OT: Virtual PC for Mac.

I've been playing around with Virtual PC 6 for Mac now for few days but
need some clarification on a few things. If anyone knows I'd appreciate
the input.

The way im using it at present is as follows:

I create a site folder on the Mac and do all the work in Dreamweaver on
the Mac. Test as usual in various Mac browsers, which I have linked to
Dreamweaver.

If I then want to test in VPC I drag the site folder onto the VPC
desktop, which copies all the component files of the site over to the
virtual pc. I open one of the pc browsers which I have installed onto
VPC and then open the html, which I want to test, from the site folder
which has been copied from the Mac.

This works but I dont know if its the correct process or is there a
better, more streamlined approach.

I thought I might be able to add the PC browsers to the list which I
already have in Dreamweaver for the Mac and directly open the PC
browsers from within the Mac Dreamweaver application?

Also can I have more than one version of a browser on VPC?


Thanks


Osgood.

As far as I have been able to tell, you must copy files to a location
within your Virtual PC "hard drive" in order to access them from a
Windows browser, or any other Windows software you may have--you cannot
access files from within VPC that reside elsewhere on your Mac. So, like
you, every time I need to check something in a Windows browser I have to
copy it to the VPC "hard drive."

I have never tried it, but doubt very much that you can access the
Windows browsers as previewers from within DW running on the Mac.

--
James M. Shook
http://www.jshook.com

Hi Osgood,

I would probably place all my site files in the Mac's web server directory
(/Library/WebServer/Documents/) or the Sites directory in your home
directory (/Users/username/Sites). Then, turn on Personal Web Sharing from
the Sharing control panel and host from the Mac. You probably can't use
http://localhost/ or http://localhost/~username/ because the Windows virtual
machine will likely think it's trying to call itself (technically a separate
computer). However, either the Sharing control panel or the Network control
panel will tell you what your Mac's current IP address is, and you can use
that from the Windows VM. Your IP address will likely be a 169.254.x.x
address if you're connected to a network without a DHCP server, 192.168.1.x
if you're behind a SOHO router like a LinkSys or Netgear, or whatever your
corporate address is if your on a company network. This could be tricky if
your machine isn't connected to the network at all (no cables, no
hub/switch), because I don't think an IP address is even assigned if the NIC
doesn't see a network connection.

The biggest reason I suggest this method is, while static files work fine
when you move them from your Mac to VPC, dynamic files (PHP, JSP, whatever)
won't because it requires a web server to process the code. It seems a
little overwhelming at first, but it works great once you get the hang of
it. So the short story is:

1. Host the files on your Mac's web server
2. Use the Mac's IP address in your Windows browser address bar

Best regards,
Chris

Thanks James.

The way I described is working well with most PC browsers apart from IE.
Of course that browser has to be different.

IE6 seems to be the default browser for the VPC I have installed. I can
just click onto the html file I want to check and it will open up in
that browser. I believe it to be IE 6 (not sure how to check which
version it is) which is install as it shows no problems which are
generally associated with IE5x, ie padding, borders on <div> the 3px jog
etc.

The other browsers which I have installed on VPC, NN7 and Mozilla.9, at
the moment I can open them up and then go to File>Open>then browse to
the html file I want to check out, which is good. IE doesn't let me do
this. When I open that browser it tries for ages to connect to the
internet, which I am already connected to via the Mac. It lets me choose
File>Open but nothing after that. It wont let me browse to a specific
htm file. Is that something that you experience?

Maybe I can stop it trying to automatically connecting to the internet,
which I dont want to do anyway. I can't seem to find any preferences or
set-up which will allow me to do this.




James Shook wrote:

As far as I have been able to tell, you must copy files to a location
within your Virtual PC "hard drive" in order to access them from a
Windows browser, or any other Windows software you may have--you cannot
access files from within VPC that reside elsewhere on your Mac. So, like
you, every time I need to check something in a Windows browser I have to
copy it to the VPC "hard drive."

I have never tried it, but doubt very much that you can access the
Windows browsers as previewers from within DW running on the Mac.

Thanks Chris. I was actually wondering if I could do that because that
seems an easier root to go.

Just a thought will I have to be connected to the net via the windows
environment to access these pages on my Mac webserver?

Im on the phone right now with a client but I will read your reply
thoroughly and get back if I have and furhter questions.

Thanks

Chris In Madison wrote:

Hi Osgood,

I would probably place all my site files in the Mac's web server directory
(/Library/WebServer/Documents/) or the Sites directory in your home
directory (/Users/username/Sites). Then, turn on Personal Web Sharing from
the Sharing control panel and host from the Mac. You probably can't use
http://localhost/ or http://localhost/~username/ because the Windows virtual
machine will likely think it's trying to call itself (technically a separate
computer). However, either the Sharing control panel or the Network control
panel will tell you what your Mac's current IP address is, and you can use
that from the Windows VM. Your IP address will likely be a 169.254.x.x
address if you're connected to a network without a DHCP server, 192.168.1.x
if you're behind a SOHO router like a LinkSys or Netgear, or whatever your
corporate address is if your on a company network. This could be tricky if
your machine isn't connected to the network at all (no cables, no
hub/switch), because I don't think an IP address is even assigned if the NIC
doesn't see a network connection.

The biggest reason I suggest this method is, while static files work fine
when you move them from your Mac to VPC, dynamic files (PHP, JSP, whatever)
won't because it requires a web server to process the code. It seems a
little overwhelming at first, but it works great once you get the hang of
it. So the short story is:

1. Host the files on your Mac's web server
2. Use the Mac's IP address in your Windows browser address bar

Best regards,
Chris

As far as I have been able to tell, you must copy files to a location
within your Virtual PC "hard drive" in order to access them from a

This is incorrect.

Just share your site folder inside of VPC. It will then be mapped as a
virtual drive. All the copying/pasting is a waste of your time. ;o)

-Darrel

Also can I have more than one version of a browser on VPC?

Except for IE, yes, quite easily. Actually, there isn't a big reason to test
Mozilla on the PC, as it's pretty much identical to the mac version(s).

As for IE, you can install multiple versions via this hack:

http://www.skyzyx.com/archives/000094.php

-Darrel

darrel wrote:

Just share your site folder inside of VPC.

When you say share do you mean, as Chris has said, use the webserver on
osX to create a dynamic site and call up the file through the via the pc
browsers?

darrel wrote:

As for IE, you can install multiple versions via this hack:

http://www.skyzyx.com/archives/000094.php

Cheers, Ive book marked the page.

When you say share do you mean, as Chris has said, use the webserver on
osX to create a dynamic site and call up the file through the via the pc
browsers?

No. You're all making this more complicated than it needs to be. ;o)

Chris's advice isn't bad, of course. It's nice especially if you are writing
in PHP or something where you need the server to actually parse the code.

However, if we're just talking straight HTML pages, you can just have
Virtual PC map a folder on your mac to a drive in Windows.

For instance, I have a folder called JOBS that I place all of my project in.

In VPC I go to SHARE FOLDER, select JOBS from my mac, and then it appears in
Windows as drive 'X:' So, as far as Windows is concerned, it just sees that
as another drive. Any changes I make in my JOBS folder is automatically seen
in my X: drive in windows.

-Darrel