October 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Review: DataAssist 2.0 simplifies development of database-driven Web sites
Rich Internet Applications (RIA) and their intricate development environments, such as Adobe Flex 2 and Microsoft Silverlight, are getting a lot of attention right now. Yet most dynamic Web sites still work with tried-and-true coding that connects to databases and delivers content as traditional Web pages. But even this development taxes the time and skills of many Web professionals. If you use Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 or 8 (PC or Mac) for creating these complex sites, then you’ll have an ally in WebAssist's just-released DataAssist 2.0.
I've been using the final 2.0 release for about a week to create an online e-commerce site back-ended by Microsoft SQL Server. After this real-world testing, I found DataAssist to be a very powerful, yet easy to use extension that works with classic ASP, PHP, and ColdFusion technology.
The key to DataAssist's usability is a new 10-step wizard that automatically builds pages to search, display, insert, update, and delete data. As part of this visual process, the wizard guides you through binding fields from the database to each of the page types, so there's no coding involved and the process moves quickly. Moreover, DataAssist automatically creates all the form elements (for, say, search and administrative tasks) and server-side code.
As with other WebAssist products (and DataAssist 1.0), pages are based on CSS and follow Web standards. Further, I feel the built-in styles are professional-looking and thus appropriate for public-facing sites -- though it's easy to edit the pages in Dreamweaver to match the design of an existing site.
As I got into the more advanced wizard options, DataAssist 2.0 showed a lot of muscle. For example, there's now multiple record management (for inserting, updating, or deleting multiple database records at once). Additionally, I was impressed by how well the wizard handled even more complex tasks, such as managing multiple relational tables.
Lastly, DataAssist 2.0 now integrates advanced search capability. For instance, in my test online store I built a form that let visitors search the catalog by price range, several categories, keywords, or a stock number (SKU).
DataAssist 2.0
Availability: Now
Pricing: $199.99; $99.99 introductory price until October 23, 2007.
Verdict: DataAssist 2.0 is a valuable product for Dreamweaver developers of all levels because it greatly simplifies creating database-driven Web sites. DataAssist builds pages for displaying and altering data based on answers you supply to a wizard. Yet this software is sophisticated enough to handle multiple record management, advanced searches, and relational table management.
Posted by Mike Heck on October 11, 2007 06:01 AM
August 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: The zen of Web apps and Mac OS X
Have you been thinking to get yourself a Mac for a long time and never did? Then don't miss this week Enterprise Windows where Oliver Rist asks (with his well known subtlety): "Does Mac OS X suck?". Oliver's column is the closest you can get to walking the Apple road yourself, and may be you will after reading it.
Is the Web treating you well? Or more to the point, are Web applications treating you well? Moving an application from the quiet waters of a corporate network to the stormy weather of the Net takes more than being technically savvy, warns Tom Yager in this week's "Ahead of the Curve". In his column Tom explains why, and reveals what's the secret sauce to make good Web apps. A useful reading also for non-developers.
Posted by Mario Apicella on August 29, 2007 08:30 AM
November 28, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Review: cyScape BrowserHawk 10
Developers rely on all sorts of home-grown "sniffer" scripts to detect users' browser settings. It's a noble exercise, because having this information (especially which plug-ins are installed and enabled features) is essential to a positive Web experience. For example, visitors to an e-learning site might need to disable a pop-up blocker or have a certain version of Java; detection code can automatically instruct users how to perform these tasks. 
So why turn to a commercial product for this job? cyScape's BrowserHawk 10 quickly provided me with the answer: enterprise scalability; quick integration with ASP.NET, classic ASP, ColdFusion MX, and JSP sites; and accuracy.
Fundamentally, BrowserHawk's a server-side solution. In less than five minutes I'd installed the application on a Windows 2003 Server. As part of the install, the setup wizard asked which browser settings I wanted to detect and automatically generated the appropriate script snippet (just a few lines) that I easily placed within my class ASP code. The same process works with other server technologies, including .NET and Java.
There are several other important aspects of the product. The BrowserHawk Editor (which runs on the server) manages Browser Definition Files (BDF). These look at the User-Agent string of a person's browser or search engine spiders and determine the browser capabilities. Because cyScape pushes automatic definition updates to your server (if you enable this feature), you're assured that any new browser versions are detected without any intervention on your part.
The second interesting thing is that BrowserHawk automatically stores myriad data from each browser session in a Microsoft Access or SQL database. Like a traditional Web Analytics package, reviewing this data helps you determine whether site design changes are prudent – perhaps designing specifically for certain screen resolutions or to accommodate still-common dial-up or low-bandwidth DSL users.
Yet the real benefit of this solution is immediate use of this information. Usually with one line of ASP code I called the information BrowserHawk found and took appropriate action, such as instructing the user to upgrade a necessary plug-in. With the custom-built code I've used previously, this process was convoluted and I was always revising the scripts to handle new browsers.
Most impressive is version 10's new Page Load Time (PLT) technology. Unlike traditional load-monitoring tools (such as HP-Mercury LoadRunner) that estimate server response, BrowserHawk takes measurements from real page requests. By collecting data from actual users and accounting for all types of actions, such as mouse clicks, I saw exactly how long users waited for pages to load. I was even able to display this information in real time on my Web pages.
Although I didn't have it for testing, cyScape' CountryHawk provides the country of origin for each user. I can see real value in correlating PLT results with country data. For instance, if you saw extra latency from certain geographies you could adjust your Web server infrastructure to put more power in regional data centers.
The only item on my whish list is built-in reporting. A cyScape representative said they're considering a dashboard that will monitor the overall performance of the site and even let you drill down to individual user sessions.
cyScape BrowserHawk 10
Availability: Now
Pricing: From $399.00; Enterprise Edition tested is $1,140.
Verdict: BrowserHawk 10 lets Web professionals accurately detect visitors' browser and system settings to make sure they have the best online experience. This version's Page Load Time monitoring gives you real-time performance statistics to optimize your site and servers. These capabilities, plus saving all this information to a database for reporting, make BrowserHawk an essential tool for Web developers, support staff, and administrators.
Posted by Mike Heck on November 28, 2006 10:45 AM
October 13, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Adobe lights Fireworks beta program
Adobe is seeking participants for a beta program for its Abode Fireworks 9 Web graphics and site layout design tool.
The next release of Fireworks will leverage the current rich hybrid vector-bitmap tool while expanding capabilities for rapid prototyping of Web sites and applications. Features for version 9 include native Photoshop and Illustrator file import, hierarchical Web and layer organization, page-based layout, intelligent scaling and "click-thru" HTML mockup support, Adobe said.
Persons interested in participating in the program can submit a request here. General release of Fireworks 9 is anticipated by the end of the year.
Editor's note: After this entry was first published, Adobe reported back that the public beta will be out by the end of the year, not the general release.
Posted by Paul Krill on October 13, 2006 04:04 PM
May 19, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Opera, Virtual Mechanics team on Web authoring tool
Opera Software and Virtual Mechanics have teamed up to integrate the Opera Web browser into Virtual Mechanics' Web Engine authoring tool.
Currently in beta, the new Web developer platform offers an easy to use tool for creating Web content, enabling developers to build a site and immediately test how it renders on screens for a variety of devices including PCs, PDAs, and mobile phones.
Virtual Mechanics' Web Engine with the integrated Opera browser will be available in the third quarter.
Posted by Caroline Craig on May 19, 2006 07:07 AM