Getting Started with Dynamic Connections

Tutorial created by Ray Borduin, WebAssist

Categories: Data Bridge, Dreamweaver, MySQL, PHP

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Requirements

You will need the following items before starting this tutorial:

1. Dreamweaver CS3 or later
   
2. Dynamic Connections Installed (click here for installation instructions)
   
3. MySQL Database Connection details
   
4. Dynamic Site Defined in Dreamweaver
   For more information see Defining a dynamic site in Dreamweaver

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Launch Dynamic Connections

Once installed, this extension adds a Dynamic MySQL Database Connection option to the Dreamweaver Databases panel that you can use to create your database connections going forward.

Before you will be able to access this option, you must first have defined your Dreamweaver site as a PHP/MySQL site and have the database connection information available.

1. With your PHP page open, click Add from the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
   
2. Choose Dynamic MySQL Connection to launch the interface.
   
   

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Primary Connection

The primary connection is the default connection that will be used for any domain that is not configured under Additional Connections.

1. Enter the details for your primary database connection as you would using Dreamweaver's built-in tool.
   
   1. Connection name: Enter a name for this connection. Your connection should not have spaces or any special characters.
      
   2. Charset: Select the character encoding preferred for this connection.
      If you do not know what this is, leave default selected.
      
   3. MySQL server: Enter an IP address or the server name for the computer hosting MySQL.
      If you are configuring the database connection for you local machine, you can enter localhost.
      
   4. User name: Enter your MySQL user name.
      
   5. Password: Enter your MySQL password
      
   6. Database: Enter the name of the database you wish to use, or click Select to choose the database from a list of databases available on the specified server.

   
   

2. Once entered, choose the Test button to confirm the connection is correct.
   
3. Proceed to the Additional Connections tab to configure details for other databases and domains.

Additional Connections

You can add as many additional connections as you like. Each connection can be associated to any number of domains. When the database connection file is run on a specified domain, it will use the connection that you configured.

1. Click Add to enter an additional connection.
   
2. In the fields below the tree, enter the details for the connection.
   Use the lightning bolt if you wish to specify any of these values dynamically.
   
3. In the Domains field, enter all the domains (separated by a comma) that you wish this connection to be used for.
   
4. Click Add to create another connection.
   
5. Continue adding connections for all the domains you need.
   
6. Once you have configured all your connections, click Finish to have the connections file created.

Dynamic Connections create a connections file in your Connections folder the same way it is done by Dreamweaver's connection interface. The Database Connection file will contain all the connections you specified with conditional behavior applied to determine which connection should be used when.

Simply upload this Connections folder with your site as normal, and Dynamic Connections will make sure to use the right database when necessary.

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