I need lots of help with eCart, Step By Step

I have been trying to follow along the gsg for eCart, but I am lost, or clueless....maybe both. I am working in DW CS3 on a MAC. I already have all my pages built, just need to incorporate eCart buttons, etc. I have downloaded MAMP to act as local testing server, and made it all the way to page 75 of the gsg, but I am stuck. This is where I am -

"PHP
The sample files for Dreamweaver include a SQL script capable of creating and populating a sample MySQL database.

Before starting, you will need access to your MySQL server instance. This should be installed on your local testing server.
For instructions on configuring your local machine to operate as a PHP/MySQL testing server, review the following How To. web_dev_begin

To create the sample MySQL database:
Having downloaded the .SQL script file from your eCart Download Center, you will want to import this file into your MySQL server.
Follow this How To for importing the sample database file to your MySQL database.
http://webassist.com/go/howto/import_sql"

I tried to follow the web_dev_begin, but it looks like most of it is for and only references using Windows. I'm not sure if I have my computer correctly configured to act as a testing server, whether I have the files in the right place, or which way is up! But I still cant place an eCart object. Can someone please help me, in plain English terms?

Thanks,
Horribly Confused

In the learning resources section of the site, there is a tutorial for "Setting up a Testing Server for Mac OS X":
resources.php


Once you have the testing server installed, see the "Defining a Dynamic Site in Dreamweaver" and "Creating your database connection in Dreamweaver " tutorials.


If there is a step in one of the tutorials you are having a problem with, please let us know.

I installed and tested MAMP. The green lights are on. I Defined a Dynamic Site in Dreamweaver. I followed along the tutorials up to Creating a PHP Database Connection. But when I try to select a Database, I get this error message:

"HTTP Error Coded 404 File Not Found. Here are some possible reasons for the problem:

1)There is no testing server running on the server machine.
2) The testing server specified for this site does not map to the Me and Mine Web/_mmServerScripts/MMHTTPDB.php URL. Verify that URL Prefix maps to the root of the site."

What have I done wrong, or what did I not do correctly?

These are for Windows but the concept is the same:

Creating a dynamic site definition in Dreamweaver
151/




Logging into a MySQL database
149/

Yes, I created a dynamic site in Dreamweaver. Do I need to do something in MAMP? I mean I can log into MAMP just fine. Do I need to create or import a database? I have not done that, not have any of the tutorials guided me to do so. At any rate, I'm still getting this error. I'm about to go looney trying to figure this out, and I still havent even been able to place and ecart item on any of my pages due to this problem.

Still need help.....

Yes you have to create a database and import the tables.

Exporting and Importing a database using phpMyAdmin
150/

You can get a pre-made database here:
ecommerce-database/

The error you are getting means that the address you have entered as the URL Prefix in the testing server tab of your site definition:
Me and Mine Web/


is not valid. You can test this by opening a browser and pasting that URL in.



This can happen for a number of reasons. MAMP creates the following directory:
Applications:MAMP:htdocs

your folder "Me and Mine Web" should be inside the htdocs folder:
Applications:MAMP:htdocs:Me and Mine Web





you should also test that mamp s working correctly, go to:
MAMP/

and click the PHPInfo link in the top navigation to test PHP. If all of that checks out, you may want to try changing the URL Prefix to:
Me and Mine Web/

I figured out why I was getting the error (I had a space instead of _). Thanks to Jason for helping me understand where the error was coming from and how to test it.

I also now better understand Exporting and Importing a database using phpMyAdmin, thanks to Guy for guidance on that.

I resorted to going back to the beginning of the eCart getting Started Guide, and your answers and the guide were a big help.

However I am stuck on page 28 where it tells me to -

1.From the Files panel, open the music page for your server model (music.asp, music.cfm or music.php). (music.php DONE)
2.Choose Window > Server Behaviors.(DONE)
3.In the Server Behaviors panel, double-click the Recordset (rsItems) entry.
(In my Server Behaviors Panels I see no Recordset (rsItems). Only eCart Object (BlueSkyCart) and six eCart Add to Cart (BlueSkyCart).

I am going to skip this for now and continue on, but it seems important and I would like to know about it if I need to.

Never mind, I didnt have the correct music.php file open.

Ok, I made it through the getting started tutorial, but I still have questions.

First, if I revise the blueskymusic.xls file to have the info for my products, how do I covert it to an sql file so that I can upload it to MAMP for testing?

Second, I am building my web pages as static web pages that dont pull all of their content from a database. I started my design way before I got eCart. The tutorial really doesnt give too much info on adding ecart form objects to a static page. For example: I have a page with Dog Collars for sale. I have an image and description. Then I have a table with three sizes, and five colors, with a Qty box.

See here : Products_Collars.html

Do I need to have this table inside an ecart object? or inside a form? or both?
Then I assume once I am placing the buttons/selectable lists/text areas in the correct place, ecart will allow me to change the list values and options for said areas?

I was lead to believe prior to purchasing, that ecart was designed with the designer in mind and that it would be reasonably easy for a designer with limited programming knowledge to figure out. At this point, I do not feel as though that is the case.

I've learned lots, but I'm still a bit confused. If I could get some help based on my link above, rather than tuorials, or examples, I'd really appreciate it.