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Build an update record page in Dreamweaver

Last updated on Apr 25, 2024

Note:

The user interface has been simplified in Dreamweaver and later. As a result, you may not find some of the options described in this article in Dreamweaver and later. For more information, see this article.

About record update pages

Your application can contain a set of pages that lets users update existing records in a database table. The pages normally consist of a search page, a results page, and an update page. The search and results page let users retrieve the record and the update page lets users modify the record.

Search for the record to update

When users want to update a record, they must first find that record in the database. Accordingly, you need a search and a results page to work with the update page. The user enters search criteria in the search page and selects the record on the results page. When the user clicks the record on the results page, the update page opens and displays the record in an HTML form.

Create links to the update page

After creating the search and results pages, you create links on the results page to open the update page. You then modify the links to pass the IDS of the records the user selects. The update page uses this ID to find the requested record in the database and display it.

You use the same process to open the update page and pass a record ID that you do to open a detail page and pass a record ID. For more information, see Create links to the detail page.

Retrieve the record to update

After the results page passes a record ID to the update page identifying the record to update, the update page must read the parameter, retrieve the record from the database table, and store it temporarily in a recordset.

Create a page in Dreamweaver and save it.

The page will become your update page.
In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset.

If the advanced dialog box appears, click Simple. The advanced dialog box has a text area to enter SQL statements; the simple one does not.
Name the recordset and specify where the data you want to update is located using the Connection and Table pop‑up menus.
Click Selected, and select a key column (usually the record ID column) and the columns that contain the data to be updated.
Configure the Filter area so that the value of your key column equals the value of the corresponding URL parameter passed by the results page.

This kind of filter creates a recordset that contains only the record specified by the results page. For example, if your key column contains record ID information and is called PRID, and if the results page passes the corresponding record ID information in the URL parameter called id, the Filter area should look like the following example:

Filter area
Click OK.

When the user selects a record on the results page, the update page generates a recordset containing only the selected record.

Complete the update page block by block

An update page has three building blocks:

A filtered recordset to retrieve the record from a database table
An HTML form to let users modify the record’s data
An Update Record server behavior to update the database table
You can add the final two basic building blocks of an update page separately using the form tools and the Server Behaviors panel.

Add an HTML form to an update page

Create a page (File > New > Blank Page). This becomes your update page.
Lay out your page using the Dreamweaver design tools.
Add an HTML form by placing the insertion point where you want the form to appear and selecting Insert > Form > Form.

An empty form is created on the page. You may have to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.
Name the HTML form by clicking the <form> tag at the bottom of the Document window to select the form, opening the Property inspector (Window > Properties), and entering a name in the Form Name box.

You don’t have to specify an action or method attribute for the form to tell it where and how to send the record data when the user clicks the Submit button. The Update Record server behavior sets these attributes for you.
Add a form object such as a text field (Insert > Form > Text Field) for each column you want to update in the database table.

The form objects are for data entry. Text fields are common for this purpose, but you can also use menus, options, and radio buttons.

Each form object should have a corresponding column in the recordset you defined earlier. The only exception is the unique key column, which should have no corresponding form object.
Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).

You can change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector (Window > Properties), and entering a new value in the Label box.

Display the record in the form

Make sure you defined a recordset to hold the record the user wants to update.

See Retrieve the record to update.
Bind each form object to data in the recordset, as described in the following topics:

Add a server behavior to update the database table

In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Update Record from the pop‑up menu.

The Update Record dialog box appears.
Select a form from the Submit Values From pop‑up menu.
In the Data Source or Connection pop‑up menu, select a connection to the database.
Enter your user name and password if applicable.
In the Update Table pop‑up menu, select the database table that contains the record you are updating.
(ColdFusion, PHP) Specify a database column to update, select the form object that will update the column from the Value pop‑up menu, select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop‑up menu, and select Primary Key if you want to identify this column as the primary key.

The data type is the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values).

Repeat the procedure for each form object in your form.
(ASP) In the Select Record From pop‑up menu, specify the recordset that contains the record displayed in the HTML form. In the Unique Key Column pop‑up menu, select a key column (usually the record ID column) to identify the record in the database table. Select the Numeric option if the value is a number. A key column usually accepts only numeric values, but sometimes accepts text values.
In the After Updating or On Success, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record updates in the table or click the Browse button to browse to the file.
(ASP) Specify a database column to update, select the form object that will update the column from the Value pop‑up menu, and then select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop‑up menu. The data type is the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values). Repeat the procedure for each form in your form.
Click OK.

Dreamweaver adds a server behavior to the page that lets users update records in a database table by modifying the information displayed in the HTML form and clicking the Submit button.

To edit the server behavior, open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) and double-click the Update Record behavior.

Complete the update page in one operation

An update page has three building blocks:

A filtered recordset to retrieve the record from a database table
An HTML form to let users modify the record’s data
An Update Record server behavior to update the database table

You can add the final two building blocks of an update page in a single operation using the Record Update Form data object. The data object adds both an HTML form and an Update Record server behavior to the page.

Before you can use the data object, your web application must be able to identify the record to update, and your update page must be able to retrieve it.

After the data object places the building blocks on the page, you can use the Dreamweaver design tools to customize the form to your liking, or the Server Behaviors panel to edit the Update Record server behavior.

Note:

The update page can contain only one record-editing server behavior at a time. For example, you cannot add an Insert Record or a Delete Record server behavior to the update page.

Open the page in Design view, and select Insert > Data Objects > Update Record > Record Update Form Wizard.

The Record Update Form dialog box appears.
In the Connection pop‑up menu, select a connection to the database.

Click the Define button if you need to define a connection.
In the Table To Update pop‑up menu, select the database table that contains the record to update.
In the Select Record From pop‑up menu, specify the recordset that contains the record displayed in the HTML form.
In the Unique Key Column pop‑up menu, select a key column (usually the record ID column) to identify the record in the database table.

If the value is a number, select the Numeric option. A key column usually accepts only numeric values, but sometimes it accepts text values.
In the After Updating, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record updates in the table.
In the Form Fields area, specify which columns in your database table each form object should update.

By default, Dreamweaver creates a form object for each column in the database table. If your database automatically generates unique key IDs for each new record created, remove the form object corresponding to the key column by selecting it in the list and clicking the Minus (-) button. This eliminates the risk that the user of the form will enter an ID value that already exists.

You can also change the order of the form objects on the HTML form by selecting a form object in the list and clicking the up or down arrow on the right side of the dialog box.
Specify how each data-entry field should appear on the HTML form by clicking a row in the Form Fields table and entering the following information in the boxes below the table:
- In the Label box, enter a descriptive label to display beside the data-entry field. By default, Dreamweaver displays the table column’s name in the label.
- In the Display As pop‑up menu, select a form object to serve as the data-entry field. You can select Text Field, Text Area, Menu, Checkbox, Radio Group, and Text. For read-only entries, select Text. You can also select Password Field, File Field, and Hidden Field.
Note:

Hidden fields are inserted at the end of the form.
- In the Submit As pop‑up menu, select the data format expected by your database table. For example, if the table column only accepts numeric data, select Numeric.
- Set the form object’s properties. You have different options depending on the form object you select as your data-entry field. For text fields, text areas, and text, you can enter an initial value. For menus and radio groups, you open another dialog box to set the properties. For options, select the Checked or Unchecked option.
Set the properties of other form objects by selecting another Form Fields row and entering a label, Display As value, and Submit As value.

For menus and radio groups, open another dialog box to set the properties. For options, define a comparison between the current record’s value for the option and a given value to determine whether the option is checked when the record is displayed.
Click OK.

Dreamweaver adds both an HTML form and an Update Record server behavior to your page.

The data object adds both an HTML form and an Update Record server behavior to your page. The form objects are laid out in a basic table, which you can customize using the Dreamweaver page design tools. (Make sure all the form objects remain within the form’s boundaries.)

To edit the server behavior, open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) and double-click the Update Record behavior.

Form Element Properties options

The purpose of the Form Element Properties dialog box is to set the options for form elements on pages that let users update records in a database.

Select either Manually or From Database, depending on how you plan to create the form element.
Click the Plus (+) button to add an element.
Enter a label and value for the element.
In the Select Value Equal To box, if you want a particular element selected when the page opens in a browser or when a record displays in the form, enter a value equal to the element’s value.

You can enter a static value or you can specify a dynamic value by clicking the lightning bolt icon, and selecting a dynamic value from the list of data sources. In either case, the value you specify should match one of the element’s values.

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