Dreamweaver CC and PHP / MySql

[Rick Gerard]

So what has happened to the database connections, bindings and server behaviors options. There are no DATA options in the insert bar.

I hope this is not going away.

Max OSX 10.8

[osgood_]

Nancy O. wrote:

Changing the underlying programming from countless JS server behavior files to a radically new approach is a Herculean task.  I certainly wouldn't want to write this code.  Would you?

Should have been thought about a few years back in my opinion. Adobe must know that the core structure of the program was built around the server behaviours.

I'm sure it was a Herculean task to build the server behaviours first time around, nothing has changed apart from Adobe has this time make a complete bungle.

[Nancy OShea]

Should have been thought about a few years back in my opinion.

Agreed.  But it's hard to commit to something when you don't know in which direction the standard is headed or when...

Nancy O.

[johngordon12]

I certainly wouldn't Nancy. But then I'm not the multinational company behind an industry leading web development tool, with turnover of hundreds of millions of dollars.

So I echo the sentiment above that the issue isn't the phasing out of deprecated tools, but the lack of foresight and development from Adobe to provide new tools.

But being a web designer, I can of course appreciate the idea of a customer's view of something not necessarily being as straightforward as it may appear.

If Adobe are fully aware and plan to reinstate new equivalents of this, then all the good. I know perpetual licences are no more, but if they were still available, I think Adobe would struggle to justify the current cost of DW having stripped out so much functionality, irrespecitve of the reasoning behind that decision.

[holymackeral]

As a very busy designer I have always been confidently dependent upon the good ol' Adobe Team to keep their product line in-play and abreast of server-tech changes.

Now, I feel Adobe has let us all down by woefully deciding 'Endless-Leasing' and dropping 'bothersome' features  is the better game to play.  Since Adobe has demonstrated it would rather drop the ball than try to make the goal, I am now spending my precious time looking for more reliable team mates, including Microsoft solutions (bleah).

Shame on you Adobe!! You REALLY need to reconsider another game plan.

[FocusLevelX]

This whole thing is stressing me out - I use both PHP and Classic ASP with DW, and have a ton of purchased extensions.

I agree - Adobe should have been updating their behaviors - not just saying "the code is old".

In addition to that, I'm not a fan of subscription based software - so this big change to CC may just be my time for looking for another programming platform - lots of open source options.

Sad too - I've been with Dreamweaver since before it was Dreamweaver - if any "old school" folks out there remember "Drumbeat" by Elemental Software - that's where it all started - then Macromedia, then Adobe.

[IanJamieson]

I thought it was Backstage. That's what I used to use before it was dreamweaver. Now I'm phpstorm though.

[Paul-M]

yes there  backstage orinally by a software company called iBand that macromedia bought, backstage which was the basis for what became Dreamweaver

[ShorePatrol]

Not sure that's correct - I believe a company called Elemental Software had a product called Drumbeat, which Macromedia then purchased.

[Paul-M]

I think some of the codebase from backstage went into Dreamweaver .... Drumbeat became Dreamweaver Ultradev .... I'm assuming codebase from Drumbeat and Backstage was used in Dreamweaver/Dreamweaver Ultradev. I'm trying to remember if at one time there were two version of Dreamweaver?? .... Ultradev which had all the sever side support and another version without the server side features, I'm not 100% sure?? ... anyway I think Ultradev was scrapped or at least the name was and there was just one Dreamweaver package with all features which was called Dreamweaver MX,

[visual_adventures15C3]

Deprecating the server behaviors is a horrifying development indeed.  I've been with Dreamweaver since 1999 when Macromedia aquired Drumbeat and incorporated it's features, eagerly purchasing every new release since.  This is the sole reason I use Dreamweaver and have built my career on building applications this way.  It's far easier, effective, and efficient for most jobs than tools like VisualStudio or any others, and I've used a lot of them.

I am temporarily relieved that you can hack Dreamweaver into supporting server behaviors, but how long will that last?!  Probably not long. 

The word "deprecate" means "To declare something obsolescent; to recommend against a function ... that still works but has been replaced."  Well, what is the replacement?

Adobe, I am begging you to keep this feature ( and develop it further, for that matter)!!!

[Preran]

Hi all,

We are looking at your suggestions, and rest assured, we are not abandoning this feature. While the current priority is to firm up front end development, we are looking at other alternatives that could serve you well until we get to improving it ourselves.

As I stated earlier, we are consolidating our reply for all the queries and concerns we have had so far around the CC release. I will announce that on the forum as soon as the article is published.

Thanks,

Preran

[PmPhotographic]

hi Preran

so where does this leave people such as myself.  I am a sole trader and have just used CS6 to create a web for myself, and a few associates.  I used server behaviours and have a dynamic web working. I am not sure of what I would do with out them.  why would I now upgrade to CC which I was considering?  to add more stress to this, I have just a few weeks to decide, before the offer I have runs out

how has this helped me as a customer, and what are my options?

[ShorePatrol]

OMG Adobe - I hope you're not abandoning the Classic ASP behaviors/code.

I have to say, I never thought I'd even think about leaving the Adobe/Dreamweaver development platform - but I'm actually considering it.

You make these decisions (I'm my judgement  - poor business decisions) to go to subscription only, turn your back on loyal clients who many have built empires with your tools, which only pushes people like me to consider other options. (.net/Microsoft, WordPress, Joomla, etc...)

I can't wrap my head around who at Adobe thought all this was a good idea.

[Preran]

Hi PmPhotographic, dstoltz2007

As mentioned, we are not abandoning server behaviors and these are still available as extensions. In such time that we firm up our user interface to support the latest web standards, you can continue using these extensions. We are also looking at third party extensions that could help us in the interim.

Thanks,

Preran

[PmPhotographic]

Preran

thanks for your reply, looking forwards, what will happen when you 'firm up' will I loose the ability and have to learn new methods and/or rewrite the web? or, will my site continue to function and be editable using the Cc version. 

This matters to me now, as I like many others have a relatively short window of opportunity for taking advantage of the introductory offer available at present

[Lawrence_Cramer]

I saw this day coming a long time ago. All the focus in Dreamweaver for the last three releases has been client side technology while the server side has been left to languish and age.  This is why when were were in development of Cartweaver 4 I set the road map to remove all dependency on Server Behaviors. All the Cartweaver Dreamweaver extension does now is copy all the files into the target web site and use one panel that write the database connection info to a global PHP or CFM file and save it... that's it.  This makes it really easy to add to a site, but isn't held back by being entwined in what are now depreciated DW features. All other functions that used to be handled by server behaviors have been moved to the web based admin or to the snippets panel.  Considering how far Adobe moved in Dreamweaver CC this decision turned out to be far more "wise" than even I expected.

Yep, if you're a CF developer or,  maybe to a lesser degree, a PHP developer, and do mostly "server side" development there's little reason to upgrade to Dreamweaver CC It will be better to wait and see where they actually go over the next couple of releases.  If you are primarily a "client side" developer ( HTML, HML5, CSS, JavaScript) then there are very good reasons to upgrade. We have just come to a fork in the road where we have to decide what our primary focus is... If it's BOTH  Client and server side,  then we will have to learn to add some more tools to our work-flow.   Such as CF Builder and NotePad ++ - or a very exciting development looks to be the open source Brackets project. When you look at how far the web has come and how diverse it is becoming, this really was inevitable. Those who embrace it and learn it, will prosper, those who don't will be replaced by those who do.

Lawrence Cramer - *Adobe Community Professional*

http://www.Cartweaver.com

PHP & ColdFusion Shopping Cart for Adobe Dreamweaver

Stay updated:

http://www.facebook.com/cartweaver

http://www.twitter.com/cartweaver

http://blog.cartweaver.com

[vlad70]

Hello Lowrence!

"All the focus in Dreamweaver for the last three releases has been client side technology while the server side has been left to languish and age."

The biggest problem - we don't saw any roadmap ...

fireworx - finished

dreamweaver - go to client-side, super ... but why MUSE in this case

+ Edge

... may be anybody in Adobe just publish true information?

I understand - when big company change conception, always could be problem, but just show us final result !!!

Notepad++ it's great idea, but what about money spended to Adobe products? 🙂

Just publish picture with all Adobe software and relation for the end of 2013 and 2014 ... and we decide, what we must do? Invest in Notepad++ or just wait.

Regards, Vlad

[Nancy OShea]

All good points, Lawrence

I'm just curious, is Cartweaver using PDO or MySqli (improved) yet?

Nancy O.

[Lawrence_Cramer]

There is some fine tooth combing we will be doing over the coming months, but mostly we are in pretty good shape. We didn't developed in Dreamweaver - didn't use any of the built in "do it for you" features in Dreamweaver - all code and queries were done the good ol' text editor way.  There will always be optimizing that can be and should be done. But like the pulling away from server behaviors, we say that an app needs to be able to stand on it's own as a well coded application, without being tied to an IDE over which you have no control.

Believe me I've had a good many "Whew" moments as I watched the direction the entire Creative Cloud and Dreamweaver CC movement has taken.

Really - though this throws a monkey wrench into a lot of folk's workflow, I see it as a good long term move.  The tool should develop code for the web, and not for itself - which was the Dreamweaver was headed for quite a while. Backing off of that direction is a good thing.  That's why I sort of run screaming away from Muse - the total WYSIWYG solutions have always ended up with disastrous code.  I must say I love the direction the Brackets project is going however.  My job is to code my app to work, no matter which path the tools take.

Fun times!

Lawrence Cramer - *Adobe Community Professional*

http://www.Cartweaver.com

PHP & ColdFusion Shopping Cart for Adobe Dreamweaver

Stay updated:

http://www.facebook.com/cartweaver

http://www.twitter.com/cartweaver

http://blog.cartweaver.com

[Lawrence_Cramer]

Hi Nancy,

I just realized that I didn't really answer your question about Cartweaver and MySQLi...  Rather than go into this at lenth here, the quck answer is, "we are all over it"  - at this moment, like so many apps we will need to do some work to support MySQLi / PHP 5.5, but we are already working on this and will support it long before it becomes a real issue... Here's a blog post on the topic that goes into more detail.

http://blog.cartweaver.com/cartweaver-4-php-and-mysqli/

If you have any more questions just let me know.

Lawrence Cramer - *Adobe Community Professional*

http://www.Cartweaver.com

PHP & ColdFusion Shopping Cart for Adobe Dreamweaver

Stay updated:

http://www.facebook.com/cartweaver

http://www.twitter.com/cartwea

[Nancy OShea]

Thanks, Lawrence. 

N

[xadesadex]

Preran it looks to me that you guys have not been honest with us specially when looking the new Dreamweaver CC 2014 seems you guys did not listen to us the customers

Preran wrote:

Hi PmPhotographic, dstoltz2007

As mentioned, we are not abandoning server behaviors and these are still available as extensions. In such time that we firm up our user interface to support the latest web standards, you can continue using these extensions. We are also looking at third party extensions that could help us in the interim.

Thanks,

Preran

There is now the new Dreamweaver cc2014 and still no server behaviors i think the community made it clear that instead of deprecating the only useful thing about Dreamweaver it should instead get updated and placed back to the new versions with all the PDO and Mysqli features, but no instead adobe works on getting more useless stuff for CSS and layouts instead of thinking we the real users of Dreamweaver use to to make our work faster on the backend of web development, I have wrote to the wish list so many times asking for the server behaviors to get back and updated with security features but never have got a single replay.

To make it more clear

1-server behaviors and these are still available as extensions:

The extension brakes a lot of functionality on the CC version which you get on Cs6 like binding when working with Dynamic Files.

2- We are also looking at third party extensions that could help us in the interim.

Not every one can afford third party extensions, i do have webassist extensions but why the hell do we have to install third party addons when the software was suppose to do those things and then get deprecated INSTEAD OF BEEN UPDATED.

3- Adobe mentions Server behaviors been deprecated instead of UPDATED.

A very lame excuse that the server behaviors where no longer secure, well Server behaviors was the only thing that made the difference of Dreamweaver with any other web developing software, taking it out and leaving use for WordPress or fancy CSS editing is a no longer incentive to keep using the product and pay a monthly fee, i suggest Adobe REALLY REALLY listen to us and bring back the server behaviors UPDATED for the new PDO with security improvement AND without the need of THIRD PARTY extensions it should come back integrated to the software.

Sorry my English Grammar

I hope they some day listen to us!!

Miguel

[Preran]

Hi Miguel,

Thank you for your feedback. Apart from my post, the product team also had a blog post outlining its priorities after noting observations from several users like you. This blog post was also featured on the forums (A Look at the Modernized Dreamweaver CC : Adobe Dreamweaver Team Blog). Other than that, we have also had several discussions on this forum on this topic that provides insights into the reasons behind this decision.

Meanwhile, the product team has been busy talking to several customers like you. I have been as good a messenger as any when reporting feedback from forums.The team prioritizes features based on several such feedback mechanisms.

I don't think we have been dishonest. The reason it is difficult to share exact details is because we are continuously evaluating and re-prioritizing features based on popular feedback while ensuring that Dreamweaver supports the latest standards in web design.

Thanks,

Preran

[xadesadex]

Preran wrote:

Hi Miguel,

Thank you for your feedback. Apart from my post, the product team also had a blog post outlining its priorities after noting observations from several users like you. This blog post was also featured on the forums (A Look at the Modernized Dreamweaver CC : Adobe Dreamweaver Team Blog). Other than that, we have also had several discussions on this forum on this topic that provides insights into the reasons behind this decision.

Meanwhile, the product team has been busy talking to several customers like you. I have been as good a messenger as any when reporting feedback from forums.The team prioritizes features based on several such feedback mechanisms.

I don't think we have been dishonest. The reason it is difficult to share exact details is because we are continuously evaluating and re-prioritizing features based on popular feedback while ensuring that Dreamweaver supports the latest standards in web design.

Thanks,

Preran

All i see on that blog post is more lies from Adobe and just pure Propaganda , im sorry to say it, I'm so disappointed with Adobe, if you look at the starting comments of the blog post link they are a year back since the crazy idea of the evolving platform and the removal of features INSTEAD of making the features better and updating them and functionality, and to mention Adobe listen to us sounds like a big joke, seems like enters one ear and flies away passing the other like i said its been over a year and you guys don't listen, database support and those server behaviors is a must to bring back, the solution is not tell us look here there are some third party extensions or here is a free one which you recover only 25% of the functionality, I still vote that the guy that decided to deprecate those features should get fired and deprecate his position in the company to some one that really listens to the customers and cares for the company making the product top notch not worse and worse each update or version.

Until the features are not back without the need of installing extensions my trust in Adobe Dreamweaver dies every day, i will not recommend no one to use the product until we get what we really need on this software, and today was 20 workstations which now have eclipse instead of Dreamweaver, same will go where i teach as volunteer in a school I was ask to show how to use a web development software to the kids but in no way ill show them the failure Adobe has made, and all i see is after more than a year just poor excuses instead of really working on making the product great again.

For better understanding I share what Xavier Commented, I need to quot one of the comments on the blog link you posted

You claim that you are listening to your users, but you have just proved you don’t. Despite the high volume of disappointment expressed through the comments to previous posts of this blog, through comments in Dreamweaver Help or through the Community Forum, you show no change of direction, nor any will to cater for the disrupted workflow that Dreamweaver CC is introducing. Instead, you are just producing blog posts that desperately try to prove us that you are “streamlining” and “modernizing” Dreamweaver. An extension that brings back half of the features is not a strong-enough signal that you have taken into account our needs. Extensions written by third parties which you claim are alternatives but are not resemble more leg-pulling than anything else. Will you reduce Dreamweaver’s price for the removal of killer features that were sold with the software before?

2. You do not seem to know how Dreamweaver users use the software or at least, to be fair, how a large number of users do. I thought the aim of software makers was to sell a tool that aids its clients in, and brings value to, their work.

As an extension writer, I can tell that the vast majority of my users are either DIY guys or professionals working on their own. Not big companies with teams of developers. The majority of those never have been Dreamweaver users and will never be, having different needs and ways of working

.
As responses to your “streamlining” and “modernization” of Dreamweaver have shown, for a large number of users, the strength of Dreamweaver lies in its extensibility, of which server behaviors are the most advanced feature. I am not talking about the code they write, which we all agree has to be updated (and we have been waiting this for a number of releases, now…), I am talking about their very mechanism, which allow us to write our code and use Dreamweaver to speed up our job by helping us to write it again, faster, without errors, visually.

No other tool offers this possibility. Without server behaviors and database support, Dreamweaver is simply not worth its price…

Obviously, you are the ones with the real figures and only you can tell if it is a strategic decision or a big mistake. I was a bit surprised though by the number of voices that rose after the Dreamweaver CC release, so I tend to think that Mr. Adobe would not be that pleased by the loss of a good number of faithful clients. But then at least, be honest enough to tell us if you intend to drop a part of long-term users, and stop serving us your commercial soup…

Now, what will happen?

1. You still refuse to listen to the numerous voices who have called against your decision to remove useful features to us, and in this case, we will act accordingly: we are big enough, we do not need your blatant propaganda even by the product manager himself to decide whether Dreamweaver CC will still be worth its high price into our workflow, if the new features will outweigh the loss of server behaviors and database support. If not, of course, we will not upgrade just because you are marketing the supposedly wonderful new features, and we will turn to other tools, with features that will help us improve our workflow in other ways. And goodbye Adobe, we do not trust you anymore… It is as simple as that.

2. You show us you really are listening to your customers and you bring back updated server behaviors and database support. In this case, we will know that we can trust Adobe again, that you do listen to us, and will applaud with both hands.

And, more important to you, we will have a valid reason to upgrade and we will. Come on guys, our productivity is at stake, but your jobs may be in the line too…
Xavier

Please no more excuses bring back the features with improvements!!

Miguel

[Neil]

Another whinge at Adobe's knee-jerk decision to remove Server Behaviors, Bindings, Databases & Components from Dreamweaver CC!

I have been in the creative advertising world since the early eighties and developing websites since the early nineties. I have seen many changes in technologies over that time and started using Dreamweaver when it was first born. I have been a fan of Adobe products for along time and recall one of the first Adobe products I bought was Illustrator'88 (take a guess when that was released!).

A few weeks ago I decided to 'upgrade' from CS4 to Creative Cloud. I looked long and hard at the pros and cons but did not come across the issue of the removed behavious panels. I have had a hard time recently (without going into any detail) and decided to commit once again to working freelance in an area of the business that I love - dynamic communication. This means combining databases, html front-end (and associated technologies) and my marketing skills. The core technology therefore is Dreamweeaver combining front-end design with back-end structure. Now I have lost that vital link.

At the same time as upgrading to CC I gained two very large pieces of work, one was to redesign and re-engineer an existing and quite complex intranet site that I developed and few years ago and another is to create a whole new database driven site. Now I am stuck as to where to go.

I have read alot about this issue and my understanding is that PHP have decided to remove the Mysql extension from PHP and replace it with the more secure mysqli or PDO_MySQL extensions. Fair enough, technologies move on, I can understand that. What I can't understand is Adobe's reluctance to keep their change in product from it's 'everyday' users like myself. We, the users, don't always keep up-to-date with these changes in technlogy. We have our heads firmly fixed on doing our jobs and earning an honest crust. We rely on the likes of Adobe to keep up-to-date with these changes and make the tools available for us to use without any interuption to our workflow.

Why therefore have Adobe not put a notice on the existing Server Behaviors, Bindings, Databases & Components stating that they recommend not to use these functions as they are being replaced, rather than simply removing them and leaving us with nothing. It's as if we had a rusty but usable shovel, Adobe comes along and takes takes the head of the shovel away and says we will give you something better to replace it with sometime in the future, but for now we just have to stab at the ground.

Is there an alternative way of working built into Dreamweaver CC or indeed any other Adobe CC product to help me achieve what I (and many others) want?

Is Adobe building in a new mysqli or PDO_MySQL functionality that will be similar to the Server Behaviors, Bindings, Databases & Components panels that we are used to?

When will this new functionality be available as an update?

Extension "Deprecated Panel Support v.1.0.0" doesn't work for me and I don't know why. I cannot connect to any of my existing MySQL databases and therefore further development or changes to existing sites comes to an abrupt halt.

All we want are some simple, clear answers, otherwise we will have to make some clear and simple commercial decisions as our livelyhood depends on it. Here's hoping...

Regards

Neil