Dreamweaver CS3 ticks me off

Posted At : May 24, 2007 6:09 AM | Posted By : Dave
Related Categories: Dreamweaver

Well, I have been using DW CS3 for a while now. I must say, as I have said before, that it does not seem like a new version to me. It seems like they just took DW8, added the spry stuff, and called it DW CS3. I totally feel sorry for those that have paid for an upgrade only to find the same product with a new name. For me, this is probably one of the most disappointing product offerings I have ever seen.

Today I ran into another stupid bug that just makes me think that it was not tested. Try this, open a site that has an ftp remote and be in local view. Right click on a folder and create a new file. Name it something like test.cfc and then open the file. You will see that the file has a basic default component structure. Now, switch to remote and do the same. Open the remote file and see what you get. You should get a file that contains default html instead of the default component.

One of these days I will figure out how to get around the technical limitation of CFEClipse so I can use it.

--Dave

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If Microsoft had come out with an upgrade such as this, the press would have been hoot'n hollerin.
Well, look at it from Adobe's perspective: It was a lot of housekeeping.

Surely you've rewritten versions of your software where the end-user probably didn't see anything, haven't you?
# Posted By Phillip Senn | 5/24/07 6:32 AM
"One of these days I will figure out how to get around the technical limitation of CFEClipse so I can use it."

Umm...what are you referring to? I have been using it for years and haven't hit a technical limitation, so please explain what you are seeing?
# Posted By Brian Rinaldi | 5/24/07 7:38 AM
Yeah, I guess the Spry stuff looks good from a marketing standpoint. But I was very disappointed that no improvements were made to JavaScript editing. Guess I'm sticking with Aptana for that...
# Posted By adampasz | 5/24/07 8:00 AM
The limitation I am referring to is a function that DW has that cfeclipse does not. It is the simple ability to upload to server on save.

--Dave
# Posted By Dave | 5/24/07 8:11 AM
I can understand server-side coders not seeing much new to rave about in CS3- all the improvements were on the CSS/design side in CS3 (a LOT of work went into workflow improvements there, along with a large focus on fixing speed/performance, stability and legacy bugs and issues). Such is the conundrum with v9+ products- there's so many features already within the app that need updates/polish/improvements that the 'wow factor' features aren't as obvious - or easy - as they were back during the early versions.

We're considering deeper JS/rich UI workflows for the next version- what would you like to see? Post a comment and I'd be happy to marshal it into the DW team.

- scott/adobe
# Posted By Scott Fegette | 5/24/07 12:50 PM
@Scott

With all due respect this is the same rhetoric that I have heard since DW MX. The only difference was back then Macromedia was the one wanting to make it better. I have personally talked with may folks back in the Macromedia days about how DW is not a coding IDE and they recognized that. They also recognized they need to do something about it.

--Dave
# Posted By Dave | 5/24/07 1:02 PM
@Dave, I certainly respect your opinion as I'm a PHP hand coder myself- and agree that our story (or rhetoric, or even BS if that's what you honestly feel) has been consistent since MM days- as I've been with the MM/DW teams since 2000. This would be the first time that I've heard a consistent story was a problem, however... ;-)

There's several of us inside who would love to concentrate more on server-side features - but at the end of the day we build features as the DW user base demands, and server-side coding features have also consistently ranked lower in surveys, user studies and hands-on work observations across the user base as design-time features. That's just the nature of the beast- like it or not - we'll revisit it each DW release cycle accordingly.

I don't do rhetoric - that's the PR department's gig, I shoot from the hip - so please take this as delivered- one person's opinion from within the walls. ;-)
# Posted By Scott Fegette | 5/24/07 1:16 PM
I would say that is is because most hand coders, such as my self, have abandoned DW as a developer IDE. We have all moved to CFEclipse or other true coding environments. I only use DW at work because I have to (see previous comment), not because I want to. I use CFEclipse at home because I find it to be a much better coding environment. I personally think that was a bad decision for MM/Adobe to not have a premier coding envirnment for their own language. You look at Microsoft and they have .net and a developer studio to go with it. Adobe as CF and DW to go with it? Sad.

--Dave
# Posted By Dave | 5/24/07 1:31 PM
Dave,

You do know you can set up FTP in Eclipse right? Sure it doesn't auto-upload, but I have to admit I can't imagine where this would be necessary.

Ok, so your logic also seems a bit off. If coders have abandoned Dreamweaver why should they update it for coders? Why would they not focus on the designers who are their core users?
# Posted By Brian Rinaldi | 5/24/07 5:33 PM
I personally do not see any real reason to upgrade to this release and I think I will wait for a future version. Yeah there may be a few usability improvements and the addition of a a few extensions such as the spry framework but really nothing I am willing to fork out for. DW is starting to lag behind when it comes to server side issues but hopefully the recent InterAKT aquisition will start things moving in the right direction once again. Looking forward to getting my wallet out in 2009 , make it happen Adobe!
# Posted By AndyM | 5/25/07 4:58 PM
One possibility is to write an ant build file that is triggered on a save. Since Ant has an FTP task, its very easy to write a build file that does an FTP upload on save.

btw welcome to CF-Guru.

regards,

larry
# Posted By Larry C. Lyons | 7/30/07 6:10 AM
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