Two
for the Internet
Fetch 4.0 and PageSpinner 4.5
BY EDEN MAXWELL
Issue No.12
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Two
for the Internet BY EDEN MAXWELL |
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9.2003 Issue No.12 |
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REVIEW – REVIEW – REVIEW – |
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In working recently to add features and flexibility to my website, I used Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, a powerful and welcome tool. Good as it is, however, it has limitations. Luckily, two less well-known programs ––programs that I knew about but didn’t fully appreciate––have made it easy to perform tasks I simply couldn't have done with Dreamweaver alone. The two little giants are Fetch 4.0 (a file transfer aid) and PageSpinner 4.5 (a web authoring tool). They are from different companies and serve different purposes, but they have much in common: they are inexpensive, reliable and full-featured, are continually being improved, and come with excellent customer support. It is also interesting––and heartening––that they were developed and marketed by individual entrepreneurs. (For the human story, see the sidebar “Two Against The Odds.”) Fetch 4.0
Fetch is an easy-to-use, full-featured file transfer protocol (FTP) client for the Mac. The main job of an FTP client is to move files from one location to another—typically from a server to your local machine and vice versa. On past occasions I had watched the little doggie icon “fetch” the desired file from some distant server. Now this is a function that Macromedia Dreamweaver MX is able to perform well enough. If I changed one of my web pages I would first view the changes locally (on my computer) from within Dreamweaver before connecting to the server and uploading those pages. This method would save me time as I could see if I liked the look before connecting and uploading those modified pages to my server. But when I decided to add a weblog element (check out pMachine) to my site, I found Dreamweaver’s file transfer mode cumbersome. This element required a PHP MySQL database [explained below] on my remote server, and I found that I couldn’t see file changes driven by this database as a live preview (as I had with standard HTLM pages) from within Dreamweaver. Although I had read that there is a way to accomplish a live data view of PHP MySQL database files from your server from within Dreamweaver, I couldn’t figure out how to set it up properly. I made calls to my ISP, checked with forums, and looked into reference books. No luck. PHP and MySQL
explained PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and MySQL (Structured Query Language) are two software programs. PHP is a server-side scripting language that lets you insert instructions into your Web pages that your Web server software executes before sending those pages to a browser that requests them. A database server (MySQL in this case) is a program that can store large amounts of information in an organized format that is easily accessible from scripting languages like PHP. For example, I can instruct PHP to look in the database for a list of art images that I want to display on certain weblog pages of my site. From this database of images, I can further instruct PHP to display a different image every time the page is loaded—giving users a new piece of art to look at each time they visit. The advantage of this system is this: instead of having to write an HTML file for each image, I can write a single PHP file designed to get any image out of the database and display it. Adding more art images to my site is simply a matter of uploading the images to the proper database. After that, as mentioned earlier, the PHP code automatically pulls the image from the database and displays the art on the web page. But I was still stumped. While it’s routine to view web pages with files that I have stored locally on your machine, how could I quickly view my PHP database file changes while online? I decided to circumvent Dreamweaver altogether and use Fetch to upload and download my PHP files. The procedure worked flawlessly. It allowed me to immediately view my database-driven file changes on my site. After uploading a changed file, I viewed the online change in my browser. Score one for Fetch! File Transfer
at a Touch
The Fetch Interface: Click “Get” to download or “Put to download.You can also double click on a file on the remote server and it will copy the file to your desktop. Fetch includes support for more file formats than any other FTP client. What's more, it includes sophisticated logic that automatically selects the right format or transfer mode. Fetch even lets you transfer files and directories directly between two servers; you simply drag the icons from one to the other. Fetch was the first Mac FTP client to support resuming (interrupted) downloads, and now in version 4.0.3 that feature is available even if you have quit Fetch or your computer has crashed in mid-transfer. Navigation
When launching Fetch, it’s a simple matter to create a shortcut that will immediately connect you to your desired site. Fetch 4.0.3 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.2, aka Jaguar. Carbon/Aqua Fetch 4.0.3 includes dozens of new features, including support for eleven different proxy servers, folder mirroring, integration with BBEdit, Graphic Converter, QuickTime, Keychain support, server-server transfers, contextual menus, Kerberos security and a streamlined, updated user interface. Single user licenses for Fetch 4.0.3 are available for $25, and multi-user licenses are available at a per-user discount. Free licenses are available for educational and charitable organizations. Version 4.0.3 is a free upgrade for existing customers of Fetch Softworks. Users can download and run a free 15-day trial copy of the program from the Fetch Softworks website and securely purchase a license without leaving the application, thanks to e-commerce technology from eSellerate. The program can also be purchased from the web store or with a check or purchase order. Don’t forget to check out the Fetch logo tee shirts, mugs, and other gift items available from the Fetch Softworks web store. For further information visit:
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Two Against the Odds The
Fetch Story In December 2000, Jim was a contestant on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire show with Regis Philbin. He used some of his show winnings to purchase Fetch’s source code and name from Dartmouth College and launched Fetch Softworks—the program could now be developed further and marketed independently. It’s a cliché, but I can’t resist: Only in America!
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PageSpinner 4.5
It's not too hard. But I also learned that using code to achieve subtle or complex effects require many steps that are time-consuming and often repetitive. Happily, after working with Dreamweaver for a while I came across PageSpinner, a powerful, easy-to-use HTML editing program that has simplified the grunt work and added greatly to my productivity. PageSpinner is, in fact, the editor of choice for some of the most creative website designers I know of––experienced hand coders all. Yet its many fine tutorials and help files make it suitable for beginners as well. Editing
ala Mode While all these modes may seem confusing, their usefulness becomes apparent when you are working on website pages. With its ease-of-use and convenience combined with the many efficient HTML tools and functions, PageSpinner gives you quick access to often-used formatting. And its online help is first-rate.
The PageSpinner screen: Its handy tool icons are shown along the top of the page. The
AppleScript Assist PageSpinner features “Include” files that support a variety of uses. You can, for example, use Include files to change common sections on all pages in a folder or a site by editing a single Include file. To harness the full power of Include files, however, you will need a way to easily update all pages when an Include file has been changed. Using the appropriate AppleScript, which you select from PageSpinner’s AppleScript menu, you can make your global changes on the fly. Include files are also great for storing a collection of frequently used JavaScripts. Instead of coding a particular JavaScript on every single web page that uses it, it is much more efficient to instruct each web page to look for the frequently used JavaScript that is stored in an Include file. You can even use timesaving Include files with the WYSIWYG-Editor of your choice—or with Dreamweaver MX in my case. PageSpinner supports the latest Web technologies such as Server Side Includes, Embedded Objects, Cascading Style Sheets, PHP, On-line HTML Validation Services, Java and JavaScript. Both flexible and supportive with an interactive AppleGuide that teaches you how to compose your own Web Pages, PageSpinner helps you design several different types of pages from scratch with many clear examples.
Image & Email: This PageSpinner HTML help example teaches you by demonstrating how the code is written to display an image and an email “mail to” link. You can copy the source text to your page by clicking on the Copy Example button. Just
Get It For more information, see
PageSpinner at:
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The
PageSpinner Saga The next year Jerry was asked to set up a website. Since he couldn’t find an HTML editor that offered the features he needed, he transformed the text editor part of the PIM application into an HTML editor. Since Jerry had to learn HTML from various sources on the Internet, he integrated his acquired knowledge of HTML as the HTML Assistant in PageSpinner. This feature was not offered by any of the other HTML editors, and it still makes PageSpinner stand out among the competition. When PageSpinner was released as shareware in early 1996, it became an instant hit. Despite a market seemingly saturated with web authoring tools, the demand for PageSpinner allows the author to continue developing it.
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Using
Dreamweaver MX, anyone can develop a website without knowing much of
what goes on below the surface. But a web designer can be far more
flexible and creative by knowing HTML code––the Hyper Text
Markup Language that tells the browser how to display the information,
such as text or an image. For me, learning and understanding code was
a natural and necessary extension of the process. So I took the plunge
and learned it.
