TechNote (Archived)

Dreamweaver and Windows XP Service Pack 2

With the release of Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 (XP SP2), there are some changes to the operating system and to Internet Explorer that may affect Macromedia Dreamweaver developers and visitors to their websites. This TechNote identifies those issues and references other more in-depth documents on the Macromedia support site.

• Security warning when installing Dreamweaver
• Security alert when connecting to an FTP server
• Security message when viewing files locally with JavaScript or Flash content
• Pop-up windows are blocked
• Flash player disabled
• Database connectivity fails with local ASP.NET and ASP servers
• "Build" button does not work in ASP.NET OLE DB connection dialog
• Additional information

Security warning when installing Dreamweaver

When installing Dreamweaver, the following security warning appears:

Open File - Security Warning.
The publisher could not be verified. Are you sure you want to run this software?

It is safe to click the Run button and install Dreamweaver. For details on this issue, please refer to Security warning dialog appears when downloading trial or product (ServiceNote 19488) (Ref. 177681).

Security alert when connecting to an FTP server

When connecting to an FTP server from Dreamweaver, the following security alert appears:

Windows Security Alert
To help protect your computer, Windows Firewall has blocked some features of this program.

You need to unblock Dreamweaver so it can connect to your FTP server. For details on this issue, refer to Windows Firewall blocks certain products after installing Windows XP SP 2 (ServiceNote 19489) (Ref. 178382).

Security message when viewing files locally with JavaScript or Flash content

When previewing files locally on your hard drive that contain active content (for example, JavaScript or Flash), the following security message appears in Internet Explorer's yellow Information Bar:

To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could access your computer. Click here for options ..."

Note: In Dreamweaver, if you add a Behavior to your page, JavaScript code is added to the page.

Note: This security message only occurs if you are viewing files directly from your hard drive. For example,C:\myFiles\myFile.htm. (Ref. 178644)

There are different methods to prevent this security message:

• Click the yellow Information Bar in Internet Explorer and select "Allow blocked content" on a case-by-case basis.
• Add Mark of the Web code to your web pages using a Dreamweaver extension.
• View your web pages through a local or remote web server, using the http protocol.

Refer to Internet Explorer security message when viewing files locally with JavaScript or Flash content (TechNote 19578) for more information about the options listed above.

Pop-up windows are blocked

When viewing files that use pop-up windows, Internet Explorer may block this content automatically, depending on each user's security settings, and display the following message in the yellow Information Bar:

Pop-up blocked. To see this pop-up or additional options click here ...

For details on this warning message, refer to Flash Player content does not appear after a Windows Update (TechNote 19482).

Flash player disabled

When browsing to a page that contains a Macromedia Flash Player movie, Internet Explorer may block this content automatically, depending on each user's security settings. If the Flash ActiveX control has been disabled, you will see the "Add-on Disabled" icon in the right corner of the Internet Explorer status bar (looks like a gear with an exclamation point in front of it). For details on managing add-ons in Internet Explorer, refer to Flash Player content does not appear after a Windows Update (TechNote 19482).

Database connectivity fails with local ASP.NET and ASP servers

ASP.NET issue: When using a local ASP.NET test server running on XP SP2 with Dreamweaver (i.e. the Testing Server URL prefix is set to "http://localhost"), database connectivity fails. If you click the Test button in the OLE DB Connection or SQL Server Connection dialog box, it says the connection was made successfully. However, if you then try to browse the tables in the Databases panel or in the DataSet dialog box, the database tables do not display.

ASP: When using a local ASP test server running on XP SP2 with Dreamweaver (i.e. the Testing Server URL prefix is set to "http://localhost"), and you specify "Using driver on testing server" or "Using DSN on testing server," database connectivity fails. If you click the Test button in the Custom Connection String or Data Source Name (DSN) dialog box, it says the connection was made successfully. However, if you then try to browse the tables in the Databases panel or create a recordset, the database tables do not display or you get the following error message: "Unable to retrieve tables from this connection, click on the 'Define...' button to test this connection."

Workaround: Download and install the Dreamweaver extension fix by Macromedia that resolves this issue (Ref. 179021). To use this extension, follow the steps below. The steps belowapply toboth ASP.NET and ASP sites:

1. In Dreamweaver, go to the Files panel and choose one of your ASP.NET site definitions.
2. Select Site > Advanced > Remove Connection Scripts.
   
   Note: If this option is grayed out, open an ASP.NET page in Dreamweaver. Removing the connection scripts will delete the contents of the _mmServerScripts folder, which is located in the testing server folder. The _mmServerScripts folder is hidden in Dreamweaver's Files panel, but will be visible if viewed with a different file browser. The _mmServerScripts folder consists of these three files: adojavas.inc, MMHTTPDB.asp and MMHTTPDB.js. The connection scripts are used by Dreamweaver to perform remote database connectivity when developing pages within Dreamweaver. These script files have no affect on your web pages during run-time (i.e. when a visitor views your ASP.NET pages via a web browser).
3. Repeat steps 1-2 for each of your ASP.NET site definitions.
4. Quit Dreamweaver.
5. Install the extension.
6. Restart Dreamweaver.
7. Go into the Files panel, select one of your ASP.NET sites, and open an .aspx file.
8. Go into the Databases panel and delete your existing database connections. Before deleting them, make sure to open up each connection and write down the settings. You can open a connection by either double-clicking the connection name, or right-clicking the connection name and selecting Edit.
9. Create a new database connection. Use the same connection names you had before, so any existing pages with DataSets and Server Behaviors still work correctly.
10. Click the Test button in the database connection dialog box. This will upload the new connection scripts to the testing server.
11. Repeat steps 7-10 for each of your Dreamweaver ASP.NET site definitions.

Note: This extension is compatible with Dreamweaver MX 2004 and Dreamweaver MX. The current version of the extension is 1.0.2. Version 1.0.1 resolved a database connectivity problem with the ASP VBScript server model. Version 1.0.2 includes the fixes in version 1.0.1 and also resolves compatibility issues with Dreamweaver MX (version 6). You can see which version of the extension you have by opening the Extension Manager.

"Build" button does not work in ASP.NET OLE DB connection dialog

When working with ASP.NET pages in Dreamweaver, if you select the Databases panel, click the Plus button, select OLE DB Connection, and click the Build button, the Data Link Properties dialog box does not open. Nothing happens when you click the Build button. This problem only affects Dreamweaver MX 2004 and not Dreamweaver MX. One cause of this problem appears to be MDAC 2.8, which is included by default with XP SP2. The problem also affects XP SP1 users, if they have installed MDAC 2.8. (Ref. 178520, 164036) There are two workarounds:

• Click the Templates button in OLE DB Connection dialog box and create the connection.
  
• Create a new text file on the hard drive, change the file extension from .txt to .udl, and then open the .udl file. It should open the Data Link Properties dialog box.

Additional information

For more information on Windows XP SP2, please refer to Macromedia's XP Service Pack 2 Support Center.

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