on Windows, but the
server behaviours for Dreamweaver don't support it. Maybe CS5 will?
Possible suggest this as a feature request?
PHP is still being developed, there are lots of books and tutorials out
there.
Some companies are stopping development of ASP extensions for
Dreamweaver, like WebAssist. This is an indication of the state of the
game. I hope Adobe includes support for PHP with MSSQL, it will allow
developers like you and me, who work on Windows, to use PHP with a very
powerful database like SQL 2008.
Philo
> Hello, and thanks for having a look at this question.
>
> I am developing a dynamic website which will eventually be hosted on
> a customer's intranet. They have informed me that they can only
> provide a Microsoft SQL Server 2005, IIS 6, Microsoft Server 2003
> (SP2) environment for the data. We are about to install our own Test
> Server to proof our site as it develops prior to installing completed
> content with the client. Now I'm new to all this and would be very
> grateful for any experience which can be passed on!
>
> Two questions immediately spring to mind:
> [bullet]Does anyone know of any good guidance/information on
> connecting to a Microsoft SQL Server from Dreamweaver CS4? There is
> plenty of support and guidance for using MySQL but almost nothing on
> the Microsoft SQL Server.
As I recall there is a good bit of info out there that googling will
reveal. Cannot remember where but it was there 4 or 5 years ago when I
started using DW, ASP, and MSSQL. It may be in bits and pieces but it
is there.
[/bullet][bullet]Must we exactly replicate
> the Client environment or can we implement Microsoft SQL Server 2008,
> IIS 7, Microsoft Server 2008 on our Test Server and confidently
> 'install' the website/data in the Client environment?
This should not be a problem as long as you do not use any
functions/capabilities of IIS 7 & MSSQL Server that are not in IIS 6
and MSSQL 5. Look at the two newer versions and see what changed from
one version to the next and be sure to allow for that. However, unless
you are really doing some fancy stuff, there should be no problem at
all.
[/bullet]
> I assume, and I could be very wrong here, that the database
> connection would be different (not too difficult to change the
> connection for the deployed version) and the PHP code would be
> different for MySql and Microsoft SQL. For this reason I presume we
> should not implement a MySQL solution in our Studio and then try to
> deploy the website into a Microsoft SQL environment.
>
All you should need to change is the connection string in your
connections folder. To make things as easy as possible use the same
database name, username and password as will be used on the production
server. The more things that are the same on both servers, the easier
it will be. That means that you will be using ASP classic, ISS, and
MSSQL on your development server.
> Many thanks
>
> Chris
--
Chris Molland
I would like to use PHP with Microsoft SQL as it does appear to be a solid
foundation for continued support and development. What are the implications of
using Dreamweaver CS4 to develop my project though? Is it a case that
ultimately the html can be whatever you type into it, meaning that of course
Dreamweaver can work with PHP calls to MS SQL, but that there are no 'Tools' in
Dreamweaver to assist in the writing of the PHP code? Or is it more fundamental
than that?
Microsoft seem to be making noises that PHP, IIS and Microsoft SQL are a good
combination, I know they would say that, but it does look tempting.
http://php.iis.net/ http://www.microsoft.com/web/platform/phponwindows.aspx.
The scary part is that I have to decide how to progress right at the beginning
when, of course, I have least experience in this!
Thanks for you support, its very reassuring to hear from someone who knows
what they are talking about.
Regards
Chris Molland
I'm tending towards PHP with Microsoft SQL at the moment, though only if
developing the site using Dreamweaver isn't fighting against the current too
much.
Are you aware of any 'scary monsters' lurking around the corner if I pursue
this route?
Regards
Dooza
> Interesting reading Dooza,
>
> I would like to use PHP with Microsoft SQL as it does appear to be a solid
> foundation for continued support and development. What are the implications of
> using Dreamweaver CS4 to develop my project though? Is it a case that
> ultimately the html can be whatever you type into it, meaning that of course
> Dreamweaver can work with PHP calls to MS SQL, but that there are no 'Tools' in
> Dreamweaver to assist in the writing of the PHP code? Or is it more fundamental
> than that?
Thats about it, Dreamweaver won't be able to write any code for you, so
you will be hand coding it all the way. This isn't a bad thing, you will
be learning from the ground up.
> Microsoft seem to be making noises that PHP, IIS and Microsoft SQL are a good
> combination, I know they would say that, but it does look tempting.
> http://php.iis.net/ http://www.microsoft.com/web/platform/phponwindows.aspx.
Yes, I have heard good things too, seems Microsoft has recognised that
PHP is a very popular language and is used on many websites.
> The scary part is that I have to decide how to progress right at the beginning
> when, of course, I have least experience in this!
>
> Thanks for you support, its very reassuring to hear from someone who knows
> what they are talking about.
Not a problem. I have been using Dreamweaver with ASP for 10 years now,
but am about to embark on my first big PHP project, so am in the same
boat as you... but I will be using MySQL since that is what the client
has on the server.
Dooza
Chris Molland
I agree that hand coding is not such a bad thing. I've done my fair share of
VB/ADO projects and at least you know what's going on.
If I come across any good resources would you like me to let you know?
Regards
Dooza
Yes please, that would be very kind of you.
DEPearson
I would develop this site using ASP.net 3.5 since the client is using SQL
2005. Do your html/css markup in Dreamweaver then which over to Visual Studio
to program the dynamic code. If you don?t have studio, you can get Visual Web
Developer for free.
Classic ASP is ok; however you can develop a site quicker in ASP.net.
Dreamweaver does not support ASP.net controls well.
David
www.saludalabs.com
Dooza
CS4 doesn't support it at all, and previous versions only supported .NET
1.1.
DEPearson
Wow, I knew CS3 had some limited support. I still like using Dreamweaver (Spry Items) to set up my markup for templates.
David
Dooza
Basically Adobe couldn't ever dream of keeping up to date with .NET, so
instead of putting resources into it they dropped it. Server behaviours
haven't been touched since 8.02, so are well over due some attention.
Hopefully PHP with MSSQL will happen, but the only way to ensure this is
to wish it using the bug report link below.