Create a dynamic page containing a filtered recordset.

As noted above, the recordset should retrieve a single record—the one to be deleted. However, you don't need to retrieve all of the columns for the record. At a minimum, the recordset must retrieve the record's primary key, since the Delete Record Server behavior needs it to know which record to remove. But beyond that, you should probably include some identifying information on the Delete page, so that your visitor can make sure she's really deleting the right record. For example, if the page deletes an employee from the database, consider putting the employee's name on the page as one final check.

Add a form to the page with a single Submit button (see Section 11.3.8).

Change the label of the button so that it reflects the action it will perform—Delete This Record, for example.

Open the Server Behaviors Panel (WindowServer Behaviors). Click the + button and select Delete Record.

The Delete Record window appears (see Figure 23-13).

Select a database from the Connection menu. From the Delete From Table menu, select the table with the record to be deleted.

These steps should be familiar by now; the table you select should be the same one you used when creating the detail recordset for this page.

Dreamweaver's Delete Record server behavior simplifies the process of removing information from a database.

Select the recordset you added to this page from the Select Record From menu.

This specifies the recordset on the page (if there's more than one) that Dreamweaver should use for specifying the record to be deleted.

Choose the table's primary key from the Unique Key Column menu. If it's a number, make sure the Numeric box is also checked.

The Unique Key Column identifies which record to delete. (For a description of primary keys, see Section 21.4.2). Make sure you retrieved this primary key information when you created the recordset, or the server behavior won't work.

Select the name of the form that contains the Delete button.

Unless the page has more than one form, the name of the form you created in step 2 should appear here automatically.

Click the Browse button; navigate to and select a file from the Web site.

This represents the page that will appear after a record has been deleted. This could either be a page with a confirmation message?The Record has been successfully deleted"—or a page that lists the records of the database—a master page.

Click the OK button.

Dreamweaver inserts the code necessary to delete a record from the database.

On one of the pages in your site, add a link to the Delete page.

For example, on a page that provides the details of a single record, you could add a link to the Delete page—maybe the word "Delete" or a button with a picture of a trash can.

Alternatively, you could add a "delete this record" link as part of a repeating region (see Section 22.3.2). In this way, you would have multiple records on a single page, each with its own link to the Delete page. In both cases, you'd attach the record's primary key to the link, as described in Section 21.4.2.

Create a dynamic page—the Delete page—containing a filtered recordset.

This recordset should retrieve a single record—the one to be deleted. As mentioned for the ASP and JSP models, you don't need to retrieve all of the columns for the record. At a minimum, the recordset must retrieve the record's primary key, since the Delete Record Server behavior needs it to know which record to remove. You may want to include some identifying information, such as the name of the item to be deleted, so that your visitors can see what they're about to delete.

Add to the page a form consisting of a single Submit button (see Section 11.3.8).

When you create the button, change its label to reflect what it does—Delete This Record, for example.

Select the form. Then, in the Action box in the Property inspector, type the page's file name.

For example, if the page is called delete.php, type delete.php.

The Action property indicates where the form should be sent (Section 11.2). In this case, when the visitor clicks the Submit button, the form information goes back to the same page.

This kind of trickery is common in dynamic pages. When your visitor clicks the Delete button, the form is sent to the same page—but this time the form doesn't show up. Instead, the Delete Record server behavior (which you're going to add in step 6) deletes the record and sends the visitor off to another page.

Add a hidden field to the form (Section 11.3.7). Name this field whatever you wish, but bind (attach) to it the primary key from the recordset you created in step 2.

This hidden field is what tells the Delete Record server behavior which record to delete. (For instructions on binding dynamic data to a form field, see Section 23.3.1).

Open the Server Behaviors Panel (WindowServer Behaviors). Click the + button and select Delete Record from the list of server behaviors.

The Delete Record window appears (Figure 23-14). This window differs slightly among ASP.NET, PHP, and ColdFusion. However, the basic steps described here are the same.

The Delete Record window for PHP differs slightly from its .NET and ColdFusion counterparts. .NET lets you specify an Error page so that visitors will see a different page if the delete action fails; ColdFusion lets you specify a user name and password for the database.

From the "First check if variable is defined" menu, choose Primary Key Value.

This may seem like putting the cart before the horse, because you won't define the primary key value until step 10 below. However, this option lets you control when the record is deleted, by making sure the proper variable is defined before the server behavior deletes the record. In this case, the record won't go away until the visitor clicks the Delete button, causing the server to send a form variable containing the record's primary key.

This is a necessary precaution; without this option, the record would be deleted whenever the page loads. Since the page really serves two functions—allowing visitors to confirm that they wish to delete the record, and actually deleting the record from the database—you need to make sure the visitor has first visited the page and then clicked the submit button you added in step 3.

From the Connection menu, select a database. From the Delete From Table menu, select the table with the record to be deleted.

These steps should be familiar by now. The table you select should be the same one you used when creating the detail recordset for this page.

From the Primary Key menu, select the table's primary key.

This tells Dreamweaver which database field contains the unique key that identi- fies which record to zap from the table.

From the Primary Key Value menu, select Form Variable. In the box just to the right of that menu, type the name of the hidden field you added in step 5.

This is the final piece of the puzzle. It tells the server behavior where to find the ID number for the doomed record. In this case, the form with its hidden field will supply the ID number.

Click the Browse button; navigate to and select your confirmation page from the Web site.

The confirmation page will appear after a record has been deleted. It's a page you've created in advance—either a page with a confirmation message ("The Record has been successfully deleted"), or a page that lists the records of the database—a master page.

Click OK.

Dreamweaver inserts the code necessary to remove a record from the database.