Setting the Testing Server category options

The purpose of this dialog box is to specify a testing server Dreamweaver can use to process dynamic pages for authoring purposes.

Dreamweaver needs the services of a testing server to generate and display dynamic content while you work. The testing server can be your local computer, a development server, a staging server, or a production server. As long as it can process the kind of dynamic pages you plan to develop, the choice doesn’t matter.

Make sure you define a local and remote folder before completing this dialog box. For instructions, see Defining a local folder and Defining a remote folder. You can often use the settings of your remote folder for your testing server because dynamic pages placed in the remote folder can normally be processed by an application server.

To specify a testing server:

1. Select a server technology.
2. Accept the default Testing Server settings, or enter different settings.

   By default, Dreamweaver assumes an application server is running on the same system as your web server. If you defined a remote folder in the Remote Info category in the Site Definition dialog box, and if an application server runs on the same system as the remote folder (including your local computer), accept the default settings in the Testing Server category.

   If you did not define a remote folder in the Remote Info category, the Testing Server category defaults to the local folder you defined in the Local Info category. You can leave this setting alone only if you meet the following two conditions:

   • Your web server and application server both run on your local computer. For example, if you’re a ColdFusion developer running both IIS and ColdFusion on your local Windows 2000 system.
   • Your local root folder is a subfolder of your home directory. For example, if you’re using IIS, your local root folder is a subfolder of the c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ folder, or the folder itself.

   If your local root folder is not a subfolder of your home directory, you must define the local root folder as a virtual directory in your web server.

   For more information on home and virtual directories, see Setting the URL prefix.

   The application server can run on a different system than your remote site. For example, if the Access option you selected in the Remote Info category is Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, then you must specify a different server in the Testing Server category.

3. In the URL Prefix box, enter the URL that users type in their browsers to open your web application, but do not include any filename.

   Suppose your application’s URL is www.macromedia.com/mycoolapp/start.jsp. In this case, you would enter the following URL prefix: www.macromedia.com/mycoolapp/.

   If Dreamweaver runs on the same system as your web server, you can use the term localhost as a stand-in for your domain name. For example, suppose you run IIS and your application’s URL is as follows:

   http://buttercup_pc/mycoolapp/start.jsp

   You could then enter the following URL prefix:

   http://localhost/mycoolapp/

   For more information, see Setting the URL prefix.

4. Click OK, then click Done.

Dreamweaver adds the new site to your list of sites.

Related topics

• Specifying where dynamic pages can be processed