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Dreamweaver has primarily been known as a tool for developing the front-end of a website, the pages users view when they visit a site.
Last year, though, Macromedia announced its intention to merge with Allaire, a company known for its back-end, server-based technologies. The result can be seen in Dreamweaver MX.
Dreamweaver's existing graphical design features remain in place, but the new features in this upgrade concentrate almost exclusively on programming and the development of interactive, database-driven web applications and services.
The list of new features is awash with technical jargon: for example, there's support for XML, ASP VBScript, J2EE, PHP, accessibility compliance checking and many others.
Macromedia is aware of the potential culture shock for people who have a design background so, when you launch the program for the first time, you're given a choice between working with the traditional Dreamweaver interface or the new Dreamweaver MX.
You're then confronted by a Welcome window that provides three sets of introductory files relating to the program's graphical design tools, hand-coding features and application development tools.
The new MX interface is certainly different. The traditional tool palette on the left-hand side of the screen has vanished and has been replaced by a series of tabs that run across the top.
Each tab provides access to different sets of tools relating to elements such as text, forms, tables and frames. Running down the right-hand side of the screen is a series of panels containing more complex tools for code editing, creating cascading style sheets and application development.
All these panels can be collapsed or hidden to keep them out of sight if you want to reduce screen clutter, but they contain many of the new features.
There are numerous new options for hand-coding your HTML pages, such as code 'hints', which are a bit like the predictive text technology on modern mobile phones. As soon as you start to type a tag, the program will display a menu of relevant attributes and parameters.
If you're new to application development, there's a new Database Panel feature that will take you through the process of creating a database-driven application.
A simple menu allows you to choose options such as JavaScript, ASP, NET or PHP and to set up a test server. There are also pre-defined Behaviours that let you quickly add interactive options such as data input.
Being a US company, Macromedia has paid a lot of attention to a law known in the US as Section 508. This specifies guidelines for creating 'accessible' websites that can be used by people who have visual impairments or other types of disability.
These guidelines cover details such as the use of fonts and keyboard shortcuts that will make sites easier for disabled people to use. Dreamweaver includes a set of reference materials so that developers and designers can familiarise themselves with the guidelines.
There's also an Accessibility option in the program's preferences that will automatically prompt you to enter special accessibility tags and attributes whenever you create page elements that need to follow the guidelines.
This is certainly a very powerful upgrade, but Macromedia risks losing some of its existing users by concentrating so much on the programming and application development aspects.
While Dreamweaver MX will certainly appeal to anyone interested in the creation of interactive applications, users who simply want to create conventional web pages containing text and graphics might find that Dreamweaver has moved on and left them behind.
Price: £299.99 (ex. VAT).
Minimum system requirements: Windows 98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP; Pentium 133MHz; 32MB Ram; 40MB free disk space.
Contact: Macromedia 0800 169 8216
www.macromedia.co.uk
See also:
Power and ease of use combine to make this web design tool a market leader. 18 Jul 2002
A suite of programs that offers almost effortless website creation. 12 Jul 2002
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