Design-Time Connection (local)

 

This allows you to build pages which are destined for a remote web server, but you will be designing whilst not being connected to the web server. Therefore you will need a design time connection which points to a local copy of the database so that UltraDev can build recordsets etc. whilst offline.

 

1. Now, in UltraDev, with your page open, you need to click MODIFY>CONNECTIONS and then click NEW.

 

2. Now you need to give your connection a name. Were going to call it connTutorial in this example.

NOTE: we are entering information for the Run-Time connection (in other words this connection is for the web server, which could be on your local machine if using PWS or could be your hosting solution which would be online).

 

3. Now select the Type of connection - were going to choose ADO (Conection string) (or DSN-Less connection string as it more commonly known).

 

4. Now cut and paste the connection string we made earlier into the String box.

 

5. If you click the Test button, UltraDev will try and connect to the database specified in the string, so you will have to make sure you are online (if web server is remote). Whether this works or not, if you click OK, Ultradev WILL insert the code into the web page.

 

6. Now click on the Design-Time tab and fill in the relevant information for the design-time connection. Here you have a couple of options. If you are always connected to your web server (over a network for example) then you can check the Same as Run-Time checkbox. Or you can set up a local DSN or a local DSN-less connection string to enable viewing of live data at design-time.

This is a Design-Time DSN-less connection string, pointing to a local database file on Personal Web Server. The string in full looks like this:

Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=d:/Inetpub/SITE_NAME/database/DATABASE_NAME.mdb;

(assuming that PWS is running on a local d: drive and that the local database file is in the above directory - this will probably be different on your machine depending where you installed PWS and what your own naming conventions are for your site structure).

 

7. Once you are satisfied, click OK. You will now see your new connection in the Connections box, and thus it will be available for use in your web pages.

 

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