Adobe 38040334 Extending Dreamweaver - Page 78

DREAMWEAVER CS3 72 Extending Dreamweaver Server model extensions let you add support for new server models. Dreamweaver supports the most common server models (ASP, JSP, ColdFusion, PHP, and ASP.NET). Server model extensions are needed only for custom server solutions, different languages, or a customized server. Server model files are stored in the Configuration/ServerModels folder. Data translator extensions convert non-HTML code into HTML that appears in the Design view of the document window. These extensions also lock the non-HTML code to prevent Dreamweaver from parsing it. Translator files are stored in the Configuration/Translators folder. Other ways to extend Dreamweaver You can also extend the following elements of Dreamweaver to expand its capabilities or tailor it to your needs. Document types define how Dreamweaver works with different server models. Information about document types for server models is stored in the Configuration/DocumentTypes folder. For more information, see "Extensible document types in Dreamweaver" on page 15. Code snippets are reusable blocks of code that are stored as code snippet (CSN) files in the Dreamweaver Configuration/Snippets folder and which Dreamweaver makes accessible in the Snippets panel. You can create additional code snippet files and install them into the Snippets folder to make them available. Code Hints are menus that offer a typing shortcut by displaying a list of strings that potentially complete the string you are typing. If one of the strings in the menu matches the string that you started to type, you can select it to insert it in place of the string that you are typing. Code Hints menus are defined in the codehints.xml file in the Configuration/CodeHints folder, and you can add new code hints menus to it for new tags or functions that you have defined. Menus are defined in the menus.xml file in the Configuration/Menus folder. You can add new Dreamweaver menus for your extensions by adding the menu tags for them to the menus.xml file. For more information, see "Menus and menu commands" on page 136. Configuration folders and extensions The folders and files that are stored in the Dreamweaver Configuration folder contain the extensions that come with Dreamweaver. When you write an extension, you must save the files in the proper folder for Dreamweaver to recognize them. For example, if you create a Property inspector extension, you save the files in the Configuration/Inspectors folder. If you download and install an extension from the Adobe Exchange website (www.adobe.com/go/exchange), the Extension Manager automatically saves the extension files to the proper folders. You can use the files in the Dreamweaver Configuration folder as examples, but these files are generally more complex than the average extension that is available on the Adobe Exchange website. For more information on the contents of each subfolder within the Configuration folder, see the Configuration_ReadMe.htm file. The Configuration/Shared folder does not correspond to a specific extension type. It is the central repository for utility functions, classes, and images that are used by more than one extension. The files in the Configuration/Shared/Common folder are designed to be useful to a broad range of extensions. These files are useful as examples of JavaScript techniques and as utilities. Look here first for the functions that perform specific tasks, such as creating a valid Document Object Model (DOM) reference to an object, testing whether the current selection is inside a particular tag, escaping special characters in strings, and more. If you create common files, you should create a separate subfolder in the Configuration/Shared/Common folder, which is shown in the following figure, and store them there.