| Studio MX is a fairly self-contained toolkit, providing everything you need to create Web pages. However, you might need or want some additional software to get the maximum benefit from Studio MX. Two main types of programs come to mind here: a Web server and a database management system (DBMS). Web Service You'll probably want a local Web server to test Web pages. To see whether you already have one running, type http://localhost in your browser address bar. If you have a local Web server running, you'll probably get a default page with various kinds of information about your Web server. Or you may just get an index of folders and files.  | Don't know if you have a local Web server? See "How can I tell if I have a local Web server or not?" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter. |
Another option is to use the Web server that comes with ColdFusion Developer Edition. That's a good choice if you're planning to use ColdFusion and not ASP.NET, and if you need a Web server only for testing, not for actually hosting applications. The advantage of the Web server that comes with ColdFusion is that it is automatically configured during installation. If you use a non-ColdFusion Web server, you'll have to go through an extra step to configure it for use with ColdFusion. Note that the ColdFusion Web server operates by default on port 8500, so you have to put http://localhost:8500 in the address bar of the browser. ASP.NET pages work only with Microsoft IIS 5 or higher, which runs only under certain versions of Windows ( not Windows 98 or lower, for example). You can create ASP.NET pages on any computer running Studio MX. But you'll need IIS 5 to test them. And as an alternative to running a local Web server, you can upload files via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to a Web site hosted by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and test them there. However, it's more efficient to be able to test on a Web server installed on your own local machine, or on a shared drive on a server on your local area network (LAN); it saves you the sometimes time-consuming step of uploading files.  For sources of information on this topic see "Installing a Web Server" on the CD accompanying this book.
Database Management Studio MX allows you to build Web applications that access databases via a ColdFusion server or other technologies such as PHP and ASP.NET. All you need is Dreamweaver to create the database-enabled Web pages, and one or more database files. Optionally , you can use Flash to build the user interface. Someone has to create the database files using a database management system (DBMS). Microsoft Access and SQL Server are common DBMS choices for both Windows and Macintosh users. Shareware MySQL is included with Macintosh OS X 10.2.6, and can be downloaded free for Windows. If someone else is handling the database design and implementation, you can get by without a database management system yourself. The database designer can give you the database file or files, ideally populated with some sample data. You can work with the files on your development machine without having the program that created them. If the structure of the data needs to change ”for instance, the database has fields for a user's name , login ID, and password, and you want to add a field that defines a role for each user ”the database designer makes the necessary changes and gives you a new database file. You yourself can use Dreamweaver, and optionally Flash, to create utilities to add, delete, or change data. On the other hand, if you need to create database files yourself, or change their structure, you'll need a database management system. Microsoft Access and SQL Server are widely supported by ColdFusion hosting services, and are also the most common choices for use with ASP.NET. MySQL is often associated with PHP. Of course, there are many other DBMS options. After you have the database file, you can select it as a content source in the Bindings panel in Dreamweaver. For more on dynamic data in Dreamweaver, see Chapter 13, "Developing ColdFusion Applications in Dreamweaver," page 287 .
For more on dynamic data in Flash, see Chapter 23, "Using Flash for Dynamic Data ," page 661 .
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