Problems with code generated by Dreamweaver 8.0.2 and Postgres

A cautionary tale about updating to Dreamweaver 8.0.2 if you use Postgres. Yesterday I decided to upgrade my copy of Dreamweaver 8 to 8.0.2 because it kept on telling me there was an update available. I didn't expect any problems and, if anything, hoped that the process would help resolve some of the problems I have encountered when using Postgres against Dreamweaver. While you can generate code for Postgres in Dreamweaver, it tended to complain about not understanding what a 'serial' or 'int4' datatype is. However, I found that once I had updated my Dreamweaver, I could no longer generate code to update records in my Postgres database. Instead I got an error like this:

ERROR: column "status_id" is of type 'integer' but expression is of type 'character varying'

We compared the code generated before and after the Dreamweaver upgrade and noticed that the code generated by the upgraded Dreamweaver was attempting to push data into the database as a literal (so the string in my page was being pushed as a String into my number field). While there could be another explanation for all of this, the process of deduction has pointed the finger at this new Dreamweaver upgrade (the pages I made in Dreamweaver pre-upgrade worked fine). If you NEED something provided in the new upgrade then you need to investigate this problem further, if not, then I highly recommend sticking to your pre-upgraded version of Dreamweaver 8.

Apple's iPhone is tasting a bit sour

More and more details are coming out about the Apple iPhone and I'm afraid to say that the more I hear, the less I'm impressed :( David Pogue (of the New York Times) has been posting an interesting set of blogs about the iPhone's capabilities (see link above) and he has found some infromation that is making it less and less likely that I will be able to buy one of these guys:

The biggest gripe is that developers will not be allowed to make products on this phone - this hits me like a sack of Bricks - I'm going to have the most advanced phone in existance, which contains an streamlined copy of OS X and I'm limited to using it as an iPod of iPhoto viewer?!?!? I'm a geeky software developer/webmaster - I want to be using this puppy to VNC into things, open up X11 windows, telnet into my OS X Server, mess with my FTP site, check my MySQL database and other things that are useful when you are on the move and your boss is yelling at you. Sure, I could get out my MacBook to do these things but if I don't have a Wi-Fi connection it's useless. How about using my new iPhone to act as a Modem for my MacBook? No, according to Pogue's blog, that ain't going to be possible either.

No Java support and only the possibilty of Flash Support? What about YouTube? Jobs' answer is to make a deal with YouTube but that is a cheap way around the problem if you ask me. What about the rest of the net's websites that use either Java or Flash???

No Stylus support: Call me old fashioned but I can work a charm with a stylus and a proper keyboard (my HTC Wizard is close to perfection in that respect) - according to Pogue's report, the iPhone will ONLY respond to skin touch. I'm sorry but this bites - I don't want to be chained to this gimmick.

PIM support for Windows: I don't use Windows at work any more and I try to avoid it at home but Apple need to allow people to Sync their contacts on Windows machines - it is not enough to allow people to sync their iTunes - we need PIM access as well!

grrrrrrr. I'm annoyed. This is a very cool phone but I'm going to have trouble being able to justify buying it some of these issues aren't resolved (my chief one being locking developers out)