The Nature of the Test Server

[Guest]

QUESTION:  Using Dreamweaver is it possible to maintain one's test server on a machine different from the the one that contains one's local folder, if both machines are on the same local network?

BACKGROUND:  When I first decided to create a dynamic web application I believed that it was necessary to keep an identical set of files in three different locations -- the local folder, the remote folder, and the folder of the test server.  As I plod through the reading, however, I am beginning to believe that the test server is little more than a set of applications that uses the local folder to produce dynamic pages before they are sent to the remote folder.

Roddy

[bregent]

You can have 3 distinct locations for local, remote and testing servers but you don't need to. The testing server can be the same location as your local or remote servers. Many people actually don't run a local server and use the remote as the testing server.

[Guest]

bregent wrote: You can have 3 distinct locations for local, remote and testing servers but you don't need to. The testing server can be the same location as your local or remote servers.

Thank you for replying with a useful confirmation.  I actually want three distinct locations, but would like to be able to manage all three from the same location using Dreamweaver.  Is this possible?  If so, how does one set it up on two Apple machines both using Leopard?

I have MAMP installed on my test server machine, Dreamweaver installed on my local folder machine, and a third party environment elsewhere called Lunarpages that handles my remote folder.  What I would like to know is how to set up Dreamweaver to coordinate between my test server and local machines.  Have you a clue?

Roddy

[DwFAQ]

Generally if someone has a local testing server setup they will use one machine to develop and test then upload to remote to launch. If you want to develop on one computer, test on another, then upload to the remote server then simply copy files from local machine to the directory that has virtual host setup on the computer with local server setup to use as testing server.

So for your case setup local files and remote in site setup in Dreamweaver, then copy files to the other Mac with MAMP installed to access site on that testing server. You would copy the files that has a virtual host setup - so if MAMP testing server Mac has virtual host setup to access sites from folders in your Sites folder (not default settings of MAMP) then you'd copy the site folder from development Mac to the Sites/site_name/ folder on MAMP Mac to test the site locally by entering site_name in URL. I would recommend using ONE Mac to develop AND test locally (not two Macs - one to develop, one to test).

There's a few other issues with MAMP setup in Leopard. Basically you lose some functions that may be valuable during testing. Specifically you can not send emails, write images using GC library, or use mcrypt function locally. I recently setup my Mac Pro for local development; love it. But I've come across some of the issues mentioned. There's a lot of recommendations out there on how to setup MAMP on local testing server and some have spotty info. All I know is what worked for me, which wasn't MAMP. I found entropy which works for me for issues mentioned (google it).

I can also help you out with setting up virtual hosts for local php development so that you can enter URL site1 into browser test local site from user/Sites/site1/ folder and enter site2 URL in browser to test local site from user/Sites/site2/ folder, etc. bottom line you need virtual hosts properly setup on testing server to properly test site locally unless of course you copy site folder to Library/WebDev/some_crazy_directory/whatever_other_default_directory_it_is/ and you only have one site to test locally ~ who wants that?!?

[Guest]

www.DwFAQ.info wrote: There are a few other issues with MAMP setup in Leopard.

In fact, I purchased MAMP Pro to make my life easier, as I begin learning PHP and MySQL.  Nevertheless, I can see from your and Bregent's remarks that my local folder and testing server are perhaps best placed on my MacBook (an Apple laptop).  This may just be the best idea, as I remember Lunarpages having told me that Dreamweaver does not function properly with my online account.  As a result, I could place my remote folder on my iMac (an Apple desktop) and then upload to my Lunarpages account from my iMac with Fetch.

What is your take on this idea?

Roddy

[DwFAQ]

kiusau wrote:

I purchased MAMP Pro to make my life easier, as I begin learning PHP and MySQL.

How much was that? Probably could have found equivalent functionality for free.

I could place my remote folder on my iMac (an Apple desktop) and then upload to my Lunarpages account from my iMac with Fetch.

What is your take on this idea?

Do whatever ultimately works for you with the information you've been provided and the results you experience. Personally I would have website folder on same computer/network that the testing server is on vs. developing on one computer, copying site file to second computer to test locally, then upload to remote server. For instance if you want to develop on MacBook then test on iMac then I would setup virtual host on iMac testing server to point to shared volume on network that has MacBook connected with website folder on MacBook so that one directory can both develop on one computer and test locally on another through the network. Again, whatever works for you.

[Guest]

www.DwFAQ.info wrote:  How much was that? Probably could have found equivalent functionality for free.

As I have never used MAMP separately from MAMP Pro, it is difficult for me to respond with any authority on the matter.  I just know that there are certain things that I want to learn the hard way and this simply did not appear to be one of them.  I may have erred, but will probably not discover the error, if indeed it was, until much later.  For the moment, I like having a handy manual and everything easy to find in a central location.

www.DwFAQ.info wrote:  For instance if you want to develop on MacBook then test on iMac then I would setup virtual host on iMac testing server to point to shared volume on network that has MacBook connected with website folder on MacBook so that one directory can both develop on one computer and test locally on another through the network. Again, whatever works for you.

Perhaps I should explain why I want to develop and test on two different machines.  It is because past experience has taught me that what I see is not always what I have achieved.  In other words, there are behind-the-scenes goings-on that make everything appear correct one moment and completely out of whack in another.  This phenomenon is usually caused by misdirected links that work in one environment, but not in another.

In effect, I am sometimes careless, when I have no intention to be.  Dreamweaver has helped me in this regard, but I am now entering a new phase of development of which I am only poorly knowledgeable and am understandably concerned.

Roddy

[Guest]

www.DwFAQ.info wrote:  For instance if you want to develop on MacBook then test on iMac then I would setup virtual host on iMac testing server to point to shared volume on network that has MacBook connected with website folder on MacBook so that one directory can both develop on one computer and test locally on another through the network. Again, whatever works for you.

As I sometimes have trouble understanding what you have written, I have rewritten the above and would like for you to confirm or disconfirm my interpretation.

For instance, if you would like to write your HTML, PHP, JavaScript and CSS on your MacBook and test the result on your iMac, then I would set up a virtual host (testing server) on your iMac and have the server point to a shared folder on a network to which your MacBook also has access.  In this way, one folder could be used to both develop and test locally before uploading the contents of the shared folder to your remote folder.

If you can agree to the above, then I am ready to post more substantive questions.

Roddy

[Guest]

bregent wrote:

You can have 3 distinct locations for local, remote and testing servers but you don't need to. The testing server can be the same location as your local or remote servers. Many people actually don't run a local server and use the remote as the testing server.

Bregent, please see my reply at  http://forums.adobe.com/message/2209281#2209281 and comment.

Roddy

Message was edited by: kiusau

Message was edited by: kiusau