Live Preview failure - PHP/MAMP/M2 Mac/Dreamweaver 21.3

[Rick Gerard]

This is incredibly frustrating. Let me run it down for you. If I enter http://localhost:8888/destiny.com/Pages/home.php in any web browser and am running the latest version of MAMP, I get a perfect preview of any of the PHP websites that I have created. Everything works perfectly. 

I have setup the Testing server perfectly in Dreamweaver, but nothing works correctly. Sometimes I get a blank preview until I select Design, then Preview. When I go back to live I get a preview without any of the CSS files or graphics. If I preview in a browser I get a weird http://127.0.0.1:55006/preview/app/index.html link instead of the home.php file because Dreamweaver is generating some kind of weird preview file, and again, none of the css or images. Here's a screen capture of the weirdness.

I admit that I have not updated this site in about 3 years. I have kept Dreamweaver updated, but now I need to work on the site and it's impossible to see what I'm doing inside Dreamweaver and I have to preview by manually typing in the php file name because preview is busted. I also get a File activity incomplete, 1 file or folder were not completed warning. That explains the missing CSS and images.

Anybody got any ideas on how to fix this. If the site is HTML, all the CSS and images preview fine, but if I change the extension to .php, all the CSS goes away and the images dissapear, even when I'm creating a new site and new page. 

I have gone through preferences, made sure that Preview using temporary files is not checked. 

Here's the error log:

I appreciate any ideas anyone has for fixing this bug or helping me figure out how to preview PHP files in Dreamweaver so I can get some things done without having to go directly to the browser with a localhost:000/link the page every time I make a change. 

[Nancy OShea]

Real-time Preview is counterproductive with a local testing server.  Use Localhost instead.

Right-click on open document tab and select Open in Browser (localhost).

Live view works for me with document relative link paths.

 

[Rick Gerard]

That is exactly how I have everything set up for the local host server in the Site Setup panel. I am on a Mac with MAMP so the Server Folder is different, but accurate. Nothing changed in the Site definitions from previous versions of Dreamweaver, and they were working fine.

Localhost needs an 8888 when using MAMP.  If I copy the web url from the Site Setup which looks like this: http://localhost:8888/destiny.com/ and I get a proper preview. 

If I use Preview from Dreamweaver I get this URL and all the links are broken and the Live view in Dreamweaver is completely broken. It makes it impossible to figure out if the CSS is working. None of the formating comes through. This is the URL that Dreamweaver creates when I select Preview.

http://127.0.0.1:55006/preview/app/index.html

For some reason I cannot figure out the Previews are generating a URL based on an 127.0.0.1 instead of the localhost and file path.  Something is fouled up somewhere. I've even run Cleaner, deletd all the Dreamweaver files I could find on my machine, and then reinstalled. 

I even uninstallled MAMP, cleaned everything I could find there, and installed it again. 

I would love to get this fixed. I think it is a bug. It's like Dreamweaver is creating some temp file somewhere even though I have told it not to, and I can't find the files anywhere on my system.

[Nancy OShea]

I may be wrong but I think Real-Time Preview is discontinued.  😕

I never used it much.  It's was always too problematic because it relied on Adobe Servers and an iframe.  A few years ago, I changed my default Preferences to Static Browser Preview and never looked back.  See screenshot.

Hope that helps.

[Rick Gerard]

If I change the extension from PHP to HTML, Live Preview works just fine. Previewing on the web works just fine. Change the extension to PHP and the links to the CSS fail and the URL that Preview on the browser changes to the http://127.0.0.1:55006/Preview/App/index.php

I'm not talking about real time preview in the browser, I'm talking about seeing CSS changes and graphics in the Dreamweaver interface. Works fine if the extension is HTML. Change the extension to PHP and everything fails instantly. 

I'll record a screen capturee this evening a post it. 

I am convinced that Dreamweaver is generating some hidden Preview/App folder with the php docuement and that is what is breaking the file.

[Nancy OShea]

I work with PHP & MySQL data all the time. I have no problems viewing assets in Live View on Windows with Wamp server.

That said, have you tried Restoring Preferences?

https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver.html

If that fails, this could be a unique problem for Mac M2 computer users.

[fxoffroad2]

I am having the exact same problem today (July 6, 2023)... this morning everything was working fine. This afternoon, the LIVE view stop working.

[Nancy OShea]

@fxoffroad2,

Validate Live Code and fix reported errors.

Dreamweaver doesn't like code errors.

[Rick Gerard]

There are no code errors. The problem is that the Preview/App folder is being created by the previews, and the subdirectories are not moving. I took all of the assets, images, CSS, Java Script, linked PHP menus, SQL segments for content, and moved them all to the root directory, and Now Live View works. Move images back to the /images folder and they no longer show up. Move the CSS files back to the CSS folder and the same thing, all the styling gets ignored. 

When I get the time I'm going to explore the problem further. Back in the good old days, about 3 years ago when I last worked on my site, the interaction between Dreamweaver and my PHP/MySQL site was perfect, and no /Preview/App/directories were created when previewing. Something changed somewhere and I hope I can find it a get it fixed. 

[fxoffroad2]

On my M1 Mac Ultra (with XDR and Cinema Displays)... the issue was solely a memory issue. I was making global changes to a non-CMS Bootstrap site with about 125 pages.

I spent an afternoon troubleshooting, un/re-install the App, and verifying settings with no luck. Ultimately, shutting down the Mac and letting it "rest" for about 5 minutes (an immediate restart didn't resolve the issue) was fine.

When I had ten or so pages open, the App would LIVE VIEW some, but not all, of the pages... seemingly very random — and very annoying.

I've been using Dreamweaver professionally since the Macromedia days... it's disappointing that the App and the MAC can't handle simple stuff.

[Nancy OShea]

"...no /Preview/App/directories were created when previewing. Something changed somewhere..."

=========

Refer to this screenshot again.  Uncheck the lower Option for Preview using temporary file.

[fxoffroad2]

Nancy. This is NOT the solution.

[BenPleysier]

The fact that "/Preview/App/directories" is created, proves that you are not defaulting to the Static Browser Preview.

If @Nancy OShea 's answer does not solve your problem, then there must be a glitch in Dreamweaver when on a Mac machine.

[Nancy OShea]

@fxoffroad2,

My reply was for the OP, @Rick Gerard about creation of temporary files during Preview.  🙂

Your issue was evidently memory-related which is not the same thing. 

[fxoffroad2]

I don't have any code errors either.