You must specify a URL prefix so Dreamweaver can use the services of a testing server to display data and to connect to databases while you work. Dreamweaver uses the design-time connection to provide you with useful information about the database, such as the names of the tables in your database and the names of the columns in your tables.

A URL prefix comprises the domain name and any of your website’s home directory’s subdirectories or virtual directories.

The home directory

The folder on the server mapped to your site’s domain name. Suppose the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is c:\sites\company\, and this folder is your home directory (that is, this folder is mapped to your site’s domain name—for example, www.mystartup.com). In that case, the URL prefix is http://www.mystartup.com/.

If the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is a subfolder of your home directory, simply add the subfolder to the URL. If your home directory is c:\sites\company\, your site’s domain name is www.mystartup.com, and the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is c:\sites\company\inventory. Enter the following URL prefix:

http://www.mystartup.com/inventory/

If the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is not your home directory or any of its subdirectories, you must create a virtual directory.

A virtual directory

A folder that is not physically contained in the home directory of the server even though it appears to be in the URL. To create a virtual directory, specify an alias for the folder’s path in the URL. Suppose your home directory is c:\sites\company, your processing folder is d:\apps\inventory, and you define an alias for this folder called warehouse. Enter the following URL prefix:

http://www.mystartup.com/warehouse/

Localhost

Refers to the home directory in your URLs when the client (usually a browser, but in this case Dreamweaver) runs on the same system as your web server. Suppose Dreamweaver is running on the same Windows system as the web server, your home directory is c:\sites\company, and you defined a virtual directory called warehouse to refer to the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages. The following are the URL prefixes you would enter for selected web servers:

For Macintosh users running the Apache web server, your personal home directory is Users:MyUserName:Sites, where MyUserName is your Macintosh user name. An alias called ~MyUserName is automatically defined for this folder when you install Mac OS 10.1 or higher. Therefore, your default URL prefix in Dreamweaver is as follows:

http://localhost/~MyUserName/

If the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is Users:MyUserName:Sites:inventory, then the URL prefix is as follows:

http://localhost/~MyUserName/inventory/