Summary

This chapter has given you a taste of what the database team and the coders do on a regular basis.

We started the chapter with a discussion of how to build a database, the various databases available to you, and the platform advantages and constraints.

We talked about how Director MX, Flash MX 2004, and Dreamweaver MX 2004 can be used for dynamic pages and how to define data and present it quickly and efficiently in an environment that has an insatiable appetite for speedthe Internet. We explained how efficiency gains can be realized from such things as grouping related items together in one table of a database and how tables should not duplicate data.

From there, we showed you how to create the Oakbridge database using MySQL. We covered how to create that database on a Macintosh and a PC.

Having created the database, it will have to move through ColdFusion MX before it appears on your Dreamweaver page. We reviewed the features of the two elements that compose ColdFusion MX and how ColdFusion MX works on the Macintoshyes, you read that correctlyand PC platforms.

We then explained how to connect the MySQL database to ColdFusion MX.

We concluded the chapter by demonstrating how to create a "back-end" in Dreamweaver MX 2004. This facility enables data to be added and deleted from the database using Dreamweaver's server behaviors. Though this is an area the user will never see, it is an integral component of the Content Management System.

In the next chapter, we move away from Dreamweaver MX 2004 and show you how Flash MX 2004 and ColdFusion MX are an unbeatable combination when there is a need for a dynamic Flash presentation.