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If you use the Dreameaver Record Update Wizard on a membership site - Look out!
Scenario, you have classified ads website where users can update their ads or their user profiles.
Dreamweaver uses a hidden form variable for associated Primary Key
Since it's a hidden variable:
Size: 6.29
Date Created: 2006-01-08
Read MoreIn the previous article, we looked at the updated Import Video Wizard in Flash Professional 8. We used it to embed video clips in a Flash movie. You saw how we could edit the video clip before importing it and how we could add the video to a movie clip so we could write ActionScript to play it.
As I mentioned in the previous article, Flash Professional 8 includes a new codec, the On2 VP6 video codec, which you can use with video that you’re going to publish to Flash Player 8. If you’re publishing to Flash Player 7, you have to use the Sorenson Spark codec.
In this article, I want to look at working with the Flash 8 Video Encoder. This is a standalone application that allows you to encode video into FLV format. The application allows you to work with more than one file at a time. If you do a lot of work with video, you could install it to another computer dedicated to encoding FLV files.
You’ll need a copy of Flash Professional 8 to see the features covered in this article. If you haven’t bought it yet, you can download a trial copy from the Macromedia Web site. You should also install Flash Player 8 so you can use the new video codec.
You can download the files referred to in the tutorial from the blue Properties box that contains the article PDF. There's a heading titled Code Download and you can click the Details link next to it to get the zip file.
Note: If you have difficulties downloading the source files or PDF, you might have a problem with your cookies. Delete the cookies from your machine and try again. In Internet Explorer, you can do this by choosing Tools > Internet Options… and clicking the Delete Cookies… button on the General tab.
You probably know that Flash is available on all sorts of devices, not just computers. You can use Flash on devices such as PDAs, mobile phones and DVD players. Flash Lite is the version of Flash that works with mobile phones. You can use it to create wallpapers, screensavers, games and applications that will play on some mobile phones.
Because mobile phones don’t have the power of a computer, Flash Lite is a cut down version of Flash. You can find out more about it at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashlite/. Flash Lite comes in three different versions – 1.0, 1.1 and the newly released 2.0. Flash Lite 2.0 works includes support for video and XML. However, authoring tools for this version aren’t yet available. In this article, we’ll work with version 1.1.
Not all devices support Flash Lite but you can find a complete list of those that do at http://www.macromedia.com/mobile/supported_devices/. In general, many of the phones available in Japan support Flash Lite. Symbian Series 60 phones and Symbian UIQ phones also support Flash Lite.
Flash Professional 8 comes with several different options for working with Flash Lite. The Flash Lite emulator allows you to preview your content to see how it will appear in the mobile phone and there are a number of templates to start you off.
You can download the resource files for this tutorial from the blue Properties box that contains the article PDF. There's a heading titled Code Download and you can click the Details link next to it to get the zip file. I’ve shown how Flash Lite 1.1 works with Flash Professional 8, but you can use earlier versions of Flash.
Note: If you have difficulties downloading the source files or PDF, you might have a problem with your cookies. Delete the cookies from your machine and try again. In Internet Explorer, you can do this by choosing Tools > Internet Options… and clicking the Delete Cookies… button on the General tab.
One of the big milestones in your Fireworks graphics expertise is the technique of using masks to isolate a portion of an image. It’s almost a right-of-passage, and it isn’t always easy to use. Fireworks has many useful methods for building image masks but this article isn’t about those—instead, it’s a method you can use that simulates a mask without the drawbacks associated with masks. And while I am not saying you shouldn’t use masks (where, oh, where would we be without them!) what I am saying is that sometimes a mask is more of a pain to use—even in Fireworks—than it needs to be.
Read MoreWhen you photograph buildings, or any scene with strong vertical lines, your image will show, to varying degrees, distortions due to the lens and arising from the angle of view. When you print the photograph these distortions are immediately obvious and can ruin an otherwise good print. They can also make building a panorama from several distorted photographs very difficult, even if the distortions are slight.
There are specialist cameras and lenses you can use to avoid these problems, but unless you're a professional photographer, these are probably outside your budget. Fortunately with digital image processing, we can correct most or all of these distortions. There are quite a number of ways to do this, and for different image editing software applications there are different approaches.
This article shows how to do this using Photoshop CS2, PaintShop Pro 8, Fireworks (4, MX, MX2004, 8) and earlier versions of Photoshop and PSP using plugins from theimagingfactory.com.
Read MoreTesting a website for accessibility can be a time-consuming and laborious process. The free Web Accessibility Toolbar can do most of the hard work for you though and is an indispensable tool for anyone interested in accessibility.
The toolbar is not an automated testing tool so does require manual work from you. It's therefore able to avoid the many problems with automated accessibility testing tools. It doesn't require any technical knowledge so even the biggest technophobe can check their website for accessibility!
Read MoreIn the previous article of the series we have built the functionality required for composing our Christmas eCard. Today we will complete the application and build the functionality for sending as well as viewing the received card.
You won’t need a database to store eCard information; instead it will be passed to the URL containing the eCard viewer Flash movie in a query string. A server-side page will extract all the parameters from the query string and pass them to Flash.
Before attempting to send the card to the recipient we will validate user’s input.
For this task we will utilize the new Flash 8 External Interface class while putting to work JavaScript regular expressions feature.
Please note that version 8 of Flash application is required to complete this tutorial.
Today we'll use the new table that we created in the previous tutorial, to create a navigation tree.
Our goal is to convert this static this static tree to a database driven tree:
In professional web design circles, the usability testing session has become an essential component of any major project. Similar to focus groups in brand development and product launches, usability testing offers a rare opportunity to receive feedback from the very people the website is aimed at - before it's too late to do anything about it.
But how can you get the most from these usability testing sessions?
Read MoreWe made it! This both Number 15 and Number Last in our series on Dreamweaver 8! For this last look at the new Generation Next, I wanted to show you a quick glimpse of the rest of the family: the incomparable Macromedia Studio 8! All will be available as trial downloads (and purchase downloads as well) by the time you read this article, and I can’t wait for you to meet them all!
You already know Dreamweaver 8 through this series. Fireworks 8 is its little sister and does for web graphics what Dreamweaver does for page coding. The new version features blend modes, new pop up menus, new panels and gadgets all designed to make your web graphics award-winning and wonderful!
Big Brother Flash Professional has forever changed the way we see video on the web. Complete with support for alpha channels in both the tool and the player, there is nothing better on the market short of a television editing bay and they cost somewhere around $35,000. And that’s just one thing it does! Flash has outflashed itself with this one!
And little baby Contribute has joined her Studio family to complete the picture with site maintenance abilities that are second to none. She replaces Freehand in the Studio, making it a complete web application software suite.
And then there are the goodies. Flash Paper for quickly creating Flash documents or PDF ones. Flash Video Encoder for creating Flash video to fit on your web pages. Cold Fusion Server 7 for testing your dynamic sites to make sure they’re ready for prime time. And HomeSite + .. still the best code only tool out there!
This article talks about Family .. this article tells you why you need to get to know them .. and this article thanks you for allowing me to be a part of your reading program for awhile.
See you on the forums!
Nancy Gill
Team Macromedia for Dreamweaver 8/MX2004/MX/UltraDev
This article is part of the new interactive e-book; Dreamweaver Crystal Gazer: The Power Of Dreamweaver 8
Read MoreFlash Professional 8 includes a range of changes to the way you can work with video. These include a new standalone package called the Flash 8 Video Encoder. There are also changes to the Import Video Wizard and a new codec, the On2 VP6 video codec, for exporting video.
In this article, I want to look at embedding video with the Import Video Wizard. I’ll show you how you can use this Wizard to add video to a Flash movie. In the next article, I’ll show you how to use the Flash Video Encoder and we’ll work with the FLV video format.
You’ll need a copy of Flash Professional 8 to see the features covered in this article. If you haven’t bought it yet, you can download a trial copy from the Macromedia Web site. You should also install Flash Player 8 so you can use the new video codec. Note that the code samples within the article all use AS2.0.
You can download the files referred to in the tutorial from the blue Properties box that contains the article PDF. There's a heading titled Code Download and you can click the Details link next to it to get the zip file.
Note: If you have difficulties downloading the source files or PDF, you might have a problem with your cookies. Delete the cookies from your machine and try again. In Internet Explorer, you can do this by choosing Tools > Internet Options... and clicking the Delete Cookies... button on the General tab.
This article is part of the new interactive e-book; Out of my mind: Flash 8 Power
Read MoreIn previous versions of Flash, getting ActionScript and JavaScript to communicate was a big effort. You could use getURL and fscommand to call a JavaScript function from within a Flash movie. If you’ve ever worked with fscommand, you’ll know that creating this type of communication can be pretty hard going.
Flash 8 includes a brand new way to communicate called the ExternalInterface class or the External API. The External API allows a Flash movie to communicate with a Web browser or any other container that plays the Flash movie. Not only can your Flash movie communicate with JavaScript, but you can also call a C#, VB.NET or Python function in a desktop application. The only drawback is that you have to target Flash Player 8 to be able to use this functionality.
In this tutorial, we’ll set up a simple two-way communication between Flash and a form on a Web page. You’ll be able to enter details in Flash, and transfer them to a form on a Web page. You’ll also be able to enter details in the Web form and transfer them through to Flash.
You’ll need a copy of Flash 8 so you can work with the External API. Download the source files for the tutorial from the blue Properties box that contains the article PDF. There’s a heading titled Code Download and you can click the Details link next to it to get the zip file. The download includes the starter files you’ll need as well as the completed files.
Note: If you have difficulties downloading the source files or PDF, you might have a problem with your cookies. Delete the cookies from your machine and try again. In Internet Explorer, you can do this by choosing Tools > Internet Options... and clicking the Delete Cookies... button on the General tab.
As we’ll focus on Web browser communication in this tutorial, we’d better find out which browsers support the External API and how the Flash Player 8 security model has changed.
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Need to create all kind of great web site navigation menus? Cascading Drop down Menus, Mega Menus, Popup or Context Menus. Menus that have great display animations, are CSS based and fully cross browser compatible, which makes them search engine friendly?