Adobe 38040334 Extending Dreamweaver - Page 86

Using custom UI controls in extensions

Page 86 highlights

DREAMWEAVER CS3 80 Extending Dreamweaver The Base Property inspector as it appears in Design view without the DOCTYPE statement. The Base Property inspector as it appears in Design view with the DOCTYPE statement (and after a few adjustments to accommodate the new rendering). Using custom UI controls in extensions In addition to the standard HTML form elements, Dreamweaver supports custom controls to help you create flexible, professional-looking interfaces, as described in the following list: • Editable select lists (also known as combo boxes) that let you combine the functionality of a select list with that of a text box • Database controls that facilitate the display of data hierarchies and fields • Tree controls that organize information into expandable and collapsible nodes • Color button controls that let you add color picker interfaces to your extensions Editable select lists Extension UIs often contain pop-up lists that are defined using the select tag. In Dreamweaver, you can make popup lists in extensions editable by adding editable="true" to the select tag. To set a default value, set the editText attribute and the value that you want the select list to display. The following example shows the settings for an editable select list: plane car bus When you use select lists in your extensions, check for the presence and value of the editable attribute. If no value is present, the select list returns the default value of false, which indicates that the select list is not editable. As with standard, noneditable select lists, editable select lists have a selectedIndex property (see "Objects, properties, and methods of the Dreamweaver DOM" on page 91). This property returns -1 if the text box is selected. To read the value of an active editable text box into an extension, read the value of the editText property. The editText property returns the string that the user entered into the editable text box, the value of the editText attribute, or an empty string if no text has been entered and no value has been specified for editText.

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DREAMWEAVER CS3
Extending Dreamweaver
80
The Base Property inspector as it appears in Design view without the
DOCTYPE
statement.
The Base Property inspector as it appears in Design view with the
DOCTYPE
statement (and after a few adjustments to accommodate the
new rendering).
Using custom UI controls in extensions
In addition to the standard HTML form elements, Dreamweaver supports custom controls to help you create
flexible, professional-looking interfaces, as described in the following list:
Editable select lists (also known as combo boxes) that let you combine the functionality of a select list with that of
a text box
Database controls that facilitate the display of data hierarchies and fields
Tree controls that organize information into expandable and collapsible nodes
Color button controls that let you add color picker interfaces to your extensions
Editable select lists
Extension UIs often contain pop-up lists that are defined using the
select
tag. In Dreamweaver, you can make pop-
up lists in extensions editable by adding
editable=
"
true
"
to the
select
tag. To set a default value, set the
editText
attribute and the value that you want the select list to display.
The following example shows the settings for an editable select list:
<select name="travelOptions" style="width:250px" editable="true" editText="other
(please specify)">
<option value="plane">plane</option>
<option value="car">car</option>
<option value="bus">bus</option>
</select>
When you use select lists in your extensions, check for the presence and value of the editable attribute. If no value is
present, the select list returns the default value of
false
, which indicates that the select list is not editable.
As with standard, noneditable select lists, editable select lists have a
selectedIndex
property (see “Objects,
properties, and methods of the Dreamweaver DOM” on page 91). This property returns -1 if the text box is selected.
To read the value of an active editable text box into an extension, read the value of the
editText
property. The
editText
property returns the string that the user entered into the editable text box, the value of the
editText
attribute, or an empty string if no text has been entered and no value has been specified for
editText
.