Using Dreamweaver for SilverStream Development

This page describes SilverStream support for Dreamweaver, a third-party editor for creating and managing HTML-based Web sites. Dreamweaver provides a full suite of tools for developing Web pages.

This page includes the following topics:

• About SilverStream integration with Dreamweaver

• Configuring Dreamweaver to work with SilverStream

• Deploying JSPs from Dreamweaver to SilverStream

About SilverStream integration with Dreamweaver   

SilverStream provides an extension to Dreamweaver that provides a simple user interface for deploying JavaServer Pages (JSPs) authored within Dreamweaver to a SilverStream server. The SilverStream interface is a command component that works with both Dreamweaver and Dreamweaver UltraDev.

The SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver has a form where you specify the information needed to load JSPs into SilverStream. Once you've completed the form, it performs these tasks for you:

1. Compiles the JSP(s) to .java files.

2. Compiles the .java files to .class files.

3. Builds the JAR file for deployment.

4. Builds the XML deployment descriptor file.

5. Deploys the JSP(s) to the SilverStream server.

To perform these tasks, the SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver executes the BuildJspJar SilverCmd utility, which combines the capabilities of the JSPCompiler and DeployJSP SilverCmd utilities into a single command.

The SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver uses the compiler preferences specified in the SilverStream Designer to determine which Java compiler to use and what flags to send to the compiler.

Configuring Dreamweaver to work with SilverStream   

To use the SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver, you first need to install Dreamweaver or Dreamweaver UltraDev. Then you're ready to install the SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver.

To install the SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver:

1. Run the SilverStream install program and select the Dreamweaver integration option.

   

   This dialog appears when you select Typical Install as your installation type. You can also install the SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver by selecting Custom Install. To do this, choose Dreamweaver integration in the list of options available for the Integration Packages component.

2. Specify the Dreamweaver installation directory in the Choose Destination Location dialog.

   

When you install the SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver, the install program performs these steps:

• Puts the Deploy to SilverStream.htm file in the Dreamweaver-directory\Configuration\Commands directory. This file provides the user interface for the extension.

• Puts the AgExecCmd.dll in the Dreamweaver-directory\Configuration\JSExtensions directory.

• Installs two help files in the Dreamweaver-directory\Help\SilverStream\books directory.

Deploying JSPs from Dreamweaver to SilverStream   

The SilverStream extension to Dreamweaver lets you deploy a Web site authored in Dreamweaver to a SilverStream server. When you're ready to deploy a site to SilverStream, you need to provide some deployment information for the site. You need to specify the target server and target database, as well as the name for the JSP JAR and the URLs for the JAR. (You do not need to list the files you want to deploy individually, because the SilverStream extension uses the root directory for the current site to determine which files will be deployed.)

NOTE   If you deploy a file that is not part of the current site, you may get unexpected results because the root directory for the site does not apply to the page you're deploying.

To deploy JSPs from Dreamweaver to a SilverStream server:

1. In Dreamweaver or Dreamweaver UltraDev, select Commands>Deploy to SilverStream in the Document window.

2. Specify the host name for the SilverStream server in the SilverStream server field.

3. Specify the name of the SilverStream database in the SilverStream database field.

4. Specify one or more URLs for the JSP JAR in the URLs field.

   Each URL you specify provides the root context for the JAR file. The complete URL required to access a JSP page in a JAR must specify the package name and JSP page as well. For example, suppose you deploy a JAR to the myDatabase database on your local machine and the JAR contains a page called test.jsp in the mypackage package. In this case, if you specify jsptests/jspurl as the URL for the JAR, the full URL required to access the page is:

     http://localhost/myDatabase/jsptests/jspurl/mypackage/test.jsp  
   

5. Specify a name for the JSP JAR you want to deploy in the JAR name field.

6. If the JSP JAR references objects in other JAR files, specify the names of these JAR files in the Other JARs field.

7. Optionally specify the user name in the User name field and the password in the Password field.

   

8. Click OK to begin the deployment process.

   If the deployment operation causes any errors, these errors are displayed in an alert box.