Will DW cs5 connect to a database in SQL server?

Report · Jun 27, 2011

I work for the government that dictates I use Microsoft SQL server as they do not support php or mySQL.

I need a simple form to collect limited info and display that back for the user.

Dreamweaver is able to accomodate what I need, but I have not been able to get the connections right in order to have my database show up in DW.

IT ensures me this is a Dreamweaver issue as they have tested all the connections and know they are working - and since they don't know Dreamweaver, their answer is for me to drop Dreamweaver and develop the form in Visual Studio which I know nothing about.

I've exhausted every resource and have gone through the connection tutorials on line a dozen times or better and still come up with nothing. Could it be that Dreamweaver cannot connect to a SQL server?

I would appreciate any resources to do this if it can be done, or confirmation that I am not an idiot unable to figure this out but that Adobe Dreamweaver simply doesn't play well with Microsoft SQL Server and I need to learn Visual Studio in order to get along.

Report · Jun 27, 2011

Hi

Unfortunately this feature was removed from dreamweaver in version CS4, so to answer you question, no.

Sorry to give you this bad news.

PZ

Report · Jun 27, 2011

PZ,

Thank you for your response.

I read a prior post by David Powers during my research telling of the functionality for ASP.NET, ASP, JavaScript & JSP still being included in CS5 just disabled. So, as suggested, I used Extension Manager to locate the DisabledFeatures folder and installed it, but I'm having trouble with the connections.

Is that what you were referring to, or will that not solve the issue either.

I'm almost wondering if the php is the issue.

Again, any thougths are welcome as I'm now being directed to begin learning Visual Studio which pains me.

Report · Jun 27, 2011

Enabling the disabled features will probably resolve the connection problem, but keep in mind that even if you get it to work, .NET support in DW was never very good and has not been updated in years. If you know .NET, you can still use DW to write the code manually. But what most folks do is use DW for design and VS for back end coding.

>I'm almost wondering if the php is the issue.

I don't know what you are saying here. Can you explain?

Report · Jun 28, 2011

Thanks for the info.

I should say I am a designer, not an IT person so this is all rather confusing and I may not be understanding the roll php plays so this could be a really ignorant question. but, when reading through forums in search for the path to take, I got the impression that no matter what the database, Dreamweaver needs php to access them.

All I know is that that my host does not support php or mySQL (I am limited to iis and Microsoft SQL supporting

Asp.net ( it can be vb or C#), asp, html, htm, and xml… They DO NOT support – PHP, Coldfusion, ActionScript) - therefore if Dreamweaver always uses php then I thought that could be the problem.

I don't know .NET, just took a course in SQL to know enough to create tables and learn to query.

If I'm understanding your advice, it looks like I need to get up to speed in Visual Studio to get this form up and going with a return screen for the user to be able to update the information displayed?

Report · Jun 30, 2011

c.ayers wrote:

I got the impression that no matter what the database, Dreamweaver needs php to access them.

Dreamweaver supports a range of different languages and technologies. PHP just happens to be the most widely used server-side language that connects to a database, but it's not the only one. Dreamweaver can also use ASP and ColdFusion to connect to a database. There's also limited support for ASP.NET and JSP through extensions that restore functionality removed from the program a couple of versions ago.

I don't know .NET, just took a course in SQL to know enough to create tables and learn to query.
If I'm understanding your advice, it looks like I need to get up to speed in Visual Studio to get this form up and going with a return screen for the user to be able to update the information displayed?

Visual Studio is like Dreamweaver - a tool for working with web technologies. It's not so much the need to learn Visual Studio, but your lack of knowledge of .NET that's the problem. Because Visual Studio is designed specifically for .NET, it might help you build the form more quickly. But without learning the basics of .NET, you're likely to struggle. Unfortunately, my knowledge of .NET is close to zero, so I can't offer any direct advice other than to wish you good luck with your efforts.