Adobe Using Dreamweaver CS5.5 Instruction Manual Cs5 En

User Manual: adobe Dreamweaver - CS5.5 - Instruction Manual Free User Guide for Adobe Dreamweaver Software, Manual

Open the PDF directly: View PDF PDF.
Page Count: 668 [warning: Documents this large are best viewed by clicking the View PDF Link!]

Using
ADOBE® DREAMWEAVER® CS5 & CS5.5
Last updated 12/7/2011
Legal notices
Legal notices
For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.
iii
Last updated 12/7/2011
Contents
Chapter 1: What’s New
What’s New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2: Workspace
Dreamweaver workflow and workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Working in the Document window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Using toolbars, inspectors, and context menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Customizing the Dreamweaver CS5 workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Chapter 3: Working with Dreamweaver sites
About Dreamweaver sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Set up a local version of your site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Connect to a remote server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Set up a testing server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Version Control and Advanced settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Manage Sites dialog box options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Import and export Dreamweaver site settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Edit an existing remote website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Set site preferences for transferring files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Managing Contribute sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 4: Creating and Managing Files
Creating and opening documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Managing files and folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Getting and putting files to and from your server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Checking in and checking out files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Synchronizing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Comparing files for differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Rolling back files (Contribute users) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Cloaking files and folders in your Dreamweaver site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Storing file information in Design Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Testing your Dreamweaver site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Chapter 5: Managing assets and libraries
About assets and libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Working with assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Creating and managing a list of favorite assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Working with library items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Chapter 6: Creating pages with CSS
Understanding Cascading Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The CSS Styles panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
iv
USING DREAMWEAVER
Contents
Last updated 12/7/2011
Enhancements to CSS3 support in the CSS styles panel (CS5.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Set CSS Styles preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Create a new CSS rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Set CSS properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Edit a CSS rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Add a property to a CSS rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Apply, remove, or rename CSS class styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Move/export CSS rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Convert inline CSS to a CSS rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Link to an external CSS style sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Edit a CSS style sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Format CSS code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Disable/Enable CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Inspect CSS in Live view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Check for cross-browser CSS rendering issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Use Design-Time style sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Use Dreamweaver sample style sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Update CSS style sheets in a Contribute site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Laying out pages with CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Working with div tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Chapter 7: Laying out pages with HTML
Using visual aids for layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Presenting content with tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Using Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter 8: Adding content to pages
Use the Insert panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Set page properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Set CSS link properties for an entire page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Set CSS heading properties for an entire page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Set title and encoding properties for a page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Use a tracing image to design a page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Understanding document encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Select and view elements in the Document window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Zoom in and out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Set download time and size preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Working with text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Set text properties in the Property inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Spell check a web page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Import tabular data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Import Microsoft Office documents (Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Create a link to a Word or Excel document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Use HTML Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Use horizontal rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Modify font combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
v
USING DREAMWEAVER
Contents
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Adding and modifying images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Adding video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Inserting SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Adding web widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Adding Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Adding media objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Automating tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Chapter 9: Linking and navigation
About linking and navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Jump menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Navigation bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Image maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Troubleshooting links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Chapter 10: Previewing pages
Previewing pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Chapter 11: Working with page code
General information about coding in Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Setting up your coding environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Setting coding preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Writing and editing code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Collapsing code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Optimizing and debugging code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Editing code in Design view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Working with head content for pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Working with server-side includes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Managing tag libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Importing custom tags into Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Chapter 12: Adding JavaScript behaviors
Using JavaScript behaviors (general instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Applying built-in JavaScript behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Chapter 13: Working with other applications
Cross-application integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Working with Fireworks and Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Working with Photoshop and Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Working with Flash and Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Working with Adobe Bridge and Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Working with Device Central and Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Working with ConnectNow and Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
AIR Extension for Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
vi
USING DREAMWEAVER
Contents
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 14: Creating and managing templates
About Dreamweaver templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Recognizing templates and template-based documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Creating a Dreamweaver template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Creating editable regions in templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Creating repeating regions in templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
Using optional regions in templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Defining editable tag attributes in templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Creating a nested template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Editing, updating, and deleting templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Exporting and importing template content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Applying or removing a template from an existing document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Editing content in a template-based document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
Template syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
Setting authoring preferences for templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Chapter 15: Building Spry pages visually
About the Spry framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Working with Spry widgets (general instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Working with the Spry Accordion widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Working with the Spry Menu Bar widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Working with the Spry Collapsible Panel widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Working with the Spry Tabbed Panels widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Working with the Spry Tooltip widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Working with the Spry Validation Radio Group widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
Working with the Spry Validation Text Field widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Working with the Spry Validation Text Area widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Working with the Spry Validation Select widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Working with the Spry Validation Checkbox widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Working with the Spry Validation Password widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Working with the Spry Validation Confirm widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Displaying data with Spry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Adding Spry effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Chapter 16: Designing for multiple screens and devices
Creating media queries (CS5.5 and later) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
Change page orientation for mobile devices (CS5.5 and later) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Creating web applications for mobile devices (CS5.5 and later) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Packaging web applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Preview pages using the Multiscreen Preview panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
Chapter 17: Using Adobe Online Services
Using Dreamweaver with Adobe Online services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
Chapter 18: Displaying XML data with XSLT
About XML and XSLT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Performing XSL transformations on the server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
vii
USING DREAMWEAVER
Contents
Last updated 12/7/2011
Performing XSL transformations on the client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Missing character entities for XSLT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Chapter 19: Preparing to build dynamic sites
Understanding web applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
Set up your computer for application development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Database connections for ColdFusion developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
Database connections for ASP developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
Database connections for PHP developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
Troubleshooting database connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Removing connection scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Chapter 20: Making pages dynamic
Optimizing the workspace for visual development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Designing dynamic pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Dynamic content sources overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
Dynamic content panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
Defining sources of dynamic content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Adding dynamic content to pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Changing dynamic content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Displaying database records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Viewing live data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
Adding custom server behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Chapter 21: Building applications visually
Building master and detail pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Building search and results pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Building a record insert page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Building an update record page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
Building a delete record page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Building pages with advanced data manipulation objects (ColdFusion, ASP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Building a registration page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Building a login page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Building a page that only authorized users can access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Securing a folder in your application (ColdFusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
Using ColdFusion components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
Chapter 22: Building forms
Using forms to collect information from users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
Creating web forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
Building ColdFusion forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
Chapter 23: Accessibility
Dreamweaver and accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
1
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 1: What’s New
What’s New
Important: This page provides a list of new features in Dreamweaver CS5 and Dreamweaver CS5.5. This page does NOT
tell you how to use those features. For more information about any of the new features, click the corresponding links
provided. You can also watch a CS5 feature overview, or a CS5.5 feature overview on AdobeTV.
What’s new (CS5.5)
Multiscreen support
Preview your designs in standard screen resolutions, or use media queries to define resolution. When testing for
devices that change page orientation based on how the device is held, use the landscape and portrait options during
preview. For more information, see “Designing for multiple screens and devices” on page 462.
Media query support
Use media queries to customize the appearance of your site for different screen resolutions. For more information, see
“Creating media queries (CS5.5 and later)” on page 462.
Web applications for mobile devices
Quickly design a web application that works on most mobile devices using the jQuery Mobile widget. For more
information, see “Creating web applications for mobile devices (CS5.5 and later)” on page 464.
Package web applications for Android, iPhone, and iPad
Package your web applications in Dreamweaver, and deploy them to Android™ and iOS-based devices. For more
information, see “Packaging web applications” on page 467.
HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery support
Dreamweaver supports code hinting for HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery.
Starter layouts are also available for building HTML5 pages from scratch. Dreamweaver supports the HTML5 feature
to embed videos in HTML pages. For more information, see “Embed videos in web pages (HTML5)” on page 237.
The CSS panel has been enhanced to support commonly used CSS3 properties. For more information, see “Code
hints” on page 292 and “Enhancements to CSS3 support in the CSS styles panel (CS5.5)” on page 126.
FTPS support
Transfer data using FTPS. FTPS (FTP over SSL) provides both encryption and authentication support as compared to
SFTP that supports only encryption. For more information, see “FTPS connections (CS5.5)” on page 41.
W3C validator support
Create standards-compliant HTML and XHTML pages using the W3C validator in Dreamweaver. For more
information, see “Validate documents using W3C validator (CS5.5)” on page 312.
2
USING DREAMWEAVER
What’s New
Last updated 12/7/2011
What’s new (CS5)
Adobe BrowserLab
Dreamweaver CS5 integrates with Adobe BrowserLab, one of the new CS Live online services, which provides a fast
and accurate solution for cross-browser compatibility testing. With BrowserLab you can preview web pages and local
content using multiple viewing and comparison tools. See “BrowserLab” on page 471.
Business Catalyst integration
Adobe Business Catalyst is a hosted application that replaces traditional desktop tools with one, central platform for
web designers. The application works hand-in-hand with Dreamweaver, and lets you build everything from basic data-
driven websites to powerful online stores. See http://www.adobe.com/go/business_catalyst_get_extension_en.
CSS enhancements
CSS Disable/Enable
CSS Disable/Enable lets you disable and re-enable CSS properties directly from the CSS Styles panel. Disabling a CSS
property simply comments out the specified property without actually deleting it. See “Disable/Enable CSS” on
page 141.
CSS Inspection
Inspect mode lets you visually display the CSS box model properties—including padding, border, and margin—in
detail without reading code or requiring a separate third-party utility such as Firebug. See “Inspect CSS in Live view”
on page 142.
CSS starter layouts
Dreamweaver CS5 includes updated and simplified CSS starter layouts. The complex descendent selectors from the
CS4 layouts have been removed and replaced with simplified, easy-to-understand classes. See “Create a page with a
CSS layout” on page 150.
Dynamically-Related Files
The Dynamically-Related Files feature lets you discover all of the external files and scripts necessary to assemble PHP-
based Content Management System (CMS) pages, and displays their filenames in the Related Files toolbar. By default
Dreamweaver supports file discovery for the Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla! CMS frameworks. See “Open
Dynamically-Related Files” on page 70.
Live view navigation
Live view navigation activates links in Live view, allowing you to interact with server-side applications and dynamic
data. The feature also allows you to enter a URL to inspect pages served from a live web server and edit pages you have
browsed to if they exist in one of your locally defined sites. See “Previewing pages in Dreamweaver” on page 276.
PHP custom class code hinting
PHP custom class code hinting displays the proper syntax for PHP functions, objects, and constants, helping you type
more accurate code. Code hinting also works with your own custom functions and classes, as well as third-party
frameworks, such as the Zend framework.
3
USING DREAMWEAVER
What’s New
Last updated 12/7/2011
Simplified site setup
The newly redesigned Site Definition dialog box (now the Site Setup dialog box) makes it easier to set up a local
Dreamweaver site so that you can start building web pages right away. The remote server category lets you specify your
remote and testing servers in one view. See “Set up a local version of your site” on page 37 and “Connect to a remote
server” on page 38.
Site-specific code hints
The Site-specific code hints feature lets you customize your coding environment when working with third-party PHP
libraries and CMS frameworks such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, or other frameworks. Theme files for blogs and
other custom PHP files and directories can be included or excluded as sources for code-hints. See “Site-specific code
hints” on page 294.
Subversion support enhancements
Dreamweaver CS5 expands its support for Subversion, allowing you to move, copy, and delete files locally, and then
synchronize changes with your remote SVN repository. The new Revert command allows you to quickly correct tree
conflicts or rollback to a previous version of a file. Additionally, a new extension allows you to specify which version
of Subversion you would like to work with on a given project. See “Use Subversion (SVN) to get and check in files” on
page 88.
Deprecated features
The following features have been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5:
•Accessibility validation report
•ASP/JavaScript server behaviors
•Check Browser JavaScript behavior
•Connect to FTP/RDS server without defining a site
•Control Shockwave or SWF JavaScript behavior
•Create Web Photo Album
•Hide Pop-up Menu JavaScript behavior
•InContext Editing Manage Available CSS Classes
•Insert FlashPaper
•Insert/Remove Mark of the Web
•Microsoft Visual Sourcesafe integration
•Navigation bars
•Play Sound JavaScript behavior
•Show Events menu (Behaviors panel)
•Show Pop-up Menu JavaScript behavior
•Timeline JavaScript behaviors
•Validate tags
•View Live Data
4
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 2: Workspace
Dreamweaver workflow and workspace
Dreamweaver workflow overview
You can use several approaches to create a website. This is one approach:
Plan and set up your site
Determine where the files will go and examine site requirements, audience profiles, and site goals. Additionally,
consider technical requirements such as user access, as well as browser, plug-in, and download restrictions. After
you’ve organized your information and determined a structure, you can begin creating your
site. (See “Working with
Dreamweaver sites” on page 36.)
Organize and manage your site files
In the Files panel you can easily add, delete, and rename files and folders to change the organization as needed. The
Files panel also has many tools for managing your site, transferring files to and from a remote server, setting up a Check
In/Check Out process to prevent files from being overwritten, and synchronizing the files on your local and remote
sites. From the Assets panel, you can easily organize the assets in a site; you can then drag most assets directly from the
Assets panel into a Dreamweaver document. You can also use Dreamweaver to manage aspects of your
Adobe®Contribute® sites. (See “Managing files and folders” on page 72 and “Managing assets and libraries” on
page 106.)
Lay out your web pages
Choose the layout technique that works for you, or use the Dreamweaver layout options in conjunction with one
another to create your site’s look. You can use Dreamweaver AP elements, CSS positioning styles, or predesigned CSS
layouts to create your layout. The table tools let you design pages quickly by drawing and then rearranging the page
structure. If you want to display multiple elements at once in a browser, you can use frames to lay out your documents.
Finally, you can create new pages based on a Dreamweaver template, then update the layout of those pages
automatically when the template changes. (See “Creating pages with CSS” on page 118 and “Laying out pages with
HTML” on page 167.)
Add content to pages
Add assets and design elements such as text, images, rollover images, image maps, colors, movies, sound, HTML links,
jump menus, and more. You can use built-in page-creation features for such elements as titles and backgrounds, type
directly in the page, or import content from other documents. Dreamweaver also provides behaviors for performing
tasks in response to specific events, such as validating a form when the visitor clicks the Submit button or opening a
second browser window when the main page has finished loading. Finally, Dreamweaver provides tools for
maximizing website performance and for testing pages to ensure compatibility with different web browsers. (See
“Adding content to pages” on page 198.)
Create pages by hand coding
Coding web pages by hand is another approach to creating pages. Dreamweaver provides easy-to-use visual editing
tools, but it also provides a sophisticated coding environment; you can use either approach, or both, to create and edit
your pages. (See “Working with page code” on page 281.)
5
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set up a web application for dynamic content
Many websites contain dynamic pages that allow visitors to view information stored in databases, and usually allow
some visitors to add new information and edit information in the databases. To create such pages, you must first set
up a web server and application server, create or modify a Dreamweaver site, and connect to a database. (See
“Preparing to build dynamic sites” on page 504.)
Create dynamic pages
In Dreamweaver, you can define a variety of sources of dynamic content, including recordsets extracted from
databases, form parameters, and JavaBeans components. To add the dynamic content to a page, simply drag it onto
the page.
You can set your page to display one record or many records at a time, display more than one page of records, add
special links to move from one page of records to the next (and back), and create record counters to help users keep
track of the records. You can encapsulate application or business logic using technologies such as Adobe® ColdFusion®
and web services. If you need more flexibility, you can create custom server behaviors and interactive forms. (See
“Making pages dynamic” on page 532.)
Test and publish
Testing your pages is an ongoing process that happens throughout the development cycle. At the end of the cycle, you
publish the site on a server. Many developers also schedule periodic maintenance to ensure that the site remains
current and functional. (See “Getting and putting files to and from your server” on page 80.)
For a video tutorial on what you can do with Dreamweaver, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4040_dw.
Workspace layout overview
The Dreamweaver workspace lets you view documents and object properties. The workspace also places many of the
most common operations in toolbars so that you can quickly make changes to your documents.
In Windows®, Dreamweaver provides an all-in-one-window integrated layout. In the integrated workspace, all
windows and panels are integrated into a single larger application window.
6
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Application bar B. Document toolbar C. Document window D. Workspace switcher E. Panel groups F. CS Live G. Tag selector
H. Property inspector I. Files panel
On Mac OS®, Dreamweaver can display multiple documents in a single window with tabs that identify each document.
Dreamweaver can also display a floating workspace in which each document appears in its own individual window.
Panel groups are initially docked together, but can be undocked into their own windows. When panel groups are
docked and the document area is maximized, resizing or showing and hiding panels auto-sizes the main document,
just as it does on Windows.
A B C E FD
GH I
7
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Application bar B. Document toolbar C. Workspace switcher D. Document window E. CS Live F. Panel groups G. Tag selector
H. Property inspector I. Files panel
For a tutorial on working with different Dreamweaver workspaces, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4042_dw.
Workspace elements overview
The workspace includes the following elements.
Note: Dreamweaver provides many other panels, inspectors, and windows. To open the panels, inspectors, and windows,
use the Window menu.
The Welcome screen Lets you open a recent document or create a new document. From the Welcome screen, you can
also learn more about Dreamweaver by taking a product tour or a tutorial.
The Application bar Across the top of the application window contains a workspace switcher, menus (Windows only),
and other application controls.
The Document toolbar Contains buttons that provide options for different views of the Document window (such as
Design view and Code view), various viewing options, and some common operations such as previewing in a browser.
The Standard toolbar (Not displayed in the default workspace layout.) Contains buttons for common operations from
the File and Edit menus: New, Open, Browse in Bridge, Save, Save All, Print Code, Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo.
To display the Standard toolbar, select View
> Toolbars > Standard.
The Coding toolbar (Displayed in Code view only.) Contains buttons that let you perform many standard coding
operations.
The Style Rendering toolbar (Hidden by default.) Contains buttons that let you see how your design would look in
different media types if you use media-dependent style sheets. It also contains a button that lets you enable or disable
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS) styles.
A B DC E F
GHI
8
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
The Document window Displays the current document as you create and edit it.
The Property inspector Lets you view and change a variety of properties for the selected object or text. Each object has
different properties. The Property inspector is not expanded by default in the Coder workspace layout.
The Tag selector Located in the Status bar at the bottom of the Document window. Shows the hierarchy of tags
surrounding the current selection. Click any tag in the hierarchy to select that tag and all its
contents.
Panels Help you monitor and modify your work. Examples include the Insert panel, the CSS Styles panel, and the Files
panel. To expand a panel, double-click its tab.
The Insert panel Contains buttons for inserting various types of objects, such as images, tables, and media elements,
into a document. Each object is a piece of HTML code that lets you set various attributes as you insert it. For example,
you can insert a table by clicking the Table button in the Insert panel. If you prefer, you can insert objects using the
Insert menu instead of the Insert panel.
The Files panel Lets you manage your files and folders, whether they are part of a Dreamweaver site or on a remote
server. The Files panel also lets you access all the files on your local disk, much like
Windows Explorer
(Windows) or the Finder (Macintosh).
Document window overview
The Document window shows the current document. You can select any of the following views:
Design view A design environment for visual page layout, visual editing, and rapid application development. In this
view, Dreamweaver displays a fully editable, visual representation of the document, similar to what you would see
when viewing the page in a browser.
Code view A hand-coding environment for writing and editing HTML, JavaScript, server-language code—such PHP
or ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML)—and any other kind of code.
Split Code view A split version of Code view that lets you scroll to work on different sections of the document at the
same time.
Code and Design view Lets you see both Code view and Design view for the same document in a single window.
Live view Similar to Design view, Live view displays a more realistic representation of what your document will look
like in a browser, and lets you interact with the document exactly as you would in a browser. Live view is not editable.
However, you can edit in Code view and refresh Live view to see your changes.
Live Code view Only available when viewing a document in Live view. Live Code view displays the actual code that a
browser uses to execute the page, and can dynamically change as you interact with the page in Live view. Live Code
view is not editable.
When a Document window is maximized (the default), tabs appear at the top of the Document window showing the
filenames of all open documents. Dreamweaver displays an asterisk after the filename if you’ve made changes that you
haven’t saved yet.
To switch to a document, click its tab.
Dreamweaver also displays the Related Files toolbar below the document’s tab (or below the document’s title bar if
you’re viewing documents in separate windows). Related documents are documents associated with the current file,
such as CSS files or JavaScript files. To open one of these related files in the Document window, click its filename in
the Related Files toolbar.
9
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Working in the Document window” on page 17
“About Live view” on page 276
“Open Related Files” on page 68
“General information about coding in Dreamweaver” on page 281
Document toolbar overview
The Document toolbar contains buttons that let you toggle between different views of your document quickly. The
toolbar also contains some common commands and options related to viewing the document and transferring it
between the local and remote sites. The illustration below shows the expanded Document toolbar.
A. Show Code view B. Show Code and Design view C. Show Design view D. Live Code view E. Check Browser Compatibility F. Live view
G. CSS Inspect mode H. Preview/Debug in Browser I. Visual Aids J. Refresh Design View K. Document Title L. File Management
The following options appear in the Document toolbar:
Show Code View Displays only the Code view in the Document window.
Show Code and Design Views Splits the Document window between the Code and the Design views. When you select
this combined view, the option Design View on Top becomes available in the View Options menu.
Show Design View Displays only the Design view in the Document window.
Note: If you are working with XML, JavaScript, CSS, or other code based file types, you cannot view the files in Design
view and the Design and Split buttons are dimmed out.
Live View Displays a non-editable, interactive, browser based view of the document.
Live Code View Displays the actual code used by the browser to execute the page.
Document Title Allows you to enter a title for your document, to be displayed in the browser’s title bar. If your
document already has a title, it appears in this field.
File Management Displays the File Management pop-up menu.
Preview/Debug in Browser Allows you to preview or debug your document in a browser. Select a browser from the
pop-up menu.
Refresh Design View Refreshes the document’s Design view after you make changes in Code view. Changes you make
in Code view don’t automatically appear in Design view until you perform certain actions, such as saving the file or
clicking this button.
Note: Refreshing also updates code features that are DOM (Document Object Model) dependent, such as the ability to
select a code block’s opening or closing tags.
View Options Allows you to set options for Code view and Design view, including which view you want to appear
above the other. Options in the menu are for the current view: Design view, Code view, or both.
Visual Aids Lets you use different visual aids to design your pages.
Validate Markup Lets you validate the current document or a selected tag.
Check Browser Compatibility Lets you check if your CSS is compatible across different browsers.
A B C D E G H I J K LF
10
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Preview pages in Live view” on page 276
“Setting coding preferences” on page 287
“View and edit head content” on page 321
“Using visual aids for layout” on page 167
Standard toolbar overview
The Standard toolbar contains buttons for common operations from the File and Edit menus: New, Open, Browse in
Bridge, Save, Save All, Print Code, Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo. Use these buttons just as you would use the
equivalent menu commands.
Style Rendering toolbar overview
The Style Rendering toolbar (hidden by default) contains buttons that let you see how your design would look in
different media types if you use media-dependent style sheets. It also contains a button that lets you enable or disable
CSS styles. To display the toolbar, select View
> Toolbars > Style Rendering.
This toolbar only works if your documents use media-dependent style sheets. For example, your style sheet might
specify a body rule for print media and a different body rule for handheld devices. For more information on creating
media-dependent style sheets, see the World Wide Web Consortium website at www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/media.html.
By default, Dreamweaver displays your design for the screen media type (which shows you how a page is rendered on
a computer screen). You can view the following media type renderings by clicking the respective buttons in the Style
Rendering toolbar.
Render Screen Media Type Shows you how the page appears on a computer screen.
Render Print Media Type Shows you how the page appears on a printed piece of paper.
Render Handheld Media Type Shows you how the page appears on a handheld device, such as a mobile phone or a
BlackBerry device.
Render Projection Media Type Shows you how the page appears on a projection device.
Render TTY Media Type Shows you how the page appears on a teletype machine.
Render TV Media Type Shows you how the page appears on a television screen.
Toggle Displaying Of CSS Styles Lets you enable or disable CSS styles. This button works independently of the other
media buttons.
Design-time Style Sheets Lets you specify a Design-time style sheet.
For a tutorial on designing style sheets for print and handheld devices, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0156.
Browser Navigation toolbar overview
The Browser Navigation toolbar becomes active in Live view, and shows you the address of the page you’re looking at
in the Document window. As of Dreamweaver CS5, Live view acts like a regular browser, so even if you browse to a
site outside of your local site (for example, http://www.adobe.com), Dreamweaver will load the page in the Document
window.
11
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Browser controls B. Address box C. Live view options
By default, links are not active in Live view. Having links non-active lets you select or click link text in the Document
window without being taken to another page. To test links in Live view, you can enable one-time clicking or
continuous clicking by selecting Follow Links or Follow Links Continuously from the View options menu to the right
of the address box.
More Help topics
“Previewing pages in Dreamweaver” on page 276
Coding toolbar overview
The Coding toolbar contains buttons that let you perform many standard coding operations, such as collapsing and
expanding code selections, highlighting invalid code, applying and removing comments, indenting code, and inserting
recently used code snippets. The Coding toolbar appears vertically on the left side of the Document window, and is
only visible when Code view is showing.
You cannot undock or move the Coding toolbar, but you can hide it (View > Toolbars > Coding).
You can also edit the Coding toolbar to display more buttons (such as Word Wrap, Show Hidden Characters, and Auto
Indent), or hide buttons that you don’t want to use. To do so, however, you must edit the XML file that generates the
toolbar. For more information, see Extending Dreamweaver.
More Help topics
“Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296
BA C
12
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Status bar overview
The Status bar at the bottom of the Document window provides additional information about the document you are
creating.
A. Tag selector B. Select tool C. Hand tool D. Zoom tool E. Set magnification F. Window size pop-up menu G. Document size and estimated
download time H. Encoding indicator
Tag selector Shows the hierarchy of tags surrounding the current selection. Click any tag in the hierarchy to select that
tag and all its contents. Click <body> to select the entire body of the document. To set the class or ID attributes for a
tag in the tag selector, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the tag and select a class or ID from the
context menu.
Select tool Enables and disables the Hand tool.
Hand tool Lets you click the document and drag it in the Document window.
Zoom tool and Set Magnification pop-up menu Let you set a magnification level for your document.
Window size pop-up menu (Not available in Code view.) Lets you resize the Document window to predetermined or
custom dimensions. When you change the view size of a page in design or live view only the dimensions of the view
size change. The document size is unaltered.
In addition to predetermined and custom sizes, Dreamweaver also lists sizes specified in a media query. When you
select a size corresponding to a media query, Dreamweaver uses the media query to display the page. You can also
change the page orientation to preview the page for mobile devices where the page layout changes based on how the
device is held.
Document size and download time Shows the estimated document size and estimated download time for the page,
including all dependent files such as images and other media files.
Encoding indicator Shows the text encoding for the current document.
More Help topics
“Set window size and connection speed” on page 20
“Zoom in and out” on page 208
“Resize the Document window” on page 18
“Set download time and size preferences” on page 209
A B C D E F G H
13
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Property inspector overview
The Property inspector lets you examine and edit the most common properties for the currently selected page element,
such as text or an inserted object. The contents of the Property inspector vary depending on the element selected. For
example, if you select an image on your page, the Property inspector changes to show properties for the image (such
as the file path to the image, the width and height of the image, the border around the image, if any, and so on).
The Property inspector is at the lower edge of the workspace by default, but you can undock it and make it a floating
panel in the workspace.
More Help topics
“Dock and undock panels” on page 23
“Use the Property inspector” on page 21
Insert panel overview
The Insert panel contains buttons for creating and inserting objects such as tables, images, and links. The buttons are
organized into several categories, which you can switch by selecting the desired category from the Category pop-up
menu. Additional categories appear when the current document contains server code, such as ASP or CFML
documents.
14
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Some categories have buttons with pop-up menus. When you select an option from a pop-up menu, it becomes the
default action for the button. For example, if you select Image Placeholder from the Image button’s pop-up menu, the
next time you click the Image button, Dreamweaver inserts an image placeholder. Anytime you select a new option
from the pop-up menu, the default action for the button changes.
The Insert panel is organized in the following categories:
The Common category Lets you create and insert the most commonly used objects, such as images and tables.
The Layout category Lets you insert tables, table elements, div tags, frames, and Spry widgets. You can also choose
two views for tables: Standard (default) and Expanded Tables.
The Forms category Contains buttons for creating forms and inserting form elements, including Spry validation
widgets.
The Data category Lets you insert Spry data objects as well as other dynamic elements like recordsets, repeated
regions, and record insertion and update forms.
The Spry category Contains buttons for building Spry pages, including Spry data objects and widgets.
The InContext Editing category Contains buttons for building InContext editing pages, including buttons for Editable
Regions, Repeating Regions, and managing CSS classes.
The Text category Lets you insert a variety of text- and list-formatting tags, such as b, em, p, h1, and ul.
The Favorites category Lets you group and organize the Insert panel buttons you use the most in one common place.
Server-code categories Available only for pages that use a particular server language, including ASP, CFML Basic,
CFML Flow, CFML Advanced, and PHP. Each of these categories provides server-code objects that you can insert in
Code view.
Unlike other panels in Dreamweaver, you can drag the Insert panel out of its default dock position and drop it into a
horizontal position at the top of the Document window. When you do so, it changes from a panel to a toolbar (though
you cannot hide and display it in the same way as other toolbars).
More Help topics
“Use the Insert panel” on page 198
15
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Files panel overview
Use the Files panel to view and manage the files in your Dreamweaver site.
When you view sites, files, or folders in the Files panel, you can change the size of the viewing area, and expand or
collapse the Files panel. When the Files panel is collapsed, it displays the contents of the local site, the remote site, the
testing server, or the SVN repository as a list of files. When expanded, it displays the local site and either the remote
site, the testing server, or the SVN repository.
For Dreamweaver sites, you can also customize the Files panel by changing the view—either your local or remote site—
that appears by default in the collapsed panel.
(CS5.5) The Files panel interacts with the server at regular intervals to update its content. An error message is displayed
when you try to perform an action in the Files panel when it is running these auto-updates. To disable auto-updates,
open the Files panel options menu, and deselect Auto-Update in the View menu.
To update the contents of the panel manually, use the Refresh button in the panel. The current check-out status of files,
however, is updated only when auto-updates are enabled.
More Help topics
“Work with files in the Files panel” on page 75
16
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
CSS Styles panel overview
The CSS Styles panel lets you track the CSS rules and properties affecting a currently selected page element (Current
mode), or the rules and properties affecting an entire document (All mode). A toggle button at the top of the CSS Styles
panel lets you switch between the two modes. The CSS Styles panel also lets you modify CSS properties in both All and
Current mode.
You can resize any of the panes by dragging the borders between the panes.
In Current mode, the CSS Styles panel displays three panes: a Summary for Selection pane that displays the CSS
properties for the current selection in the document, a Rules pane that displays the location of selected properties (or
a cascade of rules for the selected tag, depending on your selection), and a Properties pane that lets you edit CSS
properties for the rule defining the selection.
In All mode, the CSS Styles panel displays two panes: an All Rules pane (on top), and a Properties pane (on bottom). The
All Rules pane displays a list of rules defined in the current document as well as all rules defined in style sheets attached
to the current document. The Properties pane lets you edit CSS properties for any selected rule in the All Rules pane.
Any changes you make in the Properties pane are applied immediately, letting you preview your work as you go.
Visual guides overview
Dreamweaver provides several kinds of visual guides to help you design documents and predict approximately how
they appear in browsers. You can do any of the following:
•Instantly snap the Document window to a desired window size to see how the elements fit on the page.
•Use a tracing image as the page background to help you duplicate a design created in an illustration or image-
editing application such as Adobe® Photoshop® or Adobe® Fireworks®.
•Use rulers and guides to provide a visual cue for precise positioning and resizing of page elements.
•Use the grid for precise positioning and resizing of absolutely positioned elements (AP elements).
Grid marks on the page help you align AP elements, and when snapping is enabled, AP elements automatically snap
to the closest grid point when moved or resized. (Other objects, such as images and paragraphs, do not snap to the
grid.) Snapping works regardless of whether the grid is visible.
17
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Using visual aids for layout” on page 167
GoLive users
If you have been using GoLive and want to switch to working with Dreamweaver, you can find an online introduction
to the Dreamweaver workspace and workflow, as well as a discussion of ways to migrate your sites to Dreamweaver.
More Help topics
Dreamweaver for GoLive users tutorial
Working in the Document window
Switch between views in the Document window
You can view a document in the Document window in Code view, Split Code view, Design view, Code and Design
views (Split view), or Live view. You also have the option of viewing Split Code view or Code and Design views
horizontally or vertically. (Horizontal display is the default.)
Switch to Code view
❖Do one of the following:
•Select View > Code.
•In the Document toolbar, click the Show Code View button.
Switch to Split Code view
Split Code view splits your document in two so that you can work on two sections of the code at once.
❖Select View > Split Code.
Switch to Design view
❖Do one of the following:
•Select View > Design.
•In the Document toolbar, click the Show Design View button.
Show both Code and Design views
❖Do one of the following:
•Select View > Code and Design.
•In the Document toolbar, click the Show Code and Design Views button.
18
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
By default, Code view appears at the top of the Document window and Design view appears at the bottom. To display
Design view on top, select View
> Design View on Top.
Toggle between Code view and Design view
❖Press Control+backquote (`).
If both views are showing in the Document window, this keyboard shortcut changes keyboard focus from one view to
the other.
Split views vertically
This option is only available for Split Code view and Code and Design views (Split view). It is disabled for Code view
and Design view.
1Make sure that you are in Split Code view (View > Split Code) or Code and Design views (View > Code and
Design).
2Select View > Split Vertically.
If you are in Code and Design views, you have the option of displaying Design view on the left (View > Design View
on Left).
More Help topics
“Document window overview” on page 8
“Preview pages in Live view” on page 276
Cascade or tile Document windows
If you have many documents open at once, you can cascade or tile them.
More Help topics
“Manage windows and panels” on page 22
“Display tabbed documents (Dreamweaver Macintosh)” on page 28
Cascade Document windows
❖Select Window > Cascade.
Tile Document windows
•(Windows) Select Window > Tile Horizontally or Window > Tile Vertically.
•(Macintosh) Select Window > Tile.
Resize the Document window
The Status bar displays the Document window’s current dimensions (in pixels). To design a page that looks its best at
a specific size, you can adjust the Document window to any of the predetermined sizes, edit those predetermined sizes,
or create sizes.
When you change the view size of a page in design or live view only the dimensions of the view size change. The
document size is unaltered.
19
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
In addition to predetermined and custom sizes, Dreamweaver also lists sizes specified in a media query. When you
select a size corresponding to a media query, Dreamweaver uses the media query to display the page. You can also
change the page orientation to preview the page for mobile devices where the page layout changes based on how the
device is held.
Resize the Document window to a predetermined size
❖Select one of the sizes from the Window Size pop-up menu at the bottom of the Document window. Dreamweaver
CS5.5 and later offers an extended list of choices, including choices for common mobile devices (as pictured below).
The window size shown reflects the inside dimensions of the browser window, without borders; the monitor size or
mobile device is listed to the right.
For less precise resizing, use your operating system’s standard methods of resizing windows, such as dragging the
lower-right corner of a window.
Note: (Windows only) Documents within the Document window are maximized by default, and you can't resize a
document when it's maximized. To de-maximize the document, click the de-maximize button
in the upper right
corner of the document.
Change the values listed in the Window Size pop-up menu
1Select Edit Sizes from the Window Size pop-up menu.
2Click any of the width or height values in the Window Sizes list, and type a new value.
To make the Document window adjust only to a specific width (leaving the height unchanged), select a height value
and delete it.
3Click the Description box to enter descriptive text about a specific size.
Add a new size to the Window Size pop-up menu
1Select Edit Sizes from the Window Size pop-up menu.
2Click the blank space below the last value in the Width column.
3Enter values for Width and Height.
To set the Width or Height only, simply leave one field empty.
4Click the Description field to enter descriptive text about the size you added.
20
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
For example, you might type SVGA or average PC next to the entry for an 800 x 600 pixel monitor, and 17-in. Mac
next to the entry for an 832 x 624 pixel monitor. Most monitors can be adjusted to a variety of pixel dimensions.
Set window size and connection speed
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Status Bar (CS5) or Window Sizes (CS5.5 and later) from the Category list on the left.
3Set any of the following options:
Window Sizes lets you customize the window sizes that appear in the Status bar’s pop-up menu.
Connection Speed determines the connection speed (in kilobits per second) used to calculate the download size. The
download size for the page is displayed in the Status bar. When an image is selected in the Document window, the
image’s download size is displayed in the Property inspector.
More Help topics
“Status bar overview” on page 12
“Resize the Document window” on page 18
Reports in Dreamweaver
You can run reports in Dreamweaver to find content, troubleshoot, or test content. You can generate the following
types of reports:
Search Lets you search for tags, attributes, and specific text within tags.
Reference Lets you search for helpful reference information.
Validation Lets you check for code or syntax errors.
Browser Compatibility Lets you test the HTML in your documents to see if any tags or attributes are unsupported by
your target browsers.
Link Checker Lets you find and fix broken, external, and orphaned links.
Site Reports Enable you to improve workflow and test HTML attributes in your site. Workflow reports include
checked out by, recently modified, and design notes; HTML reports include combinable nested font tags, accessibility,
missing Alt text, redundant nested tags, removable empty tags, and untitled documents.
FTP Log Enables you to view all FTP file-transfer activity.
Server Debug Lets you view information to debug an Adobe® ColdFusion® application.
Using toolbars, inspectors, and context menus
Display toolbars
Use the Document and Standard toolbars to perform document-related and standard editing operations; the Coding
toolbar to insert code quickly; and the Style Rendering toolbar to display your page as it would appear in different
media types. You can choose to display or hide the toolbars as necessary.
•Select View > Toolbars, and then select the toolbar.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) any of the toolbars and select the toolbar from the context menu.
21
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: To display or hide the Coding toolbar in the Code inspector (Window > Code Inspector), select Coding Toolbar
from the View Options pop-up menu at the top of the inspector.
More Help topics
“Document toolbar overview” on page 9
“Standard toolbar overview” on page 10
“Coding toolbar overview” on page 11
“Style Rendering toolbar overview” on page 10
Use the Property inspector
The Property inspector lets you examine and edit the most common properties for the currently selected page element,
such as text or an inserted object. The contents of the Property inspector vary depending on the element(s) selected.
To access help for a particular Property inspector, click the help button in the upper right corner of the Property
inspector, or select Help from a Property inspector’s Options menu.
Note: Use the Tag inspector to view and edit every attribute associated with a given tag’s properties.
More Help topics
“Property inspector overview” on page 13
“Set text properties in the Property inspector” on page 217
“Dock and undock panels” on page 23
“Change attributes with the Tag inspector” on page 316
Show or hide the Property inspector
❖Select Window > Properties.
Expand or collapse the Property inspector
❖Click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Property inspector.
View and change properties for a page element
1Select the page element in the Document window.
You might have to expand the Property inspector to view all the properties for the selected element.
2Change any of the properties in the Property inspector.
Note: For information on specific properties, select an element in the Document window, and then click the Help icon in
the upper-right corner of the
Property inspector.
3If your changes are not immediately applied in the Document window, apply the changes in one of these ways:
•Click outside the property-editing text fields.
•Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
•Press Tab to switch to another property.
22
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use context menus
Context menus provide convenient access to the most useful commands and properties related to the object or window
you’re working with. Context menus list only those commands that pertain to the current selection.
1Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the object or window.
2Select a command from the context menu.
Customizing the Dreamweaver CS5 workspace
Manage windows and panels
You can create a custom workspace by moving and manipulating Document windows and panels. You can also save
workspaces and switch among them. For Fireworks, renaming custom workspaces can lead to unexpected behavior.
Note: The following examples use Photoshop for demonstration purposes. The workspace behaves the same in all the
products.
Rearrange, dock, or float document windows
When you open more than one file, the Document windows are tabbed.
•To rearrange the order of tabbed Document windows, drag a window’s tab to a new location in the group.
•To undock (float or untab) a Document window from a group of windows, drag the window’s tab out of the group.
23
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: In Photoshop you can also choose Window > Arrange > Float in Window to float a single Document window,
or Window > Arrange > Float All In Windows to float all of the Document windows at once. See tech note kb405298
for more information.
Note: Dreamweaver does not support docking and undocking Document windows. Use the Document window’s
Minimize button to create floating windows (Windows), or choose Window > Tile Vertically to create side-by-side
Document windows. Search “Tile Vertically” in Dreamweaver Help for more information on this topic. The workflow
is slightly different for Macintosh users.
•To dock a Document window to a separate group of Document windows, drag the window into the group.
•To create groups of stacked or tiled documents, drag the window to one of the drop zones along the top, bottom, or
sides of another window. You can also select a layout for the group by using the Layout button on the Application bar.
Note: Some products do not support this functionality. However, your product may have Cascade and Tile commands
in the Window menu to help you lay out your documents.
•To switch to another document in a tabbed group when dragging a selection, drag the selection over the document’s
tab for a moment.
Note: Some products do not support this functionality.
Dock and undock panels
A dock is a collection of panels or panel groups displayed together, generally in a vertical orientation. You dock and
undock panels by moving them into and out of a dock.
•To dock a panel, drag it by its tab into the dock, at the top, bottom, or in between other panels.
•To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty bar above the tabs) into the dock.
•To remove a panel or panel group, drag it out of the dock by its tab or title bar. You can drag it into another dock
or make it free-floating.
Navigator panel being dragged out to new dock, indicated by blue vertical highlight
24
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Navigator panel now in its own dock
You can prevent panels from filling all the space in a dock. Drag the bottom edge of the dock up so it no longer meets
the edge of the workspace.
Move panels
As you move panels, you see blue highlighted drop zones, areas where you can move the panel. For example, you can
move a panel up or down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone above or below another panel. If you
drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace.
Note: The position of the mouse (rather than the position of the panel), activates the drop zone, so if you can’t see the drop
zone, try dragging the mouse to the place where the drop zone should be.
•To move a panel, drag it by its tab.
•To move a panel group, drag the title bar.
Narrow blue drop zone indicates Color panel will be docked on its own above the Layers panel group.
A. Title bar B. Tab C. Drop zone
Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while moving a panel to prevent it from docking. Press Esc while
moving the panel to cancel the operation.
Add and remove panels
If you remove all panels from a dock, the dock disappears. You can create a dock by moving panels to the right edge
of the workspace until a drop zone appears.
•To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) its tab and then select Close, or deselect it from
the Window menu.
•To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it wherever you want.
A
B
C
25
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Manipulate panel groups
•To move a panel into a group, drag the panel’s tab to the highlighted drop zone in the group.
Adding a panel to a panel group
•To rearrange panels in a group, drag a panel’s tab to a new location in the group.
•To remove a panel from a group so that it floats freely, drag the panel by its tab outside the group.
•To move a group, drag the title bar (the area above the tabs).
Stack floating panels
When you drag a panel out of its dock but not into a drop zone, the panel floats freely. The floating panel allows you
to position it anywhere in the workspace. You can stack floating panels or panel groups so that they move as a unit
when you drag the topmost title bar.
Free-floating stacked panels
•To stack floating panels, drag a panel by its tab to the drop zone at the bottom of another panel.
•To change the stacking order, drag a panel up or down by its tab.
Note: Be sure to release the tab over the narrow drop zone between panels, rather than the broad drop zone in a title bar.
•To remove a panel or panel group from the stack, so that it floats by itself, drag it out by its tab or title bar.
Resize panels
•To minimize or maximize a panel, panel group, or stack of panels, double-click a tab. You can also double-click the
tab area (the empty space next to the tabs).
•To resize a panel, drag any side of the panel. Some panels, such as the Color panel in Photoshop, cannot be resized
by dragging.
Collapse and expand panel icons
You can collapse panels to icons to reduce clutter on the workspace. In some cases, panels are collapsed to icons in the
default workspace.
26
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Panels collapsed to icons
Panels expanded from icons
•To collapse or expand all panel icons in a column, click the double arrow at the top of the dock.
•To expand a single panel icon, click it.
•To resize panel icons so that you see only the icons (and not the labels), adjust the width of the dock until the text
disappears. To display the icon text again, make the dock wider.
•To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its tab, its icon, or the double arrow in the panel’s title bar.
In some products, if you select Auto-Collapse Icon Panels from the Interface or User Interface Options preferences,
an expanded panel icon collapses automatically when you click away from it.
•To add a floating panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag it in by its tab or title bar. (Panels are automatically
collapsed to icons when added to an icon dock.)
•To move a panel icon (or panel icon group), drag the icon. You can drag panel icons up and down in the dock, into
other docks (where they appear in the panel style of that dock), or outside the dock (where they appear as floating
icons).
Save and switch workspaces
By saving the current size and position of panels as a named workspace, you can restore that workspace even if you
move or close a panel. The names of saved workspaces appear in the workspace switcher in the Application bar.
Save a custom workspace
1With the workspace in the configuration you want to save, do one of the following:
•(Illustrator) Choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace.
•(Photoshop, InDesign, InCopy) Choose Window > Workspace > New Workspace.
•(Dreamweaver) Choose Window > Workspace Layout > New Workspace.
27
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
•(Flash) Choose New Workspace from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.
•(Fireworks) Choose Save Current from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.
2Type a name for the workspace.
3(Photoshop, InDesign) Under Capture, select one or more options:
Panel Locations Saves the current panel locations (InDesign only).
Keyboard shortcuts Saves the current set of keyboard shortcuts (Photoshop only).
Menus or Menu Customization Saves the current set of menus.
Display or switch workspaces
❖Select a workspace from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.
In Photoshop, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to each workspace to navigate among them quickly.
Delete a custom workspace
•Select Manage Workspaces from the workspace switcher in the Application bar, select the workspace, and then
click Delete. (The option is not available in Fireworks.)
•(Photoshop, InDesign, InCopy) Select
•Delete Workspace
• from the workspace switcher.
•(Illustrator) Choose Window > Workspace > Manage Workspaces, select the workspace, and then click the Delete icon.
•(Photoshop, InDesign) Choose Window > Workspace >
•Delete Workspace
•, select the workspace, and then click Delete.
Restore the default workspace
1Select the Default or Essentials workspace from the workspace switcher in the application bar. For Fireworks, see
the article http://www.adobe.com/devnet/fireworks/articles/workspace_manager_panel.html.
Note: In Dreamweaver, Designer is the default workspace.
2For Fireworks (Windows), delete these folders:
Windows Vista \\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Fireworks CS4\
Windows XP \\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Fireworks CS4
3(Photoshop, InDesign, InCopy) Select Window > Workspace > Reset [Workspace Name].
(Photoshop) Restore a saved workspace arrangement
In Photoshop, workspaces automatically appear as you last arranged them, but you can restore the original, saved
arrangement of panels.
•To restore an individual workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Reset Workspace Name.
•To restore all the workspaces installed with Photoshop, click Restore Default Workspaces in the Interface
preferences.
28
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
To rearrange the order of workspaces in the application bar, drag them.
Display tabbed documents (Dreamweaver Macintosh)
You can view multiple documents in a single Document window by using tabs to identify each document. You can also
display them as part of a floating workspace, in which each document appears in its own window.
Open a tabbed document in a separate window
❖Control-click the tab and select Move To New Window from the context menu.
Combine separate documents into tabbed windows
❖Select Window > Combine As Tabs.
Change the default tabbed document setting
1Select Dreamweaver > Preferences, and then select the General category.
2Select or deselect Open Documents in Tabs, and click OK.
Dreamweaver does not alter the display of documents that are currently open when you change preferences.
Documents opened after you select a new preference, however, display according to the preference you selected.
Turn on color icons
By default, Dreamweaver CS4 and later uses black and white icons that turn into colored icons when you hover over
them. You can turn color icons on permanently so that no hovering is required.
❖Do one of the following:
•Choose View > Color Icons.
•Switch to the Classic or Coder workspace.
To turn color icons off again, deselect Color Icons in the View menu, or switch to a different workspace.
More Help topics
“Display or switch workspaces” on page 27
Hide and display the Dreamweaver Welcome screen
The Welcome screen appears when you start Dreamweaver and anytime that you do not have any documents open.
You can choose to hide the Welcome screen, and then later display it again. When the Welcome screen is hidden and
no documents are open, the Document window is
blank.
Hide the Welcome screen
❖Select the Don’t Show Again option on the Welcome screen.
Display the Welcome screen
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2In the General category, select the Show Welcome Screen option.
29
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
About customizing Dreamweaver in multiuser systems
You can customize Dreamweaver to suit your needs even in a multiuser operating system such as Windows XP or
Mac
OS X.
Dreamweaver prevents any user’s customized configuration from affecting any other user’s customized configuration.
To accomplish this goal, the first time you run Dreamweaver in one of the multiuser operating systems that it
recognizes, the application creates copies of a variety of configuration files. These user configuration files are stored in
a folder that belongs to you.
For example, in Windows XP, they’re stored in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application
Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver\en_US\Configuration, which is hidden by default. To show hidden files and folders, select
Tools
> Folder Options in
Windows Explorer
, click the View tab, and select the
Show Hidden Files
and Folders option.
In Windows Vista, they’re stored in C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Dreamweaver
\en_US\Configuration, which is hidden by default. To show hidden files and folders, select Tools
> Folder Options in
Windows Explorer
, click the View tab, and select the
Show Hidden Files
and Folders option.
In Mac OS X, they’re stored inside your Home folder; specifically, in Users/username/Library/Application
Support/Adobe/Dreamweaver/Configuration.
If you reinstall or upgrade Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver automatically makes backup copies of existing user
configuration files, so if you customized those files by hand, you still have access to the changes you made.
Set General preferences for Dreamweaver
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Set any of the following options:
Open Documents In Tabs Opens all documents in a single window with tabs that let you switch between documents
(Macintosh only).
Show Welcome Screen Displays the Dreamweaver Welcome screen when you start Dreamweaver or when you don’t
have any documents open.
Reopen Documents on Startup Opens any documents that were open when you closed Dreamweaver. If this option is
not selected, Dreamweaver displays the Welcome screen or a blank screen when you start (depending on your Show
Welcome Screen setting).
Warn When Opening Read-Only Files Alerts you when you open a read-only (locked) file. Choose to unlock/check out
the file, view the file, or cancel.
Enable Related Files Lets you see which files are connected to the current document (for example, CSS or JavaScript
files). Dreamweaver displays a button for each related file at the top of the document, and opens the file if you click the
button.
30
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Discover Dynamically-Related Files Lets you select whether Dynamically-Related Files appear in the Related Files
toolbar automatically, or after manual interaction. You can also choose to disable the discovery of Dynamically-
Related Files.
Update Links When Moving Files Determines what happens when you move, rename, or delete a document within
your site. Set this preference to always update links automatically, never update links, or prompt you to perform an
update. (See “Update links automatically” on page 268.)
Show Dialog When Inserting Objects Determines whether Dreamweaver prompts you to enter additional information
when inserting images, tables, Shockwave movies, and certain other objects by using the Insert panel or the Insert
menu. If this option is off, the dialog box does not appear and you must use the Property inspector to specify the source
file for images, the number of rows in a table, and so on. For roll over images and Fireworks HTML, a dialog box always
appears when you insert the object, regardless of this option setting. (To temporarily override this setting, Control-
click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) when creating and inserting objects.)
Enable Double-Byte Inline Input Lets you enter double-byte text directly into the Document window if you are using
a development environment or language kit that facilitates double-byte text (such as Japanese characters). When this
option is deselected, a text input window appears for entering and converting double-byte text; the text appears in the
Document window after it is accepted.
Switch To Plain Paragraph After Heading Specifies that pressing Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) at the end
of a heading paragraph in Design view creates a new paragraph tagged with a p tag. (A heading paragraph is one that’s
tagged with a heading tag such as h1 or h2.) When the option is disabled, pressing Enter or Return at the end of a
heading paragraph creates a new paragraph tagged with the same heading tag (allowing you to type multiple headings
in a row and then go back and fill in details).
Allow Multiple Consecutive Spaces Specifies that typing two or more spaces in Design view creates nonbreaking
spaces that appear in a browser as multiple spaces. (For example, you can type two spaces between sentences, as you
would on a typewriter.) This option is designed mostly for people who are used to typing in word processors. When
the option is disabled, multiple spaces are treated as a single space (because browsers treat multiple spaces as single
spaces).
Use <strong> and <em> in Place of <b> and <i> Specifies that Dreamweaver applies the strong tag whenever you
perform an action that would normally apply the b tag, and applies the em tag whenever you perform an action that
would normally apply the i tag. Such actions include clicking the Bold or Italic buttons in the text Property inspector
in HTML mode and choosing Format
> Style > Bold or Format > Style > Italic. To use the b and i tags in your
documents, deselect this option.
Note: The World Wide Web Consortium discourages use of the b and i tags; the strong and em tags provide more
semantic information than the b and i tags do.
Warn when placing editable regions within <p> or <h1> - <h6> tags Specifies whether a warning message is displayed
whenever you save a Dreamweaver template that has an editable region within a paragraph or heading tag. The
message tells you that users will not be able to create more paragraphs in the region. It is enabled by default.
Centering Specifies whether you want to center elements using divalign="center" or the center tag when you
click the Align Center button in the Property inspector.
Note: Both of these approaches to centering have been officially deprecated as of the HTML 4.01 specification; you should
use CSS styles to center text. Both of these approaches are still technically valid as of the XHTML 1.0 Transitional
specification, but they’re no longer valid in the XHTML 1.0 Strict specification.
Maximum Number of History Steps Determines the number of steps that the History panel retains and shows. (The
default value should be sufficient for most users.) If you exceed the given number of steps in the History panel, the
oldest steps are discarded.
31
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
For more information, see “Task automation” on page 255.
Spelling Dictionary lists the available spelling dictionaries. If a dictionary contains multiple dialects or spelling
conventions (such as American English and British English), the dialects are listed separately in the Dictionary pop-up
menu.
More Help topics
“Workspace layout overview” on page 5
“Update links automatically” on page 268
Set Fonts preferences for documents in Dreamweaver
A document’s encoding determines how the document appears in a browser. Dreamweaver font preferences let you
view a given encoding in the font and size you prefer. The fonts you select in the Fonts Preferences dialog, however,
only affect the way fonts appear in Dreamweaver; they do not affect the way the document appears in a visitor’s
browser. To change the way fonts appear in a browser, you need to change the text by using the Property inspector or
by applying a CSS rule.
For information on setting a default encoding for new documents, see “Creating and opening documents” on page 59.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Fonts from the Category list on the left.
3Select an encoding type (such as Western European or Japanese) from the Font Settings list.
Note: To display an Asian language, you must be using an operating system that supports double-byte fonts.
4Select a font and size to use for each category of the selected encoding.
Note: To appear in the font pop-up menus, a font must be installed on your computer. For example, to see Japanese text
you must have a Japanese font installed.
Proportional Font The font that Dreamweaver uses to display normal text (for example, text in paragraphs, headings,
and tables). The default depends on your system’s installed fonts. For most U.S. systems, the default is Times New
Roman 12 pt. (Medium) on Windows and Times 12 pt. on Mac
OS.
Fixed Font The font Dreamweaver uses to display text within pre, code, and tt tags. The default depends on your
system’s installed fonts. For most U.S. systems, the default is Courier New 10 pt. (Small) on Windows and Monaco 12
pt. on Mac
OS.
Code View The font used for all text that appears in the Code view and Code inspector. The default depends on your
system’s installed fonts.
More Help topics
“Understanding document encoding” on page 204
Customize Dreamweaver highlighting colors
Use the Highlighting preferences to customize the colors that identify template regions, library items, third-party tags,
layout elements, and code in Dreamweaver.
32
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Use the color picker” on page 208
“Change the highlight color of div tags” on page 154
Change a highlighting color
1Select Edit > Preferences and select the Highlighting category.
2Beside the object you want to change the highlighting color for, click the color box, and then use the color picker
to select a new color, or enter a hexadecimal value.
Activate or deactivate highlighting for an object
1Select Edit > Preferences and select the Highlighting category.
2Beside the object you want to activate or deactivate highlighting color for, select or deselect the Show option.
Restore default preferences
For procedures on restoring default Dreamweaver preferences, see Tech Note 83912.
Keyboard shortcuts
Create a reference sheet for the current shortcut set
A reference sheet is a record of the current shortcut set. The information is stored in HTML table format. You can view
the reference sheet in a web browser or print it.
1Select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh).
2Click the Export Set As HTML button, which is the third button in the set of four at the top of the dialog box.
3In the Save dialog box that appears, enter the name for the reference sheet, and select the appropriate location for
saving the file.
Customize keyboard shortcuts
Use the Keyboard Shortcut Editor to create your own shortcut keys, including keyboard shortcuts for code snippets.
You can also remove shortcuts, edit existing shortcuts, and select a predetermined set of shortcuts in the Keyboard
Shortcut Editor.
More Help topics
“Work with code snippets” on page 304
Create a keyboard shortcut
Create your own shortcut keys, edit existing shortcuts, or select a predetermined set of shortcuts.
1Select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh).
33
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Set any of the following options and click OK:
Current Set Allows you to choose a set of predetermined shortcuts included with Dreamweaver, or any custom set
you’ve defined. The predetermined sets are listed at the top of the menu. For example, if you are familiar with the
shortcuts found in HomeSite or BBEdit, you can use those shortcuts by choosing the corresponding predetermined set.
Commands Allows you to select a category of commands to edit. For example, you can edit menu commands, such as
the Open command, or code editing commands, such as Balance Braces.
To add or edit a keyboard shortcut for a code snippet, select Snippet from the Commands pop-up menu.
The command list Displays the commands associated with the category you selected from the Commands pop-up
menu, along with the assigned shortcuts. The Menu Commands category displays this list as a tree view that replicates
the structure of the menus. The other categories list the commands by name (such as Quit Application), in a flat list.
Shortcuts Displays all shortcuts assigned to the selected command.
Add Item (+) Adds a new shortcut to the current command. Click this button to add a new blank line to the Shortcuts.
Enter a new key combination and click Change to add a new keyboard shortcut for this command. You can assign two
different keyboard shortcuts for each command; if there are already two shortcuts assigned to a command, the Add
Item button does nothing.
Remove Item (-) Removes the selected shortcut from the list of shortcuts.
Press Key Displays the key combination you enter when you’re adding or changing a shortcut.
Change Adds the key combination shown in the Press Key to the list of shortcuts, or changes the selected shortcut to
the specified key combination.
Duplicate Set Duplicates the current set. Give the new set a name; the default name is the current set’s name with the
word copy appended.
Rename Set Renames the current set.
Export as HTML File Saves the current set in an HTML table format for easy viewing and printing. You can open the
HTML file in your browser and print the shortcuts for easy reference.
Delete Set Deletes a set. (You cannot delete the active set.)
Remove a shortcut from a command
1Select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh).
2From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category.
3In the Commands list, select a command and then select a shortcut.
4Click the Remove Item (-) button.
Add a shortcut to a command
1Select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh).
2From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category.
3In the Commands list, select a command.
To add a keyboard shortcut for a code snippet, select Snippet from the Commands pop-up menu.
The shortcuts assigned to the command appear in the Shortcuts.
34
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Prepare to add a shortcut by doing one of the following:
•If there are fewer than two shortcuts already assigned to the command, click the Add Item (+) button. A new blank
line appears in the Shortcuts and the insertion point moves to the Press Key.
•If there are already two shortcuts assigned to the command, select one of them (that one will be replaced by the new
shortcut). Then click in the Press Key.
5Press a key combination. The key combination appears in the Press Key.
Note: If there is a problem with the key combination (for example, if the key combination is already assigned to another
command), an explanatory message appears just below the Shortcuts and you may be unable to add or edit the shortcut.
6Click Change. The new key combination is assigned to the command.
Edit an existing shortcut
1Select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh).
2From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category.
3In the Commands list, select a command and then select a shortcut to change.
4Click in the Press Key and enter a new key combination.
5Click the Change button to change the shortcut.
Note: If there is a problem with the key combination (for example, if the key combination is already assigned to another
command), an explanatory message appears just below the Shortcuts field and you may be unable to add or edit the
shortcut.
About keyboard shortcuts and non-U.S. keyboards
The default Dreamweaver keyboard shortcuts work primarily on U.S.-standardized keyboards. Keyboards from other
countries (including those produced in the United Kingdom), may not provide the functionality necessary for utilizing
these shortcuts. If your keyboard does not support certain Dreamweaver-enabled shortcuts, Dreamweaver disables
their functionality.
To customize keyboard shortcuts that work with non-U.S.-standardized keyboards, see “Changing keyboard shortcut
mappings” in
Extending Dreamweaver
.
Extensions
Add and manage extensions in Dreamweaver
Extensions are new features that you can add easily to Dreamweaver. You can use many types of extensions; for
example, there are extensions that let you reformat tables, connect to back-end databases, or help you write scripts for
browsers.
Note: To install extensions that all users have access to in a multiuser operating system, you must be logged in as
Administrator (Windows) or root (Mac
OS X).
To find the latest extensions for Dreamweaver, use the
35
USING DREAMWEAVER
Workspace
Last updated 12/7/2011
Adobe Exchange
website at www.adobe.com/go/dreamweaver_exchange/. Once there, you can log in and download extensions (many
of which are free), join discussion groups, view user ratings and reviews, and install and use the Extension Manager.
You must install the Extension Manager before you can install extensions.
The Extension Manager is a separate application that lets you install and manage extensions in Adobe applications.
Start the Extension Manager from Dreamweaver by choosing Commands
> Manage Extensions.
1On the
2Adobe Exchange
3 website, click the download link for an extension.
Your browser might let you choose to open and install it directly from the site or save it to disk.
•If you are opening the extension directly from the site, the Extension Manager handles the installation
automatically.
•If you are saving the extension to disk, a good place to save the extension package file (.mxp or .mxi) is the
Downloaded Extensions folder within the Dreamweaver application folder on your
computer.
4Double-click the extension package file, or open the Extension Manager and select File > Install Extension. (Some
extensions aren’t accessible until you restart the application.
Note: Use the Extension Manager to remove extensions or to see more information about an extension.
More Help topics
“About customizing Dreamweaver in multiuser systems” on page 29
36
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 3: Working with Dreamweaver
sites
A Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 site is a collection of all of the files and assets in your website. You can create web pages
on your computer, upload them to a web server, and maintain the site by transferring updated files whenever you save
them. You can also edit and maintain websites that were created without Dreamweaver.
About Dreamweaver sites
What is a Dreamweaver “site”?
In Dreamweaver the term “site” refers to a local or remote storage location for the documents that belong to a website.
A Dreamweaver site provides a way to organize and manage all of your web documents, upload your site to a web
server, track and maintain your links, and manage and share files. You should define a site to take full advantage of
Dreamweaver features.
Note: To define a Dreamweaver site, you only need to set up a local folder. To transfer files to a web server or to develop
web applications, you must also add information for a remote site and testing server.
A Dreamweaver site consists of as many as three parts, or folders, depending on your development environment and
the type of website you are developing:
Local root folder Stores the files you’re working on. Dreamweaver refers to this folder as your “local site.” This folder
is typically on your local computer, but it can also be on a network server.
Remote folder Stores your files for testing, production, collaboration, and so on. Dreamweaver refers to this folder as
your “remote site” in the Files panel. Typically, your remote folder is on the computer where your web server is
running. The remote folder holds the files that users access on the Internet.
Together, the local and remote folders enable you to transfer files between your local hard disk and web server, making
it easy to manage files in your Dreamweaver sites. You work on files in the local folder, and then publish them to the
remote folder when you want other people to view them.
Testing server folder The folder where Dreamweaver processes dynamic pages.
For a tutorial on defining a Dreamweaver site, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_comm08_en.
Understanding local and remote folder structure
When you want to use Dreamweaver to connect to a remote folder, you specify the remote folder in the Servers
category of the Site Setup dialog box. The remote folder that you specify (also referred to as the “host directory”) should
correspond to the local root folder of your Dreamweaver site. (The local root folder is the top-level folder of your
Dreamweaver site.) Remote folders, like local folders, can have any title, but commonly, Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) name the top-level remote folders for individual user accounts public_html, pub_html, or something similar. If
you are in charge of your own remote server, and can name the remote folder anything you want, it is a good idea for
your local root folder and remote folder to have the same name.
37
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following example shows a sample local root folder on the left and a sample remote folder on the right. The local
root folder on the local machine maps directly to the remote folder on the web server, rather than to any of the remote
folder’s sub folders, or folders that exist above the remote folder in the directory structure.
Note: The above example illustrates one local root folder on the local machine, and one top-level remote folder on the
remote web server. If, however, you are maintaining a number of Dreamweaver sites on your local machine, you would
need an equal number of remote folders on the remote server. In such a case the above example would not apply, and you
would instead create different remote folders within the public_html folder, and then map them to their corresponding
local root folders on your local machine.
When you first establish a remote connection, the remote folder on the web server is usually empty. Then, when you
use Dreamweaver to upload all of the files in your local root folder, the remote folder populates with all of your web
files. The directory structure of the remote folder and the local root folder should always be the same. (That is, there
should always be a one-to-one correspondence between the files and folders in your local root folder, and the files and
folders in your remote folder.) If the structure of the remote folder doesn’t match the structure of the local root folder,
Dreamweaver uploads files to the wrong place, where they might not be visible to site visitors. Additionally, image and
link paths can easily break when folder and file structures are not in synch.
The remote folder must exist before Dreamweaver can connect to it. If you don’t have a designated folder that acts as
your remote folder on the web server, create one or ask your ISP’s server administrator to create one for
you.
Set up a local version of your site
To set up a local version of your site, all you need to do is specify the local folder where you’ll store all of your site files.
The local folder can be on your local computer or on a network server.
1Identify or create the folder on your computer where you want to store the local version of your site files. (The
folder can be anywhere on your computer.) You’ll specify this folder as your local site in Dreamweaver.
2In Dreamweaver, choose Site > New Site.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, make sure the Site category is selected. (It should be selected by default.)
4In the Site Name text box, enter a name for your site. This name appears in the Files panel and in the Manage Sites
dialog box; it does not appear in the browser.
5In the Local Site Folder text box, specify the folder you identified in step one—the folder on your computer where
you want to store the local version of your site files. You can click the folder icon to the right of the text box to
browse to the folder.
6Click Save to close the Site Setup dialog box. You can now begin working on your local site files in Dreamweaver.
login directory
(Shouldn’t be remote folder
in this case)
public_html
(Should be
remote folder)
Assets
(Shouldn’t be
remote folder)
Local folder
(root folder)
HTML
Assets
HTML
no
no
yes
38
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
When you’re ready, you can fill out the other categories in the Site Setup dialog box, including the Servers category,
where you can specify a remote folder on your remote server.
For a video tutorial on setting up a new Dreamweaver site, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_comm08_en.
Connect to a remote server
Once you’ve specified a local site in Dreamweaver, you can specify a remote server for your site as well. The remote
server (often referred to as the web server) is where you publish your site files so that people can view them online. The
remote server is simply another computer like your local computer with a collection of files and folders on it. You’ll
specify a folder for your site on the remote server, just as you specified a folder for your local site on your local
computer.
Dreamweaver refers to the specified remote folder as your remote site.
When you set up a remote folder, you must select a connection method for Dreamweaver to upload and download files
to and from your web server. The most typical connection method is FTP, but Dreamweaver also supports
local/network, FTPS, SFTP, WebDav, and RDS connection methods. If you don’t know which connection method to
use, ask your ISP or your server administrator.
Note: Dreamweaver also supports connections to IPv6-enabled servers. Supported connection types include FTP, SFTP,
WebDav, and RDS. For more information, see www.ipv6.org/
Specify a connection method
FTP connections
Use this setting if you connect to your web server using FTP.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
The following illustration shows the Basic screen of the Server category with the text fields already populated.
39
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Basic screen of the Server category, Site Setup dialog box.
4In the Server Name text box, specify a name for the new server. The name can be anything of your choosing.
5Select FTP from the Connect Using pop-up menu.
6In the FTP Address text box, enter the address of the FTP server to which you upload files for your website.
Your FTP address is the full Internet name of a computer system, such as ftp.mindspring.com. Enter the full address
without any additional text. In particular, don’t add a protocol name in front of the address.
If you do not know your FTP address, contact your web hosting company.
Note: Port 21 is the default port for receiving FTP connections. You can change the default port number by editing the
text box to the right. The result when you save your settings is a colon and the new port number appended to your FTP
address (for example, ftp.mindspring.com:29).
7In the Username and Password text boxes, enter the username and password that you use to connect to the FTP
server.
8Click Test to test your FTP address, username, and password.
Note: You must obtain the FTP address, username and password information from the system administrator for the
company hosting your site. No one else has access to this information. Enter the information exactly as your system
administrator gives it to you.
9Dreamweaver saves your password by default. Deselect the Save option if you prefer that Dreamweaver prompt you
for a password each time you connect to the remote server.
10 In the Root Directory text box, enter the directory (folder) on the remote server where you store documents that
are visible to the public.
If you’re uncertain about what to enter as the root directory, contact the server’s administrator or leave the text box
blank. On some servers, your root directory is the same as the directory you first connect to with FTP. To find out,
connect to the server. If a folder with a name like public_html, or www, or your user name, appears in the Remote File
view in your Files panel, that’s probably the directory you should enter in the Root Directory text box.
40
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
11 In the Web URL text box enter the URL of your website (for example, http://www.mysite.com). Dreamweaver uses
the Web URL to create site root-relative links, and to verify links when you use the link checker.
For a more extensive explanation of this option, see “Advanced Settings category” on page 47.
12 Expand the
13 More Options
14 section if you still need to set more options.
15 Select Use Passive FTP if your firewall configuration requires use of passive FTP.
Passive FTP enables your local software to set up the FTP connection rather than requesting the remote server to set
it up. If you’re not sure whether you use passive FTP, check with your system administrator, or try both checking and
unchecking the Use Passive FTP option.
For more information, see TechNote 15220 on the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/tn_15220.
16 Select Use IPv6 Transfer Mode if you are using an IPv6-enabled FTP server.
With the deployment of version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6), EPRT and EPSV have replaced the FTP commands
PORT and PASV, respectively. Thus, if you are trying to connect to an IPv6-enabled FTP server, you must use the
extended passive (EPSV) and the extended active (EPRT) commands for your data connection.
For more information, see www.ipv6.org/.
17 Select Use Proxy if you want to specify a proxy host or proxy port.
For more information, click the link to go to the Preferences dialog box, and then click the Help button in the Site
category of the Preferences dialog.
18 Click Save to close the Basic screen. Then in the Servers category, specify whether the server you just added or edited
is a remote server, a testing server, or both.
For help with troubleshooting FTP connectivity problems, see TechNote kb405912 on the Adobe website at
www.adobe.com/go/kb405912.
SFTP connections
Use Secure FTP (SFTP) if your firewall configuration requires use of secure FTP. SFTP uses encryption and public keys
to secure a connection to your testing server.
Note: Your server must be running an SFTP service for you to select this option. If you don’t know whether your server is
running SFTP, check with your server administrator.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4In the Server Name text box, specify a name for the new server. The name can be anything of your choosing.
5Select SFTP from the Connect Using pop-up menu.
The rest of the options are the same as the options for FTP connections. See the above section for more information.
Note: Port 22 is the default port for receiving SFTP connections.
41
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
FTPS connections (CS5.5)
FTPS (FTP over SSL) provides both encryption and authentication support as compared to SFTP that offers only
encryption support.
When using FTPS for data transfer, you can choose to encrypt your credentials, and also the data being transmitted to
the server. In addition, you can choose to authenticate the server's credentials and connections. The credentials of a
server are validated against the current set of trusted CA server certificates in the Dreamweaver database. Certificate
Authorities (CAs), which include companies like VeriSign, Thawte, and so on, issue digitally signed server certificates
Note: This procedure describes options specific to FTPS. For information on regular FTP options, see the previous section.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the “+” (Add New Server) button to add a new server.
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button.
4In Server Name, specify a name for the new server.
5In Connect Using, select one of the following based on your requirement.
FTP over SSL/TLS (Implicit Encryption) The server terminates the connection if the security request is not received.
FTP over SSL/TLS (Explicit Encryption) If the client does not request security, the server can choose to proceed with
an insecure transaction, or refuse/limit the connection.
6In Authentication, choose one of the following options:
None The server’s credentials, signed or self-signed, are displayed. If you accept the server’s credentials, the
certificate is added to a certificate store, trustedSites.db, in Dreamweaver. When you connect to the same server
the next time, Dreamweaver directly connects to the server.
Note: If the credentials of a self-signed certificate have changed on the server, you are prompted to accept the new
credentials.
Trusted The presented certificate is validated with the current set of trusted CA server certificates in the
Dreamweaver database. The list of trusted servers is stored in the cacerts.pem file.
Note: An error message is displayed if you select Trusted Server, and connect to a server with a self-signed certificate.
7Expand the
8More Options
9 section to set more options.
Encrypt Only Command Channel Select this option if you want to encrypt only the commands that are being
transmitted. Use this option when the data being transmitted is already encrypted, or does not contain sensitive
information.
Encrypt Only User Name and Password Select this option if you want to encrypt only your user name and
password.
10 Click Save to close the Basic screen. Then in the Servers category, specify whether the server you added or edited is
a remote server, a testing server, or both.
For help with troubleshooting FTP connectivity problems, see TechNote kb405912 on the Adobe website at
www.adobe.com/go/kb405912.
42
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Local or network connections
Use this setting to connect to a network folder, or if you are storing files or running your testing server on your local
computer.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4In the Server Name text box, specify a name for the new server. The name can be anything of your choosing.
5Select Local/Network from the Connect Using pop-up menu.
6Click the folder icon beside the Server Folder text box to browse to and select the folder where you store your site
files.
7In the Web URL text box enter the URL of your website (for example, http://www.mysite.com). Dreamweaver uses
the Web URL to create site root-relative links, and to verify links when you use the link checker.
For a more extensive explanation of this option, see “Advanced Settings category” on page 47.
8Click Save to close the Basic screen. Then in the Servers category, specify whether the server you just added or edited
is a remote server, a testing server, or both.
WebDAV connections
Use this setting if you connect to your web server using the Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning
(WebDAV) protocol.
For this connection method, you must have a server that supports this protocol, such as Microsoft Internet
Information Server (IIS) 5.0 or an appropriately configured installation of Apache web server.
Note: If you select WebDAV as your connection method, and you are using Dreamweaver in a multiuser environment,
you should also make sure that all of your users select WebDAV as the connection method. If some users select WebDAV,
and other users select other connection methods (FTP, for example), Dreamweaver’s check-in/check-out feature will not
work as expected, since WebDAV uses its own locking system.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4In the Server Name text box, specify a name for the new server. The name can be anything of your choosing.
5Select WebDAV from the Connect Using pop-up menu.
6For the URL, enter the complete URL to the directory on the WebDAV server you want to connect to.
This URL includes the protocol, port, and directory (if not the root directory). For example,
http://webdav.mydomain.net/mysite.
7Enter your username and password.
This information is for server authentication and is not related to Dreamweaver. If you are not sure of your username
and password, check with
your system administrator or webmaster.
43
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
8Click Test to test your connection settings.
9Select the Save option if you want Dreamweaver to remember your password each time you start a new session.
10 In the Web URL text box enter the URL of your website (for example, http://www.mysite.com). Dreamweaver uses
the Web URL to create site root-relative links, and to verify links when you use the link checker.
For a more extensive explanation of this option, see “Advanced Settings category” on page 47.
11 Click Save to close the Basic screen. Then in the Servers category, specify whether the server you just added or edited
is a remote server, a testing server, or both.
RDS connections
Use this setting if you connect to your web server using Remote Development Services (RDS). For this connection
method, your remote server must be on a computer running Adobe® ColdFusion®
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4In the Server Name text box, specify a name for the new server. The name can be anything of your choosing.
5Select RDS from the Connect Using pop-up menu.
6Click the Settings button and provide the following information in the Configure RDS Server dialog box:
•Enter the name of the host computer where your web server is installed.
The host name is probably an IP address or a URL. If you are unsure, ask your administrator.
•Enter the port number that you connect to.
•Enter your root remote folder as the host directory.
For example, c:\inetpub\wwwroot\myHostDir\.
•Enter your RDS username and password.
Note: These options might not appear if you set your username and password in the ColdFusion Administrator security
settings.
•Select the Save option if you want Dreamweaver to remember your settings.
7Click OK to close the Configure RDS Server dialog box.
8In the Web URL text box enter the URL of your website (for example, http://www.mysite.com). Dreamweaver uses
the Web URL to create site root-relative links, and to verify links when you use the link checker.
For a more extensive explanation of this option, see “Advanced Settings category” on page 47.
9Click Save to close the Basic screen. Then in the Servers category, specify whether the server you just added or edited
is a remote server, a testing server, or both.
Microsoft Visual SourceSafe connections
Support for Microsoft Visual SourceSafe has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
44
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set Advanced server options
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4Specify Basic options as necessary, and then click the Advanced button.
5Select Maintain Synchronization Information if you want to automatically synchronize your local and remote files.
(This option is selected by default.)
6Select Automatically Upload Files to Server on Save if you want Dreamweaver to upload your file to your remote
site when you save the file.
7Select Enable File Check Out if you want to activate the Check In/Out system.
8If you are using a Testing server, select a server model from the Server Model pop-up menu. For more information,
see “Set up a testing server” on page 45.
Connect to or disconnect from a remote folder with network access
❖You don’t need to connect to the remote folder; you’re always connected. Click the Refresh button to see your
remote files.
Connect to or disconnect from a remote folder with FTP access
❖In the Files panel:
•To connect, click Connects to Remote Host in the toolbar.
•To disconnect, click Disconnect in the toolbar.
Troubleshoot the remote folder setup
The following list provides information on common problems you may encounter in setting up a remote folder, and
how to resolve them.
There is also an extensive tech note that specifically provides FTP troubleshooting information on the Adobe website
at www.adobe.com/go/kb405912.
•The Dreamweaver FTP implementation might not work properly with certain proxy servers, multilevel firewalls,
and other forms of indirect server access. If you encounter problems with FTP access, ask your local system
administrator for help.
•For a Dreamweaver FTP implementation, you must connect to the remote system’s root folder. Be sure to indicate
the remote system’s root folder as the host directory. If you’ve specified the host directory using a single slash (/),
you might need to specify a relative path from the directory you are connecting to and the remote root folder. For
example, if the remote root folder is a higher level directory, you may need to specify a ../../ for the host directory.
•Use underscores in place of spaces, and avoid special characters in file and folder names wherever possible. Colons,
slashes, periods, and apostrophes in file or folder names can sometimes cause problems.
•If you encounter problems with long filenames, rename them with shorter names. On the Mac OS, filenames
cannot be more than 31 characters long.
45
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Many servers use symbolic links (UNIX), shortcuts (Windows), or aliases (Macintosh) to connect a folder on one
part of the server’s disk with another folder elsewhere. Such aliases usually have no effect on your ability to connect
to the appropriate folder or directory; however, if you can connect to one part of the server but not another, there
might be an alias discrepancy.
•If you encounter an error message such as “cannot put file,” your remote folder may be out of space. For more
detailed information, look at the FTP log.
Note: In general, when you encounter a problem with an FTP transfer, examine the FTP log by selecting Window >
Results (Windows) or Site
> FTP Log (Macintosh), then clicking the FTP Log tag.
Set up a testing server
If you plan to develop dynamic pages, Dreamweaver needs the services of a testing server to generate and display
dynamic content while you work. The testing server can be your local computer, a development server, a staging server,
or a production server.
For a detailed overview about the purposes of a testing server, see David Powers’s Dreamweaver Developer Center
article, Setting up a local testing server in Dreamweaver CS5.
More Help topics
“Choosing an application server” on page 513
“Preparing to build dynamic sites” on page 504
Set up a testing server
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Click New to set up a new site, or select an existing Dreamweaver site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4Specify Basic options as necessary, and then click the Advanced button.
Note: You must specify a Web URL in the Basic screen when specifying a testing server. For more information, see the
next section.
5Under Testing Server, select the server model you want to use for your web application.
Note: As of Dreamweaver CS5, Dreamweaver no longer installs ASP.NET, ASP JavaScript, or JSP server behaviors.
(You can manually re-enable the deprecated server behaviors if you wish, but keep in mind that Dreamweaver no
longer officially supports them.) If you’re working on ASP.NET, ASP JavaScript, or JSP pages, however, Dreamweaver
will still support Live view, code coloring, and code hinting for those pages. You do not need to select ASP.NET, ASP
JavaScript or JSP in the Site Definition dialog box for any of these features to work.
6Click Save to close the Advanced screen. Then in the Servers category, specify the server you just added or edited
as a testing server.
46
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
About the Web URL for the testing server
You must specify a Web URL so Dreamweaver can use the services of a testing server to display data and to connect
to databases while you work. Dreamweaver uses the design-time connection to provide you with useful information
about the database, such as the names of the tables in your database and the names of the columns in your tables.
A Web URL for a testing server comprises the domain name and any of your website’s home directory’s subdirectories
or virtual directories.
Note: The terminology used in Microsoft IIS may vary from server to server, but the same concepts apply to most web
servers.
The home directory The folder on the server mapped to your site’s domain name. Suppose the folder you want to use
to process dynamic pages is c:\sites\company\, and this folder is your home directory (that is, this folder is mapped to
your site’s domain name—for example, www.mystartup.com). In that case, the URL prefix is
http://www.mystartup.com/.
If the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is a subfolder of your home directory, simply add the subfolder
to the URL. If
your home directory is c:\sites\company\, your site’s domain name is www.mystartup.com, and the
folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is
c:\sites\company\inventory. Enter the following Web URL:
http://www.mystartup.com/inventory/
If the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is not your home directory or any of its subdirectories, you must
create a virtual directory.
A virtual directory A folder that is not physically contained in the home directory of the server even though it appears
to be in the URL. To create a virtual directory, specify an alias for the folder’s path in the URL. Suppose your home
directory is c:\sites\company, your processing folder is d:\apps\inventory, and you define an alias for this folder called
warehouse. Enter the following Web URL:
http://www.mystartup.com/warehouse/
Localhost Refers to the home directory in your URLs when the client (usually a browser, but in this case
Dreamweaver) runs on the same system as your web server. Suppose Dreamweaver is running on the same Windows
system as the web server, your home directory is c:\sites\company, and you defined a virtual directory called
warehouse to refer to the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages. The following are the Web URLs you would
enter for selected web servers:
Note: By default the ColdFusion MX 7 web server runs on port 8500, the Apache web server runs on port 80, and the
Jakarta Tomcat web server runs on port 8080.
For Macintosh users running the Apache web server, your personal home directory is Users/MyUserName/Sites,
where MyUserName is your Macintosh user name. An alias called ~MyUserName is automatically defined for this
folder when you install Mac
OS 10.1 or higher. Therefore, your default Web URL in Dreamweaver is as follows:
http://localhost/~MyUserName/
Web server Web URL
ColdFusion MX 7 http://localhost:8500/warehouse/
IIS http://localhost/warehouse/
Apache (Windows) http://localhost:80/warehouse/
Jakarta Tomcat (Windows) http://localhost:8080/warehouse/
47
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
If the folder you want to use to process dynamic pages is Users:MyUserName:Sites:inventory, then the Web URL is as
follows:
http://localhost/~MyUserName/inventory/
Version Control and Advanced settings
Access the Version Control and Advanced settings categories in the Site Setup dialog box by choosing Site > Manage
Sites, selecting the site you want to edit, and clicking Edit.
Version Control category
You can get and check in files using Subversion. For more information, see “Use Subversion (SVN) to get and check
in files” on page 88.
Advanced Settings category
Local Info
Default Images Folder The folder in which you want to store images for your site. Enter the path to the folder, or click
the folder icon to browse to the folder. Dreamweaver uses the path to the folder when you add images to documents.
Links Relative To Specifies the kind of links Dreamweaver creates when you create links to other assets or pages in
your site. Dreamweaver can create two kinds of links: document-relative and site root-relative. For more information
on the differences between the two, see “Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths” on page 261.
By default, Dreamweaver creates document-relative links. If you change the default setting and select the Site Root
option, make sure the correct Web URL for the site is entered in the Web URL text box (see below). Changing this
setting does not convert the path of existing links; the setting will only apply to new links you create visually with
Dreamweaver.
Note: Content linked by site-root relative links does not appear when you preview documents in a local browser unless
you specify a testing server, or select the Preview Using Temporary File option in Edit > Preferences > Preview In Browser.
This is because browsers don’t recognize site roots—servers do.
Web URL The URL of your website. Dreamweaver uses the Web URL to create site root-relative links, and to verify
links when you use the link checker.
Site root-relative links are useful if you are uncertain about the final location in the directory structure of the page
you’re working on, or if you think you might later relocate or reorganize files that contain links. Site root-relative links
are links whose paths to other site assets are relative to the site root, not the document, so if you move the document
at some point, the path to the assets remains correct.
For example, let’s say that you’ve specified http://www.mysite.com/mycoolsite (the remote server’s site root directory)
as the Web URL, and that you also have an images folder in the mycoolsite directory on the remote server
(http://www.mysite.com/mycoolsite/images). Let’s also say that your index.html file is in the mycoolsite directory.
When you create a site root-relative link from the index.html file to an image in the images directory, the link looks as
follows:
<img src="/mycoolsite/images/image1.jpg" />
This is different from a document-relative link, which would simply be:
48
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
<img src="images/image1.jpg" />
The appendage of /mycoolsite/ to the image source links the image relative to the site root, not the document.
Assuming the image stays in the image directory, the file path to the image (/mycoolsite/images/image1.jpg), will
always be correct, even if you move the index.html file to another directory.
For more information, see “Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths” on page 261.
With regard to link verification, the Web URL is necessary for determining whether a link is internal or external to the
site. For example, if your web URL is http://www.mysite.com/mycoolsite, and the link checker finds a link with a URL
of http://www.yoursite.com on your page, the checker determines that the latter link is an external link and reports it
as such. Similarly, the link checker uses the Web URL to determine if links are internal to the site, and then checks to
see if those internal links are broken.
Case-sensitive Links Checking Checks that the case of the links matches the case of the filenames when Dreamweaver
checks links. This option is useful on UNIX systems where filenames are case-sensitive.
Enable Cache Indicates whether to create a local cache to improve the speed of link and site management tasks. If you
do not select this option, Dreamweaver asks you if you want to create a cache again before it creates the site. It is a good
idea to select this option because the Assets panel (in the Files panel group) only works if a cache is created.
Cloaking and other categories
For more information on the Cloaking, Design Notes, File View Columns, Contribute, Templates, or Spry categories,
click the Help button in the dialog box.
Manage Sites dialog box options
The Manage Sites dialog box is your gateway into various Dreamweaver site functions. From this dialog box, you can
initiate the process for creating a new site, editing an existing site, duplicating a site, removing a site, or importing or
exporting a site’s settings.
Note: The Manage Sites dialog box does not let you connect to or publish files to a remote server. For instructions on
connecting to a remote server, see “Connect to a remote server” on page 38. If you are trying to connect to an existing
website, see “Edit an existing remote website” on page 50.
1Select Site > Manage Sites and select a site from the list on the left.
2Click a button to select one of the options, make any changes you need to make, and click Done.
New Enables you to create a new site. When you click the New button the Site Setup dialog box opens, letting you
name and specify the location for your new site. For more information, see “Set up a local version of your site” on
page 37.
Edit Enables you to edit information such as username, password, and server information for an existing
Dreamweaver site. Select the existing site in the site list on the left and click the Edit button to edit the existing site. For
more information on editing existing site options, see “Connect to a remote server” on page 38.
Duplicate Creates a copy of an existing site. To duplicate a site, select the site in the site list on the left and click the
Duplicate button. The duplicated site appears in the site list with the word “copy” appended to the name of the site. To
change the name of the duplicated site, leave the site selected and click the Edit button.
Remove Deletes the selected site and all of its setup information from your list of Dreamweaver sites; it does not delete
the actual site files. (If you want to remove the site files from your computer, you need to do that manually.) To delete
a site from Dreamweaver, select the site in the site list and then click the Remove button. You cannot undo this action.
49
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Export/Import Enables you to either export the selected site’s settings as an XML file (*.ste), or import a site’s settings.
For more information, see “Import and export Dreamweaver site settings” on page 49.
Note: The import feature only imports site settings that have previously been exported. It does not import site files to
create a new Dreamweaver site. For information on creating a new site in Dreamweaver, see “Set up a local version of
your site” on page 37.
More Help topics
“About Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Edit an existing remote website” on page 50
Import and export Dreamweaver site settings
You can export your site settings as an XML file that you can later import into Dreamweaver. Exporting/importing
sites enables you to transfer site settings to other machines and product versions, share site settings with other
users,
and back up site settings.
The import/export feature does not import or export site files. It only imports/exports site settings to save you the time
of recreating sites in Dreamweaver. For information on creating a new site in Dreamweaver, see “Set up a local version
of your site” on page 37.
Export your site settings regularly so that you have a backup copy if anything happens to the site.
More Help topics
“About Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
Backing up and restoring site definitions
Export your site settings
1Select Site > Manage sites.
2Select one or more sites whose settings you want to export and click Export:
•To select more than one site, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) each site.
•To select a range of sites, Shift-click the first and last site in the range.
3If you want to back up your site settings for yourself, select the first option in the Exporting Site dialog box and click
OK. Dreamweaver saves remote server login information, such as the user name and password, as well as local path
information.
4If you want to share your settings with other users, select the second option in the Exporting Site dialog box and
click OK. (Dreamweaver does not save information that would not work for other users, such as your remote server
login information and local paths.)
5For each site whose settings you want to export, browse to a location where you want to save the site file and click
Save. (Dreamweaver saves each site’s settings as an XML file, with an .ste file extension.)
6Click Done.
Note: Save the *.ste file to your site root folder or to your desktop to make it easy to find. If you cannot remember where
you put it, do a file search on your computer for files with the *.ste extension to locate it.
50
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Import site settings
1Select Site > Manage sites.
2Click Import.
3Browse to and select one or more sites—defined in files with an .ste file extension—whose settings you want to
import.
To select more than one site, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) each .ste file. To select a range
of sites, Shift-click the first and last file in the range.
4Click Open and then click Done.
After Dreamweaver imports the site settings, the site names appear in the Manage Sites dialog box.
Edit an existing remote website
You can use Dreamweaver to copy an existing remote site (or any branch of a remote site) to your local disk and edit
it there, even if you didn’t use Dreamweaver to create the original site. You must have the correct connection
information, and connect to the site’s remote server, before you can edit the site.
1Create a local folder to contain the existing site and set up the folder as the local folder for the site. (See “Set up a
local version of your site” on page 37.)
Note: You must locally duplicate the entire structure of the relevant branch of the existing remote site.
2Set up a remote folder, using the remote access information about the existing site. You must connect to the remote
site to download the files to your computer before you can edit them. (See “Connect to a remote server” on page 38.)
Make sure to choose the correct root folder for the remote site.
3In the Files panel (Window > Files), click the Connects To Remote Host button (for FTP access) or the Refresh
button (for network access) in the toolbar to view the remote site.
4Edit the site:
•If you want to work with the entire site, select the root folder of the remote site in the Files panel, and click Get
File(s) in the toolbar to download the entire site to your local disk.
•If you want to work with just one of the files or folders of the site, locate the file or folder in the Remote view of the
Files panel, and click Get File(s) in the toolbar to download that file to your local disk.
Dreamweaver automatically duplicates as much of the remote site’s structure as is necessary to place the downloaded
file in the correct part of the site hierarchy. When editing only one part of a site, you should generally include
dependent files, such as image files.
More Help topics
“About Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
Editing an existing website (Dreamweaver blog)
51
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set site preferences for transferring files
You select preferences to control file transfer features that appear in the Files panel.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2In the Preferences dialog box, select Site from the category list on the left.
3Set the options and click OK.
Always Show Specifies which site (remote or local) is always shown, and in which Files panel pane (left or right) the
local and remote files appear.
By default, the local site always appears on the right. Whichever pane is not chosen (the left one by default) is the
changeable pane: this pane can display the files in the other site (the remote site by default).
Dependent Files Displays a prompt for transferring dependent files (such as images, external style sheets, and other
files referenced in the HTML file) that the browser loads when it loads the HTML file. By default, both Prompt on
Get/Check Out and Prompt on Put/Check In are selected.
It’s usually a good idea to download dependent files when checking out a new file, but if the latest versions of the
dependent files are already on the local disk, there’s no need to download them again. This is also true for uploading
and checking in files: no need if up-to-date copies are already at the destination.
If you deselect these options, your dependent files are not transferred. Therefore, to force the Dependent Files dialog
box to appear even when these options are deselected, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) while
choosing the Get, Put, Check In, or Check Out commands.
FTP Connection Determines whether the connection to the remote site is terminated after the specified number of
minutes have passed with no activity.
FTP Time Out Specifies the number of seconds in which Dreamweaver attempts to make a connection with the remote
server.
If there is no response after the specified amount of time, Dreamweaver displays a warning dialog box alerting you to
this fact.
FTP Transfer options Determines whether Dreamweaver selects the default option, after a specified number of
seconds, when a dialog box appears during a file transfer and there is no user response.
Proxy Host Specifies the address of the proxy server through which you connect to outside servers if you are behind a
firewall.
If you are not behind a firewall, leave this space blank. If you are behind a firewall, select the Use Proxy option in the
Site Definition dialog box (Servers > Edit Existing Server (pencil icon) >
More Options
).
Proxy Port Specifies the port in your proxy or firewall through which you pass to connect to the remote server. If you
connect through a port other than 21 (the default for FTP), enter the number here.
Put Options: Save Files Before Putting Indicates that unsaved files are saved automatically before being put onto the
remote site.
Move Options: Prompt Before Moving Files on Server Alerts you when you attempt to move files on the remote site.
Manage Sites Opens the Manage Sites dialog box, where you can edit an existing site or create a new one.
52
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can define whether the types of files that you transfer are transferred as ASCII (text) or binary, by customizing
the FTPExtensionMap.txt file in the Dreamweaver/Configuration folder (on the Macintosh,
FTPExtensionMapMac.txt). For more information see, Extending Dreamweaver.
Managing Contribute sites
Managing Contribute sites
Adobe® Contribute® CS4 combines a web browser with a web-page editor. It enables your colleagues or clients to
browse to a page in a site that you created, and to edit or update the page if they have permission to do so. Contribute
users can add and update basic web content, including formatted text, images, tables, and links. Contribute site
administrators can limit what ordinary (non-administrator) users can do in a site.
Note: This topic assumes that you are a Contribute administrator.
As the site administrator, you give non-administrators the ability to edit pages by creating a connection key and
sending it to them (for information on how to do this, see Contribute Help. You can also set up a connection to a
Contribute site using Dreamweaver, which lets you or your site designer connect to the Contribute site and use all of
the editing capabilities available in Dreamweaver.
Contribute adds functionality to your website with Contribute Publishing Server (CPS), a suite of publishing
applications and user management tools that lets you integrate Contribute with your organization’s user directory
service—for example, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or Active Directory. When you enable your
Dreamweaver site as a Contribute site, Dreamweaver reads Contribute’s administration settings whenever you
connect to the remote site. If Dreamweaver detects that CPS is enabled, it inherits some of the functionality of CPS,
such as file rollback and event logging.
You can use Dreamweaver to connect to and modify a file in a Contribute site. Most Dreamweaver capabilities work
the same way with a Contribute site as they do with any other site. However, when you use Dreamweaver with a
Contribute site, Dreamweaver automatically performs certain file-management operations, such as saving multiple
revisions of a document, and logging certain events in the CPS Console.
For more information, see Contribute Help.
Site structure and page design for a Contribute site
To enable Contribute users to edit your website, keep the following points in mind when you structure it:
•Keep your site structure simple. Don’t nest folders too deeply. Group related items together in a folder.
•Set up appropriate read and write permissions for folders on the server.
•Add index pages to folders as you create them, to encourage Contribute users to place new pages in the correct
folders. For example, if Contribute users provide pages containing meeting minutes, create a folder in the site root
folder named meeting_minutes, and create an index page in that folder. Then provide a link from your site’s main
page to the index page for meeting minutes. A Contribute user can then navigate to that index page and create a
new page of minutes for a specific meeting, linked from that page.
•On each folder’s index page, provide a list of links to the individual content pages and documents in that folder.
•Keep page designs as simple as possible, minimizing fancy formatting.
53
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Use CSS rather than HTML tags and name your CSS styles clearly. If the Contribute users use a standard set of styles
in Microsoft Word, use the same names for the CSS styles, so that Contribute can map the styles when a user copies
information from a Word document and pastes it into a Contribute page.
•To prevent a CSS style from being available to Contribute users, change the name of the style so that the name starts
with mmhide_. For example, if you use a style named RightJustified in a page but you don’t want Contribute users
to be able to use that style, rename the style to mmhide_RightJustified.
Note: You have to add mmhide_ to the style name in Code view; you cannot add it in the CSS panel.
•Use as few CSS styles as possible, to keep things simple and clean.
•If you use server-side includes for HTML page elements, such as headers or footers, create an unlinked HTML page
that contains links to the include files. Contribute users can then bookmark that page and use it to navigate to the
include files and edit them.
More Help topics
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
“Working with server-side includes” on page 325
File transfer to and from a Contribute site
Contribute uses a system much like the Dreamweaver Check In/Check Out system to ensure that only one user at a
time can edit a given web page. When you enable Contribute compatibility in Dreamweaver, the Dreamweaver Check
In/Check Out system is automatically enabled.
To transfer files to and from a Contribute site using Dreamweaver, always use the Check In and Check Out commands.
If you instead use the PUT and GET commands to transfer files, you might overwrite the modifications that a
Contribute user has recently made to a file.
When you check a file in to a Contribute site, Dreamweaver makes a backup copy of the previous checked-in version
of the file in the _baks folder and adds your user name and a date stamp to a Design Notes file.
More Help topics
“Checking in and checking out files” on page 85
Contribute file and folder permissions on the server
Contribute provides a way to manage file and folder permissions for each user role you define; however, Contribute
doesn’t provide a way to manage the underlying read and write permissions assigned to files and folders by the server.
In Dreamweaver, you can manage those permissions directly on the
server.
If a Contribute user doesn’t have read access on the server to a dependent file, such as an image displayed in a page,
the contents of the dependent file don’t appear in the Contribute window. For example, if a user doesn’t have read
access to an images folder, the images in that folder appear as broken image icons in Contribute. Similarly,
Dreamweaver templates are stored in a subfolder of the site’s root folder, so if a Contribute user doesn’t have read
access to the root folder, they can’t use templates in that site unless you copy the templates to an appropriate folder.
When you set up a Dreamweaver site, you must give users read access on the server to the /_mm folder (the _mm
subfolder of the root folder), the /Templates folder, and all of the folders containing assets that they will need to use.
If, for security reasons, you can’t give users read access to the /Templates folder, you can still enable Contribute users
to access
templates. See “Enable Contribute users to access templates without root folder access” on page 57.
54
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
For more information about Contribute permissions, see Administering Contribute in Contribute Help.
Contribute special files
Contribute uses a variety of special files that aren’t intended to be viewed by visitors to your site:
•The shared settings file, which has an obfuscated filename with a CSI extension, appears in a folder named _mm in
the root folder of the site, and contains information that Contribute uses to manage the site
•Older versions of files, in folders named _baks
•Temporary versions of pages, so that users can preview changes
•Temporary lock files, indicating that a given page is being edited or previewed
•Design Notes files containing metadata about the site’s pages
In general, you shouldn’t edit any of these Contribute special files using Dreamweaver; Dreamweaver manages
them automatically.
If you don’t want these Contribute special files to appear on your publicly accessible server, you can set up a staging
server where Contribute users work on pages. Then periodically copy those web pages from the staging server to a
production server that’s on the web. If you take this staging-server approach, copy only web pages to the production
server, not any of the above-listed Contribute special files. In particular, don’t copy the _mm and _baks folders to
the production
server.
Note: For information about setting up a server to prevent visitors from seeing files in folders that begin with an
underscore, see “Website security” in Contribute Help.
Occasionally you might need to manually delete Contribute special files. For example, there might be
circumstances in which Contribute fails to delete temporary preview pages when the user is finished previewing; in
that case, you would have to manually delete those temporary pages. Temporary preview pages have filenames that
begin with TMP.
Similarly, under some circumstances an outdated lock file may be accidentally left on the server. If that happens,
you must manually delete the lock file to allow others to edit the page.
Prepare a site for use with Contribute
If you’re preparing an existing Dreamweaver site for Contribute users, you need to explicitly enable Contribute
compatibility to use Contribute-related features; Dreamweaver does not prompt you to do this; however, when you
connect to a site that’s been set up as a Contribute site (that has an administrator), Dreamweaver prompts you to
enable Contribute compatibility.
Not all connection types support Contribute compatibility. The following restrictions apply to connection types:
•If your remote site connection uses WebDAV, you can’t enable Contribute compatibility, because those source-
control systems aren’t compatible with the Design Notes and Check In/Check Out systems that Dreamweaver uses
for Contribute sites.
•If you use RDS to connect to your remote site, you can enable Contribute compatibility, but you must customize
your connection before you can share it with Contribute users.
•If you’re using your local computer as a web server, you must set up the site using an FTP or network connection
to your computer (rather than just a local folder path) to be able to share your connection with Contribute users.
When you enable Contribute compatibility, Dreamweaver automatically enables Design Notes (including the Upload
Design Notes For Sharing option) and the Check In/Check Out system.
55
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
If Contribute Publishing Server (CPS) is enabled on the remote site you are connecting to, Dreamweaver notifies the
CPS every time you trigger a network operation such as checking in, rolling back, or publishing a file. The CPS will log
these events, and you can view the log in the CPS Administration Console. (If you disable CPS, these events are not
logged.) You enable CPS using Contribute. For more information, see Adobe Contribute Help.
Note: You can make a site Contribute compatible without having Contribute on your computer; but if you want to be
able to start Contribute Administrator from Dreamweaver, you must have Contribute installed on the same computer as
Dreamweaver and you must be connected to the remote site before you enable Contribute compatibility. Otherwise,
Dreamweaver cannot read Contribute’s administrative settings to determine whether CPS and Rollback are enabled.
Important: You must make sure that the shared settings file (CSI file) that Contribute uses to administer the site is on
the remote server and uncorrupted. Contribute automatically creates this file (and overwrites old versions of it) whenever
you administer in Contribute Administrator. If the shared settings file is not on the server or is corrupted, Dreamweaver
returns the error, "The file required for Contribute compatibility does not exist on the server" whenever you attempt a
network operation (such as put). To ensure that the correct file is on the server, disable the connection to the server in
Dreamweaver, start Contribute Administrator, make an administration change, and then reconnect to the server in
Dreamweaver. For more information, see Adobe Contribute Help.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select a site, then click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, expand Advanced Settings, select the Contribute category, and then select Enable
Contribute Compatibility.
4If a dialog box appears saying that you must enable Design Notes and Check In/Check Out, click OK.
5If you haven’t already provided your Check In/Check Out contact information, type your name and e-mail address
in the dialog box, and then click OK. Rollback status, CPS status, the Site Root URL text box, and the Administer
Site in Contribute button appear in the Site Definition dialog box.
If Rollback is enabled in Contribute, you’ll have the ability to roll back to previous versions of files that you’ve
changed in Dreamweaver.
6Check the URL in the Site Root URL text box and correct it if necessary. Dreamweaver constructs a site root URL
based on other site-definition information you’ve provided, but sometimes the constructed URL isn’t quite right.
7Click the Test button to verify that you’ve entered the correct URL.
Note: If you are ready to send a connection key or perform Contribute site administration tasks now, skip the
remaining steps.
8Click Administer Site in Contribute if you want to make administration changes. Remember, you must have
Contribute installed on the same machine if you want to open Contribute Administrator from Dreamweaver.
9Click Save and then click Done.
More Help topics
“Rolling back files (Contribute users)” on page 97
Administer a Contribute site using Dreamweaver
After you enable Contribute compatibility, you can use Dreamweaver to start Contribute to perform site
administration tasks.
Note: Contribute must be installed on the same computer as Dreamweaver.
56
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
As an administrator of a Contribute site, you can:
•Change the administrative settings for the site.
Contribute administrative settings are a collection of settings that apply to all users of your website. These settings
enable you to fine-tune Contribute to provide a better user experience.
•Change the permissions granted to user roles in Contribute.
•Set up Contribute users.
Contribute users need certain information about the site to be able to connect to it. You can package all of this
information in a file called a connection key to send to Contribute users.
Note: A connection key is not the same as a Dreamweaver exported site file.
Before you give Contribute users the connection information they need to edit pages, use Dreamweaver to create
the basic folder hierarchy for your site, and to create any templates and CSS style sheets needed for the site.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select a site, and then click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, expand Advanced Settings and select the Contribute category.
4Click the Administer Site in Contribute button.
Note: This button does not appear if you have not enabled Contribute compatibility.
5If prompted, enter the administrator password, and then click OK.
The Administer Website dialog box appears.
•To change administrative settings, select a category from the list on the left, and then change settings as necessary.
•To change role settings, in the Users and Roles category, click Edit Role Settings, and then make changes as
necessary.
•To send a connection key to set up users, in the Users and Roles category, click Send Connection Key, and then
complete the Connection Wizard.
6Click Close, click OK, and then click Done.
For more information about administrative settings, managing user roles, or creating a connection key, see Contribute Help.
More Help topics
“Import and export Dreamweaver site settings” on page 49
Delete, move, or rename a remote file in a Contribute site
Deleting a file from the remote server that hosts a Contribute site works much like deleting a file from the server for
any Dreamweaver site. However, when you delete a file from a Contribute site, Dreamweaver asks whether to delete
all older versions of the file. If you choose to keep the older versions, Dreamweaver saves a copy of the current version
in the _baks folder so you can restore it later.
Renaming a remote file or moving it from one folder to another in a Contribute site works the same way it works in
any Dreamweaver site. In a Contribute site, Dreamweaver also renames or moves the associated previous versions of
the file that are saved in the _baks folder.
1Select the file in the Remote pane of the Files panel (Window > Files), and then press Backspace (Windows) or
Delete
(Macintosh).
57
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
A dialog box appears asking you to confirm that you want to delete the file.
2In the confirmation dialog box:
•To delete all previous versions of the file as well as the current version, select the Delete Rollback Versions option.
•To leave previous versions on the server, deselect the Delete Rollback Versions option.
3Click Yes to delete the file.
Enable Contribute users to access templates without root folder access
In a Contribute site, you manage underlying file and folder permissions directly on the server. If, for security reasons,
you can’t give users read access to the /Templates folder, you can still make the templates available to users.
1Set up the Contribute site so that its root folder is the folder you want users to see as the root.
2Manually copy the template folder from the main site’s root folder into the Contribute site’s root folder, using the
Files panel.
3After you update templates for the main site, recopy the changed templates into appropriate subfolders as needed.
If you take this approach, don’t use site root-relative links in the subfolders. Site root-relative links are relative to the
main root folder on the server, not to the root folder you define in Dreamweaver. Contribute users can’t create site
root-relative links.
If links in a Contribute page appear to be broken, it’s possible that there’s a problem with folder permissions,
particularly if the links link to pages outside of the Contribute user’s root folder. Check read and write permissions for
folders on the server.
More Help topics
“Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths” on page 261
Troubleshoot a Contribute site
If a remote file in a Contribute site appears to be checked out, but the file isn’t actually locked on the user’s computer,
you can unlock the file to enable users to edit it.
When you click any button related to Contribute site administration, Dreamweaver verifies that it can connect to your
remote site and that the Site Root URL you’ve given for the site is valid. If Dreamweaver can’t connect, or if the URL
isn’t valid, an error message appears.
If the administration tools aren’t working properly, there might be something wrong with the _mm folder.
Unlock a file in a Contribute site
Note: Before following this procedure, make sure that the file really isn’t checked out. If you unlock a file while a
Contribute user is editing it, multiple users might edit the file simultaneously.
1Do one of the following:
•Open the file in the Document window, and then select Site > Undo Check Out.
•In the Files panel (Window > Files), right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and then select Undo
Check Out.
A dialog box might appear, indicating who has the file checked out and asking you to confirm that you want to unlock
the file.
2If the dialog box appears, click Yes to confirm.
58
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with Dreamweaver sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
The file is unlocked on the server.
Troubleshoot connection problems for a Contribute site
1Check the Site Root URL in the Contribute category of the Site Definition dialog box by opening that URL in a
browser, to make sure that the correct page opens.
2Use the Test button in the Remote Info category of the Site Definition dialog box to make sure that you can connect
to the site.
3If the URL is correct but the Test button results in an error message, ask your system administrator for help.
Troubleshoot Contribute administration tools
1On the server, make sure that you have read and write permissions, and executable permissions if necessary, for the
_mm folder.
2Make sure that the _mm folder contains a shared settings file with a CSI extension.
3If it doesn’t, use the Connection Wizard (Windows) or Connection Assistant (Macintosh) to create a connection
to the site and to become an administrator for the site. The shared settings file is created automatically when you
become an administrator. For more information about becoming an administrator for an existing Contribute
website, see Administering Contribute in Contribute Help.
59
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 4: Creating and Managing Files
Creating and opening documents
About creating Dreamweaver documents
Dreamweaver offers a flexible environment for working with a variety of web documents. In addition to HTML
documents, you can create and open a variety of text-based documents, including ColdFusion Markup Language
(CFML), ASP, JavaScript, and
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS). Source code files, such as Visual Basic, .NET, C#, and Java, are also supported.
Dreamweaver provides several options for creating a new document. You can create any of the following:
•A new blank document or template
•A document based on one of the predesigned page layouts that comes with Dreamweaver, including over 30 CSS-
based page layouts
•A document based on one of your existing templates
You can also set document preferences. For example, if you typically work with one type of document, you can set
it as the default document type for new pages you create.
You can easily define document properties, such as meta tags, document title, and background colors, and several
other page properties in either Design view or Code view.
Dreamweaver file types
You can work with a variety of file types in Dreamweaver. The primary kind of file you will work with is the HTML
file. HTML files—or Hypertext Markup Language files—contain the tag-based language responsible for displaying a
web page in a browser. You can save HTML files with either the .html or .htm extension. Dreamweaver saves files using
the .html extension by default.
Dreamweaver lets you create and edit HTML5-based web pages. Starter layouts are also available for building HTML5
pages from scratch.
Following are some of the other common file types you might use when working in Dreamweaver:
CSS Cascading Style Sheet files have a .css extension. They are used to format HTML content and control the
positioning of various page elements.
GIF Graphics Interchange Format files have a .gif extension. GIF format is a popular web graphic format for cartoons,
logos, graphics with transparent areas, and animations. GIFs contain a maximum of 256 colors.
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group files (named after the organization that created the format) have a .jpg
extension, and are usually photographs or high-color images. The JPEG format is best for digital or scanned
photographs, images using textures, images with gradient color transitions, and any images that require more than 256
colors.
XML Extensible Markup Language files have a .xml extension. They contain data in a raw form that can be formatted
using XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language).
60
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
XSL Extensible Stylesheet Language files have a .xsl or .xslt extension. They are used to style XML data that you want
to display on a web page.
CFML ColdFusion Markup Language files have a .cfm extension. They are used to process dynamic pages.
PHP Hypertext Preprocessor files have a .php extension and are used to process dynamic pages.
More Help topics
“Displaying XML data with XSLT” on page 477
“Building applications visually” on page 583
“Understanding Cascading Style Sheets” on page 118
Create a blank page
You can create a page that contains a predesigned CSS layout, or create a completely blank page and then create a
layout of your own.
1Select File > New.
2In the Blank Page category of the New Document dialog box, select the kind of page you want to create from the
Page Type column. For example, select HTML to create a plain HTML page, select ColdFusion to create a
ColdFusion page, and so on.
3If you want your new page to contain a CSS layout, select a predesigned CSS layout from the Layout column;
otherwise, select None. Based on your selection, a preview and description of the selected layout appears on the
right side of the dialog box.
The predesigned CSS layouts provide the following types of columns:
Fixed Column width is specified in pixels. The column does not resize based on the size of the browser or the site
visitor’s text settings.
Liquid Column width is specified as a percentage of the site visitor’s browser width. The design adapts if the site visitor
makes the browser wider or narrower, but does not change based on the site visitor’s text settings.
Dreamweaver also offers two HTML5 CSS layouts: two- and three-column fixed.
4Select a document type from the DocType pop-up menu. In most cases, you can use the default selection, XHTML
1.0 Transitional.
Selecting one of the XHTML document type definitions from the DocType (DTD) menu makes your page XHTML-
compliant. For example, you can make an HTML document XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0 Transitional
or XHTML 1.0 Strict from the menu. XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) is a reformulation of HTML
as an XML application. Generally, using XHTML gives you the benefits of XML, while ensuring the backward and
future compatibility of your web documents.
Note: For more information about XHTML, see the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website, which contains the
specification for XHTML 1.1 - Module-Based XHTML (www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/) and XHTML 1.0
(www.w3c.org/TR/xhtml1/), as well as XHTML validator sites for web-based files (http://validator.w3.org/) and local
files (http://validator.w3.org/file-upload.html).
Dreamweaver also offers HTML5 as a doctype option.
5If you selected a CSS layout in the Layout column, select a location for the layout’s CSS from the Layout CSS pop-
up menu.
Add To Head Adds CSS for the layout to the head of the page you’re creating.
61
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create New File Adds CSS for the layout to a new external CSS file and attaches the new style sheet to the page you’re
creating.
Link To Existing File Lets you specify an existing CSS file that already contains the CSS rules needed for the layout. To
do this, click the Attach Style Sheet icon above the Attach CSS file pane and select an existing CSS style sheet. This
option is particularly useful when you want to use the same CSS layout (the CSS rules for which are contained in a
single file) across multiple documents.
6(Optional) You can also attach CSS style sheets to your new page (unrelated to the CSS layout) when you create the
page. To do this, click the Attach Style Sheet icon
above the Attach CSS file pane and select a CSS style sheet.
For a detailed walk-through of this process, see David Powers’s article, Automatically attaching a style sheet to new
documents.
7Select Enable InContext Editing if you want to create a page that becomes InContext Editing-enabled as soon as
you save it.
An InContext Editing-enabled page must have at least one div tag that can be specified as an editable region. For
example, if you’ve selected the HTML page type, you must select one of the CSS layouts for your new page, since these
layouts already contain pre-defined div tags. The InContext Editing editable region is automatically placed on the div
tag with the content ID. You can later add more editable regions to the page if you like.
8Click Preferences if you want to set default document preferences, such as a document type, encoding, and a file
extension.
9Click Get More Content if you want to open Dreamweaver Exchange where you can download more page design
content.
10 Click the Create button.
11 Save the new document (File > Save).
12 In the dialog box that appears, navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.
It’s a good idea to save your file in a Dreamweaver site.
13 In the File Name box, type a name for the file.
Avoid using spaces and special characters in file and folder names, and do not begin a filename with a numeral. In
particular, do not use special characters (such as é, ç, or ¥) or punctuation marks (such as colons, slashes, or periods)
in the names of files you intend to put on a remote server; many servers change these characters during upload, which
will cause any links to the files to break.
More Help topics
“XHTML code” on page 282
“Laying out pages with CSS” on page 146
“Set default document type and encoding” on page 66
“Business Catalyst InContext Editing” on page 471
Create a blank template
You can use the New Document dialog box to create Dreamweaver templates. By default, templates are saved in the
Templates folder of your site.
1Select File > New.
62
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
2In the New Document dialog box, select the Blank Template category.
3Select the kind of page you want to create from the Template Type column. For example, select HTML template to
create a plain HTML template, select ColdFusion template to create a ColdFusion template, and so on.
4If you want your new page to contain a CSS layout, select a predesigned CSS layout from the Layout column;
otherwise, select None. Based on your selection, a preview and description of the selected layout appears on the
right side of the dialog box.
The predesigned CSS layouts provide the following types of columns:
Fixed Column width is specified in pixels. The column does not resize based on the size of the browser or the site
visitor’s text settings.
Liquid Column width is specified as a percentage of the site visitor’s browser width. The design adapts if the site visitor
makes the browser wider or narrower, but does not change based on the site visitor’s text settings.
5Select a document type from the DocType pop-up menu. In most cases, you will want to leave this selected to the
default selection, XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
Selecting one of the XHTML document type definitions from the DocType (DTD) menu makes your page XHTML-
compliant. For example, you can make an HTML document XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0 Transitional
or XHTML 1.0 Strict from the menu. XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) is a reformulation of HTML
as an XML application. Generally, using XHTML gives you the benefits of XML, while ensuring the backward and
future compatibility of your web documents.
Note: For more information about XHTML, see the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website, which contains the
specification for XHTML 1.1 - Module-Based XHTML (www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/) and XHTML 1.0
(www.w3c.org/TR/xhtml1/), as well as XHTML validator sites for web-based files (http://validator.w3.org/) and local
files (http://validator.w3.org/file-upload.html).
6If you selected a CSS layout in the Layout column, select a location for the layout’s CSS from the Layout CSS pop-
up menu.
Add to Head Adds CSS for the layout to the head of the page you’re creating.
Create New File Adds CSS for the layout to a new external CSS styles sheet and attaches the new style sheet to the page
you’re creating.
Link To Existing File Lets you specify an existing CSS file that already contains the CSS rules needed for the layout. To
do this, click the Attach Style Sheet icon
above the Attach CSS file pane and select an existing CSS style sheet. This
option is particularly useful when you want to use the same CSS layout (the CSS rules for which are contained in a
single file) across multiple documents.
7(Optional) You can also attach CSS style sheets to your new page (unrelated to the CSS layout) when you create the
page. To do this, click the Attach Style Sheet icon
above the Attach CSS file pane and select a CSS style sheet.
8Select Enable InContext Editing if you want to create a page that becomes InContext Editing-enabled as soon as
you save it.
An InContext Editing-enabled page must have at least one div tag that can be specified as an editable region. For
example, if you’ve selected the HTML page type, you must select one of the CSS layouts for your new page, since these
layouts already contain pre-defined div tags. The InContext Editing editable region is automatically placed on the div
tag with the content ID. You can later add more editable regions to the page if you like.
9Click Preferences if you want to set default document preferences, such as a document type, encoding, and a file
extension.
10 Click Get More Content if you want to open Dreamweaver Exchange where you can download more page design
content.
63
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
11 Click the Create button.
12 Save the new document (File > Save). If you haven’t added editable regions to the template yet, a dialog box appears
telling you that there are no editable regions in the document. Click OK to close the dialog box.
13 In the
14 Save As
15 dialog box, select a site in which to save the template.
16 In the File Name box, type a name for the new template. You do not need to append a file extension to the name of
the template. When you click Save, the .dwt extension is appended to the new template, which is saved in the
Templates folder of your site.
Avoid using spaces and special characters in file and folder names and do not begin a filename with a numeral. In
particular, do not use special characters (such as é, ç, or ¥) or punctuation (such as colons, slashes, or periods) in the
names of files you intend to put on a remote server; many servers change these characters during upload, which will
cause any links to the files to break.
More Help topics
“XHTML code” on page 282
“Laying out pages with CSS” on page 146
“Creating and managing templates” on page 374
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Set default document type and encoding” on page 66
“Business Catalyst InContext Editing” on page 471
Create a page based on an existing template
You can select, preview, and create a new document from an existing template. You can either use the New Document
dialog box to select a template from any of your Dreamweaver-defined sites or use the Assets panel to create a new
document from an existing template.
More Help topics
“Creating and managing templates” on page 374
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Set default document type and encoding” on page 66
Create a document based on a template
1Select File > New.
2In the New Document dialog box, select the Page From Template category.
3In the Site column, select the Dreamweaver site that contains the template you want use, and then select a template
from the list on the right.
4Deselect Update Page When Template Changes if you don’t want to update this page each time you make changes
to the template on which this page is based.
5Click Preferences if you want to set default document preferences, such as a document type, encoding, and a file
extension.
64
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
6Click Get More Content if you want to open Dreamweaver Exchange where you can download more page design
content.
7Click Create and save the document (File > Save).
Create a document from a template in the Assets panel
1Open the Assets panel (Window > Assets), if it is not already open.
2In the Assets panel, click the Templates icon on the left to view the list of templates in your current site.
If you just created the template you want to apply, you might need to click the Refresh button to see it.
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the template you want to apply, then select New From
Template.
The document opens in the Document window.
4Save the document.
Create a page based on a Dreamweaver sample file
Dreamweaver comes with several professionally developed frame page layout and CSS design files. You can use these
sample files as starting points for designing pages in your sites. When you create a document based on a sample file,
Dreamweaver creates a copy of the file.
You can preview a sample file and read a brief description of a document’s design elements in the New Document
dialog box. In the case of CSS style sheets, you can copy a predesigned style sheet and apply it to your documents.
Note: If you create a document based on a predefined frameset, only the frameset structure is copied, not the frame
contents; additionally, you must save each frame file separately.
1Select File > New.
2In the New Document dialog box, select the Page From Sample category.
3In the Sample Folder column, select CSS Style Sheet or Frameset; then select a sample file from the list on the right.
4Click the Create button.
The new document opens in the Document window (Code and Design views). If you selected CSS Style Sheet, the CSS
style sheet opens in Code view.
5Save the document (File > Save).
6If the Copy Dependent Files dialog box appears, set the options, and then click Copy to copy the assets to the
selected folder.
You can choose your own location for the dependent files or use the default folder location Dreamweaver generates
(based on the sample file’s source name).
More Help topics
“Understanding Cascading Style Sheets” on page 118
“Save frame and frameset files” on page 192
65
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create other kinds of pages
The Other category of the New Document dialog box lets you create various types of pages that you might want to use
in Dreamweaver, including C#, VBScript, and text-only pages.
1Select File > New.
2In the New Document dialog box, select the Other category.
3Select the kind of document you want to create from the Page Type column and click the Create button.
4Save the document (File > Save).
Save and revert documents
You can save a document using its current name and location, or save a copy of a document using a different name
and location.
When naming files, avoid using spaces and special characters in file and folder names. In particular, do not use special
characters (such as é, ç, or ¥) or punctuation (such as colons, slashes, or periods) in the names of files you intend to
put on a remote server; many servers change these characters during upload, which will cause any links to the files to
break. Also, do not begin a filename with a numeral.
More Help topics
“Create a blank page” on page 60
Save a document
1Do one of the following:
•To overwrite the current version on the disk, and save any changes you have made, select File > Save.
•To save the file in a different folder or using a different name, select File >
•Save As
•.
2In the
3Save As
4 dialog box that appears, navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.
5In the File Name text box, type a name for the file.
6Click Save to save the file.
Save all open documents
1Select File > Save All.
2If there are any unsaved documents open, the
3Save As
4dialog box is displayed for each unsaved document.
In the dialog box that appears, navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.
5In the File Name box, type a name for the file and click Save.
66
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Revert to the last saved version of a document
1Select File > Revert.
A dialog box asks if you want to discard your changes, and revert to the previously saved version.
2Click Yes to revert to the previous version; click No to keep your changes.
Note: If you save a document, and then exit Dreamweaver, you cannot revert to the previous version of the document
when you restart Dreamweaver.
Set default document type and encoding
You can define which document type is used as a default document for a site.
For example, if most pages in your site are of a specific file type (such as Cold Fusion, HTML, or ASP documents), you
can set document preferences that automatically create new documents of the specified file type.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
You can also click the Preferences button in the New Document dialog box to set new document preferences when you
create a new document.
2Click New Document from the category list on the left.
3Set or change preferences as necessary, and click OK to save them.
Default Document Select a document type that will be used for pages that you create.
Default Extension Specify the file extension you prefer (.htm or .html) for new HTML pages you create.
Note: This option is disabled for other file types.
Default Document Type (DDT) Select one of the XHTML document type definitions (DTD) to make new pages
XHTML-compliant. For example, you can make an HTML document XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0
Transitional or XHTML 1.0 Strict from the menu.
Default Encoding Specify the encoding to be used when a new page is created, as well as when a document is opened
that does not specify any encoding.
If you select Unicode (UTF-8) as the document encoding, entity encoding is not necessary because UTF-8 can safely
represent all characters. If you select another document encoding, entity encoding may be necessary to represent
certain characters. For more information on character entities, see www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html.
If you select Unicode (UTF-8) as a default encoding, you can include a Byte Order Mark (BOM) in the document by
selecting the Include Unicode Signature (BOM) option.
A BOM is 2-4 bytes at the beginning of a text file that identifies a file as Unicode, as well as the byte order of the
following bytes. Because UTF-8 has no byte order, adding a UTF-8 BOM is optional. For UTF-16 and UTF-32, it is
required.
Unicode Normalization Form Select one of these options if you select Unicode (UTF-8) as a default encoding.
There are four Unicode Normalization Forms. The most important is Normalization Form C because it's the most
common one used in the Character Model for the World Wide Web. Adobe provides the other three Unicode
Normalization Forms for completeness.
Show New Document Dialog Box on Control+N Deselect this option (“on Command+N” for Macintosh) to
automatically create a document of the default document type when you use the key command.
67
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
In Unicode, there are characters that are visually similar but can be stored within the document in different ways. For
example, “ë” (e-umlaut) can be represented as a single character, “e-umlaut,” or as two characters, “regular Latin e” +
“combining umlaut.” A Unicode combining character is one that gets used with the previous character, so the umlaut
would appear above the “Latin e.” Both forms result in the same visual typography, but what is saved in the file is
different for each form.
Normalization is the process of making sure all characters that can be saved in different forms are all saved using the
same form. That is, all “ë” characters in a document are saved as single “e-umlaut” or as “e” + “combining umlaut,”
and not as both forms in one document.
For more information on Unicode Normalization and the specific forms that can be used, see the Unicode website at
www.unicode.org/reports/tr15.
More Help topics
“XHTML code” on page 282
“Understanding document encoding” on page 204
Converting HTML5 to an older doctype
Using File > Convert to switch from HTML5 to an older DOCTYPE doesn’t remove HTML5 elements or attributes.
Only the DOCTYPE changes, and trailing slashes (for XHTML) are inserted.
Semantic tags, such as <header> and <article>, and attributes such as required, placeholder, and
type="number" are not affected.
Set the default file extension of new HTML documents
You can define the default file extension of HTML documents created in Dreamweaver. For example, you can use an
.htm or .html extension for all new HTML documents.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
You can also click the Preferences button in the New Document dialog box to set new document preferences when you
create a new document.
2Click New Document from the category list on the left.
3Make sure that HTML is selected in the Default Document pop-up menu.
4In the Default Extension box, specify the file extension you want for new HTML documents created in
Dreamweaver.
For Windows, you can specify the following extensions: .html, .htm, .shtml, .shtm, .stm, .tpl, .lasso, .xhtml.
For Macintosh, you can specify the following extensions: .html, .htm, .shtml, .shtm, .tpl, .lasso, .xhtml, .ssi.
Open and edit existing documents
You can open an existing web page or text-based document, whether or not it was created in Dreamweaver, and edit
it in either Design view or Code view.
If the document you open is a Microsoft Word file that was saved as an HTML document, you can use the Cleanup
Word HTML command to remove the extraneous markup tags that Word inserts into HTML files.
To clean up HTML or XHTML that was not generated by Microsoft Word, use the Cleanup HTML command.
68
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also open non-HTML text files, such as JavaScript files, XML files, CSS style sheets, or text files saved by word
processors or text editors.
1Select File > Open.
You can also use the Files panel to open files.
2Navigate to and select the file you want to open.
Note: If you haven’t already done so, it’s a good idea to organize files you plan to open and edit in a Dreamweaver site,
instead of opening them from another location.
3Click Open.
The document opens in the Document window. JavaScript, text, and CSS Style Sheets open in Code view by default.
You can update the document while working in Dreamweaver, and save the changes in the file.
More Help topics
“Clean up code” on page 310
“Start an external editor for media files” on page 248
“Work with files in the Files panel” on page 75
Open Related Files
Dreamweaver lets you view files related to your main document, without losing the main document’s focus. For
example, if you have CSS and JavaScript files attached to a main document, Dreamweaver lets you view and edit these
related files in the Document window while keeping the main document visible.
Note: Dynamically Related Files (such as PHP files in Content Management Systems) are covered in the next Help
section.
By default, Dreamweaver displays the names of all files related to a main document in a Related Files toolbar below the
main document’s title. The order of the buttons in the toolbar follows the order of related files links that exist within
the main document.
Note: If a related file is missing, Dreamweaver still displays the corresponding button in the Related Files toolbar. If you
click the button, however, Dreamweaver does not display anything.
Dreamweaver supports the following kinds of related files:
•Client-side script files
•Server Side Includes
•Spry data set sources (XML and HTML)
•External CSS style sheets (including nested style sheets)
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with related files, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10relatedfiles.
For a video tutorial on working with Live View, related files, and the Code Navigator, see
www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4044_dw.
69
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Open a related file from the Related Files toolbar
Do one of the following:
•In the Related Files toolbar at the top of the document, click the filename of the related file you want to open.
•In the Related Files toolbar, right-click the filename of the related file you want to open and select Open as Separate
File from the context menu. When you open a related file by this method, the main document does not remain
simultaneously visible.
Open a related file from the Code navigator
1Place the insertion point on a line or in an area that you know is affected by a related file.
2Wait for the Code Navigator indicator to appear, and then click it to open the Code Navigator.
3Hover over the items in the Code Navigator to see more information about them. For example, if you want to
change a particular CSS color property, but don’t know which rule it resides in, you can find the property by
hovering over the available rules in the Code Navigator.
4Click the item you’re interested in to open the corresponding related file.
Return to the source code of the main document
❖Click the Source Code button in the Related Files toolbar.
Change the display of related files
You can view related files in a number of ways:
•When you open a related file from Design view or Code and Design views (Split view), the related file displays in a
split view above the Design view of the main document.
You can select View > Design View on Top if you want the related file to display at the bottom of the Document
window instead.
•When you open a related file from vertically split Code and Design views (View > Split vertically), the related file
displays in a split view alongside the Design view of the main document.
You can select or deselect Design View on Left (View > Design View on Left), depending on where you want the
Design view.
•When you open a related file from Split Code view or Vertical Split Code view (View > Split Code view, and View >
Split vertically), the related file displays in a split view beneath, above, or alongside the source code for the main
document, depending on the options you have selected.
The “code view” in the display option refers to the source code of the main document. For example, if you select
View
> Code View on Top, Dreamweaver displays the source code of the main document in the top half of the
Document window. If you select View
> Code View on Left, Dreamweaver displays the source code of the main
document on the left side of the Document window.
•Standard Code view does not let you display related Documents at the same time as the main document’s source code.
Disable related files
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2In the General category, deselect Enable Related Files.
70
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Switch between views in the Document window” on page 17
“Navigate to related code” on page 302
“Previewing pages in Dreamweaver” on page 276
Related files tutorial
Open Dynamically-Related Files
The Dynamically-Related Files feature extends the functionality of the Related Files feature by allowing you to see the
related files of dynamic pages in the Related Files toolbar. Specifically, the Dynamically-Related Files feature lets you
see the numerous dynamic includes that are required to generate the runtime code for popular open-source PHP
Content Management System (CMS) frameworks such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla!.
To use the Dynamically-Related Files feature, you must have access to a local or remote PHP application server
running WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla!. One common approach for testing pages is to set up a localhost PHP
application server, and test the pages locally.
Before you test pages, you’ll need to perform the following steps:
•Set up a Dreamweaver site and make sure that you have filled out the Web URL text box the Site Setup dialog box.
•Set up a PHP application server.
Important: The server must be running before you attempt to work with Dynamically-Related Files in Dreamweaver.
•Install WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla! on the application server. For more information, see:
•WordPress Installation
•Drupal Installation
•Joomla Installation
•In Dreamweaver, define a local folder where you’ll download and edit your CMS files.
•Define the location of the installed WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla! files as your remote and testing folder.
•Download (Get) your CMS files from the remote folder.
More Help topics
www.adobe.com/go/dwcs5drf_en
Set Dynamically-Related Files preferences
When you open a page that is associated with Dynamically-Related Files, Dreamweaver can discover the files
automatically, or let you discover the files manually (which you do by clicking a link in the Info bar above the page).
The default setting is manual discovery.
1Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh OS).
2In the General category, make sure the Enable Related Files option is selected.
3Select Manually or Automatically from the Dynamically-Related Files pop-up menu. You can also disable the
discovery entirely by selecting Disabled.
71
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Discover Dynamically-Related Files
1Open a page that has Dynamically-Related Files associated with it—for example, the site root index.php page of a
WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla! site.
2If the discovery of Dynamically-Related Files is set to manual (the default), click the Discover link in the Info bar
that appears above the page in the Document window.
If the discovery of Dynamically-Related Files is automatically enabled, then a list of Dynamically-Related Files
appears in the Related Files toolbar.
The order of Related and Dynamically-Related Files in the Related Files toolbar is as follows:
•Static related files (i.e. related files that do not require any sort of dynamic processing)
•External related files (i.e. .css and .js files) that are attached to dynamic path server include files
•Dynamic path server include files (i.e. .php, .inc, and .module files)
Filter Related Files
Because Related Files and Dynamically-Related Files can often be numerous, Dreamweaver lets you filter Related Files
so that you can precisely locate the files you want to work with.
1Open a page that has Related Files associated with it.
2Discover Dynamically-Related Files if necessary.
3Click the Filter Related Files icon at the right side of the Related Files toolbar.
4Select the types of files you want to see in the Related Files toolbar. By default, Dreamweaver selects all Related Files.
5To create a custom filter, click the Filter Related Files icon and choose Custom Filter.
The Custom Filter dialog only allows for the filtering of exact file names (style.css), file extensions (.php), and
wildcard expressions using asterisks (*menu*). You can filter on multiple wildcard expressions by separating each
expression with a semi-colon (for example, style.css;*.js;*tpl.php).
Note: Filter settings do not persist once you close the file.
Clean up Microsoft Word HTML files
You can open documents saved by Microsoft Word as HTML files, and then use the Clean Up Word HTML command
to remove the extraneous HTML code generated by Word. The Clean Up Word HTML command is available for
documents saved as HTML files by Word
97 or later.
The code that Dreamweaver removes is primarily used by Word to format and display documents in Word and is not
needed to display the HTML file. Retain a copy of your original Word (.doc) file as a backup, because you may not be
able to reopen the HTML document in Word once you’ve applied the Clean Up Word HTML feature.
To clean up HTML or XHTML that was not generated by Microsoft Word, use the Cleanup HTML command.
1Save your Microsoft Word document as an HTML file.
Note: In Windows, close the file in Word to avoid a sharing violation.
2Open the HTML file in Dreamweaver.
To view the HTML code generated by Word, switch to Code view (View > Code).
3Select Commands > Clean Up Word HTML.
Note: If Dreamweaver is unable to determine which version of Word was used to save the file, select the correct version
from the pop-up menu.
72
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Select (or deselect) options for the cleanup. The preferences you enter are saved as default cleanup settings.
Dreamweaver applies the cleanup settings to the HTML document and a log of the changes appears (unless you
deselected that option in the dialog box).
Remove All Word Specific Markup Removes all Microsoft Word-specific HTML, including XML from HTMLtags,
Word custom metadata and link tags in the head of the document, Word XML markup, conditional tags and their
contents, and empty paragraphs and margins from styles. You can select each of these options individually using the
Detailed tab.
Clean Up CSS Removes all Word-specific CSS, including inline CSS styles when possible (where the parent style has
the same style properties), style attributes beginning with “mso,” non-CSS style declarations, CSS style attributes from
tables, and all unused style definitions from the head. You can further customize this option using the Detailed tab.
Clean Up <font> Tags Removes HTML tags, converting the default body text to size 2 HTML text.
Fix Invalidly Nested Tags Removes the font markup tags inserted by Word outside the paragraph and heading (block-
level) tags.
Apply Source Formatting Applies the source formatting options you specify in HTML Format preferences and
SourceFormat.txt to the document.
Show Log On Completion Displays an alert box with details about the changes made to the document as soon as the
cleanup is finished.
5Click OK, or click the Detailed tab if you want to further customize the Remove All Word Specific Markup and
Clean Up CSS options, and then click OK.
More Help topics
“Clean up code” on page 310
“Import Microsoft Office documents (Windows only)” on page 221
Managing files and folders
About managing files and folders
Dreamweaver includes a Files panel that helps you manage and transfer files to and from a remote server. When you
transfer files between local and remote sites, parallel file and folder structures between the sites are maintained. When
transferring files between sites, Dreamweaver creates corresponding folders if they do not yet exist in a site. You can
also synchronize the files between your local and remote sites; Dreamweaver copies files in both directions as necessary
and removes unwanted files when appropriate.
Using the Files panel
The Files panel enables you to view files and folders, whether they are associated with a Dreamweaver site or not, and
perform standard file maintenance operations, such as opening and moving files.
Note: In previous versions of Dreamweaver the Files panel was called the Site panel.
You can move the Files panel as necessary and set preferences for the panel.
Use this panel to perform the following tasks:
•Access sites, a server, and local drives
73
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
•View files and folders
•Manage files and folders in the Files panel
For Dreamweaver sites, use the following options to display or transfer files:
Expanded Files panel options.
A. Site pop-up menu B. Connect/Disconnect C. Refresh D. View site FTP log E. Site files view F. Testing server G. Repository view H. Get
File(s) I. Put File(s) J. Check Out File(s) K. Check In File(s) L. Synchronize M. Expand/Collapse
Note: The Site Files view, Testing Server view, and Synchronize buttons appear only in the expanded Files panel.
The Site pop-up menu Lets you select a Dreamweaver site and display that site’s files. You can also use the Site menu
to access all the files on your local disk, much like
Windows Explorer
(Windows) or the Finder (Macintosh).
Connect/Disconnect (FTP, RDS, and WebDAV protocol) Connects to or disconnects from the remote site. By default,
Dreamweaver disconnects from the remote site if it has been idle for more than 30 minutes (FTP only). To change the
time limit, select Edit
> Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), then select Site from the
category list on the left.
Refresh Refreshes the local and remote directory lists. Use this button to manually refresh the directory lists if you
deselected either Refresh Local File List Automatically or Refresh Remote File List Automatically in the Site Definition
dialog box.
Site Files view Displays the file structure of the remote and local sites in the panes of the Files panel. (A preference
setting determines which site appears in the left pane and which appears in the right pane.) Site Files view is the default
view for the Files panel.
Testing Server view Displays the directory structure of the testing server and the local site.
Repository view Displays the Subversion (SVN) Repository.
Get File(s) Copies the selected files from the remote site to your local site (overwriting the existing local copy of the
file, if any). If Enable File Check In And Check Out is enabled, the local copies are read-only; the files remain available
on the remote site for other team members to check out. If Enable File Check In and Check Out is disabled, the file
copies will have both read and write privileges.
Note: The files Dreamweaver copies are the files you select in the active pane of the Files panel. If the Remote pane is
active, the selected remote or testing server files are copied to the local site; if the Local pane is active, Dreamweaver copies
the remote or testing server version of the selected local files to the local site.
Put File(s) Copies the selected files from the local site to the remote site.
Note: The files Dreamweaver copies are the files you select in the active pane of the Files panel. If the Local pane is active,
the selected local files are copied to the remote site or testing server; if the Remote pane is active, Dreamweaver copies the
local versions of the selected remote server files to the remote site.
If you are putting a file that doesn’t already exist on the remote site, and Enable File Check In and Out is enabled, the
file is added to the remote site as “checked out.” Click the Check In Files button if you want to add a file without the
checked out status.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
74
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Check Out File(s) Transfers a copy of the file from the remote server to your local site (overwriting the existing local
copy of the file, if any) and marks the file as checked out on the server. This option is not available if Enable File Check
In and Check Out in the Site Definitions dialog box is disabled for the current site.
Check In File(s) Transfers a copy of the local file to the remote server and makes the file available for editing by others.
The local file becomes read-only. This option is not available if the Enable File Check In and Check Out option in the
Site Definitions dialog box is disabled for the current site.
Synchronize Synchronizes the files between the local and remote folders.
The Expand/Collapse button Expands or collapses the Files panel to display one or two panes.
More Help topics
“Files panel overview” on page 15
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Check files into and out of a remote folder” on page 86
“Put files on a remote server” on page 83
“Get files from a remote server” on page 81
“Synchronizing files” on page 93
View files and folders
You can view files and folders in the Files panel, whether they are associated with a Dreamweaver site or not. When
you view sites, files, or folders in the Files panel, you can change the size of the viewing area, and, for Dreamweaver
sites, you can expand or collapse the Files panel.
For Dreamweaver sites, you can also customize the Files panel by changing the view—either your local or remote site—
that appears by default in the collapsed panel. Or, you can switch the content views in the expanded Files panel using
the Always Show option.
Open or close the Files panel
❖Select Window > Files.
Expand or collapse the Files panel (Dreamweaver sites only)
❖In the Files panel (Window > Files), click the Expand/Collapse button in the toolbar.
Note: If you click the Expand/Collapse button to expand the panel while it is docked, the panel maximizes so that you
cannot work in the Document window. To return to the Document window, click the Expand/Collapse button again to
collapse the panel. If you click the Expand/Collapse button to expand the panel while it is not docked, you can still work
in the Document window. Before you can dock the panel again, you must first collapse it.
When the Files panel is collapsed it displays the contents of the local site, the remote site, or the testing server as a list
of files. When expanded, it displays the local site and either the remote site or testing server.
Change the size of the view area in the expanded Files panel
❖In the Files panel (Window > Files), with the panel expanded, do one of the following:
•Drag the bar that separates the two views to increase or decrease the view area of the right or left pane.
•Use the scroll bars at the bottom of the Files panel to scroll through the views’ contents.
75
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change the site view in Files panel (Dreamweaver sites only)
❖Do one of the following:
•In the collapsed Files panel (Window > Files), select Local View, Remote View, Testing Server, or Repository View
from the Site View pop-up menu.
Note: Local View appears in the Site View menu by default.
•In the expanded Files panel (Window > Files), click the Site Files button (for the remote site), the Testing Server
button, or the Repository Files button.
A. Site Files B. Testing Server C. Repository Files
Note: Before you can view a remote site, testing server or repository, you must set up a remote site, testing server, or SVN
repository.
View files outside of a Dreamweaver site
❖Navigate your computer using the Site pop-up menu, much as you would if you were using
❖Windows Explorer
❖(Windows) or the Finder (Macintosh).
Work with files in the Files panel
You can open or rename files; add, move, or delete files; or refresh the Files panel after you make changes.
For Dreamweaver sites, you can also determine which files (on either the local or remote site) have been updated since
the last time they were transferred.
More Help topics
“Synchronizing files” on page 93
“Access sites, a server, and local drives” on page 78
Open a file
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site, server, or drive from the pop-up menu (where the current site,
server, or drive appears).
2Navigate to the file you want to open.
3Do one of the following:
•Double-click the file’s icon.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file’s icon, then select Open.
Dreamweaver opens the file in the Document window.
ABC
76
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create a file or folder
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a file or folder.
Dreamweaver will create the new file or folder inside the currently selected folder, or in the same folder as the currently
selected file.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select New File or New Folder.
3Enter a name for the new file or folder.
4Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
Delete a file or folder
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select the file or folder you want to delete.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Edit > Delete.
Rename a file or folder
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select the file or folder you want to rename.
2Do one of the following to activate the name of the file or folder:
•Click in the filename, pause, then click again.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file’s icon, then select Edit > Rename.
3Type the new name over the existing name.
4Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
Move a file or folder
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select the file or folder you want to move.
2Do one of the following:
•Copy the file or folder, then paste it in a new location.
•Drag the file or folder to a new location.
3Refresh the Files panel to see the file or folder in its new location.
Refresh the Files panel
❖Do one of the following:
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) any file or folder, then select Refresh.
•(Dreamweaver sites only) Click the Refresh button in the Files panel toolbar (this option refreshes both panes).
Note: Dreamweaver refreshes the Files panel when you make changes in another application, then return to
Dreamweaver.
Find files in your Dreamweaver site
Dreamweaver makes it easy to find selected, open, checked out, or recently modified files in your site. You can also
find files that are newer in your local or remote site.
More Help topics
“Use reports to test your site” on page 104
77
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Find an open file in your site
1Open the file in the Document window.
2Select Site > Locate in Site.
Dreamweaver selects the file in the Files panel.
Note: If the open file in the Document window is not part of the current site in the Files panel, Dreamweaver attempts to
determine which of your Dreamweaver sites the file belongs to; if the current file belongs to only one local site,
Dreamweaver opens that site in the Files panel, then highlights the file.
Locate and select checked out files in a Dreamweaver site
❖In the collapsed Files panel (Window > Files), click the Options menu in the upper-right corner of the Files panel,
then select Edit
> Select Checked Out Files.
Dreamweaver selects the files in the Files panel.
Find a selected file in your local or remote site
1Select the file in the Local or Remote view of the Files panel (Window > Files).
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Locate in Local Site or Locate in Local Site
(depending on where you selected the file).
Dreamweaver selects the file in the Files panel.
Locate and select files that are newer in the local site than in the remote site
❖In the collapsed Files panel (Window > Files), click the Options menu in the upper-right corner of the Files panel,
then select Edit
> Select Newer Local.
Dreamweaver selects the files in the Files panel.
Locate and select files that are newer in the remote site than in the local site
❖In the collapsed Files panel (Window > Files), click the Options menu in the upper-right corner of the Files panel,
then select Edit
> Select Newer Remote.
Dreamweaver selects the files in the Files panel.
Find recently modified files in your site
1In the collapsed Files panel (Window > Files), click the Options menu in the upper-right corner of the Files panel,
and then select Edit
> Select Recently Modified.
2Do one of the following to indicate search dates for the report:
•To report on all files modified in the last several days, select Files Created or Modified in the Last and enter a
number in the box.
•To report on all files modified within a specific time frame, click the Files Created or Modified in the Between radio
button, then specify a date range.
3(Optional) Enter a user name in the Modified By box to limit your search to files modified by a specific user between
the dates you indicated.
Note: This option is only available for reports on Contribute sites.
78
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Select a radio button to indicate where you want to view files listed in the report, if necessary:
Local Machine if the site contains static pages.
Testing Server if the site contains dynamic pages.
Note: This option assumes you defined a Testing Server in the Site Definition dialog box (XREF). If you have not defined
a Testing Server and entered a URL prefix for that server, or if you are running the report for more than one site, this
option is not available.
Other Location if you want to enter a path in the text box.
5Click OK to save your settings.
Dreamweaver highlights the files that were modified within the selected time frame in the Files panel.
Identify and delete unused files
You can identify and delete files that are no longer used by other files in your site.
1Select Site > Check Links Sitewide.
Dreamweaver checks all the links in your site and displays the broken ones in the Results panel.
2Select Orphaned Files from the menu on the Link Checker panel.
Dreamweaver displays all the files with no incoming links. This means that no files in your site link to these files.
3Select the files you want to delete and press Delete.
Important: Although no other file in the site links to these files, some of the listed files may link to other files. Use caution
when deleting the files.
More Help topics
“Enable and disable site cloaking” on page 98
Access sites, a server, and local drives
You can access, modify, and save files and folders in your Dreamweaver sites, as well as files and folders that are not
part of a Dreamweaver site. In addition to Dreamweaver sites, you can access a server, a local drive, or your desktop.
Before you can access a remote server, you must set up Dreamweaver to work with that server.
Note: The best way to manage your files is to create a Dreamweaver site.
Open an existing Dreamweaver site
❖In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site from the menu (where the current site, server, or drive appears).
79
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Open a folder on a remote FTP or RDS server
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a server name from the menu (where the current site, server, or drive
appears).
Note: Server names appear for servers you’ve configured Dreamweaver to work with.
2Navigate to and edit files as you normally do.
Access a local drive or your desktop
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select Desktop, Local Disk, or CD Drive from the menu (where the current site,
server, or drive appears).
2Navigate to a file, then do any of the following:
•Open files in Dreamweaver or another application
•Rename files
•Copy files
•Delete files
•Drag files
When you drag a file from one Dreamweaver site to another or to a folder that is not part of a Dreamweaver site,
Dreamweavercopies the file to the location where you drop it. If you drag a file within the same Dreamweaver site,
Dreamweavermoves the file to the location where you drop it. If you drag a file that is not part of a Dreamweaver site
to a folder that is not part of a Dreamweaver site, Dreamweaver moves the file to the location where you drop it.
Note: To move a file that Dreamweaver copies by default, hold down the Shift key (Windows) or the Command key
(Macintosh) while you drag. To copy a file that Dreamweaver moves by default, hold the Control key (Windows) or the
Option key (Macintosh) while you drag.
Customize the file and folder details displayed in the expanded Files panel
When you view a Dreamweaver site in the expanded Files panel, information about the files and folders is displayed
in columns. For example, you can see the file type or the date a file was modified.
You can customize the columns by doing any of the following (some operations are only available for columns you
add, not default columns):
•Reorder or realign columns
•Add new columns (for a maximum of 10 columns)
•Hide columns (except the filename column)
•Designate columns to be shared with all users connected to a site
80
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Delete columns (custom columns only)
•Rename columns (custom columns only)
•Associate columns with a Design Note (custom columns only)
Change the order of the columns
❖Select a column name, and then click the up or down arrow button to change the position of the selected column.
Note: You can change the order of any column except Name, which is always the first column.
Add, delete, or change detail columns
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select a site, then click Edit.
3Expand Advanced Settings and select the File View Columns category.
4Select a column and click the Plus (+) button to add a column, or the Minus (–) button to delete a column.
Note: The column is deleted immediately and without confirmation, so make certain that you want to delete the column
before clicking the Minus (–) button.
5In the Column Name box, enter a name for your column.
6Select a value from the Associate with Design Notes menu, or type in your own.
Note: You must associate a new column with a Design Note, so that there is data to display in the Files panel.
7Select an alignment to determine how text is aligned within the column.
8Select or deselect Show to reveal or hide the column.
9Select Share with All Users of This Site to share the column with all users connected to the remote site.
Sort by any detail column in the Files panel
❖Click the heading for the column you want to sort.
Click the heading again to reverse the order (ascending or descending) by which Dreamweaver sorts the column.
Getting and putting files to and from your server
File transfer and dependent files
If you’re working in a collaborative environment, use the Check In/Check Out system to transfer files between local
and remote sites. If you’re the only person working on the remote site, however, you can use the Get and Put
commands to transfer files without checking them in or out.
When you transfer a document between a local and remote folder using the Files panel, you have the option of
transferring the document’s dependent files. Dependent files are images, external style sheets, and other files
referenced in your document that a browser loads when it loads the document.
Note: It’s usually a good idea to download dependent files when checking out a new file, but if the latest versions of the
dependent files are already on the local disk, there’s no need to download them again. This is also true for uploading and
checking in files: no need if up-to-date copies are already at the remote site.
81
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Library items are treated as dependent files.
Some servers report errors when putting library items. However, you can cloak these files to prevent them from being
transferred.
More Help topics
“Checking in and checking out files” on page 85
“Enable and disable site cloaking” on page 98
About background file transfers
You can perform other, non-server-related, activities while you’re getting or putting files. Background file transfer
works for all of the transfer protocols supported by Dreamweaver: FTP, SFTP, LAN, WebDAV, Subversion, and RDS.
Non-server-related activities include common operations like typing, editing external style sheets, generating site-
wide reports, and creating new sites.
Server-related activities that Dreamweaver cannot perform during file transfers include the following:
•Put/Get/Check in/Check out files
•Undo check-out
•Create a database connection
•Bind dynamic data
•Preview data in Live view
•Insert a web service
•Delete remote files or folders
•Preview in a browser on a testing server
•Save a file to a remote server
•Insert an image from a remote server
•Open a file from a remote server
•Auto put files upon saving
•Drag files to the remote site
•Cut, copy, or paste files on the remote site
•Refresh Remote view
By default, the Background File Activity dialog box is open during file transfers. You can minimize the dialog box by
clicking the Minimize button in the upper right corner. Closing the dialog box during file transfers results in a
cancelation of the operation.
Get files from a remote server
Use the Get command to copy files from the remote site to your local site. You can use the Files panel or the Document
window to get files.
Dreamweaver creates a log of file activity during the transfer that you can view and save.
Note: You cannot turn background file transfer off. If you have the detail log open in the Background File Activity dialog
box, you can close that to improve performance.
82
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver also records all FTP file transfer activity. If an error occurs when you are transferring a file using FTP,
the Site FTP log can help you determine the problem.
More Help topics
“Checking in and checking out files” on page 85
“Synchronizing files” on page 93
Get files from a remote server using the Files panel
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select the desired files to download.
Usually you select these files in the Remote view, but you can select the corresponding files in the Local view if you
prefer. If the Remote view is active, then Dreamweaver copies the selected files to the local site; if the Local view is
active, then Dreamweaver copies the remote versions of the selected local files to the local site.
Note: To get only those files for which the remote version is more recent than the local version, use the Synchronize
command.
2Do one of the following to get the file:
•Click the Get button in the Files panel toolbar.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file in the Files panel, then select Get from the context menu.
3Click Yes in the Dependent Files dialog box to download dependent files; if you already have local copies of the
dependent files, click No. The default is to not download dependent files. You can set this option at Edit
>
Preferences
> Site.
Dreamweaver downloads the selected files, as follows:
•If you’re using the Check In/Check Out system, getting a file results in a read-only local copy of the file; the file
remains available on the remote site or testing server for other team members to check out.
•If you’re not using the Check In/Check Out system, getting a file results in a copy that has both read and write
privileges.
Note: If you’re working in a collaborative environment—that is, if others are working on the same files—you should
not disable Enable File Check In and Check Out. If other people are using the Check In/Check Out system with the
site, you should use that system as well.
To stop the file transfer at any time, click the Cancel button in the Background File Activity dialog box.
Get files from a remote server using the Document window
1Make sure the document is active in the Document window.
2Do one of the following to get the file:
•Select Site > Get.
•Click the File Management icon in the Document window toolbar, then select Get from the menu.
Note: If the current file is not part of the current site in the Files panel, Dreamweaver attempts to determine which locally
defined site the current file belongs to. If the current file belongs to only one local site, Dreamweaver opens that site, then
performs the Get operation.
Display the FTP log
1Click the Options menu in the upper right corner of the Files panel.
2Select View > Site FTP Log.
83
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: In the Expanded Files Panel, you can click the FTP Log button to display the log.
Put files on a remote server
You can put files from the local site to the remote site, generally without changing the file’s checked out status.
There are two common situations in which you might use the Put command instead of Check In:
•You’re not in a collaborative environment and you aren’t using the Check In/Check Out system.
•You want to put the current version of the file on the server but you’re going to keep editing it.
Note: If you put a file that didn’t previously exist on the remote site and you’re using the Check In/Check Out system,
the file is copied to the remote site and is then checked out to you so that you can continue editing.
You can use the Files panel or the Document window to put files. Dreamweaver creates a log of file activity during
the transfer that you can view and save.
Note: You cannot turn background file transfer off. If you have the detail log open in the Background File Activity
dialog box, you can close that to improve performance.
Dreamweaver also records all FTP file transfer activity. If an error occurs when you are transferring a file using FTP,
the Site FTP log can help you determine the problem.
For a tutorial on putting files on a remote server, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0163.
For a tutorial on troubleshooting publishing problems, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0164.
More Help topics
“Synchronizing files” on page 93
“About the Check In/Check Out system” on page 85
Putting files tutorial
Troubleshoot publishing problems tutorial
Put files on a remote or testing server using the Files panel
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select the files to upload.
Usually you select these in the Local view, but you may select the corresponding files in the Remote view if you prefer.
Note: You can put only those files for which the local version is more recent than the remote version.
2Do one of the following to put the file on the remote server:
•Click the Put button in the Files panel toolbar.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file in the Files panel, then select Put from the context menu.
3If the file hasn’t been saved, a dialog box appears (if you set this preference in the Site category of the Preferences
dialog box) allowing you to save the file before putting it on the remote server. Click Yes to save the file or No to
put the previously saved version on the remote server.
Note: If you do not save the file, any changes you’ve made since the last time you saved will not be put onto the remote
server. However, the file remains open, so you can still save the changes after putting the file on the server if you want.
4Click Yes to upload dependent files along with the selected files, or click No to refrain from uploading dependent
files. The default is to not upload dependent files. You can set this option at Edit
> Preferences > Site.
84
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: It’s usually a good idea to upload dependent files when checking in a new file, but if the latest versions of the
dependent files are already on the remote server, there’s no need to upload them again.
To stop the file transfer at any time, click the Cancel button in the Background File Activity dialog box.
Put files on a remote server using the Document window
1Make sure the document is active in the Document window.
2Do one of the following to put the file:
•Select Site > Put.
•Click the File Management icon in the Document window toolbar, then select Put from the menu.
Note: If the current file is not part of the current site in the Files panel, Dreamweaver attempts to determine which locally
defined site the current file belongs to. If the current file belongs to only one local site, Dreamweaver opens that site, then
performs the Put operation.
Display the FTP log
1Click the Options menu in the upper right corner of the Files panel.
2Select View > Site FTP Log.
Note: In the Expanded Files Panel, you can click the FTP Log button to display the log.
Manage file transfers
You can view the status of file transfer operations, as well as a list of transferred files and their outcomes (transfer
successful, skipped, or failed). You can also save a log of the file activity.
Note: Dreamweaver lets you perform other non-server-related activities while you’re transferring files to or from a server.
Cancel a file transfer
❖Click the Cancel button in the Background File Activity dialog box. If the dialog box isn’t showing, click the File
Activity button at the bottom of the Files panel.
Show the Background File Activity dialog box during transfers
❖Click the File Activity or Log button at the bottom of the Files panel.
Note: You cannot hide or remove the Log button. It’s a permanent part of the panel.
View details of the last file transfer
1Click the Log button at the bottom of the Files panel to open the Background File Activity dialog box.
2Click the Details expander arrow.
Save a log of the last file transfer
1Click the Log button at the bottom of the Files panel to open the Background File Activity dialog box.
2Click the Save Log button and save the information as a text file.
You can review the file activity by opening the log file in Dreamweaver or in any text editor.
85
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Checking in and checking out files
About the Check In/Check Out system
If you’re working in a collaborative environment, you can check files in and out from local and remote servers. If you’re
the only person working on the remote server, you can use the Put and Get commands without checking files in or out.
Note: You can use Get and Put functionality with a testing server, but you cannot use the Check In/ Check Out system
with a testing server.
Checking out a file is the equivalent of declaring “I’m working on this file now—don’t touch it!” When a file is checked
out, the name of the person who checked out the file is displayed in the Files panel, along with a red check mark (if a
team member checked out the file) or green check mark (if you checked out the file) next to the file’s icon.
Checking in a file makes the file available for other team members to check out and edit. When you check in a file after
editing it, your local version becomes read-only and a lock symbol appears beside the file in the Files panel to prevent
you from making changes to the file.
Dreamweaver does not make checked-out files read-only on the remote server. If you transfer files with an application
other than Dreamweaver, you can overwrite checked-out files. However, in applications other than Dreamweaver, the
LCK file is visible next to the checked-out file in the file hierarchy to help prevent such accidents.
More Help topics
“Getting and putting files to and from your server” on page 80
Set up the Check In/Check Out system
Before you can use the Check In/Check Out system, you must associate your local site with a remote server.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select a site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4Specify Basic options as necessary, and then click the Advanced button.
5Select Enable File Check Out if you are working in a team environment (or working alone but from several different
machines). Deselect this option if you want to disable file check in and check out for your website.
This option is useful to let others know that you checked out a file for editing, or to alert yourself that you may have
left a more recent version of a file on another machine.
If you do not see Check In/Out options, it means that you have not set up a remote server.
6Select the Check Out Files when Opening option if you want to automatically check out files when you double-click
to open them from the Files panel.
Using File > Open to open a file doesn’t check the file out even when this option is selected.
7Set the remaining options:
Check Out Name The check-out name appears in the Files panel alongside any files that are checked out; this enables
team members to communicate with the right person if a file they need is checked out.
86
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If you work alone from several different machines, use a different check-out name on each machine (for example,
AmyR-HomeMac and AmyR-OfficePC) so you’ll know where the latest version of the file is if you forget to check it in.
Email Address If you enter an e-mail address, when you check out a file, your name appears in the Files panel as a link
(blue and underlined) next to that file. If a team member clicks on the link, their default e-mail program opens a new
message with the user’s e-mail address and a subject that corresponds to the file and site name.
Check files into and out of a remote folder
After you set up the Check In/Check Out system, you can check in and check out files on a remote server using the
Files panel or from the Document window.
Check out files using the Files panel
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select files to check out from the remote server.
Note: You can select files in the Local or Remote view, not the Testing Server view.
A red check mark indicates that another team member has the file checked out and a lock symbol indicates that the
file is read-only (Windows) or locked (Macintosh).
2Do one of the following to check out the file(s):
•Click the Check Out button in the Files panel toolbar.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Check Out from the context menu.
3In the Dependent Files dialog box, click Yes to download dependent files along with the selected files, or click No
to refrain from downloading dependent files. The default is to not download dependent files. You can set this
option at Edit
> Preferences > Site.
Note: It’s usually a good idea to download dependent files when checking out a new file, but if the latest versions of the
dependent files are already on the local disk, there’s no need to download them again.
A green check mark appears beside the local file’s icon indicating that you have checked it out.
Important: If you check out the currently active file, the currently open version of the file is overwritten by the new
checked-out version.
Check in files using the Files panel
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select checked-out or new file(s).
Note: You can select files in the Local or Remote view, but not the Testing Server view.
2Do one of the following to check in the file(s):
•Click the Check In button in the Files panel toolbar.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Check In from the context menu.
3Click Yes to upload dependent files along with the selected files, or click No to refrain from uploading dependent
files. The default is to not upload dependent files. You can set this option at Edit
> Preferences > Site.
Note: It’s usually a good idea to upload dependent files when checking in a new file, but if the latest versions of the
dependent files are already on the remote server, there’s no need to upload them again.
A lock symbol appears beside the local file’s icon indicating that the file is now read-only.
Important: If you check in the currently active file, the file may be automatically saved before it’s checked in, depending
on the preference options you’ve set.
87
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Check in an open file from the Document window
1Make sure the file you want to check in is open in the Document window.
Note: You can check in only one open file at a time.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Site > Check In.
•Click the File Management icon in the Document window toolbar, then select Check In from the menu.
If the current file is not part of the active site in the Files panel, Dreamweaver attempts to determine which locally
defined site the current file belongs to. If the current file belongs to a site other than the one that’s active in the Files
panel, Dreamweaver opens that site, then performs the check in operation.
Important: If you check in the currently active file, the file may be automatically saved before it’s checked in, depending
on the preference options you’ve set.
Undo a file check-out
If you check out a file, then decide not to edit it (or decide to discard the changes you made), you can undo the check-
out operation and the file returns to its original state.
To undo a file check-out, do one of the following:
•Open the file in the Document window, then select Site > Undo Check Out.
•
In the Files panel (Window > Files), right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Undo Check Out.
The local copy of the file becomes read-only, and any changes you’ve made to it are lost.
Use WebDAV to check in and check out files
Dreamweaver can connect to a server that uses WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning), which
is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol that allow users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web
servers. For more information, see www.webdav.org.
1If you have not already done so, define a Dreamweaver site that specifies the local folder you use to store your
project files.
2Select Site > Manage Sites, and then double-click your site in the list.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Servers category and do one of the following:
•Click the Add New Server button to add a new server
•Select an existing server and click the Edit Existing Server button
4In the Basic screen, select WebDAV from the Connect Using pop-up menu, and complete the rest of the Basic
screen options, as necessary.
5Click the Advanced button.
6Select the Enable File Check Out option and enter the following information:
•In the Check Out Name box, enter a name identifying you to other team members.
•In the Email Address box, enter your e-mail address.
The name and e-mail addresses are used to identify ownership on the WebDAV server and appear in the Files panel
for contact purposes.
7Click Save.
88
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver configures the site for WebDAV access. When you use the Check In or Check Out command on any
site file, the file is transferred using WebDAV.
Note: WebDAV may be unable to properly check out any files with dynamic content like PHP tags or SSIs because the
HTTP GET renders these as they are checked out.
Use Subversion (SVN) to get and check in files
Dreamweaver can connect to a server that uses Subversion (SVN), a versioning control system that lets users
collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers. Dreamweaver is not a full SVN client, but does let users
get the latest versions of files, make changes, and commit the files.
Important: Dreamweaver CS5 uses the Subversion 1.6.6 client library, and Dreamweaver CS5.5 uses the 1.6.9 client
library. Later versions of the Subversion client library are not backward-compatible. Be aware, if you update a third-party
client application (for example, TortoiseSVN) to work with a later version of Subversion, the updated Subversion
application will update local Subversion meta data, and Dreamweaver will no longer be able to communicate with
Subversion. This issue is not affected by updates to the Subversion server as those updates are backward-compatible. If
you do upgrade to a third-party client application that works with Subversion 1.7 or later, you’ll need to check with Adobe
for updates before you can use Subversion with Dreamweaver again. For more information on this issue, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw_svn_en.
Adobe recommends that you use a third-party file comparison tool as you work with SVN version-controlled files.
When you compare files for differences, you can learn exactly what kinds of changes other users made to the files. For
more information on file comparison tools, use a web search engine such as Google Search to search for “file
comparison” or “diff” tools. Dreamweaver works with most third-party tools.
For a video overview of working with SVN and Dreamweaver, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4049_dw.
Set up an SVN connection
Before you use Subversion (SVN) as a version control system with Dreamweaver, you must set up a connection to an
SVN server. You set up a connection to an SVN server in the Version Control category of the Site Definition dialog box.
The SVN server is a repository of files from which you and other users can get and commit files. It is different from
the remote server you typically use with Dreamweaver. When using SVN, the remote server remains the “live” server
for your web pages, and the SVN server exists to hold the repository of files over which you want to maintain version
control. The typical workflow is to get and commit files back and forth between the SVN server, and then publish them
to your remote server from Dreamweaver. The remote server setup is completely separate from the SVN set up.
You must have access to an SVN server and an SVN repository before you begin this set up. For more information
about SVN, see the Subversion website at http://subversion.apache.org/.
To set up the SVN connection, follow these steps:
1Choose Sites > Manage Sites, select the site you want to set up version control for, and click the Edit button.
Note: If you haven’t already set up local and remote folders for a Dreamweaver site, you’ll at least need to set up a
local site before proceeding. (The remote site is not required at this stage, but you will eventually need to set it up before
publishing your files to the Web.) For more information, see “Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36.
2In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Version Control category.
3Select Subversion from the Access pop-up menu.
4Set access options as follows:
•Select a protocol from the Protocol pop-up menu. The available protocols are HTTP, HTTPS, SVN, and
SVN+SSH.
89
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Using the SVN+SSH protocol requires special configuration. For more information, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_svn_ssh_en.
•Enter the address for the SVN server in the Server address text box (typically in the form of
servername.domain.com).
•Enter the path to your repository on the SVN server in the Repository path text box (typically something like
/svn/your_root_directory. It is up to the server administrator to name the root folder for the SVN repository.)
•(Optional) If you want to use a server port other than the default server port, select Non Default and enter the
port number in the text box.
•Enter your SVN server user name and password.
5Click Test to test your connection, or click OK to close the dialog box. Then click Done to close the Manage Sites
dialog box.
Once the connection with the server established, your SVN repository is available for viewing in the Files panel. To
view it, you can select Repository View from the View pop-up menu, or click the Repository Files button
in the
expanded Files panel.
More Help topics
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Using the Files panel” on page 72
Get the latest versions of files
When you get the latest version of a file from the SVN repository, Dreamweaver merges the contents of that file with
the contents of its corresponding local copy. (In other words, if someone else has updated the file since you last
committed it, those updates are merged into the local version of the file on your computer.) If the file does not yet exist
on the local hard drive, Dreamweaver simply gets the file.
Note: When getting files for the first time from the repository, you should work with a local directory that is empty, or a
local directory that does not contain files with the same names as files in the repository. Dreamweaver will not mount
repository files to the local drive upon first try if the local drive contains files whose names match files in the remote
repository.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Do one of the following:
•Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.) Then right-click
(Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file or folder you’re interested in and select Version Control
> Get
Latest Versions.
•Display the SVN repository files by selecting Repository View from the View pop-up menu in the Files panel,
or by clicking the Repository Files button in the expanded Files panel. Then right-click (Windows) or Control-
click (Macintosh) the file or folder you’re interested in and select Get Latest Versions.
Note: You can also either right-click a file and choose Check Out from the context menu, or select the file and click the
Check Out button to get the latest version. Because SVN does not support a check-out workflow, however, this action does
not actually check out the file in the traditional sense.
Commit files
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
90
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Do one of the following:
•Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.) Then select the file
you want to commit and click the Check In button.
•Display the SVN repository files by selecting Repository View from the View pop-up menu in the Files panel,
or by clicking the Repository Files button in the expanded Files panel. Then right-click (Windows) or Control-
click (Macintosh) the file you want to commit and select Check In.
3Review the actions in the Commit dialog box, make changes if necessary, and click OK.
You can change actions by selecting the file whose action you want to change, and clicking the buttons at the bottom
of the Commit dialog box. Two choices are available: commit and ignore.
Note: A green check mark on a file in the Files panel denotes a changed file that has not yet been committed to the
repository.
Update status of files or folders in the repository
You can update the SVN status of a single file or folder. The update does not refresh the entire display.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Display the SVN repository files by selecting Repository View from the View pop-up menu in the Files panel, or by
clicking the Repository Files button in the expanded Files panel.
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) any folder or file in the repository and select Update Status.
Update status of local file or folders
You can update the SVN status of a single file or folder. The update does not refresh the entire display.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.)
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) any folder or file in the Files panel and select Update Status.
View revisions for a file
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Do one of the following:
•Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.) Then right-click
(Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file you want to see revisions for and select Version Control
>
Show Revisions.
•Display the SVN repository files by selecting Repository View from the View pop-up menu in the Files panel,
or by clicking the Repository Files button in the expanded Files panel. Then right-click (Windows) or Control-
click (Macintosh) the file you want to see revisions for and select Show Revisions.
3In the Revision History dialog box, select the revision or revisions you’re interested in and do one of the following:
•Click Compare to Local to compare the selected revision with the local version of the file.
Note: You must install a third-party file comparison tool before you can compare files. For more information on
file comparison tools, use a web search engine such as Google Search to search for “file comparison” or “diff” tools.
Dreamweaver works with most third-party tools.
91
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Click Compare to compare two selected revisions. Control-click to select two revisions simultaneously.
•Click View to view the selected revision. This action does not overwrite the current local copy of the same file.
You can save the selected revision to your hard drive just as you would save any other file.
•Click Promote to make the selected revision the most current revision in the repository.
Lock and unlock files
Locking a file in the SVN repository lets other users know that you are working on a file. Other users can still edit the
file locally, but will not be able to commit the file until you’ve unlocked it. When you lock a file in the repository, you’ll
see an open-lock icon on the file. Other users see a completely locked icon.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Do one of the following:
•Display the SVN repository files by selecting Repository View from the View pop-up menu in the Files panel,
or by clicking the Repository Files button in the expanded Files panel. Then right-click (Windows) or Control-
click (Macintosh) the file you’re interested in and select Lock or Unlock.
•Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.) Then right-click
(Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file you’re interested in and select Lock or Unlock.
Add a new file to the repository
A blue plus sign on a file in the Files panel denotes a file that does not yet exist in the SVN repository.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2In the Files panel, select the file you want to add to the repository and click the Check In button.
3Make sure that the file is selected for Commit in the Commit dialog box and click OK.
Move, copy, delete, or revert files
•To move a file, drag the file to the destination folder in your local site.
When you move a file, Dreamweaver marks the file in the new location with an Add With History sign, and marks
the file in the old location with a Delete sign. When you Commit these files, the file in the old location disappears.
•To copy a file, select the file, copy it (Edit > Copy), and paste (Edit > Paste) the file in the new location.
When you copy and paste a file, Dreamweaver marks the file in the new location with an Add With History sign.
•To delete a file, select the file and press delete.
Dreamweaver gives you the option of whether you want to delete the local version of the file only, or both the local
version and the version on the SVN server. If you select to delete the local version only, the file on the SVN server
is not affected. If you select to delete the version on the SVN server as well, the local version is marked with a Delete
sign, and you must commit the file for the deletion to take place.
•To revert a copied or moved file to its original location, right-click the file and select Version Control > Revert.
92
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Resolve conflicting files
If your file conflicts with another file on the server, you can edit it and then mark it as resolved. For example, if you try
to check in a file that conflicts with another user’s changes, SVN will not let you commit the file. You can get the latest
version of the file from the repository, manually make changes to your working copy, and then mark your file as
resolved so that you can commit it.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.)
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file you want to resolve and select Version Control > Mark
as Resolved.
Go offline
You might find it useful to avoid repository access during other file-transfer activities by going off-line. Dreamweaver
will reconnect to the SVN repository as soon as you invoke an activity that requires a connection (Get Latest Versions,
Commit, and so on).
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.)
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) any file or folder in the Files panel and select Version
Control
> Go Offline.
Clean up a local SVN site
This command lets you remove locks on files so that you can resume unfinished operations. You should use this
command to remove old locks if you receive “working copy locked” errors.
1Make sure that you’ve successfully set up an SVN connection.
2Display the local version of your SVN files in the Files panel by selecting Local view from the View pop-up menu.
(If you are working in the expanded Files panel, the Local view is automatically displayed.)
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file you want to clean up and select Version Control >
Clean Up.
About moving files and folders in Subversion-controlled sites
When you move the local versions of files or folders in a Subversion-controlled site, you run the risk of creating
problems for other users who might be synching to the SVN repository. For example, if you move a file locally, and
don't commit that file to the repository for a few hours, another user might try to get the latest version of the file from
the file’s old location. For this reason, you should always commit files back to the SVN server immediately after you've
moved them locally.
Files and folders remain on the SVN server until you've manually deleted them. So even if you move a file to a different
local folder and commit it, the old version of the file remains in the previous location on the server. To avoid confusion,
delete the old copies of files and folders that you've moved.
When you move a file locally and commit it back to the SVN server, the file’s version history is lost.
93
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Synchronizing files
Synchronize the files on your local and remote sites
After you’ve created files in your local and remote sites, you can synchronize the files between the two sites.
Note: If your remote site is an FTP server (rather than a networked server), then synchronizing your files uses FTP.
Before you synchronize your sites, you can verify which files you want to put, get, delete, or ignore. Dreamweaver also
confirms which files have been updated after you complete the synchronization.
More Help topics
“Manage file transfers” on page 84
“Check files into and out of a remote folder” on page 86
“Get files from a remote server” on page 81
“Put files on a remote server” on page 83
“Comparing files for differences” on page 94
Check which files are newer on the local or remote site, without synchronizing
❖ In the Files panel, do one of the following:
•Click the Options menu in the upper-right corner, and then select Edit > Select Newer Local or Edit > Select Newer
Remote.
•In the Files panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and then select Select > Newer Local or
Select
> Newer Remote.
Display detailed synchronization information for a particular file
❖ In the Files panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file you want information about, and
then select Display Synchronize information.
Note: You must have the Maintain Synchronization Information option selected in the Remote category of the Site
Definition dialog box for this feature to be available.
Synchronize your files
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site from the menu where the current site, server, or drive appears.
2(Optional) Select specific files or folders or go to the next step to synchronize the entire site.
3Click the Options menu in the upper-right corner of the Files panel and select Site > Synchronize.
You can also click the Synchronize button at the top of the Files panel to synchronize files.
4In the Synchronize menu, do one of the following:
•To synchronize the entire site, select Entire Site Name Site.
•To synchronize selected files only, select Selected Local Files Only (or Selected Remote Files Only if the Remote
view of the Files panel was where you made the most recent selection).
94
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Select the direction in which you want to copy the files:
Put Newer Files To Remote Uploads all the local files that don’t exist on the remote server or have changed since the
last upload.
Get Newer Files From Remote Downloads all the remote files that don’t exist locally or have changed since the last
download.
Get And Put Newer Files Places the most recent versions of all the files on both the local and the remote sites.
6Select whether to delete the files on the destination site that don’t have counterparts on the origin site. (This is not
available if you select Get and Put from the Direction menu.)
If you select Put Newer Files to Remote and you select the Delete option, then any files in your remote site for which
there are no corresponding local files are deleted. If you select Get Newer Files from Remote, then any files in your
local site for which there are no corresponding remote files are deleted.
7Click Preview.
Note: Before you can synchronize the files, you must preview the actions Dreamweaver performs to accomplish this task.
If the newest version of each chosen file is already in both locations and nothing needs to be deleted, an alert appears
informing you that no synchronization is necessary. Otherwise, the Synchronize dialog box appears to let you change
the actions (put, get, delete, and ignore) for those files before executing the synchronization.
8Verify the action that will be performed for each file.
9To change the action for a particular file, select the file, and then click one of the action icons at the bottom of the
preview window.
Compare The Compare action works only if you installed and specified a file comparison tool in Dreamweaver. If the
action icon is grayed out, the action cannot be performed.
Mark Selected Files As Already Synched This option lets you specify that the selected file or files are already
synchronized.
10 Click OK to synchronize the files. You can view or save the details of the synchronization to a local file.
Comparing files for differences
Compare local and remote files for differences
Dreamweaver can work with file comparison tools (also known as “diff tools”) to compare the code of local and remote
versions of the same file, two different remote files, or two different local files. Comparing local and remote versions
is useful if you’re working on a file locally and you suspect the copy of the file on the server has been modified by
someone else. Without leaving Dreamweaver, you can view and merge the remote changes into your local version
before putting the file to the server.
Comparing two local files or two remote files is also useful if you keep previous, renamed versions of your files. If
you’ve forgotten the changes made to a file from a previous version, a quick comparison will remind you.
Before you start, you must install a third-party file comparison tool on your system. For more information on file
comparison tools, use a web search engine such as Google Search to search for “file comparison” or “diff” tools.
Dreamweaver works with most third-party tools.
95
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Specify a comparison tool in Dreamweaver
1Install the file comparison tool on the same system as Dreamweaver.
2In Dreamweaver, open the Preferences dialog box by selecting Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver >
Preferences (Macintosh), and then select the File Compare category.
3Do one of the following:
•In Windows, click the Browse button and select the application that compares files.
•On the Macintosh, click the Browse button and select the tool or script that launches the file comparison tool from
the command line, not the actual comparison tool itself.
Launch tools or scripts are typically located in the /usr/bin folder on your Macintosh. For example, if you want to use
FileMerge, browse to /usr/bin and select opendiff, which is the tool that launches FileMerge.
The following table lists common file comparison tools for the Macintosh and the location of their launch tools or
scripts on your hard disk:
Note: The usr folder is normally hidden in Finder. However, you can access it with the Browse button in Dreamweaver.
Note: The actual results displayed depends on the diff tool you are using. Check the user manual for your tool to
understand how to interpret the results.
Compare two local files
You can compare two files located anywhere on your computer.
1In the Files panel, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the two files to select them.
To select files outside your defined site, select your local disk from the left pop-up menu in the Files panel and then
select the files.
2Right-click one of the selected files and select Compare Local Files from the context menu.
Note: If you have a one-button mouse, Control-click one of the selected files instead.
The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.
Compare two remote files
You can compare two files located on your remote server. You must define a Dreamweaver site with remote settings
before you can accomplish this task.
1In the Files panel, display the files on the remote server by selecting Remote View from the right pop-up menu.
2Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the two files to select them
3Right-click one of the selected files and select Compare Remote Files from the context menu.
Note: If you have a one-button mouse, Control-click one of the selected files instead.
The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.
If you use Select the following file
FileMerge /usr/bin/opendiff (or /Developer/usr/bin/opendiff)
BBEdit /usr/bin/bbdiff
TextWrangler /usr/bin/twdiff
96
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Compare a local file to a remote file
You can compare a local file to a file located on your remote server. To do this, you must first define a Dreamweaver
site with remote settings.
❖In the Files panel, right-click a local file and select Compare With Remote from the context menu.
Note: If you have a one-button mouse, Control-click the local file instead.
The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.
Compare a remote file to a local file
You can compare a remote file to a local file. You must define a Dreamweaver site with remote settings before
accomplishing this task.
1In the Files panel, display the files on the remote server by selecting Remote View from the right pop-up menu.
2Right-click a file in the panel and select Compare with Local from the context menu.
Note: If you have a one-button mouse, Control-click the file instead.
Compare an open file to a remote file
You can compare a file open in Dreamweaver to its counterpart on the remote server.
❖In the Document window, select File > Compare with Remote.
The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.
You can also right-click the document tab along the top of the Document window and select Compare with Remote
from the context menu.
Compare before putting files
If you edit a file locally and then try to upload it to your remote server, Dreamweaver will notify you if the remote
version of the file has changed. You have the option of comparing the two files before you upload the file and overwrite
the remote version.
Before you start, you must install a file comparison tool on your system and specify it in Dreamweaver.
1After editing a file in a Dreamweaver site, put the file (Site > Put) to your remote site.
If the remote version of the file has been modified, you’ll receive a notification with the option of seeing the differences.
2To view the differences, click the Compare button.
The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.
If you haven’t specified a file comparison tool, you are prompted to specify one.
3After you’ve reviewed or merged the changes in the tool, you can proceed with the Put operation or cancel it.
Compare files when synchronizing
You can compare the local versions of your files with the remote versions when you synchronize your site files with
Dreamweaver.
Before you start, you must install a file comparison tool on your system and specify it in Dreamweaver.
1Right-click anywhere in the Files panel and select Synchronize from the context menu.
2Complete the Synchronize Files dialog box and click Preview.
97
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
After you click Preview, the selected files and the actions that will be taken during synchronization are listed.
3In the list, select each file you want to compare and click the Compare button (the icon with two small pages).
Note: The file must be text-based, such as HTML or ColdFusion files.
Dreamweaver starts the comparison tool, which compares the local and remote versions of each file you selected.
More Help topics
“Synchronizing files” on page 93
Rolling back files (Contribute users)
Roll back files (Contribute users)
Dreamweaver automatically saves multiple versions of a document when you have Adobe Contribute compatibility
enabled.
Note: You must have Contribute installed on the same machine as Dreamweaver.
File rollback must also be enabled in Contribute’s administrative settings. For more information, see Administering
Contribute.
1Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a file in the Files panel.
2Select Roll Back Page.
If there is any previous version of the page to roll back, the Rollback dialog box appears.
3Select the version of the page you want to roll back to and click Roll Back.
More Help topics
“Prepare a site for use with Contribute” on page 54
“Delete, move, or rename a remote file in a Contribute site” on page 56
Cloaking files and folders in your Dreamweaver site
About site cloaking
Site cloaking enables you to exclude files and folders from operations such as Get or Put. You can also cloak all files of
a particular type (JPEG, FLV, XML, and so on) from site operations. Dreamweaver remembers your settings for each
site so that you don’t have to make selections each time you work on that site.
For example, if you’re working on a large site and you don’t want to upload your multimedia files each day, you can
use site cloaking to cloak your multimedia folder. Dreamweaver will then exclude files in that folder from site
operations you perform.
You can cloak files and folders on the remote or local site. Cloaking excludes cloaked files and folders from the
following operations:
•Performing Put, Get, Check In, and Check Out operations
98
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Generating reports
•Finding newer local and newer remote files
•Performing sitewide operations, such as checking and changing links
•Synchronizing
•Working with Asset panel contents
•Updating templates and libraries
Note: You can still perform an operation on a specific cloaked folder or file by selecting the item in the Files panel and
performing an operation on it. Performing an operation directly on a file or folder overrides cloaking.
Note: Dreamweaver excludes cloaked templates and library items from Get and Put operations only. Dreamweaver
does not exclude these items from batch operations, because it might cause them to become out of sync with their
instances.
Enable and disable site cloaking
Site cloaking enables you to exclude folders, files, and file types in a site from sitewide operations such as Get or Put,
and is enabled by default. You can disable cloaking permanently or just temporarily to perform an operation on all
files, including cloaked files. When you disable site cloaking, all cloaked files are uncloaked. When you enable site
cloaking again, any previously cloaked files become cloaked again.
Note: You can also use the Uncloak All option to uncloak all files, but this does not disable cloaking; also there is no way
to re-cloak all files and folders that were previously cloaked, except to set cloaking again for each folder, file, and file type.
1In the Files panel (Window > Files) select a file or folder.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and do one of the following:
•Select Cloaking > (deselect to disable).
•Select Cloaking > Settings to open the Cloaking category of the Site Setup dialog box. Select or deselect , and select
or deselect Cloak Files Ending With to enable or disable cloaking for specific file types. You can enter or delete file
suffixes in the text box that you want to cloak or uncloak.
Cloak and uncloak site files and folders
You can cloak specific files and folders, but you cannot cloak all files and folders or cloak an entire site. When you cloak
specific files and folders, you can cloak multiple files and folders at the same time.
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site that has site cloaking enabled.
2Select the folder(s) or file(s) you want to cloak or uncloak.
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Cloaking > Cloak or Cloaking > Uncloak from the
context menu.
A red line through the file or folder icon appears or disappears, indicating that the folder is cloaked or uncloaked.
Note: You can still perform an operation on a specific cloaked file or folder by selecting the item in the Files panel and
performing an operation on it. Performing an operation directly on a file or folder overrides cloaking.
99
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Cloak and uncloak specific file types
You can indicate specific file types to cloak, so that Dreamweaver cloaks all files ending with a specified pattern. For
example, you can cloak all files ending with the .txt extension. The file types that you enter do not have to be file
extensions; they can be any pattern at the end of a filename.
Cloak specific file types within a site
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site that has site cloaking enabled.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Cloaking > Settings.
3Select the Cloak Files Ending With option, enter the file types to cloak in the box, and click OK.
For example, you might enter .jpg to cloak all files with names ending in .jpg in your site.
Separate multiple file types with one space; do not use a comma or semicolon.
In the Files panel, a red line appears through the affected files, indicating that they are cloaked.
Some software creates backup files ending in a particular suffix, such as .bak. You can cloak such files.
Note: You can still perform an operation on a specific cloaked file or folder by selecting the item in the Files panel and
performing an operation on it. Performing an operation directly on a file or folder overrides cloaking.
Uncloak specific file types within a site
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site that has site cloaking enabled.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Cloaking > Settings.
3In the Advanced Site Definition dialog box, do one of the following:
•Deselect the Cloak Files Ending With option to uncloak all the file types listed in the box.
•Delete specific file types from the box to uncloak those file types.
4Click OK.
The red lines disappear from the affected files, indicating that they are uncloaked.
Uncloak all files and folders
You can uncloak all files and folders in a site at the same time. This action cannot be undone; there is no way to re-cloak
all items that were previously cloaked. You have to re-cloak items individually.
If you want to temporarily uncloak all folders and files, then re-cloak those items, disable site cloaking.
1In the Files panel (Window > Files), select a site that has site cloaking enabled.
2Select any file or folder in that site.
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Cloaking > Uncloak All.
Note: This step also deselects the Cloak Files Ending With option in the Cloaking category of the Site Definition dialog box.
The red lines through folder and file icons disappear, indicating that all files and folders in the site are uncloaked.
100
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Storing file information in Design Notes
About Design Notes
Design Notes are notes that you create for a file. Design Notes are associated with the file they describe, but stored in
a separate file. You can see which files have Design Notes attached in the expanded Files panel: A Design Notes icon
appears in the Notes column.
You can use Design Notes to keep track of extra file information associated with your documents, such as image
source-filenames and comments on file status. For example, if you copy a document from one site to another, you can
add Design Notes for that document, with the comment that the original document is in the other site folder.
You can also use Design Notes to keep track of sensitive information that you can’t put inside a document for security
reasons, such as notes on how a particular price or configuration was chosen, or what marketing factors influenced a
design decision.
If you open a file in Adobe® Fireworks® or Flash, and export it to another format, Fireworks and Flash automatically
save the name of the original source file in a Design Notes file. For example, if you open myhouse.png in Fireworks
and export it to myhouse.gif, Fireworks creates a Design Notes file called myhouse.gif.mno. This Design Notes file
contains the name of the original file, as an absolute file: URL. So, the Design Notes for myhouse.gif might contain
the following line:
fw_source="file:///Mydisk/sites/assets/orig/myhouse.png"
A similar Flash Design Note might contain the following line:
fl_source="file:///Mydisk/sites/assets/orig/myhouse.fla"
Note: To share Design Notes, users should define the same site-root path (for example, sites/assets/orig).
When you import the graphic into Dreamweaver, the Design Notes file is automatically copied into your site along
with the graphic. When you select the image in Dreamweaver and choose to edit it using Fireworks, Fireworks opens
the original file for editing.
More Help topics
“Start an external editor for media files” on page 248
Enable and disable Design Notes for a site
Design Notes are notes associated with a file, but stored in a separate file. Use Design Notes to keep track of extra file
information associated with your documents, such as image source-filenames and comments on file status.
You enable and disable Design Notes for a site in the Design Notes category of the Site Definition dialog box. When
you enable Design Notes, you can also choose to share them with others, if you want.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2In the Manage Sites dialog box, select a site, then click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, expand Advanced Settings and select the Design Notes category.
4Select Maintain Design Notes to enable Design Notes (deselect to disable them).
5If you want to delete all local Design Notes files for your site, click Clean Up, and then click Yes. (If you want to
delete remote Design Notes files, you’ll need to delete them manually).
101
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: The Clean Up Design Notes command only deletes MNO (Design Notes) files. It does not delete the _notes folder
or the dwsync.xml file inside the _notes folder. Dreamweaver uses the dwsync.xml file to maintain information about site
synchronization.
6Select Enable Upload Design Notes For Sharing to upload Design Notes associated with your site with the rest of
your documents and click OK.
•If you select this option, you can share Design Notes with the rest of your team. When you put or get a file,
Dreamweaver automatically puts or gets the associated Design Notes file.
•If you do not select this option, Dreamweaver maintains Design Notes locally but does not upload them with your
files. If you work alone on your site, deselecting this option improves performance. Design Notes will not be
transferred to the remote site when you check in or put your files and you can still add and modify the Design Notes
for your site locally.
Associate Design Notes with files
You can create a Design Notes file for each document or template in your site. You can also create Design Notes for
applets, ActiveX controls, images, Flash content, Shockwave objects, and image fields in your documents.
Note: If you add Design Notes to a template file, documents you create with the template do not inherit the Design Notes.
1Do one of the following:
•Open the file in the Document window and select File > Design Notes.
•In the Files panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file, and select Design Notes.
Note: If the file resides in a remote site, you must first check out or get the file, and then select it in the local folder.
2In the Basic Info tab, select a status for the document from the Status menu.
3Click the date icon (above the Notes box) to insert the current local date in your notes.
4Type comments in the Notes box.
5Select Show When File Is Opened to make the Design Notes file appear every time the file is opened.
6In the All Info tab, click the Plus (+) button to add a new key-value pair; select a pair and click the Minus (–) button
to remove it.
For example, you might name a key Author (in the Name box) and define the value as Heidi (in the Value box).
7Click OK to save the notes.
Dreamweaver saves your notes to a folder called _notes, in the same location as the current file. The filename is the
document’s filename, plus the extension .mno. For example, if the filename is index.html, the associated Design Notes
file is named index.html.mno.
More Help topics
“Getting and putting files to and from your server” on page 80
“Check files into and out of a remote folder” on page 86
Work with Design Notes
After you associate a Design Note with a file, you can open the Design Note, change its status, or delete it.
102
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
Open Design Notes associated with a file
❖Do one of the following to open the Design Notes:
•Open the file in the Document window, then select File > Design Notes.
•In the Files panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the file, then select Design Notes.
•In the Notes column of the Files panel, double-click the yellow Design Notes icon.
Note: To show the yellow Design Notes icons, select Site > Manage Sites > [your site name] > Edit > Advanced Settings
> File View Columns. Select Notes in the list panel and choose the Show option. When you click the Expand button on
the Files toolbar to show both the local and remote site, you have a Notes column in your local site that shows a yellow
note icon for any file with a Design Note.
Assign a custom Design Notes status
1Open Design Notes for a file or object (see the previous procedure).
2Click the All Info tab.
3Click the Plus (+) button.
4In the Name field, enter the word status.
5In the Value field, enter the status.
If a status value already existed, it’s replaced with the new one.
6Click the Basic Info tab and note that the new status value appears in the Status pop-up menu.
Note: You can have only one custom value in the status menu at a time. If you follow this procedure again, Dreamweaver
replaces the status value you entered the first time with the new status value you enter.
Delete unassociated Design Notes from your site
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select the site and click Edit.
3In the Site Definition dialog box, select Design Notes from the category list on the left.
4Click the Clean Up button.
Dreamweaver prompts you to verify that it should delete any Design Notes that are no longer associated with a file in
your site.
If you use Dreamweaver to delete a file that has an associated Design Notes file, Dreamweaver deletes the Design Notes
file too; so usually orphan Design Notes files occur only if you delete or rename a file outside of Dreamweaver.
Note: If you deselect the Maintain Design Notes option before you click Clean Up, Dreamweaver deletes all Design Notes
files for your site.
Testing your Dreamweaver site
Site testing guidelines
Before uploading your site to a server and declaring it ready for viewing, it’s a good idea to test it locally. (In fact, it’s a
good idea to test and troubleshoot your site frequently throughout its construction—you can catch problems early and
avoid repeating them.)
103
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
You should make sure that your pages look and work as expected in the browsers you’re targeting, that there are no
broken links, and that the pages don’t take too long to download. You can also test and troubleshoot your entire site
by running a site report.
The following guidelines will help you create a good experience for visitors to your site:
1. Make sure your pages function in the browsers you’re targeting.
Your pages should be legible and functional in browsers that do not support styles, layers, plug-ins, or JavaScript. For
pages that fail badly in older browsers, consider using the Check Browser behavior to automatically redirect visitors to
another page.
2. Preview your pages in different browsers and platforms.
This gives you an opportunity to see differences in layout, color, font sizes, and default browser window size that
cannot be predicted in a target browser check.
3. Check your site for broken links and fix them.
Other sites undergo redesign and reorganization too, and the page you’re linking to may have been moved or deleted.
You can run a link check report to test your links.
4. Monitor the file size of your pages and the time they take to download.
Keep in mind that if a page consists of one large table, in some browsers, visitors will see nothing until the entire table
finishes loading. Consider breaking up large tables; if this is not possible, consider putting a small amount of content—
such as a welcome message or an advertising banner—outside the table at the top of the page so users can view this
material while the table downloads.
5. Run a few site reports to test and troubleshoot the entire site.
You can check your entire site for problems, such as untitled documents, empty tags, and redundant nested tags.
6. Validate your code to locate tag or syntax errors.
7. Update and maintain the site after its published.
Publishing your site—that is, making it live—can be accomplished in several ways and is an ongoing process. An
important part of the process is defining and implementing a version-control system, either with the tools
Dreamweaver includes or through an external version-control application.
8. Use the discussion forums.
The Dreamweaver discussion forums can be found on the Adobe website at
www.adobe.com/go/dreamweaver_newsgroup.
The forums are a great resource for getting information on different browsers, platforms, and so on. You can also
discuss technical issues and share helpful hints with other Dreamweaver users.
For a tutorial on troubleshooting publishing problems, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0164.
More Help topics
“Fix broken links” on page 275
“Test links in Dreamweaver” on page 270
“Apply the Check Browser behavior” on page 337
104
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
“Validate XML documents” on page 311
“Check for browser compatibility” on page 311
Troubleshoot publishing problems tutorial
Use reports to test your site
You can run site reports on workflow or HTML attributes. You can also use the Reports command to check links in
your site.
Workflow reports can improve collaboration among members of a web team. You can run workflow reports that
display who has checked out a file, which files have Design Notes associated with them, and which files have been
modified recently. You can further refine Design Note reports by specifying name/value parameters.
Note: You must have a remote site connection defined to run the workflow reports.
HTML reports enable you to compile and generate reports for several HTML attributes. You can check combinable
nested font tags, missing Alt text, redundant nested tags, removable empty tags, and untitled documents.
After you run a report, you can save it as an XML file, then import it into a template instance or a database or
spreadsheet and print it, or display it on a website.
Note: You can also add different report types to Dreamweaver through the Adobe Dreamweaver Exchange website.
More Help topics
“Reports in Dreamweaver” on page 20
“Test links in Dreamweaver” on page 270
“Add and manage extensions in Dreamweaver” on page 34
Run reports to test a site
1Select Site > Reports.
2Select what to report on from the Report On pop-up menu and set any of the report types to run (workflow or
HTML).
You cannot run a Selected Files In Site report unless you have already selected files in the Files panel.
3If you selected a workflow report, click Report Settings. Otherwise, skip this step.
Note: If you selected more than one workflow report, you need to click the Report Settings button for each report. Select
a report, click Report Settings, and enter settings; then, repeat the process for any other workflow reports.
Checked Out By Creates a report listing all documents checked out by a specific team member. Enter the name of a
team member, and then click OK to return to the Reports dialog box.
Design Notes Creates a report listing all Design Notes for selected documents or for the site. Enter one or more name
and value pairs, then select comparison values from the corresponding pop-up menus. Click OK to return to the
Reports dialog box.
Recently Modified Creates a report listing files that have changed during a specified time frame. Enter date ranges and
location for the files you want to view.
4If you selected an HTML report, select from the following reports:
Combinable Nested Font Tags Creates a report that lists all nested font tags that can be combined to clean up the code.
105
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and Managing Files
Last updated 12/7/2011
For example, <font
color="#FF0000"><font size="4">STOP!</font></font> is reported.
Missing Alt Text Creates a report listing all the img tags that don’t have alternate text.
Alternate text appears in place of images for text-only browsers or for browsers that have been set to download images
manually. Screen readers read alternate text, and some browsers display alternate text when the user mouses over the
image.
Redundant Nested Tags Creates a report detailing nested tags that should be cleaned up.
For example, <i> The rain <i> in</i>
Spain stays mainly in the plain</i> is reported.
Removable Empty Tags Creates a report detailing all empty tags that can be removed to clean up the HTML code.
For example, you may have deleted an item or image in Code view, but left behind the tags that applied to that item.
Untitled Documents Creates a report listing all the untitled documents found within the selected parameters.
Dreamweaver reports all documents with default titles, multiple title tags, or missing title tags.
5Click Run to create the report.
Depending on the type of report you run, you might be prompted to save your file, define your site, or select a folder
(if you haven’t already done so).
A list of results appears in the Site Reports panel (in the Results panel group).
Use and save a report
1Run a report (see the previous procedure).
2In the Site Reports panel, do any of the following to view the report:
•Click the column heading you want to sort results by.
You can sort by filename, line number, or description. You can also run several different reports and keep the different
reports open.
•Select any line in the report, then click the More Info button on the left side of the Site Reports panel for a
description of the problem.
•Double-click any line in the report to view the corresponding code in the Document window.
Note: If you are in Design view, Dreamweaver changes the display to split view to show the reported problem in code.
3Click Save Report to save the report.
When you save a report, you can import it into an existing template file. You can then import the file into a database
or spreadsheet and print it, or use the file to display the report on a website.
After running HTML reports, use the Clean Up HTML command to correct any HTML errors the reports listed.
106
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 5: Managing assets and libraries
About assets and libraries
About assets
You can use Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 to keep track of and preview assets stored in your site, such as images, movies,
colors, scripts, and links. You can also drag an asset directly to insert it in a page of the current document.
You obtain assets from various sources. For example, you might create assets in an application such as Adobe®
Fireworks® or Adobe® Flash®, receive them from a co-worker, or copy them from a clip-art CD or graphics website.
Dreamweaver also provides access to two special types of assets—libraries and templates. Both are linked assets: when
you edit a library item or template, Dreamweaver updates all documents that use those assets. Library items generally
represent small design assets, such as a site logo or copyright. To control a larger design area, use a template instead.
More Help topics
“About Dreamweaver templates” on page 374
About library items
A library is a special Dreamweaver file containing a collection of individual assets or copies of assets that you can place
in your web pages. The assets in a library are called library items. Items that you can store in a library include images,
tables, sounds, and files created with Adobe Flash. You can automatically update all the pages that use a library item
whenever you edit the item.
For example, suppose you’re building a large site for a company that wants a slogan to appear on every page. You can
create a library item to contain the slogan and use that library item on every page. If the slogan changes, you can change
the library item and automatically update every page that uses it.
Dreamweaver stores library items in a Library folder within the local root folder for each site. Each site has its own
library.
You can create a library item from any element in the body section of a document, including text, tables, forms, Java
applets, plug-ins, ActiveX elements, navigation bars, and images.
For linked items such as images, the library stores only a reference to the item. The original file must remain at the
specified location for the library item to work correctly.
It can still be useful to store an image in a library item, though. For example, you could store a complete img tag in a
library item, which would allow you to easily change the image’s alt text, or even its src attribute, throughout the site.
(Don’t use this technique to change an image’s width and height attributes, though, unless you also use an image
editor to change the actual size of the image.)
Note: If the library item contains links, the links may not work in the new site. Also, images in a library item aren’t copied
to the new site.
When you use a library item, Dreamweaver inserts a link to it, rather than the item itself, in the web page. That is,
Dreamweaver inserts a copy of the HTML source code for that item into the document and adds an HTML comment
containing a reference to the original, external item. It is this external reference that makes automatic updating
possible.
107
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
When you create a library item that includes an element with a Dreamweaver behavior attached to it, Dreamweaver
copies the element and its event handler (the attribute that specifies which event triggers the action, such as onClick,
onLoad, or onMouseOver, and which action to call when the event occurs) to the library item file. Dreamweaver does
not copy the associated JavaScript functions into the library item. Instead, when you insert the library item into a
document, Dreamweaver automatically inserts the appropriate JavaScript functions into the head section of that
document (if they aren’t already there).
Note: If you hand-code JavaScript (that is, if you create it without using Dreamweaver behaviors), you can make it part
of a library item if you use the Call JavaScript behavior to execute the code. If you don’t use a Dreamweaver behavior to
execute the code, the code isn’t retained as part of the library item.
There are special requirements for editing the behaviors in library items. Library items cannot contain style sheets,
because the code for those elements is part of the head section.
More Help topics
“Edit a behavior in a library item” on page 117
Working with assets
Assets panel overview
Use the Assets panel (Window > Assets) to manage assets in the current site. The Assets panel displays assets for the
site associated with the active document in the Document window.
Note: You must define a local site before you can view assets in the Assets panel.
Asset panel with Site list displayed. Category icons are at left, and preview area is above list.
The Assets panel provides two ways to view assets:
Site list Shows all of the assets in your site, including colors and URLs that are used in any document in your site.
Favorites list Shows only the assets you’ve explicitly chosen.
To switch between these two views, select either the Site or Favorites radio button above the preview area. (These two
views are not available for the Templates and Library categories.)
Note: Most of the Assets panel operations work the same in both lists. There are a few tasks, however, that you can
perform only in the Favorites list.
108
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
In both lists, assets fall into one of the following categories:
Images Image files in GIF, JPEG, or PNG formats.
Colors Colors used in documents and style sheets, including colors of text, backgrounds, and links.
URLs External links in your current site documents, including FTP, gopher, HTTP, HTTPS, JavaScript, e-mail
(mailto), and local file (file://) links.
Flash Files in any version of Adobe Flash. The Assets panel displays only SWF files (compressed files created with
Flash), but not FLA (Flash source) files.
Shockwave Files in any version of Adobe Shockwave.
Movies QuickTime or MPEG files.
Scripts JavaScript or VBScript files. Scripts in HTML files (rather than in independent JavaScript or VBScript
files) do not appear in the Assets panel.
Templates Master page layouts used on multiple pages. Modifying a template automatically modifies all pages
attached to it.
Library items Design elements that you use in multiple pages; when you modify a library item, all pages
containing that item are updated.
Note: To appear in the Assets panel, a file must fall into one of these categories. Some other types of files are sometimes
called assets, but they aren’t shown in the panel.
By default, assets in a category are listed alphabetically by name, but you can sort them by type and several other
criteria. You can also preview assets and resize the columns and the preview area.
More Help topics
“Creating and managing a list of favorite assets” on page 111
“Working with library items” on page 113
View an asset in the preview area
❖Select the asset in the Assets panel.
For example, when you select a movie asset, the preview area shows an icon. To view the movie, click the Play button
(the green triangle) in the upper-right corner of the preview area.
Display assets in a category
❖Click a category icon on the left side of the Assets panel.
Sort assets
❖Click a column heading.
For example, to sort the list of images by type (so that all the GIF images are together, all the JPEG images are together,
and so on), click the Type column heading.
Resize a column
❖Drag the line separating two column headings.
Resize the preview area
❖Drag the splitter bar (between the preview area and the list of assets) up or down.
109
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
Refresh the Assets panel
It can take a few seconds to create the Site list because Dreamweaver must first read the site cache.
Certain changes don’t appear immediately in the Assets panel. For instance, when you add or remove an asset from
your site, the changes don’t appear in the Assets panel until you refresh the Site list by clicking the Refresh Site List
button. If you add or remove an asset outside Dreamweaver—using
Windows Explorer
or the Finder, for example—you must rebuild the site cache to update the Assets panel.
When you remove the only instance of a particular color or URL in your site, or when you save a new file that contains
a color or URL that isn’t already used in the site, the changes don’t appear in the Assets panel until you refresh the Site list.
•To refresh the Site list manually, click the Refresh Site List button . Dreamweaver creates the site cache or
updates it as necessary.
•To refresh the Site list and manually rebuild the site cache, right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh)
in the Assets list, then select Refresh Site List.
Add an asset to a document
You can insert most assets into a document by dragging them into the Code view or Design view in the Document
window, or by using the Insert button in the panel. You can either insert colors and URLs or apply them to selected
text in the Design view. (URLs can also be applied to other elements in the Design view, such as images.)
1In Design view, place the insertion point where you want the asset to appear.
2In the Assets panel, select from the asset category buttons at the left.
Note: Select any category except Templates. A template is applied to an entire document; it can’t be inserted into a
document.
3Select either Site or Favorites at the top of the panel, then select the asset.
There are no Site or Favorites lists for library items; skip this step if you’re inserting a library item.
4Do one of the following:
•Drag the asset from the panel to the document.
You can drag scripts into the head content area of the Document window; if that area isn’t visible, select View > Head
Content.
•Select the asset in the panel and click Insert.
If the inserted asset is a color, it applies to text appearing after the insertion point.
Apply a color to text using the Assets panel
The Assets panel shows the colors you’ve already applied to various elements, such as text, table borders, backgrounds,
and so on.
1Select the text in the document.
2In the Assets panel, select the Colors category .
3Select the desired color and click Apply.
110
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Add or remove favorite assets” on page 112
Apply a URL to an image or text using the Assets panel
1Select the text or image.
2In the Assets panel, select the URLs category in either the Sites or Favorites view, depending on where the URL
is stored.
Note: URLs for your site’s files are stored in the Sites view by default. The Favorites view holds URLs that you have added
yourself.
3Select the URL.
4Do one of the following:
•Drag the URL from the panel to the selection in the Design view.
•Select the URL, then click Insert.
Select and edit assets
The Assets panel allows you to select multiple assets at once. It also provides a quick way to begin editing assets.
More Help topics
“Start an external editor for media files” on page 248
Select multiple assets
1In the Assets panel, select an asset.
2Select the other assets in one of the following ways:
•Shift-click to select a consecutive series of assets.
•Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) to add an individual asset to the selection (whether or
not it’s adjacent to the existing selection). Control-click or Command-click a selected asset to deselect it.
Edit an asset
When you edit an asset in the Assets panel, the behavior varies according to the asset type. For some assets, such as
images, you use an external editor, which opens automatically if you have defined an editor for that asset type. You can
edit colors and URLs in the Favorites list only. When you edit templates and library items, you make the changes
within Dreamweaver.
1In the Assets panel, do one of the following:
•Double-click the asset.
•Select the asset, then click the Edit button .
Note: If the asset must be edited in an external editor and one doesn’t open automatically, select Edit > Preferences
(Windows) or Dreamweaver
> Preferences (Macintosh), select the File Types/Editors category, and make sure you have
defined an external editor for that asset type.
2Make your changes.
3When you finish, do one of the following:
•If the asset is file-based (anything other than a color or URL), save it (in the editor you used), and close it.
111
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
•If the asset is a URL, click OK in the Edit URL dialog box.
Note: If the asset is a color, the color picker closes automatically after you pick a color. To dismiss the color picker without
picking a color, press Esc.
Reuse assets in another site
The Assets panel shows all the assets (of recognized types) in your current site. To use an asset from the current site in
another site, you must copy it to the other site. You can copy an individual asset, a set of individual assets, or an entire
Favorites folder at once.
You may need to locate the file in the Files panel that corresponds to an asset in the Assets panel before you transfer
the asset to or from your remote site.
Note: The Files panel might show a different site from the one that the Assets panel shows. This is because the Assets panel
is associated with the active document.
Locate an asset file in the Files panel
1In the Assets panel, select the category of the asset you want to find.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the asset’s name or icon in the Assets panel, then select Locate
In Site from the context menu.
Note: Locate In Site is unavailable for colors and URLs, which do not correspond to files in the site.
The Files panel opens, with the asset file selected. The Locate In Site command locates the file corresponding to the
asset itself; it does not locate files that use that asset.
Copy assets from the Asset panel to another site
1In the Assets panel, select the category of the asset you want to copy.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) one or more assets in either the Site list or Favorites list, select
Copy To Site, and select the target site name from the submenu listing all the sites you’ve defined.
Note: In the Favorites list, you can copy a Favorites folder as well as individual assets.
The assets are copied to their corresponding locations in the target site. Dreamweaver creates new folders in the target
site’s hierarchy as needed. The assets are also added to the target site’s Favorites list.
Note: If the asset you copied is a color or a URL, it appears only in the target site’s Favorites list. Because colors and URLs
don’t correspond to files, there’s no file to copy into the other site.
Creating and managing a list of favorite assets
Managing favorite assets
The complete list of all recognized assets list can become cumbersome for some large sites. You can add frequently
used assets to a Favorites list, group related assets together, give them nicknames to remind yourself what they’re for,
and find them easily in the Assets panel.
Note: Favorite assets are not stored as separate files on your disk; they’re references to the assets in the Site list.
Dreamweaver keeps track of which assets from the Site list to display in the Favorites list.
112
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
Most of the operations of the Assets panel are the same in the Favorites list as in the Site list. However, there are several
tasks that you can perform only in the Favorites list.
Add or remove favorite assets
There are several ways to add assets to your site’s Favorites list in the Assets panel.
Adding a color or URL to the Favorites list requires an extra step. You can’t add new colors or URLs to the Site list; the
Site list contains only assets that are already in use in your site.
Note: There are no Favorites lists for templates and library items.
More Help topics
“Assets panel overview” on page 107
“Use the color picker” on page 208
Add assets to the Favorites list
Do one of the following:
•Select one or more assets in the Site list of the Assets panel, then click the
•Add To Favorites
• button .
•Select one or more assets in the Site list of the Assets panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh),
then select
•Add To Favorites
•.
•Select one or more files in the Files panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select
•Add To Favorites
•. Dreamweaver ignores files that don’t correspond to a category in the Assets panel.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) an element in the Document window’s Design view, then
select the context menu command to add the element to a Favorites category.
The context menu for text contains either Add To Color Favorites or Add To URL Favorites, depending on whether
the text has a link attached. You can add only those elements that match one of the categories in the Assets panel.
Add a new color or URL to the Favorites list
1In the Assets panel, select the Colors or URLs category.
2Select the Favorites option at the top of the panel.
3Click the
4New Color
5 or New URL button .
6Do one of the following:
•Select a color using the color picker, then give the color a nickname if desired.
To close the color picker without selecting a color, press Esc or click the gray bar at the top of the color picker.
113
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Enter a URL and a nickname in the Add New URL dialog box, then click OK.
Remove assets from the Favorites list
1In the Assets panel, select the Favorites option at the top of the panel.
2Select one or more assets (or a folder) in the Favorites list.
3Click the Remove From Favorites button .
The assets are removed from the Favorites list, but not from the Site list. If you remove a Favorites folder, the folder
and all its contents are removed.
Create a nickname for a favorite asset
You can give nicknames (for instance, PageBackgroundColor rather than #999900) to assets only in the Favorites list.
The Site list retains their real filenames (or values, in the case of colors and URLs).
1In the Assets panel (Window > Assets), select the category that contains your asset.
2Select the Favorites option at the top of the panel.
3Do one of the following:
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the asset’s name or icon in the Assets panel, then select Edit
Nickname.
•Click the asset’s name once, pause, then click it again. (Do not double-click; double-clicking opens the item for
editing.)
4Type a nickname for the asset, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
More Help topics
“Assets panel overview” on page 107
Group assets in a Favorites folder
Placing an asset in Favorites folder does not change the location of the asset’s file on your disk.
1In the Assets panel, select the Favorites option at the top of the panel.
2Click the New Favorites Folder button .
3Type a name for the folder, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
4Drag assets into the folder.
Working with library items
Create a library item
Library items are elements that you want to reuse or update frequently throughout your website.
More Help topics
“About library items” on page 106
114
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create a library item based on a selection
1In the Document window, select a portion of a document to save as a library item.
2Do one of the following:
•Drag the selection into the Library category .
•Click the New Library Item button at the bottom of the Library category.
•Select Modify > Library > Add Object To Library.
3Type a name for the new library item, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
Dreamweaver saves each library item as a separate file (with the file extension .lbi) in the Library folder of the site’s
local root folder.
Create an empty library item
1Make sure nothing is selected in the Document window.
If something is selected, it will be placed in the new library item.
2In the Assets panel, select the Library category .
3Click the New Library Item button at the bottom of the panel.
4While the item is still selected, enter a name for it, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
Insert a library item into a document
When you add a library item to a page, the actual content is inserted in the document along with a reference to the
library item.
1Place the insertion point in the Document window.
2In the Assets panel, select the Library category .
3Do one of the following:
•Drag a library item from the Assets panel to the Document window.
To insert the contents of a library item without including a reference to the item in the document, press Control
(Windows) or Option (Macintosh) while dragging an item out of the Assets panel. If you insert an item this way, you
can edit the item in the document, but the document won’t be updated when you update pages that use that library item.
•Select a library item, and click Insert.
Edit library items and update documents
When you edit a library item, you can update all documents that use that item. If you choose not to update, the
documents remain associated with the library item; you can update them later.
You can rename items to break their connection with documents or templates, delete items from the site’s library, and
recreate a missing library item.
Note: The CSS Styles panel is unavailable as you edit a library item, because library items can contain only body elements
and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) code is inserted in the head section of a document. The Page Properties dialog box is
also unavailable, because a library item can’t include a body tag or its attributes.
Edit a library item
1In the Assets panel, select the Library category .
115
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Select a library item.
3Either Click the Edit button or double-click the library item.
Dreamweaver opens a new window, similar to the Document window, for editing the library item. The gray
background indicates that you’re editing a library item instead of a document.
4Make and then save your changes.
5Specify whether to update the documents on the local site that use the library item. Select Update to update
immediately. If you select Don’t Update, documents won’t be updated until you choose Modify
> Library > Update
Current Page or Update
Pages.
Update the current document to use the current version of all library items
❖Select Modify > Library > Update Current Page.
Update the entire site or all documents that use a particular library item
1Select Modify > Library > Update Pages.
2In the Look In pop-up menu, specify what to update:
•To update all pages in the selected site to use the current version of all library items, select Entire Site, then select
the site name from the adjacent pop-up menu.
•To update all pages in the current site that use the library item, select Files That Use, then select a library item name
from the adjacent pop-up menu.
3Make sure that Library Items is selected in the Update option.
To update templates at the same time, select Templates as well.
4Click Start.
Dreamweaver updates the files as indicated. If you selected the Show Log option, Dreamweaver generates a report
showing whether files were updated successfully, along with other information.
Rename a library item
1In the Assets panel, select the Library category .
2Select the library item, pause, and then click again. (Do not double-click; double-clicking opens the item for
editing.)
3Enter a new name.
4Click elsewhere, or press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
5Specify whether to update documents that use the item by choosing either Update or Don’t Update.
Delete a library item from a library
When you delete a library item, Dreamweaver removes it from the library but doesn’t change the contents of any
documents that use the item.
1In the Assets panel, select the Library category .
2Select the library item.
3Either click the Delete button or press the Delete key, then confirm that you want to delete the item.
Important: If you delete a library item, you can’t use Undo to retrieve it. You may be able to recreate it, however.
116
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
Recreate a missing or deleted library item
1Select an instance of the item in one of your documents.
2Click the Recreate button in the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
Customize highlighting of library items
You can customize the highlight color of library items and show or hide highlighting by setting Highlighting
preferences.
More Help topics
“Use the color picker” on page 208
Change the highlight color of library items
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select the Highlighting category from the list on the left of the Preferences dialog box.
3Click the Library Items color box, then select a highlight color using the color picker (or enter the hexadecimal color
value in the text box).
4Select Show to display the highlight color in the Document window.
5Click OK.
To show or hide highlighting in the Document window
❖To show highlighting, select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements. To hide highlighting, deselect Invisible
Elements.
Edit the properties of a library item
You can use the Property inspector to open a library item for editing, detach a selected library item from its source file,
or overwrite an item with the currently selected library item.
1Select a library item in a document.
2Select one of these options in the Property inspector (Window > Properties):
Src Displays the filename and location of the source file for the library item. You can’t edit this information.
Open Opens the library item’s source file for editing. This is equivalent to selecting the item in the Assets panel and
clicking the Edit button.
Detach From Original Breaks the link between the selected library item and its source file. You can edit the detached
item in the document, but it’s no longer a library item and isn’t updated when you change the original.
Recreate Overwrites the original library item with the current selection. Use this option to re-create library items if
the original library item is missing or has been accidentally deleted.
Make library items editable in a document
If you’ve added a library item to your document and you want to edit the item specifically for that page, you must break
the link between the item in the document and the library. Once you’ve made an instance of a library item editable,
that instance isn’t updated when the library item changes.
1Select a library item in the current document.
117
USING DREAMWEAVER
Managing assets and libraries
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Click Detach From Original in the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
Edit a behavior in a library item
To edit a behavior in a library item, you must first insert the item in a document, then make the item editable in that
document. After you’ve made the changes, you can re-create the library item, replacing the item in the library with the
edited item from your document.
1Open a document that contains the library item.
Note the name of the library item, as well as the exact tags it contains. You’ll need this information later.
2Select the library item, and then click Detach From Original in the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
3Select the element that has the behavior attached to it.
4In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), double-click the action you want to change.
5In the dialog box that appears, make your changes, then click OK.
6In the Assets panel, select the Library category .
7Record the exact name and capitalization of the original library item; select it, then click the Delete button.
8In the Document window, select all the elements that make up the library item.
Be careful to select exactly the same elements that were in the original library item.
9In the Assets panel, click the New Library Item button , then give the new item the same name as the item you
deleted, using the same spelling and capitalization.
10 To update the library item in your site’s other documents, select Modify > Library > Update Pages.
11 In the Look In pop-up menu, select Files That Use.
12 In the adjacent pop-up menu, select the name of the library item you just created.
13 In the Update option, make sure Library Items is selected, then click Start.
14 When the updates are complete, click Close.
More Help topics
“Using JavaScript behaviors” on page 321
118
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 6: Creating pages with CSS
Understanding Cascading Style Sheets
About Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a collection of formatting rules that control the appearance of content in a web page.
Using CSS styles to format a page separates content from presentation. The content of your page—the HTML code—
resides in the HTML file, and the CSS rules defining the presentation of the code reside in another file (an external
style sheet) or in another part of the HTML document (usually the head section). Separating content from presentation
makes it much easier to maintain the appearance of your site from a central location because you don’t need to update
every property on every page whenever you want to make a change. Separating content from presentation also results
in simpler and cleaner HTML code, which provides shorter browser loading times, and simplifies navigation for
people with accessibility issues (for example, those using screen readers).
CSS gives you great flexibility and control over the exact appearance of your page. With CSS you can control many text
properties including specific fonts and font sizes; bold, italics, underlining, and text shadows; text color and
background color; link color and link underlining; and much more. By using CSS to control your fonts, you can also
ensure a more consistent treatment of your page layout and appearance in multiple browsers.
In addition to text formatting, you can use CSS to control the format and positioning of block-level elements in a web
page. A block-level element is a standalone piece of content, usually separated by a new line in the HTML, and visually
formatted as a block. For example, h1 tags, p tags, and div tags all produce block-level elements on a web page. You
can set margins and borders for block-level elements, position them in a specific location, add background color to
them, float text around them, and so on. Manipulating block-level elements is in essence the way you lay out pages
with CSS.
More Help topics
“Working with div tags” on page 152
“Laying out pages with CSS” on page 146
Understanding CSS tutorial
About CSS rules
A CSS formatting rule consists of two parts—the selector and the declaration (or in most cases, a block of declarations).
The selector is a term (such as p, h1,a class name, or an id) that identifies the formatted element, and the declaration
block defines what the style properties are. In the following example, h1 is the selector, and everything that falls
between the braces ({}) is the declaration block:
h1 {
font-size: 16 pixels;
font-family: Helvetica;
font-weight:bold;
}
An individual declaration consists of two parts, the property (such as font-family) and value (such as Helvetica).
In the previous CSS rule, a particular style has been created for h1 tags: the text for all h1 tags linked to this style will
be 16 pixels in size, Helvetica font, and bold.
119
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The style (which comes from a rule, or a collection of rules) resides in a place separate from the actual text it’s
formatting—usually in an external style sheet, or in the head portion of an HTML document. Thus, one rule for h1
tags can apply to many tags at once (and in the case of external style sheets, the rule can apply to many tags at once on
many different pages). In this way, CSS provides extremely easy update capability. When you update a CSS rule in one
place, the formatting of all the elements that use the defined style are automatically updated to the new style.
You can define the following types of styles in Dreamweaver:
•Class styles let you apply style properties to any element or elements on the page.
•HTML tag styles redefine the formatting for a particular tag, such as h1. When you create or change a CSS style for
the h1 tag, all text formatted with the h1 tag is immediately updated.
•Advanced styles redefine the formatting for a particular combination of elements, or for other selector forms as
allowed by CSS (for example, the selector td h2 applies whenever an h2 header appears inside a table cell.)
Advanced styles can also redefine the formatting for tags that contain a specific id attribute (for example, the styles
defined by #myStyle apply to all tags that contain the attribute-value pair id="myStyle").
CSS rules can reside in the following locations:
External CSS style sheets Collections of CSS rules stored in a separate, external CSS (.css) file (not an HTML file). This
file is linked to one or more pages in a website using a link or an @import rule in the head section of a document.
Internal (or embedded) CSS style sheets Collections of CSS rules included in a style tag in the head portion of an
HTML document.
Inline styles Defined within specific instances of tags throughout an HTML document. (Using Inline styles is not
recommended.)
Dreamweaver recognizes styles defined in existing documents as long as they conform to CSS style guidelines.
Dreamweaver also renders most applied styles directly in Design view. (Previewing the document in a browser
window, however, gives you the most accurate “live” rendering of the page.) Some CSS styles are rendered differently
in Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Apple Safari, or other browsers, and some are not currently
supported by any browser.
To display the O’Reilly CSS reference guide included with Dreamweaver, select Help > Reference and select O’Reilly
CSS Reference from the pop-up menu in the Reference panel.
More Help topics
“Apply, remove, or rename CSS class styles” on page 136
main.html
External Style Sheet events.html
H1 {
font-family: Ariel;
font-size: 16px;
font-weight: bold;
}
Where to stay
Spring Festival
What to do
120
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
About cascading styles
The term cascading refers to the way a browser ultimately displays styles for specific elements on a web page. Three
different sources are responsible for the styles you see on a web page: the style sheet created by the author of the page,
the user’s customized style selections (if any), and the default styles of the browser itself. The previous topics describe
creating styles for a web page as the author of both the web page and the style sheet attached to that page. But browsers
also have their own default style sheets that dictate the rendering of web pages, and in addition to that, users can
customize their browsers by making selections that adjust the display of web pages. The final appearance of a web page
is the result of the rules of all three of these sources coming together (or “cascading”) to render the web page in an
optimal way.
A common tag—the paragraph tag, or <p> tag—illustrates the concept. By default, browsers come with style sheets that
define the font and font size for paragraph text (that is, text that falls between <p> tags in the HTML code). In Internet
Explorer, for example, all body text, including paragraph text, displays in Times New Roman, Medium font by default.
As the author of a web page, however, you can create a style sheet that overrides the browser’s default style for
paragraph font and font size. For example, you can create the following rule in your style sheet:
p {
font-family: Arial;
font-size: small;
}
When a user loads the page, the paragraph font and font size settings set by you as the author override the default
paragraph text settings of the browser.
Users can make selections to customize the browser display in an optimal way for their own use. In Internet Explorer,
for example, the user can select View
> Text Size > Largest to expand the page font to a more readable size if they think
the font is too small. Ultimately (at least in this case), the user’s selection overrides both the default browser styles for
paragraph font size and the paragraph styles created by the author of the web page.
Inheritance is another important part of the cascade. Properties for most elements on a web page are inherited—for
example, paragraph tags inherit certain properties from body tags, span tags inherit certain properties from paragraph
tags, and so on. Thus, if you create the following rule in your style sheet:
body {
font-family: Arial;
font-style: italic;
}
All paragraph text on your web page (as well as text that inherits properties from the paragraph tag) will be Arial and
italic because the paragraph tag inherits these properties from the body tag. You can, however, become more specific
with your rules, and create styles that override the standard formula for inheritence. For example, if you create the
following rules in your style sheet:
body {
font-family: Arial;
font-style: italic;
}
p {
font-family: Courier;
font-style: normal;
}
121
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
All body text will be Arial and italic except paragraph (and its inherited) text, which will display as Courier normal
(non-italic). Technically, the paragraph tag first inherits the properties that are set for the body tag, but then ignores
those properties because it has properties of its own defined. In other words, while page elements generally inherit
properties from above, the direct application of a property to a tag always causes an override of the standard formula
for inheritance.
The combination of all of the factors discussed above, plus other factors like CSS specificity (a system that gives
different weight to particular kinds of CSS rules), and the order of CSS rules, ultimately create a complex cascade where
items with higher priorities override properties that have lower priorities. For more information on the rules
governing the cascade, inheritance, and specificity, visit www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/cascade.html.
About text formatting and CSS
By default, Dreamweaver uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to format text. The styles that you apply to text using the
Property inspector or menu commands create CSS rules that are embedded in the head of the current document.
You can also use the CSS Styles panel to create and edit CSS rules and properties. The CSS Styles panel is a much more
robust editor than the Property inspector, and displays all CSS rules defined for the current document, whether those
rules are embedded in the head of the document or in an external style sheet. Adobe recommends that you use the CSS
Styles panel (rather than the Property inspector) as the primary tool for creating and editing your CSS. As a result, your
code will be cleaner and easier to maintain.
In addition to styles and style sheets you create, you can use style sheets that come with Dreamweaver to apply styles
to your documents.
For a tutorial about formatting text with CSS, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0153.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel” on page 122
“Create a new CSS rule” on page 128
Formatting text with CSS tutorial
About Shorthand CSS properties
The CSS specification allows for the creation of styles using an abbreviated syntax known as shorthand CSS. Shorthand
CSS lets you specify the values of several properties using a single declaration. For example, the
font
property lets you set
font-style
,
font-variant
,
font-weight
,
font-size
,
line-height
, and
font-family
properties on a single line.
A key issue to note when using shorthand CSS, is that values omitted from a shorthand CSS property are assigned their
default value. This may cause pages to be incorrectly displayed when two or more CSS rules are assigned to the same tag.
For example, the h1 rule shown below uses longhand CSS syntax. Note that the font-variant, font-stretch, font-
size-adjust, and font-style properties have been assigned their default values.
122
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
h1 {
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 16pt;
line-height: 18pt;
font-family: Arial;
font-variant: normal;
font-style: normal;
font-stretch: normal;
font-size-adjust: none
}
Rewritten as a single, shorthand property, the same rule might appear as follows:
h1 { font: bold 16pt/18pt Arial }
When written using shorthand notation, omitted values are automatically assigned their default values. Thus, the
previous shorthand example omits the font-variant, font-style, font-stretch, and font-size-adjust tags.
If you have styles defined in more than one location (for example, both embedded in an HTML page and imported
from an external style sheet) using both the short and long forms of CSS syntax, be aware that omitted properties in a
shorthand rule may override (or cascade) properties that are explicitly set in another rule.
For this reason, Dreamweaver uses the long form of CSS notation by default. This prevents possible problems caused
by a shorthand rule overriding a longhand rule. If you open a web page that was coded with shorthand CSS notation
in Dreamweaver, be aware that Dreamweaver will create any new CSS rules using the longhand form. You can specify
how Dreamweaver creates and edits CSS rules by changing the CSS editing preferences in the CSS Styles category of
the Preferences dialog box (Edit
> Preferences in Windows; Dreamweaver > Preferences on the Macintosh).
Note: The CSS Styles panel creates rules using only longhand notation. If you create a page or CSS style sheet using the
CSS Styles panel, be aware that hand coding shorthand CSS rules may result in the shorthand properties overriding those
created in longhand form. For this reason, use longhand CSS notation to create your styles.
The CSS Styles panel
The CSS Styles panel lets you track the CSS rules and properties affecting a currently selected page element (Current
mode), or all of the rules and properties that are available to the document (All mode). A toggle button at the top of
panel lets you switch between the two modes. The CSS Styles panel also lets you modify CSS properties in both All and
Current mode.
123
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The CSS Styles panel in Current mode
In Current mode, the CSS Styles panel displays three panes: a Summary for Selection pane that displays the CSS
properties for the current selection in the document, a Rules pane that displays the location of selected properties (or
a cascade of rules for the selected tag, depending on your selection), and a Properties pane that lets you edit CSS
properties for the rule applied to the selection.
You can resize any of the panes by dragging the borders between the panes, and can resize columns by dragging
dividers.
The Summary for Selection pane displays a summary of CSS properties and their values for the item currently selected
in the active document. The summary shows the properties for all rules that directly apply to the selection. Only set
properties are shown.
For example, the following rules create a class style and a tag (in this case paragraph) style:
.foo{
color: green;
font-family: 'Arial';
}
p{
font-family: 'serif';
font-size: 12px;
}
When you select paragraph text with a class style of .foo in the Document window, the Summary for Selection pane
displays the relevant properties for both rules, because both rules apply to the selection. In this case, the Summary for
Selection pane would list the following properties:
font-size: 12px
font-family: 'Arial'
color: green
124
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The Summary for Selection pane arranges properties in increasing order of specificity. In the above example, the tag
style defines the font size and the class style defines the font family and the color. (The font family defined by the class
style overrides the font family defined by the tag style because class selectors have higher specificity than tag selectors.
For more information on CSS specificity, see www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/cascade.html.)
The Rules pane displays two different views—About view or Rules view—depending on your selection. In About view
(the default view), the pane displays the name of the rule that defines the selected CSS property, and the name of the
file containing the rule. In Rules view, the pane displays a cascade, or hierarchy, of all rules that apply directly or
indirectly to the current selection. (The tag to which the rule directly applies appears in the right column.) You can
toggle between the two views by clicking the Show Information and Show Cascade buttons in the upper-right corner
of the Rules pane.
When you select a property in the Summary for Selection pane, all of the properties for the defining rule appear in the
Properties pane. (The defining rule is also selected in the Rules pane, if Rules view is selected.) For example, if you have
a rule called .maintext that defines a font family, font size, and color, then selecting any of those properties in the
Summary for Selection pane will display all of the properties defined by the .maintext rule in the Properties pane, as
well as the selected .maintext rule in the Rules pane. (Additionally, selecting any rule in the Rules pane displays that
rule’s properties in the Properties pane.) You can then use the Properties pane to quickly modify your CSS, whether it
is embedded in the current document or linked by means of an attached style sheet. By default, the Properties pane
shows only those properties that have already been set, and arranges them in alphabetical order.
You can choose to display the Properties pane in two other views. Category view displays properties grouped into
categories, such as Font, Background, Block, Border, and so on, with set properties at the top of each category,
displayed in blue text. List view displays an alphabetical list of all available properties, and likewise sorts set properties
to the top, displaying them in blue text. To switch between views, click the Show Category View, Show List View, or
Show Only Set Properties button, located at the lower-left corner of the Properties pane.
In all views, set properties are displayed in blue; properties irrelevant to a selection are displayed with a red strike-
through line. Holding the mouse over a rule that is irrelevant displays a message explaining why the property is
irrelevant. Typically a property is irrelevant because it’s overridden or not an inherited
property.
Any changes you make in the Properties pane are applied immediately, letting you preview your work as you go.
More Help topics
“Open the CSS Styles panel” on page 126
125
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The CSS Styles panel in All mode
In All mode, the CSS Styles panel displays two panes: an All Rules pane (on top), and a Properties pane (on bottom). The
All Rules pane displays a list of rules defined in the current document as well as all rules defined in style sheets attached
to the current document. The Properties pane lets you edit CSS properties for any selected rule in the All Rules pane.
You can resize either pane by dragging the border between the panes, and can resize the Properties columns by
dragging their divider.
When you select a rule in the All Rules pane, all of the properties that are defined in that rule appear in the Properties
pane. You can then use the Properties pane to quickly modify your CSS, whether it is embedded in the current
document or linked in an attached style sheet. By default, the Properties pane shows only those properties that have
been previously set, and arranges them in alphabetical order.
You can choose to display properties in two other views. Category view displays properties grouped into categories,
such as Font, Background, Block, Border, and so on, with set properties at the top of each category. List view displays
an alphabetical list of all available properties, and likewise sorts set properties to the top. To switch between views, click
the Show Category View, Show List View, or Show Only Set Properties button, located at the lower-left corner of the
Properties pane. In all views, set properties are displayed in blue.
Any changes you make in the Properties pane are applied immediately, letting you preview your work as you go.
More Help topics
“Open the CSS Styles panel” on page 126
CSS Styles panel buttons and views
In both All and Current modes, the CSS Styles panel contains three buttons that let you alter the view in the Properties
pane (the bottom pane):
126
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Category View B. List View C. Set Properties View
Category View Divides the Dreamweaver-supported CSS properties into eight categories: font, background, block,
border, box, list, positioning, and extensions. Each category’s properties are contained in a list that you expand or
collapse by clicking the Plus (+) button next to the category name. Set properties appear (in blue) at the top of the list.
List View Displays all of the Dreamweaver-supported CSS properties in alphabetical order. Set properties appear (in
blue) at the top of the list.
Set Properties View Displays only those properties that have been set. Set Properties view is the default view.
In both All and Current modes, the CSS Styles panel also contains the following buttons:
A. Attach Style Sheet B. New CSS Rule C. Edit Style D. Disable/enable CSS property E. Delete CSS rule
Attach Style Sheet Opens the Link External Style Sheet dialog box. Select an external style sheet to link to or import
into your current document.
New CSS Rule Opens a dialog box in which you can select the type of style you’re creating—for example, to create a
class style, redefine an HTML tag, or to define a CSS selector.
Edit Style Opens a dialog box in which you can edit the styles in the current document or in an external style sheet.
Delete CSS Rule Removes the selected rule or property from the CSS Styles panel, and removes the formatting from
any element to which it was applied. (It does not, however, remove class or ID properties referenced by that style). The
Delete CSS Rule button can also detach (or “unlink”) an attached CSS style sheet.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the CSS Styles panel to open a context menu of options for
working with CSS style sheet commands.
Open the CSS Styles panel
You use the CSS Styles panel to view, create, edit, and remove CSS styles, as well as to attach external style sheets to
documents.
❖Do one of the following:
•Select Window > CSS Styles.
•Press Shift+F11.
•Click the CSS button in the Property inspector.
Enhancements to CSS3 support in the CSS styles panel
(CS5.5)
A pop-up panel has been introduced in the CSS panel for the following properties:
•text-shadow
A B C
A B C D E
127
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
•box-shadow
•border-radius
•border-image
The options in the pop-up panel ensure that you apply the property correctly even if you are unfamiliar with their W3C
syntax.
The pop-up panel displaying options for the CSS3 property border-image
Apply CSS3 properties using the pop-up panel
❖Click the “+” icon corresponding to these properties. Use the options in the pop-up panel to apply the property.
Specifying multiple value-sets
CSS3 properties like text-shadow support multiple value sets. For example: text-shadow: 3px 3px #000, -3px -
3px #0f0;
When you specify multiple value-sets in the code view and open the pop-up panel for editing, only the first value-set
is displayed. If you edit this value-set in the pop-up panel, only the first value-set in the code is affected. The other
value-sets are unaffected, and applied as specified in the code.
Locate properties in the Category view
In the category view, text-shadow is listed under the Font category. box-shadow, border-radius, and border-
image are listed under the Border category.
Ensuring compliance with browsers
Dreamweaver CS5.5 also supports browser (webkit, Mozilla) specific implementation of box-shadow, border-radius,
and border-image properties.
In the Category view, use the options under the respective browser category to ensure browser compliance for these
properties. For example, to comply with Mozilla’s implementation of the border-image property, edit -moz-border-
image in the Mozilla category.
Preview changes in Live view
Changes made to CSS properties are not displayed in the Design view. Switch to Live view to preview changes. You
can also make quick edits to CSS3 properties in the Live view, and the changes are immediately reflected in this view.
128
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following CSS3 properties are supported in Live View:
•text-shadow
•border-radius
•-webkit-box-shadow
•-webkit-border-image
Set CSS Styles preferences
CSS style preferences control how Dreamweaver writes the code that defines CSS styles. CSS styles can be written in a
shorthand form that some people find easier to work with. Some older versions of browsers, however, do not correctly
interpret the shorthand.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh) and from the Category list select
CSS Styles.
2Set the CSS style options you want to apply:
When Creating CSS Rules Use Shorthand For Lets you select which CSS style properties Dreamweaver writes
in
shorthand.
When Editing CSS Rules Use Shorthand Controls whether Dreamweaver rewrites existing styles in shorthand.
Select If Original Used Shorthand to leave all styles as they are.
Select According to Settings Above to rewrite styles in shorthand for the properties selected in Use Shorthand For.
When Double-Clicking In CSS Panel Lets you select a tool for editing CSS rules.
3Click OK.
Create a new CSS rule
You can create a CSS rule to automate the formatting of HTML tags or a range of text identified by class or ID
attributes.
1Place the insertion point in the document, and then do one of the following to open the New CSS Rule dialog box:
•Select Format > CSS Styles > New.
•In the CSS Styles panel (Window > CSS Styles), click the New CSS Rule (+) button located in the lower-right side
of the panel.
•Select text in the Document window, select New CSS Rule from the Targeted Rule pop-up menu in the CSS
Property inspector (Window
> Properties); then click the Edit Rule button or select an option from the Property
inspector (for example, click the Bold button), to initiate a new rule.
2In the New CSS Rule dialog box, specify the selector type for the CSS rule you want to create:
•To create a custom style that can be applied as a class attribute to any HTML element, select the Class option from
the Selector Type pop-up menu and then enter a name for the style in the Selector Name text box.
Note: Class names must begin with a period and can contain any combination of letters and numbers (for example,
.myhead1). If you don’t enter a beginning period, Dreamweaver automatically enters it
for you.
129
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
•To define the formatting for a tag that contains a specific ID attribute, select the ID option from the Selector Type
pop-up menu and then enter the unique ID (for example, containerDIV) in the Selector Name text box.
Note: IDs must begin with a pound (#) sign and can contain any combination of letters and numbers (for example,
#myID1). If you don’t enter a beginning pound sign, Dreamweaver automatically enters it
for you.
•To redefine the default formatting of a specific HTML tag, select the Tag option from the Selector Type pop-up
menu; then enter an HTML tag in the Selector Name text box or select one from the pop-up
menu.
•To define a compound rule that affects two or more tags, classes, or IDs simultaneously, select the Compound
option and enter the selectors for your compound rule. For example if you enter div p, all p elements within div
tags will be affected by the rule. A description text area explains exactly which elements the rule will affect as you
add or delete selectors.
3Select the location in which you want to define the rule, and then click OK:
•To place the rule in a style sheet that is already attached to the document, select the style sheet.
•To create an external style sheet, select New Style Sheet File.
•To embed the style in the current document, select This Document Only.
4In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select the style options you want to set for the new CSS rule. For more
information, see the next section.
5When you are finished setting style properties, click OK.
Note: Clicking OK without setting style options results in a new, empty rule.
Set CSS properties
You can define properties for CSS rules such as text font, background image and color, spacing and layout properties,
and the appearance of list elements. First create a new rule, then set any of the following properties.
Define CSS type properties
You use the Type category in the CSS Rule Definition dialog box to define basic font and type settings for a CSS style.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift + F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Type, and then set the style properties.
Leave any of the following properties empty if they are not important to the style:
Font-family Sets the font family (or series of families) for the style. Browsers display text in the first font in the series
that is installed on the user’s system. For compatibility with Internet Explorer 3.0, list a Windows font first. The font
attribute is supported by both browsers.
Font-size Defines the size of the text. You can choose a specific size by selecting the number and the unit of
measurement, or you can choose a relative size. Pixels work well to prevent browsers from distorting your text. The
size attribute is supported by both browsers.
Font-style Specifies Normal, Italic, or Oblique as the font style. The default setting is Normal. The style attribute is
supported by both browsers.
130
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Line-height Sets the height of the line on which the text is placed. This setting is traditionally called leading. Select
Normal to have the line height for the font size calculated automatically, or enter an exact value and select a unit of
measurement.The line height attribute is supported by both browsers.
Text-decoration Adds an underline, overline, or line-through to the text, or makes the text blink. The default setting
for regular text is None. The default setting for links is Underline. When you set the link setting to none, you can
remove the underline from links by defining a special class.The decoration attribute is supported by both browsers.
Font-weight Applies a specific or relative amount of boldface to the font. Normal is equivalent to 400; Bold is
equivalent to 700. The weight attribute is supported by both browsers.
Font-variant Sets the small caps variant on text. Dreamweaver does not display this attribute in the Document
window. The variant attribute is supported by Internet Explorer but not Navigator.
Text-transform Capitalizes the first letter of each word in the selection or sets the text to all uppercase or lowercase.
The case attribute is supported by both browsers.
Color Sets the text color. The color attribute is supported by both browsers.
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Define CSS style background properties
Use the Background category of the CSS Rule Definition dialog box to define background settings for a CSS style. You
can apply background properties to any element in a web page. For example, create a style which adds a background
color or background image to any page element, for example behind text, a table, the page, and so on. You can also set
the positioning of a background image.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift+F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Background, then set the style properties.
Leave any of the following properties empty if they are not important to the style:
Background Color Sets the background color for the element. The background color attribute is supported by both
browsers.
Background Image Sets the background image for the element.The background image attribute is supported by both
browsers.
Background Repeat Determines whether and how the background image is repeated. The Repeat attribute is
supported by both browsers.
•No Repeat displays the image once at the beginning of the element.
•Repeat tiles the image horizontally and vertically behind the element.
•Repeat-x and Repeat-y display a horizontal and vertical band of images, respectively. Images are clipped to fit
within the boundaries of the element.
Note: Use the Repeat property to redefine the body tag and set a background image that does not tile or repeat.
Background Attachment Determines whether the background image is fixed at its original position or scrolls along
with the content. Note that some browsers may treat the Fixed option as Scroll. This is supported by Internet Explorer
but not Netscape Navigator.
Background Position (X) and Background Position (Y) Specify the initial position of the background image in relation
to the element. This can be used to align a background image to the center of the page, both vertically (Y) and
131
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
horizontally (X). If the attachment property is Fixed, the position is relative to the Document window, not to the
element.
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Define CSS style block properties
You use the Block category of the CSS Rule Definition dialog box to define spacing and alignment settings for tags and
properties.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift+F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Block, then set any of the following style properties. (Leave the
property blank if it is not important to the style.)
Word Spacing Sets the spacing between words. To set a specific value, in the pop-up menu, select Value, then enter a
numeric value. In the second pop-up menu, select a measurement unit (for example, pixel, points, and so on).
Note: You can specify negative values, but the display depends on the browser. Dreamweaver does not display this
attribute in the Document window.
Letter Spacing Increases or decreases space between letters or characters. To decrease the space between characters
specify a negative value, for example (-4). Letter spacing settings override justified text settings. The Letter Spacing
attribute is supported by Internet Explorer 4 and later and Netscape Navigator 6.
Vertical Align Specifies the vertical alignment of the element to which it is applied. Dreamweaver displays this
attribute in the Document window only when it is applied to the <img> tag.
Text Align Sets how text is aligned within the element. The Text Align attribute is supported by both browsers.
Text Indent Specifies how far the first line of text indents. A negative value may be used to create an outdent, but the
display depends on the browser. Dreamweaver displays this attribute in the Document window only when the tag is
applied to block-level elements. The Text Indent attribute is supported by both browsers.
Whitespace Determines how white space within the element is handled. Select from three options: Normal collapses
white space; Pre handles it as if the text were enclosed in pre tags (that is, all white space, including spaces, tabs, and
returns, is respected); Nowrap specifies that the text only wraps when a br tag is encountered. Dreamweaver does not
display this attribute in the Document window. The Whitespace attribute is supported by Netscape Navigator and
Internet Explorer 5.5.
Display Specifies whether an element is displayed and if so how it is displayed. None disables the display of an element
to which it is assigned.
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Define CSS style box properties
Use the Box category of the CSS Rule Definition dialog box to define settings for tags and properties that control the
placement of elements on the page.
You can apply settings to individual sides of an element when applying padding and margin settings, or use the Same
For All setting to apply the same setting to all sides of an element.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift + F11) if it isn’t already open.
132
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Box, and set any of the following style properties. (Leave the property
blank if it is not important to the style.)
Width and Height Sets the width and height of the element.
Float Sets which side other elements, such as text, AP Divs, tables and so on, will float around an element. Other
elements wrap around the floating element as usual. The Float attribute is supported by both browsers.
Clear Defines the sides that do not allow AP elements. If an AP element appears on the clear side, the element with the
clear setting moves below it. The Clear attribute is supported by both browsers.
Padding Specifies the amount of space between the content of an element and its border (or margin if there is no
border). Deselect the Same For All option to set the padding for individual sides of the element.
Same For All Sets the same padding properties to the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left of the element to which it is applied.
Margin Specifies the amount of space between the border of an element (or the padding if there is no border) and
another element. Dreamweaver displays this attribute in the Document window only when it is applied to block-level
elements (paragraphs, headings, lists, and so on). Deselect Same For All to set the margin for individual sides of the
element.
Same For All Sets the same margin properties to the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left of the element to which it is applied.
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Define CSS style border properties
Use the Border category of the CSS Rule Definition dialog box to define settings, such as width, color, and style, for the
borders around elements.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift+F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Border, and set any of the following style properties. (Leave the
property blank if it is not important to the style.)
Type Sets the style appearance of the border. The way the style appears depends on the browser. Deselect Same For
All to set the border style for individual sides of the element.
Same For All Sets the same border style properties to the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left of the element to which it is
applied.
Width Sets the thickness of the element’s border. The Width attribute is supported by both browsers. Deselect Same
For All to set the border width for individual sides of the element.
Same For All Sets the same border width to the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left of the element to which it is applied.
Color Sets the color of the border. You can set each side’s color independently, but the display depends on the browser.
Deselect Same For All to set the border color for individual sides of the element.
Same For All Sets the same border color to the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left of the element to which it is applied.
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
133
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Define CSS style list properties
The List category of the CSS Rule Definition dialog box defines list settings, such as bullet size and type, for list tags.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift+F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select List, and set any of the following style properties. (Leave the property
blank if it is not important to the style.)
List style type Sets the appearance of bullets or numbers. Type is supported by both browsers.
List style image Lets you specify a custom image for bullets. Click Browse (Windows) or Choose (Macintosh) to
browse to an image, or type the image’s path.
List style position Sets whether list item text wraps and indents (outside) or whether the text wraps to the left margin
(inside).
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Define CSS style positioning properties
The Positioning style properties determine how the content related to the selected CSS style is positioned on the page.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift+F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Positioning, and then set the style properties you want.
Leave any of the following properties empty if they are not important to the style:
Position Determines how the browser should position the selected element as follows:
•Absolute places the content using the coordinates entered in the Placement boxes relative to the nearest absolutely-
or relatively-positioned ancestor, or, if no absolutely- or relatively-positioned ancestor exists, to the upper-left
corner of the page.
•Relative places the content block using the coordinates entered in the Placement boxes relative to block’s position
in the text flow of the document. For example, giving an element a relative position and top and left coordinates of
20px each will shift the element 20px to the right and 20px down from its normal position in the flow. Elements
can also be positioned relatively, with or without top, left, right, or bottom coordinates, to establish a context for
absolutely-positioned children.
•Fixed places the content using the coordinates entered in the Placement boxes, relative to the top left corner of the
browser. The content will remain fixed in this position as the user scrolls the page.
•Static places the content at its location in the text flow. This is the default position of all positionable HTML
elements.
Visibility Determines the initial display condition of the content. If you do not specify a visibility property, by default
the content inherits the parent tag’s value. The default visibility of the body tag is visible. Select one of the following
visibility options:
•Inherit inherits the visibility property of the content’s parent.
•Visible displays the content, regardless of the parent’s value.
•Hidden hides the content, regardless of the parent’s value.
134
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Z-Index Determines the stacking order of the content. Elements with a higher z-index appear above elements with a
lower z-index (or none at all). Values can be positive or negative. (If your content is absolutely positioned, it’s easier
to change the stacking order using the AP Elements panel).
Overflow Determines what happens if the contents of a container (for example, a DIV or a P) exceed its size. These
properties control the expansion as follows:
•Visible increases the container’s size so that all of its contents are visible. The container expands down and to the
right.
•Hidden maintains the container’s size and clips any content that doesn’t fit. No scroll bars are provided.
•Scroll adds scroll bars to the container regardless of whether the contents exceed the container’s size. Specifically
providing scroll bars avoids confusion caused by the appearance and disappearance of scroll bars in a dynamic
environment. This option is not displayed in the Document window.
•Auto makes scroll bars appear only when the container’s contents exceed its boundaries. This option is not
displayed in the Document window.
Placement Specifies the location and size of the content block. How the browser interprets the location depends on
the setting for Type. Size values are overridden if the content of the content block exceeds the specified size.
The default units for location and size are pixels. You can also specify the following units: pc (picas), pt (points), in
(inches), mm (millimeters), cm (centimeters), (ems), (exs), or % (percentage of the parent’s value). The abbreviations
must follow the value without a space: for example, 3mm.
Clip Defines the part of the content that is visible. If you specify a clipping region, you can access it with a scripting
language such as JavaScript and manipulate the properties to create special effects such as wipes. These wipes can be
set up by using the Change Property behavior.
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Define CSS style extension properties
Extensions style properties include filters, page break, and pointer options.
Note: There are a number of other extension properties available in Dreamweaver, but to access them, you need to go
through the CSS Styles panel. You can easily see a list of extension properties available by opening the CSS Styles panel
(Windows
> CSS Styles), clicking the Show Category View button at the bottom of the panel, and expanding the
Extensions category.
1Open the CSS Styles panel (Shift + F11) if it isn’t already open.
2Double-click an existing rule or property in the top pane of the CSS Styles panel.
3In the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, select Extensions, and set any of the following style properties. (Leave the
property blank if it is not important to the style.)
Page break before Forces a page break during printing either before or after the object controlled by the style. Select
the option you want to set in the pop-up menu. This option is not supported by any 4.0 browser, but support may be
provided by future browsers.
Cursor Changes the pointer image when the pointer is over the object controlled by the style. Select the option you
want to set in the pop-up menu. Internet Explorer 4.0 and later, and Netscape Navigator 6 support this attribute.
Filter Applies special effects to the object controlled by the style, including blur and inversion. Select an effect from
the pop-up menu.
135
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
4When you are finished setting these options, select another CSS category on the left side of the panel to set
additional style properties, or click OK.
Edit a CSS rule
You can easily edit both internal and external rules that you have applied to a document.
When you edit a CSS style sheet that controls the text in your document, you instantly reformat all of the text
controlled by that CSS style sheet. Edits to an external style sheet affect all the documents linked to it.
You can set an external editor to use for editing style sheets.
Edit a rule in the CSS Styles panel (Current mode)
1Open the CSS Styles panel by selecting Window > CSS Styles.
2Click the Current button at the top of the CSS Styles panel.
3Select a text element in the current page to display its properties.
4Do one of the following:
•Double-click a property in the Summary for Selection pane to display the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, and then
make your changes.
•Select a property in the Summary for Selection pane, and then edit the property in the Properties pane below.
•Select a rule in the Rules pane, and then edit the rule’s properties in the Properties pane below.
Note: You can change the double-clicking behavior for editing CSS, as well as other behaviors, by changing Dreamweaver
preferences.
Edit a rule in the CSS Styles panel (All mode)
1Open the CSS Styles panel by selecting Window > CSS Styles.
2Click the All button at the top of the CSS Styles panel.
3Do one of the following:
•Double-click a rule in the All Rules pane to display the CSS Rule Definition dialog box, and then make your
changes.
•Select a rule in the All Rules pane, and then edit the rule’s properties in the Properties pane below.
•Select a rule in the All Rules pane, and then click the Edit Style button in the lower-right corner of the CSS Styles
panel.
Note: You can change the double-clicking behavior for editing CSS, as well as other behaviors, by changing Dreamweaver
preferences.
Change the name of a CSS selector
1In the CSS Styles panel (All mode) select the selector you want to change.
2Click the selector again to make the name editable.
3Make your changes and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
136
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Set text properties in the Property inspector” on page 217
Add a property to a CSS rule
You can use the CSS Styles panel to add properties to rules.
1In the CSS Styles panel (Window > CSS), select a rule in the All Rules pane (All mode), or select a property in the
Summary for Selection pane (Current mode).
2Do one of the following:
•If Show Only Set Properties view is selected in the Properties pane, click the Add Properties link and add a property.
•If Category view or List view is selected in the Properties pane, fill in a value for the property you want to add.
Apply, remove, or rename CSS class styles
Class styles are the only type of CSS style that can be applied to any text in a document, regardless of which tags control
the text. All class styles associated with the current document are displayed in the CSS Styles panel (with a period [.]
preceding their name) and in the Style pop-up menu of the text Property inspector.
You’ll see most styles updated immediately, however, you should preview your page in a browser to verify a style was
applied as expected. When you apply two or more styles to the same text, the styles may conflict and produce
unexpected results.
When previewing styles defined in an external CSS style sheet, be sure to save the style sheet to ensure that your
changes are reflected when you preview the page in a browser.
More Help topics
“About Cascading Style Sheets” on page 118
“About cascading styles” on page 120
“The CSS Styles panel” on page 122
Apply a CSS class style
1In the document, select the text to which you want to apply a CSS style.
Place the insertion point in a paragraph to apply the style to the entire paragraph.
If you select a range of text within a single paragraph, the CSS style affects only the selected range.
To specify the exact tag to which the CSS style should be applied, select the tag in the tag selector located at the lower
left of the Document window.
2To apply a class style, do one of the following:
•In the CSS Styles panel (Window > CSS Styles), select All mode, right-click the name of the style you want to apply,
and select Apply from the context menu.
•In the HTML Property inspector, select the class style you want to apply from the Class pop-up menu.
137
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
•In the Document window, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the selected text, and in the context
menu, select CSS Styles and then select the style you want to apply.
•Select Format > CSS Styles, and in the submenu select the style you want to apply.
Remove a class style from a selection
1Select the object or text you want to remove the style from.
2In the HTML Property inspector (Window > Properties), select None from the Class pop-up menu.
Rename a class style
1In the CSS styles panel, right-click the CSS class style you want to rename and select Rename Class.
You can also rename a class by selecting Rename Class from the CSS Styles panel options menu.
2In the Rename Class dialog box, make sure that the class you want to rename is selected in the Rename Class pop-up
menu.
3In the New Name text box, enter the new name for the new class and click OK.
If the class you’re renaming is internal to the head of the current document, Dreamweaver changes the class name as
well as all instances of the class name in the current document. If the class you’re renaming is in an external CSS file,
Dreamweaver opens and changes the class name in the file. Dreamweaver also launches a site-wide Find and Replace
dialog box so that you can search for all instances of the old class name in your site.
Move/export CSS rules
The CSS management features in Dreamweaver make it easy for you to move or export CSS rules to different locations.
You can move rules from document to document, from the head of a document to an external style sheet, between
external CSS files, and more.
Note: If the rule you’re trying to move conflicts with a rule in the destination style sheet, Dreamweaver displays the Rule
With Same Name Exists dialog box. If you elect to move the conflicting rule, Dreamweaver places the moved rule
immediately adjacent to the conflicting rule in the destination style sheet.
More Help topics
“Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296
Move/export CSS rules to a new style sheet
1Do one of the following:
•In the CSS Styles panel, select the rule or rules you want to move. Then right-click the selection and select Move
CSS Rules from the context menu. To select multiple rules, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click
(Macintosh) the rules you want to select.
•In Code view, select the rule or rules you want to move. Then right-click the selection and select CSS Styles > Move
CSS Rules from the context menu.
Note: Partial selection of a rule will result in the relocation of the entire rule.
2In the Move To External Style Sheet dialog box, select the new style sheet option and click OK.
138
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
3In the Save Style Sheet File As dialog box, enter a name for the new style sheet and click Save.
When you click Save, Dreamweaver saves a new style sheet with the rules you selected and attaches it to the current
document.
You can also move rules by using the Coding toolbar. The Coding toolbar is available in Code view only.
Move/export CSS rules to an existing style sheet
1Do one of the following:
•In the CSS Styles panel, select the rule or rules you want to move. Then right-click the selection and select Move
CSS Rules from the context menu. To select multiple rules, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click
(Macintosh) the rules you want to select.
•In Code view, select the rule or rules you want to move. Then right-click the selection and select CSS Styles > Move
CSS Rules from the context menu.
Note: Partial selection of a rule will result in the relocation of the entire rule.
2In the Move To External Style Sheet dialog box, select an existing style sheet from the pop-up menu or browse to
an existing style sheet and click OK.
Note: The pop-up menu displays all style sheets that are linked to the current document.
You can also move rules by using the Coding toolbar. The Coding toolbar is available in Code view only.
Rearrange or move CSS rules by dragging
❖In the CSS Styles panel (All mode), select a rule and drag it rule to the desired location. You can select and drag to
re-order rules within a style sheet, or move a rule to another style sheet or the document head.
You can move more than one rule at a time by Control-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Macintosh)
multiple rules to select them.
Select multiple rules before moving them
❖In the CSS Styles panel, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the rules you want to select.
Convert inline CSS to a CSS rule
In-line styles are not recommended best practices. To make your CSS cleaner and more organized, you can convert
inline styles to CSS rules that reside in the head of the document or in an external style sheet.
1In Code view (View > Code), select the entire style attribute that contains the inline CSS you want to convert
2Right-click and select CSS Styles > Convert Inline CSS to Rule.
3In the Convert Inline CSS dialog box, enter a class name for the new rule, and then do one of the following:
•Specify a style sheet where you want the new CSS rule to appear and click OK.
•Select the head of the document as the location where you want the new CSS rule to appear and click OK.
You can also convert rules by using the Coding toolbar. The Coding toolbar is available in Code view only.
139
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296
Link to an external CSS style sheet
When you edit an external CSS style sheet, all documents linked to that CSS style sheet are updated to reflect those
edits. You can export the CSS styles found in a document to create a new CSS style sheet, and attach or link to an
external style sheet to apply the styles found there.
You can attach to your pages any style sheet that you create or copy into your site. In addition, Dreamweaver is shipped
with prebuilt style sheets that can be automatically moved into your site and attached to your pages.
1Open the CSS Styles panel by doing one of the following:
•Select Window > CSS Styles.
•Press Shift + F11.
2In the CSS Styles panel, click the Attach Style Sheet button. (It’s in the lower-right corner of the panel.)
3Do one of the following:
•Click Browse to browse to an external CSS style sheet.
•Type the path to the style sheet in the File/URL box.
4For Add As, select one of the options:
•To create a link between the current document and an external style sheet, select Link. This creates a link href tag
in the HTML code, and references the URL where the published style sheet is located. This method is supported by
both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator.
•You cannot use a link tag to add a reference from one external style sheet to another. If you want to nest style sheets,
you must use an import directive. Most browsers also recognize the import directive within a page (rather than just
within style sheets). There are subtle differences in how conflicting properties are resolved when overlapping rules
exist within external style sheets that are linked versus imported to a page. If you want to import, rather than link
to, an external style sheet, select Import.
5In the Media pop-up menu, specify the target medium for the style sheet.
For more information on media-dependent style sheets, see the World Wide Web Consortium website at
www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/media.html.
6Click the Preview button to verify that the style sheet applies the styles you want to the current page.
If the styles applied are not what you expect them to be, click Cancel to remove the style sheet. The page will revert to
its previous appearance.
7Click OK.
More Help topics
“Create a page based on a Dreamweaver sample file” on page 64
140
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit a CSS style sheet
A CSS style sheet typically includes one or more rules. You can edit an individual rule in a CSS style sheet using the
CSS Styles panel, or if you prefer, you can work directly in the CSS style sheet.
1In the CSS Styles panel (Window > CSS Styles), select All mode.
2In the All rules pane, double-click the name of the style sheet you want to edit.
3In the Document window, modify the style sheet as desired, and then save the style sheet.
Format CSS code
You can set preferences that control the format of your CSS code whenever you create or edit a CSS rule using the
Dreamweaver interface. For example, you can set preferences that will place all CSS properties on separate lines, place
a blank line between CSS rules, and so on.
When you set CSS code formatting preferences, the preferences you select are automatically applied to all new CSS
rules that you create. You can, however, also apply these preferences manually to individual documents. This might
be useful if you have an older HTML or CSS document that needs formatting.
Note: CSS code formatting preferences apply to CSS rules in external or embedded style sheets only (not to in-line styles)
More Help topics
“Change the code format” on page 288
Set CSS code formatting preferences
1Select Edit > Preferences.
2In the Preferences dialog box, select the Code Format category.
3Next to Advanced Formatting, click the CSS button.
4In the CSS Source Format Options dialog box, select the options that you want to apply to your CSS source code.
A preview of the CSS as it would look according to the options you’ve selected appears in the Preview window
below.
Indent Properties With Sets the indentation value for properties within a rule. You can specify tabs or spaces.
Each Property On A Separate Line Places each property within a rule on a separate line.
Opening Brace On Separate Line Places the opening brace for a rule on a separate line from the selector.
Only If More Than One Property Places single-property rules on the same line as the selector.
All Selectors For A Rule On Same Line Places all selectors for the rule on the same line.
Blank Line Between Rules Inserts a blank line between each rule.
5Click OK.
Note: CSS code formatting also inherits the Line Break Type preference that you set in the Code Format category of the
Preferences dialog box.
141
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Format CSS code in a CSS style sheet manually
1Open a CSS style sheet.
2Select Commands > Apply Source Formatting.
The formatting options you set in CSS code formatting preferences are applied to the entire document. You cannot
format individual selections.
Format embedded CSS code manually
1Open an HTML page that contains CSS embedded in the head of the document.
2Select any part of the CSS code.
3Select Commands > Apply Source Formatting To Selection.
The formatting options you set in CSS code formatting preferences are applied to all CSS rules in the head of the
document only.
Note: You can select Commands > Apply Source Formatting to format the entire document according to your specified
code formatting preferences.
Disable/Enable CSS
The Disable/Enable CSS Property feature lets you comment out portions of CSS from the CSS Styles panel, without
having to make changes directly in the code. When you comment out portions of the CSS, you can see what kinds of
effects particular properties and values have on your page.
When you disable a CSS property, Dreamweaver adds CSS comment tags and a [disabled] label to the CSS property
you’ve disabled. You can then easily re-enable or delete the disabled CSS property according to your preference.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with CSS Disable/Enable, see
www.adobe.com/go/dwcs5css_en.
1In the Properties pane of the CSS Styles panel (Window > CSS Styles), select the property you want to disable.
2Click the Disable/Enable CSS Property icon in the lower-right corner of the Properties pane. The icon also appears
if you hover to the left of the property itself.
Once you click the Disable/Enable CSS Property icon, a Disabled icon appears to the left of the property. To re-
enable the property, click the Disabled icon, or right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh OS) the
property and select Enable.
3(Optional) To enable or delete all of the disabled properties in a selected rule, right-click (Windows) or Control-
click (Macintosh OS) any rule or property in which properties are disabled, and select
4Enable All
5 Disabled in Selected Rule, or Delete all Disabled in Selected rule.
142
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Inspect CSS in Live view
Inspect mode works together with Live View to help you quickly identify HTML elements and their associated CSS
styles. With Inspect mode turned on, you can hover over elements on your page to see the CSS box model attributes
for any block-level element.
Note: For more information on the CSS box model, see the CSS 2.1 specification.
In addition to seeing a visual representation of the box model in Inspect mode, you can also use the CSS Styles panel
as you hover over elements in the Document window. When you have the CSS Styles panel open in Current mode and
hover over an element on the page, the rules and properties in the CSS Styles panel automatically update to show you
the rules and properties for that element. Additionally, any view or panel related to the element you’re hovering over
updates as well (for example, Code view, the Tag selector, the Property inspector, and so on).
1With your document open in the Document window, click the Inspect button (next to the Live View button in the
Document toolbar).
Note: If you’re not already in Live view, Inspect mode automatically enables it.
2Hover over elements on the page to see the CSS box model. Inspect mode highlights different colors for the border,
margin, padding, and content.
3(Optional) Press the left arrow on your computer keyboard to highlight the parent of the currently highlighted
element. Press the right arrow to return to highlighting for the child element.
4(Optional) Click an element to lock a highlight selection.
Note: Clicking an element to lock a highlight selection turns off Inspect mode.
More Help topics
“Previewing pages in Dreamweaver” on page 276
“The CSS Styles panel” on page 122
Check for cross-browser CSS rendering issues
The Browser Compatibility Check (BCC) feature helps you locate combinations of HTML and CSS that have problems
in certain browsers. When you run a BCC on an open file, Dreamweaver scans the file and reports any potential CSS
rendering issues in the Results panel. A confidence rating, indicated by a quarter, half, three-quarter, or completely
filled circle, indicates the likelihood of the bug’s occurrence (a quarter-filled circle indicating a possible occurrence,
and a completely-filled circle indicating a very likely occurrence). For each potential bug that it finds, Dreamweaver
also provides a direct link to documentation about the bug on Adobe CSS Advisor, a website that details commonly
known browser rendering bugs, and offers solutions for fixing them.
By default, the BCC feature checks against the following browsers: Firefox 1.5; Internet Explorer (Windows) 6.0 and
7.0; Internet Explorer (Macintosh) 5.2; Netscape Navigator 8.0; Opera 8.0 and 9.0; Safari 2.0.
This feature replaces the former Target Browser Check feature, but retains the CSS functionality of that feature. That
is, the new BCC feature still tests the code in your documents to see if any of the CSS properties or values are
unsupported by your target browsers.
143
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Three levels of potential browser-support problems can arise:
•An error indicates CSS code that might cause a serious visible problem in a particular browser, such as causing parts
of a page to disappear. (Error is the default designation for browser support problems, so in some cases, code with
an unknown effect is also marked as an error.)
•A warning indicates a piece of CSS code that isn’t supported in a particular browser, but that won’t cause any
serious display problems.
•An informational message indicates code that isn’t supported in a particular browser, but that has no visible effect.
Browser compatibility checks do not alter your document in any way.
More Help topics
“Validate XML documents” on page 311
CSS Advisor
Run a browser compatibility check
❖Select File > Check Page > Browser Compatibility.
Select the element affected by a found issue
❖Double-click the issue in the Results panel.
Jump to the next or previous found issue in the code
❖Select Next Issue or Previous Issue from the Browser Compatibility Check menu in the Document toolbar.
Select browsers for Dreamweaver to check against
1In the Results panel (Window > Results), select the Browser Compatibility Check tab.
2Click the green arrow in the upper-left corner of the Results panel and select Settings.
3Select the checkbox next to each browser you want to check against.
4For each selected browser, select a minimum version to check against from the corresponding pop-up menu.
For example, to see if CSS rendering bugs might appear in Internet Explorer 5.0 and later and Netscape Navigator 7.0
and later, select the checkboxes next to those browser names, and select 5.0 from the Internet Explorer pop-up menu
and 7.0 from the Netscape pop-up menu.
Exclude an issue from the browser compatibility check
1Run a browser compatibility check.
2In the Results panel, Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the issue that you want to exclude from
future checking.
3Select Ignore Issue from the context menu.
Edit the Ignored Issues list
1In the Results panel (Window > Results), select the Browser Compatibility Check tab.
144
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Click the green arrow in the upper-left corner of the Results panel and select Edit Ignored Issues List.
3In the Exceptions.xml file, find the issue that you want deleted from the Ignored Issues list and delete it.
4Save and close the Exceptions.xml file.
Save a browser compatibility check report
1Run a browser compatibility check.
2Click the Save Report button on the left side of the Results panel.
Hover over buttons in the Results panel to see button tool tips.
Note: Reports are not saved automatically; if you want to keep a copy of a report, you must follow the above procedure
to save it.
View a browser compatibility check report in a browser
1Run a browser compatibility check.
2Click the Browse Report button on the left side of the Results panel.
Hover over buttons in the Results panel to see button tool tips.
Open the Adobe CSS Advisor website
1In the Results panel (Window > Results), select the Browser Compatibility Check tab.
2Click the link text at the bottom right of the panel.
Use Design-Time style sheets
Design-Time style sheets allow you to show or hide design applied by a CSS style sheet as you work in a Dreamweaver
document. For example, you can use this option to include or exclude the effect of a Macintosh-only or a Windows-
only style sheet as you design a page.
Design-Time style sheets only apply while you are working in the document; when the page is displayed in a browser
window, only the styles that are actually attached to or embedded in the document appear in a browser.
Note: You can also enable or disable styles for an entire page using the Style Rendering toolbar. To display the toolbar,
select View
> Toolbars > Style Rendering. The Toggle Displaying of CSS Styles button (the right-most button) works
independently of the other media buttons on the toolbar.
To use a Design-time style sheet, follow these steps.
1Open the Design-Time Style Sheets dialog box by doing one of the following:
•Right-click in the CSS Styles panel, and in the context menu select Design-time.
•Select Format > CSS Styles > Design-time.
2In the dialog box, set options to show or hide a selected style sheet:
•To display a CSS style sheet at design-time, click the Plus (+) button above Show Only At Design Time, then in the
Select a Style Sheet dialog box, browse to the CSS style sheet you want to show.
145
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
•To hide a CSS style sheet, click the Plus (+) button above Hide At Design-Time, then in the Select a Style Sheet
dialog box, browse to the CSS style sheet you want to show.
•To remove a style sheet from either list, click the style sheet you want to remove, then click the appropriate Minus
(–) button.
3Click OK to close the dialog box.
The CSS Styles panel updates with the selected style sheet’s name along with an indicator, “hidden” or “design,” to
reflect the style sheet’s status.
More Help topics
“Style Rendering toolbar overview” on page 10
Use Dreamweaver sample style sheets
Dreamweaver provides sample style sheets that you can apply to your pages or that you can use as starting points to
develop your own styles.
1Open the CSS Styles panel by doing one of the following:
•Select Window > CSS Styles.
•Press Shift+F11.
2In the CSS Styles panel, click the Attach External Style Sheet button. (It’s in the lower-right corner of the panel.)
3In the Attach External Style Sheet dialog box, click Sample Style Sheets.
4In the Sample Style Sheets dialog box, select a style sheet from the list box.
As you select style sheets within the list box, the Preview pane displays the text and color formatting of the selected
style sheet.
5Click the Preview button to apply the style sheet and verify that it applies the styles you want to the current page.
If the styles applied are not what you expect them to be, select another style sheet from the list, and click Preview to see
those styles.
6By default, Dreamweaver saves the style sheet in a folder named CSS just below the root of the site you defined for
your page. If that folder does not exist, Dreamweaver creates it. You can save the file to another location by clicking
Browse and browsing to another folder.
7When you find a style sheet whose formatting rules meet your design criteria, click OK.
Update CSS style sheets in a Contribute site
Adobe Contribute users can’t make changes to a CSS style sheet. To change a style sheet for a Contribute site, use
Dreamweaver.
1Edit the style sheet using the Dreamweaver style-sheet-editing tools.
2Tell all of the Contribute users who are working on the site to publish pages that use that style sheet, then re-edit
those pages to view the new style sheet.
146
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following are important factors to keep in mind when updating style sheets for a Contribute site:
•If you make changes to a style sheet while a Contribute user is editing a page that uses that style sheet, the user won’t
see the changes to the style sheet until they publish the page.
•If you delete a style from a style sheet, the style name is not deleted from pages that use that style sheet, but since
the style no longer exists, it isn’t displayed the way the Contribute user may expect. Thus, if a user tells you that
nothing happens when they apply a particular style, the problem may be that the style has been deleted from the
style sheet.
Laying out pages with CSS
About CSS page layout
A CSS page layout uses the Cascading Style Sheets format, rather than traditional HTML tables or frames, to organize
the content on a web page. The basic building block of the CSS layout is the div tag—an HTML tag that in most cases
acts as a container for text, images, and other page elements. When you create a CSS layout, you place div tags on the
page, add content to them, and position them in various places. Unlike table cells, which are restricted to existing
somewhere within the rows and columns of a table, div tags can appear anywhere on a web page. You can position div
tags absolutely (by specifying x and y coordinates), or relatively (by specifying their distance from other page
elements). You can also position div tags by specifying floats, paddings, and margins—the preferred method by today’s
web standards.
Creating CSS layouts from scratch can be difficult because there are so many ways to do it. You can create a simple
two-column CSS layout by setting floats, margins, paddings, and other CSS properties in a nearly infinite number of
combinations. Additionally, the problem of cross-browser rendering causes certain CSS layouts to display properly in
some browsers, and display improperly in others. Dreamweaver makes it easy for you to build pages with CSS layouts
by providing 16 pre-designed layouts that work across different browsers.
Using the pre-designed CSS layouts that come with Dreamweaver is the easiest way to create a page with a CSS layout,
but you can also create CSS layouts using Dreamweaver absolutely-positioned elements (AP elements). An AP element
in Dreamweaver is an HTML page element—specifically, a div tag, or any other tag—that has an absolute position
assigned to it. The limitation of Dreamweaver AP elements, however, is that since they are absolutely positioned, their
positions never adjust on the page according to the size of the browser window.
If you are an advanced user, you can also insert div tags manually and apply CSS positioning styles to them to create
page layouts.
About CSS page layout structure
Before proceeding with this section, you should be familiar with basic CSS concepts.
The basic building block of the CSS layout is the div tag—an HTML tag that in most cases acts as a container for text,
images, and other page elements. The following example shows an HTML page that contains three separate div tags:
one large “container” tag, and two other tags—a sidebar tag, and a main content tag—within the container tag.
147
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Container div B. Sidebar div C. Main Content div
Following is the code for all three div tags in the HTML:
<!--container div tag-->
<div id="container">
<!--sidebar div tag-->
<div id="sidebar">
<h3>Sidebar Content</h3>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.</p>
<p>Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis.</p>
</div>
<!--mainContent div tag-->
<div id="mainContent">
<h1> Main Content </h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo
convallis luctus rutrum.</p>
<p>Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo
pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio.</p>
<h2>H2 level heading </h2>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo
convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam.</p>
</div>
</div>
In the above example, there is no “styling” attached to any of the div tags. Without CSS rules defined, each div tag and
its contents fall into a default location on the page. However, if each div tag has a unique id (as in the above example),
you can use the ids to create CSS rules that, when applied, change the style and positioning of the div tags.
The following CSS rule, which can reside in the head of the document or in an external CSS file, creates styling rules
for the first, or “container” div tag on the page:
#container {
width: 780px;
background: #FFFFFF;
margin: 0 auto;
border: 1px solid #000000;
text-align: left;
}
The #container rule styles the container div tag to have a width of 780 pixels, a white background, no margin (from the
left side of the page), a solid, black, 1-pixel border, and text that is aligned left. The results of applying the rule to the
container div tag are as follows:
A
B
C
148
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Container div tag, 780 pixels, no margin
A. Text aligned left B. White background C. 1-pixel solid black border
The next CSS rule creates styling rules for the sidebar div tag:
#sidebar {
float: left;
width: 200px;
background: #EBEBEB;
padding: 15px 10px 15px 20px;
}
The #sidebar rule styles the sidebar div tag to have a width of 200 pixels, a gray background, a top and bottom padding
of 15 pixels, a right padding of 10 pixels, and a left padding of 20 pixels. (The default order for padding is top-right-
bottom-left.) Additionally, the rule positions the sidebar div tag with float: left—a property that pushes the sidebar div
tag to the left side of the container div tag. The results of applying the rule to the sidebar div tag are as follows:
Sidebar div, float left
A. Width 200 pixels B. Top and bottom padding, 15 pixels
Lastly, the CSS rule for the main container div tag finishes the layout:
#mainContent {
margin: 0 0 0 250px;
padding: 0 20px 20px 20px;
}
B
C
A
B
B
A
149
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The #mainContent rule styles the main content div with a left margin of 250 pixels, which means that it places 250
pixels of space between the left side of the container div, and the left side of the main content div. Additionally, the rule
provides for 20 pixels of spacing on the right, bottom, and left sides of the main content div. The results of applying
the rule to the mainContent div are as follows:
Main Content div, left margin of 250 pixels
A. 20 pixels left padding B. 20 pixels right padding C. 20 pixels bottom padding
The complete code looks as follows:
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<style type="text/css">
#container {
width: 780px;
background: #FFFFFF;
margin: 0 auto;
border: 1px solid #000000;
text-align: left;
}
#sidebar {
float: left;
width: 200px;
background: #EBEBEB;
padding: 15px 10px 15px 20px;
}
#mainContent {
margin: 0 0 0 250px;
padding: 0 20px 20px 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<!--container div tag-->
A
C
B
150
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
<div id="container">
<!--sidebar div tag-->
<div id="sidebar">
<h3>Sidebar Content</h3>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.</p>
<p>Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis.</p>
</div>
<!--mainContent div tag-->
<div id="mainContent">
<h1> Main Content </h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo
convallis luctus rutrum.</p>
<p>Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo
pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio.</p>
<h2>H2 level heading </h2>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo
convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam.</p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
Note: The above example code is a simplified version of the code that creates the two-column fixed left sidebar layout
when you create a new document using the predesigned layouts that come with Dreamweaver.
More Help topics
“Understanding Cascading Style Sheets” on page 118
Create a page with a CSS layout
When creating a new page in Dreamweaver, you can create one that already contains a CSS layout. Dreamweaver
comes with 16 different CSS layouts that you can choose from. Additionally, you can create your own CSS layouts and
add them to the configuration folder so that they appear as layout choices in the New Document dialog box.
Dreamweaver CSS layouts render correctly in the following browsers: Firefox (Windows and Macintosh) 1.0, 1.5, 2.0,
and 3.6; Internet Explorer (Windows) 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0; Opera (Windows and Macintosh) 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0; Safari
2.0, 3.0, and 4.0; and Chrome 3.0.
For an informational article that explains how to use the CSS layouts that come with Dreamweaver, see the
Dreamweaver Developer Center.
There are also more CSS layouts available on the Adobe Dreamweaver Exchange.
More Help topics
“Create a blank page” on page 60
“Set default document type and encoding” on page 66
“Link to an external CSS style sheet” on page 139
Create a page with a CSS layout
1Select File > New.
2In the New Document dialog box, select the Blank Page category. (It’s the default selection.)
3For Page Type, select the kind of page you want to create.
151
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: You must select an HTML page type for the layout. For example, you can select HTML, ColdFusion®, PHP, and so
on. You cannot create an ActionScript™, CSS, Library Item, JavaScript, XML, XSLT, or ColdFusion Component page with
a CSS layout. Page types in the Other category of the New Document dialog box are also restricted from including CSS
page layouts.
4For Layout, select the CSS layout you want to use. You can choose from 16 different layouts. The Preview window
shows the layout and gives a brief description of the selected layout.
The predesigned CSS layouts provide the following types of columns:
Fixed Column width is specified in pixels. The column does not resize based on the size of the browser or the site
visitor’s text settings.
Liquid Column width is specified as a percentage of the site visitor’s browser width. The design adapts if the site visitor
makes the browser wider or narrower, but does not change based on the site visitor’s text settings.
5Select a document type from the DocType pop-up menu.
6Select a location for the layout’s CSS from the Layout CSS in pop-up menu.
Add To Head Adds CSS for the layout to the head of the page you’re creating.
Create New File Adds CSS for the layout to a new external CSS stylesheet and attaches the new stylesheet to the page
you’re creating.
Link To Existing File Lets you specify an existing CSS file that already contains the CSS rules needed for the layout. This
option is particularly useful when you want to use the same CSS layout (the CSS rules for which are contained in a
single file) across multiple documents.
7Do one of the following:
•If you selected Add to Head from the Layout CSS in pop-up menu (the default option), click Create.
•If you selected Create New File from the Layout CSS pop-up menu, click Create, and then specify a name for the
new external file in the Save Style Sheet File As dialog box.
•If you selected Link to Existing File from the Layout CSS in pop-up menu, add the external file to the Attach CSS
file text box by clicking the Add Style Sheet icon, completing the Attach External Style Sheet dialog box, and clicking
OK. When you’re finished, click Create in the New Document dialog box.
Note: When you select the Link to Existing File option, the file you specify must already have the rules for the CSS file
contained within it.
When you put the layout CSS in a new file or link to an existing file, Dreamweaver automatically links the file to the
HTML page you’re creating.
Note: Internet Explorer conditional comments (CCs), which help work around IE rendering issues, remain embedded in
the head of the new CSS layout document, even if you select New External File or Existing External File as the location
for your layout CSS.
8(Optional) You can also attach CSS style sheets to your new page (unrelated to the CSS layout) when you create the
page. To do this, click the Attach Style Sheet icon above the Attach CSS file pane and select a CSS style sheet.
For a detailed walk-through of this process, see David Powers’s article, Automatically attaching a style sheet to new
documents.
Add custom CSS layouts to the list of choices
1Create an HTML page that contains the CSS layout you’d like to add to the list of choices in the New Document
dialog box. The CSS for the layout must reside in the head of the HTML page.
152
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
To make your custom CSS layout consistent with the other layouts that come with Dreamweaver, you should save
your HTML file with the .htm extension.
2Add the HTML page to the Adobe Dreamweaver CS5\Configuration\BuiltIn\Layouts folder.
3(Optional) Add a preview image of your layout (for example a .gif or .png file) to the Adobe Dreamweaver
CS5\Configuration\BuiltIn\Layouts folder. The default images that come with Dreamweaver are 227 pixels wide x
193 pixels high PNG files.
Give your preview image the same file name as your HTML file so that you can easily keep track of it. For example, if
your HTML file is called myCustomLayout.htm, call your preview image myCustomLayout.png.
4(Optional) Create a notes file for your custom layout by opening the Adobe Dreamweaver
CS5\Configuration\BuiltIn\Layouts\_notes folder, copying and pasting any of the existing notes files in the same
folder, and renaming the copy for your custom layout. For example, you could copy the oneColElsCtr.htm.mno
file, and rename it myCustomLayout.htm.mno.
5(Optional) After you’ve created a notes file for your custom layout, you can open the file and specify the layout
name, description, and preview image.
Working with div tags
Insert and edit div tags
You can create page layouts by manually inserting div tags and applying CSS positioning styles to them. A div tag is
a tag that defines logical divisions within the content of a web page. You can use div tags to center blocks of content,
create column effects, create different areas of color, and much more.
If you’re unfamiliar using div tags and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create web pages, you can create a CSS layout
based on one of the pre-designed layouts that come with Dreamweaver. If you’re uncomfortable working with CSS,
but are familiar with using tables, you can also try using tables.
Note: Dreamweaver treats all div tags with an absolute position as AP elements (absolutely positioned elements), even if
you didn’t create those div tags using the AP Div drawing tool.
More Help topics
“About AP elements in Dreamweaver” on page 156
“Create a page with a CSS layout” on page 150
“Presenting content with tables” on page 170
Insert div tags
You can use div tags to create CSS layout blocks and position them in your document. This is useful if you have an
existing CSS style sheet with positioning styles attached to your document. Dreamweaver enables you to quickly insert
a div tag and apply existing styles to it.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want the div tag to appear.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Layout Objects > Div Tag.
•In the Layout category of the Insert panel, click the Insert Div Tag button .
153
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Set any of the following options:
Insert Lets you select the location of the div tag and the tag name if it is not a new tag.
Class Displays the class style currently applied to the tag. If you attached a style sheet, classes defined in that style sheet
appear in the list. Use this pop-up menu to select the style you want to apply to the tag.
ID Lets you change the name used to identify the div tag. If you attached a style sheet, IDs defined in that style sheet
appear in the list. IDs for blocks that are already in your document are not listed.
Note: Dreamweaver alerts you if you enter the same ID as another tag in your document.
New CSS Rule Opens the New CSS Rule dialog box.
4Click OK.
The div tag appears as a box in your document with placeholder text. When you move the pointer over the edge of the
box, Dreamweaver highlights it.
If the div tag is absolutely positioned, it becomes an AP element. (You can edit div tags that aren’t absolutely
positioned.)
More Help topics
“About AP elements in Dreamweaver” on page 156
“Create a page with a CSS layout” on page 150
Edit div tags
After you insert a div tag, you can manipulate it or add content to it.
Note: Div tags that are absolutely positioned become AP elements.
When you assign borders to div tags, or when you have CSS Layout Outlines selected, they have visible borders. (CSS
Layout Outlines is selected by default in the View
> Visual Aids menu.) When you move the pointer over a div tag,
Dreamweaver highlights the tag. You can change the highlight color or disable highlighting.
When you select a div tag, you can view and edit rules for it in the CSS Styles panel. You can also add content to the
div tag by simply placing your insertion point inside the div tag, and then adding content just as you would add
content to a page.
More Help topics
“About AP elements in Dreamweaver” on page 156
“Open the CSS Styles panel” on page 126
View and edit rules applied to a div tag
1Do one of the following to select the div tag:
•Click the border of the div tag.
Look for the highlighting to see the border.
•Click inside the div tag, and press Control+A (Windows) or Command+A (Macintosh) twice.
•Click inside the div tag, then select the div tag from the tag selector at the bottom of the Document window.
2Select Window > CSS Styles to open the CSS Styles panel if it is not already open.
154
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Rules applied to the div tag appear in the panel.
3Make edits as necessary.
Place the insertion point in a div tag to add content
❖Click anywhere inside the tag’s borders.
Change the placeholder text in a div tag
❖Select the text, and then type over it or press Delete.
Note: You can add content to the div tag just as you would add content to a page.
Change the highlight color of div tags
When you move the pointer over the edge of a div tag in Design view, Dreamweaver highlights the borders of the tag.
You can enable or disable highlighting as necessary, or change the highlight color in the Preferences dialog box.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Highlighting from the category list on the left.
3Make either of the following changes and click OK:
•To change the highlighting color for div tags, click the Mouse-Over color box, and then select a highlight color
using the color picker (or enter the hexadecimal value for the highlight color in the text box).
•To enable or disable highlighting for div tags, select or deselect the Show checkbox for Mouse-Over.
Note: These options affect all objects, such as tables, that Dreamweaver highlights when you move the pointer over them.
CSS layout blocks
Visualizing CSS layout blocks
You can visualize CSS layout blocks while you work in Design view. A CSS layout block is an HTML page element that
you can position anywhere on your page. More specifically, a CSS layout block is either a div tag without
display:inline, or any other page element that includes the display:block, position:absolute, or
position:relative CSS declarations. Following are a few examples of elements that are considered CSS layout
blocks in Dreamweaver:
•A div tag
•An image with an absolute or relative position assigned to it
•An a tag with the display:block style assigned to it
•A paragraph with an absolute or relative position assigned to it
Note: For purposes of visual rendering, CSS layout blocks do not include inline elements (that is, elements whose code
falls within a line of text), or simple block elements like paragraphs.
Dreamweaver provides a number of visual aids for viewing CSS layout blocks. For example, you can enable outlines,
backgrounds, and the box model for CSS layout blocks while you design. You can also view tooltips that display
properties for a selected CSS layout block when you float the mouse pointer over the layout block.
The following list of CSS layout block visual aids describes what Dreamweaver renders as visible for each:
CSS Layout Outlines Displays the outlines of all CSS layout blocks on the page.
155
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
CSS Layout Backgrounds Displays temporarily assigned background colors for individual CSS layout blocks, and
hides any other background colors or images that normally appear on the page.
Whenever you enable the visual aid to view CSS layout block backgrounds, Dreamweaver automatically assigns each
CSS layout block a distinct background color. (Dreamweaver selects the colors using an algorithmic process—there is
no way for you to assign the colors yourself.) The assigned colors are visually distinctive, and are designed to help you
differentiate between CSS layout blocks.
CSS Layout Box Model Displays the box model (that is, padding and margins) of the selected CSS layout block.
View CSS layout blocks
You can enable or disable CSS layout block visual aids as necessary.
View CSS layout block outlines
❖Select View > Visual Aids > CSS Layout Outlines.
View CSS layout block backgrounds
❖Select View > Visual Aids > CSS Layout Backgrounds.
View CSS layout block box models
❖Select View > Visual Aids > CSS Layout Box Model.
You can also access CSS layout block visual aid options by clicking the Visual Aids button on the Document toolbar.
Use visual aids with non-CSS layout block elements
You can use a Design-time style sheet to display the backgrounds, borders, or box model for elements that aren’t
normally considered CSS layout blocks. To do so, you must first create a Design-time style sheet that assigns the
display:block attribute to the appropriate page element.
1Create an external CSS style sheet by selecting File > New, selecting Basic page in the Category column, selecting
CSS in the Basic page column, and clicking Create.
2In the new style sheet, create rules that assign the display:block attribute to the page elements you want to display
as CSS layout blocks.
For example, if you wanted to display a background color for paragraphs and list items, you could create a style sheet
with the following rules:
p{
display:block;
}
li{
display:block;
}
3Save the file.
4In Design view, open the page to which you want to attach the new styles.
5Select Format > CSS Styles > Design-time.
6In the Design-time Style Sheets dialog box, click the plus (+) button above the Show Only at Design Time text box,
select the style sheet you just created, and click OK.
7Click OK to close the Design-time Style Sheets dialog box.
156
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
The style sheet is attached to your document. If you had created a style sheet using the previous example, all paragraphs
and list items would be formatted with the display:block attribute, thereby allowing you to enable or disable CSS
layout block visual aids for paragraphs and list items.
More Help topics
“Use Design-Time style sheets” on page 144
Working with AP elements
About AP elements in Dreamweaver
An AP element (absolutely positioned element) is an HTML page element—specifically, a div tag, or any other tag—
that has an absolute position assigned to it. AP elements can contain text, images, or any other content that you can
place in the body of an HTML document.
With Dreamweaver, you can use AP elements to lay out your page. You can place AP elements in front of and behind
each other, hide some AP elements while showing others, and move AP elements across the screen. You can place a
background image in one AP element, then place a second AP element, containing text with a transparent background,
in front of that.
AP elements will usually be absolutely positioned div tags. (These are the kinds of AP elements Dreamweaver inserts
by default.) But remember, you can classify any HTML element (for example, an image) as an AP element by assigning
an absolute position to it. All AP elements (not just absolutely positioned div tags) appear in the AP elements panel.
HTML code for AP Div elements
Dreamweaver creates AP elements using the div tag. When you draw an AP element using the Draw AP Div tool,
Dreamweaver inserts a div tag in the document and assigns the div an id value (by default apDiv1 for the first div you
draw, apDiv2 for the second div you draw, and so on). Later, you can rename the AP Div to anything you want using
the AP elements panel or the Property inspector. Dreamweaver also uses embedded CSS in the head of the document
to position the AP Div, and to assign the AP Div its exact dimensions.
The following is sample HTML code for an AP Div:
157
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>Sample AP Div Page</title>
<style type="text/css">
<!--
#apDiv1 {
position:absolute;
left:62px;
top:67px;
width:421px;
height:188px;
z-index:1;
}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div id="apDiv1">
</div>
</body>
</html>
You can change properties for AP Divs (or any AP element) on your page, including x and y coordinates, z-index (also
called the stacking order), and visibility.
Insert an AP Div
Dreamweaver lets you easily create and position AP Divs on your page. You can also create nested AP Divs.
When you insert an AP Div, Dreamweaver displays an outline of the AP Div in Design view by default, and highlights
the block when you move the pointer over it. You can disable the visual aid that shows AP Div (or any AP element)
outlines by disabling both AP Element Outlines and CSS Layout Outlines in the View
> Visual Aids menu. You can
also enable backgrounds and the box model for AP elements as a visual aid while you design.
After you create an AP Div, you can add content to it by simply placing your insertion point in the AP Div, and then
adding content just as you would add content to a page.
More Help topics
“Select AP elements” on page 162
“Change the highlight color of div tags” on page 154
“Visualizing CSS layout blocks” on page 154
Draw a single AP Div or multiple AP Divs consecutively
1In the Layout category of the Insert panel, click the Draw AP Div button .
2In the Document window’s Design view, do one of the following:
•Drag to draw a single AP Div.
•Control-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Macintosh) to draw multiple AP Divs consecutively.
You can continue to draw new AP Divs as long as you do not release the Control or Command key.
Insert an AP Div at a particular place in the document
❖Place the insertion point in the Document window, and then select Insert > Layout Objects > AP Div.
158
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: This procedure places the tag for the AP Div wherever you clicked in the Document window. The visual rendering
of the AP Div may thus affect other page elements (like text) that surround it.
Place the insertion point in an AP Div
❖Click anywhere inside the AP Div’s borders.
The AP Div’s borders are highlighted, and the selection handle appears, but the AP Div itself is not selected.
Show AP Div borders
❖Select View > Visual Aids and select either AP Div Outlines or CSS Layout Outlines.
Note: Selecting both options simultaneously has the same effect.
Hide AP Div borders
❖Select View > Visual Aids and deselect both AP Div Outlines and CSS Layout Outlines.
Work with nested AP Divs
A nested AP Div is an AP Div that has code contained within the tags of another AP Div. For example, the following
code shows two AP Divs that are not nested, and two AP Divs that are nested:
<div id="apDiv1"></div>
<div id="apDiv2"></div>
<div id="apDiv3">
<div id="apDiv4"></div>
</div>
The graphical depiction for either set of AP Divs might look as follows:
In the first set of div tags, one div is sitting on top of the other on the page. In the second set, the apDiv4 div is actually
inside of the apDiv3 div. (You can change AP Div stacking order in the AP Elements panel.)
Nesting is often used to group AP Divs together. A nested AP Div moves with its parent AP Div and can be set to
inherit visibility from its parent.
You can enable the Nesting option to automatically nest when you draw an AP Div starting inside another AP Div. To
draw inside or over another AP Div, you must also have the Prevent Overlaps option deselected.
Draw a nested AP Div
1Make sure Prevent Overlaps is deselected in the AP Elements panel (Window > AP Elements).
2In the Layout category of the Insert panel, click the Draw AP Div button .
3In the Document window’s Design view, drag to draw an AP Div inside an existing AP Div.
159
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
If Nesting is disabled in AP Elements preferences, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Macintosh) to nest an AP Div
inside an existing AP Div.
Nested AP Divs may appear differently in different browsers. When you create nested AP Divs, check their appearance
in various browsers frequently during the design process.
Insert a nested AP Div
1Make sure Prevent Overlaps is deselected.
2Place the insertion point inside an existing AP Div in the Document window’s Design view, then select Insert >
Layout Objects
> AP Div.
Nest AP Divs automatically when you draw an AP Div inside another AP Div
❖Select the Nesting option in the AP Elements preferences.
View or set AP element preferences
Use the AP Elements category in the Preferences dialog box to specify the default settings for new AP elements you
create.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select AP elements from the Category list on the left and specify any of the following preferences, and then click OK.
Visibility Determines whether AP elements are visible by default. The options are default, inherit, visible, and hidden.
Width and Height Specify a default width and height (in pixels) for AP elements you create using Insert > Layout
Objects
> AP Div.
Background Color Specifies a default background color. Select a color from the color picker.
Background Image Specifies a default background image. Click Browse to locate the image file on your computer.
Nesting: Nest When Created Within An AP Div Specifies whether an AP Div that you draw starting from a point within
the boundaries of an existing AP Div should be a nested AP Div. Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh)
to temporarily change this setting while you’re drawing an AP Div.
View or set properties for a single AP element
When you select an AP element, the Property inspector displays AP element properties.
1Select an AP element.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner, if it isn’t
already expanded, to see all properties.
3Set any of the following options:
CSS-P Element Specifies an ID for the selected AP element. The ID identifies the AP element in the AP Elements panel
and in JavaScript code.
160
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use only standard alphanumeric characters; do not use special characters such as spaces, hyphens, slashes, or periods.
Every AP element must have its own unique ID.
Note: The CSS-P Property inspector presents the same options for relatively-positioned elements.
L and T (left and top) Specify the position of the AP element’s upper-left corner relative to the upper-left corner of the
page, or of the parent AP element if nested.
W and H Specify the width and height of the AP element.
Note: If the content of the AP element exceeds the specified size, the bottom edge of the AP element (as it appears in the
Design view in Dreamweaver) stretches to accommodate the content. (The bottom edge doesn’t stretch when the AP
element appears in a browser, unless the Overflow property is set to Visible.)
The default unit for position and size is pixels (px). You can instead specify the following units: pc (picas), pt (points),
in (inches), mm (millimeters), cm (centimeters), or % (percentage of the parent AP element’s corresponding value).
The abbreviations must follow the value without a space: for example, 3mm indicates 3 millimeters.
Z-Index Determines the z-index, or stacking order, of the AP element.
In a browser, higher-numbered AP elements appear in front of lower-numbered AP elements. Values can be positive
or negative. It’s easier to change the stacking order of AP elements using the AP Elements panel than to enter specific
z-index values.
Vis Specifies whether the AP element is initially visible or not. Select from the following options:
•Default does not specify a visibility property. When no visibility is specified, most browsers default to Inherit.
•Inherit uses the visibility property of the AP element’s parent.
•Visible displays the AP element contents, regardless of the parent’s value.
•Hidden hides the AP element contents, regardless of the parent’s value.
Use a scripting language, such as JavaScript, to control the visibility property and dynamically display AP element
contents.
Bg Image Specifies a background image for the AP element.
Click the folder icon to browse to and select an image file.
Bg Color Specifies a background color for the AP element.
Leave this option blank to specify a transparent background.
Class Specifies the CSS class used to style the AP element.
Overflow Controls how AP elements appear in a browser when the content exceeds the AP element’s specified size.
Visible indicates that the extra content appears in the AP element; effectively, the AP element stretches to
accommodate it. Hidden specifies that extra content is not displayed in the browser. Scroll specifies that the browser
should add scroll bars to the AP element whether they’re needed or not. Auto causes the browser to display scroll bars
for the AP element only when needed (that is, when the AP element’s contents exceed its
boundaries.)
Note: The overflow option has uneven support across browsers.
Clip Defines the visible area of an AP element.
Specify left, top, right, and bottom coordinates to define a rectangle in the coordinate space of the AP element
(counting from the upper-left corner of the AP element). The AP element is “clipped” so that only the specified
rectangle is visible. For example, to make an AP element’s contents invisible except for a 50-pixel-wide, 75-pixel-high
visible rectangle at the upper-left corner of the AP element, set L to 0, T to 0, R to 50, and B to 75.
161
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Although CSS specifies different semantics for clip, Dreamweaver interprets clip the way that most browsers do.
4If you entered a value in a text box, press Tab or Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to apply the value.
View or set properties for multiple AP elements
When you select two or more AP elements, the Property inspector displays text properties and a subset of the full AP
element properties, allowing you to modify several AP elements at once.
Select multiple AP elements
❖Hold down Shift while selecting AP elements.
View and set properties for multiple AP elements
1Select multiple AP elements.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner, if it isn’t
already expanded, to see all properties.
3Set any of the following properties for multiple AP elements:
L and T (left and top) Specify the position of the AP elements’ upper-left corners relative to the upper-left corner of the
page, or of the parent AP element if nested.
W and H Specify the width and height of the AP elements.
Note: If the content of any AP element exceeds the specified size, the bottom edge of the AP element (as it appears in the
Design view in Dreamweaver) stretches to accommodate the content. (The bottom edge doesn’t stretch when the AP
element appears in a browser, unless the Overflow property is set to Visible.)
The default unit for position and size is pixels (px). You can instead specify the following units: pc (picas), pt (points),
in (inches), mm (millimeters), cm (centimeters), or % (percentage of the parent AP element’s corresponding value).
The abbreviations must follow the value without a space: for example, 3mm indicates 3 millimeters.
Vis Specifies whether the AP elements are initially visible or not. Select from the following options:
•Default does not specify a visibility property. When no visibility is specified, most browsers default to Inherit.
•Inherit uses the visibility property of the AP elements’ parent.
•Visible displays the AP elements’ contents, regardless of the parent’s value.
•Hidden hides the AP element contents, regardless of the parent’s value.
Use a scripting language, such as JavaScript, to control the visibility property and dynamically display AP element
contents.
Tag Specifies the HTML tag used to define the AP elements.
Bg Image Specifies a background image for the AP elements.
Click the folder icon to browse to and select an image file.
162
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Bg Color Specifies a background color for the AP elements. Leave this option blank to specify a transparent
background.
4If you entered a value in a text box, press Tab or Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to apply the value.
AP Elements panel overview
You use the AP Elements panel (Window > AP Elements) to manage the AP elements in your document. Use the AP
Elements panel to prevent overlaps, to change the visibility of AP elements, to nest or stack AP elements, and to select
one or more AP elements.
Note: An AP element in Dreamweaver is an HTML page element—specifically, a div tag, or any other tag—that has an
absolute position assigned to it. The AP Elements panel does not display relatively-positioned elements.
AP elements are displayed as a list of names, in order of z-index; by default, the first created AP element (with a z-index
of 1) appears at the bottom of the list, and the most recently created AP element appears at the top. You can, however,
change the z-index of an AP element by changing its place in the stacking order. For example, if you created eight AP
elements and wanted to move the fourth AP element to the top, you could assign it a higher z-index than the others.
Select AP elements
You can select one or more AP elements to manipulate them or change their properties.
Select an AP element in the AP elements panel
❖In the AP elements panel (Window > AP elements), click the name of the AP element.
Select an AP element in the Document window
❖Do one of the following:
•Click an AP element’s selection handle.
If the selection handle isn’t visible, click anywhere inside the AP element to make the handle visible.
•Click an AP element’s border.
•Control-Shift-click (Windows) or Command-Shift-click (Macintosh) inside an AP element.
•Click inside an AP element and press Control+A (Windows) or Command+A (Macintosh) to select the contents
of the AP element. Press Control+A or Command+A again to select the AP element.
•Click inside an AP element and select its tag in the tag selector.
Select multiple AP elements
❖Do one of the following:
•In the AP Elements panel (Window > AP Elements), Shift-click two or more AP element names.
•In the Document window, Shift-click inside or on the border of two or more AP elements.
Change the stacking order of AP elements
Use the Property inspector or the AP Elements panel to change the stacking order of AP elements. The AP element at
the top of the AP Elements panel list is at the top of the stacking order, and appears in front of the other
AP elements.
163
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
In HTML code, the stacking order, or z-index, of the AP elements determines the order in which they are drawn in a
browser. The higher the z-index of an AP element, the higher that AP element is in the stacking order. (For example,
an element with a z-index of 4 will appear on top of an element with a z-index of 3; 1 is always the lowest number in
the stacking order.) You can change the z-index for each AP element using the AP Elements panel or Property
inspector.
Change the stacking order of AP elements using the AP Elements panel
1Select Window > AP Elements to open the AP Elements panel.
2Double-click the z-index number next to the AP element whose z-index you want to change.
3Change the number and press Return/Enter.
•Type a higher number to move the AP element up in the stacking order.
•Type a lower number to move the AP element down in the stacking order.
Change the stacking order of AP elements using the Property inspector
1Select Window > AP Elements to open the AP Elements panel to see the current stacking order.
2In the AP Elements panel or in the Document window, select the AP element whose z-index you want to change.
3In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), type a number in the Z-Index text box.
•Type a higher number to move the AP element up in the stacking order.
•Type a lower number to move the AP element down in the stacking order.
Show and hide AP elements
While working on your document, you can show and hide AP elements manually, using the AP Elements panel, to see
how the page will appear under different conditions.
Note: The currently selected AP element always becomes visible and appears in front of other AP elements while it’s
selected.
Change AP element visibility
1Select Window > AP Elements to open the AP Elements panel.
2Click in the eye icon column for an AP element to change its visibility.
•An open eye means the AP element is visible.
•A closed eye means the AP element is invisible.
•If there is no eye icon, usually the AP element inherits visibility from its parent. (When AP elements are not nested,
the parent is the document body, which is always visible.)
Also, no eye icon appears when no visibility is specified (which appears in the Property inspector as Default visibility).
Change the visibility of all AP elements at once
❖In the AP Elements panel (Window > AP Elements), click the header eye icon at the top of the column.
Note: This procedure can set all AP elements to visible or hidden, but not to inherit.
Resize AP elements
You can resize an individual AP element, or simultaneously resize multiple AP elements to make them the same width
and height.
164
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
If the Prevent Overlaps option is on, you will not be able to resize an AP element so that it overlaps with another AP
element.
More Help topics
“Use the layout grid” on page 169
Resize an AP element
1In Design view, select an AP element.
2Do one of the following to resize the AP element:
•To resize by dragging, drag any of the AP element’s resize handles.
•To resize one pixel at a time, hold down Control (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) while pressing an arrow key.
The arrow keys move the right and bottom borders of the AP element; you can’t resize using the top and left borders
with this technique.
•To resize by the grid snapping increment, hold down Shift-Control (Windows) or Shift-Option (Macintosh) while
pressing an arrow key.
•In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), type values for width (W) and height (H).
Resizing an AP element changes the width and height of the AP element. It does not define how much of the AP
element’s content is visible. You can define the visible region within an AP element in preferences.
Resize multiple AP elements at once
1In the Design view, select two or more AP elements.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Arrange > Make Same Width Or Modify > Arrange > Make Same Height.
The first selected AP elements conform to the width or height of the last selected AP element.
•In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), under Multiple CSS-P Element, enter width and height values.
The values are applied to all selected AP elements.
Move AP elements
You can move AP elements in the Design view in much the same way that you move objects in most basic graphics
applications.
If the Prevent Overlaps option is on, you will not be able to move a AP element so that it overlaps another AP element.
1In the Design view, select an AP element or multiple AP elements.
2Do one of the following:
•To move by dragging, drag the selection handle of the last selected AP element (highlighted in black).
•To move one pixel at a time, use the arrow keys.
Hold down the Shift key while pressing an arrow key to move the AP element by the current grid-snapping increment.
More Help topics
“Use the layout grid” on page 169
165
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
Align AP elements
Use the AP element alignment commands to align one or more AP elements with a border of the last AP element
selected.
When you align AP elements, child AP elements that aren’t selected may move because their parent AP element is
selected and moved. To prevent this, don’t use nested AP elements.
1In the Design view, select the AP element.
2Select Modify > Arrange, and then select an alignment option.
For example, if you select Top, all of the AP elements move so that their top borders are in the same vertical position
as the top border of the last selected AP element (highlighted in black).
Converting AP elements to tables
Instead of using tables to create your layout, some web designers prefer to work with AP elements. Dreamweaver
enables you to create your layout using AP elements, then (if you want) convert them into tables. For example, you
might need to convert your AP elements to tables if you need to support browsers before version 4.0. Converting AP
elements to tables, however, is highly discouraged because it can result in tables with a large number of empty cells,
not to mention bloated code. If you need a page layout that uses tables, it is best to create that page layout using the
standard table layout tools available in Dreamweaver.
You can convert back and forth between AP elements and tables to adjust the layout and optimize page design. (When
you convert a table back to AP elements, however, Dreamweaver converts the table back to AP Divs, regardless of the
type of AP element you might have had on the page before the conversion to tables.) You cannot convert a specific
table or AP element on a page; you must convert AP elements to tables and tables to AP Divs for an entire page.
Note: You can’t convert AP elements to tables or tables to AP Divs in a template document or in a document to which a
template has been applied. Instead, create your layout in a non-template document and convert it before saving it as a
template.
Convert between AP elements and tables
You can create your layout using AP elements, then convert the AP elements to tables so that your layout can be viewed
in older browsers.
Before you convert to tables, make sure AP elements do not overlap. Also, make sure you’re in Standard Mode (View >
Table Mode
> Standard Mode).
Convert AP elements to a table
1Select Modify > Convert > AP Divs To Table.
2Specify any of the following options and click OK:
Most Accurate Creates a cell for every AP element, plus any additional cells that are necessary to preserve the space
between AP elements.
Smallest: Collapse Empty Cells Specifies that the AP elements’ edges should be aligned if they are positioned within the
specified number of pixels.
If you select this option, the resulting table will have fewer empty rows and columns, but may not match your layout
precisely.
Use Transparent GIFs Fills the table’s last row with transparent GIFs. This ensures that the table is displayed with the
same column widths in all browsers.
166
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating pages with CSS
Last updated 12/7/2011
When this option is enabled, you cannot edit the resulting table by dragging its columns. When this option is disabled,
the resulting table will not contain transparent GIFs, but the widths of the columns may vary from browser to browser.
Center On Page Centers the resulting table on the page. If this option is disabled, the table starts at the left edge of the
page.
Convert tables to AP Divs
1Select Modify > Convert > Tables to AP Divs.
2Specify any of the following options and click OK:
Prevent AP Element Overlaps Constrains the positions of AP elements when they are created, moved, and resized so
that they don’t overlap.
Show AP Elements Panel Displays the AP elements panel.
Show Grid and Snap To Grid Let you use a grid to help position AP elements.
The tables are converted to AP Divs. Empty cells are not converted to AP elements unless they have background colors.
Note: Page elements that were outside of tables are also placed in AP Divs.
Prevent AP element overlaps
Because table cells cannot overlap, Dreamweaver cannot create a table from overlapping AP elements. If you plan to
convert the AP elements in a document to tables, use the Prevent Overlap option to constrain AP element movement
and positioning so that AP elements don’t overlap.
When this option is on, an AP element can’t be created in front of, moved or resized over, or nested within an existing
AP element. If you activate this option after creating overlapping AP elements, drag each overlapping AP element to
move it away from other
AP elements. Dreamweaver does not automatically fix existing overlapping AP elements in
the page when you enable Prevent AP element Overlaps.
When this option and snapping are enabled, an AP element won’t snap to the grid if it would cause two AP elements
to overlap. Instead, it will snap to the edge of the closest
AP element.
Note: Certain actions allow you to overlap AP elements even when the Prevent Overlaps option is enabled. If you insert
an AP element using the Insert menu, enter numbers in the Property inspector, or reposition AP elements by editing the
HTML source code, you can cause AP elements to overlap or nest while this option is enabled. If overlaps happen, drag
overlapping AP elements in the Design view to separate them.
•In the AP Elements panel (Window > AP Elements), select the Prevent Overlaps option.
•In the Document window, select Modify > Arrange > Prevent AP Element Overlaps.
167
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 7: Laying out pages with HTML
Using visual aids for layout
Set rulers
Rulers help you measure, organize, and plan your layout. They can appear on the left and top borders of the page,
marked in pixels, inches, or centimeters.
•To toggle rulers on and off, select View > Rulers > Show.
•To change the origin, drag the ruler-origin icon (at the upper-left corner of the Design view of the Document
window) anywhere on the page.
•To reset the origin to its default position, select View > Rulers > Reset Origin.
•To change the unit of measure, select View > Rulers, and then select Pixels, Inches, or Centimeters.
Set layout guides
Guides are lines that you drag onto the document from the rulers. They help you place and align objects more precisely.
You can also use guides to measure the size of page elements, or emulate the folds (visible areas) of web browsers.
To help you align elements, you can snap elements to guides, and snap guides to elements. (Elements must be
absolutely positioned in order for the snap feature to work.) You can also lock guides to prevent them from being
accidentally moved by another user.
Create a horizontal or vertical guide
1Drag from the corresponding ruler.
2Position the guide in the Document window and release the mouse button (reposition the guide by dragging it
again).
Note: By default, guides are recorded as absolute pixel measurements from the top or left side of the document, and are
shown relative to the origin of the ruler. To record the guide as a percentage, press the Shift key while you create or move
the guide.
Show or hide guides
❖Select View > Guides > Show Guides.
Snap elements to guides
•To snap elements to guides, select View > Guides > Snap to Guides.
•To snap guides to elements, select View > Guides > Guides Snap to Elements.
Note: When you resize elements, such as absolutely-positioned elements (AP elements), tables, and images, the resized
elements snap to guides.
Lock or unlock all guides
❖Select View > Guides > Lock Guides.
168
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
View and move a guide to a specific position
1Hold the mouse pointer over the guide to view its position.
2Double-click the guide.
3Enter the new position in the Move Guide dialog box and click OK.
View the distance between guides
❖Press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) and hold the mouse pointer anywhere between the two
guides.
Note: The unit of measure is the same as the unit of measure used for the rulers.
Emulate the fold (visible area) of a web browser
❖Select View > Guides, and then select a preset browser size from the menu.
Remove a guide
❖Drag the guide off the document.
Change guide settings
❖Select View > Guides > Edit Guides, set the following options, and click OK.
Guide color Specifies the color of the guide lines. Click the color swatch and select a color from the color picker, or
type a hexadecimal number in the text box.
Distance Color Specifies the color of the lines that appear as distance indicators when you hold the mouse pointer
between guides. Click the color swatch and select a color from the color picker, or type a hexadecimal number in the
text box.
Show Guides Makes guides visible in Design view.
Snap to Guides Makes page elements snap to guides as you move elements around the page.
Lock Guides Locks guides in place.
Guides Snap to Elements Snaps guides to elements on the page as you drag guides.
Clear All Clears all guides from the page.
Using guides with templates
When guides are added to a Dreamweaver template, all instances of the template inherit the guides. Guides in template
instances, however, are treated as editable regions, so users can modify them. Modified guides in template instances
are restored to their original location whenever the instance is updated with the master template.
You can also add your own guides to instances of a template. Guides added in this manner are not overwritten when
the template instance is updated with the master template.
More Help topics
“Align AP elements” on page 165
“Move AP elements” on page 164
169
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use the layout grid
The grid displays a system of horizontal and vertical lines in the Document window. It is useful for placing objects
precisely. You can make absolutely-positioned page elements automatically snap to the grid as you move them, and
change the grid or control the snapping behavior by specifying grid settings. Snapping works whether or not the grid
is visible.
More Help topics
“Align AP elements” on page 165
“Move AP elements” on page 164
Show or hide the grid
❖Select View > Grid > Show Grid.
Enable or disable snapping
❖Select View > Grid > Snap to Grid.
Change grid settings
1Select View > Grid > Grid Settings.
2Set the options and click OK to apply the changes.
Color Specifies the color of the grid lines. Click the color swatch and select a color from the color picker, or type a
hexadecimal number in the text box.
Show Grid Makes the grid visible in Design view.
Snap to Grid Makes page elements snap to the lines of the grid.
Spacing
Controls how far apart the grid lines are. Enter a number and select Pixels, Inches, or Centimeters from the menu.
Display Specifies whether the grid lines appear as lines or dots.
Note: If Show Grid is not selected, the grid does not appear in the document and no changes are visible.
Use a tracing image
You can use a tracing image as a guide to re-create a page design that was created in a graphics application such as
Adobe Freehand or Fireworks.
A tracing image is a JPEG, GIF, or PNG image that is placed in the background of the Document window. You can
hide the image, set its opacity, and change its position.
The tracing image is visible only in Dreamweaver; it is not visible when you view the page in a browser. When the
tracing image is visible, the page’s real background image and color are not visible in the Document window; however,
the background image and color will be visible when the page is viewed in a browser.
Place a tracing image in the Document window
1Do one of the following:
•Select View > Tracing Image > Load.
•Select Modify > Page Properties, then click Browse (next to the Tracing Image text box).
2In the Select Image Source dialog box, select an image file and click OK.
170
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
3In the Page Properties dialog box, specify the transparency for the image by dragging the Image Transparency
slider, then click OK.
To switch to another tracing image or change the transparency of the current tracing image at any time, select
Modify
> Page Properties.
Show or hide the tracing image
❖Select View > Tracing Image > Show.
Change the position of a tracing image
❖Select View > Tracing Image > Adjust Position.
•To precisely specify the position of the tracing image, enter coordinate values in the X and Y text boxes.
•To move the image 1 pixel at a time, use the arrow keys.
•To move the image 5 pixels at a time, press Shift and an arrow key.
Reset the position of the tracing image
❖Select View > Tracing Image > Reset Position.
The tracing image returns to the upper-left corner of the Document window (0,0).
Align the tracing image to a selected element
1Select an element in the Document window.
2Select View > Tracing Image > Align with Selection.
The upper-left corner of the tracing image is aligned with the upper-left corner of the selected element.
Presenting content with tables
About tables
Tables are a powerful tool for presenting tabular data and for laying out text and graphics on an HTML page. A table
consists of one or more rows; each row consists of one or more cells. Although columns aren’t usually explicitly
specified in HTML code, Dreamweaver enables you to manipulate columns as well as rows and cells.
Dreamweaver displays the table width and the column width for each table column when the table is selected or when
the insertion point is in the table. Next to the widths are arrows for the table header menu and the column header
menus. Use the menus for quick access to common table-related commands. You can enable or disable the widths and
menus.
If you do not see a width for the table or for a column, then that table or column does not have a specified width in the
HTML code. If two numbers appear, then the visual width as it appears in Design view doesn’t match the width
specified in the HTML code. This can happen when you resize a table by dragging its lower-right corner or when you
add content to a cell that’s larger than its set width.
For example, if you set a column’s width to 200 pixels and then add content that stretches the width to 250 pixels, two
numbers appear for that column: 200 (the width specified in the code) and (250) in parentheses (the visual width of
the column as it’s rendered on your screen).
Note: You can also lay out your pages using CSS positioning.
171
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Laying out pages with CSS” on page 146
Table formatting precedence in HTML
When formatting tables in Design view, you can set properties for the entire table or for selected rows, columns, or
cells in the table. When a property, such as background color or alignment, is set to one value for the whole table and
another value for individual cells, cell formatting takes precedence over row formatting, which in turn takes
precedence over table formatting.
The order of precedence for table formatting is as follows:
1Cells
2Rows
3Table
For example, if you set the background color for a single cell to blue, then set the background color of the entire table
to yellow, the blue cell does not change to yellow, since cell formatting takes precedence over table formatting.
Note: When you set properties on a column, Dreamweaver changes the attributes of the td tag corresponding to each cell
in the column.
About splitting and merging table cells
You can merge any number of adjacent cells—as long as the entire selection is a line or a rectangle of cells—to produce
a single cell that spans several columns or rows. You can split a cell into any number of rows or columns, regardless of
whether it was previously merged. Dreamweaver automatically restructures the table (adding any necessary colspan
or rowspan attributes) to create the specified arrangement.
In the following example, the cells in the middle of the first two rows have been merged into a single cell that spans
two rows.
Insert a table and add content
Use the Insert panel or the Insert menu to create a new table. Then, add text and images to table cells the same way
that you add text and images outside of a table.
Note: The Layout mode feature is deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS4 and later. Layout mode created page layouts using
layout tables, which are no longer recommended by Adobe. For more information on Layout mode and why it was
deprecated, see the Dreamweaver Team Blog.
1In the Design view of the Document window, place the insertion point where you want the table to appear.
Note: If your document is blank, you can place the insertion point only at the beginning of the document.
•Select Insert > Table.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click Table.
172
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Set the attributes of the Table dialog box and click OK to create the table.
Rows Determines the number of table rows.
Columns Determines the number of table columns.
Table Width Specifies the width of the table in pixels, or as a percentage of the browser window’s width.
Border Thickness Specifies the width, in pixels, of the table’s borders.
Cell Spacing Determines the number of pixels between adjacent table cells.
When you don’t explicitly assign values for border thickness or cell spacing and cell padding, most browsers display
the table border thickness and cell padding set to 1 and cell spacing were set to 2. To ensure that browsers display the
table with no border, padding or spacing, set Cell Padding and Cell Spacing to 0.
Cell Padding Determines the number of pixels between a cell’s border and its contents.
None Does not enable column or row headings for the table.
Left Makes the first column of the table a column for headings, so that you can enter a heading for each row of the
table.
Top Makes the first row of the table a row for headings, so that you can enter a heading for each column of the table.
Both Enables you to enter column and row headings in the table.
It’s a good idea to use headers in case any of your website visitors use screen readers. Screen readers read table
headings and help screen-reader users keep track of table information.
Caption Provides a table title which displays outside of the table.
Align Caption Specifies where the table caption appears in relation to the table.
Summary Provides a table description. Screen readers read the summary text, but the text does not appear in the user’s
browser.
More Help topics
“Adding and modifying images” on page 226
Import and export tabular data
You can import tabular data that has been created in another application (such as Microsoft Excel) and saved in a
delimited text format (with items separated by tabs, commas, colons, or semicolons) into Dreamweaver and format it
as a table.
You can also export table data from Dreamweaver into a text file, with the contents of adjacent cells separated by a
delimiter. You can use commas, colons, semicolons, or spaces as delimiters. When you export a table, the entire table
is exported; you cannot select portions of a table to export.
If you want only some of the data from a table—for example, the first six rows or the first six columns—then copy the
cells containing that data, paste those cells outside of the table (to create a new table), and export the new table.
Import table data
1Do one of the following:
•Select File > Import > Tabular Data.
•In the Data category of the Insert panel, click the Import Tabular Data icon .
•Select Insert > Table Objects > Import Tabular Data.
173
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Specify the options for the tabular data and click OK.
Data File The name of the file to import. Click the Browse button to select a file.
Delimiter The delimiter used in the file you’re importing.
If you select Other, a text box appears to the right of the pop-up menu. Enter the delimiter used in your file.
Note: Specify the delimiter that was used when the data file was saved. If you don’t do this, the file will not be imported
properly, and your data will not be correctly formatted in a table.
Table Width The width of the table.
•Select Fit to Data to make each column wide enough to fit the longest text string in the column.
•Select Set to specify a fixed table width in pixels or as a percentage of the browser window’s width.
Border Specifies the width, in pixels, of the table’s borders.
Cell Padding The number of pixels between a cell’s content and the cell boundaries.
Cell Spacing The number of pixels between adjacent table cells.
If you don’t explicitly assign values for borders, cell spacing, and cell padding, most browsers display the table with
borders and cell padding set to 1, and cell spacing set to 2. To ensure that browsers display the table with no padding
or spacing, set Cell Padding and Cell Spacing to 0. To view cell and table boundaries when the border is set to 0, select
View
> Visual Aids > Table Borders.
Format Top Row Determines what formatting, if any, is applied to the top row of the table. Select from four formatting
options: no formatting, bold, italic, or bold italic.
Export a table
1Place the insertion point in any cell of the table.
2Select File > Export > Table.
3Specify the following options:
Delimiter Specifies which delimiter character should be used to separate items in the exported file.
Line Breaks Specifies which operating system you’ll be opening the exported file in: Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX.
(Different operating systems have different ways of indicating the end of a line of text.)
4Click Export.
5Enter a name for the file and click Save.
Select table elements
You can select an entire table, row, or column at once. You can also select one or more individual cells.
When you move your pointer over a table, row, column, or cell, Dreamweaver highlights all the cells in that selection
so that you know which cells will be selected. This is useful when you have tables without borders, cells that span
multiple columns or rows, or nested tables. You can change the highlight color in preferences.
If you position the pointer over a table’s border, then hold the Control key (Windows) or Command key (Macintosh),
the entire structure of the table—that is, all cells in the table—is highlighted. This is useful when you have nested tables
and want to see the structure of one of the tables.
174
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Select an entire table
❖Do one of the following:
•Click the upper-left corner of the table, anywhere on the top or bottom edge of the table, or on a row or column’s
border.
Note: The pointer changes to the table grid icon when you can select the table (unless you click a row or column
border).
•Click in a table cell, then select the <table> tag in the tag selector at the lower-left corner of the Document window.
•Click in a table cell, then select Modify > Table > Select Table.
•Click in a table cell, click the table header menu, then select Select Table. Selection handles appear on the selected
table’s lower and right edges.
Select individual or multiple rows or columns
1Position the pointer to point to the left edge of a row or the top edge of a column.
2When the pointer changes to a selection arrow, click to select a row or column, or drag to select multiple rows or
columns.
Select a single column
1Click in the column.
2Click the column header menu and choose Select Column.
Select a single cell
❖Do one of the following:
•Click in the cell, then select the <td> tag in the tag selector at the lower-left corner of the Document window.
•Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) in the cell.
•Click in the cell and select Edit >
•Select All
•.
Select Edit >
Select All
again when a cell is selected to select the entire table.
175
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Select a line or a rectangular block of cells
❖Do one of the following:
•Drag from a cell to another cell.
•Click in one cell, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) in the same cell to select it, then Shift-
click another cell.
All of the cells within the linear or rectangular region defined by the two cells are selected.
Select nonadjacent cells
❖Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the cells, rows, or columns you want to select.
If each cell, row, or column you Control-click or Command-click isn’t already selected, it’s added to the selection. If it
is already selected, it’s removed from the selection.
Change the highlight color for table elements
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Highlighting from the category list on the left, make either of the following changes, and click OK.
•To change the highlighting color for table elements, click the Mouse-Over color box, then select a highlight color
using the color picker (or enter the hexadecimal value for the highlight color in the text box).
•To enable or disable highlighting for table elements, select or deselect the Show option for Mouse-Over.
Note: These options affect all objects, such as absolutely-positioned elements (AP elements), that Dreamweaver highlights
when you move the pointer over them.
Set table properties
You can use the Property inspector to edit tables.
1Select a table.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), change properties as necessary.
Table Id An ID for the table.
Rows and Cols The number of rows and columns in the table.
W The width of the table in pixels, or as a percentage of the browser window’s width.
Note: You usually don’t need to set the height of a table.
CellPad The number of pixels between a cell’s content and the cell boundaries.
CellSpace The number of pixels between adjacent table cells.
Align Determines where the table appears, relative to other elements in the same paragraph, such as text or images.
Left aligns the table to the left of other elements (so that text in the same paragraph wraps around the table to the right);
Right aligns the table to the right of other elements (with text wrapping around it to the left); and Center centers the
table (with text appearing above and/or below the table). Default indicates that the browser should use its default
alignment.
176
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
When alignment is set to Default, other content is not displayed next to the table. To display a table next to other
content, use Left or Right alignment.
Border Specifies the width, in pixels, of the table’s borders.
If you don’t explicitly assign values for the border, cell spacing, and cell padding, most browsers display the table with
the border and cell padding set to 1 and cell spacing set to 2. To ensure that browsers display the table with no padding
or spacing, set Border to 0, Cell Padding and Cell Spacing to 0. To view cell and table boundaries when the border is set
to 0, select View
> Visual Aids > Table Borders.
Class sets a CSS class on the table.
Note: You might need to expand the Table Property inspector to see the following options. To expand the Table Property
inspector, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner.
Clear Column Widths and Clear Row Heights delete all explicitly specified row height or column width values from the
table.
Convert Table Widths To Pixels and Convert Table Heights To Pixels set the width or height of each column in the
table to its current width in pixels (also sets the width of the whole table to its current width in pixels).
Convert Table Widths To Percent and Convert Table Heights To Percent set the width or height of each column in the
table to its current width expressed as a percentage of the Document window’s width (also sets the width of the whole
table to its current width as a percentage of the Document window’s width).
If you entered a value in a text box, press Tab or Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to apply the value.
Set cell, row, or column properties
You can use the Property inspector to edit cells and rows in a table.
1Select the column or row.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), set the following options:
Horz Specifies the horizontal alignment of the contents of a cell, row, or column. You can align the contents to the left,
right, or center of the cells, or you can indicate that the browser should use its default alignment (usually left for regular
cells and center for header cells).
Vert Specifies the vertical alignment of the contents of a cell, row, or column. You can align the contents to the top,
middle, bottom, or baseline of the cells, or indicate that the browser should use its default alignment (usually middle).
W and H The width and height of selected cells in pixels, or as a percentage of the entire table’s width or height. To
specify a percentage, follow the value with a percent symbol (%). To let the browser determine the proper width or
height based on the contents of the cell and the widths and heights of the other columns and rows, leave the field blank
(the default).
By default, a browser chooses a row height and column width to accommodate and the widest image or the longest
line in a column. This is why a column sometimes becomes much wider than the other columns in the table when you
add content to it.
Note: You can specify a height as a percentage of the total table height, but the row may not display at the specified
percentage height in browsers.
Bg The background color for a cell, column, or row, chosen with the color picker.
Merge Cells Combines selected cells, rows, or columns into one cell. You can merge cells only if they form a
rectangular or linear block.
177
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Split Cell Divides a cell, creating two or more cells. You can split only one cell at a time; this button is disabled if more
than one cell is selected.
No Wrap Prevents line wrapping, keeping all the text in a given cell on a single line. If No Wrap is enabled, cells widen
to accommodate all data as you type it or paste it into a cell. (Normally, cells expand horizontally to accommodate the
longest word or widest image in the cell, then expand vertically as necessary to accommodate other contents.)
Header Formats the selected cells as table header cells. The contents of table header cells are bold and centered by
default.
You can specify widths and heights as either pixels or percentages, and you can convert from pixels to percentages and
back.
Note: When you set properties on a column, Dreamweaver changes the attributes of the td tag corresponding to each cell
in the column. When you set certain properties for a row, however, Dreamweaver changes the attributes of the tr tag
rather than changing the attributes of each td tag in the row. When you’re applying the same format to all the cells in a
row, applying the format to the tr tag produces cleaner, more concise HTML code.
3Press Tab or Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to apply the value.
Use Expanded Tables mode for easier table editing
Expanded Tables mode temporarily adds cell padding and spacing to all tables in a document and increases the tables’
borders to make editing easier. This mode enables you to select items in tables or precisely place the insertion point.
For example, you might expand a table to place the insertion point to the left or right of an image, without
inadvertently selecting the image or table cell.
A. Table in Standard mode B. Table in Expanded tables mode
Note: After you make your selection or place the insertion point, you should return to the Standard mode of Design view
to make your edits. Some visual operations, such as resizing, will not give expected results in Expanded Tables mode.
Switch to Expanded Tables mode
1If you are working in Code view, select View > Design or View > Code And Design (you cannot switch to Expanded
Tables mode in Code view).
2Do one of the following:
•Select View > Table Mode > Expanded Tables Mode.
•In the Layout category of the Insert panel, click Expanded Tables Mode.
A bar labeled Expanded Tables Mode appears across the top of the Document window. Dreamweaver adds cell
padding and spacing to all tables on the page and increases the tables’ borders.
Switch out of Expanded Tables mode
❖Do one of the following:
•Click Exit in the bar labeled Expanded Tables Mode at the top of the Document window.
B
A
178
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Select View > Table Mode > Standard Mode.
•In the Layout category of the Insert panel, click Standard Mode.
Format tables and cells
You can change the appearance of tables by setting properties for the table and its cells or by applying a preset design
to the table. Before you set table and cell properties, be aware that the order of precedence for formatting is cells, rows,
and tables.
To format the text inside a table cell, use the same procedures you would use to format text outside of a table.
Change the format of a table, row, cell, or column
1Select a table, cell, row, or column.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner and change
properties as necessary.
3Change the properties as necessary.
For more information on the options, click the Help icon on the Property inspector.
Note: When you set properties on a column, Dreamweaver changes the attributes of the td tag corresponding to each cell
in the column. When you set certain properties for a row, however, Dreamweaver changes the attributes of the tr tag
rather than changing the attributes of each td tag in the row, When you’re applying the same format to all the cells in a
row, applying the format to the tr tag produces cleaner, more concise HTML code.
Add or edit accessibility values for a table in Code view
❖Edit the appropriate attributes in the code.
To quickly locate the tags in the code, click in the table, then select the <table> tag in the tag selector at the bottom
of the Document window.
Add or edit accessibility values for a table in Design view
•To edit the table caption, highlight the caption and type a new caption.
•To edit the caption alignment, place the insertion point in the table caption, right-click (Windows) or Control-click
(Macintosh), then select Edit Tag Code.
•To edit the table summary, select the table, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Edit
Tag Code.
Resizing tables, columns, and rows
Resizing tables
You can resize an entire table or individual rows and columns. When you resize an entire table, all of the cells in the
table change size proportionately. If a table’s cells have explicit widths or heights specified, resizing the table changes
the visual size of the cells in the Document window but does not change the specified widths and heights of the cells.
You can resize a table by dragging one of its selection handles. Dreamweaver displays the table width, along with a table
header menu, at the top or bottom of the table when the table is selected or the insertion point is in the table.
179
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Sometimes the column widths set in the HTML code do not match their apparent widths on the screen. When this
happens, you can make the widths consistent. Table and column widths and header menus appear in Dreamweaver to
help you lay out your tables; you can enable or disable the widths and menus as necessary.
Resizing columns and rows
You can change the width of a column or the height of a row in the Property inspector or by dragging the borders of
the column or row. If you have trouble resizing, you can clear the column widths or row heights and start over.
Note: You can also change cell widths and heights directly in the HTML code using Code view.
Dreamweaver displays column widths, along with column header menus, at the tops or bottoms of columns when the
table is selected or the insertion point is in the table; you can enable or disable the column header menus as necessary.
More Help topics
“Working with page code” on page 281
Resize tables, columns, and rows
Resize a table
❖Select the table.
•To resize the table horizontally, drag the selection handle on the right.
•To resize the table vertically, drag the selection handle on the bottom.
•To resize the table in both dimensions, drag the selection handle at the lower-right corner.
Change a column’s width and keep the overall table width
❖Drag the right border of the column you want to change.
The width of the adjacent column also changes, so you actually resize two columns. Visual feedback shows you how
the columns will adjust; the overall table width does not change.
Note: In tables with percentage-based widths (not pixels), if you drag the right border of the rightmost column, the entire
table’s width changes, and all of the columns grow wider or narrow proportionately.
Change a column’s width and maintain the size of the other columns
❖Hold the Shift key and drag the column’s border.
180
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
The width of one column changes. Visual feedback shows you how the columns will adjust; the overall table width
changes to accommodate the column you are resizing.
Change a row’s height visually
❖Drag the lower border of the row.
Make column widths in code consistent with visual widths
1Click in a cell.
2Click the table header menu, then select Make All Widths Consistent.
Dreamweaver resets the width specified in the code to match the visual width.
Clear all set widths or heights in a table
1Select the table.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Table > Clear Cell Widths, or Modify > Table > Clear Cell Heights.
•In the Property inspector, (Window > Properties), click the Clear Row Heights button or the Clear Column
Widths button .
•Click the table header menu, then select
•Clear All
• Heights or
•Clear All
• Widths.
Clear a column’s set width
❖Click in the column, click the column header menu, and select Clear Column Width.
Enable or disable table and column widths and menus
1Select View > Visual Aids > Table Widths.
181
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the table, then select Table > Table Widths.
Add and remove rows and columns
To add and remove rows and columns, use the Modify > Table or column header menu.
Pressing Tab in the last cell of a table automatically adds another row to the table.
Add a single row or column
❖Click in a cell and do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Table > Insert Row or Modify > Table > Insert Column.
A row appears above the insertion point or a column appears to the left of the insertion point.
•Click the column header menu, and then select Insert Column Left or Insert Column Right.
Add multiple rows or columns
1Click in a cell.
2Select Modify > Table > Insert Rows Or Columns, complete the dialog box, and click OK.
Insert Indicates whether to insert rows or columns.
Number of Rows or Number of Columns The number of rows or columns to insert.
Where Specifies whether the new rows or columns should appear before or after the row or column of the selected cell.
Delete a row or column
❖Do one of the following:
•Click in a cell within the row or column you want to delete, then select Modify > Table > Delete Row, or Modify >
Table
> Delete Column.
•Select a complete row or column, then select Edit > Clear or press Delete.
Add or delete rows or columns using the Property inspector
1Select the table.
2In the Property inspector (Windows > Properties), do one of the following:
•To add or delete rows, increase or decrease the Rows value.
•To add or delete columns, increase or decrease the Cols value.
Note: Dreamweaver does not warn you if you are deleting rows and columns that contain data.
Split and merge cells
Use the Property inspector or the commands in the Modify > Table submenu to split or merge cells.
182
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Merge two or more cells in a table
1Select the cells in a contiguous line and in the shape of a rectangle.
In the following illustration, the selection is a rectangle of cells, so the cells can be merged.
In the following illustration, the selection is not a rectangle, so the cells can’t be merged.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Table > Merge Cells.
•In the expanded HTML Property inspector (Window > Properties), click Merge Cells .
Note: If you don’t see the button, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Property inspector so that you
see all the options.
The contents of the individual cells are placed in the resulting merged cell. The properties of the first cell selected are
applied to the merged cell.
Split a cell
1Click in the cell and do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Table > Split Cell.
•In the expanded HTML Property inspector (Window > Properties), click Split Cell .
Note: If you don’t see the button, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Property inspector so that you
see all the options.
2In the Split Cell dialog box, specify how to split the cell:
Split Cell Into Specifies whether to split the cell into rows or columns.
Number Of Rows/Number Of Columns Specifies how many rows or columns to split the cell into.
Increase or decrease the number of rows or columns spanned by a cell
❖Do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Table > Increase Row Span, or Modify > Table > Increase Column Span.
•Select Modify > Table > Decrease Row Span, or Modify > Table > Decrease Column Span.
183
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Copy, paste, and delete cells
You can copy, paste, or delete a single table cell or multiple cells at once, preserving the cells’ formatting.
You can paste cells at the insertion point or in place of a selection in an existing table. To paste multiple table cells, the
contents of the Clipboard must be compatible with the structure of the table or the selection in the table in which the
cells will be pasted.
Cut or copy table cells
1Select one or more cells in a contiguous line and in the shape of a rectangle.
In the following illustration, the selection is a rectangle of cells, so the cells can be cut or copied.
In the following illustration, the selection is not a rectangle, so the cells can’t be cut or copied.
2Select Edit > Cut or Edit > Copy.
Note: If you selected an entire row or column and you select Edit > Cut, the entire row or column is removed from the
table (not just the contents of the cells).
Paste table cells
1Select where you want to paste the cells:
•To replace existing cells with the cells you are pasting, select a set of existing cells with the same layout as the cells
on the clipboard. (For example, if you’ve copied or cut a 3 x 2 block of cells, you can select another 3 x 2 block of
cells to replace by pasting.)
•To paste a full row of cells above a particular cell, click in that cell.
•To paste a full column of cells to the left of a particular cell, click in that cell.
Note: If you have less than a full row or column of cells in the clipboard, and you click in a cell and paste the cells from
the clipboard, the cell you clicked in and its neighbors may (depending on its location in the table) be replaced with the
cells you are pasting.
•To create a new table with the pasted cells, place the insertion point outside of the table.
2Select Edit > Paste.
184
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
If you are pasting entire rows or columns into an existing table, the rows or columns are added to the table. If you are
pasting an individual cell, the contents of the selected cell are replaced. If you are pasting outside a table, the rows,
columns, or cells are used to define a new table.
Remove cell content but leave the cells intact
1Select one or more cells.
Note: Make sure the selection does not consist entirely of complete rows or columns.
2Select Edit > Clear or press Delete.
Note: If only complete rows or columns are selected when you select Edit > Clear or press Delete, the entire rows or
columns—not just their contents—are removed from the table.
Delete rows or columns that contain merged cells
1Select the row or column.
2Select Modify > Table > Delete Row, or Modify > Table > Delete Column.
Nest tables
A nested table is a table inside a cell of another table. You can format a nested table as you would any other table;
however, its width is limited by the width of the cell in which it appears.
1Click in a cell of the existing table.
2Select Insert > Table, set the Insert Table options, and click OK.
Sort tables
You can sort the rows of a table based on the contents of a single column. You can also perform a more complicated
table sort based on the contents of two columns.
You cannot sort tables that contain colspan or rowspan attributes—that is, tables that contain merged cells.
1Select the table or click in any cell.
2Select Commands > Sort Table, set the options in the dialog box, and click OK.
Sort By Determines which column’s values will be used to sort the table’s rows.
Order Determines whether to sort the column alphabetically or numerically, and whether to sort it in ascending order
(A to Z, lower numbers to higher numbers) or descending order.
When the contents of a column are numbers, select Numerically. An alphabetic sort applied to a list of one- and two-
digit numbers results in the numbers being sorted as if they were words (resulting in ordering such as 1, 10, 2, 20, 3,
30) rather than being sorted as numbers (resulting in ordering such as 1, 2, 3, 10, 20, 30).
Then By/Order Determines the sorting order for a secondary sort on a different column. Specify the secondary-sort
column in the Then By pop-up menu, and the secondary sort order in the Order pop-up menus.
Sort Includes The First Row Specifies that the first row of the table should be included in the sort. If the first row is a
heading that should not be moved, do not select this option.
Sort Header Rows Specifies to sort all the rows in the table’s thead section (if any) using the same criteria as the body
rows. (Note that thead rows remain in the thead section and still appear at the top of the table even after sorting.) For
information about the thead tag, see the Reference panel (select Help > Reference).
185
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Sort Footer Rows Specifies to sort all the rows in the table’s tfoot section (if any) using the same criteria as the body
rows. (Note that tfoot rows remain in the tfoot section and still appear at the bottom of the table even after sorting.)
For information about the tfoot tag, see the Reference panel (select Help > Reference).
Keep All Row Colors The Same After The Sort Has Been Completed Specifies that table row attributes (such as color)
should remain associated with the same content after the sort. If your table rows are formatted with two alternating
colors, do not select this option to ensure that the sorted table still has alternating-colored rows. If the row attributes
are specific to the content of each row, then select this option to ensure that those attributes remain associated with
the correct rows in the sorted table.
Using Frames
How frames and framesets work
A frame is a region in a browser window that can display an HTML document independent of what’s being displayed
in the rest of the browser window. Frames provide a way to divide a browser window into multiple regions, each of
which can display a different HTML document. In the most common use of frames, one frame displays a document
containing navigation controls, while another frame displays a document with content
A frameset is an HTML file that defines the layout and properties of a set of frames, including the number of frames, the
size and placement of the frames, and the URL of the page that initially appears in each frame. The frameset file itself
doesn’t contain HTML content that displays in a browser, except in the
noframes
section; the frameset file simply
provides information to the browser about how a set of frames should look and what documents should appear in them.
To view a set of frames in a browser, enter the URL of the frameset file; the browser then opens the relevant documents
to display in the frames. The frameset file for a site is often named index.html, so that it displays by default if a visitor
doesn’t specify a filename.
186
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following example shows a frame layout consisting of three frames: one narrow frame on the side that contains a
navigation bar, one frame that runs along the top, containing the logo and title of the website, and one large frame that
takes up the rest of the page and contains the main content. Each of these frames displays a separate HTML document.
In this example, the document displayed in the top frame never changes as the visitor navigates the site. The side frame
navigation bar contains links; clicking one of these links changes the content of the main content frame, but the
contents of the side frame itself remain static. The main content frame on the right displays the appropriate document
for the link the visitor clicks on the left.
A frame is not a file; it’s easy to think of the document that currently appears in a frame as an integral part of the frame,
but the document isn’t actually part of the frame. The frame is a container that holds the document.
Note: A “page” refers either to a single HTML document or to the entire contents of a browser window at a given moment,
even if several HTML documents appear at once. The phrase “a page that uses frames,” for example, usually refers to a
set of frames and the documents that initially appear in those frames.
A site that appears in a browser as a single page comprising three frames actually consists of at least four HTML
documents: the frameset file, plus the three documents containing the content that initially appears in the frames.
When you design a page using framesets in Dreamweaver, you must save each of these four files in order for the page
to work properly in the browser.
For more comprehensive information about Frames, consult Thierry Koblentz’s website at
www.tjkdesign.com/articles/frames/.
Deciding whether to use frames
Adobe discourages the use of frames for web page layout. Some of the disadvantages of using frames include:
•Precise graphical alignment of elements in different frames can be difficult.
•Testing the navigation can be time-consuming.
•The URLs of the individual framed pages don’t appear in browsers, so it can be difficult for a visitor to bookmark
a specific page (unless you provide server code that enables them to load a framed version of a particular page).
187
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
For a full treatment of why you should not use frames, see Gary White’s explanation at
http://apptools.com/rants/framesevil.php.
The most common use of frames, if you do decide to use them, is for navigation. A set of frames often includes one
frame containing a navigation bar and another frame to display the main content pages. Using frames in this way has
a couple of advantages:
•A visitor’s browser doesn’t need to reload the navigation-related graphics for every page.
•Each frame has its own scroll bar (if the content is too large to fit in a window), so a visitor can scroll the frames
independently. For example, a visitor who scrolls to the bottom of a long page of content in a frame doesn’t need
to scroll back up to the top to use the navigation bar if the navigation bar is in a different frame.
In many cases, you can create a web page without frames that accomplishes the same goals as a set of frames. For
example, if you want a navigation bar to appear on the left side of your page, you can either replace your page with a
set of frames, or just include the navigation bar on every page in your site. (Dreamweaver helps you create multiple
pages that use the same layout.) The following example shows a page design with a framelike layout that doesn’t use
frames.
Poorly designed sites use frames unnecessarily, such as a frameset that reloads the contents of the navigation frames
every time the visitor clicks a navigation button. When frames are used well (for example, to keep navigation controls
static in one frame while allowing the contents of another frame to change), they can be very useful for a site.
Not all browsers provide good frame support, and frames may be difficult for visitors with disabilities to navigate, so
if you do use frames, always provide a noframes section in your frameset, for visitors who can’t view them. You might
also provide an explicit link to a frameless version of the site.
For more comprehensive information about Frames, consult Thierry Koblentz’s website at
www.tjkdesign.com/articles/frames/.
188
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Nested framesets
A frameset inside another frameset is called a nested frameset. A single frameset file can contain multiple nested
framesets. Most web pages that use frames are actually using nested frames, and most of the predefined framesets in
Dreamweaver also use nesting. Any set of frames in which there are different numbers of frames in different rows or
columns requires a nested frameset.
For example, the most common frame layout has one frame in the top row (where the company’s logo appears) and
two frames in the bottom row (a navigation frame and a content frame). This layout requires a nested frameset: a two-
row frameset, with a two-column frameset nested in the second row.
A. Main frameset B. Menu frame and content frame are nested within the main frameset.
Dreamweaver takes care of nesting framesets as needed; if you use the frame-splitting tools in Dreamweaver, you don’t
need to worry about the details of which frames are nested and which are not.
There are two ways to nest framesets in HTML: the inner frameset can be defined either in the same file as the outer
frameset, or in a separate file of its own. Each predefined frameset in Dreamweaver defines all of its framesets in the
same file.
Both kinds of nesting produce the same visual results; it’s not easy to tell, without looking at the code, which kind of
nesting is being used. The most likely situation in which an external frameset file would be used in Dreamweaver is
when you use the Open in Frame command to open a frameset file inside a frame; doing this may result in problems
with setting targets for links. It’s generally simplest to keep all framesets defined in a single file.
Work with framesets in the Document window
Dreamweaver enables you to view and edit all of the documents associated with a set of frames in one Document
window. This approach enables you to see approximately how the framed pages will appear in a browser as you edit
them. However, some aspects of this approach can be confusing until you get used to them. In particular, each frame
displays a separate HTML document. Even if the documents are empty, you must save them all before you can preview
them (because the frameset can be accurately previewed only if it contains the URL of a document to display in each
frame).
To ensure that your frameset appears correctly in browsers, follow these general steps:
1Create your frameset and specify a document to appear in each frame.
A
B
189
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Save every file that’s going to appear in a frame. Remember that each frame displays a separate HTML document,
and you must save each document, along with the frameset file.
3Set the properties for each frame and for the frameset (including naming each frame, setting scrolling and non-
scrolling options).
4
Set the Target property in the Property inspector for all your links so that the linked content appears in the correct area.
Create frames and framesets
There are two ways to create a frameset in Dreamweaver: You can select from several predefined framesets or you can
design it yourself.
Choosing a predefined frameset sets up all the framesets and frames needed to create the layout and is the easiest way to
create a frames-based layout quickly. You can insert a predefined frameset only in the Document window’s Design view.
You can also design your own frameset in Dreamweaver by adding “splitters” to the Document window.
Before creating a frameset or working with frames, make the frame borders visible in the Document window’s Design
view by selecting View >Visual Aids > Frame Borders.
More Help topics
“Dreamweaver and accessibility” on page 659
Create a predefined frameset and display an existing document in a frame
1Place the insertion point in a document and do one of the following:
• Choose Insert > HTML > Frames and select a predefined frameset.
•In the Layout category of the Insert panel, click the drop-down arrow on the Frames button and select a predefined
frameset.
The frameset icons provide a visual representation of each frameset as applied to the current document. The blue area
of a frameset icon represents the current document, and the white areas represent frames that will display other
documents.
2If you have set up Dreamweaver to prompt you for frame accessibility attributes, select a frame from the pop-up
menu, enter a name for the frame, and click OK. (For visitors who use screen readers, the screen reader will read
this name when it encounters the frame in a page.)
Note: If you click OK without entering a new name, Dreamweaver gives the frame a name that corresponds to its position
(left frame, right frame, and so on) in the frameset.
Note: If you press Cancel, the frameset appears in the document, but Dreamweaver does not associate accessibility tags
or attributes with it.
Select Window > Frames to view a diagram of the frames you are naming.
Create an empty predefined frameset
1Select File > New.
2In the New Document dialog box, select the Page from Sample category.
3Select the Frameset folder in the Sample Folder column.
4Select a frameset from the Sample Page column and click Create.
190
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
5If you have activated the frame accessibility attributes in Preferences, the Frame Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog
box appears; complete the dialog box for each frame and click OK.
Note: If you press Cancel, the frameset appears in the document, but Dreamweaver does not associate accessibility tags
or attributes with it.
Create a frameset
❖Select Modify > Frameset, then select a splitting item (such as Split Frame Left or Split Frame Right) from the
submenu.
Dreamweaver splits the window into frames. If you had an existing document open, it appears in one of the frames.
Split a frame into smaller frames
•To split the frame where the insertion point is, select a splitting item from the Modify > Frameset submenu.
•To split a frame or set of frames vertically or horizontally, drag a frame border from the edge into the middle of the
Design view.
•To split a frame using a frame border that isn’t at the edge of the Design view, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag
(Macintosh) a frame border.
•To divide a frame into four frames, drag a frame border from one of the corners of the Design view into the middle
of a frame.
To create three frames, start with two frames, then split one of them. It’s not easy to merge two adjacent frames
without editing the frameset code, so changing four frames into three frames is harder than changing two frames into
three frames.
Delete a frame
❖Drag a frame border off the page or to a border of the parent frame.
If there’s unsaved content in a document in a frame that’s being removed, Dreamweaver prompts you to save the
document.
Note: You can’t remove a frameset entirely by dragging borders. To remove a frameset, close the Document window that
displays it. If the frameset file has been saved, delete the file.
Resize a frame
•To set approximate sizes for frames, drag frame borders in the Document window’s Design view.
•To specify exact sizes, and to specify how much space the browser allocates to a row or column of frames when the
browser window size doesn’t allow the frames to display at full size, use the Property inspector.
Select frames and framesets
To make changes to the properties of a frame or frameset, begin by selecting the frame or frameset you want to change.
You can select a frame or frameset either in the Document window or by using the Frames panel.
191
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
The Frames panel provides a visual representation of the frames within a frameset. It shows the hierarchy of the
frameset structure in a way that may not be apparent in the Document window. In the Frames panel, a very thick
border surrounds each frameset; each frame is surrounded by a thin gray line and is identified by a frame name.
In the Document window’s Design view, when a frame is selected, its borders are outlined with a dotted line; when a
frameset is selected, all the borders of the frames within the frameset are outlined with a light dotted line.
Note: Placing the insertion point in a document that’s displayed in a frame is not the same as selecting a frame. There are
various operations (such as setting frame properties) for which you must select a frame.
Select a frame or frameset in the Frames panel
1Select Window > Frames.
2In the Frames panel:
•To select a frame, click the frame. (A selection outline appears around the frame in both the Frames panel and the
Document window’s Design view.)
•To select a frameset, click the border that surrounds the frameset.
Select a frame or frameset in the Document window
•To select a frame, Shift-Alt-click (Windows) or Shift-Option-click (Macintosh) inside a frame in Design view.
•To select a frameset, click one of the frameset’s internal frame borders in Design view. (Frame borders must be
visible to do this; select View
>Visual Aids > Frame Borders to make frame borders visible if they aren’t.)
Note: It’s generally easier to select framesets in the Frames panel than in the Document window. For more information,
see the above topics.
192
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Select a different frame or frameset
•To select the next or previous frame or frameset at the same hierarchical level as the current selection, press Alt+Left
Arrow or Alt+Right Arrow (Windows), or Command+Left Arrow or Command+Right Arrow (Macintosh). Using
these keys, you can cycle through frames and framesets in the order in which they’re defined in the frameset file.
•To select the parent frameset (the frameset that contains the current selection), press Alt+Up Arrow (Windows) or
Command+Up Arrow (Macintosh).
•To select the first child frame or frameset of the currently selected frameset (that is, first in the order in which
they’re defined in the frameset file), press Alt+Down Arrow (Windows) or Command+Down Arrow (Macintosh).
Open a document in a frame
You can specify the initial content of a frame by either inserting new content into an empty document in a frame, or
opening an existing document in a frame.
1Place the insertion point in a frame.
2Select File > Open in Frame.
3Select a document to open in the frame, and click OK (Windows) or Choose (Macintosh).
4(Optional) To make this document the default document to display in the frame when the frameset is opened in a
browser, save the frameset.
Save frame and frameset files
Before you can preview a frameset in a browser, you must save the frameset file and all of the documents that will
display in the frames. You can save each frameset file and framed document individually, or you can save the frameset
file and all documents appearing in frames at once.
Note: When you use visual tools in Dreamweaver to create a set of frames, each new document that appears in a frame
is given a default filename. For example, the first frameset file is named UntitledFrameset-1, while the first document in
a frame is named UntitledFrame-1.
Save a frameset file
❖Select the frameset in the Frames panel or the Document window.
•To save the frameset file, select File > Save Frameset.
•To save the frameset file as a new file, select File > Save Frameset As.
Note: If the frameset file has not previously been saved, these two commands are equivalent.
Save a document that appears in a frame
❖Click in the frame, then select File > Save Frame or File > Save Frame As.
Save all files associated with a set of frames
❖Select File > Save All Frames.
This saves all open documents in the frameset, including the frameset file and all framed documents. If the frameset
file has not yet been saved, a heavy border appears around the frameset (or the unsaved frame) in the Design view, and
you can select a filename.
193
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If you used File > Open in Frame to open a document in a frame, then when you save the frameset, the document
you opened in the frame becomes the default document to be displayed in that frame. If you don’t want that document
to be the default, don’t save the frameset file.
View and set frame properties and attributes
Use the Property inspector to view and set most frame properties, including borders, margins, and whether scroll bars
appear in frames. Setting a frame property overrides the setting for that property in a frameset.
You may also want to set some frame attributes, such as the title attribute (which is not the same as the name attribute),
to improve accessibility. You can enable the accessibility authoring option for frames to set attributes when you create
frames, or you can set attributes after inserting a frame. To edit accessibility attributes for a frame, use the Tag
inspector to edit the HTML code directly.
More Help topics
“Dreamweaver and accessibility” on page 659
View or set frame properties
1Select a frame by doing one of the following:
•Alt-click (Windows) or Shift-Option-click (Macintosh) a frame in the Document window’s Design view.
•Click a frame in the Frames panel (Window > Frames).
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner to see all of
the frame properties.
3Set the frame Property inspector options.
Frame Name The name used by a link’s target attribute or by a script to refer to the frame. A frame name must be a
single word; underscores (_) are allowed, but hyphens (-), periods (.), and spaces are not. A frame name must start with
a letter (as opposed to a numeral). Frame names are case-sensitive. Don’t use terms that are reserved words in
JavaScript (such as top or navigator) as frame names.
To make a link change the contents of another frame, you must name the target frame. To make it easier to create
cross-frame links later, name each of your frames when you create it.
Src Specifies the source document to display in the frame. Click the folder icon to browse to and select a file.
Scroll Specifies whether scroll bars appear in the frame. Setting this option to Default doesn’t set a value for the
corresponding attribute, allowing each browser to use its default value. Most browsers default to Auto, meaning that
scroll bars appear only when there is not enough room in a browser window to display the full contents of the current
frame.
No Resize Prevents visitors from dragging the frame borders to resize the frame in a browser.
Note: You can always resize frames in Dreamweaver; this option applies only to visitors viewing the frames in a browser.
Borders Shows or hides the borders of the current frame when it’s viewed in a browser. Selecting a Borders option for
a frame overrides the frameset’s border settings.
Border options are Yes (show borders), No (hide borders), and Default; most browsers default to showing borders,
unless the parent frameset has Borders set to No. A border is hidden only when all frames that share the border have
Borders set to No, or when the parent frameset’s Borders property is set to No and the frames sharing the border have
Borders set to Default.
194
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Border Color Sets a border color for all of the frame’s borders. This color applies to all borders that touch the frame,
and overrides the specified border color of the frameset.
Margin Width Sets the width in pixels of the left and right margins (the space between the frame borders and the
content).
Margin Height Sets the height in pixels of the top and bottom margins (the space between the frame borders and the
content).
Note: Setting the margin width and height for a frame is not the same as setting margins in the Modify > Page Properties
dialog box.
To change the background color of a frame, set the background color of the document in the frame in page properties.
Set accessibility values for a frame
1In the Frames panel (Window > Frames), select a frame by placing the insertion point in one of the frames.
2Select Modify > Edit Tag <frameset>.
3Select Style Sheet/Accessibility from the category list on the left, enter values, and click OK.
Edit accessibility values for a frame
1Display Code view or Code and Design views for your document, if you’re currently in Design view.
2In the Frames panel (Window > Frames), select a frame by placing the insertion point in one of the frames.
Dreamweaver highlights the frame tag in the code.
3Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the code, and then select Edit Tag.
4In the tag editor, make your changes and click OK.
Change the background color of a document in a frame
1Place the insertion point in the frame.
2Select Modify > Page Properties.
3In the Page Properties dialog box, click the Background color menu, and select a color.
View and set frameset properties
Use the Property inspector to view and set most frameset properties, including the frameset title, borders, and frame
sizes.
Set a title for a frameset document
1Select a frameset by doing one of the following:
•Click a border between two frames in the frameset in the Document window’s Design view.
•Click the border that surrounds a frameset in the Frames panel (Window > Frames).
2In the Title box of the Document toolbar, type a name for the frameset document.
When a visitor views the frameset in a browser, the title appears in the browser’s title bar.
195
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
View or set frameset properties
1Select a frameset by doing one of the following:
•Click a border between two frames in the frameset in the Document window’s Design view.
•Click the border that surrounds a frameset in the Frames panel (Window > Frames).
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner and set the
frameset options.
Borders Determines whether borders should appear around frames when the document is viewed in a browser. To
display borders, select Yes; to prevent the browser from displaying borders, select No. To allow the browser to
determine how borders are displayed, select Default.
Border Width Specifies a width for all the borders in the frameset.
Border Color Sets a color for the borders. Use the color picker to select a color, or type the hexadecimal value for a
color.
RowCol Selection Sets frame sizes for rows and columns of the selected frameset, click a tab on the left side or top of
the RowCol Selection area; then enter a height or width in the Value text box.
3
To specify how much space the browser allocates to each frame, select from the following choices in the Units menu:
Pixels Sets the size of the selected column or row to an absolute value. Choose this option for a frame that should
always be the same size, such as a navigation bar. Frames with sizes specified in pixels are allocated space before frames
with sizes specified as percent or relative. The most common approach to frame sizes is to set a left-side frame to a fixed
pixel width and to set a right-size frame to relative, which enables the right frame to stretch to take up all the remaining
space after the pixel width is allocated.
Note: If all of your widths are specified in pixels, and a visitor views the frameset in a browser that’s too wide or too narrow
for the width you specified, then the frames stretch or shrink proportionately to fill the available space. The same applies
to heights specified in pixels. Thus, it’s generally a good idea to specify at least one width and height as relative.
Percent Specifies that the selected column or row should be a percentage of the total width or height of its frameset.
Frames with units set to Percent are allocated space after frames with units set to Pixels, but before frames with units
set to Relative.
Relative Specifies that the selected column or row be allocated the rest of the available space after Pixels and Percent
frames have had space allocated; that remaining space is divided proportionally among the frames with sizes set to
Relative.
Note: When you select Relative from the Units menu, any number you’ve entered in the Value field disappears; if you
want to specify a number, you must re-enter it. If there’s only one row or column set to Relative, though, there’s no need
to enter a number, since that row or column receives all the remaining space after the other rows and columns have space
allocated. To be certain of full cross-browser compatibility, you can enter 1 in the Value field; that’s equivalent to entering
no value.
196
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Control frame content with links
To use a link in one frame to open a document in another frame, you must set a target for the link. The target attribute
of a link specifies the frame or window in which the linked content opens.
For example, if your navigation bar is in the left frame, and you want the linked material to appear in the main content
frame on the right, you must specify the name of the main content frame as the target for each of the navigation bar
links. When a visitor clicks a navigation link, the specified content opens in the main frame.
1In Design view, select text or an object.
2In the Link box in the Property inspector (Window > Properties), do one of the following:
•Click the folder icon and select the file to link to.
•Drag the Point to File icon to the Files panel and select the file to link to.
3In the Target menu in the Property inspector, select the frame or window in which the linked document should
appear:
•_blank opens the linked document in a new browser window, leaving the current window untouched.
•_parent opens the linked document in the parent frameset of the frame the link appears in, replacing the entire
frameset.
•_self opens the link in the current frame, replacing the content in that frame.
•_top opens the linked document in the current browser window, replacing all frames.
Frame names also appear in this menu. Select a named frame to open the linked document in that frame.
Note: Frame names appear only when you’re editing a document within a frameset. When you edit a document in its
own Document window, frame names do not appear in the Target pop-up menu. If you’re editing a document outside of
the frameset, you can type the target frame’s name in the Target text box.
If you’re linking to a page outside of your site, always use target="_top" or target="_blank" to ensure that the
page doesn’t appear to be part of your site.
Provide content for browsers without frame support
Dreamweaver lets you specify content to display in text-based browsers and in older graphical browsers that do not
support frames. This content is stored in the frameset file, wrapped in a noframes tag. When a browser that doesn’t
support frames loads the frameset file, the browser displays only the content enclosed by the noframes tag.
Note: Content in the noframes area should be more than just a note saying “You should upgrade to a browser that can
handle frames.” Some site visitors use systems that don’t allow them to view frames.
1Select Modify > Frameset > Edit NoFrames Content.
Dreamweaver clears the Design view, and the words “NoFrames Content” appear at the top of the Design view.
2Do one of the following:
•In the Document window, type or insert the content just as you would for an ordinary document.
•Select Window > Code Inspector, place the insertion point between the body tags that appear inside the noframes
tags, then type the HTML code for the content.
3Select Modify > Frameset > Edit NoFrames Content again to return to the normal view of the frameset document.
197
USING DREAMWEAVER
Laying out pages with HTML
Last updated 12/7/2011
Using JavaScript behaviors with frames
There are several JavaScript behaviors and navigation-related commands that are particularly appropriate for use with
frames:
Set Text Of Frame Replaces the content and formatting of a given frame with the content you specify. The content can
include any valid HTML. Use this action to dynamically display information in a frame.
Go To URL Opens a new page in the current window or in the specified frame. This action is particularly useful for
changing the contents of two or more frames with one click.
Insert Jump Menu Sets up a menu list of links that open files in a browser window when clicked. You can also target a
particular window or frame in which the document opens.
For more information, see “Adding JavaScript behaviors” on page 333.
More Help topics
“Apply the Set Text Of Frame behavior” on page 342
“Apply the Go To URL behavior” on page 339
“Apply the Set Nav Bar Image behavior” on page 342
“Apply the Jump Menu behavior” on page 340
198
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 8: Adding content to pages
Use the Insert panel
The Insert panel contains buttons for creating and inserting objects such as tables and images. The buttons are
organized into categories.
More Help topics
“Insert panel overview” on page 13
“Edit tags with Tag editors” on page 300
“Select and view elements in the Document window” on page 205
Hide or show the Insert panel
❖Select Window > Insert.
Note: If you are working with certain types of files, such as XML, JavaScript, Java, and CSS, the Insert panel and the
Design view option are dimmed because you cannot insert items into these code files.
Show the buttons in a particular category
❖Select the category name from the Category pop-up menu. For example, to show buttons for the Layout category,
select Layout.
Display the pop-up menu for a button
❖Click the down arrow beside the button’s icon.
199
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert an object
1Select the appropriate category from the Category pop-up menu of the Insert panel.
2Do one of the following:
•Click an object button or drag the button’s icon into the Document window.
•Click the arrow on a button, then select an option from the menu.
Depending on the object, a corresponding object-insertion dialog box may appear, prompting you to browse to a file
or specify parameters for an object. Or, Dreamweaver may insert code into the document, or open a tag editor or a
panel for you to specify information before the code is inserted.
For some objects, no dialog box appears if you insert the object in Design view, but a tag editor appears if you insert
the object in Code view. For a few objects, inserting the object in Design view causes Dreamweaver to switch to Code
view before inserting the object.
Note: Some objects, such as named anchors, are not visible when the page is viewed in a browser window. You can display
icons in Design view that mark the locations of such invisible objects.
Bypass the object-insertion dialog box and insert an empty placeholder
object
❖Control-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) the button for the object.
For example, to insert a placeholder for an image without specifying an image file, Control-click or Option-click the
Image button.
Note: This procedure does not bypass all object-insertion dialog boxes. Many objects, including AP elements and
framesets, do not insert placeholders or default-valued
objects.
Modify preferences for the Insert panel
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2In the General category of the Preferences dialog box, deselect Show Dialog When Inserting Objects to suppress
dialog boxes when you insert objects such as images, tables, scripts, and head elements or by holding down the
Control key (Windows) or the Option key (Macintosh) while creating the object.
When you insert an object with this option off, the object is given default attribute values. Use the Property inspector
to change object properties after inserting the object.
Add, delete, or manage items in the Favorites category of the Insert panel
1Select any category in the Insert panel.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the area where the buttons appear, and then select
Customize Favorites.
3In the Cutomize Favorite Objects dialog box, make changes as necessary, and click OK.
•To add an object, select an object in the Available Objects pane on the left, and then click the arrow between the
two panes or double-click the object in the Available Objects pane.
Note: You can add one object at a time. You cannot select a category name, such as Common, to add an entire category
to your favorites list.
200
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
•To delete an object or separator, select an object in the Favorite Objects pane on the right, and then click the
Remove Selected Object in Favorite Objects List button above the pane.
•To move an object, select an object in the Favorite Objects pane on the right, and then click the Up or Down arrow
button above the pane.
•To add a separator below an object, select an object in the Favorite Objects pane on the right, and then click the
Add Separator button below the pane.
4If you’re not in the Favorites category of the Insert panel, select that category to see your changes.
Insert objects using buttons in the Favorites category
❖Select the Favorites category from the Category pop-up menu of the Insert panel, and then click the button for any
Favorites object that you added.
Display the Insert panel as a horizontal Insert bar
Unlike other panels in Dreamweaver, you can drag the Insert panel out of its default dock position and drop it into a
horizontal position at the top of the Document window. When you do so, it changes from a panel to a toolbar (though
you cannot hide and display it in the same way as other toolbars).
1Click the Insert panel’s tab and drag it to the top of the Document window.
2When you see a horizontal blue line across the top of the Document window, drop the Insert panel into position.
Note: The horizontal Insert bar is also a default part of the Classic workspace. To switch to the Classic workspace, select
Classic from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.
201
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Return the horizontal Insert bar to a panel group
1Click the horizontal Insert bar’s gripper (on the left side of the Insert bar) and drag the bar to the place where your
panels are docked.
2Position the Insert panel and drop it. A blue line indicates where you can drop the panel.
Show horizontal Insert bar categories as tabs
❖Click the arrow beside the category name on the left end of the horizontal Insert bar, and then select Show as Tabs.
Show horizontal Insert bar categories as a menu
❖Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a category tab in the horizontal Insert bar, and then select
Show as
Menus.
Set page properties
For each page you create in Dreamweaver, you can specify layout and formatting properties using the Page Properties
dialog box (Modify
> Page Properties). The Page Properties dialog box lets you specify the default font family and font
size, background color, margins, link styles, and many other aspects of page design. You can assign new page
properties for each new page you create, and modify those for existing pages. Changes you make in the Page Properties
dialog box apply to the entire page.
Dreamweaver gives you two methods for modifying page properties: CSS or HTML. Adobe recommends using CSS to
set backgrounds and modify page properties.
Note: The page properties you choose apply only to the active document. If a page uses an external CSS style sheet,
Dreamweaver does not overwrite the tags set in the style sheet, as this affects all other pages using that style sheet.
Set CSS page font, background color, and background image properties
Use the Page Properties dialog box to specify several basic page layout options for your web pages, including the font,
background color, and background image.
1Select Modify > Page Properties, or click the Page Properties button in the text Property inspector.
2Select the Appearance (CSS) category and set the options.
Page Font Specifies the default font family to use in your web pages. Dreamweaver uses the font family you specify
unless another font is specifically set for a text element.
Size Specifies the default font size to use in your web pages. Dreamweaver uses the font size you specify unless another
font size is specifically set for a text element.
Text Color Specifies the default color to render fonts with.
Background Color Sets a background color for your page. Click the Background color box and select a color from the
Color Picker.
Background Image Sets a background image. Click the Browse button, then browse to and select the image.
Alternatively, enter the path to the background image in the Background Image box.
Dreamweaver tiles (repeats) the background image if it does not fill the entire window, just as browsers do. (To prevent
the background image from tiling, use
202
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Cascading Style Sheets
to disable image tiling.)
Repeat Specifies how the background image will be displayed on the page:
•Select the No-repeat option to display the background image only once.
•Select the Repeat option to repeat, or tile, the image both horizontally and vertically.
•Select the Repeat-x option to tile the image horizontally.
•Select the Repeat-y option to tile the image vertically.
Left Margin and Right Margin Specify the size of the left and right page margins.
Top Margin and Bottom Margin Specify the size of the top and bottom page margins.
Set HTML page properties
Setting properties in this category of the Page Properties dialog box results in HTML rather than CSS formatting of
your page.
1Select Modify > Page Properties, or click the Page Properties button in the text Property inspector.
2Select the Appearance (HTML) category and set the options.
Background Image Sets a background image. Click the Browse button, then browse to and select the image.
Alternatively, enter the path to the background image in the Background Image box.
Dreamweaver tiles (repeats) the background image if it does not fill the entire window, just as browsers do. (To prevent
the background image from tiling, use
Cascading Style Sheets
to disable image tiling.)
Background Sets a background color for your page. Click the Background color box and select a color from the Color
Picker.
Text Specifies the default color to render fonts with.
Link Specifies the color to apply to link text.
Visited Links Specifies the color to apply to visited links.
Active Links Specifies the color to apply when a mouse (or pointer) clicks on a link
Left Margin and Right Margin Specify the size of the left and right page margins.
Top Margin and Bottom Margin Specify the size of the top and bottom page margins.
Set CSS link properties for an entire page
You can specify fonts, font sizes, colors, and other items for your links. By default, Dreamweaver creates CSS rules for
your links and applies them to all links you use on the page. (The rules are embedded in the head section of the page.)
Note: If you want to customize individual links on a page, you need to create individual CSS rules, and then apply them
to the links separately.
1Select Modify > Page Properties, or click the Page Properties button in the text Property inspector.
203
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Choose the Links (CSS) category and set the options.
Link Font Specifies the default font family to use for link text. By default, Dreamweaver uses the font family specified
for the entire page unless you specify another font.
Size Specifies the default font size to use for link text.
Link Color Specifies the color to apply to link text.
Visited Links Specifies the color to apply to visited links.
Rollover Links Specifies the color to apply when a mouse (or pointer) hovers over a link.
Active Links Specifies the color to apply when a mouse (or pointer) clicks on a link
Underline Style Specifies the underline style to apply to links. If your page already has an underline link style defined
(through an external CSS style sheet for example), the Underline Style menu defaults to a “don’t change” option. This
option alerts you to a link style that has been defined. If you modify the underline link style using the Page Properties
dialog box, Dreamweaver will change the previous link definition.
Set CSS heading properties for an entire page
You can specify fonts, font sizes, and colors for your page headings. By default, Dreamweaver creates CSS rules for your
headings and applies them to all headings you use on the page. (The rules are embedded in the head section of the
page.)
Headings are available for selection in HTML Property inspector.
1Select Modify > Page Properties, or click the Page Properties button in the text Property inspector.
2Choose the Headings (CSS) category and set the options.
Heading Font Specifies the default font family to use for headings. Dreamweaver will use the font family you specify
unless another font is specifically set for a text element.
Heading 1 through Heading 6 Specify the font size and color to use for up to six levels of heading tags.
Set title and encoding properties for a page
The Title/Encoding Page Properties options let you specify the document encoding type that is specific to the language
used to author your web pages as well as specify which Unicode Normalization Form to use with that encoding type.
1Select Modify > Page Properties, or click the Page Properties button in the text Property inspector.
2Choose the Title/Encoding category and set the options.
Title Specifies the page title that appears in the title bar of the Document window and most browser windows.
Document Type (DTD) Specifies a document type definition. For example, you can make an HTML document
XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0 Transitional or XHTML 1.0 Strict from the pop-up menu.
Encoding Specifies the encoding used for characters in the document.
If you select Unicode (UTF-8) as the document encoding, entity encoding is not necessary because UTF-8 can safely
represent all characters. If you select another document encoding, entity encoding may be necessary to represent
certain characters. For more information on character entities, see www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html.
Reload Converts the existing document, or reopens it using the new encoding.
204
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Unicode Normalization Form Enabled only if you select UTF-8 as a document encoding. There are four Unicode
Normalization Forms. The most important is Normalization Form C because it’s the most common form used in the
Character Model for the World Wide Web. Adobe provides the other three Unicode Normalization Forms for
completeness.
In Unicode, some characters are visually similar but can be stored within the document in different ways. For example,
“ë” (e-umlaut) can be represented as a single character, “e-umlaut,” or as two characters, “regular Latin e” +
“combining umlaut.” A Unicode combining character is one that gets used with the previous character, so the umlaut
would appear above the “Latin e.” Both forms result in the same visual typography, but what is saved in the file is
different for each form.
Normalization is the process of making sure all characters that can be saved in different forms are all saved using the
same from. That is, all “ë” characters in a document are saved as single “e-umlaut” or as “e” + “combining umlaut,”
and not as both forms in one document.
For more information on Unicode Normalization and the specific forms that can be used, see the Unicode website at
www.unicode.org/reports/tr15.
Include Unicode Signature (BOM) Includes a Byte Order Mark (BOM) in the document. A BOM is 2 to 4 bytes at the
beginning of a text file that identifies a file as Unicode, and if so, the byte order of the following bytes. Because UTF-8
has no byte order, adding a UTF-8 BOM is optional. For UTF-16 and UTF-32, it is required.
Use a tracing image to design a page
You can insert an image file to use as a guide in designing your page. The image appears as a background image, which
you can “design over” as you lay out your page.
1Select Modify > Page Properties, or click the Page Properties button in the text Property inspector.
2Choose the Tracing Image category and set the options.
Tracing Image Specifies an image to use as a guide for copying a design. This image is for reference only, and does not
appear when the document is displayed in a browser.
Transparency Determines the opacity of the tracing image, from completely transparent to completely opaque.
Understanding document encoding
Document encoding specifies the encoding used for characters in the document. Document encoding is specified in a
meta tag in the head of the document; it tells the browser and Dreamweaver how the document should be decoded and
what fonts should be used to display the decoded text.
For example, if you specify Western European (Latin1), this meta tag is inserted:
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1">.
Dreamweaver displays the document using the fonts you specify in Fonts Preferences for the Western European
(Latin1) encoding; a browser displays the document using the fonts the browser user specifies for the Western
European (Latin1) encoding.
If you specify Japanese (Shift JIS), this meta tag is inserted:
205
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=Shift_JIS">.
Dreamweaver displays the document using the fonts you specify for the Japanese encoding; a browser displays the
document using the fonts the browser user specifies for the Japanese encodings.
You can change document encoding for a page and change the default encoding that Dreamweaver uses to create new
documents, including the fonts used to display each encoding.
More Help topics
“Set default document type and encoding” on page 66
Select and view elements in the Document window
To select an element in the Design view of the Document window, click the element. If an element is invisible, you
must make it visible before you can select it.
Some HTML code doesn’t have a visible representation in a browser. For example, comment tags don’t appear in
browsers. However, it can be useful while you’re creating a page to be able to select such invisible elements, edit them,
move them, and delete them.
Dreamweaver enables you to specify whether it shows icons marking the location of invisible elements in the Design
view of the Document window. To indicate which element markers appear, you can set options in Invisible Elements
preferences. For example, you can specify that named anchors be visible, but not line breaks.
You can create certain invisible elements (such as comments and named anchors) using buttons in the Common
category of the Insert panel. You can then modify these elements using the Property inspector.
More Help topics
“Viewing code” on page 286
“Use the Insert panel” on page 198
Select elements
•To select a visible element in the Document window, click the element or drag across the element.
•To select an invisible element, select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements (if that menu item isn’t already
selected) and then click the element’s marker in the Document window.
Some objects appear on the page in a place other than where their code is inserted. For example, in Design view an
absolutely-positioned element (AP element) can be anywhere on the page, but in Code view the code defining the
AP element is in a fixed location. When invisible elements are showing, Dreamweaver displays markers in the
Document window to show the location of the code for such elements. Selecting a marker selects the entire element;
for example, selecting the marker for an AP element selects the entire AP element.
•To select a complete tag (including its contents, if any), click a tag in the tag selector at the lower left of the
Document window. (The tag selector appears in both Design view and Code view.) The tag selector always shows
the tags that contain the current selection or insertion point. The leftmost tag is the outermost tag containing the
current selection or insertion point. The next tag is contained in that outermost tag, and so on; the rightmost tag is
the innermost one that contains the current selection or insertion point.
206
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
In the following example, the insertion point is in a paragraph tag, <p>. To select the table containing the paragraph
you want to select, select the <table> tag to the left of the <p> tag.
View the HTML code associated with the selected text or object
❖Do one of the following:
•In the Document toolbar, click the Show Code View button.
•Select View > Code.
•In the Document toolbar, click the Show Code and Design Views button.
•Select View > Code and Design.
•Select Window > Code Inspector.
When you select something in either code editor (Code view or the Code inspector), it’s generally also selected in the
Document window. You may need to synchronize the two views before the selection appears.
Show or hide marker icons for invisible elements
❖Select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements.
Note: Showing invisible elements may slightly change the layout of a page, moving other elements by a few pixels, so for
precision layout, hide the invisible elements.
Set invisible elements preferences
Use Invisible Elements preferences to specify which kinds of elements will be visible when you select View > Visual
Aids
> Invisible Elements.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), then click Invisible Elements.
2Select which elements should be made visible and click OK.
Note: A check mark next to the name of the element in the dialog box means the element is visible when View > Visual
Aids
> Invisible Elements is selected.
Named Anchors Displays an icon that marks the location of each named anchor (a
name = "") in the document.
Scripts Displays an icon that marks the location of JavaScript or VBScript code in the body of the document. Select
the icon to edit the script in the Property inspector or to link to an external script file.
Comments Displays an icon that marks the location of HTML comments. Select the icon to see the comment in the
Property inspector.
Line Breaks Displays an icon that marks the location of each line break (BR). This option is deselected by default.
Client-Side Image Maps Displays an icon marking the location of each client-side image map in the document.
Embedded Styles Displays an icon showing the location of CSS styles embedded in the body section of the document.
If CSS styles are placed in the head section of a document, they do not appear in the Document window.
Hidden Form Fields Displays an icon that marks the location of form fields that have the type attribute set to
"hidden".
207
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Form Delimiter Displays a border around a form so you can see where to insert form elements. The border shows the
extent of the form tag, so any form elements inside that border are properly enclosed in form tags.
Anchor Points For AP elements Displays an icon that marks the location of code defining an AP element. The AP
element itself can be anywhere on the page. (AP elements are not invisible elements; only the code defining the AP
element is invisible.) Select the icon to select the AP element; you can then see the contents of the AP element even if
the AP element is marked as hidden.
Anchor Points For Aligned Elements Displays an icon showing the location of HTML code for elements that accept the
align attribute. These include images, tables, ActiveX objects, plug-ins, and applets. In some cases, the code for the
element may be separated from the visible object.
Visual Server Markup Tags Displays the location of server markup tags (such as Active Server Pages tags and
ColdFusion tags) whose content cannot be displayed in the Document window. These tags typically generate HTML
tags when processed by a server. For example, a <CFGRAPH> tag generates an HTML table when processed by a
ColdFusion server. Dreamweaver reperesents the tag with a ColdFusion invisible element since Dreamweaver cannot
determine the final, dynamic output of the page.
Nonvisual Server Markup Tags Displays the location of server markup tags (such as Active Server Pages tags and
ColdFusion tags) whose content cannot be displayed in the Document window. These tags are typically set-up,
processing, or logic tags (for example, <CFSET>, <CFWDDX>, and <CFXML>) that do not generate HTML tags.
CSS Display: None Displays an icon showing the location of content that’s hidden by the display:none property in the
linked or embedded stylesheet.
Show Dynamic Text As Displays any dynamic text on your page in the format of {Recordset:Field} by default. If the
length of these values is long enough to distort your page’s formatting, you can change the display to {} instead.
Server-Side Includes Displays the actual contents of each server-side include file.
Colors
Web-safe colors
In HTML, colors are expressed either as hexadecimal values (for example, #FF0000) or as color names (red). A web-
safe color is one that appears the same in Safari and Microsoft Internet Explorer on both Windows and Macintosh
systems when running in 256-color mode. The conventional wisdom is that there are 216 common colors, and that
any hexadecimal value that combines the pairs 00, 33, 66, 99, CC, or FF (RGB values 0, 51, 102, 153, 204, and 255,
respectively) represents a web-safe color.
Testing, however, reveals that there are only 212 web-safe colors rather than a full 216, because Internet Explorer on
Windows does not correctly render the colors #0033FF (0,51,255), #3300FF (51,0,255), #00FF33 (0,255,51), and
#33FF00 (51,255,0).
When web browsers first made their appearance, most computers displayed only 265 colors (8 bits per channel (bpc).
Today, the majority of computers display thousands or millions of colors (16- and 32-bpc), so the justification for
using the browser-safe palette is greatly diminished if you are developing your site for users with current computer
systems.
One reason to use the web-safe color palette is if you are developing for alternative web devices such as PDA and cell
phone displays. Many of this devices offer only black and white (1-bpc) or 256 color (8-bpc) displays.
The Color Cubes (default) and the Continuous Tone palettes in Dreamweaver use the 216-color web-safe palette;
selecting a color from these palettes displays the color’s hexadecimal value.
208
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
To select a color outside the web-safe range, open the system color picker by clicking the Color Wheel button in the
upper-right corner of the Dreamweaver color picker. The system color picker is not limited to web-safe colors.
UNIX versions of browsers use a different color palette than the Windows and Macintosh versions. If you are
developing exclusively for UNIX browsers (or your target audience is Windows or Macintosh users with 24-bpc
monitors and UNIX users with 8-bpc monitors), consider using hexadecimal values that combine the pairs 00, 40, 80,
BF, or FF, which produce web-safe colors for SunOS.
Use the color picker
In Dreamweaver, many of the dialog boxes, as well as the Property inspector for many page elements, contain a color
box, which opens a color picker. Use the color picker to select a color for a page element. You can also set the default
text color for your page elements.
1Click a color box in any dialog box or in the Property inspector.
The color picker appears.
2Do one of the following:
•Use the eyedropper to select a color swatch from the palette. All colors in the Color Cubes (default) and Continuous
Tone palettes are web-safe; other palettes are not.
•Use the eyedropper to pick up a color from anywhere on your screen—even outside the Dreamweaver windows.
To pick up a color from the desktop or another application, press and hold the mouse button; this allows the
eyedropper to retain focus, and select a color outside of Dreamweaver. If you click the desktop or another
application, Dreamweaver picks up the color where you clicked. However, if you switch to another application, you
may need to click a Dreamweaver window to continue working in Dreamweaver.
•To expand your color selection, use the pop-up menu at the upper-right corner of the color picker. You can select
Color Cubes, Continuous Tone, Windows OS, Mac
OS, and Grayscale.
Note: The Color Cubes and Continuous Tone palettes are web-safe, whereas Windows OS, Mac OS and Grayscale are not.
•To clear the current color without choosing a different color, click the Default Color button .
•To open the system color picker, click the Color Wheel button .
Zoom in and out
Dreamweaver lets you increase the magnification (zoom in) in the Document window so that you can check the pixel
accuracy of graphics, select small items more easily, design pages with small text, design large pages, and so on.
Note: The zooming tools are only available in Design view.
More Help topics
“Status bar overview” on page 12
Zoom in or out on a page
1Click the Zoom tool (the magnifying glass icon) in the lower-right corner of the Document window.
2Do one of the following:
•Click the spot on the page you want to magnify until you’ve achieved the desired magnification.
209
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Drag a box over the area on the page that you want to zoom in on and release the mouse button.
•Select a preset magnification level from the Zoom pop-up menu.
•Type a magnification level in the Zoom text box.
You can also zoom in without using the Zoom tool by pressing Control+= (Windows) or Command+= (Macintosh).
3To zoom out (reduce magnification), select the Zoom tool, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) and click
on the page.
You can also zoom out without using the Zoom tool by pressing Control+- (Windows) or Command+- (Macintosh).
Edit a page after zooming
❖Click the Select tool (the pointer icon) in the lower-right corner of the Document window, and click inside the page.
Pan a page after zooming
1Click the Hand tool (the hand icon) in the lower-right corner of the Document window.
2Drag the page.
Fill the Document window with a selection
1Select an element on the page.
2Select View > Fit Selection.
Fill the Document window with an entire page
❖Select View >
❖Fit All
❖.
Fill the Document window with the entire width of a page
❖Select View >
❖Fit Width
❖.
Set download time and size preferences
Dreamweaver calculates size based on the entire contents of the page, including all linked objects, such as images and
plug-ins. Dreamweaver estimates download time based on the connection speed entered in Status Bar preferences.
Actual download time varies depending on general Internet conditions.
A good guideline to use when checking download times for a particular web page is the 8-second rule. That is, most
users will not wait longer than 8 seconds for a page to load.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
210
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Select Status Bar from the Category list on the left.
3Select a connection speed with which to calculate download time and click OK.
More Help topics
“Set window size and connection speed” on page 20
Working with text
Add text to a document
To add text to a Dreamweaver document, you can type text directly in the Document window, or you can cut and paste
text. You can also import text from other documents.
When you paste text into a Dreamweaver document, you can use either the Paste or the Paste Special command. The
Paste Special command lets you specify the format of pasted text in different ways. For example, if you wanted to paste
text from a formatted Microsoft Word document into your Dreamweaver document, but wanted to strip out all of the
formatting so that you could apply your own CSS style sheet to the pasted text, you could select the text in Word, copy
it to your Clipboard, and use the Paste Special command to select the option that lets you paste text only.
When using the Paste command to paste text from other applications, you can set paste preferences as default options.
Note: Control+V (Windows) and Command+V (Macintosh) always paste text only (no formatting) in Code view.
❖Add text to your document by doing one of the following:
•Type text directly into the Document window.
•Copy text from another application, switch to Dreamweaver, position the insertion point in the Design view of the
Document window, and select Edit
> Paste or Edit > Paste Special.
When you select Edit > Paste Special, you can select several paste formatting options.
You can also paste text using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Insert special characters
Certain special characters are represented in HTML by a name or a number, referred to as an entity. HTML includes
entity names for characters such as the copyright symbol (&copy;), the ampersand (&amp;), and the registered-
trademark symbol (&reg;). Each entity has both a name (such as &mdash;) and a numeric equivalent (such as
&#151;).
HTML uses the angle brackets <> in its code, but you may need to express the special characters for greater than or
less than without Dreamweaver interpreting them as code. In this case, use &gt; for greater than (>) and &lt; for less
than (<).
Paste option Keyboard shortcut
Paste Control+V (Windows)
Command+V (Macintosh)
Paste Special Control+Shift+V (Windows)
Command+Shift+V (Macintosh)
211
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Unfortunately, many older browsers don’t properly display many of the named entities.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert a special character.
2Do one of the following:
•Select the name of the character from the Insert > HTML > Special Characters submenu.
•In the Text category of the Insert panel, click the Characters button and select the character from the submenu.
There are many other special characters available; to select one of them, select Insert > HTML > Special Characters >
Other or click the Characters button in the Text category of the Insert panel and select the Other Characters option.
Select a character from the Insert Other Character dialog box, and click OK.
Add space between characters
HTML only allows for one space between characters; to add additional space in a document you must insert a non-
breaking space. You can set a preference to automatically add non-breaking spaces in a document.
Insert a non-breaking space
❖Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > HTML > Special Characters > Non-Breaking Space.
•Press Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows) or Option+Spacebar (Macintosh).
•In the Text category of the Insert panel, click the Characters button and select the Non-Breaking Space icon.
Set a preference to add non-breaking spaces
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2In the General category make sure Allow Multiple Consecutive Spaces is checked.
Add paragraph spacing
Dreamweaver works similarly to many word processing application: you press Enter (Windows) or Return
(Macintosh) to create a new paragraph. Web browsers automatically insert a blank line of space between paragraphs.
You can add a single line of space between paragraphs by inserting a line break.
Add a paragraph return
❖Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
Add a line break
❖Do one of the following:
•Press Shift+Enter (Windows) or Shift+Return (Macintosh).
•Select Insert > HTML > Special Characters > Line Break.
•In the Text category of the Insert panel, click the Characters button and select the Line Break icon.
Create bulleted and numbered lists
You can create numbered (ordered) lists, bulleted (unordered) lists, and definition lists from existing text or from new
text as you type in the Document window.
212
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Definition lists do not use leading characters like bullet points or numbers and are often used in glossaries or
descriptions. Lists can also be nested. Nested lists are lists that contain other lists. For example, you might want an
ordered or bulleted list nested within another numbered or ordered list.
You use the List Properties dialog box to set the appearance of an entire list or for an individual list item. You can set
number style, reset numbering, or set bullet style options for individual list items or for the entire list.
More Help topics
“Set CSS properties” on page 129
Create a new list
1In the Dreamweaver document, place the insertion point where you want to add a list, then do one of the following:
•In the HTML Property inspector, click either the Bulleted or Numbered List button.
•Select Format > List and select the type of list desired—Unordered (bulleted) List, Ordered (numbered) List, or
Definition List.
The leading character for the specified list item appears in the Document window.
2Type the list item text, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to create another list item.
3To complete the list, press Enter twice (Windows) or press Return twice (Macintosh).
Create a list using existing text
1Select a series of paragraphs to make into a list.
2In the HTML Property inspector, click the Bulleted or Numbered List button, or select Format > List and select the
type of list desired—Unordered List, Ordered List, or Definition List.
Create a nested list
1Select the list items you want to nest.
2In the HTML Property inspector, click the Blockquote button, or select Format > Indent.
Dreamweaver indents the text and creates a separate list with the original list’s HTML attributes.
3Apply a new list type or style to the indented text by following the same procedure used above.
Set list properties for an entire list
1In the Document window, create at least one list item. The new style will automatically apply to additional items
you add to the list.
2
With the insertion point in the list item’s text, select Format > List > Properties to open the List Properties dialog box.
3Set the options you want to define the list:
List Type Specifies list properties while List Item specifies an individual item in a list. Use the pop-up menu to select
a bulleted, numbered, directory, or menu list. Depending on the List Type you select different options appear in the
dialog box.
Style Determines the style of numbers or bullets used for a numbered or bulleted list. All items in the list will have this
style unless you specify a new style for items within the list.
Start Count Sets the value for the first item in a numbered list.
4Click OK to set the choices.
213
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set list properties for a list item
1In the Document window, place the insertion point in the text of a list item you want to affect
2Select Format > List > Properties.
3Under List Item, set the options you want to define:
New Style Specifies a style for the selected list item. Styles in the New Style menu are related to the type of list displayed
in the List Type menu. For example, if the List Item menu displays Bulleted List, only bullet options are available in
the New Style menu.
Reset Count To Sets a specific number from which to number list item entries.
4Click OK to set the options.
Search for and replace text
You can use the Find And Replace command to search for text and for HTML tags and attributes in a document or a
set of documents. The Search panel, in the Results panel group, shows the results of a Find All search.
Note: To search for files in a site, use different commands: Locate In Local Site and Locate In Remote Site.
More Help topics
“Viewing code” on page 286
“Regular expressions” on page 283
Search for and replace text
1Open the document to search in, or select documents or a folder in the Files panel.
2Select Edit > Find And Replace.
3Use the Find In option to specify which files to search:
Selected Text Confines the search to the text that’s currently selected in the active document.
Current Document Confines the search to the active document.
Open Documents Searches all documents that are currently open.
Folder Confines the search to a specific folder. After choosing Folder, click the folder icon to browse to and select a
folder to search.
Selected Files In Site Confines the search to the files and folders that are currently selected in the Files panel.
Entire Current Local Site Expands the search to all the HTML documents, library files, and text documents in the
current site.
4Use the Search pop-up menu to specify the kind of search you want to perform:
Source Code Searches for specific text strings in the HTML source code. You can search for specific tags using this
option, but the Specific Tag search provides a more flexible approach to searching for tags.
Text Searches for specific text strings in the text of the document. A text search ignores any HTML that interrupts the
string. For example, a search for the black dog would match both the black dog and the <i>black</i>
dog.
Text (Advanced) Searches for specific text strings that are either within or not within a tag or tags. For example, in a
document that contains the following HTML, searching for tries and specifying Not Inside Tag and the i tag would
find only the second instance of the word tries: John
214
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
<i>tries</i> to get his work done on time, but he doesn't
always succeed. He tries very hard. .
Specific Tag Searches for specific tags, attributes, and attribute values, such as all td tags with valign set to top.
Note: Pressing Control+Enter or Shift+Enter (Windows), or Control+Return, Shift+Return, or Command+Return
(Macintosh), adds line breaks within the text search fields, allowing you to search for a Return character. When
performing such a search, deselect the Ignore Whitespace Differences option if you’re not using regular expressions. This
search finds a Return character in particular, not simply the occurrence of a line break; for instance, it doesn’t find a <br>
tag or a <p> tag. Return characters appear as spaces in the Design view, not as line breaks.
5Use the following options to expand or limit the search:
Match Case Limits the search to text that exactly matches the case of the text you want to find. For example, if you
search for the brown derby, you will not find The Brown
Derby.
Ignore Whitespace Treats all whitespace as a single space for the purposes of matching. For example, with this option
selected, this text would match this text and this text but not thistext. This option is not available
when the Use Regular Expressions option is selected; you must explicitly write your regular expression to ignore
whitespace. Note that <p> and <br> tags do not count as whitespace.
Match Whole Word Limits the search to text that matches one or more complete words.
Note: Using this option is equivalent to doing a regular-expression search for a search string that starts and ends with \b,
the word-boundary regular expression.
Use Regular Expressions Causes certain characters and short strings (such as ?, *, \w, and \b) in your search string to
be interpreted as regular expression operators. For example, a search for the b\w*\b dog will match both the black
dog and the barking
dog.
Note: If you are working in Code view and make changes to your document, and try to find and replace anything other
than source code, a dialog box appears letting you know that Dreamweaver is synchronizing the two views before doing
the search.
6To search without replacing, click Find Next or Find All:
Find Next Jumps to and selects the next occurrence of the search text or tags in the current document. If there are no
more instances of the tag in the current document, Dreamweaver proceeds to the next document, if you are searching
in more than one document.
Find All Opens the Search panel in the Results panel group. If you are searching a single document, Find All displays
all occurrences of the search text or tags, with some surrounding context. If you are searching a directory or site, Find
All displays a list of documents that contain the tag.
7To replace found text or tags, click Replace or Replace All.
8When you’re finished, click Close.
Search again without displaying the Find And Replace dialog box
❖Press F3 (Windows) or Command+G (Macintosh).
View a particular search result in context
1Select Window > Results to display the Search panel.
2Double-click a line in the Search panel.
215
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
If you’re searching the current file, the Document window displays the line containing that search result.
If you’re searching a set of files, the file containing that search result opens.
Perform the same search again
❖Click the Find And Replace button.
Stop a search in progress
❖Click the Stop button.
Search for a specific tag
Use the Find And Replace dialog box to search for text or tags in a document, and to replace the found material with
other text or tags.
1Select Edit > Find And Replace.
2In the Search pop-up menu, select Specific Tag.
3Select a specific tag or [any tag] from the pop-up menu next to the Search pop-up menu, or type a tag name in
the text box.
4(Optional.) Limit the search with one of the following tag modifiers:
With Attribute Specifies an attribute that must be in the tag for it to match. You can specify a particular value for the
attribute or select [any value].
Without Attribute Selects an attribute that must not be in the tag for it to match. For example, select this option to
search for all img tags with no alt attribute.
Containing Specifies text or a tag that must be contained within the original tag for it to match. For example, in the
code <b><font
size="4">heading 1</font></b>, the font tag is contained within the b tag.
Not Containing Specifies text or a tag that must not be contained within the original tag for it to match.
Inside Tag Specifies a tag that the target tag must be contained in for it to match.
Not Inside Tag Specifies a tag that the target tag must not be contained in for it to match.
5(Optional.) To limit the search further, click the Plus (+) button and repeat step 3.
6If you didn’t apply any tag modifiers in steps 3 and 4, then click the Minus (-) button to remove the tag modifiers
pop-up menu.
7If you want to perform an action when the tag is found (such as removing or replacing the tag), select the action
from the Action pop-up menu and, if applicable, specify any additional information necessary to perform the
action.
Search for specific text (Advanced)
Use the Find and Replace dialog box to search for text or tags in a document, and to replace the found material with
other text or tags.
1Select Edit > Find and Replace.
2In the Search pop-up menu, select Text (Advanced).
3Enter text in the text field adjacent to the Search pop-up menu.
For example, type the word Untitled.
216
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Select Inside Tag or Not Inside Tag, and then select a tag from the adjacent pop-up menu.
For example, select Inside Tag and then title.
5(Optional.) Click the Plus (+) button to limit the search with one of the following tag modifiers:
With Attribute Specifies an attribute that must be in the tag for it to match. You can specify a particular value for the
attribute or select [any value].
Without Attribute Selects an attribute that must not be in the tag for it to match. For example, select this option to
search for all img tags with no alt attribute.
Containing Specifies text or a tag that must be contained within the original tag for it to match. For example, in the
code <b><font
size="4">heading 1</font></b>, the font tag is contained within the b tag.
Not Containing Specifies text or a tag that must not be contained within the original tag for it to match.
Inside Tag Specifies a tag that the target tag must be contained in for it to match.
Not Inside Tag Specifies a tag that the target tag must not be contained in for it to match.
6(Optional.) To limit the search further, repeat step 4.
Define abbreviations and acronyms
HTML provides tags that let you define the abbreviations and acronyms you use in your page for search engines, spell
checkers, language translation programs, or speech synthesizers. For example, you might want to specify that the
abbreviation ME in your page stands for mechanical engineer, or the acronym WHO stands for World Health
Organization.
1Select the abbreviation or acronym in the text of your page.
2Select Insert > HTML > Text Objects > Abbreviation, or Insert > HTML > Text Objects > Acronym.
3Enter the full text of the acronym or abbreviation.
4Enter the language, such as en for English, de for German, or it for Italian.
Set copy and paste preferences
You can set special paste preferences as default options when using Edit > Paste to paste text from other applications.
For example, if you always want to paste text as text only, or text with basic formatting, you can set the default option
in the Copy/Paste Preferences dialog box.
Note: When you paste text into a Dreamweaver document, you can use either the Paste or the Paste Special command.
The Paste Special command lets you specify the format of pasted text in different ways. For example, if you wanted to
paste text from a formatted Microsoft Word document into your Dreamweaver document, but wanted to strip out all of
the formatting so that you could apply your own CSS style sheet to the pasted text, you could select the text in Word, copy
it to your Clipboard, and use the Paste Special command to select the option that lets you paste text only.
Note: Preferences set in the Copy/Paste Preferences dialog box apply only to material pasted into Design view.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver Preferences (Macintosh).
2Click the Copy/Paste category.
3Set the following options and click OK.
Text Only Lets you paste unformatted text. If the original text is formatted, all formatting, including line breaks and
paragraphs, will be removed.
217
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Text With Structure Lets you paste text that retains structure, but does not retain basic formatting. For example, you
can paste text and retain the structure of paragraphs, lists, and tables, without retaining bold, italics, and other
formatting.
Text With Structure Plus Basic Formatting Lets you paste both structured and simple HTML-formatted text (e.g.,
paragraphs and tables, as well as text formatted with the b, i, u, strong, em, hr, abbr, or acronym tag).
Text With Structure Plus Full Formatting Lets you paste text that retains all structure, HTML formatting, and CSS
styles.
Note: The Full Formatting option cannot retain CSS styles that come from an external style sheet, nor can it retain styles
if the application from which you are pasting does not retain styles upon pasting to the Clipboard.
Retain Line Breaks Lets you keep line breaks in pasted text. This option is disabled if you have selected Text Only.
Clean Up Word Paragraph Spacing Select this option if you selected Text With Structure or Text With Structure Plus
Basic Formatting, and want to eliminate extra space between paragraphs when you paste your text.
Set text properties in the Property inspector
You can use the text Property inspector to apply HTML formatting or Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) formatting. When
you apply HTML formatting, Dreamweaver adds properties to the HTML code in the body of your page. When you
apply CSS formatting, Dreamweaver writes properties to the head of the document or to a separate style sheet.
Note: When you create CSS inline styles, Dreamweaver adds style attribute code directly to the body of the page.
About formatting text (CSS versus HTML)
Formatting text in Dreamweaver is similar to using a standard word processor. You can set default formatting styles
(Paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on) for a block of text, change the font, size, color, and alignment of selected
text, or apply text styles such as bold, italic, code (monospace), and underline.
Dreamweaver has two Property inspectors, integrated into one: the CSS Property inspector and the HTML Property
inspector. When you use the CSS Property inspector, Dreamweaver formats text using
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS). CSS gives web designers and developers greater control over web page design, while providing improved
features for accessibility and reduced file size. The CSS Property inspector lets you access existing styles, as well as
create new ones.
Using CSS is a way to control the style of a web page without compromising its structure. By separating visual design
elements (fonts, colors, margins, and so on) from the structural logic of a web page, CSS gives web designers visual and
typographic control without sacrificing the integrity of the content. In addition, defining typographic design and page
layout from within a single, distinct block of code—without having to resort to image maps, font tags, tables, and
spacer GIFs—allows for faster downloads, streamlined site maintenance, and a central point from which to control
design attributes across multiple web pages.
You can store styles created with CSS directly in the document, or for more power and flexibility, you can store styles
in an external style sheet. If you attach an external style sheet to several web pages, all the pages automatically reflect
any changes you make to the style sheet. To access all CSS rules for a page, use the CSS Styles panel (Window
> CSS
Styles). To access rules that apply to a current selection, use the CSS Styles panel (Current mode) or the Targeted Rule
pop-up menu in the CSS Property inspector.
218
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
If you prefer, you can use HTML markup tags to format text in your web pages. To use HTML tags instead of CSS,
format your text using the HTML Property inspector.
Note: You can combine CSS and HTML 3.2 formatting within the same page. Formatting is applied in a hierarchical
manner: HTML 3.2 formatting overrides formatting applied by external CSS style sheets, and CSS embedded in a
document overrides external CSS.
More Help topics
“Open the CSS Styles panel” on page 126
“Understanding Cascading Style Sheets” on page 118
Edit CSS rules in the Property inspector
1Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties), if it isn’t already open and click the CSS button.
2Do one of the following:
•Place the insertion point inside a block of text that’s been formatted by a rule you want to edit. The rule appears in
the Targeted Rule pop-up menu.
•Select a rule from the Targeted Rule pop-up menu.
3Make changes to the rule by using the various options in the CSS Property inspector.
Targeted Rule Is the rule you are editing in the CSS Property inspector. When you have an existing style applied to
text, the rule affecting the text’s format appears when you click inside the text on the page. You can also use the
Targeted Rule pop-up menu to create new CSS rules, new in-line styles, or apply existing classes to selected text. If
you’re creating a new rule, you’ll need to complete the New CSS Rule dialog box. For more information, see the links
at the end of this topic.
Edit Rule Opens the CSS Rule Definition dialog box for the targeted rule. If you select New CSS Rule from the Targeted
Rule pop-up menu and click the Edit Rule button, Dreamweaver opens the New CSS Rule definition dialog box
instead.
CSS Panel Opens the CSS Styles panel and displays properties for the targeted rule in Current view.
Font Changes the font of the targeted rule.
Size Sets the font size for the targeted rule.
Text Color Sets the selected color as the font color in the targeted rule. Select a web-safe color by clicking the color box,
or enter a hexadecimal value (for example, #FF0000) in the adjacent text field.
Bold Adds the bold property to the targeted rule.
Italic Adds the italics property to the targeted rule.
Left, Center, and Right Align Adds the respective alignment properties to the targeted rule.
Note: The Font, Size, Text Color, Bold, Italic, and Alignment properties always display the properties for the rule that applies
to the current selection in the Document window. When you change any of these properties, you affect the targeted rule.
For a video tutorial about working with the CSS Property inspector, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4041_dw.
Set HTML formatting in the Property inspector
1Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties), if it isn’t already open, and click the HTML button.
2Select the text you want to format.
219
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Set the options you want to apply to the selected text:
Format Sets the paragraph style of the selected text. Paragraph applies the default format for a <p> tag, Heading 1 adds
an H1 tag, and so on.
ID
Assigns an ID to your selection. The ID pop-up menu (if applicable) lists all of the document’s unused, declared IDs.
Class Displays the class style that is currently applied to the selected text. If no styles have been applied to the selection,
the pop-up menu shows No CSS Style. If multiple styles have been applied to the selection, the menu is blank.
Use the Style menu to do any of the following:
•Select the style you want to apply to the selection.
•Select None to remove the currently selected style.
•Select Rename to rename the style.
•Select Attach Style Sheet to open a dialog box that lets you attach an external style sheet to the page.
Bold Applies either <b> or <strong> to the selected text according to the style preference set in the General category
of the Preferences dialog box.
Italic Applies either <i> or <em> to the selected text according to the style preference set in the General category of the
Preferences dialog box.
Unordered List Creates a bulleted list of the selected text. If no text is selected, a new bulleted list is started.
Ordered List Creates a numbered list of the selected text. If no text is selected, a new numbered list is started.
Blockquote and Remove Blockquote Indent or remove indentation from the selected text by applying or removing the
blockquote tag. In a list, indenting creates a nested list and removing the indentation unnests the list.
Link Creates a hypertext link of the selected text. Click the folder icon to browse to a file in your site; type the URL;
drag the Point-To-File icon to a file in the Files panel; or drag a file from the Files panel into the box.
Title Specifies the textual tooltip for a hypertext link.
Target Specifies the frame or window in which the linked document will load:
•_blank loads the linked file in a new, unnamed browser window.
•_parent loads the linked file in the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the frame
containing the link is not nested, the linked file loads into the full browser window.
•_self loads the linked file in the same frame or window as the link. This target is implied, so you generally don’t
need to specify it.
•_top loads the linked file in the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.
Rename a class from the HTML Property inspector
Dreamweaver displays all of the classes available to your page in the Class menu of the HTML Property inspector. You
can rename styles in this list by selecting the Rename option at the end of the list of class styles.
1Select Rename from the text Property inspector Style pop-up menu.
2Select the style you want to rename from the Rename Style pop-up menu.
3Enter a new name in the New Name text field and click OK.
220
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Spell check a web page
Use the Check Spelling command to check the spelling in the current document. The document must be a web page
(for example, an HTML, ColdFusion, or PHP page). The Check Spelling command does not work on text files or XML
files.
Additionally, the Check Spelling command ignores HTML tags and attribute values.
Note: Dreamweaver can only spell check the file that is currently open in the Document window. It cannot spell check all
of the files in a site simultaneously.
By default, the spelling checker uses the U.S. English spelling dictionary. To change the dictionary, select Edit >
Preferences
> General (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences > General (Macintosh), then in the Spelling
Dictionary pop-up menu select the dictionary you want to use.
1Select Commands > Check Spelling or press Shift+F7.
When Dreamweaver encounters an unrecognized word, the Check Spelling dialog box appears.
2Select the appropriate option based on how you want the discrepancy handled.
Add To Personal Adds the unrecognized word to your personal dictionary.
Ignore Ignores this instance of the unrecognized word.
Change Replaces this instance of the unrecognized word with text that you type in the Change To text box or with
the selection in the Suggestions list.
Ignore All Ignores all instances of the unrecognized word.
Change All Replaces all instances of the unrecognized word in the same manner.
Note: Dreamweaver does not provide a way of deleting entries that have been added to personal dictionaries.
Import tabular data
You can import tabular data into your document by first saving the files (such as Microsoft Excel files or database files)
as delimited text files.
You can import and format tabular data and import text from Microsoft Word HTML documents.
You can also add text from Microsoft Excel documents to a Dreamweaver document by importing the contents of the
Excel file into a web page.
1Select File > Import > Import Tabular Data, or Insert > Table Objects > Import Tabular Data.
2Browse for the file you want or enter its name in the text box.
3Select the delimiter used when the file was saved as delimited text. Your options are Tab, Comma, Semicolon,
Colon, and Other.
If you select Other, a blank field appears next to the option. Enter the character that was used as a delimiter.
4Use the remaining options to format or define the table into which the data will be imported and click OK.
221
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Open and edit existing documents” on page 67
“Import and export tabular data” on page 172
Import Microsoft Office documents (Windows only)
You can insert the full contents of a Microsoft Word or Excel document in a new or existing web page. When you
import a Word or Excel document, Dreamweaver receives the converted HTML and inserts it into your web page. The
file’s size, after Dreamweaver receives the converted HTML, must be less than 300K.
Instead of importing the entire contents of a file, you can also paste portions of a Word document and preserve the
formatting.
Note: If you use Microsoft Office 97, you cannot import the contents of a Word or Excel document; you must insert a link
to the document.
1Open the web page into which you want to insert the Word or Excel document.
2In Design view, do one of the following to select the file:
•Drag the file from its current location to the page where you want the content to appear.
•Select File > Import > Word Document or File > Import > Excel Document.
3In the Insert Document dialog box, browse to the file you want to add, select any of the formatting options from
the Formatting pop-up menu at the bottom of the dialog box, and then click Open.
Text Only Inserts unformatted text. If the original text is formatted, all formatting will be removed.
Text With Structure Inserts text that retains structure, but does not retain basic formatting. For example, you can paste
text and retain the structure of paragraphs, lists, and tables, without retaining bold, italics, and other formatting.
Text With Structure Plus Basic Formatting Inserts both structured and simple HTML-formatted text (e.g., paragraphs
and tables, as well as text formatted with the b, i, u, strong, em, hr, abbr, or acronym tag).
Text With Structure Plus Full Formatting Inserts text that retains all structure, HTML formatting, and CSS styles.
Clean Up Word Paragraph Spacing Eliminates extra space between paragraphs when you paste your text if you
selected Text With Structure or Basic Formatting.
The contents of the Word or Excel document appear in your page.
Create a link to a Word or Excel document
You can insert a link to a Microsoft Word or Excel document in an existing page.
1Open the page where you want the link to appear.
2Drag the file from its current location to your Dreamweaver page, positioning the link wherever you want.
3Select Create A Link, and then click OK.
4If the document you are linking to is located outside of your site’s root folder, Dreamweaver prompts you to copy
the document to the site root.
222
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
By copying the document to the site’s root folder, you ensure that the document will be available when you publish the
website.
5When you upload your page to your web server, make sure to upload the Word or Excel file, too.
Your page now contains a link to the Word or Excel document. The link text is the name of the linked file; you can
change the link text in the Document window if you wish.
Use HTML Formatting
While CSS is the preferred method for formatting text, Dreamweaver still lets you format text with HTML.
Format paragraphs
Use the Format pop-up menu in the HTML Property inspector or the Format > Paragraph Format submenu to apply
the standard paragraph and heading tags.
1Place the insertion point in the paragraph, or select some of the text in the paragraph.
2Using the Format > Paragraph Format submenu or the Format pop-up menu in the Property inspector, select an
option:
•Select a paragraph format (for example, Heading 1, Heading 2, Preformatted Text, and so on). The HTML tag
associated with the selected style (for example, h1 for Heading 1, h2 for Heading 2, pre for Preformatted text, and
so on) is applied to the entire paragraph.
•Select None to remove a paragraph format.
When you apply a heading tag to a paragraph, Dreamweaver automatically adds the next line of text as a standard
paragraph. To change this setting, select Edit
> Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh);
then in the General category, under Editing Options, make sure Switch To Plain Paragraph After Heading is not
selected.
More Help topics
“Set text properties in the Property inspector” on page 217
“Set CSS properties” on page 129
Change the color of text
You can change the default color of all the text in a page, or you can change the color of selected text in the page.
More Help topics
“Use the color picker” on page 208
Define default text colors for a page
❖Select Modify > Page Properties > Appearance (HTML) or Links (HTML), and then select colors for the Text Color,
Link Color, Visited Links, and Active Links options.
Note: The active link color is the color that a link changes to while it’s being clicked. Some web browsers may not use the
color you specify.
223
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change the color of selected text
❖Select Format > Color, select a color from the system color picker, and then click OK.
Align text
You align text with HTML using the Format > Align submenu. You can center any element on a page using the
Format
> Align > Center command.
Align text on a page
1Select the text you want to align or simply insert the pointer at the beginning of the text.
2Select Format > Align and select an alignment command.
Center page elements
1Select the element (image, plug-in, table, or other page element) you want to center.
2Select Format > Align > Center.
Note: You can align and center complete blocks of text; you cannot align or center part of a heading or part of a
paragraph.
Indent text
Using the Indent command applies the blockquote HTML tag to a paragraph of text, indenting text on both sides of
the page.
1Place the insertion point in the paragraph you want to indent.
2Select Format > Indent or Outdent, or select List > Indent or Outdent from the context menu.
Note: You can apply multiple indents to a paragraph. Each time you select this command, the text indents further from
both sides of the document.
Apply font styles
You can use HTML to apply text formatting to one letter, or to entire paragraphs and blocks of text in a site. Use the
Format menu to set or change font characteristics for selected text. You can set the font type, style (such as bold or
italic), and size.
1Select the text. If no text is selected, the option applies to subsequent text you type.
2Select from the following options:
•To change the font, select a font combination from the Format > Font submenu. Select Default to remove
previously applied fonts. Default applies the default font for the selected text (either the browser default font or the
font assigned to that tag in the CSS style sheet).
•To change the font style, select a font style (Bold, Italic, Underline, and so on) from the Format > Style submenu.
More Help topics
“Creating pages with CSS” on page 118
“Create a new CSS rule” on page 128
224
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use horizontal rules
Horizontal rules (lines) are useful for organizing information. On a page, you can visually separate text and objects
with one or more rules.
Create a horizontal rule
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert a horizontal rule.
2Select Insert > HTML > Horizontal Rule.
Modify a horizontal rule
1In the Document window, select the horizontal rule.
2Select Window > Properties to open the Property inspector, and modify the properties as desired:
The ID text box Lets you specify an ID for the horizontal rule.
W and H Specify the width and height of the rule in pixels or as a percentage of the page size.
Align Specifies the alignment of the rule (Default, Left, Center, or Right). This setting applies only if the width of the
rule is less than the width of the browser window.
Shading Specifies whether the rule is drawn with shading. Deselect this option to draw the rule in a solid color.
Class Lets you attach a style sheet, or apply a class from an already attached style sheet.
Modify font combinations
Use the Edit Font List command to set the font combinations that appear in the Property inspector and the Format >
Font submenu.
Font combinations determine how a browser displays text in your web page. A browser uses the first font in the
combination that is installed on the user’s system; if none of the fonts in the combination is installed, the browser
displays the text as specified by the user’s browser preferences.
Modify font combinations
1Select Format > Font > Edit Font List.
2Select the font combination from the list at the top of the dialog box.
The fonts in the selected combination are listed in the Chosen Fonts list in the lower-left corner of the dialog box. To
the right is a list of all available fonts installed on your system.
3Do one of the following:
•To add or remove fonts from a font combination, click the arrows button (<< or >>) between the Chosen Fonts list
and the Available Fonts list.
•To add or remove a font combination, click the Plus (+) and Minus (–) buttons at the top of the dialog box.
•To add a font that is not installed on your system, type the font name in the text field below the Available Fonts list
and click the << button to add it to the combination. Adding a font not installed on your system is useful, for
example, for specifying a Windows-only font when you are developing pages on a Macintosh.
225
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
•To move the font combination up or down in the list, click the arrow buttons at the top of the dialog box.
Add a new combination to the font list
1Select Format > Font > Edit Font List.
2Select a font from the Available Fonts list and click the << button to move the font to the Chosen Fonts list.
3Repeat step 2 for each subsequent font in the combination.
To add a font that is not installed on your system, type the font name in the text field below the Available Fonts list and
click the << button to add the font to the combination. Adding a font not installed on your system is useful, for
example, for specifying a Windows-only font when you are developing pages on a Macintosh.
4When you have finished selecting specific fonts, select a generic font family from the Available Fonts menu and
click the << button to move the generic font family to the Chosen Fonts list.
Generic font families include cursive, fantasy, monospace, sans-serif, and serif. If none of the fonts in the Chosen Fonts
list are available on the user’s system, the text appears in the default font associated with the generic font family. For
example, the default monospace font on most systems is Courier.
Insert dates
Dreamweaver provides a convenient Date object, which inserts the current date in whatever format you prefer (with
or without the time) and provides the option of updating that date whenever you save the file.
Note: The dates and times shown in the Insert Date dialog box are not the current date, nor do they reflect the dates/times
that a visitor sees when they display your site. They are examples only of the way you want to display this information.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want the date to be inserted.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Date.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Date button.
3In the resulting dialog box, select a format for the name of the day of the week, a format for the date, and a format
for the time.
4If you want the inserted date to be updated every time you save the document, select Update Automatically On
Save. If you want the date to become plain text when it’s inserted, and never update automatically, deselect that
option.
5Click OK to insert the date.
If you have selected Update Automatically On Save, you can edit the date format after it has been inserted into the
document by clicking on the formatted text and selecting Edit Date Format in the Property inspector.
226
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Adding and modifying images
About images
Many different types of graphic file formats exist, but three graphic file formats are generally used in web pages—GIF,
JPEG, and PNG. GIF and JPEG file formats are the best supported and can be viewed by most browsers.
GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) GIF files use a maximum of 256 colors, and are best for displaying noncontinuous-
tone images or those with large areas of flat colors, such as navigation bars, buttons, icons, logos, or other images with
uniform colors and tones.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) The JPEG file format is the superior format for photographic or continuous-
tone images, because JPEG files can contain millions of colors. As the quality of a JPEG file increases, so does the file
size and the file download time. You can often strike a good balance between the quality of the image and the file size
by compressing a JPEG file.
PNG (Portable Network Group) The PNG file format is a patent-free replacement for GIFs that includes support for
indexed-color, gray scale, and true-color images, and alpha channel support for transparency. PNG is the native file
format of Adobe® Fireworks®. PNG files retain all the original layer, vector, color, and effects information (such as drop
shadows), and all elements are fully editable at all times. Files must have the .png file extension to be recognized as
PNG files by Dreamweaver.
Insert an image
When you insert an image into a Dreamweaver document, a reference to the image file is generated in the HTML
source code. To ensure that this reference is correct, the image file must be in the current site. If it is not in the current
site, Dreamweaver asks whether you want to copy the file into the site.
You can also insert images dynamically. Dynamic images are those images that change often. For example, advertising
banner rotation systems need to randomly select a single banner from a list of potential banners, and then dynamically
display the selected banner’s image when a page is requested.
After you insert an image, you can set image tag accessibility attributes that can be read by screen readers for visually
impaired users. These attributes can be edited in HTML code.
For a tutorial on inserting images, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0148.
1Place the insertion point where you want the image to appear in the Document window and do one of the following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Images icon .
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Images button and select the Image icon. With the Image
icon displayed in the Insert panel, you can drag the icon to the Document window (or to the Code view window if
you are working in the code).
•Select Insert > Image.
•Drag an image from the Assets panel (Window > Assets) to the desired location in the Document window; then
skip to step 3.
•Drag an image from the Files panel to the desired location in the Document window; then skip to step 3.
•Drag an image from the desktop to the desired location in the Document window; then skip to step 3.
2In the dialog box that appears, do one of the following:
•Select File System to choose an image file.
•Select Data Source to choose a dynamic image source.
227
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Click the Sites And Servers button to choose an image file in a remote folder of one of your Dreamweaver sites.
3Browse to select the image or content source you want to insert.
If you are working in an unsaved document, Dreamweaver generates a file:// reference to the image file. When you
save the document anywhere in the site, Dreamweaver converts the reference to a document-relative path.
Note: When inserting images it’s also possible to use an absolute path to an image that resides on a remote server (i.e., an
image that is not available on the local hard drive). If you experience performance problems while working, however, you
might want to disable viewing the image in Design view by deselecting Commands
> Display External Files.
4Click OK. The Image Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box appears if you have activated the dialog box in
Preferences (Edit
> Preferences).
5Enter values in the Alternate Text and Long Description text boxes, and click OK.
•In the Alternate Text box, enter a name or brief description for the image. The screen reader reads the information
you enter here. You should limit your entry to around 50 characters. For longer descriptions, consider providing a
link, in the Long Description text box, to a file that gives more information about the image.
•In the Long Description box, enter the location of a file that displays when the user clicks the image or click the
folder icon to browse to the file. This text box provides a link to a file that is related to, or gives more information
about, the image.
Note: You can enter information in one or both text boxes depending on your needs. The screen reader reads the Alt
attribute for the image.
Note: If you click Cancel, the image appears in the document, but Dreamweaver does not associate accessibility tags or
attributes with it.
6In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), set properties for the image.
More Help topics
“Make images dynamic” on page 558
“Image maps” on page 272
“Optimize the work space for accessible page design” on page 660
“Set page properties” on page 201
Inserting images tutorial
Set image properties
The Images Property inspector allows you to set properties for an image. If you do not see all of the image properties,
click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner.
1Select Window > Properties to view the Property inspector for a selected image.
2In the text box below the thumbnail image, enter a name so you can refer to the image when using a Dreamweaver
behavior (such as Swap Image) or when using a scripting language such as JavaScript or VBScript.
228
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Set any of the image options.
W and H The width and height of the image, in pixels. Dreamweaver automatically updates these text boxes with the
image’s original dimensions when you insert an image in a page.
If you set W and H values that do not correspond to the actual width and height of the image, the image may not
display properly in a browser. (To restore the original values, click the W and H text box labels, or the Reset image size
button that appears to the right of the W and H text boxes in entering a new value.)
Note: You can change these values to scale the display size of this image instance, but this does not reduce download time,
because the browser downloads all image data before scaling the image. To reduce download time and to ensure that all
instances of an image appear at the same size, use an image-editing application to scale images.
Src Specifies the source file for the image. Click the folder icon to browse to the source file, or type the path.
Link Specifies a hyperlink for the image. Drag the Point-To-File icon to a file in the Files panel, click the folder icon to
browse to a document on your site, or manually type the URL.
Align Aligns an image and text on the same line.
Alt Specifies alternative text that appears in place of the image for text-only browsers or for browsers that have been
set to download images manually. For visually impaired users who use speech synthesizers with text-only browsers,
the text is spoken out loud. In some browsers, this text also appears when the pointer is over the image.
Map Name and Hotspot tools Allow you to label and create a client-side image map.
V Space and H Space Add space, in pixels, along the sides of the image. V Space adds space along the top and bottom
of an image. H Space adds space along the left and right of an image.
Target Specifies the frame or window in which the linked page should load. (This option is not available when the
image isn’t linked to another file.) The names of all the frames in the current frameset appear in the Target list. You
can also choose from the following reserved target names:
•_blank loads the linked file into a new, unnamed browser window.
•_parent loads the linked file into the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the frame
containing the link is not nested, the linked file loads into the full browser window.
•_self loads the linked file into the same frame or window as the link. This target is the default, so you usually don’t
need to specify it.
•_top loads the linked file into the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.
Border The width, in pixels, of the image’s border. The default is no border.
Edit Starts the image editor you specified in External Editors preferences and opens the selected image.
Edit image settings Opens the Image Preview dialog box and lets you optimize the image.
Crop Trims the size of an image, removing unwanted areas from the selected image.
Resample Resamples a resized image, improving its picture quality at its new size and shape.
Brightness and Contrast Adjusts the brightness and contrast settings of an image.
Sharpen Adjusts the sharpness of an image.
Reset Size Resets the W and H values to the original size of the image. This button appears to the right of the W
and H text boxes when you adjust the values of the selected image.
229
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit image accessibility attributes in code
If you inserted accessibility attributes for an image, you can edit those values in the HTML code.
1In the Document window, select the image.
2Do one of the following:
•Edit the appropriate image attributes in Code view.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and then select Edit Tag.
•Edit the Alt value in the Property inspector.
Align an image
You can align an image to text, another image, a plug-in, or other elements in the same line. You can also set the
horizontal alignment of an image.
1Select the image in Design view.
2Set the alignment attributes of the image in the Property inspector with the Align popup menu.
You can set the alignment in relation to other elements in the same paragraph or line.
Note: HTML does not provide a way to wrap text around the contours of an image, as you can with some word processing
applications.
The alignment options are as follows:
Default Specifies a baseline alignment. (The default may vary depending on the site visitor’s browser.)
Baseline and Bottom Align the baseline of the text (or other element in the same paragraph) to the bottom of the
selected object.
Top Aligns the top of an image to the top of the tallest item (image or text) in the current line.
Middle Aligns the middle of the image with the baseline of the current line.
Text Top Aligns the top of the image with the top of the tallest character in the text line.
Absolute Middle Aligns the middle of the image with the middle of the text in the current line.
Absolute Bottom Aligns the bottom of the image with the bottom of the line of text (which includes descenders, as in
the letter g).
Left Places the selected image on the left margin, wrapping text around it to the right. If left-aligned text precedes the
object on the line, it generally forces left-aligned objects to wrap to a new line.
Right Places the image on the right margin, wrapping text around the object to the left. If right-aligned text precedes
the object on the line, it generally forces right-aligned objects to wrap to a new line.
Visually resize an image
You can visually resize elements such as images, plug-ins, Shockwave or SWF files, applets, and ActiveX controls in
Dreamweaver.
230
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Visually resizing an image helps you see how the image affects the layout at different dimensions but it does not scale
the image file to the proportions that you specify. If you visually resize an image in Dreamweaver without using an
image-editing application (such as Adobe Fireworks) to scale the image file to the desired size, the user’s browser scales
the image when the page is loaded. This might cause a delay in page download time and the improper display of the
image in the user’s browser. To reduce download time and to ensure that all instances of an image appear at the same
size, use an image-editing application to scale images.
When you resize an image in Dreamweaver, you can resample it to accommodate its new dimensions. Resampling adds
or subtracts pixels from a resized JPEG and GIF image files to match the appearance of the original image as closely as
possible. Resampling an image reduces its file size and improves download performance.
More Help topics
“Edit images in Dreamweaver” on page 232
Visually resize an element
1Select the element (for example, an image or SWF file) in the Document window.
Resize handles appear at the bottom and right sides of the element and in the lower-right corner. If resize handles don’t
appear, click somewhere other than the element you want to resize and then reselect it, or click the appropriate tag in
the tag selector to select the element.
2Resize the element by doing one of the following:
•To adjust the width of the element, drag the selection handle on the right side.
•To adjust the height of the element, drag the bottom selection handle.
•To adjust the width and the height of the element at the same time, drag the corner selection handle.
•To preserve the element’s proportions (its width-to-height ratio) as you adjust its dimensions, Shift-drag the corner
selection handle.
• To adjust the width and height of an element to a specific size (for example, 1 x 1 pixel), use the Property inspector
to enter a numeric value. Elements can be visually resized to a minimum of 8 x 8 pixels.
3To return a resized element to its original dimensions, in the Property inspector, delete the values in the W and H
text boxes, or click the Reset Size button in the image Property inspector.
Revert an image to its original size
❖Click the Reset size button in the image Property inspector.
Resample a resized image
1Resize the image as described above.
2Click the Resample button in the image Property inspector.
Note: You cannot resample image placeholders or elements other than bitmap images.
Insert an image placeholder
An image placeholder is a graphic you use until final artwork is ready to be added to a web page. You can set the
placeholder’s size and color, as well as provide it with a text label.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert a placeholder graphic.
2Select Insert > Image Objects > Image Placeholder.
231
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3For Name (Optional), enter text you want to appear as a label for the image placeholder. Leave the text box blank
if you do not want a label to appear. The name must begin with a letter and can contain only letters and numbers;
spaces and high ASCII characters are not allowed.
4For Width and Height (Required), type a number to set the image size in pixels.
5For Color (Optional), do one of the following to apply a color:
•Use the color picker to select a color.
•Enter the color’s hexadecimal value (for example, #FF0000).
•Enter a web-safe color name (for example, red).
6For Alternate Text (Optional), enter text to describe the image for viewers using a text-only browser.
Note: An image tag is automatically inserted into the HTML code containing an empty src attribute.
7Click OK.
The placeholder’s color, size attributes, and label appear as follows:
When viewed in a browser, the label and size text do not appear.
More Help topics
“Visually resize an image” on page 229
“Use Fireworks to modify Dreamweaver image placeholders” on page 349
Replace an image placeholder
An image placeholder does not display an image in a browser. Before you publish your site you should replace any
image placeholders you’ve added with web-friendly image files, such as GIFs or JPEGs.
If you have Fireworks, you can create a new graphic from the Dreamweaver image placeholder. The new image is set
to the same size as the placeholder image. You can edit the image, then replace it in Dreamweaver.
1In the Document window, do one of the following:
•Double-click the image placeholder.
•Click the image placeholder to select it; then in the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the folder icon
next to the Src text box.
2In the Image Source dialog box, navigate to the image you want to replace the image placeholder with and click OK.
More Help topics
“Use Fireworks to modify Dreamweaver image placeholders” on page 349
Set image placeholder properties
To set properties for an image placeholder, select the placeholder in the Document window; then select Window >
Properties to display the Property inspector. To see all properties, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner.
232
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use the Property inspector to set a name, width, height, image source, alternate text description, alignment and color
for a placeholder image.
In the placeholder Property inspector, the gray text box and the Align text box are disabled. You can set these
properties in the image Property inspector when you replace the placeholder with an image.
❖Set any of the following options:
W and H Set the width and height of the image placeholder, in pixels.
Src Specifies the source file for the image. For a placeholder image, this text box is empty. Click the Browse button to
select a replacement image for the placeholder graphic.
Link Specifies a hyperlink for the image placeholder. Drag the Point-to-File icon to a file in the Files panel, click the
folder icon to browse to a document on your site, or manually type the URL.
Alt Specifies alternative text that appears in place of the image for text-only browsers or for browsers that have been
set to download images manually. For visually impaired users who use speech synthesizers with text-only browsers,
the text is spoken out loud. In some browsers, this text also appears when the pointer is over the image.
Create Starts Fireworks to create a replacement image. The Create button is disabled unless Fireworks is also installed
on your computer.
Reset Size Resets the W and H values to the original size of the image.
Color Specifies a color for the image placeholder.
More Help topics
“Use Fireworks to modify Dreamweaver image placeholders” on page 349
Edit images in Dreamweaver
You can resample, crop, optimize, and sharpen images in Dreamweaver. You can also adjust their brightness and
contrast.
Image-editing features
Dreamweaver provides basic image-editing features that let you modify images without having to use an external
image-editing application such as Fireworks or Photoshop. The Dreamweaver image-editing tools are designed to let
you easily work with content designers responsible for creating image files for use on your website.
Note: You do not need to have Fireworks or other image-editing applications installed on your computer to use the
Dreamweaver image-editing features.
❖Select Modify > Image. Set any of these Dreamweaver image-editing features:
Resample Adds or subtracts pixels from a resized JPEG and GIF image files to match the appearance of the original
image as closely as possible. Resampling an image reduces its file size and improves download performance.
When you resize an image in Dreamweaver, you can resample it to accommodate its new dimensions. When a bitmap
object is resampled, pixels are added to or removed from the image to make it larger or smaller. Resampling an image
233
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
to a higher resolution typically causes little loss of quality. Resampling to a lower resolution, however, always causes
data loss and usually a drop in quality.
Crop Edit images by reducing the area of the image. Typically, you’ll want to crop an image to place more emphasis
on the subject of the image, and remove unwanted aspects surrounding the center of interest in the image.
Brightness and Contrast Modifies the contrast or brightness of pixels in an image. This affects the highlights, shadows,
and midtones of an image. You typically use Brightness/Contrast when correcting images that are too dark or too light.
Sharpen Adjusts the focus of an image by increasing the contrast of edges found within the image. When you scan an
image, or take a digital photo, the default action of most image capturing software is to soften the edges of objects in
the image. This prevents extremely fine details from becoming lost in the pixels from which digital images are
composed. However, to bring out the details in digital image files, it is often necessary to sharpen the image, thereby
increasing edge contrast, and making the image appear sharper.
Note: Dreamweaver image-editing features apply only to JPEG, GIF, and PNG image file formats. Other bitmap image
file formats cannot be edited using these image-editing features.
Crop an image
Dreamweaver lets you crop (or trim) bitmap file images.
Note: When you crop an image, the source image file is changed on disk. For this reason, you may want to keep a backup
copy of the image file in the event you need to revert to the original image.
1Open the page containing the image you want to crop, select the image, and do either of the following:
•Click the Crop Tool icon in the image Property inspector.
•Select Modify > Image > Crop.
Crop handles appear around the selected image.
2Adjust the crop handles until the bounding box surrounds the area of the image that you want to keep.
3Double-click inside the bounding box or press Enter to crop the selection.
4A dialog box informs you that the image file you are cropping will be changed on disk. Click OK. Every pixel in the
selected bitmap outside the bounding box is removed, but other objects in the image remain.
5Preview the image and ensure that it meets your expectations. If not, select Edit > Undo Crop to revert to the
original image.
Note: You can undo the effect of the Crop command (and revert to the original image file) up until the time that you quit
Dreamweaver, or edit the file in an external image-editing application.
Optimize an image
You can optimize images in your web pages from within Dreamweaver.
1Open the page containing the image you want to optimize, select the image, and do either of the following:
•Click the Edit image settings button in the image Property inspector.
•Select Modify > Image > Optimize.
2Make your edits in the Image Preview dialog box and click OK.
234
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Sharpen an image
Sharpening increases the contrast of pixels around the edges of objects to increase the image’s definition or sharpness.
1Open the page containing the image you want to sharpen, select the image, and do either of the following:
•Click the Sharpen button in the image Property inspector.
•Select Modify > Image > Sharpen.
2You can specify the degree of sharpening Dreamweaver applies to the image by dragging the slider control, or
entering a value between 0 and 10 in the text box. As you adjust the sharpness of the image using the Sharpness
dialog box, you can preview the change to the image.
3Click OK when you are satisfied with the image.
4Save your changes by selecting File > Save, or revert to the original image by selecting Edit > Undo Sharpen.
Note: You can only undo the effect of the Sharpen command (and revert to the original image file) prior to saving the
page containing the image. After you save the page, the changes made to the image are permanently saved.
Adjust the brightness and contrast of an image
Brightness/Contrast modifies the contrast or brightness of pixels in an image. This affects the highlights, shadows, and
midtones of an image. You typically use Brightness/Contrast when correcting images that are too dark or too light.
1Open the page containing the image you want to adjust, select the image, and do either of the following:
•Click the Brightness/Contrast button in the image Property inspector.
•Select Modify > Image > Brightness/Contrast.
2Drag the Brightness and Contrast sliders to adjust the settings. Values range from -100 to 100.
3Click OK.
Create a rollover image
You can insert rollover images in your page. A rollover is an image that, when viewed in a browser, changes when the
pointer moves across it.
You must have two images to create the rollover: a primary image (the image displayed when the page first loads) and
a secondary image (the image that appears when the pointer moves over the primary image). Both images in a rollover
should be the same size; if the images are not the same size, Dreamweaver resizes the second image to match the
properties of the first image.
Rollover images are automatically set to respond to the onMouseOver event. You can set an image to respond to a
different event (for example, a mouse click) or change a rollover image.
For a tutorial on creating rollovers, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0159.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want the rollover to appear.
2Insert the rollover using one of these methods:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Images button and select the Rollover Image icon. With the
Rollover Image icon displayed in the Insert panel, you can drag the icon to the Document window.
•Select Insert > Image Objects > Rollover Image.
3Set the options and click OK.
Image Name The name of the rollover image.
235
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Original image The image you want to display when the page loads. Enter the path in the text box, or click Browse and
select the image.
Rollover Image The image you want to display when the pointer rolls over the original image. Enter the path or click
Browse to select the image.
Preload Rollover Image Preloads the images in the browser’s cache so no delay occurs when the user rolls the pointer
over the image.
Alternate Text (Optional) Text to describe the image for viewers using a text-only browser.
When clicked, Go to URL The file that you want to open when a user clicks the rollover image. Enter the path or click
Browse and select the file.
Note: If you don’t set a link for the image, Dreamweaver inserts a null link (#) in the HTML source code to which the
rollover behavior is attached. If you remove the null link, the rollover image will no longer work.
4Select File > Preview in Browser or press F12.
5In the browser, move the pointer over the original image to see the rollover image.
Note: You cannot see the effect of a rollover image in Design view.
More Help topics
“Apply the Swap Image behavior” on page 344
Rollover tutorial
Use an external image editor
While in Dreamweaver, you can open a selected image in an external image editor; when you return to Dreamweaver
after saving the edited image file, any changes you made to the image are visible in the Document window.
You can set up Fireworks as your primary external editor. You can also set which file types an editor opens; and you
can select multiple image editors. For example, you can set preferences to start Fireworks when you want to edit a GIF,
and to start a different image editor when you want to edit a JPG or JPEG.
More Help topics
“Working with Photoshop and Dreamweaver” on page 353
“Working with Fireworks and Dreamweaver” on page 348
“Start an external editor for media files” on page 248
Start the external image editor
❖Do one of the following:
•Double-click the image you want to edit.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the image you want to edit, then select Edit With > Browse
and select an editor.
•Select the image you want to edit, and click Edit in the Property inspector.
•Double-click the image file in the Files panel to start the primary image editor. If you haven’t specified an image
editor, Dreamweaver starts the default editor for the file type.
236
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: When you open an image from the Files panel, the Fireworks integration features are not in effect; Fireworks does
not open the original PNG file. To use the Fireworks integration features, open images from within the Document
window.
If you don’t see an updated image after returning to the Dreamweaver window, select the image and then click the
Refresh button in the Property inspector.
Set an external image editor for an existing file type
You can select an image editor for opening and editing graphic files.
1Open the File Types/Editors Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
•Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), and select File Types/Editors in
the Category list on the left.
•Select Edit > Edit with External Editor and select File Types/Editors.
2In the Extensions list, select the file extension you want to set an external editor for.
3Click the Add (+) button above the Editors list.
4In the Select External Editor dialog box, browse to the application you want to start as an editor for this file type.
5In the Preferences dialog box, click Make Primary if you want this editor to be the primary editor for this file type.
6If you want to set up an additional editor for this file type, repeat steps 3 and 4.
Dreamweaver automatically uses the primary editor when you edit this image type. You can select the other listed
editors from the context menu for the image in the Document window.
Add a new file type to the Extensions list
1Open the File Types/Editors Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
•Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), and select File Types/Editors in
the Category list on the left.
•Select Edit > Edit with External Editor and select File Types/Editors.
2In the File Types/Editors Preferences dialog box, click the Add (+) button above the Extensions list.
A text box appears in the Extensions list.
3Type the file extension of the file type you want to start an editor for.
4To select an external editor for the file type, click the Add (+) button above the Editors list.
5In the dialog box that appears, select the application you want to use to edit this image type.
6Click Make Primary if you want this editor to be the primary editor for the image type.
Change an existing editor preference
1Open the File Types/Editors Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:
•Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), and select File Types/Editors in
the Category list on the left.
•Select Edit > Edit with External Editor and select File Types/Editors.
2In the File Types/Editors preferences dialog box, in the Extensions list select the file type you are changing to view
the existing editor(s).
237
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3In the Editors list, select the editor you want to want to affect, then do one of the following:
•Click the Add (+) or Delete (–) buttons above the Editors list to add or remove an editor.
•Click the Make Primary button, to change which editor starts by default for editing.
Applying behaviors to images
You can apply any available behavior to an image or image hotspot. When you apply a behavior to a hotspot,
Dreamweaver inserts the HTML source code into the area tag. Three behaviors apply specifically to images: Preload
Images, Swap Image, and Swap Image Restore.
Preload Images Loads images that do not appear on the page right away (such as those that will be swapped in with
behaviors, AP elements, or JavaScript) into the browser cache. This prevents delays caused by downloading when it is
time for the images to appear.
Swap Image Swaps one image for another by changing the SRC attribute of the img tag. Use this action to create button
rollovers and other image effects (including swapping more than one image at a time).
Swap Image Restore Restores the last set of swapped images to their previous source files. This action is automatically
added whenever you attach the Swap Image action to an object by default; you should never need to select it manually.
You can also use behaviors to create more sophisticated navigation systems, such as jump menus.
More Help topics
“Insert a jump menu” on page 270
“Apply the Swap Image behavior” on page 344
“Apply the Preload Images behavior” on page 341
Adding video
Embed videos in web pages (HTML5)
HTML5 supports video and audio tags that allow users to play video and audio files in a browser, without an external
plug-in or player. Dreamweaver supports code hints for adding video and audio tags.
Live View renders the video, providing a preview of the video that you are embedding in the web page.
Note: Although you can embed any video in your web page, Live View does not always render all videos. The audio and
video tags are supported in Dreamweaver using the Apple QuickTime plug-in. In Windows, if the Apple QuickTime plug-
in is not installed, then the web page does not render the media content.
Inserting FLV files
Insert FLV files
You can easily add FLV video to your web pages without using the Flash authoring tool. You must have an encoded
FLV file before you begin.
238
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver inserts a SWF component that displays the FLV file; when viewed in a browser, this component displays
the selected FLV file, as well as a set of playback controls.
Dreamweaver gives you the following options for delivering FLV video to your site visitors:
Progressive Download Video Downloads the FLV file to the site visitor’s hard disk and then plays it. Unlike traditional
“download and play” methods of video delivery, however, progressive download allows the video file to start playing
before the download is complete.
Streaming Video Streams the video content and plays it on a web page after a short buffer period that ensures smooth
play back. To enable streaming video on your web pages, you must have access to Adobe® Flash® Media Server.
You must have an encoded FLV file before you can use it in Dreamweaver. You can insert video files created with two
kinds of codecs (compression/decompression technologies): Sorenson Squeeze and On2.
As with regular SWF files, when you insert an FLV file, Dreamweaver inserts code that detects whether the user has
the correct version of Flash Player to view the video. If the user does not have the correct version, the page displays
alternative content that prompts the user to download the latest version of Flash Player.
Note: To view FLV files, users must have Flash Player 8 or later installed on their computers. If a user does not have the
required version of Flash Player installed, but does have Flash Player 6.0 r65 or later installed, the browser displays a
Flash Player express installer instead of the alternative content. If the user declines the express install, the page then
displays the alternative content.
For more information about working with video, visit the Video Technology Center at
www.adobe.com/go/flv_devcenter.
Insert an FLV file
1Select Insert > Media > FLV.
2In the Insert FLV dialog box, select Progressive Download or Streaming Video from the Video Type pop-up menu.
3Complete the rest of the dialog box options and click OK.
Note: Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) does not process nested object tags. For ASP pages, Dreamweaver uses
nested object/embed code instead of nested object code when inserting SWF or FLV files.
239
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set options for progressive download video
The Insert FLV dialog box lets you set options for progressive download delivery of an FLV file inserted in a web page.
1Select Insert > Media > FLV (or click the FLV icon in the Media category of the Common insert bar).
2In the Insert FLV dialog box, select Progressive Download Video from the Video Type menu.
3Specify the following options:
URL Specifies a relative or absolute path to the FLV file. To specify a relative path (for example, mypath/myvideo.flv),
click the Browse button, navigate to the FLV file, and select it. To specify an absolute path, type the URL (for example,
http://www.example.com/myvideo.flv) of the FLV file.
Skin Specifies the appearance of the video component. A preview of the selected skin appears beneath the Skin pop-
up menu.
Width Specifies the width of the FLV file, in pixels. To have Dreamweaver determine the exact width of the FLV file,
click the Detect Size button. If Dreamweaver cannot determine the width, you must type a width value.
Height Specifies the height of the FLV file, in pixels. To have Dreamweaver determine the exact height of the FLV file,
click the Detect Size button. If Dreamweaver cannot determine the height, you must type a height value.
Note: Total With Skin is the width and height of the FLV file plus the width and height of the selected skin.
Constrain Maintains the same aspect ratio between the width and height of the video component. This option is
selected by default.
Auto Play Specifies whether to play the video when the web page is opened.
Auto Rewind Specifies whether the playback control returns to starting position after the video finishes playing.
4Click OK to close the dialog box and add the FLV file to your web page.
The Insert FLV command generates a video player SWF file and a skin SWF file that are used to display your video
content on a web page. (To see the new files, you may need to click the Refresh button in the Files panel.) These files
are stored in the same directory as the HTML file to which you’re adding video content. When you upload the HTML
page containing the FLV file, Dreamweaver uploads these files as dependent files (as long as you click Yes in the Put
Dependent Files dialog box).
Set options for streaming video
The Insert FLV dialog box lets you set options for streaming video download of an FLV file inserted in a web page.
1Select Insert > Media > FLV (or click the FLV icon in the Media category of the Common insert bar).
2Select Streaming Video from the Video Type pop-up menu.
Server URI Specifies the server name, application name, and instance name in the form
rtmp://www.example.com/app_name/instance_name.
Stream Name Specifies the name of the FLV file that you want to play (for example, myvideo.flv). The .flv extension
is optional.
Skin Specifies the appearance of the video component. A preview of the selected skin appears beneath the Skin pop-
up menu.
Width Specifies the width of the FLV file, in pixels. To have Dreamweaver determine the exact width of the FLV file,
click the Detect Size button. If Dreamweaver cannot determine the width, you must type a width value.
Height Specifies the height of the FLV file, in pixels. To have Dreamweaver determine the exact height of the FLV file,
click the Detect Size button. If Dreamweaver cannot determine the height, you must type a height value.
Note: Total With Skin is the width and height of the FLV file plus the width and height of the selected skin.
240
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Constrain Maintains the same aspect ratio between the width and height of the video component. This option is
selected by default.
Live Video Feed Specifies whether the video content is live. If Live Video Feed is selected, Flash Player plays a live
video feed streamed from Flash® Media Server. The name of the live video feed is the name specified in the Stream
Name text box.
Note: When you select Live Video Feed, only the volume control appears on the component’s skin, because you cannot
manipulate live video. Additionally, the Auto Play and Auto Rewind options have no effect.
Auto Play Specifies whether to play the video when the web page is opened.
Auto Rewind Specifies whether the playback control returns to starting position after the video finishes playing.
Buffer Time Specifies the time, in seconds, required for buffering before the video starts playing. The default buffer
time is set to 0 so that the video starts playing instantly after the Play button is clicked. (If Auto Play is selected, the
video starts playing as soon as a connection is made with the server.) You might want to set a buffer time if you are
delivering video that has a higher bit rate than the site visitor’s connection speed, or when Internet traffic might cause
bandwidth or connectivity problems. For example, if you want to send 15 seconds of video to the web page before the
web page starts to play the video, set the buffer time to 15.
3Click OK to close the dialog box and add the FLV file to your web page.
The Insert FLV command generates a video player SWF file and a skin SWF file that are used to display your video on
a web page. The command also generates a main.asc file that you must upload to your Flash Media Server. (To see the
new files, you may need to click the Refresh button in the Files panel.) These files are stored in the same directory as
the HTML file to which you’re adding video content. When you upload the HTML page containing the FLV file, don’t
forget to upload the SWF files to your web server, and the main.asc file to your Flash Media Server.
Note: If you already have a main.asc file on your server, check with your server administrator before uploading the
main.asc file generated by the Insert FLV command.
You can easily upload all of the required media files by selecting the video component placeholder in the Dreamweaver
Document window, and clicking the Upload Media button in the Property inspector (Window
> Properties). To see a
list of required files, click Show required files.
Note: The Upload Media button does not upload the HTML file that contains the video content.
Edit Flash Player download information
When you insert an FLV file in a page, Dreamweaver inserts code that detects whether the user has the correct version
of Flash Player. If not, the page displays default alternative content that prompts the user to download the latest
version. You can change this alternative content at any time.
This procedure also applies to SWF files.
Note: If a user does not have the required version but does have Flash Player 6.0 r65 or later, the browser displays a Flash
Player express installer. If the user declines the express install, the page then displays the alternative content.
1In the Design view of the Document window, select the SWF file or FLV file.
2Click the eye icon in the tab of the SWF file or FLV file.
You can also press Control + ] to switch to alternative content view. To return to SWF/FLV view, press Control + [
until all of the alternative content is selected. Then press Control + [ again.
3Edit the content just as you would edit any other content in Dreamweaver.
Note: You cannot add SWF files or FLV files as alternative content.
4Click the eye icon again to return to the SWF or FLV file view.
241
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Troubleshoot FLV files
This section details some of the most common causes of problems with FLV files.
Viewing problems caused by absence of related files
The code generated by Dreamweaver CS4 and later relies on four dependent files, different from the FLV file itself:
•swfobject_modified.js
•expressInstall.swf
•FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf
•The skin file (for example Clear_Skin_1.swf)
Note that there are two more dependent files for Dreamweaver CS4 and later, compared to Dreamweaver CS3.
The first two of these files (swfobject_modified.js and expressInstall.swf) are installed in a folder called Scripts, which
Dreamweaver creates in the root of your site if it doesn't already exist.
The second two files (FLVPlayer_Progressive.swf and the skin file) are installed in the same folder as the page in which
the FLV is embedded. The skin file contains the controls for the FLV, and its name depends on the skin chosen in the
options described in Dreamweaver Help. For example, if you choose Clear Skin, the file is named Clear_Skin_1.swf.
All four dependent files MUST be uploaded to your remote server for the FLV to display correctly.
Forgetting to upload these files is the most common cause of FLV files failing to run correctly in a web page. If one of
the files is missing, you might see a "white box" on the page.
To ensure that you've uploaded all of the dependent files, use the Dreamweaver Files panel to upload the page in which
the FLV appears. When you upload the page, Dreamweaver asks you if you want to upload dependent files (unless
you've turned off this option). Click yes to upload dependent files.
Viewing problems when previewing pages locally
Because of security updates in Dreamweaver CS4, you cannot use the Preview in Browser command to test a page with
an embedded FLV unless you define a local testing server in your Dreamweaver site definition and use the testing
server to preview the page.
Normally, you require a testing server only if you are developing pages with ASP, ColdFusion, or PHP (see “Set up
your computer for application development” on page 511). If you are building websites that use only HTML, and
haven't defined a testing server, pressing F12 (Windows) Opt+F12 (Macintosh) produces a jumble of skin controls
onscreen. The workaround is either to define the testing server and use the testing server to preview your page, or
upload your files to a remote server and view them there.
Note: It’s possible that security settings may also be responsible for an inability to preview local FLV content, but Adobe
has not been able to confirm this. You can try changing your security settings to see if it helps. For more information on
changing your security settings, see Tech Note 117502.
Other possible causes for problems with FLV files
•If you are having trouble previewing locally, make sure the Preview using temporary file option is deselected under
Edit
> Preferences > Preview in Browser
•Make sure you have the latest FlashPlayer plug-in
•Be wary of moving files and folders around outside of Dreamweaver. When you move files and folders outside of
Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver cannot guarantee the correct paths to FLV-related files.
•You can temporarily replace the FLV file that’s giving you trouble with a known working FLV file. If the replacement
FLV file works, then the problem is with the original FLV file, and not with your browser or computer.
242
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit or delete an FLV component
Change the settings for the video on your web page, by selecting the video component placeholder in the Dreamweaver
Document window and using the Property inspector. Another way is to delete the video component and reinsert it by
selecting Insert
> Media > FLV.
Edit the FLV component
1Select the video component placeholder in the Dreamweaver Document window by clicking the FLV icon at the
center of the placeholder.
2Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties) and make your changes.
Note: You cannot change video types (from progressive download to streaming, for example) by using the Property
inspector. To change the video type, delete the FLV component, and reinsert it by selecting Insert
> Media > FLV.
Delete the FLV component
❖Select the FLV component placeholder in the Dreamweaver Document window and press Delete.
Remove FLV detection code
For Dreamweaver CS4 and later, Dreamweaver inserts Flash Player detection code directly in the object tag that
contains the FLV file. For Dreamweaver CS3 and earlier, however, the detection code resides outside the FLV file’s
object tag. For this reason, if you want to delete FLV files from pages created with Dreamweaver CS3 and earlier, you
must remove the FLV files and use the Remove FLV detection command to remove the detection code.
❖Select Commands > Remove Flash Video Detection.
Inserting SWF files
About FLA, SWF, and FLV file types
Before you use Dreamweaver to insert content created with Adobe Flash, you should be familiar with the following
different file types:
FLA file (.fla) The source file for any project and created in the Flash authoring tool. This type of file can only be opened
in Flash (not in Dreamweaver or in browsers). You can open the FLA file in Flash, then publish it as a SWF or SWT
file to use in browsers.
SWF file (.swf) A compiled version of the FLA (.fla) file, optimized for viewing on the web. This file can be played back
in browsers and previewed in Dreamweaver, but cannot be edited in Flash.
FLV file (.flv) A video file that contains encoded audio and video data for delivery through Flash® Player. For example,
if you had a QuickTime or Windows Media video file, you would use an encoder (such as Flash® Video Encoder, or
Sorensen Squeeze) to convert the video file to an FLV file. For more information, visit the Video Technology Center
at www.adobe.com/go/flv_devcenter.
More Help topics
“Working with Flash and Dreamweaver” on page 362
“Inserting FLV files” on page 237
243
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert and preview SWF files
Use Dreamweaver to add SWF files to your pages, and then preview them in a document or a browser. You can also
set properties for SWF files in the Property inspector.
For a tutorial on adding SWF files to web pages, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0150.
More Help topics
“Working with Flash and Dreamweaver” on page 362
“Edit a SWF file from Dreamweaver in Flash” on page 362
SWF files and DHTML layers
“Insert Shockwave movies” on page 250
“Inserting FLV files” on page 237
Working with Flash tutorial
Insert a SWF file
1In the Design view of the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert the content, then
do one of the following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, select Media and click the SWF icon .
•Select Insert > Media > SWF.
2In the dialog box that appears, select a SWF file (.swf).
A SWF file placeholder appears in the Document window.
The placeholder has a tabbed blue outline. The tab indicates the type of asset (SWF file) and the ID of the SWF file.
The tab also displays an eye icon. It acts as toggle between the SWF file and the download information users see when
they don’t have the correct version of Flash Player.
3Save the file.
Dreamweaver informs you that two dependent files, expressInstall.swf and swfobject_modified.js, are being saved to
a Scripts folder in your site. Don’t forget to upload these files when you upload the SWF file to your web server.
Browsers can’t display the SWF file properly unless you have also uploaded these dependent files.
Note: Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) does not process nested object tags. For ASP pages, Dreamweaver uses
nested object/embed code instead of nested object code when inserting SWF or FLV files.
Edit Flash Player download information
When you insert a SWF file in a page, Dreamweaver inserts code that detects whether the user has the correct version
of Flash Player. If not, the page displays default alternative content that prompts the user to download the latest
version. You can change this alternative content at any time.
244
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
This procedure also applies to FLV files.
Note: If a user does not have the required version but does have Flash Player 6.0 r65 or later, the browser displays a Flash
Player express installer. If the user declines the express install, the page then displays the alternative content.
1In the Design view of the Document window, select the SWF file or FLV file.
2Click the eye icon in the tab of the SWF file or FLV file.
You can also press Control + ] to switch to alternative content view. To return to SWF/FLV view, press Control + [
until all of the alternative content is selected. Then press Control + [ again.
3Edit the content just as you would edit any other content in Dreamweaver.
Note: You cannot add SWF files or FLV files as alternative content.
4Click the eye icon again to return to the SWF (or FLV) file view.
Preview SWF files in the Document window
1In the Document window, click the SWF file placeholder to select the content.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the Play button. Click Stop to end the preview. You can also
preview the SWF file in a browser by pressing F12.
To preview all SWF files in a page, press Control+Alt+Shift+P (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+P
(Macintosh). All SWF files are set to Play.
Set SWF file properties
You can set properties for SWF files using the Property inspector. The properties are also applicable to Shockwave
movies.
❖Select a SWF file or a Shockwave movie and set the options in the Property inspector (Window > Properties). To
see all properties, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner of the Property inspector.
ID Specifies a unique ID for the SWF file. Enter an ID in the unlabeled text box on the far left side of the Property
inspector. As of Dreamweaver CS4, a unique ID is required.
W and H Specify the width and height of the movie, in pixels.
File Specifies the path to the SWF file or Shockwave file. Click the folder icon to browse to a file, or type a path.
Src Specifies the path to the source document (the FLA file), when Dreamweaver and Flash are both installed on your
computer. To edit a SWF file, update the movie’s source document.
Bg Specifies a background color for the movie area. This color also appears while the movie is not playing (while
loading and after playing).
Edit Starts Flash to update a FLA file (a file created in the Flash authoring tool). This option is disabled if you do not
have Flash installed on your computer.
Class Lets you apply a CSS class to the movie.
Loop Makes the movie play continuously. When Loop is not selected, the movie plays once and stops.
Autoplay Automatically plays the movie when the page loads.
V Space and H Space Specifies the number of pixels of white space above, below, and on both sides of the movie.
Quality Controls anti-aliasing during playback of the movie. High settings improve the appearance of movies.
However, at high settings movies require a faster processor to render correctly on the screen. Low favors speed over
245
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
appearance, whereas High favors appearance over speed. Auto Low favors speed at first but improves appearance when
possible. Auto High favors both qualities equally at first but later sacrifices appearance for speed if necessary.
Scale Determines how the movie fits into the dimensions set in the width and height text boxes. The Default setting
displays the entire movie.
Align Determines how the movie is aligned on the page.
Wmode Sets the Wmode parameter for the SWF file to avoid conflicts with DHTML elements, such as Spry widgets.
The default value is Opaque, which allows DHTML elements to appear on top of SWF files in a browser. If the SWF
file includes transparencies and you want DHTML elements to appear behind them, select the Transparent option.
Select the Window option to remove the Wmode parameter from the code and allow the SWF file to appear on top of
other DHTML elements.
Play Plays the movie in the Document window.
Parameters Opens a dialog box for entering additional parameters to pass to the movie. The movie must be designed
to receive these additional parameters.
Insert FlashPaper documents
The Insert FlashPaper feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Adding web widgets
A web widget is a web page component comprised of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Examples of web widgets include
accordions, tabbed panels, and calendars.
You can make your own personal selection of web widgets available in Dreamweaver by using the Adobe Widget
Browser—an AIR application that lets you browse, configure, and preview widgets using a visual interface.
1Select Insert > Widget.
2In the Widget dialog box, select a widget and preset (if applicable) and click OK.
You can also add a web widget to a Dreamweaver page (CS5.5 and later) by doing the following:
1In the Widget Browser, navigate to My Widgets.
2Select the widget you want to add.
3Click and hold the Drag and Drop in Dreamweaver icon at the upper left corner of the Live View tab. Drag the
widget to Dreamweaver into Design view (Windows) or Design or Code view (Macintosh OS).
You cannot drag and drop the widget into Live view, but you can use Live view to test the widget once you’ve dropped
it into the page.
More Help topics
Adobe Widget Browser Help
“Working with Spry widgets (general instructions)” on page 407
246
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Adding Sound
Audio file formats
You can add sound to a web page. There are several different types of sound files and formats, including .wav, .midi,
and .mp3. Some factors to consider before deciding on a format and method for adding sound are its purpose, your
audience, file size, sound quality, and differences in browsers.
Note: Sound files are handled very differently and inconsistently by different browsers. You may want to add a sound file
to a SWF file and then embed the SWF file to improve consistency.
The following list describes the more common audio file formats along with some of the advantages and disadvantages
of each for web design.
.midi or .mid (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) This format is for instrumental music. MIDI files are supported by
many browsers and don’t require a plug-in. Although their sound quality is very good, it can vary depending on a
visitor’s sound card. A small MIDI file can provide a long sound clip. MIDI files cannot be recorded and must be
synthesized on a computer with special hardware and software.
.wav (Waveform Extension) These files have good sound quality, are supported by many browsers, and don’t require
a plug-in. You can record your own WAV files from a CD, tape, microphone, and so on. However, the large file size
severely limits the length of sound clips that you can use on your web pages.
.aif (Audio Interchange File Format , or AIFF) The AIFF format, like WAV format, has good sound quality, can be
played by most browsers, and doesn’t require a plug-in; you can also record AIFF files from a CD, tape, microphone,
and so on. However, the large file size severely limits the length of sound clips that you can use on your web pages.
.mp3 (Motion Picture Experts Group Audio, or MPEG-Audio Layer-3) A compressed format that makes sound files
substantially smaller. The sound quality is very good: if an mp3 file is recorded and compressed properly, its quality
can rival that of a CD. mp3 technology lets you “stream” the file so that a visitor doesn’t have to wait for the entire file
to download before hearing it. However, the file size is larger than a Real Audio file, so an entire song could still take
quite a while to download over a typical dial-up (telephone line) modem connection. To play mp3 files, visitors must
download and install a helper application or plug-in, such as QuickTime, Windows Media Player or RealPlayer.
.ra, .ram, .rpm, or Real Audio This format has a high degree of compression, with smaller file sizes than mp3. Entire
song files can be downloaded in a reasonable amount of time. Because the files can be “streamed” from a normal web
server, visitors can begin listening to the sound before the file has completely downloaded. Visitors must download
and install the RealPlayer helper application or plug-in to play these files.
.qt, .qtm, .mov or QuickTime This format is both an audio and video format developed by Apple Computer.
QuickTime is included with Apple Macintosh operating systems, and is used by most Macintosh applications that use
audio, video, or animation. PCs can also play files in QuickTime format, but require a special QuickTime driver.
QuickTime supports most encoding formats, including Cinepak, JPEG, and MPEG.
Note: In addition to the more common formats listed above, there are many different audio and video file formats
available for use on the web. If you encounter a media file format that you are unfamiliar with, locate the creator of the
format for information on how best to use and deploy it.
More Help topics
“Insert and edit media objects” on page 247
247
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Link to an audio file
Linking to an audio file is a simple and effective way to add sound to a web page. This method of incorporating sound
files lets visitors choose whether they want to listen to the file, and makes the file available to the widest audience.
1Select the text or image you want to use as the link to the audio file.
2In the Property inspector, click the folder icon next to the Link text box to browse for the audio file, or type the file’s
path and name in the Link text box.
Embed a sound file
Embedding audio incorporates the sound directly into the page, but the sound only plays if visitors to your site have
the appropriate plug-in for the chosen sound file. Embed files if you want to use the sound as background music, or if
you want to control the volume, the way the player looks on the page, or the beginning and ending points of the sound
file.
When incorporating sound files in your web pages, carefully consider their appropriate use in your web site, and how
visitors to your site use these media resources. Always provide a control to either enable or disable the playing of the
sound, in the event that visitors don’t want to listen to the audio content.
1In Design view, place the insertion point where you want to embed the file and do one of the following:
•
In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the Plugin icon from the pop-up menu.
•Select Insert > Media > Plugin.
2Browse for the audio file and click OK.
3Enter the width and height by entering the values in the appropriate text boxes in the Property inspector or by
resizing the plug-in placeholder in the Document window.
These values determine the size at which the audio controls are displayed in the browser.
Adding media objects
Insert and edit media objects
In addition to SWF and FLV files, you can insert QuickTime or Shockwave movies, Java applets, ActiveX controls, or
other audio or video objects in a Dreamweaver document. If you inserted accessibility attributes with a media object,
you can set the accessibility attributes and edit those values in the HTML code.
1Place the insertion point in the Document window where you want to insert the object.
2Insert the object by doing one of the following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the icon for the type of object you
want to insert.
•Select the appropriate object from the Insert > Media submenu.
•If the object you want to insert is not a Shockwave, Applet, or ActiveX object, select Plugin from the Insert > Media
submenu.
A dialog box appears letting you select a source file and specify certain parameters for the media object.
248
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
To prevent such dialog boxes from appearing, select Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Dreamweaver >
Preferences > General (Macintosh) and deselect the Show Dialog When Inserting Objects option. To override
whatever preference is set for showing dialog boxes, hold down the Control (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) key while
inserting the object. (For example, to insert a placeholder for a Shockwave movie without specifying the file, hold down
Control or Option, and either click the Shockwave button in Media pop-up menu of the Common Insert panel, or select
Insert
> Media > Shockwave.)
3Complete the Select File dialog box, and click OK.
Note: The Accessibility Attributes dialog box appears if you have chosen to show attributes when inserting media in the
Edit
> Preferences dialog box.
4Set the accessibility attributes.
Note: You can also edit media object attributes by selecting the object and editing the HTML code in Code view, or right-
clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Macintosh), and selecting Edit Tag Code.
Title Enter a title for the media object.
Access Key Enter a keyboard equivalent (one letter) in the text box to select the form object in the browser. This lets a
visitor to the site use the Control key (Windows) with the Access Key to access the object. For example, if you enter B
as the Access Key, use Control+B to select the object in the browser.
Tab Index Enter a number for the tab order of the form object. Setting a tab order is useful when you have other links
and form objects on the page and need the user to tab through them in a specific order. If you set tab order for one
object, be sure to set the tab order for all of them.
5Click OK to insert the media object.
Note: If you click Cancel, a media object placeholder appears in the document, but Dreamweaver does not associate
accessibility tags or attributes with it.
To specify a source file, or to set dimensions and other parameters and attributes, use the Property inspector for each
object. You can edit accessibility attributes for an object.
More Help topics
“Optimize the work space for accessible page design” on page 660
Start an external editor for media files
You can start an external editor from Dreamweaver to edit most media files. You can also specify the editor you want
Dreamweaver to start to edit the file.
1Make sure the media file type is associated to an editor on your system.
To find out what editor is associated with the file type, select Edit > Preferences in Dreamweaver and select File
Types/Editors from the Category list. Click the file’s extension in the Extensions column to view the associated editor
or editors in the Editors column. You can change the editor associated to a file type.
2Double-click the media file in the Files panel to open it in the external editor.
The editor that starts when you double-click the file in the Files panel is called the primary editor. If you double-click
an image file, for example, Dreamweaver opens the file in the primary external image editor such as Adobe Fireworks.
249
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3If you don’t want to use the primary external editor to edit the file, you can use another editor on your system to
edit the file by doing one of the following:
•In the Files panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the filename and select
•Open With
• from the context menu.
•In Design view, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the media element within the current page,
and select Edit With from the context menu.
Specify the editor to start from Dreamweaver
You can specify the editor you want Dreamweaver to use for editing a file type, and add or delete file types that
Dreamweaver recognizes.
Explicitly specify which external editors should be started for a given file type
1Select Edit > Preferences and select File Types/Editors from the Category list.
Filename extensions, such as .gif, .wav, and .mpg, are listed on the left under Extensions. Associated editors for a
selected extension are listed on the right under Editors.
2Select the file type extension in the Extensions list and do one of the following:
•To associate a new editor with the file type, click the Plus (+) button above the Editors list and complete the dialog
box that appears.
For example, select the application icon for Acrobat to associate it with the file type.
•To make an editor the primary editor for a file type (that is, the editor that opens when you double-click the file
type in the Files panel), select the editor in the Editors list and click Make Primary.
•To dissociate an editor from a file type, select the editor in the Editors list and click the Minus (-) button above the
Editors list.
Add a new file type and associated editor
1Click the Plus (+) button above the Extensions list and enter a file type extension (including the period at the
beginning of the extension) or several related extensions separated by spaces.
For example, you might enter .xml .xsl if you wanted to associate them with an XML editor installed on your system.
2Select an editor for the file type by clicking the Plus (+) button above the Editors list and completing the dialog box
that appears.
Remove a file type
❖Select the file type in the Extensions list and click the Minus (-) button above the Extensions list.
Note: You can’t undo after removing a file type, so be sure that you want to remove it.
Use Design Notes with media objects
As with other objects in Dreamweaver, you can add Design Notes to a media object. Design Notes are notes associated
with a particular file, that are stored in a separate file. You can use Design Notes to keep track of extra file information
associated with your documents, such as image source filenames and comments on file status.
1Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the object in the Document window.
250
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: You must define your site before adding Design Notes to any object.
2Select Design Notes for Page from the context menu.
3Enter the information you want in the Design Note.
You can also add a Design Note to a media object from the Files panel by selecting the file, revealing the context menu,
and choosing Design Notes from the context menu.
More Help topics
“Enable and disable Design Notes for a site” on page 100
“Storing file information in Design Notes” on page 100
Insert Shockwave movies
You can use Dreamweaver to insert Shockwave movies into your documents. Adobe® Shockwave®, a standard for
interactive multimedia on the web, is a compressed format that allows media files created in Adobe® Director® to be
downloaded quickly and played by most popular browsers.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert a Shockwave movie and do one of the
following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the Shockwave icon from the
popup menu.
•Select Insert > Media > Shockwave.
2In the dialog box that appears, select a movie file.
3In the Property inspector, enter the width and height of the movie in the W and H text boxes.
More Help topics
“Set SWF file properties” on page 244
Add video (non-FLV)
You can add video to your web page in different ways and using different formats. Video can be downloaded to the
user or it can be streamed so that it plays while it is downloading.
1Place the clip in your site folder.
These clips are often in the AVI or MPEG file format.
2Link to the clip or embed it in your page.
To link to the clip, enter text for the link such as “Download Clip”, select the text, and click the folder icon in the
Property inspector. Browse to the video file and select it.
Note: The user must download a helper application (a plug-in) to view common streaming formats like Real Media,
QuickTime, and Windows Media.
Insert plug-in content
You can create content such as a QuickTime movie for a browser plug-in, and then use Dreamweaver to insert that
content into an HTML document. Typical plug-ins include RealPlayer and QuickTime, while some content files
include mp3s and QuickTime movies.
251
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can preview movies and animations that rely on browser plug-ins directly in the Design view of the Document
window. You can play all plug-in elements at one time to see how the page will look to the user, or you can play each
one individually to ensure that you have embedded the correct media element.
Note: You cannot preview movies or animations that rely on ActiveX controls.
After inserting content for a plug-in, use the Property inspector to set parameters for that content. To view the
following properties in the Property inspector, select a plug-in object.
The Property inspector initially displays the most commonly used properties. Click the expander arrow in the lower-
right corner to see all properties.
Insert plug-in content and set its properties
1In the Design view of the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert the content, then
do one of the following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the Plugin icon from the menu.
•Select Insert > Media > Plugin.
2In the dialog box that appears, select a content file for a plug-in and click OK.
3Set the plug-in options in the Property inspector.
Name Specifies a name to identify the plug-in for scripting. Enter a name in the unlabeled text box on the far left side
of the Property inspector.
W and H Specify, in pixels, the width and height allocated to the object on the page.
Src Specifies the source data file. Click the folder icon to browse to a file, or enter a filename.
Plg Url Specifies the URL of the pluginspace attribute. Enter the complete URL of the site where users can download
the plug-in. If the user viewing your page does not have the plug-in, the browser tries to download it from this URL.
Align Determines how the object is aligned on the page.
V Space and H Space Specify the amount of white space in pixels above, below, and on both sides of the plug-in.
Border Specifies the width of the border around the plug-in.
Parameters Opens a dialog box for entering additional parameters to pass to the plug-in. Many plug-ins respond to
special parameters.
You can also view the attributes assigned to the selected plug-in by clicking the Attribute button. You can edit, add,
and delete attributes such as width and height in this dialog box.
Play plug-in content in the Document window
1Insert one or more media elements using one of the methods described in the previous section.
2Do one of the following:
•Select one of the media elements you have inserted, and select View > Plugins > Play or click the Play button in the
Property inspector.
•Select View > Plugins > Play All to play all of the media elements on the selected page that rely on plug-ins.
Note: Play All only applies to the current document; it does not apply to other documents in a frameset, for example.
Stop playing plug-in content
❖Select a media element and select View > Plugins >Stop, or click the Stop button in the Property inspector.
252
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also select View > Plugins > Stop All to stop all plug-in content from playing.
Troubleshooting plug-ins
If you have followed the steps to play plug-in content in the Document window, but some of the plug-in content does
not play, try the following:
•Make sure the associated plug-in is installed on your computer, and that the content is compatible with the version
of the plug-in you have.
•Open the file Configuration/Plugins/UnsupportedPlugins.txt in a text editor and look to see if the problematic
plug-in is listed. This file keeps track of plug-ins that cause problems in Dreamweaver and are therefore
unsupported. (If you experience problems with a particular plug-in, consider adding it to this file.)
•Check that you have enough memory. Some plug-ins require an additional 2 to 5 MB of memory to run.
Insert an ActiveX control
You can insert an ActiveX control in your page. ActiveX controls (formerly known as OLE controls) are reusable
components, somewhat like miniature applications, that can act like browser plug-ins. They run in Internet Explorer
with Windows, but they don’t run on the Macintosh browsers. The ActiveX object in Dreamweaver lets you supply
attributes and parameters for an ActiveX control in your visitor’s browser.
After inserting an ActiveX object, use the Property inspector to set attributes of the object tag and parameters for the
ActiveX control. Click Parameters in the Property inspector to enter names and values for properties that don’t appear
in the Property inspector. There is no widely accepted standard format for parameters for ActiveX controls; to find out
which parameters to use, consult the documentation for the ActiveX control you’re using.
❖In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert the content and do one of the
following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the ActiveX icon .
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the ActiveX icon. With the ActiveX
icon displayed in the Insert panel, you can drag the icon to the Document window.
•Select Insert > Media > ActiveX. An icon marks where the ActiveX control will appear on the page in Internet
Explorer.
ActiveX properties
The Property inspector initially displays the most commonly used properties. Click the expander arrow in the
lower-right corner to see all properties.
Name Specifies a name to identify the ActiveX object for scripting. Enter a name in the unlabeled text box on the far
left side of the Property inspector.
W and H Specify the width and height of the object, in pixels.
Class ID Identifies the ActiveX control to the browser. Enter a value or select one from the pop-up menu. When the
page is loaded, the browser uses the class ID to locate the ActiveX control required for the ActiveX object associated
with the page. If the browser doesn’t locate the specified ActiveX control, it attempts to download it from the location
specified in Base.
Embed Adds an embed tag within the object tag for the ActiveX control. If the ActiveX control has another plug-in
equivalent, the embed tag activates the plug-in. Dreamweaver assigns the values you entered as ActiveX properties to
their plug-in equivalents.
253
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Align Determines how the object is aligned on the page.
Parameters Opens a dialog box for entering additional parameters to pass to the ActiveX object. Many ActiveX
controls respond to special parameters.
Src Defines the data file to be used for a plug-in if the Embed option is turned on. If you don’t enter a value,
Dreamweaver attempts to determine the value from the ActiveX properties entered already.
V Space and H Space Specify the amount of white space, in pixels, above, below, and on both sides of the object.
Base Specifies the URL containing the ActiveX control. Internet Explorer downloads the ActiveX control from this
location if it has not been installed in the visitor’s system. If you don’t specify a Base parameter and if your visitor
doesn’t already have the relevant ActiveX control installed, the browser can’t display the ActiveX object.
Alt Img Specifies an image to be displayed if the browser doesn’t support the object tag. This option is available only
when the Embed option is deselected.
Data Specifies a data file for the ActiveX control to load. Many ActiveX controls, such as Shockwave and RealPlayer,
do not use this parameter.
Insert a Java applet
You can insert a Java applet into an HTML document using Dreamweaver. Java is a programming language that allows
the development of lightweight applications (applets) that can be embedded in web pages.
After inserting a Java applet, use the Property inspector to set parameters. To view the following properties in the
Property inspector, select a Java applet.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert the applet, and then do one of the
following:
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Media button and select the Applet icon .
•Select Insert > Media > Applet.
2Select a file containing a Java applet.
Java applet properties
The Property inspector initially displays the most commonly used properties. Click the expander arrow in the
lower-right corner to see all properties.
Name Specifies a name to identify the applet for scripting. Enter a name in the unlabeled text box on the far left side
of the Property inspector.
W and H Specify the width and height of the applet, in pixels.
Code Specifies the file containing the applet’s Java code. Click the folder icon to browse to a file, or enter a filename.
Base Identifies the folder containing the selected applet. When you select an applet, this text box is filled automatically.
Align Determines how the object is aligned on the page.
Alt Specifies alternative content (usually an image) to be displayed if the user’s browser doesn’t support Java applets
or has Java disabled. If you enter text, Dreamweaver inserts the text as the value of the applet’s alt attribute. If you
select an image, Dreamweaver inserts an img tag between the opening and closing applet tags.
V Space and H Space Specify the amount of white space in pixels above, below, and on both sides of the applet.
Parameters Opens a dialog box for entering additional parameters to pass to the applet. Many applets respond to
special parameters.
254
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Using behaviors to control media
You can add behaviors to your page to start and stop various media objects.
Control Shockwave Or Flash Play, stop, rewind, or go to a frame in a Shockwave movie or SWF file.
Play Sound Lets you play a sound; for example, you can play a sound effect whenever the user moves the mouse
pointer over a link.
Check Plugin Lets you check to see if visitors to your site have the required plug-in installed, then route them to
different URLs, depending on whether they have the right plug-in. This only applies to plug-ins, as the Check Plugin
behavior does not check for ActiveX controls.
More Help topics
“Apply the Control Shockwave or SWF behavior” on page 337
“Apply the Play Sound behavior” on page 341
“Apply the Check Plugin behavior” on page 337
Use parameters to control media objects
Define special parameters to control Shockwave and SWF files, ActiveX controls, plug-ins, and Java applets.
Parameters are used with the object, embed, and applet tags. Parameters set attributes specific to different types of
objects. For example, a SWF file can use a quality parameter <paramname="quality"value="best"> for the object
tag. The Parameter dialog box is available from the Property inspector. See the documentation for the object you’re
using for information on the parameters it requires.
Note: There is no widely accepted standard for identifying data files for ActiveX controls. Consult the documentation for
the ActiveX control you’re using to find out which parameters to use.
Enter a name and value for a parameter
1Select an object that can have parameters (such as a Shockwave movie, an ActiveX control, a plug-in, or a Java
applet) in the Document window.
2Open the dialog box using one of the following methods:
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the object, and select Parameters from the context menu.
•Open the Property inspector if it isn’t already open, and click the Parameters button found in the lower half of the
Property inspector. (Make sure the Property inspector is expanded.)
3Click the Plus (+) button and enter the parameter name and value in the appropriate columns.
Remove a parameter
❖Select a parameter and press the minus (–) button.
Reorder parameters
❖Select a parameter, and use the up and down arrow buttons.
255
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Automating tasks
Task automation
The History panel records the steps you take when you complete a task. Automate a frequently performed task by
replaying those steps from the History panel or creating a new command that performs the steps automatically.
Certain mouse movements, such as selecting by clicking in the Document window, can’t be played back or saved.
When you make such a movement, a black line appears in the History panel (the line does not become obvious until
you perform another action). To avoid this, use the arrow keys instead of the mouse to move the insertion point within
the Document window
Some other steps also aren’t repeatable, such as dragging a page element to somewhere else on the page. When you
perform such a step, an icon with a small red X appears in the History panel.
Saved commands are retained permanently (unless you delete them), while recorded commands are discarded when
you exit from Adobe®
Dreamweaver® CS5, and copied sequences of steps are discarded when you copy something else
Use the History panel
The History panel (Window > History) shows a list of the steps you’ve performed in the active document since you
created or opened that document (but not steps you’ve performed in other frames, in other Document windows, or in
the Site panel). Use the History panel to undo multiple steps at once and to automate tasks.
A. Slider (thumb) B. Steps C. Replay button D. Copy Steps button E. Save As Command button
The slider, or thumb, in the History panel initially points to the last step that you performed.
Note: You can’t rearrange the order of steps in the History panel. Don’t think of the History panel as an arbitrary
collection of commands; think of it as a way to view the steps you’ve performed, in the order in which you performed them.
Undo the last step
❖Do one of the following:
•Select Edit > Undo.
•Drag the History panel slider up one step in the list.
Note: To scroll automatically to a particular step, you must click to the left of the step; clicking the step itself selects the
step. Selecting a step is different from going back to that step in your undo history.
Undo multiple steps at once
❖Drag the slider to point to any step, or click to the left of a step along the path of the slider.
B
A
CDE
256
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
The slider scrolls automatically to that step, undoing steps as it scrolls.
Note: As with undoing a single step, if you undo a series of steps and then do something new in the document, you can no
longer redo the undone steps; they disappear from the History panel.
Set the number of steps that the History panel retains and shows
The default number of steps is sufficient for most users’ needs. The higher the number, the more memory the History
panel requires, which can affect performance and slow your computer significantly.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select General from the Category list on the left.
3Enter a number for Maximum Number Of History Steps.
When the History panel reaches this maximum number of steps, the earliest steps are discarded.
Erase the history list for the current document:
❖In the History panel’s context menu, select Clear History.
This command also clears all undo information for the current document; after choosing Clear History, you can’t undo
the steps that are cleared. Clear History does not undo steps; it merely removes the record of those steps from memory.
Repeat steps
Use the History panel to repeat the last step you performed, repeat a series of adjacent steps, or repeat a series of
nonadjacent steps. Replay the steps directly from the History panel.
Repeat one step
❖Do one of the following:
•Select Edit > Redo.
•In the History panel, select a step and click the Replay button. The step is replayed and a copy of it appears in the
History panel.
Repeat a series of steps
1Select steps in the History panel:
•To select adjacent steps, drag from one step to another (don’t drag the slider; just drag from the text label of one
step to the text label of another step), or select the first step, and then Shift-click the last step.
•To select nonadjacent steps, select a step, and then Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) to
select or deselect other steps.
The steps played are the selected (highlighted) steps, not necessarily the step the slider currently points to.
Note: Although you can select a series of steps that includes a black line indicating a step that can’t be recorded, that step
is skipped when you replay the steps.
2Click Replay.
The steps are replayed in order, and a new step, Replay Steps, appears in the History panel.
Make or extend a selection
❖Hold down the Shift key while pressing an arrow key.
257
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
If a black mouse-movement indicator line appears while you’re performing a task you want to repeat later, you can
undo back to before that step and try another approach, perhaps using the arrow keys.
Apply steps in the History panel to objects
You can apply a set of steps from the History panel to any object in the Document window.
If you select multiple objects and then apply steps to them from the History panel, the objects are treated as a single
selection and Dreamweaver attempts to apply the steps to that combined selection; however, you can apply a set of
steps only to a single object at a time.
To apply the steps to each object in a set of objects, you must make the last step in the series select the next object in
the set. The second procedure demonstrates this principle in a specific scenario: setting the vertical and horizontal
spacing of a series of images.
Apply steps to one other object
1Select the object.
2Select the relevant steps in the History panel, and click Replay.
Apply steps to multiple objects
1Start with a document in which each line consists of a small image (such as a graphical bullet or an icon) followed
by text.
The goal is to set the images off from the text and from the other images above and below them.
2Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties), if it isn’t already open.
3Select the first image.
4In the Property inspector, enter numbers in the V Space and H Space boxes to set the image’s spacing.
5Click the image again to make the Document window active without moving the insertion point.
6Press the Left Arrow key to move the insertion point to the left of the image.
7Press the Down Arrow key to move the insertion point down one line, leaving it just to the left of the second image
in the series.
8Press Shift+Right Arrow to select the second image.
Note: Do not select the image by clicking it, or you won’t be able to replay all the steps.
9In the History panel, select the steps that correspond to changing the image’s spacing and selecting the next image.
Click Replay to replay those steps.
258
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
The current image’s spacing changes, and the next image is selected.
10 Continue to click Replay until all the images are spaced correctly.
Copy and paste steps between documents
Each open document has its own history of steps. You can copy steps from one document and paste them into another.
Closing a document clears its history. If you know you will want to use steps from a document later, copy or save the
steps before you close the document.
1In the document containing the steps you want to reuse, select the steps in the History panel.
2Click Copy Steps in the History panel .
Note: The Copy Steps button in the History panel is different from the Copy command in the Edit menu. You can’t use
Edit
> Copy to copy steps, although you do use Edit > Paste to paste them.
Be careful when you copy steps that include a Copy or a Paste command:
•Don’t use Copy Steps if one of the steps is a Copy command; you may not be able to paste such steps the way you want.
•If your steps include a Paste command, you can’t paste those steps, unless the steps also include a Copy command
before the Paste command.
3Open the other document.
4Place the insertion point where you want it, or select an object to apply the steps to.
5Select Edit > Paste.
The steps are played back as they’re pasted into the document’s History panel. The History panel shows them as only
one step, called Paste Steps.
If you pasted steps into a text editor or into Code view or the Code inspector, they appear as JavaScript code. This can
be useful for learning to write your own scripts.
More Help topics
“Writing and editing code” on page 292
Create and use commands from history steps
Save a set of history steps as a named command, which then becomes available in the Commands menu. Create and
save a new command if you might use a set of steps again, especially the next time you start Dreamweaver.
Create a command
1Select a step or set of steps in the History panel.
2Click the
259
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Save As
4 Command button, or select
5Save As
6 Command from the History panel’s context menu.
7Enter a name for the command and click OK.
The command appears in the Commands menu.
Note: The command is saved as a JavaScript file (or sometimes an HTML file) in your
Dreamweaver/Configuration/Commands folder. If you are using Dreamweaver on a multiuser operating system, the file
is saved in the specific user’s Commands folder.
Use a saved command
1Select an object to apply the command to, or place the insertion point where you want to apply the command.
2Select the command from the Commands menu.
Edit a command name
1Select Commands > Edit Command List.
2Select a command to rename, enter a new name for it, and then click Close.
Delete a name from the Commands menu
1Select Commands > Edit Command List.
2Select a command.
3Click Delete, and then click Close.
Record and save commands
Record a temporary command for short-term use, or record and save a command to use later. Dreamweaver retains
only one recorded command at a time; as soon as you start recording a new command, the old command is lost, unless
you save it before recording the new command.
Temporarily record a series of steps
1Select Commands > Start Recording, or press Control+Shift+X (Windows) or Command+Shift+X (Macintosh).
The pointer changes to indicate that you’re recording a command.
2When you finish recording, select Commands > Stop Recording, or press Control+Shift+X (Windows) or
Command+Shift+X (Macintosh).
Play back a recorded command
❖Select Commands > Play Recorded Command.
Save a recorded command
1Select Commands > Play Recorded Command.
2Select the Run Command step that appears in the History panel’s step list, and then click the
260
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding content to pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Save As
4 Command button.
5Enter a name for the command, and click OK.
The command appears in the Commands menu.
261
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 9: Linking and navigation
About linking and navigation
About links
After you’ve set up a Dreamweaver site to store your website documents and have created HTML pages, you’ll want to
create connections from your documents to other documents.
Dreamweaver provides several ways to create links to documents, images, multimedia files, or downloadable software.
You can establish links to any text or image anywhere within a document, including text or images in a heading, list,
table, absolutely-positioned element (AP element), or frame.
There are several different ways of creating and managing links. Some web designers prefer to create links to
nonexistent pages or files as they work, while others prefer to create all the files and pages first and then add the links.
Another way to manage links is to create placeholder pages, in which you add and test links before completing all your
site pages.
More Help topics
“Test links in Dreamweaver” on page 270
Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths
Understanding the file path between the document you’re linking from and the document or asset you’re linking to is
essential to creating links.
Each web page has a unique address, called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). However, when you create a local link
(a link from one document to another on the same site), you generally don’t specify the entire URL of the document
you’re linking to; instead, you specify a relative path from the current document or from the site’s root folder.
There are three types of link paths:
•Absolute paths (such as http://www.adobe.com/support/dreamweaver/contents.html).
•Document-relative paths (such as dreamweaver/contents.html).
•Site root–relative paths (such as /support/dreamweaver/contents.html).
Using Dreamweaver, you can easily select the type of document path to create for your links.
Note: It is best to use the type of linking you prefer and are most comfortable with—either site root- or document-
relative. Browsing to links, as opposed to typing in the paths, ensures that you always enter the right path.
More Help topics
“Set the relative path of new links” on page 266
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
262
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Absolute paths
Absolute paths provide the complete URL of the linked document, including the protocol to use (usually http:// for
web pages), for example, http://www.adobe.com/support/dreamweaver/contents.html. For an image asset, the
complete URL might be something like http://www.adobe.com/support/dreamweaver/images/image1.jpg.
You must use an absolute path to link to a document or asset on another server. You can also use absolute paths for
local links (to documents in the same site), but that approach is discouraged—if you move the site to another domain,
all of your local absolute-path links will break. Using relative paths for local links also provides greater flexibility if you
need to move files within your site.
Note: When inserting images (not links), you can use an absolute path to an image on a remote server (that is, an image
that is not available on the local hard drive).
Document-relative paths
Document-relative paths are usually best for local links in most websites. They’re particularly useful when the current
document and the linked document or asset are in the same folder and are likely to remain together. You can also use
a document-relative path to link to a document or asset in another folder by specifying the path through the folder
hierarchy from the current document to the linked document.
The basic idea of document-relative paths is to omit the part of the absolute path that is the same for both the current
document and the linked document or asset, providing only the portion of the path that differs.
For example, suppose you have a site with the following structure:
•To link from contents.html to hours.html (both in the same folder), use the relative path hours.html.
•To link from contents.html to tips.html (in the resources subfolder), use the relative path resources/tips.html. At
each slash (/), you move down one level in the folder hierarchy.
•To link from contents.html to index.html (in the parent folder, one level above contents.html), use the relative path
../index.html. Two dots and a slash (../) moves you up one level in the folder hierarchy.
•To link from contents.html to catalog.html (in a different subfolder of the parent folder), use the relative path
../products/catalog.html. Here, ../ moves you up to the parent folder, and products/ moves you down to the
products subfolder.
When you move files as a group—for example, when you move an entire folder, so that all the files inside that folder
retain the same relative paths to each other—you don’t need to update document-relative links between those files.
However, when you move an individual file that contains document-relative links, or an individual file targeted by
a document-relative link, you do need to update those links. (If you move or rename files using the Files panel,
Dreamweaver updates all relevant links automatically.)
my_site (root folder)
support
contents.html
hours.html
tips.html
resources
catalog.html
products
index.html (home page)
263
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Site root–relative paths
Site root–relative paths describe the path from the site’s root folder to a document. You may want to use these paths if
you are working on a large website that uses several servers, or one server that hosts several sites. However, if you are
not familiar with this type of path, you may want to stick to document-relative paths.
A site root–relative path begins with a leading forward slash, which stands for the root folder of the site. For example,
/support/tips.html is a site root–relative path to a file (tips.html) in the support subfolder of the site’s root folder.
A site root–relative path is often the best way to specify links if you frequently move HTML files from one folder to
another in your website. When you move a document that contains site root–relative links, you don’t need to change
the links since the links are relative to the site root, and not to the document itself; for example, if your HTML files use
site root–relative links for dependent files (such as images), then if you move an HTML file, its dependent-file links
are still valid.
However, when you move or rename the documents targeted by site root–relative links, you must update those links,
even if the documents’ paths relative to each other haven’t changed. For example, if you move a folder, you must
update all site root–relative links to files in that folder. (If you move or rename files using the Files panel, Dreamweaver
updates all relevant links automatically.)
Linking
Linking files and documents
Before creating a link, make sure you understand how absolute, document-relative, and site root–relative paths work.
You can create several types of links in a document:
•A link to another document or to a file, such as a graphic, movie, PDF, or sound file.
•A named anchor link, which jumps to a specific location in a document.
•An e-mail link, which creates a new blank e-mail message with the recipient’s address already filled in.
•Null and script links, which you use to attach behaviors to an object or to create a link that executes JavaScript code.
You can use the Property inspector and the Point-To-File icon to create links from an image, an object, or text to
another document or file.
Dreamweaver creates the links to other pages in your site using document-relative paths. You can also tell
Dreamweaver to create new links using site root–relative paths.
Important: Always save a new file before creating a document-relative path; a document-relative path is not valid
without a definite starting point. If you create a document-relative path before saving the file, Dreamweaver temporarily
uses an absolute path beginning with file:// until the file is saved; when you save the file, Dreamweaver converts the file://
path to a relative path.
For a tutorial on creating links, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0149.
More Help topics
“Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths” on page 261
Creating links tutorial
264
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Attaching JavaScript behaviors to links
You can attach a behavior to any link in a document. Consider using the following behaviors when you insert linked
elements into documents:
Set Text Of Status Bar Determines the text of a message and displays it in the status bar at the lower left of the browser
window. For example, you can use this behavior to describe the destination of a link in the status bar instead of showing
the URL associated with it.
Open Browser Window Opens a URL in a new window. You can specify the properties of the new window, including
its name, size, and attributes (whether it is resizable, has a menu bar, and so on).
Jump Menu Edits a jump menu. You can change the menu list, specify a different linked file, or change the browser
location in which the linked document opens.
More Help topics
“Applying built-in JavaScript behaviors” on page 336
Link to documents using the Property inspector
You can use the Property inspector’s folder icon or Link box to create links from an image, an object, or text to another
document or file.
1Select text or an image in the Document window’s Design view.
2Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties) and do one of the following:
•Click the folder icon to the right of the Link box to browse to and select a file.
The path to the linked document appears in the URL box. Use the Relative To pop-up menu in the Select HTML File
dialog box to make the path document-relative or root-relative, and then click Select. The type of path you select
applies only to the current link. (You can change the default setting of the Relative To box for the site.)
•Type the path and filename of the document in the Link box.
To link to a document in your site, enter a document-relative or site root–relative path. To link to a document outside
your site, enter an absolute path including the protocol (such as http://). You can use this approach to enter a link for
a file that hasn’t been created yet.
3From the Target pop-up menu, select a location in which to open the document:
•_blank loads the linked document in a new, unnamed browser window.
•_parent loads the linked document in the parent frame or parent window of the frame that contains the link. If
the frame containing the link is not nested, then the linked document loads in the full browser window.
•_self loads the linked document in the same frame or window as the link. This target is the default, so you usually
don’t have to specify it.
•_top loads the linked document in the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.
If all the links on your page will be set to the same target, you can specify this target once by selecting Insert > HTML >
Head Tags > Base and selecting the target information. For information about targeting frames, see “Control frame
content with links” on page 196.
More Help topics
“Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths” on page 261
265
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Link to documents using the Point-To-File icon
1Select text or an image in the Document window’s Design view.
2Create a link in one of two ways:
•Drag the Point-To-File icon (target icon) at the right of the Link box in the Property inspector and point to a
visible anchor in the current document, a visible anchor in another open document, an element that has a unique
ID assigned to it, or a document in the Files panel.
•Shift-drag from the selection and point to a visible anchor in the current document, a visible anchor in another
open document, an element that has a unique ID assigned to it, or a document in the Files panel.
Note: You can link to another open document only if your documents are not maximized in the Document window. To
tile documents, select Window
> Cascade or Window > Tile. When you point to an open document, that document moves
to the foreground of your screen while you are making your selection.
More Help topics
“Link to a specific place in a document” on page 266
Add a link using the Hyperlink command
The Hyperlink command lets you create a text link to an image, an object, or to another document or file.
1Place the insertion point in the document where you want the link to appear.
2Do one of the following to display the Insert Hyperlink dialog box:
•Select Insert > Hyperlink.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Hyperlink button.
3Enter the text of the link and, after Link, the name of the file to link to (or click the folder icon to browse to the
file).
4In the Target pop-up menu, select the window in which the file should open or type its name.
The names of all the frames you’ve named in the current document appear in the pop-up list. If you specify a frame
that doesn’t exist, the linked page opens in a new window that has the name you specified. You can also select from the
following reserved target names:
•_blank loads the linked file into a new, unnamed browser window.
•_parent loads the linked file into the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the frame
containing the link is not nested, the linked file loads into the full browser window.
•_self loads the linked file into the same frame or window as the link. This target is the default, so you usually don’t
need to specify it.
•_top loads the linked file into the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.
5In the Tab Index box, enter a number for the tab order.
6In the Title box, enter a title for the link.
7In the Access Key box, enter a keyboard equivalent (one letter) to select the link in the browser.
8Click OK.
266
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set the relative path of new links
By default, Dreamweaver creates links to other pages in your site using document-relative paths. To use site root–
relative path instead, you must first define a local folder in Dreamweaver by choosing a local root folder to serve as the
equivalent of the document root on a server. Dreamweaver uses this folder to determine the site root–relative paths to
files.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2In the Manage Sites dialog box, double-click your site in the list.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, expand Advanced Settings and select the Local Info category.
4Set the relative path of new links by selecting the Document or Site Root option.
Changing this setting will not convert the path of existing links after you click OK. The setting applies only to new links
you create with Dreamweaver.
Note: Content linked with a site root–relative path does not appear when you preview documents in a local browser unless
you specify a testing server, or select the Preview Using Temporary File option in Edit
> Preferences > Preview In Browser.
This is because browsers don’t recognize site roots—servers do. A quick way to preview content linked with site root–
relative paths is to put the file on a remote server, then select File
> Preview In Browser.
5Click Save.
The new path setting applies only to the current site.
More Help topics
“Absolute, document-relative, and site root-relative paths” on page 261
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
Link to a specific place in a document
You can use the Property inspector to link to a particular section of a document by first creating named anchors.
Named anchors let you set markers in a document, which are often placed at a specific topic or at the top of a
document. You can then create links to these named anchors, which quickly take your visitor to the specified position.
Creating a link to a named anchor is a two-step process. First, you create a named anchor; then you create a link to the
named anchor.
Note: You can’t place a named anchor in an absolutely-positioned element (AP element).
Create a named anchor
1In the Document window’s Design view, place the insertion point where you want the named anchor.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Named Anchor.
•Press Control+Alt+A (Windows) or Command+Option+A (Macintosh).
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Named Anchor button.
3In the Anchor Name box, type a name for the anchor, and click OK. (The anchor name can’t contain spaces).
The anchor marker appears at the insertion point.
Note: If you do not see the anchor marker, select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements.
267
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Link to a named anchor
1In the Document window’s Design view, select text or an image to create a link from.
2In the Link box of the Property inspector, type a number sign (#) and the name of the anchor. For example, to link
to an anchor named “top” in the current document, type #top. To link to an anchor named “top” in a different
document in the same folder, type filename.html#top.
Note: Anchor names are case-sensitive.
Link to a named anchor using the Point-To-File method
1Open the document containing the named anchor.
Note: If you don’t see the anchor, select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements to make it visible.
2In the Document window’s Design view, select text or an image you want to link from. (If this is another open
document, you must switch to it.)
3Do one of the following:
•Click the Point-To-File icon (target icon) to the right of the Link box in the Property inspector and drag it to
the anchor you want to link to: either an anchor within the same document or an anchor in another open
document.
•Shift-drag in the Document window from the selected text or image to the anchor you want to link to: either an
anchor within the same document or an anchor in another open document.
Create an e-mail link
An e-mail link opens a new blank message window (using the mail program associated with the user’s browser) when
clicked. In the e-mail message window, the To box is automatically updated with the address specified in the e-mail link.
Create an e-mail link using the Insert Email Link command
1In the Document window’s Design view, position the insertion point where you want the e-mail link to appear, or
select the text or image you want to appear as the e-mail link.
2Do one of the following to insert the link:
•Select Insert > Email Link.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Email Link button.
3In the Text box, type or edit the body of the e-mail.
4In the Email box, type the e-mail address, then click OK.
Create an e-mail link using the Property inspector
1Select text or an image in the Document window’s Design view.
2In the Link box of the Property inspector, type mailto: followed by an e-mail address.
Do not type any spaces between the colon and the e-mail address.
Auto-populate the subject line of an e-mail
1Create an e-mail link using the Property inspector as outlined above.
2In the Link box of the Property inspector, add ?subject= after the email, and type a subject after the equals sign.
Do not type any spaces between the question mark and the end of the e-mail address.
268
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
The complete entry would look as follows:
mailto:someone@yoursite.com?subject=Mail
from Our Site
Create null and script links
A null link is an undesignated link. Use null links to attach behaviors to objects or text on a page. For instance, you can
attach a behavior to a null link so that it swaps an image or displays an absolutely-positioned element (AP element)
when the pointer moves over the link.
Script links execute JavaScript code or call a JavaScript function and are useful for giving visitors additional
information about an item without leaving the current web page. Script links can also be used to perform calculations,
validate forms, or do other processing tasks when a visitor clicks a specific item.
More Help topics
“Apply a behavior” on page 334
Create a null link
1Select text, an image, or an object in the Document window’s Design view.
2In the Property inspector, type javascript:; (the word javascript, followed by a colon, followed by a semicolon)
in the Link box.
Create a script link
1Select text, an image, or an object in the Document window’s Design view.
2In the Link box of the Property inspector, type javascript: followed by some JavaScript code or a function call.
(Do not type a space between the colon and the code or call.)
Update links automatically
Dreamweaver can update links to and from a document whenever you move or rename the document within a local
site. This feature works best when you store your entire site (or an entire self-contained section of it) on your local disk.
Dreamweaver does not change files in the remote folder until you put the local files on or check them in to the remote
server.
To make the updating process faster, Dreamweaver can create a cache file in which to store information about all the
links in your local folder. The cache file is updated invisibly as you add, change, or delete links on your local site.
Enable automatic link updates
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2In the Preferences dialog box, select General from the category list on the left.
3In the Document Options section of the General preferences, select an option from the Update Links When Moving
Files pop-up menu.
Always Automatically updates all links to and from a selected document whenever you move or rename it.
Never Does not automatically update all links to and from a selected document when you move or rename it.
Prompt Displays a dialog box that lists all the files affected by the change. Click Update to update the links in these
files, or click Don’t Update to leave the files unchanged.
269
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Click OK.
Create a cache file for your site
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select a site, and then click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, expand Advanced Settings and select the Local Info category.
4In the Local Info category, select Enable Cache.
The first time you change or delete links to files in your local folder after starting Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver prompts
you to load the cache. If you click Yes, Dreamweaver loads the cache and updates all the links to the file you just
changed. If you click No, the change is noted in the cache, but Dreamweaver does not load the cache or update links.
It may take a few minutes to load the cache on larger sites because Dreamweaver must determine whether the cache is
up to date by comparing the timestamps of the files on the local site against the timestamps recorded in the cache. If
you have not changed any files outside Dreamweaver, you can safely click the Stop button when it appears.
Re-create the cache
❖In the Files panel, select Site > Advanced > Recreate Site Cache.
Change a link sitewide
In addition to having Dreamweaver update links automatically whenever you move or rename a file, you can manually
change all links (including e-mail, FTP, null, and script links) so that they point somewhere else.
This option is most useful when you want to delete a file that other files link to, but you can use it for other purposes.
For example, suppose you link the words “this month’s movies” to /movies/july.html throughout your site. On August
1 you would change those links so that they point to /movies/august.html.
1Select a file in the Local view of the Files panel.
Note: If you are changing an e-mail, FTP, null, or script link, you do not need to select a file.
2Select Site > Change Link Sitewide.
3Complete these options in Change Link Sitewide dialog box:
Change All Links To Click the folder icon to browse to and select the target file from which to unlink. If you are
changing an e-mail, FTP, null, or script link, type the full text of the link you are changing.
Into Links to Click the folder icon to browse to and select the new file to link to. If you are changing an e-mail,
FTP, null, or script link, type the full text of the replacement link.
4Click OK.
Dreamweaver updates any documents that link to the selected file, making them point to the new file, using the path
format already used in the document (for example, if the old path was document-relative, the new path is also
document-relative).
After you change a link sitewide, the selected file becomes an orphan (that is, no files on your local disk point to it).
You can safely delete it without breaking any links in your local Dreamweaver site.
Important: Because these changes occur locally, you must manually delete the corresponding orphan file in the remote
folder and put or check in any files in which links were changed; otherwise, visitors to your site won’t see the changes.
270
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Test links in Dreamweaver
Links are not active within Dreamweaver; that is, you cannot open a linked document by clicking the link in the
Document window.
❖Do one of the following:
•Select the link and select Modify > Open Linked Page.
•Press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) and double-click the link.
Note: The linked document must reside on your local disk.
More Help topics
“Find broken, external, and orphaned links” on page 274
“Fix broken links” on page 275
Jump menus
About jump menus
A jump menu is a pop-up menu in a document, visible to your site visitors, listing links to documents or files. You can
create links to documents in your website, links to documents on other websites, e-mail links, links to graphics, or links
to any file type that can be opened in a browser.
Each option in a jump menu is associated with a URL. When users choose an option, they are redirected (“jump”) to
the associated URL. Jump menus are inserted within the Jump Menu form object.
A jump menu can contain three components:
•(Optional) A menu selection prompt, such as a category description for the menu items, or instructions, such as
“Choose one”.
•(Required) A list of linked menu items: a user selects an option and a linked document or file opens.
•(Optional) A Go button.
More Help topics
“Apply the Jump Menu behavior” on page 340
“Apply the Jump Menu Go behavior” on page 340
Insert a jump menu
1Open a document, and then place the insertion point in the Document window.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Form > Jump Menu.
•In the Forms category of the Insert panel, click the Jump Menu button.
3Complete the Insert Jump menu dialog box and click OK. Here is a partial list of options:
Plus and Minus buttons Click Plus to insert an item; click Plus again to add another one. To delete an item, select it
and click Minus.
271
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Arrow buttons Select an item and click the arrows to move it up or down in the list.
Text Type the name of an unnamed item. If your menu includes a selection prompt (such as “Choose one”), type it
here as the first menu item (if so, you must also choose the Select First Item After URL Change option at the bottom).
When Selected Go To URL Browse to the target file or type its path.
Open URLs In Specify whether to open the file in the same window or in a frame. If the frame you want to target doesn’t
appear in the menu, close the Insert Jump Menu dialog box and name the frame.
Insert Go Button After Menu Select to insert a Go button rather than a menu selection prompt.
Select First Item After URL Change
Select if you inserted a menu selection prompt (“Choose one”) as the first menu item.
More Help topics
“View and set frame properties and attributes” on page 193
Edit jump menu items
You can change the order of items in the menu or the file an item links to, and you can add, delete, or rename an item.
To change the location in which a linked file opens, or to add or change a menu selection prompt, you must apply the
Jump Menu behavior from the Behaviors panel.
1Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties) if it isn’t already open.
2In the Document window’s Design view, click the jump menu object to select it.
3In the Property inspector, click the List Values button.
4Use the List Values dialog box to make your changes to the menu items, and then click OK.
More Help topics
“Apply the Jump Menu behavior” on page 340
Troubleshooting jump menus
After a user selects a jump menu item, there is no way to reselect that menu item if the user navigates back to that page,
or if the Open URL In box specifies a frame. There are two ways to work around this problem:
•Use a menu selection prompt, such as a category, or a user instruction, such as “Choose one”. The menu selection
prompt is reselected automatically after each menu selection.
•Use a Go button, which allows a user to revisit the currently chosen link. When you use a Go button with a jump
menu, the Go button becomes the only mechanism that “jumps” the user to the URL associated with the selection
in the menu. Selecting a menu item in the jump menu no longer re-directs the user automatically to another page
or frame.
Note: Select only one of these options per jump menu, in the Insert Jump Menu dialog box, because they apply to an
entire jump menu.
272
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Navigation bars
About navigation bars
The navigation bar feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Adobe recommends using the Spry Menu Bar widget if you want to create a navigation bar.
More Help topics
“Working with the Spry Menu Bar widget” on page 412
Image maps
About image maps
An image map is an image that has been divided into regions called hotspots; when a user clicks a hotspot, an action
occurs (for example, a new file opens).
Client-side image maps store the hypertext link information in the HTML document—not in a separate map file as
server-side image maps do. When a site visitor clicks a hotspot in the image, the associated URL is sent directly to the
server. This makes client-side image maps faster than server-side image maps, because the server does not need to
interpret where the visitor clicked. Client-side image maps are supported by Netscape Navigator 2.0 and later versions,
NCSA Mosaic 2.1 and 3.0, and all versions of Internet Explorer.
Dreamweaver does not alter references to server-side image maps in existing documents; you can use both client-side
image maps and server-side image maps in the same document. However, browsers that support both types of image
maps give priority to client-side image maps. To include a server-side image map in a document, you must write the
appropriate HTML code.
Insert client-side image maps
When you insert a client-side image map, you create a hotspot area and then define a link that opens when a user clicks
the hotspot area.
Note: You can create multiple hotspot areas, but they are part of the same image map.
1In the Document window, select the image.
2In the Property inspector, click the expander arrow in the lower-right corner to see all properties.
3In the Map Name box, enter a unique name for the image map. If you are using multiple image maps in the same
document, make sure each map has a unique name.
4To define the image map areas, do one of the following:
•Select the circle tool and drag the pointer over the image to create a circular hotspot.
•Select the rectangle tool and drag the pointer over the image to create a rectangular hotspot.
•Select the polygon tool and define an irregularly shaped hotspot by clicking once for each corner point. Click
the arrow tool to close the shape.
After you create the hotspot, the hotspot Property inspector appears.
273
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
5In the hotspot Property inspector’s Link box, click the folder icon to browse to and select the file you want to
open when the user clicks the hotspot, or type the path.
6In the Target pop-up menu, select the window in which the file should open or type its name.
The names of all the frames you’ve named in the current document appear in the pop-up list. If you specify a frame
that doesn’t exist, the linked page loads into a new window that has the name you specified. You can also select from
the following reserved target names:
•_blank loads the linked file into a new, unnamed browser window.
•_parent loads the linked file into the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the frame
containing the link is not nested, the linked file loads into the full browser window.
•_self loads the linked file into the same frame or window as the link. This target is the default, so you usually don’t
need to specify it.
•_top loads the linked file into the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.
Note: The target option isn’t available until the selected hotspot contains a link.
7In the Alt box, type alternative text for display in text-only browsers or browsers that download images manually.
Some browsers display this text as a tooltip when the user moves the pointer over the hotspot.
8Repeat steps 4 through 7 to define additional hotspots in the image map.
9When you finish mapping the image, click a blank area in the document to change the Property inspector.
Modify image map hotspots
You can easily edit the hotspots you create in an image map. You can move a hotspot area, resize hotspots, or move a
hotspot forward or back in an absolutely-positioned element (AP element).
You can also copy an image with hotspots from one document to another, or copy one or more hotspots from an image
and paste them on another image; hotspots associated with the image are also copied to the new document.
Select multiple hotspots in an image map
1Use the pointer hotspot tool to select a hotspot.
2Do one of the following:
•Shift-click the other hotspots you want to select.
•Press Control+A (Windows) or Command+A (Macintosh) to select all of the hotspots.
Move a hotspot
1Use the pointer hotspot tool to select the hotspot.
2Do one of the following:
•Drag the hotspot to a new area.
•Use the Control + arrow keys to move a hotspot by 10 pixels in the selected direction.
•Use the arrow keys to move a hotspot by 1 pixel in the selected direction.
Resize a hotspot
1Use the pointer hotspot tool to select the hotspot.
2Drag a hotspot selector handle to change the size or shape of the hotspot.
274
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
Troubleshooting links
Find broken, external, and orphaned links
Use the Check Links feature to search for broken links and orphaned files (files that still exist in the site but that aren’t
linked to by any other files in the site). You can search an open file, a portion of a local site, or an entire local site.
Dreamweaver verifies links only to documents within the site; Dreamweaver compiles a list of external links in the
selected document or documents but does not verify them.
You can also identify and delete files that are no longer used by other files in your site.
More Help topics
“Identify and delete unused files” on page 78
Check links in the current document
1Save the file to a location within your local Dreamweaver site.
2Select File > Check Page > Links.
The Broken Links report appears in the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group).
3In the Link Checker panel, select External Links from the Show pop-up menu to view another report.
The External Links report appears in the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group).
You can check for orphaned files when you check links across an entire site.
4To save the report, click the Save Report button in the Link Checker panel. The report is a temporary file; it will be
lost if you don’t save it.
Check links in part of a local site
1In the Files panel, select a site from the Current Sites pop-up menu.
2In Local view, select the files or folders to check.
3Initiate the check by doing one of the following:
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) one of the selected files, and then select Check Links >
Selected Files/Folders from the context menu.
•Select File > Check Page > Links.
The Broken Links report appears in the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group).
4In the Link Checker panel, select External Links from the Show pop-up menu to view another report.
The External Links report appears in the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group).
You can check for orphaned files when you check links across an entire site.
5To save a report, click the Save Report button in the Link Checker panel.
Check links across the entire site
1In the Files panel, select a site from the Current Sites pop-up menu.
275
USING DREAMWEAVER
Linking and navigation
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Select Site > Check Links Sitewide.
The Broken Links report appears in the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group).
3In the Link Checker panel, select External Links or Orphaned Files from the Show pop-up menu to view another
report.
A list of files that fit the report type you selected appears in the Link Checker panel.
Note: If you select Orphaned Files as your report type, you can delete orphaned files from the Link Checker panel directly
by selecting a file from the list and pressing the Delete key.
4To save a report, click the Save Report button in the Link Checker panel.
Fix broken links
After you run a links reports, you can fix broken links and image references directly in the Link Checker panel, or you
can open files from the list and fix links in the Property inspector.
Fix links in the Link Checker panel
1Run a link check report.
2In the Broken Links column (not the Files column) of the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group), select
the broken link.
A folder icon appears next to the broken link.
3Click the folder icon next to the broken link and browse to the correct file, or type the correct path and
filename.
4Press Tab or Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
If there are other broken references to this same file, you are prompted to fix the references in the other files as well.
Click Yes to have Dreamweaver update all the documents on the list that reference this file. Click No to have
Dreamweaver update the current reference only.
Note: If Enable File Check In And Check Out is enabled for the site, Dreamweaver attempts to check out files that require
changes. If it cannot check out a file, Dreamweaver displays a warning dialog box and leaves broken references
unchanged.
Fix links in the Property inspector
1Run a link check report.
2In the Link Checker panel (in the Results panel group), double-click an entry in the File column.
Dreamweaver opens the document, selects the broken image or link, and highlights the path and filename in the
Property inspector. (If the Property inspector is not visible, select Window
> Properties to open it.)
3To set a new path and filename in the Property inspector, click the folder icon to browse to the correct file, or
type over the highlighted text.
If you are updating an image reference and the new image appears at the incorrect size, click the W and H labels in the
Property inspector or click the Refresh button to reset the height and width values.
4Save the file.
As links are fixed, their entries disappear from the Link Checker list. If an entry still appears in the list after you enter
a new path or filename in the Link Checker (or after you save changes in the Property inspector), Dreamweaver cannot
find the new file and still considers the link broken.
276
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 10: Previewing pages
Previewing pages
Design view gives you an idea of how your page will look on the web but does not render pages exactly as browsers do.
Live view presents a more accurate depiction, and lets you work in Code view so that you can see changes to the design.
The Preview in Browser feature lets you see how your pages will look in specific browsers.
Previewing pages in Dreamweaver
About Live view
Live view differs from the traditional Dreamweaver design view in that it provides a non-editable, more realistic
rendering of what your page will look like in a browser. Live view does not replace the Preview in Browser command,
but rather provides another way of seeing what your page looks like “live” without having to leave the Dreamweaver
workspace.
You can switch to Live view any time you are in Design view. Switching to Live view, however, is not related to
switching between any of the other traditional views in Dreamweaver (Code/Split/Design). When you switch to Live
view from Design view, you are simply toggling the Design view between editable and “live”.
While Design view remains frozen once you enter Live view, Code view remains editable, so you can change your code,
and then refresh Live view to see your changes take effect. When you’re in Live view, you have the additional option
of viewing live code. Live Code view is like Live view in that it displays a version of the code that the browser is
executing in order to render the page. Like Live view, Live Code view is a non-editable view.
An additional advantage of Live view is the ability to freeze JavaScript. For example, you can switch to Live view and
hover over Spry-based table rows that change color as the result of user interaction. When you freeze JavaScript, Live
view freezes the page in its current state. You can then edit your CSS or JavaScript and refresh the page to see the
changes take effect. Freezing JavaScript in Live view is useful if you want to see and change properties for the different
states of pop-up menus or other interactive elements that you can’t see in traditional Design view.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with Live View, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10liveview.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with Live view navigation, see
www.adobe.com/go/dwcs5livenav_en.
For a video tutorial on working with Live View, related files, and the Code Navigator, see
www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4044_dw.
Preview pages in Live view
1Make sure that you are in Design view (View > Design) or Code and Design views (View > Code and Design).
2Click the Live view button.
3(Optional) Make your changes in Code view, in the CSS Styles panel, in an external CSS style sheet, or in another
related file.
277
USING DREAMWEAVER
Previewing pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Even though you can’t edit in Live view, your options for making edits in other areas (for example, in the CSS Styles
panel or in Code view) change as you click in Live view.
You can work with related files (such as CSS style sheets) while keeping Live view in focus by opening the related
file from the Related Files toolbar at the top of the document.
4If you’ve made changes in Code view or in a related file, refresh Live view by clicking the Refresh button in the
Document tool bar, or by pressing F5.
5To return to the editable Design view, click the Live view button again.
Preview Live Code
The code displayed in Live Code view is similar to what you would see if you viewed the page source from a browser.
While such page sources are static, providing you with only the source of the page from the browser, Live Code view
is dynamic, and updates as you interact with the page in Live view.
1Make sure that you are in Live view.
2Click the Live Code button.
Dreamweaver displays the live code that the browser would use to execute the page. The code is highlighted in
yellow and is uneditable.
When you interact with interactive elements on the page, Live Code highlights the dynamic changes in the code.
3To turn off highlighting for changes in Live Code view, choose View > Live View Options > Highlight Changes in
Live Code.
4To return to the editable Code view, click the Live Code button again.
To change Live Code preferences, choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh
OS), and select the Code Coloring category.
Freeze JavaScript
Do one of the following:
•Press F6
•Select Freeze JavaScript from the Live View button’s pop-up menu.
An info bar at the top of the document tells you that JavaScript is frozen. To close the info bar, click the close link.
Live view options
Besides the Freeze JavaScript option, there are some other options available from the Live View button’s pop-up menu,
or from the View
> Live View Options menu item.
Freeze JavaScript Freezes elements affected by JavaScript in their current state.
Disable JavaScript Disables JavaScript and re-renders the page as it would look if a browser did not have JavaScript
enabled.
Disable Plug-ins Disables plug-ins and re-renders the page as it would look if a browser did not have plug-ins enabled.
Highlight Changes in Live Code Turns highlighting for changes in Live Code off or on.
278
USING DREAMWEAVER
Previewing pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit the Live View Page in a New Tab Lets you open new tabs for site documents you browse to using the Browser
Navigation toolbar or the Follow Link(s) feature. You must browse to the document first, then select Edit the Live View
Page in a New Tab to create a new tab for it.
Follow Link Makes the next link you click in Live View active. Alternatively you can Control-click a link in Live view
to make it active.
Follow Links Continuously
Makes links in Live View continuously active until you disable them again, or close the page.
Automatically Sync Remote Files Automatically syncs the local and remote file when you click the Refresh icon in the
Browser Navigation toolbar. Dreamweaver puts your file to the server before refreshing so that both files are in sync.
Use Testing Server for Document Source Used mainly by dynamic pages (such as ColdFusion pages), and selected by
default for dynamic pages. When this option is selected, Dreamweaver uses the version of the file on the site’s testing
server as the source for the Live view display.
Use Local Files for Document Links The default setting for non-dynamic sites. When this option is selected for
dynamic sites that use a testing server, Dreamweaver uses the local versions of files that are linked to the document
(for example, CSS and JavaScript files), instead of the files on the testing server. You can then make local changes to
related files so that you can see how they look before putting them to the testing server. If this option is deselected,
Dreamweaver uses the testing server versions of related files.
HTTP Request Settings Takes you to an advanced settings dialog box where you can enter values for displaying live
data. For more information, click the Help button in the dialog box.
More Help topics
“Browser Navigation toolbar overview” on page 10
“Switch between views in the Document window” on page 17
“Open Related Files” on page 68
“Viewing live data” on page 571
Live View video tutorial
Previewing pages in browsers
Preview in a browser
You can preview a page in a browser at any time; you don’t have to upload it to a web server first. When you preview
a page, all browser-related functions should work, including JavaScript behaviors, document-relative and absolute
links, ActiveX® controls, and Netscape Navigator plug-ins, provided that you installed the required plug-ins or ActiveX
controls in your browsers.
Before previewing a document, save the document; otherwise, the browser does not display your most recent changes.
1Do one of the following to preview the page:
•Select File > Preview In Browser, and then select one of the listed browsers.
Note: If no browsers are listed, select Edit > Preferences or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), and then select the
Preview In Browser category on the left to select a browser.
•Press F12 (Windows) or Option+F12 (Macintosh) to display the current document in the primary browser.
•Press Control+F12 (Windows) or Command+F12 (Macintosh) to display the current document in the secondary
browser.
279
USING DREAMWEAVER
Previewing pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Click links and test content in your page.
Note: Content linked with a site root-relative path does not appear when you preview documents in a local browser unless
you specify a testing server, or select the Preview Using Temporary File option in Edit
> Preferences > Preview In Browser.
This is because browsers don’t recognize site roots—servers do.
To preview content linked with root-relative paths, put the file on a remote server, and then select File > Preview In
Browser to view it.
3Close the page in the browser when you finish testing.
More Help topics
“Site root–relative paths” on page 263
Set browser preview preferences
You can set preferences for the browser to use when previewing a site and define default primary and secondary
browsers.
1Select File > Preview In Browser > Edit Browser List.
2To add a browser to the list, click the Plus (+) button, complete the Add Browser dialog box, and then click OK.
3To delete a browser from the list, select the browser, and then click the Minus (-) button.
4To change settings for a selected browser, click the Edit button, make changes in the Edit Browser dialog box, and
then click OK.
5Select the Primary Browser or the Secondary Browser option to specify whether the selected browser is the primary
or secondary browser.
F12 (Windows) or Option+F12 (Macintosh) opens the primary browser; Control+F12 (Windows) or Command+F12
(Macintosh) opens the secondary browser.
6Select Preview Using Temporary File to create a temporary copy for previewing and server debugging. (Deselect
this option if you want to update the document directly.)
Previewing pages in mobile devices
To preview pages created in Dreamweaver on various mobile devices, use Device Central with its built-in Opera
Small-Screen Rendering feature. Different devices have different browsers installed, but the preview can give a good
impression of how content will look and behave on a selected device.
1Start Dreamweaver.
2Open a file.
3Do one of the following:
•Select File > Preview in Browser > Device Central.
•On the document window toolbar, click and hold the Preview/Debug In browser button and select Preview
In Device Central.
The file is displayed in the Device Central Emulator tab. To continue testing, double-click the name of a different
device in the
Device Sets
or
280
USING DREAMWEAVER
Previewing pages
Last updated 12/7/2011
Available Devices
lists.
More Help topics
“Working with Device Central and Dreamweaver” on page 365
281
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 11: Working with page code
General information about coding in Dreamweaver
More Help topics
“Code hints” on page 292
“Setting coding preferences” on page 287
“Customizing keyboard shortcuts” on page 287
“Make pages XHTML-compliant” on page 313
“Search for tags, attributes, or text in code” on page 306
“Save and recall search patterns” on page 306
“Optimizing the workspace for visual development” on page 532
“Displaying database records” on page 562
Supported languages
In addition to text-editing capabilities, Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 provides various features, such as code hints, to
help you code in the following languages:
•HTML
•XHTML
•CSS
•JavaScript
•ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML)
•VBScript (for ASP)
•C# and Visual Basic (for ASP.NET)
•JSP
•PHP
Other languages, such as Perl, are not supported by the language-specific coding features in Dreamweaver; for
example, you can create and edit Perl files, but code hints don’t apply to that language.
Invalid markup
If your document contains invalid code, Dreamweaver displays that code in Design view and optionally highlights it
in Code view. If you select the code in either view, the Property inspector displays information about why it’s invalid
and how to fix it.
Note: The option to highlight invalid code in Code view is turned off by default. To turn it on, switch to Code View
(View
> Code) and then select View > Code View Options > Highlight Invalid Code.
You can also specify preferences for automatically rewriting various kinds of invalid code when you open a document.
282
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Automatic code modification
You can set options that instruct Dreamweaver to automatically clean up your hand-written code according to criteria
that you specify. However, your code is never rewritten unless the code rewriting options are enabled or you perform
an action that changes the code. For example, Dreamweaver does not alter your white space or change the case of
attributes unless you use the Apply Source Formatting command.
A few of these code rewriting options are enabled by default.
The Roundtrip HTML capabilities in Dreamweaver let you move your documents back and forth between a text-based
HTML editor and Dreamweaver with little or no effect on the content and structure of the document’s original HTML
source code. These capabilities include the following:
•Use a third-party text editor to edit the current document.
•By default, Dreamweaver does not make changes in code created or edited in other HTML editors, even if the code
is invalid, unless you enable code-rewriting options.
•Dreamweaver does not change tags it doesn’t recognize—including XML tags—because it has no criteria by which
to judge them. If an unrecognized tag overlaps another tag (for example,
<MyNewTag><em>text</MyNewTag></em>), Dreamweaver marks it as an error but doesn’t rewrite the code.
•Optionally, you can set Dreamweaver to highlight invalid code in Code view (in yellow). When you select a
highlighted section, the Property inspector displays information on how to correct the error.
XHTML code
Dreamweaver generates new XHTML code and cleans up existing XHTML code in a way that meets most of the
XHTML requirements. The tools that you need to meet the few XHTML requirements that remain are also provided.
Note: Some of the requirements also are required in various versions of HTML.
The following table describes the XHTML requirements that Dreamweaver meets automatically:
XHTML requirement Actions Dreamweaver performs
There must be a DOCTYPE declaration in the document prior to the
root element, and the declaration must reference one of the three
Document Type Definition (DTD) files for XHTML (strict, transitional,
or frameset).
Adds an XHTML DOCTYPE to an XHTML document:
<!DOCTYPE
html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-
transitional.dtd">
Or, if the XHTML document has a frameset:
<!DOCTYPE
html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Frameset//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-
frameset.dtd">
The root element of the document must be html, and the html
element must designate the XHTML namespace.
Adds the namespace attribute to the html element, as follows:
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
A standard document must have the head, title, and body
structural elements. A frameset document must have the head,
title, and frameset structural elements.
In a standard document, includes the head, title, and body
elements. In a frameset document, includes the head, title, and
frameset elements.
All elements in the document must nest properly:
<p>This
is a <i>bad example.</p></i> <p>This is
a <i>good example.</i></p>
Generates correctly nested code and, when cleaning up XHTML,
corrects nesting in code that was not generated by Dreamweaver.
283
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Regular expressions
Regular expressions are patterns that describe character combinations in text. Use them in your code searches to help
describe concepts such as lines that begin with “var” and attribute values that contain a number.
The following table lists the special characters in regular expressions, their meanings, and usage examples. To search
for text containing one of the special characters in the table, escape the special character by preceding it with a
backslash. For example, to search for the actual asterisk in the phrase some conditions apply*, your search pattern
might look like this: apply\*. If you don’t escape the asterisk, you’ll find all the occurrences of “apply” (as well as any
of “appl”, “applyy”, and “applyyy”), not just the ones followed by an asterisk.
All element and attribute names must be lowercase. Forces HTML element and attribute names to be lowercase in the
XHTML code that it generates and when cleaning up XHTML,
regardless of your tag and attribute case preferences.
Every element must have a closing tag, unless it is declared in the DTD
as EMPTY.
Inserts closing tags in the code that it generates, and when cleaning
up XHTML.
Empty elements must have a closing tag, or the opening tag must end
with />. For example, <br> is not valid; the correct form is
<br></br> or <br/>. Following are the empty elements: area,
base, basefont, br, col, frame, hr, img, input, isindex, link,
meta, and param.
And for backwards-compatibility with browsers that are not XML-
enabled, there must be a space before the /> (for example, <br />,
not <br/>).
Inserts empty elements with a space before the closing slash in empty
tags in the code that it generates, and when cleaning up XHTML.
Attributes can’t be minimized; for example, <td nowrap> is not
valid; the correct form is <td nowrap="nowrap">.
This affects the following attributes: checked, compact, declare,
defer, disabled, ismap, multiple, noresize, noshade,
nowrap, readonly, and selected.
Inserts full attribute-value pairs in the code that it generates, and
when cleaning up XHTML.
Note: If an HTML browser does not support HTML 4, it might fail to
interpret these Boolean attributes when they appear in their full form.
All attribute values must be surrounded by quotation marks. Places quotation marks around attribute values in the code that it
generates, and when cleaning up XHTML.
The following elements must have an id attribute as well as a name
attribute: a, applet, form, frame, iframe, img, and map. For
example, <a name="intro">Introduction</a> is not valid; the
correct form is
<a id="intro">Introduction</a> or <a id="section1"
name="intro"> Introduction</a>.
Sets the name and id attributes to the same value, whenever the
name attribute is set by a Property inspector, in the code that
Dreamweaver generates, and when cleaning up XHTML.
For attributes with values of an enumerated type, the values must be
lowercase.
An enumerated type value is a value from a specified list of allowed
values; for example, the align attribute has the following allowed
values: center, justify, left, and right.
Forces enumerated type values to be lowercase in the code that it
generates, and when cleaning up XHTML.
All script and style elements must have a type attribute.
(The type attribute of the script element has been required since
HTML 4, when the language attribute was deprecated.)
Sets the type and language attributes in script elements, and the
type attribute in style elements, in the code that it generates and
when cleaning up XHTML.
All img and area elements must have an alt attribute. Sets these attributes in the code that it generates and, when cleaning
up XHTML, reports missing alt attributes.
XHTML requirement Actions Dreamweaver performs
284
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Character Matches Example
^ Beginning of input or line. ^T matches “T” in “This good earth” but not in “Uncle Tom’s
Cabin”
$ End of input or line. h$ matches “h” in “teach” but not in “teacher”
* The preceding character 0 or more times. um* matches “um” in “rum”, “umm” in “yummy”, and “u” in
“huge”
+ The preceding character 1 or more times. um+ matches “um” in “rum” and “umm” in “yummy” but
nothing in “huge”
? The preceding character at most once (that is,
indicates that the preceding character is
optional).
st?on matches “son” in “Johnson” and “ston” in “Johnston”
but nothing in “Appleton” or “tension”
. Any single character except newline. .an matches “ran” and “can” in the phrase “bran muffins can
be tasty”
x|y Either x or y. FF0000|0000FF matches “FF0000” in
bgcolor="#FF0000" and “0000FF’” in font
color="#0000FF"
{n} Exactly n occurrences of the preceding
character.
o{2} matches “oo” in “loom” and the first two o’s in
“mooooo” but nothing in “money”
{n,m} At least n, and at most m, occurrences of the
preceding character.
F{2,4} matches “FF” in “#FF0000” and the first four Fs in
#FFFFFF
[abc] Any one of the characters enclosed in the
brackets. Specify a range of characters with a
hyphen (for example, [a-f] is equivalent to
[abcdef]).
[e-g] matches “e” in “bed”, “f” in “folly”, and ”g” in “guard”
[^abc] Any character not enclosed in the brackets.
Specify a range of characters with a hyphen (for
example, [^a-f] is equivalent to [^abcdef]).
[^aeiou] initially matches “r” in “orange”, “b” in “book”, and
“k” in “eek!”
\b A word boundary (such as a space or carriage
return).
\bb matches “b” in “book” but nothing in “goober” or “snob”
\B Anything other than a word boundary. \Bb matches “b” in “goober” but nothing in “book”
\d Any digit character. Equivalent to [0-9]. \d matches “3” in “C3PO” and “2” in “apartment 2G”
\D Any nondigit character. Equivalent to [^0-9]. \D matches “S” in “900S” and “Q” in “Q45”
\f Form feed.
\n Line feed.
\r Carriage return.
\s Any single white-space character, including
space, tab, form feed, or line feed.
\sbook matches ”book” in “blue book” but nothing in
“notebook”
\S Any single non-white-space character. \Sbook matches “book” in “notebook” but nothing in “blue
book”
\t A tab.
285
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use parentheses to set off groupings within the regular expression to be referred to later. Then use $1, $2, $3, and so
on in the Replace With field to refer to the first, second, third, and later parenthetical groupings.
Note: In the Search For box, to refer to a parenthetical grouping earlier in the regular expression, use \1, \2, \3, and so on
instead of $1, $2, $3.
For example, searching for (\d+)\/(\d+)\/(\d+) and replacing it with $2/$1/$3 swaps the day and month in a date
separated by slashes, thereby converting between American-style dates and European-style dates.
Server behavior code
When you develop a dynamic page and select a server behavior from the Server Behaviors panel, Dreamweaver inserts
one or more code blocks into your page to make the server behavior work.
If you manually change the code within a code block, you can no longer use panels such as the Bindings and Server
Behaviors panels to edit the server behavior. Dreamweaver looks for specific patterns in the page code to detect server
behaviors and display them in the Server Behaviors panel. If you change a code block’s code in any way, Dreamweaver
can no longer detect the server behavior and display it in the Server Behaviors panel. However, the server behavior still
exists on the page, and you can edit it in the coding environment in Dreamweaver.
Setting up your coding environment
Using coder-oriented workspaces
You can adapt the coding environment in Dreamweaver to fit the way you work. For example, you can change the way
you view code, set up different keyboard shortcuts, or import and use your favorite tag library.
Dreamweaver comes with several workspace layouts designed for an optimal coding experience. From the workspace
switcher on the Application bar, you can select from Application Developer, Application Developer Plus, Coder, and
Coder Plus workspaces. All of these workspaces show Code view by default (in either the entire Document window,
or in Code and Design views), and have panels docked on the left side of the screen. All but Application Developer
Plus eliminate the Property inspector from the default view.
If none of the pre-designed workspaces offer exactly what you need, you can customize your own workspace layout by
opening and docking panels where you want them, and then saving the workspace as a custom workspace.
\w Any alphanumeric character, including
underscore. Equivalent to [A-Za-z0-9_].
b\w* matches “barking” in “the barking dog” and both “big”
and “black” in “the big black dog”
\W Any non-alphanumeric character. Equivalent to
[^A-Za-z0-9_].
\W matches “&” in “Jake&Mattie” and “%” in “100%”
Control+Enter or
Shift+Enter (Windows), or
Control+ Return or
Shift+Return or
Command+ Return
(Macintosh)
Return character. Make sure that you deselect
the Ignore Whitespace Differences option when
searching for this, if not using regular
expressions. Note that this matches a particular
character, not the general notion of a line break;
for instance, it doesn’t match a <br> tag or a
<p> tag. Return characters appear as spaces in
Design view, not as line breaks.
Character Matches Example
286
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Manage windows and panels” on page 22
“Save and switch workspaces” on page 26
“Customize keyboard shortcuts” on page 32
“Managing tag libraries” on page 328
Viewing code
You can view the source code for the current document in several ways: you can display it in the Document window
by enabling Code view, you can split the Document window to display both the page and its associated code, or you
can work in the Code inspector, a separate coding window. The Code inspector works just like Code view; you can
think of it as a detachable Code view for the current document.
More Help topics
“Change the code format” on page 288
“Set code hints preferences” on page 294
“Set the code colors” on page 291
View code in the Document window
❖Select View > Code.
Code and edit a page simultaneously in the Document window
1Select View > Code and Design.
The code appears in the top pane and the page appears in the bottom pane.
2To display the page on top, select Design View On Top from the View Options menu on the Document toolbar.
3To adjust the size of the panes in the Document window, drag the splitter bar to the desired position. The splitter
bar is located between the two panes.
Code view is updated automatically when you make changes in Design view. However, after making changes in Code
view, you must manually update the document in Design view by clicking in Design view or pressing F5.
View code in a separate window with the Code inspector
The Code inspector lets you work in a separate coding window, just like working in Code view.
❖Select Window > Code Inspector. The toolbar includes the following options:
File Management Puts or gets the file.
Preview/Debug In Browser Previews or debugs your document in a browser.
Refresh Design View Updates the document in Design view so that it reflects any changes you made in the code.
Changes you make in the code don’t automatically appear in Design view until you perform certain actions, such as
saving the file or clicking this button.
Reference Opens the Reference panel. See “Use language-reference material” on page 307.
Code Navigation Lets you move quickly in the code. See “Go to a JavaScript or VBScript function” on page 303.
View Options Lets you determine how the code is displayed. See “Set the code appearance” on page 287.
287
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
To use the Coding toolbar along the left side of the window, see “Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296.
Customizing keyboard shortcuts
You can use your favorite keyboard shortcuts in Dreamweaver. If you’re accustomed to using specific keyboard
shortcuts—for example, Shift+Enter to add a line break, or Control+G to go to a specific position in the code—you
can add them to Dreamweaver using the Keyboard Shortcut Editor.
For instructions, see “Customize keyboard shortcuts” on page 32.
More Help topics
“Work with code snippets” on page 304
Open files in Code view by default
When you open a file type that normally doesn’t contain any HTML (for example, a JavaScript file), the file opens in
Code view (or Code inspector) instead of Design view. You can specify which file types open in Code view.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select File Types/Editors from the Category list on the left.
3
In the Open In Code View box, add the filename extension of the file type you want to open automatically in Code view.
Type a space between filename extensions. You can add as many extensions as you like.
More Help topics
“Use an external editor” on page 291
“Set Validator preferences” on page 313
Setting coding preferences
About coding preferences
You can set coding preferences such as code formatting and coloring, among others, to meet your specific needs.
Note: To set advanced preferences, use the Tag Library editor (see “Managing tag libraries” on page 328).
Set the code appearance
You can set word wrapping, display line numbers for the code, highlight invalid code, set syntax coloring for code
elements, set indenting, and show hidden characters from the View
> Code View Options menu.
1View a document in Code view or the Code inspector.
2Do one of the following:
•Select View > Code View Options
•Click the View Options button in the toolbar at the top of Code view or the Code inspector.
288
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Select or deselect any of the following options:
Word Wrap Wraps the code so that you can view it without scrolling horizontally. This option doesn’t insert line
breaks; it just makes the code easier to view.
Line Numbers Displays line numbers along the side of the code.
Hidden Characters Displays special characters in place of white space. For example, a dot replaces each space, a double
chevron replaces each tab, and a paragraph marker replaces each line break.
Note: Soft line breaks that Dreamweaver uses for word wrapping are not displayed with a paragraph marker.
Highlight Invalid Code Causes Dreamweaver to highlight in yellow all HTML code that isn’t valid. When you select an
invalid tag, the Property inspector displays information on how to correct the error.
Syntax Coloring Enables or disables code coloring. For information on changing the coloring scheme, see “Set the
code colors” on page 291.
Auto Indent Makes your code indent automatically when you press Enter while writing code. The new line of code
indents to the same level as the previous line. For information on changing the indent spacing, see the Tab Size option
in “Change the code format” on page 288.
More Help topics
“Viewing code” on page 286
“Coding toolbar overview” on page 11
“Set code hints preferences” on page 294
Change the code format
You can change the look of your code by specifying formatting preferences such as indentation, line length, and the
case of tag and attribute names.
All the Code Format options, except the Override Case Of option, are automatically applied only to new documents
or additions to documents that you subsequently create.
To reformat existing HTML documents, open the document, and select Commands > Apply Source Formatting.
1Select Edit > Preferences.
2Select Code Format from the Category list on the left.
3Set any of the following options:
Indent Indicates whether code generated by Dreamweaver should be indented (according to the indentation rules
specified in these preferences) or not.
Note: Most of the indentation options in this dialog box apply only to code generated by Dreamweaver, not to code that
you type. To make each new line of code that you type indent to the same level as the previous line, select View
> Code
View Options Auto-Indent option. For more information, see “Set the code appearance” on page 287.
With (Text box and pop-up menu) Specifies how many spaces or tabs Dreamweaver should use to indent code that it
generates. For example, if you type 3 in the box and select Tabs in the pop-up menu, then code generated by
Dreamweaver is indented using three tab characters for every level of indentation.
Tab Size Determines how many characters wide each tab character appears in Code view. For example, if Tab Size is
set to 4, then each tab is displayed in Code view as a four-character-wide blank space. If, additionally, Indent With is
set to 3 Tabs, then code generated by Dreamweaver is indented using three tab characters for every level of indentation,
which appears in Code view as a twelve-character-wide blank space.
289
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Dreamweaver indents using either spaces or tabs; it doesn’t convert a run of spaces to a tab when inserting code.
Line Break Type Specifies the type of remote server (Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX) that hosts your remote site.
Choosing the correct type of line break characters ensures that your HTML source code appears correctly when viewed
on the remote server. This setting is also useful when you are working with an external text editor that recognizes only
certain kinds of line breaks. For example, use CR LF (Windows) if Notepad is your external editor, and use CR
(Macintosh) if SimpleText is your external editor.
Note: For servers that you connect to using FTP, this option applies only to binary transfer mode; the ASCII transfer mode
in Dreamweaver ignores this option. If you download files using ASCII mode, Dreamweaver sets line breaks based on the
operating system of your computer; if you upload files using ASCII mode, the line breaks are all set to CR LF.
Default Tag Case and Default Attribute Case Control the capitalization of tag and attribute names. These options are
applied to tags and attributes that you insert or edit in Design view, but they are not applied to the tags and attributes
that you enter directly in Code view, or to the tags and attributes already in a document when you open it (unless you
also select one or both of the Override Case Of options).
Note: These preferences apply only to HTML pages. Dreamweaver ignores them for XHTML pages because uppercase tags
and attributes are invalid XHTML.
Override Case Of: Tags and Attributes Specifies whether to enforce your specified case options at all times, including
when you open an existing HTML document. When you select one of these options and click OK to dismiss the dialog
box, all tags or attributes in the current document are immediately converted to the specified case, as are all tags or
attributes in each document you open from then on (until you deselect this option again). Tags or attributes you type
in Code view and in the Quick Tag Editor are also converted to the specified case, as are tags or attributes you insert
using the Insert panel. For example, if you want tag names always to be converted to lowercase, specify lowercase in
the Default Tag Case option, and then select the Override Case Of: Tags option. Then when you open a document that
contains uppercase tag names, Dreamweaver converts them all to lowercase.
Note: Older versions of HTML allowed either uppercase or lowercase tag and attribute names, but XHTML requires
lowercase for tag and attribute names. The web is moving toward XHTML, so it’s generally best to use lowercase tag and
attribute names.
TD Tag: Do Not Include A Break Inside The TD Tag Addresses a rendering problem that occurs in some older browsers
when white space or line breaks exist immediately after a <td> tag, or immediately before a </td> tag. When you select
this option, Dreamweaver does not write line breaks after a <td> or before a </td> tag, even if the formatting in the
Tag Library indicates that the line break should be there.
Advanced Formatting Lets you set formatting options for
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS) code and for individual tags and attributes in the Tag Library Editor.
White Space Character (Japanese version only) Lets you select either &nbsp; or Zenkaku space for HTML code. The
white space selected in this option will be used for empty tags when creating a table and when the “Allow Multiple
Consecutive Spaces” option is enabled in Japanese Encoding pages.
More Help topics
“Format CSS code” on page 140
“Set code hints preferences” on page 294
290
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set the code rewriting preferences
Use the code rewriting preferences to specify how and whether Dreamweaver modifies your code while opening
documents, when copying and pasting form elements, and when entering attribute values and URLs using tools such
as the Property inspector. These preferences have no effect when you edit HTML or scripts in Code view.
If you disable the rewriting options, invalid-markup items are displayed in the Document window for HTML that it
would have rewritten.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Code Rewriting from the Category list on the left.
3Set any of the following options:
Fix Invalidly Nested and Unclosed Tags Rewrites overlapping tags. For example, <b><i>text</b></i> is rewritten as
<b><i>text</i></b>. This option also inserts closing quotation marks and closing brackets if they are missing.
Rename Form Items When Pasting Ensures you don’t have duplicate names for form objects. This option is enabled by
default.
Note: Unlike the other options in this preferences dialog box, this option does not apply when you open a document, only
when you copy and paste a form element.
Remove Extra Closing Tags Deletes closing tags that have no corresponding opening tag.
Warn When Fixing Or Removing Tags Displays a summary of technically invalid HTML that Dreamweaver attempted
to correct. The summary notes the location of the problem (using line and column numbers) so that you can find the
correction and ensure that it’s rendering as intended.
Never Rewrite Code: In Files With Extensions Allows you to prevent Dreamweaver from rewriting code in files with
the specified filename extensions. This option is particularly useful for files that contain third-party tags.
Encode <, >, &, And " In Attribute Values Using & Ensures that attribute values that you enter or edit using
Dreamweaver tools such as the Property inspector contain only legal characters. This option is enabled by default.
Note: This option and the following options do not apply to URLs that you type in Code view. Also, they do not cause
existing code already in a file to change.
Do Not Encode Special Characters Prevents Dreamweaver from changing URLs to use only legal characters. This
option is enabled by default.
Encode Special Characters In URL Using &# Ensures that when you enter or edit URLs using Dreamweaver tools such
as the Property inspector, those URLs contain only legal characters.
Encode Special Characters In URL Using % Operates the same way as the preceding option, but uses a different method
of encoding special characters. This encoding method (using the percent sign) may be more compatible with older
browsers, but doesn’t work as well with characters from some languages.
More Help topics
“Clean up Microsoft Word HTML files” on page 71
“Set code hints preferences” on page 294
291
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set the code colors
Use the code coloring preferences to specify colors for general categories of tags and code elements, such as form-
related tags or JavaScript identifiers. To set color preferences for a specific tag, edit the tag definition in the Tag Library
editor.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Code Coloring from the Category list on the left.
3Select a document type from the Document type list. Any edits you make to code coloring preferences will affect all
documents of this type.
4Click the Edit Coloring Scheme button.
5In the Edit Coloring Scheme dialog box, select a code element from the Styles For list, and set its text color,
background color, and (optional) style (bold, italic, or underline). The sample code in the Preview pane changes to
match the new colors and styles.
Click OK to save your changes and close the Edit Coloring Scheme dialog box.
6Make any other necessary selections in Code Coloring preferences and click OK.
Default background sets the default background color for Code view and the Code inspector.
Hidden characters sets the color for hidden characters.
Live Code background sets the background color for Live Code view. The default color is yellow.
Live Code changes sets the highlighting color of code that changes in Live Code view. The default color is pink.
Read only background sets the background color for read only text.
More Help topics
“Customize code coloring preferences for a template” on page 405
“Edit libraries, tags, and attributes” on page 329
“Preview Live Code” on page 277
“Set code hints preferences” on page 294
Use an external editor
You can specify an external editor to use for editing files with specific filename extensions. For example, you can start
a text editor such as BBEdit, Notepad, or TextEdit from Dreamweaver to edit JavaScript (JS) files.
You can assign different external editors for different filename extensions.
More Help topics
“Open files in Code view by default” on page 287
Set an external editor for a file type
1Select Edit > Preferences.
2Select File Types/Editors from the Category list on the left, set the options, and click OK.
Open In Code View Specifies the filename extensions that automatically open in Code view in Dreamweaver.
External Code Editor Specifies the text editor to use.
292
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Reload Modified Files Specifies the behavior when Dreamweaver detects that changes were made externally to a
document that is open in Dreamweaver.
Save On Launch Specifies whether Dreamweaver should always save the current document before starting the editor,
never save the document, or prompt you to ask whether to save or not each time you start the external editor.
Fireworks Specifies editors for various media file types.
Start an external code editor
❖Select Edit > Edit with External Editor.
Writing and editing code
Code hints
The code hints feature helps you insert and edit code quickly and without mistakes. As you type characters in Code
view, you see a list of candidates that automatically complete your entry. For example, when you type the first
characters of a tag, attribute, or CSS property name, you see a list of options beginning with those characters. This
feature simplifies the insertion and editing of code. You can also use it to see the available attributes for a tag, the
available parameters for a function, or the available methods for an object.
Code hints are available for several kinds of code. When you type the beginning character of a particular code type,
you see a list of appropriate candidates. For example, to display a list of code hints for HTML tag names, type a right
angle bracket (<). Similarly, to display JavaScript code hinting, type a period (dot operator) after an object.
For best results, especially when using code hints for functions and objects, set the Delay option in the Code Hints
preferences dialog box to 0 seconds.
The code hinting feature also recognizes custom JavaScript classes that are not built in to the language. You can write
these custom classes yourself or add them through third-party libraries like Prototype.
The list of code hints disappears when you press Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Macintosh).
For a video tutorial on code hinting, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4048_dw.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about JavaScript support in Dreamweaver, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10javascript.
Supported languages and technologies
Dreamweaver supports code hinting for the following languages and technologies:
•Adobe ColdFusion
•Ajax
•ASP JavaScript
•ASP.NET C#
•ASP.NET VB
•ASP VBScript
•CSS2 and CSS3
•DOM (Document Object Model)
293
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
•HTML4 and HTML5
•jQuery (CS5.5 and later)
•JavaScript (includes custom class hinting)
•JSP
•PHP MySQL
•Spry
Display a code hints menu
The code hints menu appears automatically as you type in Code view. But you can also display the code hints menu
manually, without typing.
1In Code view (Window > Code), place the insertion point inside a tag.
2Press Control+Spacebar.
Insert code in Code view by using code hints
1Type the beginning of a piece of code. For example, to insert a tag, type a right angle bracket (<). To insert an
attribute, place the insertion point immediately after a tag name and press Spacebar.
A list of items (such as tag names or attribute names) appears.
To close the list at any time, press Esc.
2Scroll through the list by using the scroll bar or the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
3To insert an item from the list, double-click it, or select it and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
If a recently created CSS style doesn’t appear in a code hints list of CSS styles, select Refresh Style List from the code
hints list. If Design view is visible, sometimes invalid code appears in Design view temporarily after you select Refresh
Style List. To remove that invalid code from Design view, press F5 to refresh after you finish inserting the style.
4To insert a closing tag, type </ (slash).
Note: By default, Dreamweaver determines when a closing tag is needed and inserts if automatically. You can change this
default behavior so that Dreamweaver inserts a closing tag after you type the final angle bracket (>) of the opening tag.
Alternatively, the default behavior can be to insert no closing tag at all. Select Edit
> Preferences > Code Hints, and then
select one of the Close Tags options.
Edit a tag by using code hints
•To replace an attribute with a different attribute, delete the attribute and its value. Then add an attribute and its
value as described in the previous procedure.
•To change a value, delete the value, and then add a value as described in the previous procedure.
Refreshing JavaScript code hints
Dreamweaver automatically refreshes the list of available code hints as you work in JavaScript files. For example,
suppose you are working in a primary HTML file and switch to a JavaScript file to make a change. That change is
reflected in the list of code hints when you return to the primary HTML file. However, automatic updating works only
if you edit your JavaScript files in Dreamweaver.
If you edit your JavaScript files outside Dreamweaver, press Control+period to refresh the JavaScript code hints.
294
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Code hinting and syntax errors
Code hints sometimes don’t work properly if Dreamweaver detects syntax errors in your code. Dreamweaver alerts
you to syntax errors by displaying information about them in a bar at the top of the page. The Syntax Error Information
Bar displays the first line of code on which Dreamweaver encounters the error. As you fix errors, Dreamweaver
continues to display any errors that occur later.
Dreamweaver provides additional help by highlighting (in red) the line numbers where syntax errors occur. The
highlight appears in the Code view of the file that contains the error.
Dreamweaver displays syntax errors not only for the current page but also for related pages. For example, suppose you
are working on an HTML page that uses an included JavaScript file. If the included file contains an error, Dreamweaver
displays an alert for the JavaScript file as well. You can easily open the related file containing the error by clicking its
name at the top of the document.
You can disable the Syntax Error Information Bar by clicking the Syntax Error Alerts button in the Coding toolbar.
Set code hints preferences
You can change default preferences for code hints. For example, if you don’t want to show CSS property names or Spry
code hints, you can deselect them in code hints preferences. You can also set preferences for code hint delay time and
closing tags.
Even if code hints are disabled, you can still display a pop-up hint in Code view by pressing Control+Spacebar.
1Select Edit > Preferences.
2Select Code Hints from the Category list on the left.
3Set any of the following options:
Close Tags Specifies how you want Dreamweaver to insert closing tags. By default, Dreamweaver inserts the closing
tag automatically after you type the characters </. You can change this default behavior so that the closing tag is
inserted after you type the final angle bracket (>) of the opening tag, or so that no closing tag is inserted at all.
Enable Code Hints Displays code hints while you enter code in Code view. Drag the Delay slider to set the time in
seconds before appropriate hints are displayed.
Enable Description Tooltips Displays an extended description (if available) of the selected code hint.
Menus Sets exactly which type of code hints you want displayed while typing. You can use all or some of the menus.
More Help topics
“Use the hints menu in the Quick Tag Editor” on page 318
W3C Document Object Model
Code hinting tutorial
Site-specific code hints
Dreamweaver CS5 lets developers working with Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress or other frameworks, to view PHP code
hints as they write in Code view. To display these code hints, you first need to create a configuration file using the Site-
Specific Code Hints dialog box. The configuration tells Dreamweaver where to look for code hints that are specific to
your site.
For a video tutorial on working with Site-specific code hints, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_comm13_en.
295
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create the configuration file
Use the Site-Specific Code Hints dialog box to create the configuration file needed to display code hints in
Dreamweaver.
By default, Dreamweaver stores the configuration file in the Adobe Dreamweaver
CS5\configuration\Shared\Dinamico\Presets directory.
Note: The code hints you create are specifically for the site selected in the Dreamweaver Files panel. In order for the code
hints to display, the page you are working on must reside in the currently selected site.
1Select Site > Site-Specific Code Hints.
By default, the Site-Specific Code Hints feature scans your site to determine which Content Management System
(CMS) framework you’re using. Dreamweaver supports three frameworks by default: Drupal, Joomla, and
Wordpress.
The four buttons to the right of the Structure pop-up menu let you import, save, rename, or delete framework
structures.
Note: You cannot delete or rename the existing default framework structures.
2In the sub-root text box, specify the sub-root folder where you store your framework’s files. You can click the folder
icon next to the text box to browse to the framework files’ location.
Dreamweaver displays a file tree structure of folders that contain your framework files. If the folders and/or files
you want to scan are all displayed, click OK to run the scan. If you want to customize the scan, go on to the next
steps.
3Click the plus (+) button above the Files window to select a file or folder that you want to add to the scan. In the
Add Files/Folders dialog box, you can specify particular file extensions that you want to include.
Note: Specifying particular file extensions speeds up the scanning process.
4To remove files from the scan, select the files you don’t want scanned, and then click the minus (-) button above
the Files window.
Note: If Drupal or Joomla is the selected framework, the Site-Specific Code Hints dialog box displays an additional
path to a file within your Dreamweaver configuration folder. Don’t delete this—it’s required when using these
frameworks.
5To customize how the Site-Specific Code Hints feature treats a particular file or folder, select it from the list and do
one of the following:
•Select Scan This Folder to include the selected folder in the scan.
•Select Recursive to include all files and folders within a selected directory.
•Click the Extensions button to open the Find Extensions dialog box, where you can specify the file extensions
you want included in your scan for a particular file or folder.
Save site structure
You can save the customized site structure you’ve created in the Site-Specific Code Hints dialog box.
1Create the structure of files and folders as you want it, adding and deleting files and folders as necessary.
2Click the Save Structure button in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box.
3Specify a name for your site structure and click Save.
Note: If the name you specify is already in use, Dreamweaver prompts you to enter a different name, or to confirm that
you want to overwrite the structure with the same name. You cannot overwrite any of the default framework structures.
296
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Rename site structures
When renaming your site structure, keep in mind that you cannot use the names of any of the three default site
framework structures, or the word “custom”.
1Display the structure that you want to rename.
2Click the Rename Structure icon button in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box.
3Specify a new name for the structure and click Rename.
Note: If the name you specify is already in use, Dreamweaver prompts you to enter a different name, or to confirm that
you want to overwrite the structure with the same name. You cannot overwrite any of the default framework structures.
Add files or folders to a site structure
You can add any files or folders that are associated with your framework. After that, you can specify the file extensions
of the files you want to scan. (See the next section.)
1Click the plus (+) button above the Files window to open the Add File/Folder dialog box.
2In the Add File/Folder text box, enter the path to the file or folder you want to add. You can also click the folder
icon next to the text box to browse to a file or folder.
3Click the plus (+) button above the Extensions window to specify the file extensions of files you want to scan.
Note: Specifying particular file extensions speeds up the scanning process.
4Click Add.
Scan a site for file extensions
Use the Find Extensions dialog box to view and edit file extensions that are included in the site structure.
1In the Site-Specific Code Hints dialog box, click the Extensions button.
The Find Extensions dialog box lists the current scannable extensions.
2To add another extension to the list, click the plus (+) button above the Extensions window.
3To delete an extension from the list, click the minus (-) button.
Insert code with the Coding toolbar
1Make sure you are in Code view (View > Code).
2Position the insertion point in the code, or select a block of code.
3Click a button in the Coding toolbar, or select an item from a pop-up menu in the toolbar.
To find out what each button does, position the pointer over it until a tooltip appears. The Coding toolbar displays the
following buttons by default:
Open Documents Lists the documents that are open. When you select one, it is displayed in the Document window.
Show Code Navigator Displays the Code Navigator. For more information, see “Navigate to related code” on
page 302.
Collapse Full Tag Collapses the content between a set of opening and closing tags (for example, the content between
<table> and </table>). You must place the insertion point in the opening or closing tag and then click the Collapse
Full Tag button to collapse the tag.
297
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also collapse the code outside a full tag by placing the insertion point in an opening or closing tag and
Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-clicking (Macintosh) the Collapse Full Tag button. Additionally, Control-clicking
this button disables “smart collapse” so that Dreamweaver doesn’t adjust the content it collapses outside full tags. For
more information, see “About collapsing code” on page 308.
Collapse Selection Collapses the selected code.
You can also collapse the code outside a selection by Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-clicking (Macintosh) the
Collapse Selection button. Additionally, Control-clicking this button disables “smart collapse” so that you can collapse
exactly what you selected without any manipulation from Dreamweaver. For more information, see “About collapsing
code” on page 308.
Expand All Restores all collapsed code.
Select Parent Tag Selects the content and surrounding opening and closing tags of the line in which you’ve placed the
insertion point. If you repeatedly click this button, and your tags are balanced, Dreamweaver eventually selects the
outermost html and /html tags.
Balance Braces Selects the content and surrounding parentheses, braces, or square brackets of the line in which you
placed the insertion point. If you repeatedly click this button, and your surrounding symbols are balanced,
Dreamweaver eventually selects the outermost braces, parentheses, or brackets in the document.
Line Numbers Lets you hide or show numbers at the beginning of each line of code.
Highlight Invalid Code Highlights invalid code in yellow.
Syntax Error Alerts in Info Bar Enables or disables an information bar at the top of the page that alerts you to syntax
errors. When Dreamweaver detects a syntax error, the Syntax Error Information Bar specifies the line in the code
where the error occurs. Additionally, Dreamweaver highlights the error’s line number on the left side of the document
in Code view. The info bar is enabled by default, but only appears when Dreamweaver detects syntax errors in the page.
Apply Comment Lets you wrap comment tags around selected code, or open new comment tags.
•Apply HTML Comment wraps the selected code with <!-- and -->, or opens a new tag if no code is selected.
•Apply // Comment inserts // at the beginning of each line of selected CSS or JavaScript code, or inserts a single //
tag if no code is selected.
•Apply /* */ wraps the selected CSS or JavaScript code with /* and */.
•Apply ' Comment is for Visual Basic code. It inserts a single quotation mark at the beginning of each line of a Visual
Basic script, or inserts a single quotation mark at the insertion point if no code is selected.
•When you are working in a ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, or ColdFusion file and you select the Apply Server Comment
option, Dreamweaver automatically detects the correct comment tag and applies it to your selection.
Remove Comment Removes comment tags from the selected code. If a selection includes nested comments, only the
outer comment tags are removed.
Wrap Tag Wraps selected code with the selected tag from the Quick Tag Editor.
Recent Snippets Lets you insert a recently used code snippet from the Snippets panel. For more information, see
“Work with code snippets” on page 304.
Move or Convert CSS Lets you move CSS to another location, or convert inline CSS to CSS rules. For more
information, see “Move/export CSS rules” on page 137 and “Convert inline CSS to a CSS rule” on page 138.
Indent Code Shifts the selection to the right.
Outdent Code Shifts the selection to the left.
298
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Format Source Code Applies previously specified code formats to selected code, or to the entire page if no code is
selected. You can also quickly set code formatting preferences by selecting Code Formatting Settings from the Format
Source Code button, or edit tag libraries by selecting Edit Tag Libraries.
The number of buttons available in the Coding toolbar varies depending on the size of the Code view in the Document
window. To see all of the available buttons, resize the Code view window or click the expander arrow at the bottom of
the Coding toolbar.
You can also edit the Coding toolbar to display more buttons (such as Word Wrap, Hidden Characters, and Auto
Indent) or hide buttons that you don’t want to use. To do this, however, you must edit the XML file that generates the
toolbar. For more information, see Extending Dreamweaver.
Note: The option to view hidden characters, which is not a default button in the Coding toolbar, is available from the
View menu (View
> Code View Options > Hidden Characters).
More Help topics
“Verify tags and braces are balanced” on page 311
“Coding toolbar overview” on page 11
“Display toolbars” on page 20
Insert code with the Insert panel
1Position the insertion point in the code.
2Select an appropriate category in the Insert panel.
3Click a button in the Insert panel or select an item from a pop-up menu in the Insert panel.
When you click an icon, the code may appear in your page immediately, or a dialog box may appear requesting more
information to complete the code.
To find out what each button does, position the pointer over it until a tooltip appears. The number and type of buttons
available in the Insert panel varies depending on the current document type. It also depends on whether you’re using
Code view or Design view.
Although the Insert panel provides a collection of frequently used tags, it is not comprehensive. To choose from a more
comprehensive selection of tags, use the Tag Chooser.
More Help topics
“Use the Insert panel” on page 198
Insert tags with the Tag Chooser
Use the Tag Chooser to insert in your page any tag in the Dreamweaver tag libraries (which include ColdFusion and
ASP.NET tag libraries).
1Position the insertion point in the code, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and select Insert Tag.
The Tag Chooser appears. The left pane contains a list of supported tag libraries, and the right pane shows the
individual tags in the selected tag library folder.
2Select a category of tags from the tag library, or expand the category and select a subcategory.
3Select a tag from the right pane.
299
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
4To view syntax and usage information for the tag in the Tag Chooser, click the Tag Info button. If available,
information about the tag appears.
5To view the same information about the tag in the Reference panel, click the <?> icon. If available, information
about the tag appears.
6To insert the selected tag into your code, click Insert.
If the tag appears in the right pane with angle brackets (for example, <title></title>), it doesn’t require additional
information, and it’s immediately inserted into the document at the insertion point.
If the tag does require additional information, a tag editor appears.
7If a tag editor opens, enter the additional information, and click OK.
8Click the Close button.
More Help topics
“About Dreamweaver tag libraries” on page 328
Insert HTML comments
A comment is descriptive text that you insert in HTML code to explain the code or provide other information. The text
of the comment appears only in Code view and is not displayed in a browser.
Insert a comment at the insertion point
❖Select Insert > Comment.
In Code view, a comment tag is inserted and the insertion point is placed in the middle of the tag. Type your comment.
In Design view, the Comment dialog box appears. Enter the comment and click OK.
Display comment markers in Design view
❖Select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements.
Make sure that the Comments option is selected in the Invisible Elements preferences or the comment marker does
not appear.
Edit an existing comment
•In Code view, find the comment and edit its text.
•In Design view, select the Comment marker, edit the comment’s text in the Property inspector, and then click in
the Document window.
Copy and paste code
1Copy the code from Code view or from another application.
2Place the insertion point in Code view, and select Edit > Paste.
More Help topics
“Paste and move collapsed code fragments” on page 309
300
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit tags with Tag editors
Use Tag editors to view, specify, and edit the attributes of tags.
1Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a tag in Code view or an object in Design view, and select Edit
Tag from the pop-up menu. (The contents of this dialog box change depending on the selected tag.)
2Specify or edit attributes for the tag and click OK.
To get more information about the tag within the Tag editor, click Tag Info.
Edit code with the Coding context menu
1In Code view, select some code and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh).
2Select the Selection submenu, and select any of the following options:
Collapse Selection Collapses the selected code.
Collapse Outside Selection Collapses all of the code outside the selected code.
Expand Selection Expands the selected code fragment.
Collapse Full Tag Collapses the content between a set of opening and closing tags (for example, the content between
<table> and </table>).
Collapse Outside Full Tag Collapses the content outside a set of opening and closing tags (for example, the content
outside <table> and </table>).
Expand All Restores all collapsed code.
Apply HTML Comment Wraps the selected code with <!-- and -->, or opens a new tag if no code is selected.
Apply /* */ Comment Wraps the selected CSS or JavaScript code with /* and */.
Apply // Comment Inserts // at the beginning of each line of selected CSS or JavaScript code, or inserts a single // tag
if no code is selected.
Apply ' Comment Inserts a single quotation mark at the beginning of each line of a Visual Basic script, or inserts a
single quotation mark at the insertion point if no code is selected.
Apply Server Comment Wraps the selected code. When you are working in a ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, or ColdFusion
file and you select the Apply Server Comment option, Dreamweaver automatically detects the correct comment tag
and applies it to your selection.
Apply Backslash-comment Hack Wraps the selected CSS code with comment tags that will cause Internet Explorer 5
for Macintosh to ignore the code.
Apply Caio Hack
Wraps the selected CSS code with comment tags that will cause Netscape Navigator 4 to ignore the code.
Remove Comment Removes comment tags from the selected code. If a selection includes nested comments, only the
outer comment tags are removed.
Remove Backslash-comment Hack Removes comment tags from the selected CSS code. If a selection includes nested
comments, only the outer comment tags are removed.
Remove Caio Hack Removes comment tags from the selected CSS code. If a selection includes nested comments, only
the outer comment tags are removed
Convert Tabs to Spaces Converts each tab in the selection to a number of spaces equal to the Tab Size value set in Code
Format preferences. For more information, see “Change the code format” on page 288.
301
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Convert Spaces To Tabs Converts runs of spaces in the selection to tabs. Each run of spaces that has a number of spaces
equal to the tab size is converted to one tab.
Indent Indents the selection, shifting it to the right. For more information, see “Indent code blocks” on page 301.
Outdent Shifts the selection to the left.
Remove All Tags Removes all the tags in the selection.
Convert Lines To Table Wraps the selection in a table tag with no attributes.
Add Line Breaks Adds a br tag at the end of each line of the selection.
Convert To Uppercase Converts all letters in the selection (including tag and attribute names and values) to uppercase.
Convert To Lowercase Converts all letters in the selection (including tag and attribute names and values) to lowercase.
Convert Tags To Uppercase Converts all tag and attribute names and attribute values in the selection to uppercase.
Convert Tags To Lowercase Converts all tag and attribute names and attribute values in the selection to lowercase.
More Help topics
“Collapse and expand code fragments” on page 308
Edit a server-language tag with the Property inspector
Edit the code in a server-language tag (such as an ASP tag) without entering Code view by using the code Property
inspector.
1In Design view, select the server-language tag visual icon.
2In the Property inspector, click the Edit button.
3Make changes to the tag code, and click OK.
More Help topics
“Set up your computer for application development” on page 511
Indent code blocks
As you write and edit code in Code view or the Code inspector, you can change the indentation level of a selected block
or line of code, shifting it right or left by one tab.
Indent the selected block of code
•Press Tab.
•Select Edit > Indent Code.
Unindent the selected block of code
•Press Shift+Tab.
•Select Edit > Outdent Code.
302
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Navigate to related code
The Code Navigator displays a list of code sources related to a particular selection on your page. Use it to navigate to
related code sources, such as internal and external CSS rules, server-side includes, external JavaScript files, parent
template files, library files, and iframe source files. When you click a link in the Code Navigator, Dreamweaver opens
the file containing the relevant piece of code. The file appears in the related files area, if it is enabled. If you don’t have
related files enabled, Dreamweaver opens the selected file as a separate document in the Document window.
If you click a CSS rule in the Code Navigator, Dreamweaver takes you directly to that rule. If the rule is internal to the
file, Dreamweaver displays the rule in Split view. If the rule is in an external CSS file, Dreamweaver opens the file and
displays the rule in the related files area above the main document.
You can access the Code Navigator from Design, Code, and Split views, as well as from the Code inspector.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with the Code Navigator, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10codenav.
For a video tutorial on working with Live View, related files, and the Code Navigator, see
www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4044_dw.
Open the Code Navigator
❖Alt+click (Windows) or Command+Option+Click (Macintosh) anywhere on the page. The Code Navigator
displays links to the code affecting the area you clicked.
Click outside the Code Navigator to close it.
Note: You can also open the Code Navigator by clicking the Code Navigator indicator . This indicator appears near
the insertion point on your page when the mouse has been idle for 2 seconds.
Navigate to code with the Code Navigator
1Open the Code Navigator from the area of the page that you’re interested in.
2Click the piece of code you want to go to.
The Code Navigator groups related code sources by file and lists the files alphabetically. For example, suppose that CSS
rules in three external files affect the selection in your document. In this case, the Code Navigator lists those three files
as well as the CSS rules relevant to the selection. For CSS related to a given selection, the Code Navigator functions like
the CSS Styles panel in Current Mode.
When you hover over links to CSS rules, the Code Navigator displays tool tips of the properties in the rule. These tool
tips are useful when you want to distinguish between many rules that share the same name.
Disable the Code Navigator indicator
1Open the Code Navigator.
2Select Disable Indicator in the lower-right corner.
3Click outside the Code Navigator to close it.
To re-enable the Code Navigator indicator, Alt+Click (Windows) or Command+Option+Click (Macintosh) to open
the Code Navigator and deselect the Disable Indicator option.
More Help topics
“Open Related Files” on page 68
Code Navigator tutorial
303
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Go to a JavaScript or VBScript function
In Code view and the Code inspector, you can view a list of all of the JavaScript or VBScript functions in your code and
jump to any one of them.
1View the document in Code view (View > Code) or the Code inspector (Window > Code Inspector).
2Do one of the following:
•In Code view, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) anywhere in Code view, and select the
Functions submenu from the context menu.
The Functions submenu does not appear in Design view.
Any JavaScript or VBScript functions in your code appear in the submenu.
To see the functions listed in alphabetical order, Control-right-click (Windows) or Option-Control-click (Macintosh)
in Code view, and then select the Functions submenu.
•In the Code inspector, click the Code Navigation button ({ }) on the toolbar.
3Select a function name to jump to the function in your code.
Extract JavaScript
The JavaScript Extractor (JSE) removes all or most of the JavaScript from your Dreamweaver document, exports it to
an external file, and links the external file to your document. The JSE can also remove event handlers such as onclick
and onmouseover from your code and then unobtrusively attach the JavaScript associated with those handlers to your
document.
You should be aware of the following limitations of the JavaScript Extractor before using it:
•The JSE does not extract script tags in the body of the document (except in the case of Spry widgets). There is a
chance that externalizing these scripts could cause unexpected results. By default, Dreamweaver lists these scripts
in the Externalize JavaScript dialog box, but does not select them for extraction. (You can manually select them if
you want.)
•The JSE does not extract JavaScript from editable regions of .dwt (Dreamweaver template) files, non-editable
regions of template instances, or Dreamweaver Library items.
•After you extract JavaScript using the Externalize JavaScript and Attach Unobtrusively option, you can no longer
edit Dreamweaver behaviors in the Behaviors panel. Dreamweaver cannot inspect and populate the Behaviors
panel with behaviors that it has attached unobtrusively.
•You cannot undo your changes once you close the page. You can, however, undo changes as long as you remain in
the same editing session. Select Edit
> Undo Externalize JavaScript to undo.
•Some very complex pages might not work as expected. Use care when extracting JavaScript from pages with
document.write() in the body and global variables.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about JavaScript support in Dreamweaver, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10javascript.
To use the JavaScript Extractor:
1Open a page that contains JavaScript (for example, a Spry page).
2Select Commands > Externalize JavaScript.
304
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
3In the Externalize JavaScript dialog box, edit the default selections if necessary.
•Select Only Externalize JavaScript if you want Dreamweaver to move any JavaScript to an external file, and to
reference that file in the current document. This option leaves event handlers such as onclick and onload in
the document, and leaves Behaviors visible in the Behaviors panel.
•Select Externalize JavaScript and Attach Unobtrusively if you want Dreamweaver to 1) move JavaScript to an
external file and reference it in the current document, and 2) remove event handlers from the HTML and insert
them at runtime using JavaScript. When you select this option, you can no longer edit Behaviors in the
Behaviors panel.
•In the Edit column, deselect any edits you do not want to make, or select edits that Dreamweaver did not select
by default.
By default, Dreamweaver lists but does not select the following edits:
•Script blocks in the head of the document that contain document.write() or document.writeln() calls.
•Script blocks in the head of the document that contain function signatures related to EOLAS handling code,
which is known to use document.write().
•Script blocks in the body of the document, unless the blocks contain only Spry widget or Spry data set
constructors.
•Dreamweaver automatically assigns IDs to elements that don’t already have IDs. If you don’t like these IDs, you
can change them by editing the ID text boxes.
4Click OK.
The summary dialog provides a summary of extractions. Review the extractions and click OK.
5Save the page.
Dreamweaver creates a SpryDOMUtils.js file, as well as another file that contains the extracted JavaScript.
Dreamweaver saves the SpryDOMUtils.js file in a SpryAssets folder in your site, and saves the other file at the same
level as the page from which you extracted the JavaScript. Don’t forget to upload both of these dependent files to your
web server when you upload the original page.
More Help topics
“Building Spry pages visually” on page 407
Work with code snippets
Code snippets let you store content for quick reuse. You can create, insert, edit, or delete snippets of HTML, JavaScript,
CFML, ASP, PHP, and more. You can also manage and share your code snippets with team members. Some predefined
snippets that you can use as a starting point are available.
Snippets that contain <font> tags and other deprecated elements and attributes are in the Legacy folder in the Snippets
panel.
Insert a code snippet
1Place the insertion point where you want to insert the code snippet, or select code to wrap a snippet around.
2In the Snippets panel (Window > Snippets), double-click the snippet.
You can also right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the snippet, and then select Insert from the pop-up menu.
305
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create a code snippet
1In the Snippets panel, click the New Snippet icon at the bottom of the panel.
2Enter a name for the snippet.
Note: Snippet names can’t contain characters that are invalid in filenames, such as slashes(/ or \), special characters, or
double quotes (“).
3(Optional) Enter a text description of the snippet. This makes it easier for other team members to use the snippet.
4For Snippet Type, select Wrap Selection or Insert Block.
aIf you chose Wrap Selection, add code for the following options:
Insert Before Type or paste the code to insert before the current selection.
Insert After Type or paste the code to insert after the current selection.
To set default spacing for the blocks, use line breaks; press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) inside the text
boxes.
Note: Because snippets can be created as start and end blocks, you can use them to surround other tags and content. This
is useful for inserting special formatting, links, navigation elements, and script blocks. Simply highlight the content you
want to surround, then insert the snippet.
bIf you chose Insert Block, type or paste the code to insert.
5(Optional) Select a Preview Type: Code or Design.
Design Renders the code and displays it in the Preview pane of the Snippets panel.
Code Displays the code in the Preview pane.
6Click OK.
Edit or delete a code snippet
❖In the Snippets panel, select a snippet, and click the Edit Snippet button or the Remove button at the bottom of the
panel.
Create code snippet folders and manage code snippets
1In the Snippets panel, click the New Snippet Folder button at the bottom of the panel.
2Drag snippets to the new folder or other folders, as desired.
Add or edit a keyboard shortcut for a snippet
1In the Snippets panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Edit Keyboard Shortcuts.
The Keyboard Shortcuts Editor appears.
2In the Commands pop-up menu, select Snippets.
A list of snippets appears.
3Select a snippet and assign a keyboard shortcut to it.
For more information, see “Customize keyboard shortcuts” on page 32.
Share a snippet with other members of your team
1Find the file corresponding to the snippet that you want to share in the Configuration/Snippets folder in the
Dreamweaver application folder.
306
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Copy the snippet file to a shared folder on your computer or a network computer.
3Have the other members of the team copy the snippet file to their Configuration/Snippets folder.
Search for tags, attributes, or text in code
You can search for specific tags, attributes, and attribute values. For example, you can search for all img tags that have
no alt attribute.
You can also search for specific text strings that are within or not within a set of container tags. For example, you can
search for the word Untitled contained in a title tag to find all the untitled pages on your site.
1Open the document to search in, or select documents or a folder in the Files panel.
2Select Edit > Find And Replace.
3Specify which files to search in, and then specify the kind of search to perform, and text or tags to search for.
Optionally, specify replacement text as well. Then click one of the Find buttons or one of the Replace buttons.
4Click the Close button.
5To search again without displaying the Find And Replace dialog box, press F3 (Windows) or Command+G
(Macintosh).
More Help topics
“Regular expressions” on page 283
“Search for and replace text” on page 213
Save and recall search patterns
You can save search patterns and reuse them later.
More Help topics
“Regular expressions” on page 283
“Search for and replace text” on page 213
Save a search pattern
1In the Find And Replace dialog box (Edit > Find And Replace), set the parameters for the search.
2Click the Save Query button (the disk icon).
3In the dialog box that appears, navigate to the folder where you want to save queries. Then type a filename that
identifies the query, and click Save.
For example, if the search pattern involves looking for img tags with no alt attribute, you might name the query
img_no_alt.dwr.
Note: Saved queries have the filename extension .dwr. Some saved queries from older versions of Dreamweaver may have
the extension .dwq.
Recall a search pattern
1Select Edit > Find And Replace.
2Click the Load Query button (the folder icon).
307
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Navigate to the folder where your queries are saved. Then select a query file and click Open.
4Click Find Next, Find All, Replace, or Replace All to initiate the search.
Use language-reference material
The Reference panel provides you with a quick reference tool for markup languages, programming languages, and CSS
styles. It provides information on the specific tags, objects, and styles that you are working with in Code view (or the
Code inspector). The Reference panel also provides example code that you can paste into your documents.
Open the Reference panel
1Do one of the following in Code view:
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a tag, attribute, or keyword, and then select Reference from
the context menu.
•Place the insertion point in a tag, attribute, or keyword, and then press Shift+F1.
The Reference panel opens and displays information about the tag, attribute, or keyword you clicked.
2To adjust the text size in the Reference panel, select Large Font, Medium Font, or Small Font from the options menu
(the small arrow at the upper right of the panel).
Paste example code into your document
1Click anywhere in example code in the reference content.
The entire code example is highlighted.
2Select Edit > Copy, and then paste the example code into your document in Code view.
Browse the reference content in the Reference panel
1To display tags, objects, or styles from another book, select a different book from the Book pop-up menu.
2To view information about a specific item, select it from the Tag, Object, Style, or CFML pop-up menu (depending
on which book you selected).
3To view information about an attribute of the selected item, select the attribute from the pop-up menu next to the
Tag, Object, Style, or CFML pop-up menu.
This menu contains the list of attributes for the item you select. The default selection is Description, which displays a
description of the chosen item.
Print code
You can print your code to edit it offline, archive it, or distribute it.
1Open a page in Code view.
2Select File > Print Code.
308
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Specify printing options, and then click OK (Windows) or Print (Macintosh).
Collapsing code
About collapsing code
You can collapse and expand code fragments so that you can view different sections of your document without having
to use the scroll bar. For example, to see all of the CSS rules in the head tag that apply to a div tag farther down the
page, you can collapse everything between the head tag and the div tag so that you can see both sections of code at
once. Although you can select code fragments by making selections in Design view or Code view, you can collapse code
only in Code view.
Note: Files created from Dreamweaver templates display all code as fully expanded, even if the template file (.dwt)
contains collapsed code fragments.
More Help topics
“Paste and move collapsed code fragments” on page 309
“Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296
“Clean up code” on page 310
Collapse and expand code fragments
When you select code, a set of collapse buttons is displayed next to the selection (Minus symbols in Windows; vertical
triangles on the Macintosh). Click the buttons to collapse and expand the selection. When the code is collapsed, the
collapse buttons change to an expand button (a Plus button in Windows; a horizontal triangle on the Macintosh).
Sometimes, the exact fragment of code that you selected is not collapsed. Dreamweaver uses “smart collapse” to
collapse the most common and visually pleasing selection. For example, if you selected an indented tag and then
selected the indented spaces before the tag as well, Dreamweaver would not collapse the indented spaces, because most
users would expect their indentations to be preserved. To disable smart collapse and force Dreamweaver to collapse
exactly what you selected, hold down the Control key before collapsing your code.
Also, a warning icon on collapsed code fragments is displayed if a fragment contains errors or code that is unsupported
by certain browsers.
You can also collapse the code by Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-clicking (Macintosh) one of the collapse buttons,
or by clicking the Collapse Selection button in the Coding toolbar.
1Select some code.
2Select Edit > Code Collapse, and select any of options.
More Help topics
“Edit code with the Coding context menu” on page 300
“Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296
Select a collapsed code fragment
❖In Code view, click the collapsed code fragment.
309
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: When you make a selection in Design view that is part of a collapsed code fragment, the fragment is automatically
expanded in Code view. When you make a selection in Design view that is a complete code fragment, the fragment
remains collapsed in Code view.
View the code in a collapsed code fragment without expanding it
❖Hold the mouse pointer over the collapsed code fragment.
Use keyboard shortcuts to collapse and expand code
❖You can also use the following keyboard shortcuts:
Paste and move collapsed code fragments
You can copy and paste collapsed code fragments, or move collapsed code fragments by dragging.
More Help topics
“Insert code with the Coding toolbar” on page 296
“Clean up code” on page 310
Copy and paste a collapsed code fragment
1Select the collapsed code fragment.
2Select Edit > Copy.
3Place the insertion point where you want to paste the code.
4Select Edit > Paste.
Note: You can paste into other applications, but the collapsed state of the code fragment is not preserved.
Drag a collapsed code fragment
1Select the collapsed code fragment.
2Drag the selection to the new location.
To drag a copy of the selection, Control-drag (Windows) or Alt-drag (Macintosh).
Note: You cannot drag to other documents.
Command Windows Macintosh
Collapse Selection Control+Shift+C Command+Shift+C
Collapse Outside Selection Control+Alt+C Command+Alt+C
Expand Selection Control+Shift+E Command+Shift+E
Collapse Full Tag Control+Shift+J Command+Shift+J
Collapse Outside Full Tag Control+Alt+J Command+Alt+J
Expand All Control+Alt+E Command+Alt+E
310
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Optimizing and debugging code
Clean up code
You can automatically remove empty tags, combine nested font tags, and otherwise improve messy or unreadable
HTML or XHTML code.
For information on how to clean up HTML generated from a Microsoft Word document, see “Open and edit existing
documents” on page 67.
1Open a document:
•If the document is in HTML, select Commands > Clean Up HTML.
•If the document is in XHTML, select Commands > Clean Up XHTML.
For an XHTML document, the Clean Up XHTML command fixes XHTML syntax errors, sets the case of tag attributes
to lowercase, and adds or reports the missing required attributes for a tag in addition to performing the HTML cleanup
operations.
2In the dialog box that appears, select any of the options, and click OK.
Note: Depending on the size of your document and the number of options selected, it may take several seconds to complete
the cleanup.
Remove Empty Container Tags Removes any tags that have no content between them. For example, <b></b> and
<font
color="#FF0000"></font> are empty tags, but the <b> tag in <b>some text</b> is not.
Remove Redundant Nested Tags Removes all redundant instances of a tag. For example, in the code <b>This is
what I <b>really</b>
wanted to say</b>, the b tags surrounding the word really are redundant and would be removed.
Remove Non-Dreamweaver HTML Comments Removes all comments that were not inserted by Dreamweaver. For
example, <!--begin body text--> would be removed, but <!--TemplateBeginEditable name="doctitle"-->
wouldn’t, because it’s a Dreamweaver comment that marks the beginning of an editable region in a template.
Remove Dreamweaver Special Markup Removes comments that Dreamweaver adds to code to allow documents to be
automatically updated when templates and library items are updated. If you select this option when cleaning up code
in a template-based document, the document is detached from the template. For more information, see “Detach a
document from a template” on page 401.
Remove Specific Tag(s) Removes the tags specified in the adjacent text box. Use this option to remove custom tags
inserted by other visual editors and other tags that you don’t want to appear on your site (for example, blink). Separate
multiple tags with commas (for example, font,blink).
Combine Nested <font> Tags When Possible Consolidates two or more font tags when they control the same range of
text. For example, <font
size="7"><font color="#FF0000">big red</font></font> would be changed to <font size="7"
color="#FF0000">big red</font>.
Show Log On Completion Displays an alert box with details about the changes made to the document as soon as the
cleanup is finished.
311
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Change the code format” on page 288
“Set the code colors” on page 291
Verify tags and braces are balanced
You can check to make sure the tags, parentheses (( )), braces ({ }), and square brackets ([ ]) in your page are balanced.
Balanced means that every opening tag, parenthesis, brace, or bracket has a corresponding closing one, and vice versa.
Check for balanced tags
1Open the document in Code view.
2Place the insertion point in the nested code you want to check.
3Select Edit > Select Parent Tag.
The enclosing matching tags (and their contents) are selected in your code. If you keep selecting Edit > Select Parent
Tag, and your tags are balanced, eventually Dreamweaver will select the outermost html and /html tags.
Check for balanced parentheses, braces, or square brackets
1Open the document in Code view.
2Place the insertion point in the code you want to check.
3Select Edit > Balance Braces.
All of the code between the enclosing parentheses, braces, or square brackets is selected. Choosing Edit > Balance
Braces again selects all of the code inside the parentheses, braces, or square brackets that enclose the new selection.
Check for browser compatibility
The Browser Compatibility Check (BCC) feature helps you locate combinations of HTML and CSS that can trigger
browser rendering bugs. This feature also tests the code in your documents for any CSS properties or values that are
unsupported by your target browsers.
Note: This feature replaces the former Target Browser Check feature, but retains the CSS functionality of that feature.
More Help topics
“Check for cross-browser CSS rendering issues” on page 142
Validate XML documents
You can set preferences for the Validator, the specific problems that the Validator should check for, and the types of
errors that the Validator should report.
1Do one of the following:
•For an XML or XHTML file, select File > Validate > As XML.
•The Validation tab of the Results panel displays a “No errors or warnings” message or lists the syntax errors it
found.
2Double-click an error message to highlight the error in the document.
3To save the report as an XML file, click the Save Report button.
312
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
4To view the report in your primary browser (which lets you print the report), click the Browse Report button.
Validate documents using W3C validator (CS5.5)
Dreamweaver CS5.5 and later helps you create standards-compliant web pages with its in-built support for the W3C
validator. The W3C validator validates your HTML documents for conformance to HTML or XHTML standards. You
can validate both open documents, and files posted on a live server.
Use the report that is generated after validation to fix errors in your file.
Note: The W3C validator feature is available in Dreamweaver CS5.5 and later only. The previous version of the feature,
available in Dreamweaver CS4, was deprecated for Dreamweaver CS5. See the Dreamweaver CS4 documentation for
more information about the previous version of the feature.
Validate an open document
1Select Window > Results > W3C validation.
2Select File > Validate > Validate Current Document (W3C).
Validate a live document
For live documents, Dreamweaver validates code received by the browser. This code is displayed when you right-click
in your browser, and choose the option to view the source code. Validating live documents is especially useful when
validating dynamic pages using PHP, JSP, and so on.
The Validate Live Document option is enabled only when the URL of the page being validated begins with http.
1Select Window > Results > W3C validation.
2Click Live View.
3Select File > Validate > Validate Live Document (W3C).
For live documents, when you double-click an error in the W3C validation panel, a separate window opens. The
window displays the browser-generated code, and the line with the error is highlighted.
Customize validation settings
1Select Window > Results > W3C validation.
2In the W3C Validation panel, click the W3C Validation (Play) icon. Select Settings.
3Select a DOCTYPE for validation if a DOCTYPE has not been explicitly specified for the document.
4If you do not want errors and warnings displayed, clear the options.
5Click Manage if you want to delete any warnings or errors that you have hidden using the W3C Validation panel.
When you remove warnings and errors, they are not displayed when you select Show All in the W3C validation
panel.
6Select Don't Show W3C Validator Notification Dialog if you do not want the W3C Validator Notification dialog
displayed when you begin validation.
Working with validation reports
After validation is complete, the validation reports are displayed in the W3C Validation panel.
•
For more information on the error or warning, select the error/warning in the W3C Validation panel. Click More Info.
•To save the report as an XML file, click Save Report.
313
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
•To view the entire report in HTML, click Browse Report. The HTML report provides the complete list of errors and
warnings along with a summary.
•To jump to the location in the code containing the error, select the error in the W3C Validation panel. Click the
Options button, and select Go to Line.
•To hide errors/warnings, select the error/warning. Click the Options button, and select Hide Error.
•To view all the errors and warnings, including the hidden errors, click the Options button. Select Show All. Any
hidden errors and warnings you deleted in the Preferences dialog are not listed.
•To clear all the results in the W3C validation panel, click the Options button. Select Clear Results.
Set Validator preferences
The Validate tags feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5. However, Dreamweaver still supports external
code validators that you install as extensions. When you install an external validator extension, Dreamweaver lists its
preferences in the Validator category of the Preferences dialog box.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Validator from the Category list on the left.
3Select tag libraries to validate against.
You can’t select multiple versions of the same tag library or language; for example, if you select HTML 4.0, you can’t
also select HTML 3.2 or HTML
2.0. Select the earliest version you want to validate against; for example, if a document
contains valid HTML 2.0 code, it will also be valid HTML 4.0 code.
4Click Options, and set options for those libraries.
5Select Display options for the types of errors and warnings that you want the Validator report to include.
6Select items the Validator should check for:
Quotes In Text Indicates that Dreamweaver should warn you about each use of quotation marks in the text of the
document; you should use the &quot; entity instead of quotation marks in the text of HTML documents.
Entities In Text Indicates that Dreamweaver should recommend changing certain characters (such as ampersand (&),
less-than (<), and greater-than (>)) to their HTML entity equivalents.
7Click OK to close the Validator Options dialog box, and click OK again to set the preferences.
Make pages XHTML-compliant
When you create a page, you can make it XHTML-compliant. You can also make an existing HTML document
XHTML-compliant.
More Help topics
“XHTML code” on page 282
Create XHTML-compliant documents
1Select File > New.
2Select a category and type of page to create.
3Select one of the XHTML document type definitions (DTD) from the DocType pop-up menu on the far right of
the dialog box, and click Create.
314
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
For example, you can make an HTML document XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0 Transitional or
XHTML 1.0 Strict from the pop-up menu.
Note: Not all document types can be made XHTML-compliant.
Create XHTML-compliant documents by default
1Select Edit > Preferences or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Mac OS X), and select the New Document category.
2Select a default document and select one of the XHTML document type definitions from the Default Document
Type (DTD) pop-up menu, and click OK.
For example, you can make an HTML document XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0 Transitional or
XHTML 1.0 Strict from the pop-up menu.
Make an existing HTML document XHTML-compliant
1Open a document, and do one of the following:
•For a document without frames, select File > Convert, and then select one of the XHTML document type
definitions.
For example, you can make an HTML document XHTML-compliant by selecting XHTML 1.0 Transitional or
XHTML 1.0 Strict from the pop-up menu.
•For a document with frames, select a frame and select File > Convert, and then select one of the XHTML
document type definitions.
2To convert the whole document, repeat this step for every frame and the frameset document.
Note: You can’t convert an instance of a template, because it must be in the same language as the template on which it’s
based. For example, a document based on an XHTML template will always be in XHTML, and a document based on a
non-XHTML-compliant HTML template will always be HTML and can’t be converted to XHTML or any other language.
Use the ColdFusion debugger (Windows only)
If you’re a ColdFusion developer using ColdFusion as your Dreamweaver testing server, you can view ColdFusion
debugging information without leaving Dreamweaver.
Note: This feature is not supported on the Macintosh. Macintosh developers can use Preview In Browser (F12) to open a
ColdFusion page in a separate browser. If the page contains errors, information about the possible causes for the errors
appears at the bottom of the page.
If you’re running ColdFusion MX 6.1 or earlier, make sure debugging settings are enabled in the ColdFusion
Administrator before you begin debugging. If you’re running ColdFusion MX 7 or later, Dreamweaver enables the
settings for you.
Also, make sure your Dreamweaver testing server is running ColdFusion. For more information, see “Set up a testing
server” on page 45.
To ensure the debug information is refreshed every time a page is displayed in the internal browser, make sure Internet
Explorer checks for newer versions of the file every time the file is requested. In Internet Explorer, select Tools >
Internet Options, select the General tab, and click the Settings button in the Temporary Internet Files area. In the Settings
dialog box, select the Every Visit to Page option.
1Open the ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
2Click the Server Debug icon on the Document toolbar.
315
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver requests the page from the ColdFusion server and displays it in an internal Internet Explorer browser
window. If the page contains errors, possible causes for the errors appear at the bottom of the page.
At the same time, a Server Debug panel opens. The panel provides a large amount of useful information, such as all
the pages the server processed to render the page, all the SQL queries executed on the page, and all the server variables
and their values, if any. The panel also provides a summary of execution times.
3If an Exceptions category appears in the Server Debug panel, click the Plus (+) icon to expand the category.
The Exceptions category appears if the server encountered a problem or problems with the page. Expand the category
to find out more about the problem.
4Switch back to Code view (View > Code) or Design view (View > Design) and fix the error.
5Save the file and click the Server Debug icon again.
Dreamweaver renders the page in the internal browser again and updates the Server Debug panel. If there are no more
problems with the page, the Exceptions category does not reappear in the panel.
6To leave debug mode, switch to Code view (View > Code) or Design view (View > Design).
More Help topics
“Using ColdFusion components” on page 623
Editing code in Design view
About editing code in Design view
Dreamweaver lets you visually create and edit web pages without worrying about the underlying source code, but there
are times when you might need to edit the code for greater control or to troubleshoot your web page. Dreamweaver
lets you edit some code while working in Design view.
This section is designed for people who prefer to work in Design view, but who also want quick access to the code.
Selecting child tags in Design view
If you select an object in Design view that contains child tags—for example, an HTML table—you can quickly select
the first child tag of that object by selecting Edit
> Select Child.
Note: This command is only enabled in Design view.
For example, the <table> tag normally has <tr> child tags. If you select a <table> tag in the tag selector, you can
select the first row in the table by selecting Edit
> Select Child. Dreamweaver selects the first <tr> tag in the tag
selector. Since the <tr> tag itself has child tags, namely <td> tags, selecting Edit > Select Child again selects the first
cell in the table.
Edit code with the Property inspector
You can use the Property inspector to inspect and edit the attributes of text or of objects on your page. The properties
shown in the Property inspector generally correspond to attributes of tags; changing a property in the Property
inspector generally has the same effect as changing the corresponding attribute in Code view.
316
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: The Tag inspector and the Property inspector both let you view and edit a tag’s attributes. The Tag inspector lets
you to view and edit every attribute associated with a given tag. The Property inspector shows only the most common
attributes, but provides a richer set of controls for changing those attributes’ values, and lets you edit certain objects (such
as table columns) that don’t correspond to specific tags.
1Click in the text or select an object on the page.
The Property inspector for the text or object appears below the Document window. If the Property inspector is not
visible, select Window
> Properties.
2Make changes to the attributes in the Property inspector.
Edit CFML with the Property inspector
Use the Property inspector to inspect and modify ColdFusion markup in Design view.
1In the Property inspector, click the Attributes button to edit the tag’s attributes or to add new ones.
2If the tag holds content between its opening and closing tags, click the Content button to edit the content.
The Content button appears only if the selected tag is not an empty tag (that is, if it has both an opening and a closing tag).
3If the tag contains a conditional expression, make changes to it in the Expression box.
Change attributes with the Tag inspector
Use the Tag inspector to edit or add attributes and attributes’ values. The Tag inspector lets you edit tags and objects
by using a property sheet similar to the ones found in other integrated development environments (IDEs).
1Do one of the following in the Document window:
•In Code view (or the Code inspector), click anywhere in a tag’s name or in its contents.
•In Design view, select an object, or select a tag in the Tag Selector.
2Open the Tag inspector (Window > Tag Inspector), and select the Attributes tab.
The selection’s attributes and their current values appear in the Tag inspector.
3Do any of the following in the Tag inspector:
•To view the attributes organized by category, click the Show Category View button .
•To view the attributes in an alphabetical list, click the Show List View button .
•To change the attribute’s value, select the value and edit it.
•To add a value for an attribute with no value, click in the attribute-value column to the right of the attribute and
add a value.
•If the attribute takes pre-defined values, select a value from the pop-up menu (or the color picker) to the right of
the attribute-value column.
•If the attribute takes a URL value, click the Browse button or use the Point-To-File icon to select a file, or type the
URL in the box.
•If the attribute takes a value from a source of dynamic content (such as a database), click the Dynamic Data button
to the right of the attribute-value column. Then select a source.
•To delete the attribute’s value, select the value and press Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Macintosh).
•To change the name of an attribute, select the attribute name and edit it.
317
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If you change the name of a standard attribute and then add a value for that attribute, the attribute and its new
value move to the appropriate category.
•To add a new attribute not already listed, click in the empty space below the last listed attribute name and type a
new attribute name.
4Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh), or click elsewhere in the Tag inspector, to update the tag in your
document.
More Help topics
“Using JavaScript behaviors (general instructions)” on page 333
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
Quick Tag Editor overview
You use the Quick Tag Editor to quickly inspect, insert, and edit HTML tags without leaving Design view.
If you type invalid HTML in the Quick Tag Editor, Dreamweaver attempts to correct it for you by inserting closing
quotation marks and closing angle brackets where needed.
To set the Quick Tag Editor options, open the Quick Tag Editor by pressing Control-T (Windows) or Command-T
(Macintosh).
The Quick Tag Editor has three modes:
•Insert HTML mode is used to insert new HTML code.
•Edit Tag mode is used to edit an existing tag.
•Wrap Tag mode is to wrap a new tag around the current selection.
Note: The mode in which the Quick Tag Editor opens depends on the current selection in Design view.
In all three modes, the basic procedure for using the Quick Tag Editor is the same: open the editor, enter or edit
tags and attributes, and then close the editor.
You can cycle through the modes by pressing Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh) while the Quick
Tag Editor is active.
More Help topics
“Use the hints menu in the Quick Tag Editor” on page 318
Edit code with the Quick Tag Editor
Use the Quick Tag Editor to quickly insert and edit HTML tags without leaving Design view.
More Help topics
“Write and edit scripts in Design view” on page 320
Insert an HTML tag
1In Design view, click in the page to place the insertion point where you want to insert code.
2Press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh).
318
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
The Quick Tag Editor opens in Insert HTML mode.
3Enter the HTML tag and press Enter.
The tag is inserted into your code, along with a matching closing tag if applicable.
4Press Escape to exit without making any changes.
Edit an HTML tag
1Select an object in Design view.
You can also select the tag you want to edit from the tag selector at the bottom of the Document window. For more
information, see “Edit code with the tag selector” on page 319.
2Press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh).
The Quick Tag Editor opens in Edit Tag mode.
3Enter new attributes, edit existing attributes, or edit the tag’s name.
4Press Tab to move forward from one attribute to the next; press Shift+Tab to move back.
Note: By default, changes are applied to the document when you press Tab or Shift+Tab.
5To close the Quick Tag Editor and apply all the changes, press Enter.
6To exit without making any further changes, press Escape.
Wrap the current selection with HTML tags
1Select unformatted text or an object in Design view.
Note: If you select text or an object that includes an opening or closing HTML tag, the Quick Tag Editor opens in Edit
Tag mode instead of Wrap Tag mode.
2Press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh), or click the Quick Tag Editor button in the Property
inspector.
The Quick Tag Editor opens in Wrap Tag mode.
3Enter a single opening tag, such as strong, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
The tag is inserted at the beginning of the current selection, and a matching closing tag is inserted at the end.
4To exit without making any changes, press Escape.
Use the hints menu in the Quick Tag Editor
The Quick Tag Editor includes an attributes hint menu that lists all the valid attributes of the tag you are editing or
inserting.
You can also disable the hints menu or adjust the delay before the menu pops up in the Quick Tag Editor.
To see a hints menu that lists valid attributes for a tag, pause briefly while editing an attribute name in the Quick Tag
Editor. A hints menu appears, listing all the valid attributes for the tag you’re editing.
319
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Similarly, to see a hints menu listing valid tag names, pause briefly while entering or editing a tag name in the Quick
Tag Editor.
Note: The Quick Tag Editor code hints preferences are controlled by the normal code hints preferences. For more
information, see “Set code hints preferences” on page 294.
More Help topics
“Quick Tag Editor overview” on page 317
Use a hints menu
1Do one of the following:
•Begin to type a tag or attribute name. The selection in the Code Hints menu jumps to the first item that starts with
the letters you typed.
•Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to select an item.
•Use the scroll bar to find an item.
2Press Enter to insert the selected item, or double-click an item to insert it.
3To close the hints menu without inserting an item, press Escape or continue typing.
Disable the hints menu or change the delay before it appears
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh) and select Code Hints.
The Code Hints Preferences dialog box appears.
2To disable the hints menu, deselect the Enable Code Hints option.
3To change the delay before the menu appears, adjust the Delay slider, and click OK.
Edit code with the tag selector
You can use the tag selector to select, edit, or remove tags without leaving Design view. The tag selector is located in
the status bar at the bottom of the Document window and shows a series of tags, as follows:
Edit or delete a tag
1Click in the document.
The tags that apply at the insertion point appear in the tag selector.
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a tag in the tag selector.
3To edit a tag, select Edit Tag from the menu. Make your changes in the Quick Tag Editor. For more information,
see “Edit code with the Quick Tag Editor” on page 317.
4To delete a tag, select Remove Tag from the menu.
Select an object corresponding to a tag
1Click in the document.
The tags that apply at the insertion point appear in the tag selector.
2Click a tag in the tag selector.
320
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
The object represented by the tag is selected on the page.
Use this technique to select individual table rows (tr tags) or cells (td tags).
Write and edit scripts in Design view
You can work with client-side JavaScripts and VBScripts in both Code and Design views, in the following ways:
•Write a JavaScript or VBScript script for your page without leaving Design view.
•Create a link in your document to an external script file without leaving Design view.
•Edit a script without leaving Design view.
Before starting, select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements to ensure that script markers appear on the page.
Write a client-side script
1Place the insertion point where you want the script.
2Select Insert > HTML > Script Objects > Script.
3Select the scripting language from the Language pop-up menu.
If you are using JavaScript and are unsure of the version, select JavaScript rather than JavaScript1.1 or JavaScript1.2.
4Type or paste your script code into the Content box.
You don’t need to include the opening and closing script tags.
5Type or paste HTML code into the No Script box. Browsers that don’t support the chosen scripting language
display this code instead of running the script.
6Click OK.
Link to an external script file
1Place the insertion point where you want the script.
2Select Insert > HTML > Script Objects > Script.
3Click OK without typing anything in the Content box.
4Select the script marker in Design view of the Document window.
5In the Property inspector, click the folder icon and browse to and select the external script file, or type the filename
in the Source box.
Edit a script
1Select the script marker.
2In the Property inspector, click the Edit button.
The script appears in the Script Properties dialog box.
If you linked to an external script file, the file opens in Code view, where you can make your edits.
Note: If there is code between the script tags, the Script Properties dialog box opens even if there is also a link to an external
script file.
3In the Language box, specify either JavaScript or VBScript as the language of the script.
4In the Type pop-up menu, specify the type of script, either client-side or server-side.
321
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
5(Optional) In the Source box, specify an externally linked script file.
Click the folder icon or the Browse button to select a file, or type the path.
6Edit the script, and click OK.
Edit ASP server-side scripts in Design view
Use the ASP script Property inspector to inspect and modify ASP server-side scripts in Design view.
1In Design view, select the server-language tag visual icon.
2In the ASP script Property inspector, click the Edit button.
3Edit the ASP server-side script, and click OK.
Edit scripts on the page by using the Property inspector
1In the Property inspector, select the scripting language from the Language pop-up menu, or type a language name
in the Language box.
Note: If you are using JavaScript and are unsure of the version, select JavaScript rather than JavaScript1.1 or
JavaScript1.2.
2In the Type pop-up menu, specify the type of script, either client-side or server-side.
3(Optional) In the Source box, specify an externally linked script file. Click the folder icon to select the file, or
type the path.
4Click Edit to modify the script.
More Help topics
“Write and edit scripts in Design view” on page 320
Using JavaScript behaviors
You can easily attach JavaScript (client-side) behaviors to page elements by using the Behaviors tab of the Tag
inspector. For more information, see “Applying built-in JavaScript behaviors” on page 336.
Working with head content for pages
Pages contain elements that describe the information on the page, which is used by search browsers. You can set the
properties of head elements to control how your pages are identified.
View and edit head content
You can view the elements in the head section of a document by using the View menu, the Document window’s Code
view, or the Code inspector.
View elements in the head section of a document
❖Select View > Head Content. For each element of the head content, a marker appears at the top of the Document
window in Design view.
Note: If your Document window is set to show only Code view, View > Head Content is dimmed.
322
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert an element into the head section of a document
1Select an item from the Insert > HTML > Head Tags submenu.
2Enter options for the element in the dialog box that appears, or in the Property inspector.
Edit an element in the head section of a document
1Select View > Head Content.
2Click one of the icons in the head section to select it.
3Set or modify the properties of the element in the Property inspector.
Set the meta properties for the page
A meta tag is a head element that records information about the current page, such as the character encoding, author,
copyright, or keywords. These tags can also be used to give information to the server, such as the expiration date,
refresh interval, and POWDER rating for the page. (POWDER, the Protocol for Web Description Resources, provides
a method for assigning ratings, such as movie ratings, to web pages.)
Add a meta tag
1Select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Meta.
2Specify the properties in the dialog box that appears.
Edit an existing meta tag
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Meta marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3Specify the properties in the Property inspector.
Meta tag properties
❖Set the meta tag properties as follows:
Attribute Specifies whether the meta tag contains descriptive information about the page (name) or HTTP header
information (http-equiv).
Value Specifies the type of information you’re supplying in this tag. Some values, such as description, keywords,
and refresh, are already well defined (and have their own individual Property inspectors in Dreamweaver), but you
can specify practically any value (for example, creationdate, documentID, or level).
Content Specifies the actual information. For example, if you specified level for Value, you might specify beginner,
intermediate, or advanced for Content.
Set the page title
There is only one title property: the title of the page. The title appears in the title bar of the Document window in
Dreamweaver as well as in the browser’s title bar when you view the page in most browsers. The title also appears in
the Document window toolbar.
Specify the title in the Document window
❖Enter the title in the Title text box in the Document window toolbar.
323
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Specify the title in the head content
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Title marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3Specify the page title in the Property inspector.
Specify keywords for the page
Many search-engine robots (programs that automatically browse the web gathering information for search engines to
index) read the contents of the Keywords meta tag and use the information to index your pages in their databases.
Because some search engines limit the number of keywords or characters they index, or ignore all keywords if you go
beyond the limit, it’s a good idea to use just a few well-chosen keywords.
Add a Keywords meta tag
1Select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Keywords.
2Specify the keywords, separated by commas, in the dialog box that appears.
Edit a Keywords meta tag
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Keywords marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3In the Property inspector, view, modify, or delete keywords. You can also add keywords separated by commas.
Specify descriptions for the page
Many search-engine robots (programs that automatically browse the web gathering information for search engines to
index) read the contents of the Description meta tag. Some use the information to index your pages in their databases,
and some also display the information on the search results page (instead of displaying the first few lines of your
document). Some search engines limit the number of characters they index, so it’s a good idea to limit your description
to a few words (for example, Pork barbecue catering in Albany, Georgia, or Web design at reasonable
rates for clients worldwide).
Add a Description meta tag
1Select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Description.
2Enter descriptive text in the dialog box that appears.
Edit a Description meta tag
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Description marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3In the Property inspector, view, modify, or delete the descriptive text.
Set the refresh properties of the page
Use the Refresh element to specify that the browser should automatically refresh your page—by reloading the current
page or going to a different one—after a certain amount of time. This element is often used to redirect users from one
URL to another, often after displaying a text message that the URL has changed.
324
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Add a Refresh meta tag
1Select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Refresh.
2Set the Refresh meta tag properties in the dialog box that appears.
Edit a Refresh meta tag
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Refresh marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3In the Property inspector, set the Refresh meta tag properties.
Set the Refresh meta tag properties
❖Specify the Refresh meta tag properties as follows:
Delay The time in seconds to wait before the browser refreshes the page. To make the browser refresh the page
immediately after it finishes loading, enter 0 in this box.
URL or Action Specifies whether the browser should go to a different URL or refresh the current page, after the
specified delay. To make a different URL open (rather than refreshing the current page), click the Browse button, then
browse to and select the page to load.
Set the base URL properties of the page
Use the Base element to set the base URL that all document-relative paths in the page are considered relative to.
Add a Base meta tag
1Select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Base.
2Specify the Base meta tag properties in the dialog box that appears.
Edit a Base meta tag
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Base marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3In the Property inspector, specify the Base meta tag properties.
Specify the Base meta tag properties
❖Specify the Base meta tag properties as follows:
Href The base URL. Click the Browse button to browse to and select a file, or type a path in the box.
Target Specifies the frame or window in which all linked documents should open. Select one of the frames in the
current frameset, or one of the following reserved names:
•_blank loads the linked document in a new, unnamed browser window.
•_parent loads the linked document into the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the
frame containing the link is not nested, then this is equivalent to _top; the linked document loads into the full
browser window.
•_self loads the linked document in the same frame or window as the link. This target is the default, so you usually
don’t have to specify it.
•_top loads the linked document in the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.
325
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set the link properties of the page
Use the link tag to define a relationship between the current document and another file.
Note: The link tag in the head section is not the same thing as an HTML link between documents in the body section.
Add a Link meta tag
1Select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Link.
2Specify the Link meta tag properties in the dialog box that appears.
Edit a Link meta tag
1Select View > Head Content.
2Select the Link marker that appears at the top of the Document window.
3In the Property inspector, specify the Link meta tag properties.
Specify the Link meta tag properties
❖Set the Link meta tag properties as follows:
Href The URL of the file that you are defining a relationship to. Click the Browse button to browse to and select a file,
or type a path in the box. Note that this attribute does not indicate a file that you’re linking to in the usual HTML sense;
the relationships specified in a Link element are more complex.
ID Specifies a unique identifier for the link.
Title Describes the relationship. This attribute has special relevance for linked style sheets; for more information, see
the External Style Sheets section of the HTML 4.0 specification on the World Wide Web Consortium website at
www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/present/styles.html#style-external.
Rel Specifies the relationship between the current document and the document in the Href box. Possible values
include Alternate, Stylesheet, Start, Next, Prev, Contents, Index, Glossary, Copyright, Chapter, Section,
Subsection, Appendix, Help, and Bookmark. To specify more than one relationship, separate values with a space.
Rev Specifies a reverse relationship (the opposite of Rel) between the current document and the document in the Href
box. Possible values are the same as those for Rel.
Working with server-side includes
About server-side includes
You can use Dreamweaver to insert server-side includes in your pages, edit the includes, or preview pages containing
includes.
A server-side include is a file that the server incorporates into your document when a browser requests your document
from the server.
326
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
When a visitor’s browser requests the document that contains the include instruction, your server processes the
include instruction and creates a new document in which the include instruction is replaced by the contents of the
included file. The server then sends this new document to the visitor’s browser. When you open a local document
directly in a browser, however, there’s no server to process the include instructions in that document, so the browser
opens the document without processing those instructions, and the file that’s supposed to be included doesn’t appear
in the browser. Thus, it can be difficult, without using Dreamweaver, to look at local files and see them as they’ll appear
to visitors after you’ve put them on the server.
With Dreamweaver you can preview documents just as they’ll appear after they’re on the server, both in the Design
view and when you use the Preview in Browser feature. To do so, however, you must make sure you are previewing
the file that contains the include as a temporary file. (Select Edit
> Preferences, select the Preview in Browser category,
and make sure the Preview using temporary file option is selected.)
Note: If you are using a testing server, such as Apache or Microsoft IIS, to preview your files on your local drive, you do
not need to preview the file as a temporary file because the server does the processing for you.
Placing a server-side include in a document inserts a reference to an external file; it doesn’t insert the contents of the
specified file in the current document. The contents of the specified file should only contain the content that you want
to include. That is, the include file should not contain any head tags, body tags, or html tags (meaning the <html>
tag—formatting HTML tags, such as p tags, div tags, and so on, are fine). If it does, these tags will conflict with the tags
in the original document, and Dreamweaver won’t display the page properly.
You cannot edit the included file directly in a document. To edit the contents of a server-side include, you must directly
edit the file that you’re including. Any changes to the external file are automatically reflected in every document that
includes it.
There are two types of server-side includes: Virtual and File. Dreamweaver inserts File type includes by default, but
you can use the Property inspector to select the one that is appropriate for the type of web server you use:
•If your server is an Apache web server, select Virtual. In Apache, Virtual works in all cases, while File works only
in some cases.
•If your server is a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), select File. (Virtual works with IIS only in certain
circumstances.)
Note: Unfortunately, IIS won’t let you include a file in a folder above the current folder in the folder hierarchy, unless
special software has been installed on the server. If you must include a file from a folder higher in the folder hierarchy
on an IIS server, ask your system administrator if the necessary software is installed.
•For other kinds of servers, or if you don’t know what kind of server you’re using, ask your system administrator
which option to use.
Some servers are configured to examine all files to see if they contain server-side includes; other servers are
configured to examine only files with a particular file extension, such as .shtml, .shtm, or .inc. If a server-side
include isn’t working for you, ask your system administrator if you need to use a special extension in the name of
the file that uses the include. (For example, if the file is named canoe.html, you may have to rename it to
canoe.shtml.) If you want your files to retain .html or .htm extensions, ask your system administrator to configure
the server to examine all files (not just files with a certain extension) for server-side includes. Parsing a file for
server-side includes takes a little extra time, so pages that the server parses are served a little more slowly than other
pages; therefore, some system administrators won’t provide the option of parsing all files.
Insert server-side includes
You can use Dreamweaver to insert server-side includes in your page.
327
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert a server-side include
1Select Insert > Server-Side Include.
2In the dialog box that appears, browse to and select a file.
By default, a File type of include is inserted.
3To change the type of the include, select the server-side include in the Document window and change the type in
the Property inspector (Window
> Properties), as follows:
•If your server is an Apache web server, select Virtual. In Apache, Virtual works in all cases, while File works only
in some cases.
•If your server is a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), select File. (Virtual works with IIS only in certain
specific circumstances.)
Note: Unfortunately, IIS won’t allow you to include a file in a folder above the current folder in the folder hierarchy, unless
special software has been installed on the server. If you need to include a file from a folder higher in the folder hierarchy
on an IIS server, ask your system administrator if the necessary software is installed.
•For other kinds of servers, or if you don’t know what kind of server you’re using, ask your system administrator
which option to use.
Change which file is included
1Select the server-side include in the Document window.
2Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
3Do one of the following:
•Click the folder icon and browse to and select a new file to include.
•In the box, type the path and filename of the new file to include.
Edit the contents of server-side includes
You can use Dreamweaver to edit server-side includes. To edit the content associated with the included file, you must
open the file.
1Select the server-side include in either Design view or Code view, and click Edit in the Property inspector.
The included file opens in a new Document window.
2Edit the file, and then save it.
The changes are immediately reflected in the current document and in any subsequent document you open that
includes the file.
3Upload the include file to the remote site if necessary.
328
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Managing tag libraries
About Dreamweaver tag libraries
A tag library, in Dreamweaver, is a collection of tags of a particular type, along with information about how
Dreamweaver should format the tags. Tag libraries provide the information about tags that Dreamweaver uses for code
hints, target browser checks, the Tag Chooser, and other coding capabilities. Using the Tag Library editor, you can add
and delete tag libraries, tags, attributes, and attribute values; set properties for a tag library, including format (for easy
identification in the code); and edit tags and attributes.
More Help topics
“Importing custom tags into Dreamweaver” on page 330
“Setting coding preferences” on page 287
Open and close the Tag Library editor
1Select Edit >Tag Libraries to open the Tag library editor.
The Tag Library Editor dialog box appears. (The options of this dialog box change depending on the selected tag.)
2Close the Tag Library editor in one of the following ways:
•To save changes, click OK.
•To close the editor without saving changes, click Cancel.
Note: When you click Cancel, all changes you’ve made in the Tag Library editor are discarded. If you deleted a tag or
tag library, it’s restored.
Add libraries, tags, and attributes
You can use the Tag Library editor to add tag libraries, tags, and attributes to the tag libraries in Dreamweaver.
More Help topics
“Setting coding preferences” on page 287
“Importing custom tags into Dreamweaver” on page 330
Add a tag library
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), click the Plus (+) button, and select New Tag Library.
2In the Library Name box, type a name (for example, Miscellaneous Tags), and click OK.
Add tags to a tag library
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), click the Plus (+) button and select New Tags.
2Select Tag Library pop-up menu, and select a tag library.
3Type the name of the new tag. To add more than one tag, separate the tags’ names with a comma and a space (for
example: cfgraph, cfgraphdata).
4If the new tags have corresponding end tags (</...>), select Have Matching End Tags.
5Click OK.
329
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Add attributes to a tag
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), click the Plus (+) button and select New Attributes.
2In the Tag Library pop-up menu, select a tag library.
3In the Tag pop-up menu, select a tag.
4Type the name of the new attribute. To add more than one attribute, separate attributes’ names with a comma and
a space (for example: width, height).
5Click OK.
Edit libraries, tags, and attributes
Use the Tag Library editor to set properties for a tag library and edit tags and attributes in a library.
More Help topics
“Setting coding preferences” on page 287
Set properties for a tag library
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), select a tag library (not a tag) in the Tags list.
Note: The properties for tag libraries appear only when a tag library is selected. Tag libraries are represented by the top-
level folders in the Tags list; for example, the HTML Tags folder represents a tag library, while the abbr folder within the
HTML Tags folder represents a tag.
2In the Used In list, select every document type that should use the tag library.
The document types you select here determine which document types provide code hints for the given tag library. For
example, if the HTML option is not selected for a given tag library, code hints for that tag library don’t appear in HTML
files.
3(Optional) Enter the prefix for the tags in the Tag Prefix box.
Note: A prefix is used to identify a tag in the code as part of a particular tag library. Some tag libraries don’t use prefixes.
4Click OK.
Edit a tag in a tag library
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), expand a tag library in the Tags list and select a tag.
2Set any of the following Tag Format options:
Line Breaks Specifies where Dreamweaver inserts line breaks for a tag.
Contents Specifies how Dreamweaver inserts the contents of a tag; that is, if it applies line break, formatting, and
indentation rules to the content.
Case Specifies the case for a specific tag. Select from Default, Lowercase, Uppercase, or Mixed Case. If you select Mixed
Case, the Tag Name Mixed Case dialog box appears. Type the tag with the case Dreamweaver should use when
inserting it (for example, getProperty) and click OK.
Set Default Sets the default case for all tags. In the Default Tag Case dialog box that appears, select <UPPERCASE> or
<lowercase>, and click OK.
You might want to set your default case to be lowercase to comply with XML and XHTML standards.
330
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit an attribute for a tag
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), expand a tag library in the Tags box, expand a tag, and select a tag
attribute.
2In the
3Attribute Case
4 pop-up menu, select the Default, Lowercase, Uppercase, or Mixed Case option.
If you select Mixed Case, the Attribute Name Mixed Case dialog box appears. Type the attribute with the case
Dreamweaver should use when inserting it (for example, onClick), and click OK.
Click the Set Default link to set the default case for all attribute names.
5In the Attribute Type pop-up menu, select the type of the attribute.
If you select Enumerated, type every allowed value for the attribute in the Values box. Separate the values with
commas, but no spaces. For example, the enumerated values of the showborder attribute of the cfchart tag are listed
as yes,no.
Delete libraries, tags, and attributes
1In the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries), select a tag library, tag, or attribute in the Tags box.
2Click the Minus (–) button.
3Click OK to permanently delete the item.
The item is removed from the Tags box.
4Click OK to close the Tag Library editor and complete the deletion.
More Help topics
“Setting coding preferences” on page 287
Importing custom tags into Dreamweaver
About importing custom tags into Dreamweaver
You can import custom tags into Dreamweaver so that they become an integral part of the authoring environment.
For example, when you start typing an imported custom tag in Code view, a code hints menu appears, listing the tag’s
attributes and letting you select one.
Import tags from XML files
You can import tags from an XML Document Type Definition (DTD) file or a schema.
1Open the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries).
2Click the Plus (+) button and select DTD Schema > Import XML DTD or Schema File.
3Enter the filename or URL of the DTD or schema file.
4Enter the prefix to be used with the tags.
331
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: A prefix is used to identify a tag in the code as part of a particular tag library. Some tag libraries don’t use prefixes.
5Click OK.
Import custom ASP.NET tags
You can import custom ASP.NET tags into Dreamweaver.
Before you begin, make sure that the custom tag is installed on the testing server defined in the Site Definition dialog
box (see “Set up a testing server” on page 45). Compiled tags (DLL files) must be placed in the site root’s /bin folder.
Noncompiled tags (ASCX files) can reside in any virtual directory or subdirectory on the server. For more information,
see the Microsoft ASP.NET documentation.
1Open an ASP.NET page in Dreamweaver.
2Open the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries).
3Click the Plus (+) button, select one of the following options, and click OK:
•To import all the ASP.NET custom tags from the application server, select ASP.NET > Import All ASP.NET
Custom Tags.
•To import only certain custom tags from the application server, select ASP.NET > Import Selected ASP.NET
Custom Tags. Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) tags from the list.
Import JSP tags from a file or server (web.xml)
Import a JSP tag library into Dreamweaver from a variety of file types or a JSP server.
1Open a JSP page in Dreamweaver.
2Open the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries).
3Click the Plus (+) button, and select JSP > Import From File (*.tld, *.jar, *.zip), or JSP > Import from Server
(web.xml.)
4Click the Browse button or enter a filename for the file that contains the tag library.
5Enter a URI to identify the tag library.
The URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) often consists of the URL of the organization maintaining the tag library. The
URL is not used to view the organization’s website; it is used to uniquely identify the tag library.
6(Optional) Enter the prefix to be used with the tags. Some tag libraries use a prefix to identify a tag in the code as
part of a particular tag library.
7Click OK.
Import JRun tags
If you use Adobe® JRun™, you can import your JRun tags into Dreamweaver.
1Open a JSP page in Dreamweaver.
2Open the Tag Library editor (Edit > Tag Libraries).
3Click the Plus (+) button and select JSP > Import JRun Server Tags From Folder.
4Enter a folder name for the folder that contains the JRun tags.
332
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with page code
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Enter a URI to identify the tag library.
The URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) often consists of the URL of the organization maintaining the tag library. The
URL is not used to view the organization’s website; it is used to uniquely identify the tag library.
6(Optional) Enter the prefix to be used with the tags. Some tag libraries use a prefix to identify a tag in the code as
part of a particular tag library.
7Click OK.
333
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 12: Adding JavaScript behaviors
Using JavaScript behaviors (general instructions)
About JavaScript behaviors
Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 behaviors place JavaScript code in documents so that visitors can change a web page in
various ways or initiate certain tasks. A behavior is a combination of an event and an action triggered by that event. In
the Behaviors panel, you add a behavior to a page by specifying an action and then specifying the event that triggers
that action.
Note: Behavior code is client-side JavaScript code; that is, it runs in browsers, not on servers.
Events are, effectively, messages generated by browsers indicating that a visitor to your page has done something. For
example, when a visitor moves the pointer over a link, the browser generates an onMouseOver event for that link; the
browser then checks whether it should call some JavaScript code (specified in the page being viewed) in response.
Different events are defined for different page elements; for example, in most browsers onMouseOver and onClick are
events associated with links, whereas onLoad is an event associated with images and with the body section of the
document.
An action is pre-written JavaScript code for performing a task, such as opening a browser window, showing or hiding
an AP element, playing a sound, or stopping an Adobe Shockwave movie. The actions provided with Dreamweaver
provide maximum cross-browser compatibility.
After you attach a behavior to a page element, the behavior calls the action (JavaScript code) associated with an event
whenever that event occurs for that element. (The events that you can use to trigger a given action vary from browser
to browser.) For example, if you attach the Popup Message action to a link and specify that it will be triggered by the
onMouseOver event, then your message pops up whenever someone places the pointer over that link.
A single event can trigger several different actions, and you can specify the order in which those actions occur.
Dreamweaver provides about two dozen actions; additional actions can be found on the Exchange website at
www.adobe.com/go/dreamweaver_exchange as well as on third-party developer sites. You can write your own actions
if you are proficient in JavaScript.
Note: The terms behavior and action are Dreamweaver terms, not HTML terms. From the browser’s point of view, an
action is just like any other piece of JavaScript code.
Behaviors panel overview
You use the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors) to attach behaviors to page elements (more specifically to tags)
and to modify parameters of previously attached behaviors.
Behaviors that have already been attached to the currently selected page element appear in the behavior list (the main
area of the panel), listed alphabetically by event. If several actions are listed for the same event, they will be executed
in the order in which they appear on the list. If no behaviors appear in the behavior list, no behaviors have been
attached to the currently selected element.
The Behaviors panel has the following options:
Show Set Events
Displays only those events that have been attached to the current document. Events are organized into
client-side and server-side categories. Each category’s events are in a collapsible list. Show Set Events is the default view.
334
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
Show All Events Displays an alphabetical list of all events for a given category.
Add Behavior (+) Displays a menu of actions that can be attached to the currently selected element. When you select
an action from this list, a dialog box appears in which you can specify parameters for the action. If all the actions are
dimmed, no events can be generated by the selected element.
Remove Event (–) Removes the selected event and action from the behavior list.
Up and down arrow buttons Move the selected action up or down in the behavior list for a particular event. You can
change the order of actions only for a particular event—for example, you can change the order in which several actions
occur for the onLoad event, but all the onLoad actions stay together in the behavior list. The arrow buttons are disabled
for actions that can’t be moved up or down in the list.
Events Displays a pop-up menu, visible only when an event is selected, of all the events that can trigger the action (this
menu appears when you click the arrow button next to the selected event name). Different events appear depending
on the object selected. If the events you expect don’t appear, make sure that the correct page element or tag is selected.
(To select a specific tag, use the tag selector at the lower-left corner of the Document window.)
Note: Event names in parentheses are available only for links; selecting one of these event names automatically adds a
null link to the selected page element, and attaches the behavior to that link instead of to the element itself. The null link
is specified as href="javascript:;" in the HTML code.
About events
Each browser provides a set of events that you can associate with the actions listed in the Behavior panel’s Actions (+)
menu. When a visitor to your web page interacts with the page—for example, by clicking an image—the browser
generates events; those events can be used to call JavaScript functions that perform an action. Dreamweaver supplies
many common actions that you can trigger with these events.
For names and descriptions of the events provided by each browser, see the Dreamweaver Support Center at
www.adobe.com/go/dreamweaver_support.
Different events appear in the Events menu depending on the selected object. To find out what events a given browser
supports for a given page element, insert the page element in your document and attach a behavior to it, then look at
the Events menu in the Behaviors panel. (By default, events are drawn from the HTML 4.01 events list, and are
supported by most modern browsers.) Events may be disabled (dimmed) if the relevant objects do not yet exist on the
page or if the selected object cannot receive events. If the expected events don’t appear, make sure the correct object is
selected.
If you’re attaching a behavior to an image, some events (such as onMouseOver) appear in parentheses. These events
are available only for links. When you select one of them, Dreamweaver wraps an <a> tag around the image to define
a null link. The null link is represented by javascript:; in the Property inspector’s Link box. You can change the
link value if you want to turn it into a real link to another page, but if you delete the JavaScript link without replacing
it with another link, you will remove the behavior.
To see which tags you can use with a given event in a given browser, search for the event in one of the files in the
Dreamweaver/Configuration/Behaviors/Events folder.
Apply a behavior
You can attach behaviors to the entire document (that is, to the <body> tag) or to links, images, form elements, and
several other HTML elements.
The target browser you select determines which events are supported for a given element.
335
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can specify more than one action for each event. Actions occur in the order in which they’re listed in the Actions
column of the Behaviors panel, but you can change that order.
1Select an element on the page, such as an image or a link.
To attach a behavior to the entire page, click the <body> tag in the tag selector at the lower-left corner of the Document
window.
2Choose Window > Behaviors.
3Click the Plus (+) button and select an action from the Add Behavior menu.
Actions that are dimmed in the menu can’t be chosen. They may be dimmed because a required object doesn’t exist in
the current document. For example, the Control Shockwave or SWF action is dimmed if the document contains no
Shockwave or SWF files.
When you select an action, a dialog box appears, displaying parameters and instructions for the action.
4Enter parameters for the action, and click OK.
All actions provided in Dreamweaver work in modern browsers. Some actions do not work in older browsers, but they
will not cause errors.
Note: Targeted elements require a unique ID. For example, if you want to apply the Swap Image behavior to an image, the
image requires an ID. If you don’t have an ID specified for the element, Dreamweaver automatically specifies one for you.
5The default event to trigger the action appears in the Events column. If this is not the trigger event you want, select
another event from the Events pop-up menu. (To open the Events menu, select an event or action in the Behaviors
panel, and click the downward-pointing black arrow that appears between the event name and the action name.)
Change or delete a behavior
After attaching a behavior, you can change the event that triggers the action, add or remove actions, and change
parameters for actions.
1Select an object with a behavior attached.
2Choose Window > Behaviors.
3Make your changes:
•To edit an action’s parameters, double-click its name, or select it and press Enter (Windows) or Return
(Macintosh); then change parameters in the dialog box and click OK.
•To change the order of actions for a given event, select an action and click the Up or Down arrow. Alternatively,
you can select the action and cut and paste it into the desired location among the other actions.
•To delete a behavior, select it and click the Minus (–) button or press Delete.
Update a behavior
1Select an element that has the behavior attached to it.
2Choose Window > Behaviors and double-click the behavior.
3Make your changes and click OK in the behavior’s dialog box.
All occurrences of that behavior in that page are updated. If other pages on your site have that behavior, you must
update them page by page.
336
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
Download and install third-party behaviors
Many extensions are available on the Exchange for Dreamweaver website
(www.adobe.com/go/dreamweaver_exchange).
1Choose Window > Behaviors and select Get More Behaviors from the Add Behavior menu.
Your primary browser opens, and the Exchange site appears.
2Browse or search for packages.
3Download and install the extension package you want.
For more information, see “Add and manage extensions in Dreamweaver” on page 34.
Applying built-in JavaScript behaviors
Using built-in behaviors
The behaviors included with Dreamweaver have been written to work in modern browsers. The behaviors fail silently
in older browsers.
Note: The Dreamweaver actions have been carefully written to work in as many browsers as possible. If you remove code
from a Dreamweaver action by hand, or replace it with your own code, you may lose cross-browser compatibility.
Although the Dreamweaver actions were written to maximize cross-browser compatibility, some browsers do not
support JavaScript at all, and many people who browse the web keep JavaScript turned off in their browsers. For best
cross-platform results, provide alternative interfaces enclosed in <noscript> tags so that people without JavaScript
can use your site.
Apply the Call JavaScript behavior
The Call JavaScript behavior executes a custom function or line of JavaScript code when an event occurs. (You can
write the script yourself, or you can use code provided by various freely available JavaScript libraries on the web.)
1Select an object and choose Call JavaScript from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Type the exact JavaScript to be executed, or type the name of a function.
For example, to create a Back button, you might type if (history.length > 0){history.back()}. If you have
encapsulated your code in a function, type only the function name (for example, hGoBack()).
3Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Change Property behavior
Use the Change Property behavior to change the value of one of an object’s properties (for example, the background
color of a div or the action of a form).
Note: Use this behavior only if you are very familiar with HTML and JavaScript.
1Select an object and choose Change Property from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2From the Type Of Element menu, select an element type to display all the identified elements of that type.
3Select an element from the Element ID menu.
4Select a property from the Property menu, or enter the name of the property in the box.
337
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Enter the new value for the new property in the New Value field.
6Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Check Browser behavior
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Apply the Check Plugin behavior
Use the Check Plugin behavior to send visitors to different pages depending on whether they have the specified plug-in
installed. For example, you might want visitors to go to one page if they have Shockwave and another page if they do not.
Note: You cannot detect specific plug-ins in Internet Explorer using JavaScript. However, selecting Flash or Director will
add the appropriate VBScript code to your page to detect those plug-ins in Internet Explorer on Windows. Plug-in
detection is impossible in Internet Explorer on Mac
OS.
1Select an object and choose Check Plugin from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Select a plug-in from the Plugin menu, or click Enter and type the exact name of the plug-in in the adjacent box.
You must use the exact name of the plug-in as specified in bold on the About Plug-ins page in Netscape Navigator. (In
Windows, select Navigator’s Help
> About Plug-ins command; on Mac OS, select About Plug-ins from the Apple
menu.)
3In the If Found, Go To URL box, specify a URL for visitors who have the plug-in.
If you specify a remote URL, you must include the http:// prefix in the address. If you leave the field blank, visitors will
stay on the same page.
4In the Otherwise, Go To URL box, specify an alternative URL for visitors who don’t have the plug-in. If you leave
the field blank, visitors will stay on the same page.
5Specify what to do if plug-in detection is not possible. By default, when detection is impossible, the visitor is sent to
the URL listed in the Otherwise box. To instead send the visitor to the first (If Found) URL, select the option Always
Go To First URL If Detection Is Not Possible. When selected, this option effectively means “assume that the visitor
has the plug-in, unless the browser explicitly indicates that the plug-in is not present.” In general, select this option
if the plug-in content is integral to your page; if not leave it deselected.
Note: This option applies only to Internet Explorer; Netscape Navigator can always detect plug-ins.
6Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Control Shockwave or SWF behavior
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Apply the Drag AP Element behavior
The Drag AP Element behavior lets the visitor drag an absolutely positioned (AP) element. Use this behavior to create
puzzles, slider controls, and other movable interface elements.
You can specify in which direction the visitor can drag the AP element (horizontally, vertically, or in any direction), a
target to which the visitor should drag the AP element, whether to snap the AP element to the target if the AP element
is within a certain number of pixels of the target, what to do when the AP element hits the target, and more.
338
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
Because the Drag AP Element behavior must be called before the visitor can drag the AP element, you should attach
Drag AP Element to the body object (with the onLoad event).
1Select Insert > Layout Objects > AP Div or click the Draw AP Div button on the Insert panel and draw an AP Div
in the Document window’s Design view.
2Click <body> in the tag selector at the lower-left corner of the Document window.
3Select Drag AP Element from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
If Drag AP Element is unavailable, you probably have an AP element selected.
4In the AP Element pop-up menu, select the AP element.
5Select either Constrained or Unconstrained from the Movement pop-up menu.
Unconstrained movement is appropriate for puzzles and other drag-and-drop games. For slider controls and
moveable scenery such as file drawers, curtains, and mini-blinds, select constrained movement.
6For constrained movement, enter values (in pixels) in the Up, Down, Left, and Right boxes.
Values are relative to the starting position of the AP element. To constrain movement within a rectangular region, enter
positive values in all four boxes. To allow only vertical movement, enter positive values for Up and Down and 0 for Left
and Right. To allow only horizontal movement, enter positive values for Left and Right and 0 for Up and Down.
7Enter values (in pixels) for the drop target in the Left and Top boxes.
The drop target is the spot to which you want the visitor to drag the AP element. An AP element is considered to have
reached the drop target when its left and top coordinates match the values you enter in the Left and Top boxes. Values
are relative to the top left corner of the browser window. Click Get Current Position to automatically fill the text boxes
with the current position of the AP element.
8Enter a value (in pixels) in the Snap If Within box to determine how close the visitor must get to the drop target
before the AP element snaps to the target.
Larger values make it easier for the visitor to find the drop target.
9For simple puzzles and scenery manipulation, you can stop here. To define the drag handle for the AP element,
track the movement of the AP element while it is being dragged, and trigger an action when the AP element is
dropped, click the Advanced tab.
10 To specify that the visitor must click a particular area of the AP element to drag the AP element, select Area within
element from the Drag Handle menu; then enter the left and top coordinates and the width and height of the drag
handle.
This option is useful when the image inside the AP element contains an element that suggests dragging, such as a title
bar or drawer handle. Do not set this option if you want the visitor to be able to click anywhere in the AP element to
drag it.
11 Select any While Dragging options that you want to use:
•Select Bring Element To Front if the AP element should move to the front of the stacking order while it is being
dragged. If you select this option, use the pop-up menu to select whether to leave the AP element in front or restore
it to its original position in the stacking order.
•Enter JavaScript code or a function name (for example, monitorAPelement()) in the Call JavaScript box to
repeatedly execute the code or function while the AP element is being dragged. For example, you could write a
function that monitors the coordinates of the AP element and displays hints such as “you’re getting warmer” or
“you’re nowhere near the drop target” in a text box.
339
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
12 Enter JavaScript code or a function name (for example, evaluateAPelementPos()) in the second Call JavaScript
box to execute the code or function when the AP element is dropped. Select Only If Snapped if the JavaScript should
be executed only if the AP element has reached the drop target.
13 Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Gathering information about the draggable AP element
When you attach the Drag AP element behavior to an object, Dreamweaver inserts the MM_dragLayer() function into
the head section of your document. (The function retains the old naming convention for AP elements [that is, “Layer”]
so that layers created in previous versions of Dreamweaver will remain editable.) In addition to registering the AP
element as draggable, this function defines three properties for each draggable AP element—MM_LEFTRIGHT,
MM_UPDOWN, and MM_SNAPPED—that you can use in your own JavaScript functions to determine the relative horizontal
position of the AP element, the relative vertical position of the AP element, and whether the AP element has reached
the drop target.
Note: The information provided here is intended for experienced JavaScript programmers only.
For example, the following function displays the value of the MM_UPDOWN property (the current vertical position of the
AP element) in a form field called curPosField. (Form fields are useful for displaying continuously updated
information because they are dynamic—that is, you can change their contents after the page has finished loading.)
function getPos(layerId){
var layerRef = document.getElementById(layerId);
var curVertPos = layerRef.MM_UPDOWN;
document.tracking.curPosField.value = curVertPos;
}
Instead of displaying the values of MM_UPDOWN or MM_LEFTRIGHT in a form field, you could use those values in a variety
of other ways. For example, you could write a function that displays a message in the form field depending on how
close the value is to the drop zone, or you could call another function to show or hide an AP element depending on the
value.
It is especially useful to read the MM_SNAPPED property when you have several AP elements on the page, all of which
must reach their targets before the visitor can advance to the next page or task. For example, you could write a function
to count how many AP elements have an MM_SNAPPED value of true and call it whenever an AP element is dropped.
When the snapped count reaches the desired number, you could send the visitor to the next page or display a message
of congratulations.
Apply the Go To URL behavior
The Go To URL behavior opens a new page in the current window or in the specified frame. This behavior is useful
for changing the contents of two or more frames with one click.
1Select an object and choose Go To URL from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Select a destination for the URL from the Open In list.
The Open In list automatically lists the names of all frames in the current frameset as well as the main window. If there
are no frames, the main window is the only option.
Note: This behavior may produce unexpected results if any frame is named top, blank, self, or parent. Browsers sometimes
mistake these names for reserved target names.
3Click Browse to select a document to open, or enter the path and filename of the document in the URL box.
4Repeat steps 2 and 3 to open additional documents in other frames.
340
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Jump Menu behavior
When you create a jump menu by using Insert > Form > Jump Menu, Dreamweaver creates a menu object and attaches
the Jump Menu (or Jump Menu Go) behavior to it. There is usually no need to attach the Jump Menu behavior to an
object by hand.
You can edit an existing jump menu in either of two ways:
•You can edit and rearrange menu items, change the files to jump to, and change the window in which those files
open, by double-clicking an existing Jump Menu behavior in the Behaviors panel.
•You can edit the items in the menu just as you would edit items in any menu, by selecting the menu and using the
List Values button in the Property inspector.
1Create a jump menu object if there isn’t one already in your document.
2Select the object and choose Jump Menu from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
3Make changes as desired in the Jump Menu dialog box and then click OK.
More Help topics
“Jump menus” on page 270
“Insert or change a dynamic HTML form menu” on page 642
Apply the Jump Menu Go behavior
The Jump Menu Go behavior is closely associated with the Jump Menu behavior; Jump Menu Go lets you associate a
Go button with a jump menu. (Before you use this behavior, a jump menu must already exist in the document.)
Clicking the Go button opens the link that’s selected in the jump menu. A jump menu doesn’t normally need a Go
button; selecting an item from a jump menu generally causes a URL to load without any need for further user action.
But if the visitor selects the same item that’s already chosen in the jump menu, the jump doesn’t occur. In general, that
doesn’t matter, but if the jump menu appears in a frame, and the jump menu items link to pages in other frames, a Go
button is often useful, to allow visitors to re-select an item that’s already selected in the jump menu.
Note: When you use a Go button with a jump menu, the Go button becomes the only mechanism that “jumps” the user
to the URL associated with the selection in the menu. Selecting a menu item in the jump menu no longer re-directs the
user automatically to another page or frame.
1Select an object to use as the Go button (generally a button image), and choose Jump Menu Go from the Add
Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2In the Choose Jump Menu menu, select a menu for the Go button to activate and click OK.
Apply the Open Browser Window behavior
Use the Open Browser Window behavior to open a page in a new window. You can specify the properties of the new
window, including its size, attributes (whether it is resizable, has a menu bar, and so on), and name. For example, you
can use this behavior to open a larger image in a separate window when the visitor clicks a thumbnail image; with this
behavior, you can make the new window the exact size of the image.
341
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
If you specify no attributes for the window, it opens at the size and with the attributes of the window from which it was
opened. Specifying any attribute for the window automatically turns off all other attributes that are not explicitly
turned on. For example, if you set no attributes for the window, it might open at 1024 x 768 pixels and have a
navigation bar (showing the Back, Forward, Home and Reload buttons), location toolbar (showing the URL), status
bar (showing status messages, at the bottom), and menu bar (showing File, Edit, View and other menus). If you
explicitly set the width to 640 and the height to 480 and set no other attributes, the window opens at 640 x 480 pixels,
without toolbars.
1Select an object and choose Open Browser Window from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Click Browse to select a file, or enter the URL you want to display.
3Set the options for window width and height (in pixels) and for the incorporation of various toolbars, scroll bars,
resize handles, and the like. Give the window a name (use no spaces or special characters) if you want it to be the
target of links or want to control it with JavaScript.
4Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Play Sound behavior
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Apply the Popup Message behavior
The Popup Message behavior displays a JavaScript alert with the message you specify. Because JavaScript alerts have
only one button (OK), use this behavior to give the user information rather than to present a choice.
You can embed any valid JavaScript function call, property, global variable, or other expression in the text. To embed
a JavaScript expression, place it inside braces ({}). To display a brace, precede it with a backslash (\{).
Example:
The URL for this page is {window.location}, and today is {new Date()}.
Note: The browser controls the appearance of the alert. If you want more control over the appearance, consider using the
Open Browser Window behavior.
1Select an object and choose Popup Message from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Enter your message in the Message box.
3Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Preload Images behavior
The Preload Images behavior shortens display time by caching images that are not shown when the page first appears
(for instance, images that will be swapped in with behaviors or scripts).
Note: The Swap Image behavior automatically preloads all highlight images when you select the Preload Images option
in the Swap Image dialog box, so you do not need to manually add Preload Images when using Swap Image.
1Select an object and choose Preload Images from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Click Browse to select an image file, or enter the path and filename of an image in the Image Source File box.
3Click the Plus (+) button at the top of the dialog box to add the image to the Preload Images list.
4Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all remaining images that you want to preload on the current page.
5To remove an image from the Preload Images list, select it and click the Minus (–) button.
342
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
6Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Set Nav Bar Image behavior
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Apply the Set Text Of Frame behavior
The Set Text Of Frame behavior allows you to dynamically set the text of a frame, replacing the content and formatting
of a frame with the content you specify. The content can include any valid HTML code. Use this behavior to display
information dynamically.
Although the Set Text Of Frame behavior replaces the formatting of a frame, you can select Preserve
Background Color
to preserve the page background and text color attributes.
You can embed any valid JavaScript function call, property, global variable, or other expression in the text. To embed
a JavaScript expression, place it inside braces ({}). To display a brace, precede it with a backslash (\{).
Example:
The URL for this page is {window.location}, and today is {new Date()}.
1Select an object and choose Set Text > Set Text Of Frame from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2In the Set Text Of Frame dialog box, select the target frame from the Frame menu.
3Click the Get Current HTML button to copy the current contents of the target frame’s body section.
4Enter a message in the New HTML box.
5Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
More Help topics
“Create frames and framesets” on page 189
Apply the Set Text Of Container behavior
The Set Text Of Container behavior replaces the content and formatting of an existing container (that is, any element
that can contain text or other elements) on a page with the content you specify. The content can include any valid
HTML source code.
You can embed any valid JavaScript function call, property, global variable, or other expression in the text. To embed
a JavaScript expression, place it inside braces ({}). To display a brace, precede it with a backslash (\{).
Example:
The URL for this page is {window.location}, and today is {new Date()}.
1Select an object and select Set Text > Set Text Of Container from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2In the Set Text Of Container dialog box, use the Container menu to select the target element.
3Enter the new text or HTML in the New HTML box.
4Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
343
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Insert an AP Div” on page 157
Apply the Set Text Of Status Bar behavior
The Set Text Of Status Bar behavior shows a message in the status bar at the lower-left corner of the browser window.
For example, you can use this behavior to describe the destination of a link in the status bar instead of showing the
URL associated with it. Visitors often ignore or overlook messages in the status bar (and not all browsers provide full
support for setting the text of the status bar); if your message is important, consider displaying it as a pop-up message
or as the text of an AP element.
Note: If you use the Set Text Of Status Bar behavior in Dreamweaver, the text of the status bar in the browser is not
guaranteed to change because some browsers require special adjustments when changing status bar text. Firefox, for
example, requires that you change an Advanced option that lets JavaScript change status bar text. For more information,
see your browser’s documentation.
You can embed any valid JavaScript function call, property, global variable, or other expression in the text. To embed
a JavaScript expression, place it inside braces ({}). To display a brace, precede it with a backslash (\{).
Example:
The URL for this page is {window.location}, and today is {new Date()}.
1Select an object and choose Set Text > Set Text Of Status Bar from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2In the Set Text Of Status Bar dialog box, type your message in the Message box.
Keep the message concise. The browser truncates the message if it doesn’t fit in the status bar.
3Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Set Text Of Text Field behavior
The Set Text Of Text Field behavior replaces the content of a form’s text field with the content you specify.
You can embed any valid JavaScript function call, property, global variable, or other expression in the text. To embed
a JavaScript expression, place it inside braces ({}). To display a brace, precede it with a backslash (\{).
Example:
The URL for this page is {window.location}, and today is {new Date()}.
Create a named text field
1Select Insert > Form > Text Field.
If Dreamweaver prompts you to add a form tag, click Yes.
2In the Property inspector, type a name for the text field. Make sure the name is unique on the page (don’t use the
same name for multiple elements on the same page, even if they’re in different forms).
Apply Set Text Of Text Field
1Select a text field and choose Set Text > Set Text Of Field from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
2Select the target text field from the Text Field menu and enter your new text.
3Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
344
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
Apply the Show-Hide Elements behavior
The Show-Hide Elements behavior shows, hides, or restores the default visibility of one or more page elements. This
behavior is useful for displaying information as the user interacts with the page. For example, as the user moves the
pointer over an image of a plant, you could show a page element giving details about the plant’s growing season and
region, how much sun it needs, how large it can grow, and so on. The behavior only shows or hides the pertinent
element—it does not actually remove the element from the flow of the page when it is hidden.
1Select an object and select Show-Hide Elements from the Add Behavior menu of the Behaviors panel.
If Show-Hide Elements is unavailable, you probably have an AP element selected. Because AP elements do not accept
events in both 4.0 browsers, you must select a different object—such as the <body> tag or a link (<a>) tag.
2From the Elements list, select the element you want to show or hide and click Show, Hide, or Restore (which
restores the default visibility).
3Repeat step 2 for all remaining elements whose visibility you want to change. (You can change the visibility of
multiple elements with a single behavior.)
4Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Show Pop-Up Menu behavior
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Add, remove, and rearrange pop-up menu items
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Format a pop-up menu
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Position a pop-up menu in a document
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Modify a pop-up menu
This behavior has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Apply the Swap Image behavior
The Swap Image behavior swaps one image for another by changing the src attribute of the <img> tag. Use this
behavior to create button rollovers and other image effects (including swapping more than one image at a time).
Inserting a rollover image automatically adds a Swap Image behavior to your page.
Note: Because only the src attribute is affected by this behavior, you should swap in an image that has the same
dimensions (height and width) as the original. Otherwise, the image you swap in shrinks or expands to fit the dimensions
of the original image.
345
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
There is also a Swap Image Restore behavior, which restores the last set of swapped images to their previous source
files. This behavior is automatically added whenever you attach the Swap Image behavior to an object; if you leave the
Restore option selected while attaching Swap Image, you should never need to select the Swap Image Restore behavior
manually.
1Select Insert > Image or click the Image button on the Insert panel to insert an image.
2In the Property inspector, enter a name for the image in the leftmost text box.
It isn’t mandatory to name images; they’re named automatically when you attach the behavior to an object. However,
it is easier to distinguish images in the Swap Image dialog box if you name all the images beforehand.
3Repeat steps 1 and 2 to insert additional images.
4Select an object (generally the image you’re going to swap) and choose Swap Image from the Add Behavior menu
of the Behaviors panel.
5From the Images list, select the image whose source you want to change.
6Click Browse to select the new image file, or enter the path and filename of the new image in the Set Source To box.
7
Repeat steps 5 and 6 for any additional images you want to change. Use the same Swap Image action for all the images
you want to change at once; otherwise, the corresponding Swap Image Restore action won’t restore all of them.
8Select the Preload Images option to cache the new images when the page is loaded.
This prevents downloading delays when it is time for the images to appear.
9Click OK and verify that the default event is correct.
Apply the Validate Form behavior
The Validate Form behavior checks the contents of specified text fields to ensure that the user has entered the correct
type of data. Attach this behavior to individual text fields with the onBlur event to validate the fields as the user is
filling out the form, or attach it to the form with the onSubmit event to evaluate several text fields at once when the
user clicks the Submit button. Attaching this behavior to a form prevents the submission of forms with invalid data.
1Select Insert > Form or click the Form button in the Insert panel to insert a form.
2Select Insert > Form > Text Field or click the Text Field button in the Insert panel to insert a text field.
Repeat this step to insert additional text fields.
3Choose a validation method:
•To validate individual fields as the user fills out the form, select a text field and select Window > Behaviors.
•To validate multiple fields when the user submits the form, click the <form> tag in the tag selector at the lower-left
corner of the Document window and choose Window
> Behaviors.
4Select Validate Form from the Add Behavior menu.
5Do one of the following:
•If you are validating individual fields, select the same field that you selected in the Document window from the
Fields list.
•If you are validating multiple fields, select a text field from the Fields list.
6Select the Required option if the field must contain some data.
7Select one of the following Accept options:
Use Anything Checks that a required field contains data; the data can be of any type.
346
USING DREAMWEAVER
Adding JavaScript behaviors
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use E-mail address Checks that the field contains an @ symbol.
Use Number Checks that the field contains only numerals.
Use Number From Checks that the field contains a number in a specific range.
8If you have chosen to validate multiple fields, repeat steps 6 and 7 for any additional fields that you want to validate.
9Click OK.
If you are validating multiple fields when the user submits the form, the onSubmit event automatically appears in the
Events menu.
10 If you are validating individual fields, check that the default event is onBlur or onChange. If not, select one of those
events.
Both events trigger the Validate Form behavior when the user moves away from the field. The difference is that onBlur
occurs whether or not the user has typed in the field, and onChange occurs only if the user changed the contents of the
field. The onBlur event is preferred if the field is required.
347
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 13: Working with other
applications
Cross-application integration
About Photoshop, Flash, and Fireworks integration
Photoshop, Fireworks, and Flash are powerful web-development tools for creating and managing graphics and SWF
files. You can tightly integrate Dreamweaver with these tools to simplify your web design workflow.
Note: There is also limited integration with some other applications. For example, you can export an InDesign file as
XHTML and continue working on it in Dreamweaver. For a tutorial on this workflow, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0202.
You can easily insert images and content created with Adobe Flash (SWF and FLV files) in a Dreamweaver document.
You can also edit an image or SWF file in its original editor after you insert it in a Dreamweaver document.
Note: To use Dreamweaver in conjunction with these Adobe applications, you must have these applications installed on
your computer.
For Fireworks and Flash, product integration is achieved through roundtrip editing. Roundtrip editing ensures that
code updates are transferred correctly between Dreamweaver and these other applications (for example, to preserve
rollover behaviors or links to other files).
Dreamweaver also relies on Design Notes for product integration. Design Notes are small files that allow Dreamweaver
to locate the source document for an exported image or SWF file. When you export files from Fireworks, Flash, or
Photoshop directly to a Dreamweaver defined site, Design Notes containing references to the original PSD, PNG, or
Flash authoring file (FLA) are automatically exported to the site along with the web-ready file (GIF, JPEG, PNG, or SWF).
In addition to location information, Design Notes contain other pertinent information about exported files. For
example, when you export a Fireworks table, Fireworks writes a Design Note for each exported image file in the table.
If the exported file contains hotspots or rollovers, the Design Notes include information about the scripts for them.
As part of the export operation, Dreamweaver creates a folder named _notes in the same folder as the exported asset.
This folder contains the Design Notes that Dreamweaver needs to integrate with Photoshop, Flash, or Fireworks.
Note: In order to use Design Notes, you must make sure they are not disabled for your Dreamweaver site. They are
enabled by default. However, even if they are disabled, when you insert a Photoshop image file, Dreamweaver creates a
Design Note to store the location of the source PSD file.
For a tutorial on Dreamweaver and Fireworks integration, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0188.
For a tutorial on Dreamweaver and Photoshop integration, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4043_dw.
More Help topics
“About Design Notes” on page 100
“Enable and disable Design Notes for a site” on page 100
Dreamweaver InDesign tutorial
348
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Working with Fireworks and Dreamweaver
Insert a Fireworks image
Dreamweaver and Fireworks recognize and share many of the same file-editing procedures, including changes to links,
image maps, table slices, and more. Together, the two applications provide a streamlined workflow for editing,
optimizing, and placing web graphics files in HTML pages.
You can place a Fireworks exported graphic directly in a Dreamweaver document using the Insert Image command,
or you can create a new Fireworks graphic from a Dreamweaver image placeholder.
1In the Dreamweaver document, place the insertion point where you want the image to appear, then do one of the
following:
•Select Insert > Image.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Image button or drag it to the document.
2Navigate to the desired Fireworks exported file, and click OK (Windows) or Open (Macintosh).
Note: If the Fireworks file is not in the current Dreamweaver site, a message appears asking whether you want to copy the
file to the root folder. Click Yes.
More Help topics
“About Photoshop, Flash, and Fireworks integration” on page 347
Edit a Fireworks image or table from Dreamweaver
When you open and edit an image or an image slice that is part of a Fireworks table, Dreamweaver starts Fireworks,
which opens the PNG file from which the image or table was exported.
Note: This assumes that Fireworks is set as the primary external image editor for PNG files. Fireworks is often also set as
the default editor for JPEG and GIF files, although you may wish to set Photoshop as the default editor for these file types.
When the image is part of a Fireworks table, you can open the entire Fireworks table for edits, as long as the <!--fw
table--> comment exists in the HTML code. If the source PNG file was exported from Fireworks to a Dreamweaver
site using the Dreamweaver Style HTML And Images setting, the Fireworks table comment is automatically inserted
in the HTML code.
1In Dreamweaver, open the Property inspector (Window > Properties) if it isn’t already open.
2Click the image or image slice to select it.
When you select an image that was exported from Fireworks, the Property inspector identifies the selection as a
Fireworks image or table and displays the name of the PNG source file.
3To start Fireworks for editing, do one of the following:
•In the Property inspector, click Edit.
•Hold down Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) and double-click the selected image.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the selected image and select Edit With Fireworks from the
context menu.
Note: If Fireworks cannot locate the source file, you are prompted to locate the PNG source file. When you work with the
Fireworks source file, changes are saved to both the source file and the exported file; otherwise, only the exported file is
updated.
349
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
4In Fireworks, edit the source PNG file and click Done.
Fireworks saves the changes in the PNG file, exports the updated image (or HTML and images), and returns focus to
Dreamweaver. In Dreamweaver, the updated image or table appears.
For a tutorial about Dreamweaver and Fireworks integration, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0188.
More Help topics
“Use an external image editor” on page 235
Dreamweaver Fireworks tutorial
Optimize a Fireworks image from Dreamweaver
You can use Dreamweaver to make quick changes to Fireworks images and animations. From within Dreamweaver,
you can change optimization settings, animation settings, and the size and area of the exported image.
1In Dreamweaver, select the desired image and do one of the following:
•Select Command > Optimize Image
•Click the Edit
•Image Settings
• button in the Property inspector.
2Make your edits in the Image Preview dialog box:
•To edit optimization settings, click the Options tab.
•To edit the size and area of the exported image, click the File tab.
3When you finish, click OK.
More Help topics
“Setting Image Preview dialog box options” on page 358
Use Fireworks to modify Dreamweaver image placeholders
You can create a placeholder image in a Dreamweaver document and then start Fireworks to design a graphic image
or Fireworks table to replace it.
To create a new image from an image placeholder, you must have both Dreamweaver and Fireworks installed on your
system.
1Make sure you’ve already set Fireworks as the image editor for PNG files.
2In the Document window, click the image placeholder to select it.
3Start Fireworks in Editing From Dreamweaver mode by doing one of the following:
•In the Property inspector, click Create.
•Press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) then double-click the image placeholder.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the image placeholder, then select Create Image In Fireworks.
4Use Fireworks options to design the image.
350
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Fireworks recognizes the following image placeholder settings you may have set while working with the image
placeholder in Dreamweaver: image size (which correlates to Fireworks canvas size), image ID (which Fireworks uses
as the default document name for the source file and export file you create), and text alignment. Fireworks also
recognizes links and certain behaviors (such as swap image, pop-up menu, and set text) you attached to the image
placeholder while working in Dreamweaver.
Note: Although Fireworks doesn’t show links you’ve added to an image placeholder, they are preserved. If you draw a
hotspot and add a link in Fireworks, it will not delete the link you added to the image placeholder in Dreamweaver;
however, if you cut out a slice in Fireworks in the new image, Fireworks will delete the link in the Dreamweaver document
when you replace the image placeholder.
Fireworks doesn’t recognize the following image placeholder settings: image alignment, color, Vspace and Hspace, and
maps. They are disabled in the image placeholder Property inspector.
5When you finish, click Done to display the save prompt.
6In the Save In text box, select the folder you defined as your Dreamweaver local site folder.
If you named the image placeholder when you inserted it in the Dreamweaver document, Fireworks populates the File
Name box with that name. You can change the name.
7Click Save to save the PNG file.
The Export dialog box appears. Use this dialog box to export the image as a GIF or JPEG file, or, in the case of sliced
images, as HTML and images.
8For Save In, select the Dreamweaver local site folder.
The Name box automatically displays the name you used for the PNG file. You can change the name.
9For
10 Save As
11 Type, select the type of file or files you want to export; for example, Images Only or HTML And Images.
12 Click Save to save the exported file.
The file is saved, and focus returns to Dreamweaver. In the Dreamweaver document, the exported file or Fireworks
table replaces the image placeholder.
About Fireworks pop-up menus
Fireworks lets you quickly and easily create CSS-based pop-up menus.
In addition to being extensible and fast to download, the pop-up menus you create with Fireworks give you the
following advantages:
•The menu items can be indexed by search engines.
•The menu items can be read by screen readers, making your pages more accessible.
•The code generated by Fireworks complies to standards and can be validated.
You can edit Fireworks pop-up menus with Dreamweaver or with Fireworks, but not both. Changes made in
Dreamweaver are not preserved in Fireworks.
351
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit Fireworks pop-up menus in Dreamweaver
You can create a pop-up menu in Fireworks 8 or later and then edit it with Dreamweaver or with Fireworks (using
roundtrip editing), but not with both. If you edit your menus in Dreamweaver and then edit them in Fireworks, you
will lose all your previous edits except for the text content.
If you prefer to edit your menus with Dreamweaver, you can use Fireworks to create the pop-up menu and then use
Dreamweaver exclusively to edit and customize the menu.
If you prefer to edit the menus in Fireworks, you can use the roundtrip editing feature in Dreamweaver, but you should
not edit the menus directly in Dreamweaver.
1In Dreamweaver, select the Fireworks table that contains the pop-up menu, and then click Edit in the Property
inspector.
The source PNG file opens in Fireworks.
2In Fireworks, edit the menu with the Pop-up Menu Editor, and then click Done on the Fireworks toolbar.
Fireworks sends the edited pop-up menu back to Dreamweaver.
If you created a pop-up menu in Fireworks MX 2004 or earlier, you can edit it in Dreamweaver using the Show Pop-Up
Menu dialog box, available from the Behaviors panel.
Edit a pop-up menu created in Fireworks MX 2004 or earlier
1In Dreamweaver, select the hotspot or image that triggers the pop-up menu.
2In the Behaviors panel (Shift+F3), double-click Show Pop-Up Menu in the Actions list.
3Make your changes in the Pop-Up Menu dialog box and click OK.
More Help topics
“Apply the Show Pop-Up Menu behavior” on page 344
Specify launch-and-edit preferences for Fireworks source files
When you use Fireworks to edit images, the images in your web pages are normally exported by Fireworks from a
source PNG file. When you open an image file in Dreamweaver to edit it, Fireworks automatically opens the source
PNG file, prompting you to locate the PNG file if it cannot be found. If you prefer, you can set preferences in Fireworks
to have Dreamweaver open the inserted image, or you can have Fireworks give you the option of using the inserted
image file or the Fireworks source file every time you open an image in Dreamweaver.
Note: Dreamweaver recognizes the Fireworks launch-and-edit preferences only in certain cases. Specifically, you must be
opening and optimizing an image that is not part of a Fireworks table and contains a correct Design Notes path to a source
PNG file.
1In Fireworks, select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Fireworks > Preferences (Macintosh) and then click the
Launch And Edit tab (Windows) or select Launch And Edit from the pop-up menu (Macintosh).
2Specify the preference options to use when editing or optimizing Fireworks images placed in an external
application:
Always Use Source PNG Automatically opens the Fireworks PNG file that is defined in the Design Note as the source
of the placed image. Updates are made to the source PNG file and its corresponding placed image.
Never Use Source PNG Automatically opens the placed Fireworks image, whether or not a source PNG file exists.
Updates are made to the placed image only.
352
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Ask When Launching Displays a message asking whether to open the source PNG file. You can also specify global
launch-and-edit preferences from this message.
Insert Fireworks HTML code in a Dreamweaver document
From Fireworks, you can use the Export command to export and save optimized images and HTML files to a location
inside a Dreamweaver site folder. You can then insert the file in Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver lets you insert Fireworks-
generated HTML code, complete with associated images, slices, and JavaScript, into a document.
1In Dreamweaver document, place the insertion point where you want to insert the Fireworks HTML code.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Image Objects > Fireworks HTML.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Images button and choose Insert Fireworks HTML from the
popup menu.
3Click Browse to select a Fireworks HTML file.
4If you will have no further use for the file, select Delete File After Insertion. Selecting this option has no effect on
the source PNG file associated with the HTML file.
Note: If the HTML file is on a network drive, it is permanently deleted—not moved to the
Note: Recycle Bin
Note: or Trash.
5Click OK to insert the HTML code, along with its associated images, slices, and JavaScript, into the Dreamweaver
document.
Paste Fireworks HTML code into Dreamweaver
A fast way to place Fireworks-generated images and tables in Dreamweaver is to copy and paste Fireworks HTML code
directly into a Dreamweaver document.
Copy and paste Fireworks HTML code into Dreamweaver
1In Fireworks, select Edit > Copy HTML Code.
2Follow the wizard as it guides you through the settings for exporting your HTML and images. When prompted,
specify your Dreamweaver site folder as the destination for the exported images.
The wizard exports the images to the specified destination and copies the HTML code to the Clipboard.
3In Dreamweaver document, place the insertion point where you want to paste the HTML code, and select Edit >
Paste Fireworks HTML.
All HTML and JavaScript code associated with the Fireworks files you exported is copied into the Dreamweaver
document, and all links to images are updated.
Export and paste Fireworks HTML code into Dreamweaver
1In Fireworks, select File > Export.
2Specify your Dreamweaver site folder as the destination for the exported images.
3In the Export pop-up menu, select HTML And Images.
4In the HTML pop-up menu, select Copy To Clipboard, and then click Export.
353
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
5In the Dreamweaver document, place the insertion point where you want to paste the exported HTML code, and
select Edit
> Paste Fireworks HTML.
All HTML and JavaScript code associated with the Fireworks files you exported is copied into the Dreamweaver
document, and all links to images are updated.
Update Fireworks HTML code placed in Dreamweaver
In Fireworks, the File > Update HTML command provides an alternative to the launch-and-edit technique for
updating Fireworks files placed in Dreamweaver. With Update HTML, you can edit a source PNG image in Fireworks
and then automatically update any exported HTML code and image files placed in a Dreamweaver document. This
command lets you update Dreamweaver files even when Dreamweaver is not running.
1In Fireworks, open the source PNG file and make your edits.
2Select File > Save.
3In Fireworks, select File > Update HTML.
4Navigate to the Dreamweaver file containing the HTML you want to update, and click Open.
5Navigate to the folder destination where you want to place the updated image files, and click Select (Windows) or
Choose (Macintosh).
Fireworks updates the HTML and JavaScript code in the Dreamweaver document. Fireworks also exports updated
images associated with the HTML and places the images in the specified destination folder.
If Fireworks cannot find matching HTML code to update, it gives you the option of inserting new HTML code into
the Dreamweaver document. Fireworks places the JavaScript section of the new code at the beginning of the document
and places the HTML table or link to the image at the end.
Create a web photo album
The Create Web Photo Album feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Working with Photoshop and Dreamweaver
About Photoshop integration
You can insert Photoshop image files (PSD format) into web pages in Dreamweaver and let Dreamweaver optimize
them as web-ready images (GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats). When you do this, Dreamweaver inserts the image as a
Smart Object and maintains a live connection to the original PSD file.
You can also paste all or part of a multi-layered or multi-sliced Photoshop image into a web page in Dreamweaver.
When you copy and paste from Photoshop, however, no live connection to the original file is maintained. To update
the image, make your changes in Photoshop, and copy and paste again.
Note: If you use this integration feature often, you may want to store your Photoshop files in your Dreamweaver site for
easier access. If you do, be sure to cloak them to avoid exposure of the original assets, as well as unnecessary transfers
between the local site and the remote server.
For a tutorial about the Smart Object workflow in Photoshop and Dreamweaver, see
www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4043_dw.
354
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
About Smart Objects and Photoshop-Dreamweaver workflows
There are two main workflows for working with Photoshop files in Dreamweaver: the copy/paste workflow, and the
Smart Objects workflow.
Copy/paste workflow
The copy/paste workflow lets you select slices or layers in a Photoshop file, and then use Dreamweaver to insert them
as web-ready images. If you want to update the content later on, however, you must open the original Photoshop file,
make your changes, copy your slice or layer to the clipboard again, and then paste the updated slice or layer into
Dreamweaver. This workflow is only recommended when you want to insert part of a Photoshop file (for example, a
section of a design comp) as an image on a web page.
Smart Objects workflow
When working with complete Photoshop files, Adobe recommends the Smart Objects workflow. A Smart Object in
Dreamweaver is an image asset placed on a web page that has a live connection to an original Photoshop (PSD) file. In
Dreamweaver Design view, a Smart Object is denoted by an icon in the upper left corner of the image.
Smart Object
When the web image (that is, the image on the Dreamweaver page) is out of sync with the original Photoshop file,
Dreamweaver detects that the original file has been updated, and displays one of the Smart Object icon’s arrows in red.
When you select the web image in Design view and click the Update from Original button in the Property inspector,
the image updates automatically, reflecting any changes that you made to the original Photoshop file.
When you use the Smart Objects workflow, you do not need to open Photoshop to update a web image. Additionally,
any updates you make to a Smart Object in Dreamweaver are non-destructive. That is, you can change the web version
of the image on your page while keeping the original Photoshop image intact.
You can also update a Smart Object without selecting the web image in Design view. The Assets panel lets you update
all Smart Objects, including images that might not be selectable in the Document window (for example, CSS
background images).
355
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Image optimization settings
For both the copy/paste and the Smart Object workflows, you can specify optimization settings in the Image Preview
dialog box. This dialog box lets you set things like file format, image quality, and so on. If you are copying a slice or a
layer for the first time, or inserting a Photoshop file as a Smart Object for the first time, Dreamweaver displays this
dialog so that you can easily create the web image.
If you copy and paste an update to a particular slice or layer, Dreameaver remembers the original settings and re-
creates the web image with those settings. Likewise, when you update a Smart Object using the Property inspector,
Dreamweaver uses the same settings you used when you first inserted the image. You can change an image’s settings
at any time by selecting the web image in Design view, and then clicking the Edit
Image Settings
button in the Property inspector.
Storing Photoshop files
If you’ve inserted a web image, and have not stored the original Photoshop file in your Dreamweaver site,
Dreamweaver recognizes the path to the original file as an absolute local file path. (This is true for both the copy/paste
and Smart Object workflows.) For example, if the path to your Dreamweaver site is C:\Sites\mySite, and your
Photoshop file is stored in C:\Images\Photoshop, Dreameaver will not recognize the original asset as part of the site
called mySite. This will cause problems if you ever want to share the Photoshop file with other team members because
Dreamweaver will only recognize the file as being available on a particular local hard drive.
If you store the Photoshop file inside your site, however, Dreamweaver establishes a site-relative path to the file. Any
user with access to the site will also be able to establish the correct path to the file, assuming that you have also provided
the original file for them to download.
For a video tutorial on the Smart Objects workflow in Photoshop and Dreamweaver, see
www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4043_dw.
Create a Smart Object
When you insert a Photoshop image (PSD file) into your page, Dreamweaver creates a Smart Object. A Smart Object
is a web-ready image that maintains a live connection to the original Photoshop image. Whenever you update the
original image in Photoshop, Dreamweaver gives you the option of updating the image in Dreamweaver with the click
of a button.
1In Dreamweaver (Design or Code view), place the insertion point on your page where you want the image inserted.
2Select Insert > Image.
You can also drag the PSD file to the page from the Files panel if you’re storing your Photoshop files in your website.
If you do so, you’ll skip the next step.
3Locate your Photoshop PSD image file in the Select Image Source dialog box by clicking the Browse button and
navigating to it.
4In the Image Preview dialog box that appears, adjust optimization settings as needed and click OK.
5Save the web-ready image file to a location within your website’s root folder.
Dreamweaver creates the Smart Object based on the selected optimization settings and places a web-ready version of
the image on your page. The Smart Object maintains a live connection to the original image and lets you know when
the two are out of synch.
Note: If you decide later that you want to change the optimization settings for an image placed in your pages, you can
select the image, click the Edit
356
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Image Settings
Note: button in the Property inspector, and make changes in the Image Preview dialog box. Changes made in the Image
Preview dialog box are applied non-destructively. Dreamweaver never modifies the original Photoshop file, and always
re-creates the web image based on the original data.
For a video tutorial about working with Photoshop Smart Objects, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4043_dw.
Update a Smart Object
If you change the Photoshop file to which your Smart Object is linked, Dreamweaver notifies you that the web-ready
image is out of sync with the original. In Dreamweaver, Smart Objects are denoted by an icon at the upper left corner
of the image. When the web-ready image in Dreamweaver is in sync with the original Photoshop file, both of the
arrows in the icon are green. When the web-ready image is out of sync with the original Photoshop file, one of the
icon’s arrows turns read.
❖To update a Smart Object with the current contents of the original Photoshop file, select the Smart Object in the
Document window, and then click the Update from Original button in the Property inspector.
Note: You do not need Photoshop installed to make the update from Dreamweaver.
Update multiple Smart Objects
You can update multiple Smart Objects at once using the Assets panel. The Assets panel also lets you see Smart Objects
that might not be selectable in the Document window (for example, CSS background images).
1In the Files panel, click the Assets tab to view site assets.
2Make sure that Images view is selected. If it isn’t, click the Images button.
3Select each image asset in the Assets panel. When you select a Smart Object, you’ll see the Smart Object icon in the
upper left corner of the image. Regular images do not have this icon.
4For each Smart Object that you want to update, right-click the filename and select Update from Original. You can
also Control-click to select multiple filenames and update them all at once.
Note: You do not need Photoshop installed to make the update from Dreamweaver.
Resize a Smart Object
You can resize a Smart Object in the Document window just as you would any other image.
1Select the Smart Object in the Document window and drag the resize handles to resize the image. You can maintain
the width and height proportions by holding down the Shift key as you drag.
2Click the Update from Original button in the Property inspector.
When you update the Smart Object, the web image non-destructively re-renders at the new size, based on the current
contents of the original file, and the original optimization settings.
Edit a Smart Object’s original Photoshop file
After you create a Smart Object on your Dreamweaver page, you can edit the original PSD file in Photoshop. After you
make your changes in Photoshop, you can then easily update the web image in Dreamweaver.
Note: Make sure that you have Photoshop set as your primary external image editor.
1Select the Smart Object in the Document window.
357
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Click the Edit button in the Property inspector.
3Make your changes in Photoshop and save the new PSD file.
4In Dreamweaver, select the Smart Object again and click the Update from Original button.
Note: If you changed the size of your image in Photoshop, you need to reset the size of the web image in Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver updates a Smart Object based only on the contents of the original Photoshop file, and not its size. To sync
the size of a web image with the size of the original Photoshop file, right-click the image and select Reset Size To Original.
Smart Object states
The following table lists the various states for Smart Objects.
Copy and paste a selection from Photoshop
You can copy all or some of a Photoshop image and paste the selection into your Dreamweaver page as a web-ready
image. You can copy a single layer or a set of layers for a selected area of the image or you can copy a slice of the image.
When you do this, however, Dreamweaver does not create a Smart Object.
Note: While the Update from Original functionality is not available for pasted images, you can still open and edit the
original Photoshop file by selecting the pasted image and clicking the Edit button in the Property inspector.
1In Photoshop, do one of the following:
•Copy all or part of a single layer by using the Marquee tool to select the portion you want to copy, and then choose
Edit
> Copy. This copies only the active layer for the selected area into the clipboard. If you have layer-based effects,
they are not copied.
•Copy and merge multiple layers by using the Marquee tool to select the portion you want to copy, and then choose
Edit
> Copy Merged. This flattens and copies all the selected area’s active and lower layers into the clipboard. If you
have layer-based effects associated with any of these layers, they are copied.
•Copy a slice by using the Slice Select tool to select the slice, and then choose Edit > Copy. This flattens and copies
all the slice’s active and lower layers into the clipboard.
SmartObject state Description Recommended action
Images synched The web image is in sync with the current contents of the original
Photoshop file. Width and height attributes in the HTML code
match the dimensions of the web image.
None
Original asset modified The original Photoshop file has been modified after the creation
of the web image in Dreamweaver.
Use the Update From Original button in the
Property inspector to sync the two images.
Dimensions of web image
are different from selected
HTML width and height
The width and height attributes in the HTML code are different
from the width and height dimensions of the web image that
Dreamweaver created upon insertion. If the web image’s
dimensions are smaller than the selected HTML width and height
values, the web image can appear pixelated.
Use the Update From Original button in the
Property inspector to re-create the web
image from the original Photoshop file.
Dreamweaver uses the currently specified
HTML width and height dimensions when it
re-creates the image.
Dimensions of original asset
are too small for selected
HTML width and height
The width and height attributes in the HTML code are larger than
the width and height dimensions of the original Photoshop file.
The web image can appear pixelated.
Don’t create web images with dimensions
larger than the dimensions of the original
Photoshop file.
Original asset not found Dreamweaver cannot find the original Photoshop file specified
in the Original text box of the Property inspector.
Correct the file path in the Original text box
of the Property inspector, or move the
Photoshop file to the location that’s
currently specified.
358
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can choose Select > All to quickly select all of an image for copying.
2In Dreamweaver (Design or Code view), place the insertion point on your page where you want the image inserted.
3Select Edit > Paste.
4In the Image Preview dialog box, adjust optimization settings as needed and click OK.
5Save the web-ready image file to a location within your website’s root folder.
Dreamweaver defines the image according to your optimization settings and places a web-ready version of your image
in your page. Information about the image, such as the location of the original PSD source file, is saved in a Design
Note, regardless of whether you have enabled Design Notes for your site. The Design Note allows you to return to edit
the original Photoshop file from Dreamweaver.
For a tutorial on copying and pasting between different applications, including Dreamweaver and Photoshop, see
www.adobe.com/go/vid0193.
Edit pasted images
After you paste Photoshop images in your Dreamweaver pages, you can edit the original PSD file in Photoshop. When
using the copy/paste workflow, Adobe recommends that you always make your edits to the original PSD file (rather
than the web-ready image itself), and then repaste to maintain single sourcing.
Note: Make sure that you have Photoshop set as your primary external image editor for the file type you want to edit.
1In Dreamweaver, select a web-ready image that was originally created in Photoshop and do one of the following:
•Click the Edit button in the image’s Property inspector.
•Press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) as you double-click the file.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) an image, choose Edit Original With from the context menu,
and then choose Photoshop.
Note: This assumes that Photoshop is set as the primary external image editor for PSD image files. You may also want to
set Photoshop as the default editor for JPEG, GIF, and PNG file types.
2Edit the file in Photoshop.
3Return to Dreamweaver and paste the updated image or selection into your page.
If you want to reoptimize the image at any time, you can select the image and click the Edit
Image Settings
button in the Property inspector.
Setting Image Preview dialog box options
Image Preview dialog box options
When you create a Smart Object or paste a selection from Photoshop, Dreamweaver displays the Image Preview dialog
box. (Dreamweaver also displays this dialog box for any other kind of image if you select the image and click the Edit
Image Settings
button in the Property inspector.) This dialog box lets you define and preview settings for web-ready images using the
right mix of color, compression, and quality.
359
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
A web-ready image is one that can be displayed by all modern web browsers and looks the same no matter what system
or browser the viewer is using. When you insert a Photoshop image, the Image Preview dialog box lets you adjust
various settings for optimal web publication. In general, the settings result in a trade-off between quality and file size.
The Image Preview dialog box
A. Options tab B. File tab C. Preview panel
Note: Whatever settings you select only affect the exported version of the image file. The original Photoshop PSD or
Fireworks PNG file always remains untouched.
The Image Preview dialog box has three sections:
•The Options tab lets you define which file format to use and set preferences such as color.
•The File tab lets you set the scale factor and target file size of the image.
•The Preview panel lets you see a version of the image with your current settings.
Many image options are available in the Options tab and they vary depending on the file format you choose. Several
sets of GIF and JPEG image options are available for your convenience in the Saved Settings pop-up menu.
JPEG image options
You can optimize a JPEG image by setting its compression and smoothing options. You cannot edit its color palette.
Quality Use the slider to increase or decrease the quality of the image. Better quality results in a larger file.
Smoothing Allows you to increase the smoothing as needed. Lower quality images may require a higher value.
A CB
360
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Progressive Browser Display Displays an image initially at low resolution and progressively increases the resolution
during download. Not selected by default.
Sharpen Color Edges Allows you to get a higher quality image.
Matte Allows you to set the background of the image. You can maintain the transparency of a 32-bpc (bits per
channel) PNG by clicking the transparency icon in the Matte dialog box. You can also use Matte to anti-alias soft-
edged objects that lie directly above the canvas by matching the matte color to the target background.
Remove Unused Colors Reduces file size by removing colors not used in the image.
Optimize to Size Specifies the image size, in kilobytes. For 8-bpc images, the wizard attempts to achieve the requested
file size by adjusting the number of colors or dithering.
GIF and PNG image options
In the Options tab, you can set a transparency value for individual colors in GIF and 8-bpc PNG images so that the
background of the web page is visible through areas with those colors. Do this by adjusting the color palette on the left
of the Options tab. PNG images that have 32-bpc format automatically contain transparency, though you won’t see a
transparency option for 32-bpc PNGs in the Optimize panel.
Palette Set to Adaptive by default. Select one of the saved color palette settings from the pop-up menu if you want to
use a preset set of options
Loss Set to 0 by default. Not applicable to PNG images.
Dither Approximates colors not in the current palette by alternating similar-colored pixels so that they appear to blend
to the missing color. Dithering is especially helpful when exporting images with complex blends or gradients, or when
exporting photographic images to an 8-bpc graphic format such as GIF. Not selected by default.
Note: Dithering can greatly increase file size.
Number Of Colors List Set to 256 by default. The number of colors is dependent on the current behavior of the palette.
For example, the "Web 216" palette only displays 216 colors.
Color palette The display of colors varies depending on the selected palette behavior and maximum number of colors.
Palette Tools Click any pixel in the palette and then click these icons to change, add, or delete color, or to make a color
transparent, web safe, or locked.
Select Transparency Color Icons These buttons allow you to select, add, or remove a palette color. For example, if you
choose the Select Transparency Color option, you can click any pixel in the palette or on a point of color in the preview
panel to render it transparent.
Transparency Pop-Up Menu Allows you to set index, alpha, or no transparency. A gray-and-white checkerboard on
document previews denotes transparent areas. To see how your choices affect the image, choose 2-up or 4-up in the
image preview and click an image other than the original.
•Index Use index transparency when exporting GIF images that contain transparent areas. With index
transparency, you set specific colors to be transparent upon export. Index transparency turns on or turns off pixels
with specific color values.
•Alpha Use alpha transparency when exporting 8-bpc PNG images that contain transparent areas. Alpha
transparency allows gradient transparency and semi-opaque pixels.
Matte Lets you set the background of the image. You can maintain the transparency of a 32-bpc PNG by clicking the
transparency icon in the Matte dialog box. You can also use Matte to anti-alias soft-edged objects that lie directly above
the canvas by matching the matte color to the target background.
Remove Unused Colors Reduces file size by removing colors not used in the image.
361
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Interlaced Browser Display Displays an interlaced image initially at low resolution and progressively increases to full
resolution during download. Not selected by default.
Optimize To Size Lets you specify a size, in kilobytes, for the image. For 8-bpc images, the wizard attempts to achieve
the requested file size by adjusting the number of colors or dithering.
Saved settings
Dreamweaver provides several option settings for your convenience. Depending on the saved settings you choose, the
file-type-specific image options described above may change.
GIF Web 216 Forces all colors to web-safe colors. The color palette contains up to 216 colors.
GIF Websnap 256 Converts web-unsafe colors to their closest web-safe color. The color palette contains up to a
maximum of 256 colors.
GIF Websnap 128 Converts web-unsafe colors to their closest web-safe color. The color palette contains up to 128
colors.
GIF Adaptive 256 A color palette that contains only the actual colors used in the graphic. The color palette contains
up to a maximum of 256 colors.
JPEG - Better Quality Sets quality to 80 and smoothing to 0, resulting in a high-quality but larger graphic.
JPEG - Smaller File Sets quality to 60 and smoothing to 2, resulting in a graphic less than half the size of a Better Quality
JPEG but with reduced quality.
(Optional) Change the image’s scale or export area options on the File tab
1Select the File tab.
2Shrink or expand the image in one of the following ways:
•Specify a scale percentage.
•Enter absolute pixel values for width or height.
3Select Constrain to maintain the image’s original proportions as you rescale it.
4Change the shape of the placed image by choosing the Export Area option and doing one of the following:
•Drag the dotted border around the previewed image as needed. You can drag the image within the borders to
move hidden areas into view.
•Enter pixel coordinates for the image’s boundaries.
(Optional) Preview and adjust images in the Preview panel
1In the Image Preview dialog box, select the Preview option if you want to see what the image looks like with your
settings. If performance is an issue, you may want to deselect this option.
2 Select one of the saved color palette settings from the Saved Settings pop-up menu if you want to use a preset set
of options.
3If your image is larger than the preview area, use the pointer tool to grab the previewed image and pan it to see
different parts.
4Use the crop tool to reduce the image’s size. You may need to first zoom out to see the entire image.
5Choose a value from the Zoom pop-up menu to expand or reduce your view of the previewed image. You can also
choose the Zoom tool and click to zoom in; Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) to zoom out.
6You can preview two or four different optimizations by clicking the 2-up or 4-up button at the bottom of the
preview panel and choosing different color palettes for each pane.
362
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: The animation controls in the Image Preview dialog box are always disabled for Photoshop images.
Working with Flash and Dreamweaver
Edit a SWF file from Dreamweaver in Flash
If you have both Flash and Dreamweaver installed, you can select a SWF file in a Dreamweaver document and use
Flash to edit it. Flash does not edit the SWF file directly; it edits the source document (FLA file) and re-exports the
SWF file.
1In Dreamweaver, open the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
2In the Dreamweaver document, do one of the following:
•Click the SWF file placeholder to select it; then in the Property inspector click Edit.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the placeholder for the SWF file, and select Edit With Flash
from the context menu.
Dreamweaver switches the focus to Flash, and Flash attempts to locate the Flash authoring file (FLA) for the selected
SWF file. If Flash cannot locate the Flash authoring file, you are prompted to locate it.
Note: If the FLA file or SWF file is locked, check out the file in Dreamweaver.
3In Flash, edit the FLA file. The Flash Document window indicates that you are modifying the file from within
Dreamweaver.
4When you finish making edits, click Done.
Flash updates the FLA file, re-exports it as a SWF file, closes, and then returns the focus to the Dreamweaver document.
Note: To update the SWF file and keep Flash open, in Flash select File > Update for Dreamweaver.
5To view the updated file in the document, click Play in the Dreamweaver Property inspector or press F12 to preview
your page in a browser window.
Working with Adobe Bridge and Dreamweaver
About Adobe Bridge
Dreamweaver provides seamless integration with Adobe Bridge, the cross-platform file browser included with
Adobe
Creative Suite 5 components. Adobe Bridge helps you locate, organize, and browse the assets you need to
create print, web, video, and mobile content. You can start Adobe
Bridge from any
Creative Suite
component (except Acrobat 9), and use it to access both Adobe and non-Adobe asset types.
From Adobe Bridge, you can:
•Preview, search, sort, and process files without opening individual Creative Suite applications. You can also edit
metadata for files and use Adobe
Bridge to place files into your documents, projects, or compositions.
•Import and edit photos from a digital camera card, group related photos into stacks, and open and edit Camera Raw
files without starting Photoshop.
363
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Perform automated tasks, such as batch commands.
• Synchronize color settings across color-managed Creative Suite components.
More Help topics
Creative Suite 5 - Bridge
Start Adobe Bridge from Dreamweaver
You can start Adobe Bridge from Dreamweaver to view your files before placing them or dragging them in your page
layout.
❖You can start Adobe Bridge in several different ways:
•Select File >
•Browse In Bridge
•.
•Click the
•Browse In Bridge
• button in the Standard toolbar.
•Press the
•Browse In Bridge
• shortcut from the keyboard: Control+Alt+O (Windows) or Command+Option+O (Macintosh).
Adobe Bridge opens in File Browser mode, showing the contents of the last-opened folder in Dreamweaver. If
Adobe
Bridge was already open, it becomes the active window.
Note: Adobe Bridge is only installed with Dreamweaver CS5 when you install Creative Suite CS5; it is not included with
the standalone version of Dreamweaver CS5. However, Adobe Bridge was included if you previously installed
Dreamweaver CS3 or CS4, so if you still have Adobe Bridge installed from those versions, Dreamweaver CS5 can access
it and use it.
Placing files into Dreamweaver from Adobe Bridge
You can insert files into Dreamweaver pages by inserting them or by dragging them from Adobe Bridge into your page.
The Dreamweaver document in which you want to insert the file must be open and in Design view to use this feature.
You can insert most file types into your pages, but Dreamweaver handles them differently:
•If you insert a web-ready image (JPEG, GIF, or PNG), Dreamweaver inserts the image files directly into your page
and places a copy in your website’s default images folder.
•If you insert a Photoshop PSD file, you need to define its optimization settings before Dreamweaver can place it in
your page.
•If you insert a non-image file, such as mp3, PDF, or a file with an unknown file type, Dreamweaver inserts a link to
the source file.
•If you insert an HTML file, Dreamweaver inserts a link to the source file.
•(Windows only) If you have Microsoft Office installed and you are inserting a Microsoft Word or Excel file, you
must specify if you want to insert the file itself or insert a link to the source file. If you want to insert the file, you
can specify how much of the file’s formatting you want to keep.
364
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Create a Smart Object” on page 355
“Working with Photoshop and Dreamweaver” on page 353
Place an Adobe Bridge file in your page
1In Dreamweaver (Design view), place the insertion point on your page where you want the file inserted.
2In Adobe Bridge, select the file and choose File > Place In Dreamweaver.
3If the file is not in your site’s root folder, you are prompted to copy it there.
4If you have set Edit > Preferences > Accessibility to show attributes when inserting images, the Image Tag
Accessibility Attributes dialog box is displayed when you insert web-ready images such as JPEG and GIF.
Note: If your insertion point is in Code view, Adobe Bridge starts as usual but cannot place the file. You can only place
files in Design view.
Drag a file from Bridge into your page
1In Dreamweaver (Design view), place the insertion point on your page where you want the image inserted.
2Start Adobe Bridge if it isn't already open.
3In Adobe Bridge, select one or more files and drag them into your Dreamweaver page.
4If a file is not in your site’s root folder, you are prompted to copy it there.
5If you have set Edit > Preferences > Accessibility to show attributes when inserting images, the Image Tag
Accessibility Attributes dialog box is displayed when you insert web-safe images such as JPEG and GIF.
Note: If your insertion point is in Code view, Adobe Bridge starts as usual but cannot place the file. You can only place
files in Design view.
Start Dreamweaver from Adobe Bridge
❖Select a file in Adobe Bridge and do one of the following:
•Select File >
•Open With
• > Adobe Dreamweaver.
•Right-click (Control-click on Macintosh) and then choose
•Open With
• > Adobe Dreamweaver from the context menu.
Note: If Dreamweaver is already open, this action makes the program active. If Dreamweaver is not open, Adobe Bridge
starts it, bypassing the Welcome Screen.
365
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Working with Device Central and Dreamweaver
Using Adobe Device Central with Dreamweaver
Device Central enables Dreamweaver web designers and developers to preview how Dreamweaver files will look on a
wide variety of mobile devices. Device Central uses Opera’s Small-Screen Rendering™ to give designers and developers
an impression of how their web page looks on a small screen. It also enables designers and developers to test if their
CSS behaves correctly.
For example, a web developer may have a customer who wants to make a website available on mobile phones. The web
developer can use Dreamweaver to create preliminary pages and use Device Central to test how those pages look on
different devices.
More Help topics
Adobe Device Central Help
Preview mobile content with Adobe Device Central and Dreamweaver
To preview pages created in Dreamweaver on various mobile devices, use Device Central with its built-in Opera
Small-Screen Rendering feature. Different devices have different browsers installed, but the preview can give a good
impression of how content will look and behave on a selected device.
1Start Dreamweaver.
2Open a file.
3Do one of the following:
•Select File > Preview in Browser > Device Central.
•On the document window toolbar, click and hold the Preview/Debug In browser button and select Preview In
Device Central.
The file is displayed in the Device Central Emulator tab. To continue testing, double-click the name of a different
device in the
Device Sets
or
Available Devices
lists.
Tips for creating Dreamweaver web content for mobile devices
Device Central previews web pages created in Dreamweaver using Opera’s Small-Screen Rendering. This preview can
give you a good idea of what a web page looks like on a mobile device.
Note: Opera’s Small-Screen Rendering may or may not be pre-installed on any individual emulated device. Device
Central simply gives a preview of how the content would look if Opera’s Small-Screen Rendering was installed.
Use the tips below to ensure that web pages created in Dreamweaver display well on mobile devices.
•If you use the Adobe® Spry framework to develop content, add the following line of HTML to your pages so they
can render CSS and execute JavaScript™ correctly in Device Central:
366
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
<link href="SpryAccordion.css" media="screen" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
<link href="SpryAccordion2.css" media="handheld" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
•Opera’s Small-Screen Rendering does not support frames, pop-ups, underlining, strikethrough, overlining, blink,
and marquee. Try to avoid these design elements.
•Keep web pages for mobile devices simple. In particular, use a minimum number of fonts, font sizes, and colors.
•Scaling down image sizes and reducing the number of colors required increase the chances that the images will
appear as intended. Use CSS or HTML to specify an exact height and width for each image used. Provide alt text
for all images.
Note: The Opera software website is a good source of information about optimizing web pages for mobile devices.
For more tips and techniques for creating content for mobile phones and devices, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_cs_mobilewiki_en.
Working with ConnectNow and Dreamweaver
Working with ConnectNow
Adobe® ConnectNow provides you with a secure, personal online meeting room where you can meet and collaborate
with others via the web in real time. With ConnectNow, you can share and annotate your computer screen, send chat
messages, and communicate using integrated audio. You can also broadcast live video, share files, capture meeting
notes, and control an attendee's computer.
You can access ConnectNow directly from the application interface.
1Choose File > Share My Screen.
2In the
3Sign In
4 to Adobe CS Live dialog box, enter your email address and password, and click
5Sign In
6. If you don’t have an Adobe ID, click the Create
7Adobe ID
8 button.
9To share your screen, click the Share
10 My Computer
11 Screen button at the center of the ConnectNow application window.
For complete instructions on using ConnectNow, see Adobe ConnectNow Help.
For a video tutorial about using ConnectNow, see Using ConnectNow to share your screen (7:12). (This
demonstration is in Dreamweaver.)
367
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
AIR Extension for Dreamweaver
The Adobe® AIR® Extension for Dreamweaver® lets you transform a web-based application into a desktop application.
Users can then run the application on their desktops and, in some cases, without an Internet connection.
You can use the extension with Dreamweaver CS3 and later. It is not compatible with Dreamweaver 8.
Note: Adobe AIR
Note: does not support Adobe InContext Editing. If you use the AIR Extension for Dreamweaver to export an application
that contains InContext Editing regions, the InContext Editing functionality will not work.
Installing the AIR Extension for Dreamweaver
The AIR Extension for Dreamweaver helps you to create rich Internet applications for the desktop. For example, you
might have a set of web pages that interact with each other to display XML data. You can use the
Adobe AIR
Extension for Dreamweaver to package this set of pages into a small application that can be installed on a user’s
computer. When the user runs the application from their desktop, the application loads and displays the website in its
own application window, independent of a browser. The user can then browse the website locally on their computer
without an Internet connection.
Dynamic pages such as Adobe® ColdFusion® and PHP pages won’t run in
Adobe AIR
. The runtime only works with HTML and JavaScript. However, you can use JavaScript in your pages to call any web
service exposed on the Internet—including ColdFusion- or PHP-generated services—with Ajax methods such as
XMLHTTPRequest or
Adobe AIR
-specific APIs.
System requirements
To use the
Adobe AIR
Extension for Dreamweaver, the following software must be installed and properly configured:
•Dreamweaver CS3 or later
•Adobe® Extension Manager CS3 or later
•Java JRE 1.4 or later (necessary for creating the
•Adobe AIR
•file). The Java JRE is available at http://java.sun.com/.
The preceding requirements are only for creating and previewing Adobe AIR applications in Dreamweaver. To
install and run an
Adobe AIR
application on the desktop, you must also install
Adobe AIR
368
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
on your computer. To download the runtime, see www.adobe.com/go/air.
Install the Adobe AIR Extension for Dreamweaver
1Download the
1Adobe AIR
1 Extension for Dreamweaver here: http://www.adobe.com/products/air/tools/ajax/.
2Double-click the .mxp extension file in
3Windows Explorer
4(Windows) or in the Finder (Macintosh).
5Follow the onscreen instructions to install the extension.
6After you’re finished, restart Dreamweaver.
For information about using the
Adobe AIR
Extension for Dreamweaver, see Using the AIR Extension for Dreamweaver.
Creating an AIR application in Dreamweaver
To create an HTML-based AIR application in Dreamweaver, you select an existing site to package as an AIR
application.
1Make sure that the web pages you want to package into an application are contained in a defined Dreamweaver site.
2In Dreamweaver, open the home page of the set of pages you want to package.
3Select Site > Air Application Settings.
4Complete the AIR Application and Installer Settings dialog box, and then click Create AIR File.
For more information, see the dialog box options listed below.
The first time you create an
Adobe AIR
file, Dreamweaver creates an application.xml file in your site root folder. This file serves as a manifest, defining
various properties of the application.
The following describes the options in the AIR Application and Installer Settings dialog box:
Application File Name is the name used for the application executable file. By default, the extension uses the name
of the Dreamweaver site to name the file. You can change the name if you prefer. However, the name must contain
only valid characters for files or folder names. (That is, it can only contain ASCII characters, and cannot end with
a period.) This setting is required.
Application Name is the name that appears on installation screens when users install the application. Again, the
extension specifies the name of the Dreamweaver site by default. This setting does not have character restrictions,
and is not required.
Application ID identifies your application with a unique ID. You can change the default ID if you prefer. Do not
use spaces or special characters in the ID. The only valid characters are 0-9, a-z, A-Z, . (dot), and - (dash). This
setting is required.
Version specifies a version number for your application. This setting is required.
369
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Initial Content specifies the start page for your application. Click the Browse button to navigate to your start page
and select it. The chosen file must reside inside the site root folder. This setting is required.
Description lets you specify a description of the application to display when the user installs the application.
Copyright lets you specify a copyright that is displayed in the About information for
Adobe AIR
applications installed on the Macintosh. This information is not used for applications installed on Windows.
Window Style specifies the window style (or chrome) to use when the user runs the application on their computer.
System chrome surrounds the application with the operating system standard window control. Custom chrome
(opaque) eliminates the standard system chrome and lets you create a chrome of your own for the application. (You
build the custom chrome directly in the packaged HTML page.) Custom chrome (transparent) is like Custom
chrome (opaque), but adds transparent capabilities to the edges of the page, allowing for application windows that
are not rectangular in shape.
Window Size specifies the dimensions of your application window when it opens.
Icon lets you select custom images for the application icons. (The default images are
Adobe AIR
images that come with the extension.) To use custom images, click the Select Icon Images button. Then, in the Icon
Images dialog box that appears, click the folder for each icon size and select the image file you want to use. AIR only
supports PNG files for application icon images.
Note: Selected custom images must reside in the application site, and their paths must be relative to the site root.
Associated File Types lets you associate file types with your application. For more information, see the section that
follows.
Application Updates determines whether the
Adobe AIR
Application Installer or the application itself performs updates to new versions of
Adobe AIR
applications. The check box is selected by default, which causes the
Adobe AIR
Application Installer to perform updates. If you want your application to perform its own updates, deselect the
checkbox. Keep in mind that if you deselect the checkbox, you then need to write an application that can perform
updates.
Included Files specifies which files or folders to include in your application. You can add HTML and CSS files,
image files, and JavaScript library files. Click the Plus (+) button to add files, and the folder icon to add folders. You
should not include certain files such as _mmServerScripts, _notes, and so on. To delete a file or folder from your
list, select the file or folder and click the Minus (-) button.
Digital Signature Click Set to sign your application with a digital signature. This setting is required. For more
information, see the section that follows.
Program Menu Folder specifies a subdirectory in the Windows Start Menu where you want the application’s
shortcut created. (Not applicable on Macintosh.)
370
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Destination specifies where to save the new application installer (.air file). The default location is the site root. Click
the Browse button to select a different location. The default file name is based on the site name with an .air
extension added to it. This setting is required.
The following is an example of the dialog box with some basic options set:
Signing an application with a digital certificate
A digital signature provides an assurance that the code for an application has not been altered or corrupted since its
creation by the software author. All
Adobe AIR
applications require a digital signature, and can’t be installed without one. You can sign your application with a
purchased digital certificate, create your own certificate, or prepare an Adobe AIRI file (an
Adobe AIR
intermediate file) that you’ll sign at a later time.
1In the AIR Application and Installer Settings dialog box, click the Set button next to the Digital Signature option.
371
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
2In the Digital Signature dialog box, do one of the following:
•To sign an application with a pre-purchased digital certificate, click the Browse button, select the certificate,
enter the corresponding password, and click OK.
•To create your own self-signed digital certificate, click the Create button and complete the dialog box. The
certificate Type option refers to the level of security: 1024-RSA uses a 1024-bit key (less secure), and 2048-RSA
uses a 2048-bit key (more secure). When you’re finished click OK. Then enter the corresponding password in
the Digital Signature dialog box and click OK.
•Select Prepare an AIRI package that will be signed later and click OK. This option lets you create an AIR
Intermediate (AIRI) application without a digital signature. A user is not able to install the application, however,
until you add a digital signature.
About Timestamping
When you sign an
Adobe AIR
application with a digital certificate, the packaging tool queries the server of a timestamp authority to obtain an
independently verifiable date and time of signing. The timestamp obtained is embedded in the AIR file. As long as the
signing certificate is valid at the time of signing, the AIR file can be installed, even after the certificate has expired. On
the other hand, if no timestamp is obtained, the AIR file ceases to be installable when the certificate expires or is
revoked.
By default, the
Adobe AIR
Extension for Dreamweaver obtains a timestamp when creating an
Adobe AIR
application. You can, however, turn timestamping off by deselecting the Timestamp option in the Digital Signature
dialog box. (You might want to do this, for example, if a timestamping service is unavailable.) Adobe recommends that
all publically distributed AIR files include a timestamp.
The default timestamp authority used by the AIR packaging tools is Geotrust. For more information on timestamping
and digital certificates, see Digitally signing an AIR file.
Editing associated AIR file types
You can associate different file types with your Adobe AIR application. For example, if you want file types with an .avf
extension to open in
Adobe AIR
when a user double-clicks them, you can add the .avf extension to your list of associated file types.
1In the AIR Application and Installer Settings dialog box, click the Edit list button next to the Associated File Types
option.
2In the Associated File Types dialog box, do one of the following:
•Select a file type and click the minus (-) button to delete the file type.
•Click the plus (+) button to add a file type.
If you click the plus button to add a file type, the
372
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
File Type
Settings dialog box appears. Complete the dialog box and click OK to close it.
Following is a list of options:
Name specifies the name of the file type that appears in the Associated File Types list. This option is required,
and can only include alphanumeric ASCII characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) and dots (for example, adobe.VideoFile).
The name must start with a letter. The maximum length is 38 characters.
Extension specifies the extension of the file type. Do not include a preceding dot. This option is required, and
can only include alphanumeric ASCII characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9). The maximum length is 38 characters.
Description lets you specify an optional description for the file type.
Content Type specifies the MIME type or media type for the file (for example text/html, image/gif, and so on).
Icon File Locations lets you select custom images for the associated file types. (The default images are
Adobe AIR
images that come with the extension.)
Editing AIR application settings
You can edit the settings for your
Adobe AIR
application at any time.
❖Select Site > AIR Application Settings and make your changes.
Previewing a web page in an AIR application
You can preview an HTML page in Dreamweaver as it would appear in an
Adobe AIR
application. Previewing is useful when you want to see what a web page will look like in the application without having
to create the entire application.
❖On the Document toolbar, click the Preview/Debug in Browser button, and then select Preview In AIR.
You can also press Ctrl+Shift+F12 (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+F12 (Macintosh).
Using AIR code hinting and code coloring
The
Adobe AIR
Extension for Dreamweaver also adds code hinting and code coloring for
Adobe AIR
language elements in Code view in Dreamweaver.
❖Open an HTML or JavaScript file in Code view and enter
❖Adobe AIR
❖ code.
373
USING DREAMWEAVER
Working with other applications
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: The code hinting mechanism only works inside <script> tags, or in .js files.
For more information on the
Adobe AIR
language elements, see the developer documentation in the rest of this guide.
Accessing the Adobe AIR documentation
The
Adobe AIR
extension adds a Help menu item in Dreamweaver that lets you access Developing AIR Applications with HTML and Ajax.
❖Select Help >
❖Adobe AIR
❖ Help.
374
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 14: Creating and managing
templates
About Dreamweaver templates
Understanding Dreamweaver templates
A template is a special type of document that you use to design a “fixed” page layout; you can then create documents
based on the template that inherit its page layout. As you design a template, you specify as “editable” which content
users can edit in a document based on that template. Templates enable template authors to control which page
elements template users—such as writers, graphic artists, or other web developers—can edit. There are several types
of template regions the template author can include in a document.
Note: Templates enable you to control a large design area and reuse complete layouts. If you want to reuse individual
design elements, such as a site’s copyright information or a logo, create library items.
Using templates enables you to update multiple pages at once. A document that is created from a template remains
connected to that template (unless you detach the document later). You can modify a template and immediately
update the design in all documents based on it.
Note: Templates in Dreamweaver differ from templates in some other Adobe
Note: Creative Suite
Note: software in that page sections of Dreamweaver templates are fixed (or uneditable) by default.
More Help topics
“Managing assets and libraries” on page 106
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
Types of template regions
When you save a document as a template, most regions of a document are locked. As a template author, you specify
which regions of a template-based document will be editable by inserting editable regions or editable parameters in
the template.
As you create the template, you can make changes to both editable and locked regions. In a document based on the
template, however, a template user can make changes only in the editable regions; the locked regions can’t be modified.
There are four types of template regions:
An editable region An unlocked region in a template-based document—a section a template user can edit. A template
author can specify any area of a template as editable. For a template to be effective, it should contain at least one
editable region; otherwise, pages based on the template can’t be edited.
A repeating region A section of the document layout that is set so that the template user can add or delete copies of
the repeating region in a document based on the template as necessary. For example, you can set a table row to repeat.
Repeating sections are editable so that the template user can edit the content in the repeating element, while the design
itself is under the control of the template author.
375
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
There are two types of repeating regions you can insert in a template: repeating region and repeating table.
An optional region A section of a template that holds content—such as text or an image—that may or may not appear
in a document. In the template-based page, the template user usually controls whether the content is displayed.
An editable tag attribute Lets you unlock a tag attribute in a template, so the attribute can be edited in a template-
based page. For example, you can “lock” which image appears in the document but let the template user set the
alignment to left, right, or center.
More Help topics
“Editing content in a template-based document” on page 402
“Creating editable regions in templates” on page 385
“Creating repeating regions in templates” on page 387
“Using optional regions in templates” on page 389
“Defining editable tag attributes in templates” on page 391
Links in templates
When you create a template file by saving an existing page as a template, the new template in the Templates folder, and
any links in the file are updated so that their document-relative paths are correct. Later, when you create a document
based on that template and save it, all the document-relative links are updated again to continue to point to the correct
files.
When you add a new document-relative link to a template file, it’s easy to enter the wrong path name if you type the
path into the link text box in the Property inspector. The correct path in a template file is the path from the Templates
folder to the linked document, not the path from the template-based document’s folder to the linked document.
Ensure that the correct paths for links exist by using either the folder icon or the Point-to-file icon in the Property
inspector when creating links in templates.
Dreamweaver 8.01 link update preference
Previous to Dreamweaver 8 (that is, Dreamweaver MX 2004 and earlier), Dreamweaver did not update links to files
that resided in the Templates folder. (For example, if you had a file called main.css in the Templates folder, and had
written href="main.css" as a link in the template file, Dreamweaver would not update this link when creating a
template-based page.)
Some users took advantage of the way Dreamweaver treated links to files in the Templates folder, and used this
inconsistency to create links that they intentionally did not want to update when creating template-based pages. For
example, if you are using Dreamweaver MX 2004, and have a site with different folders for different applications—
Dreamweaver, Flash, and Photoshop. Each product folder contains a template-based index.html page, and a unique
version of the main.css file at the same level. If the template file contains the document-relative link href="main.css"
(a link to a version of the main.css file in the Templates folder), and you want your template-based index.html pages
also to contain this link as written, you can create the template-based index.html pages without having to worry about
Dreamweaver updating those particular links. When Dreamweaver MX 2004 creates the template-based index.html
pages, the (un-updated) href="main.css" links refer to the main.css files that reside in the Dreamweaver, Flash, and
Photoshop folders, not to the main.css file that resides in the Templates folder.
376
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
In Dreamweaver 8, however, this behavior was changed so that all document-relative links are updated when creating
template-based pages, regardless of the apparent location of the linked files. In this scenario, Dreamweaver examines
the link in the template file (href="main.css") and creates a link in the template-based page that is relative to the location
of the new document. For example, if you are creating a template-based document one level up from the Templates
folder, Dreamweaver would write the link in the new document as href="Templates/main.css". This update in
Dreamweaver 8 broke links in pages created by those designers who had taken advantage of Dreamweaver’s former
practice of not updating links to files in the Templates folder.
Dreamweaver 8.01 added a preference that enables you to turn the update relative links behavior on and off. (This
special preference only applies to links to files in the Templates folder, not to links in general.) The default behavior is
to not update these links (as in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and before), but if you want Dreamweaver to update these kinds
of links when creating template-based pages, you can deselect the preference. (You would only do this if, for example,
you had a
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS) page, main.css, in your Templates folder, and you wanted a template-based document to contain the link
href="Templates/main.css"; but this is not recommended practice as only Dreamweaver template (DWT) files should
reside in the Templates folder.)
To have Dreamweaver update document-relative paths to non-template files in the Templates folder, select the
Templates category in the Site Setup dialog box (it’s under Advanced Settings), and deselect the Don’t Rewrite
Document Relative Paths option.
For more information, see the Dreamweaver TechNote on the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/f55d8739.
More Help topics
“Link to documents using the Point-To-File icon” on page 265
“Document-relative paths” on page 262
Server scripts in templates and template-based documents
Some server scripts are inserted at the very beginning or end of the document (before the <html> tag or after the
</html> tag). Such scripts require special treatment in templates and template-based documents. Normally, if you
make changes to script code before the <html> tag or after the </html> tag in a template, the changes are not copied
to documents based on that template. This can cause server errors if other server scripts, within the main body of the
template, depended on the scripts that are not copied. An alert warns you if you change scripts before the <html> tag
or after the </html> tag in a template.
To avoid this problem, you can insert the following code in the head section of the template:
<!-- TemplateInfo codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="true" -->
When this code is in a template, changes to scripts before the <html> tag or after the </html> tag are copied to
documents based on that template. However, you will no longer be able to edit those scripts in documents based on
the template. Thus, you can choose to either edit these scripts in the template, or in documents based on the template,
but not both.
377
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Template parameters
Template parameters indicate values for controlling content in documents based on a template. Use template
parameters for optional regions or editable tag attributes, or to set values you want to pass to an attached document.
For each parameter, you select a name, a data type, and a default value. Each parameter must have a unique name that
is case sensitive. They must be one of five permitted data types: text, boolean, color, URL, or number.
Template parameters are passed to the document as instance parameters. In most cases, a template user can edit the
parameter’s default value to customize what appears in a template-based document. In other cases, the template author
might determine what appears in the document, based on the value of a template expression.
More Help topics
“Using optional regions in templates” on page 389
“Defining editable tag attributes in templates” on page 391
Template expressions
Template expressions are statements that compute or evaluate a value.
You can use an expression to store a value and display it in a document. For example, an expression can be as simple
as the value of a parameter, such as @@(Param)@@, or complex enough to compute values which alternate the
background color in a table row, such as @@((_index & 1) ? red : blue)@@.
You can also define expressions for if and multiple-if conditions. When an expression is used in a conditional
statement, Dreamweaver evaluates it as true or false. If the condition is true, the optional region appears in the
template-based document; if it is false, it doesn’t appear.
You can define expressions in Code view or in the Optional Region dialog box when you insert an optional region.
In Code view, there are two ways to define template expressions: use the <!-- TemplateExpr expr="your
expresson"--> comment or @@(your expression)@@. When you insert the expression in the template code, an
expression marker appears in Design view. When you apply the template, Dreamweaver evaluates the expression and
displays the value in the template-based
document.
More Help topics
“Template expression language” on page 377
“Multiple If condition in template code” on page 378
Template expression language
The template expression language is a small subset of JavaScript, and uses JavaScript syntax and precedence rules. Use
JavaScript operators to write an expression like this:
@@(firstName+lastName)@@
The following features and operators are supported:
•numeric literals, string literals (double-quote syntax only), Boolean literals (true or false)
•variable reference (see the list of defined variables later in this section)
•field reference (the “dot” operator)
•unary operators: +, -, ~, !
•binary operators: +, -, *, /, %, &, |, ^, &&, ||, <, <=, >, >=, ==, !=, <<, >>
378
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
•conditional operator: ?:
•parentheses: ()
The following data types are used: Boolean, IEEE 64-bpc floating point, string, and object. Dreamweaver templates
do not support the use of JavaScript “null” or “undefined” types. Nor do they allow scalar types to be implicitly
converted into an object; thus, the expression "abc".length would trigger an error, instead of yielding the value 3.
The only objects available are those defined by the expression object model. The following variables are defined:
_document Contains the document-level template data with a field for each parameter in the template.
_repeat Only defined for expressions which appear inside a repeating region. Provides built-in information about
the region
_index The numerical index (from 0) of the current entry
_numRows The total number of entries in this repeating region
_isFirst True if the current entry is the first entry in its repeating region
_isLast True if the current entry is the last entry in its repeating region
_prevRecord The _repeat object for the previous entry. It is an error to access this property for the first entry in
the region.
_nextRecord The _repeat object for the next entry. It is an error to access this property for the last entry in the
region.
_parent In a nested repeated region, this gives the _repeat object for the enclosing (outer) repeated region. It is an
error to access this property outside of a nested repeated region.
During expression evaluation, all fields of the _document object and _repeat object are implicitly available. For
example, you can enter title instead of _document.title to access the document’s title parameter.
In cases where there is a field conflict, fields of the _repeat object take precedence over fields of the _document
object. Therefore, you shouldn’t need to explicitly reference _document or _repeat except that _document might
be needed inside a repeating region to reference document parameters that are hidden by repeated region
parameters.
When nested repeated regions are used, only fields of the innermost repeated regions are available implicitly. Outer
regions must be explicitly referenced using _parent.
Multiple If condition in template code
You can define template expressions for if and multiple-if conditions. This example demonstrates defining a
parameter named "Dept", setting an initial value, and defining a multiple-if condition which determines which logo to
display.
The following is an example of the code you might enter in the head section of the template:
<!-- TemplateParam name="Dept" type="number" value="1" -->
The following condition statement checks the value assigned to the Dept parameter. When the condition is true or
matches, the appropriate image is displayed.
379
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
<!-- TemplateBeginMultipleIf -->
<!-- checks value of Dept and shows appropriate image-->
<!-- TemplateBeginIfClause cond="Dept == 1" --> <img src=".../sales.gif"> <!--
TemplateEndIfClause -->
<!-- TemplateBeginIfClause cond="Dept == 2" --> <img src=".../support.gif"> <!--
TemplateEndIfClause-->
<!-- TemplateBeginIfClause cond="Dept == 3" --> <img src=".../hr.gif"> <!--
TemplateEndIfClause -->
<!-- TemplateBeginIfClause cond="Dept != 3" --> <img src=".../spacer.gif"> <!--
TemplateEndIfClause -->
<!-- TemplateEndMultipleIf -->
When you create a template-based document, the template parameters are automatically passed to it. The template
user determines which image to display.
More Help topics
“Modify template properties” on page 402
Recognizing templates and template-based documents
Recognizing templates in Design view
In Design view, editable regions appear in the Document window surrounded by rectangular outlines in a preset
highlight color. A small tab appears at the upper-left corner of each region, showing the name of the region.
You can identify a template file by looking at the title bar in the Document window. The title bar for a template file
contains the word <<Template>> in the title bar, and the filename extension for the file is .dwt.
380
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Recognizing templates in Code view
In Code view, editable content regions are marked in HTML with the following comments:
<!-- TemplateBeginEditable> and <!--
TemplateEndEditable -->
You can use code color preferences to set your own color scheme so you can easily distinguish template regions when
you view a document in Code view.
Everything between these comments will be editable in documents based on the template. The HTML source code for
an editable region might look like this:
<table width="75%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr bgcolor="#333366">
<td>Name</td>
<td><font color="#FFFFFF">Address</font></td>
<td><font color="#FFFFFF">Telephone Number</font></td>
</tr>
<!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="LocationList" -->
<tr>
<td>Enter name</td>
<td>Enter Address</td>
<td>Enter Telephone</td>
</tr>
<!-- TemplateEndEditable -->
</table>
Note: When you edit template code in Code view, be careful not to change any of the template-related comment tags that
Dreamweaver relies on.
More Help topics
“Customize code coloring preferences for a template” on page 405
Recognizing template-based documents in Design view
In a document based on a template (a template-based document), editable regions appear in the Design view of the
Document window surrounded by rectangular outlines in a preset highlight color. A small tab appears at the upper-
left corner of each region, showing the name of the region.
381
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
In addition to the editable-region outlines, the entire page is surrounded by a different-colored outline, with a tab in
the upper-right corner giving the name of the template that the document is based on. This highlighted rectangle
reminds you that the document is based on a template and that you can’t change content outside the editable regions.
More Help topics
“Set highlighting preferences for template regions” on page 406
Recognizing template-based documents in Code view
In Code view, editable regions of a document derived from a template appear in a different color than code in the non-
editable regions. You can make changes only to code in the editableregions or editable parameters but you cannot type
in locked regions.
Editable content is marked in HTML with the following Dreamweaver comments:
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable> and <!--
InstanceEndEditable -->
Everything between these comments is editable in a template-based document. The HTML source code for an editable
region might look like this:
382
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" leftmargin="0">
<table width="75%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr bgcolor="#333366">
<td>Name</td>
<td><font color="#FFFFFF">Address</font></td>
<td><font color="#FFFFFF">Telephone Number</font></td>
</tr>
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="LocationList" -->
<tr>
<td>Enter name</td>
<td>Enter Address</td>
<td>Enter Telephone</td>
</tr>
<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
</table>
</body>
The default color for non-editable text is gray; you can select a different color for the editable and non-editable regions
in the Preferences dialog box.
More Help topics
“Customize code coloring preferences for a template” on page 405
Creating a Dreamweaver template
About creating Dreamweaver templates
You can create a template from an existing document (such as an HTML, Adobe ColdFusion, or Microsoft Active
Server Pages document) or you can create a template from a new document.
After you create a template, you can insert template regions, and set template preferences for code color and template
region highlight color.
You can store additional information about a template (such as who created it, when it was last changed, or why you
made certain layout decisions) in a Design Notes file for the template. Documents based on a template do not inherit
the template’s Design Notes.
Note: Templates in Adobe Dreamweaver differ from templates in some other Adobe
Note: Creative Suite
Note: products in that page sections of Dreamweaver templates are fixed (or uneditable) by default.
For a tutorial on creating templates, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0157.
For a tutorial on using templates, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0158.
More Help topics
“Types of template regions” on page 374
“Setting authoring preferences for templates” on page 405
“Associate Design Notes with files” on page 101
383
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Creating templates tutorial
Using templates tutorial
Create a template from an existing document
You can create a template from an existing document.
1Open the document you want to save as a template.
2Do one of the following:
•Select File >
•Save As
• Template.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Templates button, then select Make Template from the pop-
up menu.
Note: Unless you selected Don’t Show This Dialog Again in the past, you’ll receive a warning that says the document
you’re saving has no editable regions. Click OK to save the document as a template, or click Cancel to exit this dialog box
without creating a template.
3Select a site to save the template in from the Site pop-up menu, and then enter a unique name for the template in
the Save As box.
4Click Save. Dreamweaver saves the template file in the site’s Templates folder in the local root folder of the site, with
a .dwt filename extension. If the Templates folder does not already exist in the site, Dreamweaver automatically
creates it when you save a new template.
Note: Do not move your templates out of the Templates folder, or put any non-template files in the Templates folder. Also,
do not move the Templates folder out of your local root folder. Doing so causes errors in paths in the templates.
More Help topics
“Create a blank template” on page 61
“Creating and opening documents” on page 59
Use the Assets panel to create a new template
1In the Assets panel (Window > Assets), select the Templates category on the left side of the panel .
2Click the New Template button at the bottom of the Assets panel.
A new, untitled template is added to the list of templates in the Assets panel.
3While the template is still selected, enter a name for the template, then press Enter (Windows) or Return
(Macintosh).
Dreamweaver creates a blank template in the Assets panel and in the Templates folder.
About creating templates for Contribute sites
Using Dreamweaver, you can create templates to help Adobe® Contribute® users create new pages, to provide a
consistent look and feel for your site, and to enable you to update the layout of many pages at once.
384
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
When you create a template and upload it to the server, it becomes available to all Contribute users who connect to
your site, unless you’ve set restrictions on template use for certain Contribute roles. If you have set restrictions on
template use, you might need to add each new template to the list of templates a Contribute user can use (see
Administering Contribute).
Note: Make sure that the site root folder defined in each Contribute user’s site definition is the same as the site root folder
defined in your site definition in Dreamweaver. If a user’s site root folder doesn’t match yours, that user won’t be able to
use templates.
In addition to Dreamweaver templates, you can create non-Dreamweaver templates using the Contribute
administration tools. A non-Dreamweaver template is an existing page that Contribute users can use to create new
pages; it’s similar to a Dreamweaver template, except that pages that are based on it don’t update when you change the
template. Also, non-Dreamweaver templates can’t contain Dreamweaver template elements such as editable, locked,
repeating, and optional regions.
When a Contribute user creates a new document within a site containing Dreamweaver templates, Contribute lists the
available templates (both Dreamweaver and non-Dreamweaver templates) in the New Page dialog box.
To include pages that use encodings other than Latin-1 in your site, you might need to create templates (either
Dreamweaver templates or non-Dreamweaver templates). Contribute users can edit pages that use any encoding, but
when a Contribute user creates a new blank page, it uses the Latin-1 encoding. To create a page that uses a different
encoding, a Contribute user can create a copy of an existing page that uses a different encoding, or can use a template
that uses a different encoding. However, if there are no pages or templates in the site that use other encodings, then
you must first create a page or a template in Dreamweaver that uses that other encoding.
Create a template for a Contribute site
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2Select a site and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, select the Contribute category.
385
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
4If you haven’t already done so, you need to enable Contribute compatibility.
Select Enable Contribute Compatibility, and then enter a site root URL.
5Click Administer Site In Contribute.
6If prompted, enter the administrator password, and then click OK.
7In the Users And Roles category, select a role, and then click the Edit Role Settings button.
8Select the New Pages category, and then add existing pages to the list under Create A New Page By Copying A Page
From This List.
For more information, see Administering Contribute.
9Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.
More Help topics
“Prepare a site for use with Contribute” on page 54
Creating editable regions in templates
Insert an editable region
Editable template regions control which areas of a template-based page a user can edit. Before you insert an editable
region, save the document you are working in as a template.
Note: If you insert an editable region in a document rather than a template file, an alert warns you that the document
will automatically be saved as a template.
You can place an editable region anywhere in your page, but consider the following points if you are making a table or
an absolutely-positioned element (AP element) editable:
•You can mark an entire table or an individual table cell as editable, but you can’t mark multiple table cells as a single
editable region. If a <td> tag is selected, the editable region includes the region around the cell; if not, the editable
region affects only content inside the cell.
•AP elements and AP element content are separate elements; making an AP element editable lets you change the
position of the AP element as well as its contents, but making an AP element’s contents editable lets you change
only the content of the AP element, not its position.
1In the Document window, do one of the following to select the region:
•Select the text or content that you want to set as an editable region.
•Place the insertion point where you want to insert an editable region.
2Do one of the following to insert an editable region:
•Select Insert > Template Objects > Editable Region.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Templates > New Editable Region.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Templates button, then select Editable Region from the pop-
up menu.
3In the Name box, enter a unique name for the region. (You cannot use the same name for more than one editable
region in a particular template.)
Note: Do not use special characters in the Name box.
386
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Click OK. The editable region is enclosed in a highlighted rectangular outline in the template, using the
highlighting color that is set in preferences. A tab at the upper-left corner of the region shows the name of the
region. If you insert an empty editable region in the document, the name of the region also appears inside the
region.
More Help topics
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
“Set highlighting preferences for template regions” on page 406
Select editable regions
You can easily identify and select template regions in both the template document and template-based documents.
Select an editable region in the Document window
❖Click the tab in the upper-left corner of the editable region.
Find an editable region and select it in the document
❖Select Modify > Templates, then select the name of the region from the list at the bottom of that submenu.
Note: Editable regions that are inside a repeated region do not appear in the menu. You must locate these regions by
looking for tabbed borders in the Document window.
The editable region is selected in the document.
Remove an editable region
If you’ve marked a region of your template file as editable and you want to lock it (make it noneditable in template-
based documents) again, use the Remove Template Markup command.
1Click the tab in the upper-left corner of the editable region to select it.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Templates > Remove Template Markup.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Templates > Remove Template Markup.
The region is no longer editable.
Change an editable region’s name
After you insert an editable region, you can later change its name.
1Click the tab in the upper-left corner of the editable region to select it.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a new name.
3Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).
387
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Creating repeating regions in templates
About template repeating regions
A repeating region is a section of a template that can be duplicated many times in a template-based page. Typically,
repeating regions are used with tables but you can define a repeating region for other page elements.
Repeating regions enable you to control your page layout by repeating certain items, such as a catalog item and
description layout, or a row for data such as a list of items.
There are two repeating region template objects you can use: repeating region and repeating table.
More Help topics
“Types of template regions” on page 374
Create a repeating region in a template
Repeating regions enable template users to duplicate a specified region in a template as often as desired. A repeating
region is not necessarily an editable region.
To make content in a repeating region editable (for example, to allow a user to enter text in a table cell in a template-
based document), you must insert an editable region in the repeating region.
1In the Document window, do one of the following:
•Select the text or content you want to set as a repeating region.
•Place the insertion point in the document where you want to insert the repeating region.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Template Objects > Repeating Region.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Templates > New Repeating Region.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Templates button, then select Repeating Region from the
pop-up menu.
3In the Name box, enter a unique name for the template region. (You cannot use the same name for more than one
repeating region in a template.)
Note: When you name a region, do not use special characters.
4Click OK.
More Help topics
“Insert an editable region” on page 385
Insert a repeating table
You can use a repeating table to create an editable region (in table format) with repeating rows. You can define table
attributes and set which table cells are editable.
1In the Document window, place the insertion point in the document where you want to insert the repeating table.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Template Objects > Repeating Table.
388
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Templates button, and then select Repeating Table from the
pop-up menu.
3Specify the following options and click OK.
Rows Determines the number of rows the table has.
Columns Determines the number of columns the table has.
Cell Padding Determines the number of pixels between a cell’s content and the cell boundaries.
Cell Spacing Determines the number of pixels between adjacent table cells.
If you don’t explicitly assign values for cell padding and cell spacing, most browsers display the table as if cell padding
were set to 1 and cell spacing were set to 2. To ensure that browsers display the table with no padding or spacing, set
Cell Padding and Cell Spacing to 0.
Width Specifies the width of the table in pixels, or as a percentage of the browser window’s width.
Border Specifies the width, in pixels, of the table’s borders.
If you don’t explicitly assign a value for border, most browsers display the table as if the border were set to 1. To ensure
that browsers display the table with no border, set Border to 0. To view cell and table boundaries when the border is
set to 0, select View
> Visual Aids > Table Borders.
Repeat Rows of the Table Specify which rows in the table are included in the repeating region.
Starting Row Sets the row number entered as the first row to include in the repeating region.
Ending Row Sets the row number entered as the last row to include in the repeating region.
Region Name Lets you set a unique name for the repeating region.
Set alternating background colors in a repeating table
After you insert a repeating table in a template, you can customize it by alternating the background color of the table
rows.
1In the Document window, select a row in the repeating table.
2Click the Show Code View or Show Code And Design Views button in the Document toolbar so you can access the
code for the selected table row.
3In Code view, edit the <tr> tag to include the following code:
<tr bgcolor="@@( _index & 1 ? '#FFFFFF' : '#CCCCCC' )@@">
You can replace the #FFFFFF and #CCCCCC hexadecimal values with other color choices.
4Save the template.
The following is a code example of a table that includes alternating background table row colors:
389
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
<table width="75%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Phone Number</th><th>Email Address</th></tr>
<!-- TemplateBeginRepeat name="contacts" -->
<tr bgcolor="@@(_index & 1 ? '#FFFFFF' : '#CCCCCC')@@">
<td> <!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="name" --> name <!-- TemplateEndEditable -->
</td>
<td> <!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="phone" --> phone <!-- TemplateEndEditable -->
</td>
<td> <!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="email" --> email <!-- TemplateEndEditable -->
</td>
</tr>
<!-- TemplateEndRepeat -->
</table>
Using optional regions in templates
About template optional regions
An optional region is a region in a template that users can set to show or to hide in a template-based document. Use
an optional region when you want to set conditions for displaying content in a document.
When you insert an optional region, you can either set specific values for a template parameter or define conditional
statements (If...else statements) for template regions. Use simple true/false operations, or define more complex
conditional statements and expressions. You can later modify the optional region if necessary. Based on the conditions
you define, template users can edit the parameters in template-based documents they create and control whether the
optional region is displayed.
You can link multiple optional regions to a named parameter. In the template-based document, both regions will show
or hide as a unit. For example, you can show a “closeout” image and sales price text area for a sale item.
More Help topics
“Modify template properties” on page 402
“Types of template regions” on page 374
Insert an optional region
Use an optional region to control content that may or may not be displayed in a template-based document. There are
two types of optional regions:
•Non-editable optional regions, which enable template users to show and hide specially marked regions without
enabling them to edit the content.
The template tab of an optional region is preceded by the word if. Based on the condition set in the template, a template
user can define whether the region is viewable in pages they create.
•Editable optional regions, which enable template users to set whether the region shows or hides, and enable users
to edit content in the region.
For example, if the optional region includes an image or text, the template user can set whether the content is
displayed, as well as make edits to the content if desired. An editable region is controlled by a conditional statement.
390
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Modify template properties” on page 402
Insert a non-editable optional region
1In the Document window, select the element you want to set as an optional region.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Template Objects > Optional Region.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the selected content, then select Templates > New Optional
Region.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Templates button, then select Optional Region from the pop-
up menu.
3Enter a name for the optional region, click the Advanced tab if you want to set values for the optional region, and
then click OK.
Insert an editable optional region
1In the Document window, place the insertion point where you want to insert the optional region.
You cannot wrap a selection to create an editable optional region. Insert the region, then insert the content in the
region.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Insert > Template Objects > Editable Optional Region.
•In the Common category of the Insert panel, click the Templates button, then select Editable Optional Region from
the pop-up menu.
3Enter a name for the optional region, click the Advanced tab if you want to set values for the optional region, and
click OK.
Set values for an optional region
You can edit optional region settings after you’ve inserted the region in a template. For example, you can change
whether the default setting for the content is to be displayed or not, to link a parameter to an existing optional region,
or to modify a template expression.
Create template parameters and define conditional statements (If...else statements) for template regions. You can use
simple true/false operations, or define more complex conditional statements and expressions.
In the Advanced tab you can link multiple optional regions to a named parameter. In the template-based document,
both regions will show or hide as a unit. For example, you can show a “closeout” image and sales price text area for a
sale item.
You can also use the Advanced tab to write a template expression that evaluates a value for the optional region and
shows it or hides it based on the value.
1In the Document window, do one of the following:
•In Design view, click the template tab of the optional region you want to modify.
•In Design view, place the insertion point in the template region; then in the tag selector at the bottom of the
Document window, select the template tag, <mmtemplate:if>.
•In Code view, click the comment tag of the template region you want to modify.
391
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click Edit.
3In the Basics tab, enter a name for the parameter in the Name box.
4Select Show By Default to set the selected region to show in the document. Deselect it to set the default value to false.
Note: To set a different value for the parameter, in Code view locate the parameter in the section of the document and
edit the value.
5(Optional) Click the Advanced tab, then set the following options:
•If you want to link optional region parameters, click the Advanced tab, select Use Parameter, then from the pop-up
menu select the existing parameter you want to link the selected content to.
•If you want to write a template expression to control the display of an optional region, click the Advanced tab, select
Enter Expression, then enter the expression in the box.
Note: Dreamweaver inserts double-quotation marks around the text you enter.
6Click OK.
When you use the Optional Region template object, Dreamweaver inserts template comments in the code. A template
parameter is defined in the head section, as in the following example:
<!-- TemplateParam name="departmentImage" type="boolean" value="true" -->
At the location where the optional region is inserted, code similar to the code below appears:
<!-- TemplateBeginIf cond="departmentImage" -->
<p><img src="/images/airfare_on.gif" width="85" height="22"> </p>
<!-- TemplateEndIf -->
You can access and edit template parameters in the template-based document.
More Help topics
“Modify template properties” on page 402
“Template expressions” on page 377
Defining editable tag attributes in templates
Specify editable tag attributes in a template
You can allow a template user to modify specified tag attributes in a document created from a template.
For example, you can set a background color in the template document, yet enable template users to set a different
background color for pages they create. Users can update only the attributes you specify as editable.
You can also set multiple editable attributes in a page so that template users can modify the attributes in template-
based documents. The following data types are supported: text, Boolean (true/false), color, and URL.
Creating an editable tag attribute inserts a template parameter in the code. An initial value for the attribute is set in the
template document; when a template-based document is created, it inherits the parameter. A template user can then
edit the parameter in the template-based document.
Note: If you make the link to a style sheet an editable attribute, then the attributes of the style sheet are no longer available
for either viewing or editing in the template file.
1In the Document window, select an item you want to set an editable tag attribute for.
392
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Select Modify > Templates > Make Attribute Editable.
3In the Attribute box, enter a name or select an attribute in the Editable Tag Attributes dialog box by doing one of
the following:
•If the attribute you want to make editable is listed in the Attribute pop-up menu, select it.
•If the attribute you want to make editable isn’t listed in the Attribute pop-up menu, click Add, and in the dialog box
that opens, enter the name of the attribute you want to add, then click OK.
4Make sure the Make Attribute Editable option is selected.
5In the Label box, enter a unique name for the attribute.
To make it easier to identify a specific editable tag attribute later, use a label that identifies the element and the
attribute. For example, you might label an image whose source is editable logoSrc or label the editable background
color of a body tag bodyBgcolor.
6In the Type menu, select the type of value allowed for this attribute by setting one of the following options:
•To enable a user to enter a text value for the attribute, select Text. For example, you can use text with the align
attribute; the user can then set the attribute’s value to left, right, or center.
•To insert a link to an element, such as the file path to an image, select URL. Using this option automatically updates
the path used in a link. If the user moves the image to a new folder, the Update Links dialog box appears.
•To make the color picker available for selecting a value, select Color.
•To enable a user to select a true or false value on the page, select True/False.
•To enable a template user to type a numerical value to update an attribute (for example, to change the height or
width values of an image), select Number.
7The Default Value box displays the value of the selected tag attribute in the template. Enter a new value in this box
to set a different initial value for the parameter in the template-based document.
8(Optional) If you want to make changes to another attribute of the selected tag, select the attribute and set the
options for that attribute.
9Click OK.
More Help topics
“Modify template properties” on page 402
Make an editable tag attribute uneditable
A tag previously marked as editable can be marked as uneditable.
1In the template document, click the element associated with the editable attribute or use the tag selector to select
the tag.
2Select Modify > Templates > Make Attribute Editable.
3In the Attributes pop-up menu, select the attribute you want to affect.
4Deselect Make Attribute Editable and click OK.
5Update documents based on the template.
393
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Creating a nested template
About nested templates
A nested template is a template whose design and editable regions are based on another template. Nested templates
are useful for controlling content in pages of a site that share many design elements, but have a few variations between
pages. For example, a base template might contain broader design areas and be usable by many content contributors
for a site, while a nested template might further define the editable regions in pages for a specific section in a site.
Editable regions in a base template are passed through to the nested template, and remain editable in pages created
from a nested template unless new template regions are inserted in these regions.
Changes to a base template are automatically updated in templates based on the base template, and in all template-
based documents that are based on the main and nested templates.
In the following example, the template trioHome contains three editable regions, named Body, NavBar, and Footer:
394
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
To create a nested template, a new document based on the template was created and then saved as a template and
named TrioNested. In the nested template, two editable regions have been added in the editable region named Body.
When you add a new editable region in an editable region passed through to the nested template, the highlighting color
of the editable region changes to orange. Content you add outside the editable region, such as the graphic in the
editableColumn, is no longer editable in documents based on the nested template. The blue highlighted editable
areas, whether added in the nested template or passed through from the base template, remain editable in documents
that are based on the nested template. Template regions that do not contain an editable region pass through to
template-based documents as editable regions.
More Help topics
Nested Templates
Create a nested template
Nested templates let you create variations of a base template. You can nest multiple templates to define increasingly
specific layouts.
By default, all editable template regions from the base template pass through the nested template to the document
based on the nested template. That means that if you create an editable region in a base template, then create a nested
template, the editable region appears in documents based on the nested template (if you did not insert any new
template regions in that region in the nested
template).
395
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: You can insert template markup inside an editable region so that it won’t pass through as an editable region in
documents based on the nested template. Such regions have an orange border instead of a blue border.
1Create a document from the template on which you want to base the nested template by doing one of the following:
•In the Assets panel’s Templates category, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the template you
want to create a new document from, then select New From Template from the context menu.
•Select File > New. In the New Document dialog box, select the Page from Template category, then select the site
that contains the template you want to use; in the Template list, double-click the template to create a new document.
2Select File >
3Save As
4 Template to save the new document as a nested template:
5Enter a name in the
6Save As
7 box and click OK.
More Help topics
“Server scripts in templates and template-based documents” on page 376
Prevent an editable region from passing through to a nested template
In nested templates, pass-through editable regions have a blue border. You can insert template markup inside an
editable region so that it won’t pass through as an editable region in documents based on the nested template. Such
regions have an orange border instead of a blue border.
1In Code view, locate the editable region you want to prevent from passing through.
Editable regions are defined by template comment tags.
2Add the following code to the editable region code:
@@("")@@
This template code can be placed anywhere within the <!--
InstanceBeginEditable --><!-- InstanceEndEditable --> tags that surround the editable region. For
example:
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="EditRegion1" -->
<p>@@("")@@ Editable 1 </p>
<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
Editing, updating, and deleting templates
About editing and updating templates
When you make changes to and save a template, all the documents based on the template are updated. You can also
manually update a template-based document or the entire site if necessary.
Note: To edit a template for a Contribute site, you must use Dreamweaver; you cannot edit templates in Contribute.
396
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use the Templates category of the Assets panel to manage existing templates, including renaming template files and
deleting template files.
You can perform the following template management tasks with the Assets panel:
•Create a template
•Edit and update templates
•Apply or remove a template from an existing document
Dreamweaver checks template syntax when you save a template but it’s a good idea to manually check the template
syntax while you’re editing a template.
More Help topics
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
“Check template syntax” on page 405
“Applying or removing a template from an existing document” on page 400
Open a template for editing
You can open a template file directly for editing, or you can open a template-based document, then open the attached
template for editing.
When you make a change to a template, Dreamweaver prompts you to update the documents based on the template.
Note: You can also manually update the documents for template changes if necessary.
More Help topics
“Check template syntax” on page 405
Open and edit a template file
1In the Assets panel (Window > Assets), select the Templates category on the left side of the panel .
The Assets panel lists all of the available templates for your site and displays a preview of the selected template.
2In the list of available templates, do one of the following:
•Double-click the name of the template you want to edit.
•Select a template to edit, then click the Edit button at the bottom of the Assets panel.
3Modify the contents of the template.
To modify the template’s page properties, select Modify > Page Properties. (Documents based on a template inherit
the template’s page properties.)
4Save the template. Dreamweaver prompts you to update pages based on the template.
5Click Update to update all documents based on the modified template; click Don’t Update if you don’t want to
update documents based on the modified template.
Dreamweaver displays a log indicating the files that were updated.
Open and modify the template attached to the current document
1Open the template-based document in the Document window.
397
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Do one of the following:
•Select Modify > Templates > Open Attached Template.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), then select Templates > Open Attached Template.
3Modify the contents of the template.
To modify the template’s page properties, select Modify > Page Properties. (Documents based on a template inherit
the template’s page properties.)
4Save the template. Dreamweaver prompts you to update pages based on the template.
5Click Update to update all documents based on the modified template; click Don’t Update if you don’t want to
update documents based on the modified template.
Dreamweaver displays a log indicating the files that were updated.
Rename a template
1In the Assets panel (Window > Assets), select the Templates category on the left side of the panel .
2Click the name of the template to select it.
3Click the name again so that the text is selectable, then enter a new name.
This method of renaming works in the same way as renaming a file in
Windows Explorer
(Windows) or the Finder (Macintosh). As with
Windows Explorer
and the Finder, be sure to pause briefly between clicks. Do not double-click the name, because that opens the template
for editing.
4Click in another area of the Asset panel, or press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) for the change to take
effect.
An alert asks if you want to update documents that are based on this template.
5To update all documents in the site that are based on this template, click Update. Click Don’t Update if you do not
want to update any document based on this template.
More Help topics
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
“Applying or removing a template from an existing document” on page 400
Change a template description
The template description appears in the New Document dialog box when you’re creating a page from an existing
template.
1Select Modify > Templates > Description.
2In the Template Description dialog box, edit the description and click OK.
More Help topics
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
398
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Manually update documents based on templates
When you make a change to a template, Dreamweaver prompts you to update the documents based on the template,
but you can manually update the current document or the entire site if necessary. Manually updating template-based
documents is the same as reapplying the template.
Apply template changes to the current template-based document
1Open the document in the Document window.
2Select Modify > Templates > Update Current Page.
Dreamweaver updates the document with any template changes.
Update the entire site or all documents that use a specified template
You can update all the pages in the site, or only update pages for a specific template.
1Select Modify > Templates > Update Pages.
2In the Look In menu, do one of the following:
•To update all the files in the selected site to their corresponding templates, select Entire Site, then select the site
name from the adjacent pop-up
menu.
•To update files for a specific template, select Files That Use, then select the template name from the adjacent pop-up
menu.
3Make sure Templates is selected in the Update option.
4If you don’t want to see a log of the files Dreamweaver updates, deselect the Show Log option; otherwise, leave that
option selected.
5Click Start to update the files as indicated. If you selected the Show Log option, Dreamweaver provides information
about the files it attempts to update, including information on whether they were updated successfully.
6Click Close.
Update templates in a Contribute site
Contribute users can’t make changes to a Dreamweaver template. You can, however, use Dreamweaver to change a
template for a Contribute site
Keep these factors in mind when updating templates in a Contribute site:
•Contribute retrieves new and changed templates from the site only when Contribute starts up and when a
Contribute user changes their connection information. If you make changes to a template while a Contribute user
is editing a file based on that template, the user won’t see the changes to the template until they restart Contribute.
•If you remove an editable region from a template, a Contribute user editing a page based on that template might be
confused about what to do with the content that was in that editable
region.
To update a template in a Contribute site, complete the following steps.
1Open the Contribute template in Dreamweaver, edit it, and then save it. For instructions, see “Open a template for
editing” on page 396.
2Notify all of the Contribute users who are working on the site to restart Contribute.
Delete a template file
1In the Assets panel (Window > Assets), select the Templates category on the left side of the panel .
399
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Click the name of the template to select it.
3Click the Delete button at the bottom of the panel, then confirm that you want to delete the template.
Important: After you delete a template file, you can’t retrieve it. The template file is deleted from your site.
Documents that are based on a deleted template are not detached from the template; they retain the structure and
editable regions that the template file had before it was deleted. You can convert such a document into an HTML file
without editable or locked regions.
More Help topics
“Detach a document from a template” on page 401
“Applying or removing a template from an existing document” on page 400
“Creating a Dreamweaver template” on page 382
Exporting and importing template content
About template XML content
You can think of a document based on a template as containing data represented by name-value pairs. Each pair
consists of the name of an editable region, and the contents of that region.
You can export the name-value pairs into an XML file so that you can work with the data outside of Dreamweaver (for
example, in an XML editor or a text editor, or a database application). Conversely, if you have an XML document that’s
structured appropriately, you can import the data from it into a document based on a Dreamweaver template.
Export a document’s editable regions as XML
1Open a template-based document that contains editable regions.
2Select File > Export > Template Data As XML.
3Select one of the Notation options:
•If the template contains repeating regions or template parameters, select Use Standard Dreamweaver XML Tag.
•If the template does not contain repeating regions or template parameters, select Use Editable Region Names as
XML Tags.
4Click OK.
5In the dialog box that appears, select a folder location, enter a name for the XML file, and then click Save.
An XML file is generated that contains the material from the document’s parameters and editable regions, including
editable regions inside repeating regions or optional regions. The XML file includes the name of the original template,
as well as the name and contents of each
template region.
Note: Content in the non-editable regions is not exported to the XML file.
Import XML content
1Select File > Import > Import XML into Template.
2Select the XML file and click Open.
400
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver creates a new document based on the template specified in the XML file. It fills in the contents of each
editable region in that document using the data from the XML file. The resulting document appears in a new
Document window.
If your XML file isn’t set up exactly the way Dreamweaver expects, you might not be able to import your data. One
solution to this problem is to export a dummy XML file from Dreamweaver, so that you’ll have an XML file with
exactly the right structure. Then copy the data from your original XML file into the exported XML file. The result is an
XML file with the correct structure that contains the appropriate data, ready to be imported.
Export a site without template markup
You can export template-based documents in a site to another site without including the template markup.
1Select Modify > Templates > Export Without Markup.
2In the Folder box, enter the file path to the folder you want to export the file to or click Browse and select the folder.
Note: You must select a folder outside of the current site.
3If you want to save an XML version of exported template-based documents, select Keep Template Data Files.
4If you want to update changes to previously exported files, select Extract Only Changed Files and click OK.
Applying or removing a template from an existing
document
Apply a template to an existing document
When you apply a template to a document which contains existing content, Dreamweaver attempts to match the
existing content to a region in the template. If you are applying a revised version of one of your existing templates, the
names are likely to match.
If you apply a template to a document that hasn’t had a template applied to it, there are no editable regions to compare
and a mismatch occurs. Dreamweaver tracks these mismatches so you can select which region or regions to move the
current page’s content to, or you can delete the mismatched content.
You can apply a template to an existing document using the Assets panel or from the Document window. You can
undo a template application if necessary.
Important: When you apply a template to an existing document, the template replaces the document’s contents with the
template’s boilerplate content. Always back up a page’s contents before applying a template to it.
Apply a template to an existing document using the Assets panel
1Open the document you want to apply the template to.
2In the Assets panel (Window > Assets), select the Templates category on the left side of the panel .
3Do one of the following:
•Drag the template you want to apply from the Assets panel to the Document window.
•Select the template you want to apply, then click the Apply button at the bottom of the Assets panel.
If content exists in the document that can’t be automatically assigned to a template region, the Inconsistent Region
Names dialog box appears.
401
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Select a destination for the content by using the Move Content to New Region menu to select one of the following:
•Select a region in the new template to move the existing content to.
•Select Nowhere to remove the content from the document.
5To move all unresolved content to the selected region, click Use For All.
6Click OK to apply the template or click Cancel to cancel the application of the template to the document.
Important: When you apply a template to an existing document, the template replaces the document’s contents with the
template’s boilerplate content. Always back up a page’s contents before applying a template to it.
Apply a template to an existing document from the Document window
1Open the document you want to apply the template to.
2Select Modify > Templates > Apply Template to Page.
The Select Template dialog box appears.
3Choose a template from the list, then click Select.
If content exists in the document that can’t be automatically assigned to a template region, the Inconsistent Region
Names dialog box appears.
4Select a destination for the content by using the Move Content to New Region menu to select one of the following:
•Select a region in the new template to move the existing content to.
•Select Nowhere to remove the content from the document.
5To move all unresolved content to the selected region, click Use For All.
6Click OK to apply the template or click Cancel to cancel the application of the template to the document.
Important: When you apply a template to an existing document, the template replaces the document’s contents with the
template’s boilerplate content. Always back up a page’s contents before applying a template to it.
Undo the template changes
❖Select Edit > Undo Apply Template.
The document reverts to its state before the template was applied.
Detach a document from a template
To make changes to the locked regions of a document based on a template, you must detach the document from the
template. When the document is detached, the entire document becomes
editable.
Note: You cannot convert a template file (.dwt) to a normal file by simply resaving the template file as an HTML (.html)
file. Doing so does not delete the template code that appears throughout the document. If you want to convert a template
file to a normal file, you can save the document as a normal HTML file, but must then manually delete all of the template
code in Code view.
1Open the template-based document you want to detach.
2Select Modify > Templates > Detach from Template.
The document is detached from the template and all template code is removed.
402
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Editing content in a template-based document
About editing content in template-based documents
Dreamweaver templates specify regions that are locked (uneditable) and others that are editable for template-based
documents.
In pages based on templates, template users can edit content in editable regions only. You can easily identify and select
editable regions to edit content. Template users cannot edit content in locked regions.
Note: If you try to edit a locked region in a document based on a template when highlighting is turned off, the mouse
pointer changes to indicate that you can’t click in a
locked region.
Template users can also modify properties and edit entries for a repeating region in template-based documents.
More Help topics
“Create a page based on an existing template” on page 63
“About Dreamweaver templates” on page 374
“Select editable regions” on page 386
Modify template properties
When template authors create parameters in a template, documents based on the template automatically inherit the
parameters and their initial value settings. A template user can update editable tag attributes and other template
parameters (such as optional region settings).
More Help topics
“Template parameters” on page 377
“Using optional regions in templates” on page 389
“Defining editable tag attributes in templates” on page 391
Modify an editable tag attribute
1Open the template-based document.
2Select Modify > Template Properties.
The Template Properties dialog box opens, showing a list of available properties. The dialog box shows optional
regions and editable tag attributes.
3In the Name list, select the property.
The bottom area of the dialog box updates to show the selected property’s label and its assigned value.
4In the field to the right of the property label, edit the value to modify the property in the document.
Note: The field name and updateable values are defined in the template. Attributes that do not appear in the Name list
are not editable in the template-based document.
5Select Allow Nested Templates To Control This if you want to pass the editable property along to a documents
based on the nested template.
403
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Modify optional region template parameters
1Open the template-based document.
2Select Modify > Template Properties.
The Template Properties dialog box opens, showing a list of available properties. The dialog box shows optional
regions and editable tag attributes.
3In the Name list, select a property.
The dialog box updates to show the selected property’s label and its assigned value.
4Select Show to display the optional region in the document, or deselect Show to hide the optional region.
Note: The field name and default setting are defined in the template,.
5Select Allow Nested Templates To Control This if you want to pass the editable property along to a documents
based on the nested template.
Add, delete, and change the order of a repeating region entry
Use repeating region controls to add, delete, or change the order of entries in template-based documents. When you
add a repeating region entry, a copy of the entire repeating region is added. To update the content in the repeating
regions, the original template must include an editable region in the repeating region.
More Help topics
“Creating repeating regions in templates” on page 387
Add, delete, or change the order of a repeating region
1Open the template-based document.
2Place the insertion point in the repeating region to select it.
3Do one of the following:
•Click the Plus (+) button to add a repeating region entry below the currently selected entry.
•Click the Minus (–) button to delete the selected repeating region entry.
•Click the Down Arrow button to move the selected entry down one position.
•Click the Up Arrow button to move the selected entry up one position.
Note: Alternatively, you can select Modify > Template, then select one of the repeating entry options near the bottom of
the context menu. You can use this menu to insert a new repeating entry or move the selected entry’s position.
Cut, copy, and delete entries
1Open the template-based document.
404
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Place the insertion point in the repeating region to select it.
3Do one of the following:
•To cut a repeating entry, select Edit > Repeating Entries > Cut Repeating Entries.
•To copy a repeating entry, select Edit > Repeating Entries > Copy Repeating Entries.
•To remove a repeating entry, select Edit > Repeating Entries > Delete Repeating Entries.
•To paste a repeating entry, select Edit > Paste.
Note: Pasting inserts a new entry; it does not replace an existing entry.
Template syntax
General syntax rules
Dreamweaver uses HTML comment tags to specify regions in templates and template-based documents, so template-
based documents are still valid HTML files. When you insert a template object, template tags are inserted in the code.
General syntax rules are as follows:
•Wherever a space appears, you can substitute any amount of white space (spaces, tabs, line breaks). The white space
is mandatory except at the very beginning or end of a comment.
•Attributes can be given in any order. For example, in a TemplateParam, you can specify the type before the name.
•Comment and attribute names are case sensitive.
•All attributes must be in quotation marks. Single or double quotes can be used.
Template tags
Dreamweaver uses the following template tags:
<!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="..." -->
<!-- TemplateEndEditable -->
<!-- TemplateParam name="..." type="..." value="..." -->
<!-- TemplateBeginRepeat name="..." -->
<!-- TemplateEndRepeat -->
<!-- TemplateBeginIf cond="..." -->
<!-- TemplateEndIf -->
<!-- TemplateBeginPassthroughIf cond="..." -->
<!-- TemplateEndPassthroughIf -->
<!-- TemplateBeginMultipleIf -->
<!-- TemplateEndMultipleIf -->
<!-- TemplateBeginPassthroughMultipleIf -->
<!-- TemplateEndPassthroughMultipleIf -->
<!-- TemplateBeginIfClause cond="..." -->
<!-- TemplateEndIfClause -->
<!-- TemplateBeginPassthroughIfClause cond="..." -->
<!-- TemplateEndPassthroughIfClause -->
<!-- TemplateExpr expr="..." --> (equivalent to @@...@@)
<!-- TemplatePassthroughExpr expr="..." -->
<!-- TemplateInfo codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="..." -->
405
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Instance tags
Dreamweaver uses the following instance tags:
<!-- InstanceBegin template="..." codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="..." -->
<!-- InstanceEnd -->
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="..." -->
<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<!-- InstanceParam name="..." type="..." value="..." passthrough="..." -->
<!-- InstanceBeginRepeat name="..." -->
<!-- InstanceEndRepeat -->
<!-- InstanceBeginRepeatEntry -->
<!-- InstanceEndRepeatEntry -->
Check template syntax
Dreamweaver checks the template syntax when you save a template, but you can manually check the template syntax
prior to saving a template. For example, if you add a template parameter or expression in Code view, you can check
that the code follows correct syntax.
1Open the document you want to check in the Document window.
2Select Modify > Templates > Check Template Syntax.
An error message appears if the syntax is badly formed. The error message describes the error and refers to the specific
line in the code where the error exists.
More Help topics
“Recognizing templates and template-based documents” on page 379
“Template expressions” on page 377
Setting authoring preferences for templates
Customize code coloring preferences for a template
Code color preferences control the text, background color, and style attributes of the text displayed in Code view. You
can set your own color scheme so you can easily distinguish template regions when you view a document in Code view.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Code Coloring from the category list on the left.
3Select HTML from the Document Type list, then click the Edit Coloring Scheme button.
4In the Styles For list select Template Tags.
5Set color, background color, and style attributes for the Code view text by doing the following:
•If you want to change the text color, in the Text Color box type the hexadecimal value for the color you want to
apply to the selected text, or use the color picker to select a color to apply to the text. Do the same in the Background
field to add or change an existing background color for the selected text.
•If you want to add a style attribute to the selected code, click the B (bold), I (italic), or U (underline) buttons to set
the desired format.
6Click OK.
406
USING DREAMWEAVER
Creating and managing templates
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If you want to make global changes, you can edit the source file that stores your preferences. On Windows XP, this
is located at C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver
9\Configuration\CodeColoring\Colors.xml. On Windows Vista, this is located at C:\Users\%username%\Application
Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver 9\Configuration\CodeColoring\Colors.xml.
Set highlighting preferences for template regions
You can use the Dreamweaver highlighting preferences to customize the highlight colors for the outlines around the
editable and locked regions of a template in Design view. The
editable region color appears in the template as well as
in documents based on the template.
More Help topics
“Recognizing template-based documents in Design view” on page 380
“Recognizing templates in Design view” on page 379
Change template highlight colors
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Highlighting from the category list on the left.
3Click the Editable Regions, Nested Regions, or Locked Regions color box, then select a highlight color using the
color picker (or enter the hexadecimal value for the highlight color in the box).
For information about using the color picker, see “Use the color picker” on page 208.
4(Optional) Repeat the process for other template region types, as necessary.
5Click the Show option to enable or disable displaying colors in the Document window.
Note: Nested Region does not have a Show option; its display is controlled by the Editable Region option.
6Click OK.
View highlight colors in the Document window
❖Select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements.
Highlight colors appear in the document window only when View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements is enabled and
the appropriate options are enabled in Highlighting preferences.
Note: If invisible elements are showing but the highlight colors are not, select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or
Dreamweaver
> Preferences (Macintosh), and then select the Highlight category. Make sure that the Show option next to
the appropriate highlight color is selected. Also make sure that the desired color is visible against the background color of
your page.
407
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 15: Building Spry pages visually
The Spry framework is a JavaScript library that provides web designers with the ability to build web pages that offer
richer experiences to their site visitors. With Spry, you can use HTML, CSS, and a minimal amount of JavaScript to
incorporate XML data into your HTML documents, create widgets such as accordions and menu bars, and add
different kinds of effects to various page elements. The Spry framework is designed so that markup is simple and easy
to use for those users who have basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The Spry framework is meant primarily for users who are web design professionals or advanced nonprofessional web
designers. It is not intended as a full web application framework for enterprise-level web development (though it can
be used in conjunction with other enterprise-level pages).
About the Spry framework
The Spry framework is a JavaScript library that provides web designers with the ability to build web pages that offer
richer experiences to their site visitors. With Spry, you can use HTML, CSS, and a minimal amount of JavaScript to
incorporate XML data into your HTML documents, create widgets such as accordions and menu bars, and add
different kinds of effects to various page elements. The Spry framework is designed so that markup is simple and easy
to use for those who have basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The Spry framework is meant primarily for users who are web design professionals or advanced nonprofessional web
designers. It is not intended as a full web application framework for enterprise-level web development (though it can
be used in conjunction with other enterprise-level pages).
For more information on the Spry framework, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryframework.
More Help topics
Spry Developer Guide
Working with Spry widgets (general instructions)
About Spry widgets
A Spry widget is a page element that provides a richer user experience by enabling user interaction. A Spry widget
comprises the following parts:
Widget structure An HTML code block that defines the structural composition of the widget.
Widget behavior JavaScript that controls how the widget responds to user-initiated events.
Widget styling CSS that specifies the appearance of the widget.
The Spry framework supports a set of reusable widgets written in standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can easily
insert these widgets—the code is HTML and CSS at its simplest—and then style the widget. The behaviors in the
framework include functionality that lets users show or hide content on the page, change the appearance (such as
color) of the page, interact with menu items, and much more.
408
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Each widget in the Spry framework is associated with unique CSS and JavaScript files. The CSS file contains everything
necessary for styling the widget, and the JavaScript file gives the widget its functionality. When you insert a widget by
using the Dreamweaver interface, Dreamweaver automatically links these files to your page so that your widget
contains functionality and styling.
The CSS and JavaScript files associated with a given widget are named after the widget, so it’s easy for you to know
which files correspond to which widgets. (For example, the files associated with the Accordion widget are called
SpryAccordion.css and SpryAccordion.js). When you insert a widget in a saved page, Dreamweaver creates a
SpryAssets directory in your site, and saves the corresponding JavaScript and CSS files to that location.
More Help topics
“Understanding Cascading Style Sheets” on page 118
Spry widgets resources and tutorials
The following on-line resources provide more information on customizing Spry widgets.
Spry widget samples
Customizing Spry Menu Bars in Dreamweaver
Spry Validation widgets (video tutorial)
Insert a Spry widget
❖Select Insert > Spry, and select the widget to insert.
When you insert a widget, Dreamweaver automatically includes the necessary Spry JavaScript and CSS files in your
site when you save the page.
Note: You can also insert Spry widgets by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
Select a Spry widget
1Hold the mouse pointer over the widget until you see the widget’s blue tabbed outline.
2Click the widget’s tab at the upper-left corner of the widget.
Edit a Spry widget
❖Select the widget to edit and make your changes in the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
For details on making changes to specific widgets, see the appropriate sections for each widget.
Style a Spry widget
❖Locate the appropriate CSS file for the widget in the SpryAssets folder of your site, and edit the CSS according to
your preferences.
For details on styling specific widgets, see the appropriate customization sections for each widget.
You can also format a Spry widget by editing styles in the CSS panel, just as you would for any other styled element
on the page.
409
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Get more widgets
There are many more web widgets available than the Spry widgets that install with Dreamweaver. The
Adobe Exchange
provides web widgets that have been developed by other creative professionals.
❖Choose Browse for Web Widgets from the Extend Dreamweaver menu in the Application bar.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with web widgets, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10widgets.
Change the default Spry assets folder
When you insert a Spry widget, data set, or effect in a saved page, Dreamweaver creates a SpryAssets directory in your
site, and saves the corresponding JavaScript and CSS files to that location. You can change the default location where
Dreamweaver saves Spry assets if you prefer to save them somewhere else.
1Select Sites > Manage Sites.
2Select your site in the Manage Sites dialog box and click Edit.
3In the Site Setup dialog box, expand Advanced Settings and select the Spry category.
4Enter a path to the folder you want to use for Spry assets and click OK. You can also click the folder icon to browse
to a location.
More Help topics
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
Working with the Spry Accordion widget
About the Accordion widget
An Accordion widget is a set of collapsible panels that can store a large amount of content in a compact space. Site
visitors hide or reveal the content stored in the accordion by clicking the tab of the panel. The panels of the accordion
expand or contract accordingly as the visitor clicks different tabs. In an accordion, only one content panel is open and
visible at a given time. The following example shows an Accordion widget, with the first panel expanded:
A. Accordion panel tab B. Accordion panel content C. Accordion panel (open)
A
BC
410
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The default HTML for the Accordion widget comprises an outer div tag that contains all of the panels, a div tag for
each panel, and a header div and content div within the tag for each panel. An Accordion widget can contain any
number of individual panels. The HTML for the Accordion widget also includes script tags in the head of the
document and after the accordion’s HTML markup.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Accordion widget works, including a full anatomy of the Accordion
widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryaccordion.
For a tutorial on working with the Accordion widget, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0167.
Insert and edit the Accordion widget
Insert the Accordion widget
❖Select Insert > Spry > Spry Accordion.
Note: You can also insert an Accordion widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
Add a panel to an Accordion widget
1Select an Accordion widget in the Document window.
2Click the Panels Plus (+) button in the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
3(Optional) Change the name of the panel by selecting the panel’s text in Design view and altering the text.
Delete a panel from an Accordion widget
1Select an Accordion widget in the Document window.
2In the Panels menu of the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the name of the panel to delete, and
click the Minus (-) button.
Open a panel for editing
❖Do one of the following:
•Move the mouse pointer over the tab of the panel to open it in Design view, and click the eye icon that appears at
the right of the tab.
•Select an Accordion widget in the Document window, and then click the name of the panel to edit it in the Panels
menu of the Property inspector (Window
> Properties).
Change the order of panels
1Select an Accordion widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the name of the Accordion panel you want to move.
3Click the up or down arrows to move the panel up or down.
Customize the Accordion widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to an Accordion widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS rules for the Accordion widget and create an accordion that is styled
to your liking.
For a quick reference on changing the colors of the Accordion widget, see David Powers’s Quick guide to styling Spry
tabbed panels, accordions, and collapsible panels.
411
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryaccordion_custom.
All CSS rules in the following topics refer to the default rules located in the SpryAccordion.css file. Dreamweaver saves
the SpryAccordion.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Accordion widget. This file
also contains commented information about various styles that apply to the widget, so you might find it helpful to
consult the file as well.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Accordion widget directly in the CSS file, you can also use the CSS Styles
panel to edit the accordion’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes assigned to different parts
of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style Accordion widget text
You can style the text of an Accordion widget by setting properties for the entire Accordion widget container, or by
setting properties for the components of the widget individually.
❖To change the text styling of an Accordion widget, use the following table to locate the appropriate CSS rule, and
then add your own text styling properties and values:
Change Accordion widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of different parts of an Accordion widget, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then add or change background color properties and values:
Constrain the width of an accordion
By default, the Accordion widget expands to fill available space. You can constrain the width of an Accordion widget,
however, by setting a width property for the accordion container.
1Locate the .Accordion CSS rule by opening up the SpryAccordion.css file. This is the rule that defines properties
for the main container element of the Accordion widget.
Text to change Relevant CSS rule Example of properties and values to add
Text in the entire accordion (includes both
tab and content panel)
.Accordion or .AccordionPanel font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Text in accordion panel tabs only .AccordionPanelTab font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Text in accordion content panels only .AccordionPanelContent font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Part of widget to change Relevant CSS rule Example of property and value to add or
change
Background color of accordion panel tabs .AccordionPanelTab background-color: #CCCCCC; (This is the
default value.)
Background color of accordion content
panels
.AccordionPanelContent background-color: #CCCCCC;
Background color of the open accordion
panel
.AccordionPanelOpen
.AccordionPanelTab
background-color: #EEEEEE; (This is the
default value.)
Background color of panel tabs on hover .AccordionPanelTabHover color: #555555; (This is the default value.)
Background color of open panel tab on hover .AccordionPanelOpen
.AccordionPanelTabHover
color: #555555; (This is the default value.)
412
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also locate the rule by selecting the Accordion widget, and looking in the CSS Styles panel (Window > CSS
Styles). Make sure the panel is set to Current mode.
2Add a width property and value to the rule, for example width: 300px;.
Working with the Spry Menu Bar widget
About the Menu Bar widget
A Menu Bar widget is a set of navigational menu buttons that display submenus when a site visitor hovers over one of
the buttons. Menu Bars let you display a large amount of navigational information in a compact space, and also give
visitors to the site a sense of what is available on the site without having to browse it extensively.
Dreamweaver lets you insert two kinds of Menu Bar widgets: vertical and horizontal. The following example shows a
horizontal Menu Bar widget, with the third menu item expanded:
Menu Bar widget (consists of <ul>, <li>, and <a> tags)
A. Menu item has submenu B. Submenu item has submenu
The HTML for the Menu Bar widget comprises an outer ul tag that contains an li tag for each of the top-level menu
items. The top-level menu items (li tags) in turn contain ul and li tags that define submenus for each of the items,
and submenus can likewise contain submenus. Top-level menus and submenus can contain as many submenu items
as you like.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Menu Bar widget works, including a full anatomy of the Menu Bar
widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprymenubar.
For a tutorial on creating a Spry Menu Bar, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0168.
More Help topics
Spry Menu Bar tutorial
Insert and edit the Menu Bar widget
Insert the Menu Bar widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Menu Bar.
2Select Horizontal or Vertical, and click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Menu Bar widget using the Spry category of the Insert panel.
A B
413
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: The Spry Menu Bar widget uses DHTML layers to display sections of HTML on top of other sections. If your page
contains content created with Adobe Flash, this might cause a problem because SWF files are always displayed on top of
all other DHTML layers, so the SWF file might be displayed on top of your submenus. The workaround for this situation
is to change the parameters for the SWF file to use wmode="transparent". You can easily do this by selecting the SWF
file in the Document window, and setting the wmode option in the Property inspector to transparent. For more
information, see www.adobe.com/go/15523.
Add or delete menus and submenus
Use the Property inspector (Window > Properties) to add or delete menu items to and from the Menu Bar widget.
Add a main menu item
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector, click the plus button above the first column.
3(Optional) Rename the new menu item by changing the default text in either the Document window or the Text
box of the Property inspector.
Add a submenu item
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector, select the name of the main menu item to which you want to add the submenu.
3Click the plus button above the second column.
4(Optional) Rename the new submenu item by changing the default text in either the Document window or the Text
box of the Property inspector.
To add a submenu to a submenu, select the name of the submenu item to which you want to add another submenu
item, and click the plus button above the third column in the Property inspector.
Note: Dreamweaver only supports two levels of submenus in Design view, but you can add as many submenus as you
want in Code view.
Delete a main menu or submenu item
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector, select the name of the main menu or submenu item you want to delete and click the
minus button.
Change the order of menu items
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the name of the menu item you want to reorder.
3Click the up or down arrows to move the menu item up or down.
Change the text of a menu item
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties) select the name of the menu item whose text you want to change.
3Make your changes in the Text box.
414
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Link a menu item
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2
In the Property inspector (Window > Properties) select the name of the menu item to which you want to apply a link.
3Type the link in the Link text box, or click the folder icon to browse to a file.
Create a tool tip for a menu item
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties) select the name of the menu item for which you want to create a
tool tip.
3Type the text for the tool tip in the Title text box.
Assign a target attribute for a menu item
The target attribute specifies where to open a linked page. For example, you can assign a target attribute to a menu item
so that the linked page opens in a new browser window when the site visitor clicks the link. If you are using framesets,
you can also specify the name of a frame where you want the linked page to open.
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the name of the menu item to which you want to assign a
target attribute.
3Enter one of the four attributes in the Target box:
_blank Opens the linked page in a new browser window.
_self Loads the linked page in the same browser window. This is the default option. If the page is in a frame or
frameset, the page loads within that frame.
_parent Loads the linked document in the immediate frameset parent of the document.
_top Loads the linked page in the topmost window of a frameset.
Turn off styles
You can disable the styling of a Menu Bar widget so that you can better see the HTML structure of the widget in Design
view. For example, when you disable styles, menu bar items are displayed in a bulleted list on the page, rather than as
the styled items of the menu bar.
1Select a Menu Bar widget in the Document window.
2Click the Turn Styles Off button in the Property Inspector (Window > Properties).
Change the orientation of a Menu Bar widget
You can change the orientation of a Menu Bar widget from horizontal to vertical, and vice versa. All you need to do is
alter the HTML code for the menu bar and make sure you have the correct CSS file in your SpryAssets folder.
The following example changes a horizontal Menu Bar widget to a vertical Menu Bar widget.
1In Dreamweaver, open the page that contains a horizontal Menu Bar widget.
2Insert a vertical Menu Bar widget (Insert > Spry > Spry Menu Bar) and save the page. This step ensures that the
correct CSS file for a vertical menu bar is included in your site.
415
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If your site already has a vertical Menu Bar widget somewhere else, you don’t need to insert a new one. You can
simply attach the SpryMenuBarVertical.css file to the page instead by clicking the Attach Style Sheet button in the CSS
Styles panel (Windows
> CSS Styles).
3Delete the vertical Menu Bar.
4In Code view (View > Code), locate the MenuBarHorizontal class and change it to MenuBarVertical. The
MenuBarHorizontal class is defined in the container ul tag for the menu bar (<ul id="MenuBar1"
class="MenuBarHorizontal">).
5After the code for the menu bar, locate the menu bar constructor:
var MenuBar1 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("MenuBar1",
{imgDown:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif",
imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"});
6Remove the imgDown preload option (and comma) from the constructor:
var MenuBar1 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("MenuBar1",
{imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"});
Note: If converting from a vertical menu bar to a horizontal one, add the imgDown preload option and comma instead.
7(Optional) If your page no longer contains any other horizontal Menu Bar widgets, delete the link to the former
MenuBarHorizontal.css file in the head of the document.
8Save the page.
Customize the Menu Bar widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Menu Bar widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS rules for the Menu Bar widget and create a menu bar that is styled to
your liking.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryMenuBarHorizontal.css or
SpryMenuBarVertical.css file (depending on your selection). Dreamweaver saves these CSS files in the SpryAssets
folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Menu Bar widget. These files also contain useful commented
information about various styles that apply to the widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Menu Bar widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can also use the
CSS Styles panel to edit the menu bar’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes assigned to
different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Change text styling of a menu item
The CSS attached to the <a> tag contains the information for text styling. There are also several relevant text styling
class values attached to the <a> tag that pertain to different menu states.
❖To change the text styling of a menu item, use the following table to locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then
change the default value:
416
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change the background color of a menu item
The CSS attached to the <a> tag contains the information for a menu item’s background color. There are also several
relevant background color class values attached to the <a> tag that pertain to different menu states.
❖To change the background color of a menu item, use the following table to locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then
change the default value:
Change the dimension of menu items
You change the dimension of menu items by changing the width properties of the menu item’s li and ul tags.
1Locate the ul.MenuBarVertical li or ul.MenuBarHorizontal li rule.
2Change the width property to a desired width (or change the property to auto to remove a fixed width, and add the
property and value white-space: nowrap; to the rule).
3Locate the ul.MenuBarVertical ul or ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul rule.
4Change the width property to a desired width (or change the property to auto to remove a fixed width).
5Locate the ul.MenuBarVertical ul li or ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul li rule:
6Add the following properties to the rule: float: none; and background-color: transparent;.
7Delete the width: 8.2em; property and value.
Style to change CSS rule for vertical or horizontal menu bar Relevant properties and default values
Default text ul.MenuBarVertical a,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
color: #333; text-decoration: none;
Text color when mouse pointer moves over it ul.MenuBarVertical a:hover,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover
color: #FFF;
Text color when in focus ul.MenuBarVertical a:focus,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
color: #FFF;
Menu Bar item color when mouse pointer
moves over it
ul.MenuBarVertical
a.MenuBarItemHover,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
a.MenuBarItemHover
color: #FFF;
Submenu item color when mouse pointer
moves over it
ul.MenuBarVertical
a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
color: #FFF;
Color to change CSS rule for vertical or horizontal menu bar Relevant properties and default values
Default background ul.MenuBarVertical a,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
background-color: #EEE;
Background color when mouse pointer
moves over it
ul.MenuBarVertical a:hover,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover
background-color: #33C;
Background color when in focus ul.MenuBarVertical a:focus,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
background-color: #33C;
Menu Bar item color when mouse pointer
moves over it
ul.MenuBarVertical
a.MenuBarItemHover,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
a.MenuBarItemHover
background-color: #33C;
Submenu item color when mouse pointer
moves over it
ul.MenuBarVertical
a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover,
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
background-color: #33C;
417
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Position submenus
The position of Spry Menu Bar submenus is controlled by the margin property on submenu ul tags.
1Locate the ul.MenuBarVertical ul or ul.MenuBarHorizontal
ul rule.
2Change the margin: -5% 0 0 95%; default values to the desired values.
Working with the Spry Collapsible Panel widget
About the Collapsible Panel widget
A Collapsible Panel widget is a panel that can store content in a compact space. Users hide or reveal the content stored
in the Collapsible Panel by clicking the tab of the widget. The following example shows a Collapsible Panel widget,
expanded and collapsed:
A. Expanded B. Collapsed
The HTML for the Collapsible Panel widget comprises an outer div tag that contains the content div tag and the tab
container div tag. The HTML for the Collapsible Panel widget also includes script tags in the head of the document
and after the Collapsible Panel’s HTML markup.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Collapsible Panel widget works, including a full anatomy of the
Collapsible Panel widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprycollapsiblepanel.
Insert and edit the Collapsible Panel widget
Insert the Collapsible Panel widget
❖Select Insert > Spry > Spry Collapsible Panel.
Note: You can also insert a Collapsible Panel widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
Open or close the Collapsible Panel in Design view
❖Do one of the following:
•Move the mouse pointer over the tab of the panel in Design view and click the eye icon that appears at the right of
the tab.
•Select a Collapsible Panel widget in the Document window, and then select Open or Closed from the Display pop-
up menu in the Property inspector (Window
> Properties).
AB
418
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Set the default state of a Collapsible Panel widget
You can set the default state (open or closed) of the Collapsible Panel widget when the web page loads in a browser.
1Select a Collapsible Panel widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select Open or Closed from the Default state pop-up menu.
Enable or disable animation for the Collapsible Panel widget
By default, when you enable animation for a Collapsible Panel widget, the panel gradually and smoothly opens and
closes when the site visitor clicks the panel’s tab. If you disable animation, the collapsible panel snaps open and closed
abruptly.
1Select a Collapsible Panel widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select or deselect Enable Animation.
Customize the Collapsible Panel widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Collapsible Panel widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Collapsible Panel widget and create a collapsible panel that is
styled to your liking.
For a quick reference on changing the colors of the Collapsible Panel widget, see David Powers’s Quick guide to styling
Spry tabbed panels, accordions, and collapsible panels.
For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprycollapsiblepanel_custom.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryCollapsiblePanel.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryCollapsiblePanel.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Collapsible
Panel widget. This file also contains useful commented information about various styles that apply to the widget.
While you can easily edit rules for the Collapsible Panel widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can also
use the CSS Styles panel to edit the collapsible panel’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style Collapsible Panel widget text
You can style the text of a Collapsible Panel widget by setting properties for the entire Collapsible Panel widget
container, or by setting properties for the components of the widget individually.
❖To change the text format of a Collapsible Panel widget, use the following table to locate the appropriate CSS rule,
and then add your own text styling properties and values:
Style to change Relevant CSS rule Example of properties and values to add or change
Text in the entire collapsible panel .CollapsiblePanel font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Text in panel tab only .CollapsiblePanelTab font: bold 0.7em sans-serif; (This is the default value.)
Text in content panel only .CollapsiblePanelContent font: Arial; font-size:medium;
419
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change Collapsible Panel widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of different parts of a Collapsible Panel widget, use the following table to locate
the appropriate CSS rule, and then add or change background color properties and values to your liking:
Constrain the width of a collapsible panel
By default, the Collapsible Panel widget expands to fill available space. You can constrain the width of a Collapsible
Panel widget, however, by setting a width property for the collapsible panel container.
1Locate the .CollapsiblePanel CSS rule by opening the SpryCollapsible Panel.css file. This rule defines properties for
the main container element of the Collapsible Panel widget.
You can also locate the rule by selecting the Collapsible Panel widget, and looking in the CSS Styles panel (Window >
CSS Styles). Make sure the panel is set to Current mode.
2Add a width property and value to the rule, for example width: 300px;.
Working with the Spry Tabbed Panels widget
About the Tabbed Panels widget
A Tabbed Panels widget is a set of panels that can store content in a compact space. Site viewers hide or reveal the
content stored in the Tabbed Panels by clicking the tab of the panel they want to access. The panels of the widget open
accordingly as the visitor clicks different tabs. In a Tabbed Panels widget, only one content panel is open at a given
time. The following example shows a Tabbed Panels widget, with the third panel open:
A. Tab B. Content C. Tabbed Panels widget D. Tabbed panel
The HTML code for the Tabbed Panels widget comprises an outer div tag that contains all of the panels, a list for the
tabs, a div to contain the content panels, and a div for each content panel. The HTML for the Tabbed Panels widget
also includes script tags in the head of the document and after the Tabbed Panel widget’s HTML markup.
Color to change Relevant CSS rule Example of property and value to add
or change
Background color of panel tab .CollapsiblePanelTab background-color: #DDD; (This is the
default value.)
Background color of content panel .CollapsiblePanelContent background-color: #DDD;
Background color of tab when panel is open .CollapsiblePanelOpen
.CollapsiblePanelTab
background-color: #EEE; (This is the
default value.)
Background color of open panel tab when
the mouse pointer moves over it
.CollapsiblePanelTabHover,
.CollapsiblePanelOpen
.CollapsiblePanelTabHover
background-color: #CCC; (This is the
default value.)
AB
C
D
420
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Tabbed Panels widget works, including a full anatomy of the
widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytabbedpanels.
Insert and edit the Tabbed Panels widget
Insert the Tabbed Panels widget
❖Select Insert > Spry > Spry Tabbed Panels.
Note: You can also insert a Tabbed Panels widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
Add a panel to a Tabbed Panels widget
1Select a Tabbed Panels widget in the Document window.
2Click the Panels plus button in the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
3(Optional) Change the tab name by selecting the tab’s text in Design view and altering it.
Delete a panel from a Tabbed Panels widget
1Select a Tabbed Panels widget in the Document window.
2In the Panels menu of the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the name of the panel you want to
delete and click the minus button.
Open a panel for editing
❖Do one of the following:
•Move the mouse pointer over the tab of the panel you want to open in Design view and click the eye icon that
appears at the right of the tab.
•Select a Tabbed Panels widget in the Document window and click the name of the panel you want to edit in the
Panels menu of the Property inspector (Window
> Properties).
Change the order of panels
1Select a Tabbed Panels widget in the Document window.
2
In the Panels menu of the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the name of the panel you want to move.
3Click the up or down arrows to move the panel up or down.
Set the default open panel
You can set which panel of the Tabbed Panels widget opens by default when the page opens in a browser.
1Select a Tabbed Panels widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the panel you want open by default from the Default panel
pop-up menu.
Customize the Tabbed Panels widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Tabbed Panels widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS rules for the Tabbed Panels widget and create a widget that is styled to
your liking.
421
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
For a quick reference on changing the colors of the Tabbed Panels widget, see David Powers’s Quick guide to styling
Spry tabbed panels, accordions, and collapsible panels.
For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytabbedpanels_custom.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryTabbedPanels.css file. Dreamweaver saves
the SpryTabbedPanels.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Tabbed Panels widget.
This file also contains useful commented information about various styles that apply to the widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Tabbed Panels widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can also
use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes assigned
to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style Tabbed Panels widget text
You can style the text of a Tabbed Panels widget by setting properties for the entire Tabbed Panels widget container,
or by setting properties for the components of the widget individually.
❖To change the text styling of a Tabbed Panels widget, use the following table to locate the appropriate CSS rule, and
then add your own text styling properties and values:
Change Tabbed Panels widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of different parts of a Tabbed Panels widget, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then add or change background color properties and values to your liking:
Text to change Relevant CSS rule Example of properties and values to add
Text in the entire widget .TabbedPanels font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Text in panel tabs only .TabbedPanelsTabGroup or
.TabbedPanelsTab
font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Text in content panels only .TabbedPanelsContentGroup or
.TabbedPanelsContent
font: Arial; font-size:medium;
Color to change Relevant CSS rule Example of property and value to add or
change
Background color of panel tabs .TabbedPanelsTabGroup or
.TabbedPanelsTab
background-color: #DDD; (This is the default
value.)
Background color of content panels .Tabbed PanelsContentGroup or
.TabbedPanelsContent
background-color: #EEE; (This is the default
value.)
Background color of selected tab .TabbedPanelsTabSelected background-color: #EEE; (This is the default
value.)
Background color of panel tabs when the
mouse pointer moves over them
.TabbedPanelsTabHover background-color: #CCC; (This is the default
value.)
422
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Constrain the width of tabbed panels
By default, the Tabbed Panels widget expands to fill available space. You can constrain the width of a Tabbed Panels
widget, however, by setting a width property for the accordion container.
1Locate the .TabbedPanels CSS rule by opening the SpryTabbedPanels.css file. This rule defines properties for the
main container element of the Tabbed Panels widget.
You can also locate the rule by selecting the Tabbed Panels widget, and looking in the CSS Styles panel (Window >
CSS Styles). Make sure the panel is set to Current mode.
2Add a width property and value to the rule, for example width: 300px;.
Working with the Spry Tooltip widget
About the Tooltip widget
The Spry tooltip widget displays additional information when a user hovers over a particular element on a web page.
The additional content disappears when the user stops hovering. You can also set tooltips to stay open for longer
periods of time so that users can interact with content inside the tooltip.
A Tooltip widget consists of the following three elements:
•The tooltip container. This is the element that contains the message or content that you want to display when the
user activates the tooltip.
•The page element(s) that activates the tooltip.
•The constructor script. This is JavaScript that tells Spry to create the tooltip functionality.
When you insert a Tooltip widget, Dreamweaver creates a tooltip container using div tags, and wraps the “trigger”
element (the page element that activates the tooltip) with span tags. Dreamweaver uses these tags by default, but the
tags for the tooltip and the trigger element can be any tags, as long as they are within the body of the page.
Keep the following points in mind when working with the Tooltip widget:
•An open tooltip will close before the next one opens.
•Tooltips persist while users hover over the trigger area.
•There are no limitations as to what kinds of tags you can use for triggers and for tooltip content. (Block level
elements are always advisable, however, to avoid possible cross-browser rendering problems.)
•By default, the tooltip appears 20 pixels down and to the right of the cursor. You can use the Horizontal and Vertical
offset options in the Property inspector to set a custom appearance point.
•Currently there is no way to have a tooltip open when a page loads in a browser.
The tooltip widget requires very little CSS. Spry uses JavaScript to show, hide, and position the tooltip. You can achieve
any other styling for the tooltip with standard CSS techniques, as your page requires. The only rule contained in the
default CSS file is a workaround for Internet Explorer 6 problems so that the tooltip appears above form elements or
Flash objects.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Spry Tooltip widget works, including a full anatomy of the widget’s
code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytooltip_en.
For a video tutorial on working with the Spry Tooltip widget, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4046_dw.
423
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert the Tooltip widget
❖Select Insert > Spry > Spry Tooltip.
Note: You can also insert a Tooltip widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
This action inserts a new Tooltip widget with a container for the tooltip content, and a placeholder sentence that acts
as the tooltip trigger.
You can also select an existing element on the page (for example, an image), and then insert the tooltip. When you do
this, the element you selected acts as the new tooltip’s trigger. The selection must be a full tag element (for example an
img tag or a p tag) so that Dreamweaver can assign an ID to it if it does not already have one.
Edit Tooltip widget options
You can set options that let you customize the Tooltip widget’s behavior.
1Hover over or place the insertion point in the tooltip content on the page.
2Click the Tooltip widget’s blue tab to select it.
3Set options in the Tooltip widget Property inspector as desired.
Name The name of the tooltip container. The container holds the content of the tooltip. By default Dreamweaver uses
a div tag as the container.
Trigger The element on the page that activates the tooltip. By default Dreamweaver inserts a placeholder sentence,
surrounded by span tags, as the trigger, but you can select any element on the page that has a unique ID.
Follow Mouse When selected, this option causes the tooltip to follow the mouse while hovering over the trigger
element.
Hide on Mouse Out When selected, this option keeps the tooltip open as long as the mouse is hovering over the tooltip
(even if the mouse leaves the trigger element). Keeping the tooltip open is useful if you have links or other interactive
elements in your tooltip. If this option is not selected, the tooltip element closes when the mouse leaves the trigger area.
Horizontal Offset Computes the tooltip’s horizontal position in relation to the mouse. The offset value is in pixels, and
the default offset is 20 pixels.
Vertical Offset Computes the tooltip’s vertical position in relation to the mouse. The offset value is in pixels, and the
default offset is 20 pixels
Show Delay The delay in milliseconds before the tooltip appears after it has entered the trigger element. The default
value is 0.
Hide Delay The delay in milliseconds before the tooltip disappears after it has left the trigger element. The default
value is 0.
Effect The type of effect you want to use when the tooltip appears. Blind simulates a window blind that moves up and
down to reveal and hide the tooltip. Fade fades the tooltip in and out. The default value is none.
Working with the Spry Validation Radio Group widget
About the Validation Radio Group widget
The Validation Radio Group widget is a group of radio buttons with validation support for the selection. The widget
enforces the selection of one radio button from the group.
424
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following example shows a Validation Radio Group widget in various states.
A. Validation Radio Group widget error messages B. Validation Radio Group widget group
The Validation Radio Group widget includes three states beyond the initial state: valid, invalid, and required value.
You can alter the properties of these states by editing the corresponding CSS file (SpryValidationRadio.css), depending
on the desired validation results. A Validation Radio Group widget can validate at various points: when the user clicks
outside the widget, as the user makes selections, or when the user tries to submit the form.
Initial state When the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Valid state When the user makes a selection, and the form can be submitted.
Required state When the user fails to make a required selection.
Invalid state When the user selects a radio button whose value is not acceptable.
Whenever a Validation Radio Group widget enters one of these states through user interaction, the Spry framework
logic applies a specific CSS class to the HTML container for the widget at run time. For example, if a user tries to submit
a form, but makes no selections, Spry applies a class to the widget that causes it to display the error message, “Please
make a selection.” The rules that control the style and display states of error messages reside in the file that
accompanies the widget, SpryValidationRadio.css.
The default HTML code for the Validation Radio Group widget, usually inside a form, is made up of a container span
tag that surrounds the input type="radio" tag of the radio group. The HTML code for the Validation Radio Group
widget also includes script tags in the head of the document and after the widget’s HTML code.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Validation Radio Group widget works, including a full anatomy of
the Validation Radio Group widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryradio_en.
Insert and edit the Validation Radio Group widget
Insert the Validation Radio Group widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Radio Group.
2In the Name text box, enter a name for the radio group.
3Add or subtract radio buttons from the group by clicking the plus (+) or minus (-) buttons.
4In the Label column, click the name of each radio button to make the field editable, and assign unique names to
each radio button.
5In the Value column, click each value to make the field editable, and assign a unique value to each radio button.
6(Optional) Click a radio button or its value to select a specific row, and then click the up and down arrows to move
the row up or down.
B
A
425
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
7Select a layout type for the radio group.
Line breaks Places each radio button on a separate line using line breaks (br tags).
Table Places each radio button on a separate line using individual table rows (tr tags).
8Click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Radio Group widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the user clicks outside the widget, as the user makes selections,
or when the user tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Radio Group widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the option that indicates when you want validation to
occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the radio group.
Change Validates as the user makes selections.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Radio Group widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, select Initial to see the widget in its initial state.
Change required status of radio buttons
By default, Validation Radio Group widgets require the user to make a selection before submitting the form. You can,
however, make selections optional for the user.
1Select a Validation Radio Group widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), deselect the Required option.
Specify an empty or invalid value
You can specify a value that registers as empty or invalid if the user selects a radio button that is associated with one
of those values. If the user selects a radio button with an empty value, the browser returns the error message “Please
make a selection.” If the user selects a radio button with an invalid value, the browser returns the error message “Please
select a valid value.”
426
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Radio Group widget with empty value radio button.
1Select the radio button in your Radio Group widget that you want to use for the empty or invalid radio button.
When specifying empty or invalid values for the widget, there must be corresponding radio buttons with those
values already assigned.
2In the Radio Button Property inspector (Window > Properties), assign the radio button a checked value. To create
a radio button with an empty value, type none in the Checked Value text box. To create a radio button with an
invalid value, type invalid in the Checked Value text box.
3Select the entire Validation Radio Group widget by clicking the widget’s blue tab.
4In the Property inspector, specify empty or invalid values. To create a widget that displays the empty value error
message “Please make a selection,” type none in the Empty Value text box. To create a widget that displays the
invalid value error message “Please select a valid value,” type invalid in the Invalid Value text box.
Remember, both the radio button itself and the Radio Group widget must have the none or invalid values assigned for
the error messages to display properly.
Customize the Radio Group widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Validation Radio Group widget, it does not
support customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Radio Group widget so that you can create
a widget that is styled to your liking. For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryradio_custom_en.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryValidationRadio.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryValidationRadio.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Validation
Radio Group widget. Consulting this file is helpful because it contains commented information about various styles
that apply to the widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Radio Group widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you
can also use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style a Validation Radio Group widget (general instructions)
1Open the SpryValidationRadio.css file.
2Locate the CSS rule for the part of the widget to change. For example, to change the background color of the Radio
Group widget’s required state, edit the radioRequiredState rule in the SpryValidationRadio.css file.
3Make your changes to the CSS rule and save the file.
427
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The SpryValidationRadio.css file contains extensive comments, explaining the code and the purpose for certain rules.
For further information, see the comments in the file.
Style Validation Radio Group widget error message text
By default, error messages for the Validation Radio Group widget appear in red with a 1-pixel solid border
surrounding the text.
❖To change the text styling of Validation Radio Group widget error messages, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own text-styling properties and values.
Working with the Spry Validation Text Field widget
About the Validation Text Field widget
A Spry Validation Text Field widget is a text field that displays valid or invalid states when the site visitor enters text.
For example, you can add a Validation Text Field widget to a form in which visitors type their e-mail addresses. If they
fail to type the “@” symbol and a period in the e-mail address, the widget returns a message stating that the information
the user entered is invalid.
The following example shows a Validation Text Field widget in various states:
A. Textfield widget, hint activated B. Textfield widget, valid state C. Textfield widget, invalid state D. Textfield widget, required state
The Validation Text Field widget includes a number of states (for example, valid, invalid, required value, and so on).
You can alter the properties of these states using the Property Inspector, depending on the desired validation results.
A Validation Text Field widget can validate at various points—for example, when the visitor clicks outside the widget,
when they type, or when they try to submit the form.
Initial state The widget state when the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Focus state The widget state when the user places the insertion point in the widget.
Valid state The widget state when the user has entered information correctly, and the form can be submitted.
Invalid state The widget state when the user has entered text in an invalid format. (For example, 06 for a year instead
of 2006).
Text to style Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .radioRequiredState
.radioRequiredMsg,
.radioInvalidState
.radioInvalidMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid #CC3333;
A
B
C
D
428
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Required state The widget state when the user has failed to enter required text in the text field.
Minimum Number Of Characters state The widget state when the user has entered fewer than the minimum number
of characters required in the text field.
Maximum Number Of Characters state The widget state when the user has entered greater than the maximum number
of characters allowed in the text field.
Minimum Value state The widget state when the user has entered a value that is less than the value required by the text
field. (Applies to integer, real, and data type validations.)
Maximum Value state The widget state when the user has entered a value that is greater than the maximum value
allowed by the text field. (Applies to integer, real, and data type validations.)
Whenever a Validation Text Field widget enters one of these states through user interaction, the Spry framework logic
applies a specific CSS class to the HTML container for the widget at run time. For example, if a user tries to submit a
form, but has entered no text in a required text field, Spry applies a class to the widget that causes it to display the error
message, “A value is required”. The rules that control the style and display states of error messages exist in the CSS file
that accompanies the widget, SpryValidationTextField.css.
The default HTML for the Validation Text Field widget, usually inside of a form, comprises a container <span> tag
that surrounds the <input> tag of the text field. The HTML for the Validation Text Field widget also includes script
tags in the head of the document and after the widget’s HTML markup.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Validation Text Field widget works, including a full anatomy of the
Validation Text Field widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytextfield.
Insert and edit the Validation Text Field widget
Insert the Validation Text Field widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Text Field.
2Complete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box and click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Validation Text Field widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
More Help topics
“Create accessible HTML forms” on page 645
Specify a validation type and format
You can specify different validation types for the Validation Text Field widget. For example, you can specify a credit
card validation type if the text field will receive credit card numbers.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select a validation type from the Type menu.
3If applicable, select a format from the Format pop-up menu.
Most validation types cause the text field to expect a standard format. For example, if you apply the integer validation
type to a text field, the widget won’t validate unless the user has entered numbers in the text field. Some validation
types, however, let you choose the kind of format your text field will accept. The following table lists validation types
and formats that are available through the Property inspector:
429
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the site visitor clicks outside the widget, as the visitor types,
or when the visitor tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties) select the option that indicates when you want validation to
occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the text field.
Change Validates as the user changes text inside the text field.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Specify a minimum and maximum number characters
This option is only available for None, Integer, E-mail Address, and URL validation types.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a number in the Min Chars or Max Chars box. For example,
if you enter 3 in the Min Chars box, the widget only validates if the user enters three or more characters.
Validation type Format
None No particular format required.
Integer Text field accepts numbers only.
Email Address Text field accepts e-mail addresses that contain @ and a period (.) that is both preceded and
followed by at least one letter.
Date Formats vary. Make your selection from the Format pop-up menu of the Property inspector.
Time Formats vary. Make your selection from the Format pop-up menu of the Property inspector. (“tt”
stands for am/pm format; “t” stands for a/p format.)
Credit Card Formats vary. Make your selection from the Format pop-up menu of the Property inspector. You
can choose to accept all credit cards, or specify a particular kind of credit card (MasterCard, Visa,
etc.). The text field does not accept spaces in credit card numbers, i.e. 4321 3456 4567 4567.
Zip Code Formats vary. Make your selection from the Format pop-up menu of the Property inspector.
Phone Number Text field accepts phone numbers formatted for U.S. and Canada (000) 000-0000 or custom
formats. If you select custom format as an option, enter the format, for example, 000.00(00), in the
Pattern text box.
Social Security Number Text field accepts social security numbers formatted as 000-00-0000. If you want to use a different
format, select Custom as your validation type and specify a pattern. The pattern validation
mechanism accepts only ASCII characters.
Currency Text field accepts currency formatted as 1,000,000.00 or 1.000.000,00.
Real Number/Scientific Notation Validates various kinds of numbers: integers (for example, 1); float values (for example, 12.123); and
float values in scientific notation (for example, 1.212e+12, 1.221e-12 where e is used as a power of
10).
IP Address Formats vary. Make your selection from the Format pop-up menu of the Property inspector.
URL Text field accepts URLs formatted as http://xxx.xxx.xxx or ftp://xxx.xxx.xxx.
Custom Lets you specify a custom validation type and format. Enter the format pattern (and hint if desired)
in the Property inspector. The pattern validation mechanism accepts only ASCII characters.
430
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Specify minimum and maximum values
This option is only available for Integer, Time, Currency, and Real Number/Scientific Notation validation types.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a number in the Min Value or Max Value box. For example,
if you enter 3 in the Min Value box, the widget only validates if the user enters the number 3 or a value greater (4,
5, 6, and so on) in the text field.
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, if you want to see the widget in its valid state, select Valid.
Change required status of a text field
By default, all Validation Text Field widgets that you insert with Dreamweaver require user input when published on
a web page. You can, however, make the completion of text fields optional for the user.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select or deselect the Required option, depending on your
preference.
Create a hint for a text field
Because there are so many different kinds of formats for text fields, it is helpful to give your users a hint as to what
format they need to enter. For example, a text field set with the Phone Number validation type will only accept phone
numbers in the form (000) 000-0000. You can enter these sample numbers as a hint so that the text field displays the
correct format when the user loads the page in a browser.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a hint in the Hint text box.
Block invalid characters
You can prevent your users from entering invalid characters in a Validation Text Field widget. For example, if you
select this option for a widget set with the Integer validation type, nothing appears in the text field if the user tries to
type a letter.
1Select a Validation Text Field widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the Enforce Pattern option.
Customize the Validation Text Field widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Validation Text Field widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Text Field widget so that you can create a widget that
is styled to your liking. For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytextfield_custom.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryValidationTextField.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryValidationTextField.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Validation
Text Field widget. Consulting this file is helpful because it contains commented information about various styles that
apply to the widget.
431
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Text Field widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can
also use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style Validation Text Field widget error message text
By default, error messages for the Validation Text Field widget appear in red with a 1-pixel border surrounding the text.
❖To change the text styling of Validation Text Field widget error messages, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own text-styling properties and values:
Change Validation Text Field widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of the Validation Text Field widget in various states, use the following table to
locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default background color values:
Working with the Spry Validation Text Area widget
About the Validation Text Area widget
A Spry Validation Text Area widget is a text area that displays valid or invalid states when the user enters a few
sentences of text. If the text area is a required field and the user fails to enter any text, the widget returns a message
stating that a value is required.
The following example shows a Validation Text Area widget in various states:
Text to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .textfieldRequiredState .textfieldRequiredMsg,
.textfieldInvalidFormatState
.textfieldInvalidFormatMsg, .textfieldMinValueState
.textfieldMinValueMsg, .textfieldMaxValueState
.textfieldMaxValueMsg, .textfieldMinCharsState
.textfieldMinCharsMsg, .textfieldMaxCharsState
.textfieldMaxCharsMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid
#CC3333;
Color to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant property to change
Background color of widget in
valid state
.textfieldValidState input,
input.textfieldValidState
background-color: #B8F5B1;
Background color of widget in
invalid state
input.textfieldRequiredState,
.textfieldRequiredState input,
input.textfieldInvalidFormatState,
.textfieldInvalidFormatState input,
input.textfieldMinValueState,
.textfieldMinValueState input,
input.textfieldMaxValueState,
.textfieldMaxValueState input,
input.textfieldMinCharsState,
.textfieldMinCharsState input,
input.textfieldMaxCharsState,
.textfieldMaxCharsState input
background-color: #FF9F9F;
Background color widget in
focus
.textfieldFocusState input,
input.textfieldFocusState
background-color: #FFFFCC;
432
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Characters remaining counter B. Text Area widget in focus, maximum number of characters state C. Text Area widget in focus, valid state
D. Text Area widget, required state E. Characters typed counter
The Validation Text Area widget includes a number of states (for example, valid, invalid, required value, and so on).
You can alter the properties of these states using the Property inspector, depending on the desired validation results.
A Validation Text Area widget can validate at various points—for example, when the user clicks outside the widget, as
the user types, or when the user tries to submit the form.
Initial state The widget state when the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Focus state The widget state when the user places the insertion point in the widget.
Valid state The widget state when the user has entered information correctly, and the form can be submitted.
Required state The widget state when the user has failed to enter any text.
Minimum Number Of Characters state The widget state when the user has entered fewer than the minimum number
of characters required in the text area.
Maximum Number Of Characters state The widget state when the user has entered more than the maximum number
of characters allowed in the text area.
Whenever a Validation Text Area widget enters one of these states through user interaction, the Spry framework logic
applies a specific CSS class to the HTML container for the widget at run time. For example, if a user tries to submit a
form, but has not entered text in the text area, Spry applies a class to the widget that causes it to display the error
message, “A value is required.” The rules that control the style and display states of error messages exist in the CSS file
that accompanies the widget, SpryValidationTextArea.css.
The default HTML for the Validation Text Area widget, usually inside of a form, comprises a container <span> tag
that surrounds the <textarea> tag of the text area. The HTML for the Validation Text Area widget also includes script
tags in the head of the document and after the widget’s HTML markup.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Validation Text Area widget works, including a full anatomy of the
Validation Text Area widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytextarea.
Insert and edit the Validation Text Area widget
Insert the Validation Text Area widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Textarea.
A
E
B
C
D
433
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Complete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box and click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Validation Text Area widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
More Help topics
“Create accessible HTML forms” on page 645
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the user clicks outside the widget, as the user types, or when
the user tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the Validate On option that indicates when you want
validation to occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the text field.
Change Validates as the user changes text inside the text field.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Specify a minimum and maximum number of characters
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2
In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a number in the Min Chars or Max Chars box. For example,
if you enter 20 in the Min Chars box, the widget only validates if the user enters 20 or more characters in the text area.
Add a character counter
You can add a character counter that lets your users know how many characters they have typed, or how many
characters are remaining when entering text in the text area. By default, when you add a character counter, the counter
appears outside the lower-right corner of the widget.
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select either the Chars Count or Chars Remaining option.
Note: The Chars Remaining option is only available if you’ve already set a maximum number of characters allowed.
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, if you want to see the widget in its valid state, select Valid.
Change required status of a text area
By default, all Validation Text Area widgets that you insert with Dreamweaver require user input when published on
a web page. You can, however, make text areas optional for validation.
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select or deselect the Required option, depending on your
preference.
434
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create a hint for a text area
You can add a hint to the text area (for example, “Type your description here”), to let your users know the kind of
information they should enter in the text area. The text area displays the hint text when the user loads the page in a
browser.
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a hint in the Hint text box.
Block extra characters
You can prevent your users from entering more than the maximum number of allowed characters in a Validation Text
Area widget. For example, if you select this option for a widget set to accept no more than 20 characters, the user will
not be able to type more than 20 characters in the text area.
1Select a Validation Text Area widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the Block Extra Characters option.
Customize the Validation Text Area widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Validation Text Area widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Text Area widget so that you can create a widget that
is styled to your liking. For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprytextarea_custom.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryValidationTextArea.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryValidationTextArea.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Validation
Text Area widget. Consulting this file is helpful because it contains commented information about various styles that
apply to the widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Text Area widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can
also use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style Validation Text Area widget error message text
By default, error messages for the Validation Text Area widget appear in red with a 1-pixel border surrounding the text.
❖To change the text styling of Validation Text Area widget error messages, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own text-styling properties and values:
Change Validation Text Area widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of the Validation Text Area widget in various states, use the following table to
locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default background color values:
Text to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .textareaRequiredState
.textareaRequiredMsg,
.textareaMinCharsState
.textareaMinCharsMsg,
.textareaMaxCharsState
.textareaMaxCharsMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid #CC3333;
435
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Working with the Spry Validation Select widget
About the Validation Select widget
A Spry Validation Select widget is a drop-down menu that displays valid or invalid states when the user makes a
selection. For example, you can insert a Validation Select widget that contains a list of states, grouped into different
sections and divided by horizontal lines. If the user accidentally selects one of the divider lines as opposed to one of the
states, the Validation Select widget returns a message to the user stating that their selection is invalid.
The following example shows an expanded Validation Select widget, as well as the collapsed form of the widget in
various states:
A. Validation Select widget in focus B. Select widget, valid state C. Select widget, required state D. Select widget, invalid state
The Validation Select widget includes a number of states (for example, valid, invalid, required value, and so on). You
can alter the properties of these states using the Property inspector, depending on the desired validation results. A
Validation Select widget can validate at various points—for example, when the user clicks outside the widget, as the
user makes selections, or when the user tries to submit the form.
Initial state The widget state when the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Focus state The widget state when the user clicks the widget.
Valid state The widget state when the user has selected a valid item, and the form can be submitted.
Invalid state The widget state when the user has selected an invalid item.
Required state The widget state when the user has failed to select a valid item.
Background color to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant property to change
Background color of widget in valid state .textareaValidState textarea,
textarea.textareaValidState
background-color: #B8F5B1;
Background color of widget in invalid state textarea.textareaRequiredState,
.textareaRequiredState textarea,
textarea.textareaMinCharsState,
.textareaMinCharsState textarea,
textarea.textareaMaxCharsState,
.textareaMaxCharsState textarea
background-color: #FF9F9F;
Background color of widget in focus .textareaFocusState textarea,
textarea.textareaFocusState
background-color: #FFFFCC;
A
B
C
D
436
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Whenever a Validation Select widget enters one of the above states through user interaction, the Spry framework logic
applies a specific CSS class to the HTML container for the widget at run time. For example, if a user tries to submit a
form, but has not selected an item from the menu, Spry applies a class to the widget so that it displays the error message,
“Please select an item.” The rules that control the style and display states of error messages reside in the CSS file that
accompanies the widget, SpryValidationSelect.css.
The default HTML for the Validation Select widget, usually inside of a form, comprises a container <span> tag that
surrounds the <select> tag of the text area. The HTML for the Validation Select widget also includes script tags in the
head of the document and after the widget’s HTML markup.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Validation Select widget works, including a full anatomy of the
Validation Select widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryselect.
Insert and edit the Validation Select widget
Insert the Validation Select widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Select.
2Complete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box and click OK.
3In Code view, add option tags that contain menu items and values. Dreamweaver does not do this for you
automatically. For more information, see the previous topic.
Note: You can also insert a Validation Select widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
More Help topics
“Create accessible HTML forms” on page 645
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the user clicks outside the widget, as the user types, or when
the user tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Select widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties) select the option that indicates when you want validation to
occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the widget.
Change Validates as the user makes selections.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Select widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, if you want to see the widget in its valid state, select Valid.
437
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Prohibit or allow blank values
By default, all Validation Select widgets that you insert with Dreamweaver require that users select menu items that
have an associated value when the widget is published on a web page. You can, however, disable this option.
1Select a Validation Select widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select or deselect the Do Not Allow Blank Values option,
depending on your preference.
Specify an invalid value
You can specify a value that will register as invalid if the user selects a menu item that is associated with that value. For
example, if you specify -1 as an invalid value, and you assign the value to an option tag, the widget will return an error
message if the user selects that menu item.
<option value="-1"> ------------------- </option>
1Select a Validation Select widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), enter a number to use as in invalid value in the Invalid Value box.
Customize the Validation Select widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Validation Select widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Select widget so that you can create a widget that is
styled to your liking.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryValidationSelect.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryValidationSelect.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Validation Select
widget. Consulting this file is helpful because it contains commented information about various styles that apply to the
widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Select widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can also
use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes assigned
to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style Validation Select widget error message text
By default, error messages for the Validation Select widget appear in red with a 1-pixel border surrounding the text.
❖To change the text styling of Validation Select widget error messages, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own text-styling properties and values:
Change Validation Select widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of the Validation Select widget in various states, use the following table to locate
the appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default background color values:
Text to style Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .selectRequiredState .selectRequiredMsg,
.selectInvalidState .selectInvalidMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid #CC3333;
438
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Working with the Spry Validation Checkbox widget
About the Validation Checkbox widget
A Spry Validation Checkbox widget is a check box or group of check boxes in an HTML form that display valid or
invalid states when the user selects or fails to select a check box. For example, you can add a Validation Checkbox
widget to a form in which a user might be required to make three selections. If the user fails to make all three selections,
the widget returns a message stating that the minimum number of selections has not been met.
The following example shows a Validation Checkbox widget in various states:
A. Validation checkbox widget group, minimum number of selections state B. Validation Checkbox widget, required state
The Validation Checkbox widget includes a number of states (for example, valid, invalid, required value, and so on).
You can alter the properties of these states using the Property inspector, depending on the desired validation results.
A Validation Checkbox widget can validate at various points—for example, when the user clicks outside the widget, as
the user makes selections, or when the user tries to submit the form.
Initial state The widget state when the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Valid state The widget state when the user has made a selection, or the correct number of selections, and the form can
be submitted.
Required state The widget state when the user has failed to make a required selection.
Minimum Number Of Selections state The widget state when the user has selected fewer than the minimum number
of check boxes required.
Maximum Number Of Selections state The widget state when the user has selected more than the maximum number
of check boxes allowed.
Background color to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant property to change
Background color of widget in valid state .selectValidState select,
select.selectValidState
background-color: #B8F5B1;
Background color of widget in invalid state select.selectRequiredState,
.selectRequiredState select,
select.selectInvalidState,
.selectInvalidState select
background-color: #FF9F9F;
Background color of widget in focus .selectFocusState select,
select.selectFocusState
background-color: #FFFFCC;
A
B
439
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Whenever a Validation Checkbox widget enters one of these states through user interaction, the Spry framework logic
applies a specific CSS class to the HTML container for the widget at run time. For example, if a user tries to submit a
form, but has made no selections, Spry applies a class to the widget that causes it to display the error message, “Please
make a selection.” The rules that control the style and display states of error messages reside in the CSS file that
accompanies the widget, SpryValidationCheckbox.css.
The default HTML for the Validation Checkbox widget, usually inside of a form, comprises a container <span> tag
that surrounds the <input type="checkbox"> tag of the check box. The HTML for the Validation Checkbox widget also
includes script tags in the head of the document and after the widget’s HTML markup.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how the Validation Checkbox widget works, including a full anatomy of the
Validation Checkbox widget’s code, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprycheckbox.
Insert and edit the Validation Checkbox widget
Insert the Validation Checkbox widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Checkbox.
2Complete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box and click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Validation Checkbox widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
More Help topics
“Create accessible HTML forms” on page 645
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the user clicks outside the widget, as the user makes selections,
or when the user tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Checkbox widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the option that indicates when you want validation to
occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the check box.
Change Validates as the user makes selections.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Specify a minimum and maximum selection range
By default, a Validation Checkbox widget is set to required by default. If you insert a number of check boxes on your
page, however, you can specify a minimum and maximum selection range. For example, if you have six check boxes
within the <span> tag for a single Validation Checkbox widget, and you want to make sure that the user selects at least
three check boxes, you can set such a preference for the entire widget.
1Select a Validation Checkbox widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the Enforce Range option.
3Enter a minimum or maximum number (or both) of check boxes that you want the user to select.
440
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Checkbox widget in the Document window.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, select Initial to see the widget in its initial state.
Customize Validation Checkbox widget error messages
By default, error messages for the Validation Checkbox widget appear in red with a 1-pixel border surrounding the
text. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Checkbox widget so that you can create a widget that is styled to your
liking. For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprycheckbox_custom.
1Open the SpryValidationCheckbox.css file.
Dreamweaver saves the SpryValidationCheckbox.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a
Spry Validation Checkbox widget. It’s helpful to consult this file because it contains commented information about
various styles that apply to the widget.
2Use the following table to locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own
text-styling properties and values:
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Checkbox widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can
also use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Working with the Spry Validation Password widget
About the Validation Password widget
The Spry Validation Password widget is a password text field that you can use to enforce password rules (for example,
number and type of characters). The widget provides warning or error messages based upon a user's input.
Note: You should be familiar with Spry validation widgets before you work with the Password widget. If you’re not
familiar with them, see “Working with the Spry Validation Text Field widget” on page 427, or any of the other validation
widget overviews before proceeding. This overview does not present all basic validation widget concepts.
The following example shows a Validation Password widget in various states:
Text to style Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .checkboxRequiredState .checkboxRequiredMsg,
.checkboxMinSelectionsState
.checkboxMinSelectionsMsg,
.checkboxMaxSelectionsState
.checkboxMaxSelectionsMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid #CC3333;
441
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
A. Password widget, minimum number of characters state B. Password widget, maximum number of characters state C. Password widget,
required state
The Validation Password widget includes a number of states (for example, valid, required, minimum number of
characters, and so on). You can alter the properties of these states by editing the corresponding CSS file
(SpryValidationPassword.css), depending on the desired validation results. A Validation Password widget can validate
at various points—for example, when the site visitor clicks outside the text field, when they type, or when they try to
submit the form.
Initial state When the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Focus state When the user places the insertion point in the widget.
Valid state When the user enters information correctly, and the form can be submitted.
Invalid strength state When the user enters text that does not match the strength criteria for the password text field.
(For example, if you’ve specified that a password must contain at least two uppercase letters, and the entered password
contains no or only one uppercase letter).
Required state When the user fails to enter required text in the text field.
Minimum Number Of Characters state When the user enters fewer than the minimum number of characters required
in the password text field.
Maximum Number Of Characters state When the user enters more than the maximum number of characters allowed
in the password text field.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how Validation Password widgets work, as well as additional information
about widget structure, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprypassword_en.
More Help topics
Validation Password widget samples
Insert and edit the Validation Password widget
Insert the Validation Password widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Password.
2Complete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box and click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Validation Password widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
More Help topics
“Create accessible HTML forms” on page 645
A
B
C
442
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change required status of a Validation Password widget
By default, all Validation Password widgets that you insert with Dreamweaver require user input when published on
a web page. You can, however, make the completion of password text fields optional for the user.
1Select a Validation Password widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select or deselect the Required option, depending on your
preference.
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Password widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, if you want to see the widget in its valid state, select Valid.
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the site visitor clicks outside the widget, as the visitor types,
or when the visitor tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Password widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the option that indicates when you want validation to
occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the password text field.
Change Validates as the user changes text inside the password text field.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Set password strength
Password strength refers to the degree to which combinations of certain characters match the requirements for a
password text field. For example, if you’ve created a form in which users are selecting a password, you might want to
force your users to include a certain number of uppercase letters in the password, a certain number of special
characters, and so on.
Note: By default, none of the available options are set for the Password widget.
1Click the Validation Password widget’s blue tab to select it.
2Set options in the Property inspector (Window > Properties) as desired. The numbers that you enter into the option
fields are the numbers required for the widget to validate. For example, if you enter 8 in the Minimum characters
box, the widget will not validate unless the user has entered at least eight characters in the password text field.
Minimum/Maximum characters Specifies the minimum and maximum number of characters required for the
password to be valid.
Minimum/Maximum letters Specifies the minimum and maximum number of letters (a, b, c, and so on) required for
the password to be valid.
Minimum/Maximum numbers Specifies the minimum and maximum number of numbers (1, 2, 3, and so on) required
for the password to be valid.
Minimum/Maximum uppercase Specifies the minimum and maximum number of uppercase letters (A, B, C, and so
on) required for the password to be valid.
443
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Minimum/Maximum special characters Specifies the minimum and maximum number of special characters (!, @, #,
and so on) required for the password to be valid.
Leaving any of the above options blank causes the widget not to validate against that criterion. For example, if you leave
the Minimum/Maximum numbers option blank, the widget does not look for numbers in the password string.
Customize the Validation Password widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Validation Password widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Password widget so that you can create a widget that
is styled to your liking. For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sprypassword_custom_en.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryValidationPassword.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryValidationPassword.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Validation
Password widget. Consulting this file is helpful because it contains commented information about various styles that
apply to the widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Password widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can
also use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style a Validation Password widget (general instructions)
1Open the SpryValidationPassword.css file.
2Locate the CSS rule for the part of the widget to change. For example, to change the background color of the
Password widget’s required state, edit the input.passwordRequiredState rule in the
SpryValidationPassword.css file.
3Make your changes to the CSS and save the file.
The SpryValidationPassword.css file contains extensive comments, explaining the code and the purpose for certain
rules. For further information, see the comments in the file.
Style Validation Password widget error message text
By default, error messages for the Validation Password widget appear in red with a 1-pixel solid border surrounding
the text.
❖To change the text styling of Validation Password widget error messages, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own text-styling properties and values.
Text to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .passwordRequiredState .passwordRequiredMsg,
.passwordMinCharsState .passwordMinCharsMsg,
.passwordMaxCharsState .passwordMaxCharsMsg,
.passwordInvalidStrengthState
.passwordInvalidStrengthMsg,
.passwordCustomState .passwordCustomMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid
#CC3333;
444
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change Validation Password widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of the Validation Password widget in various states, use the following table to
locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default background color values.
Working with the Spry Validation Confirm widget
About the Validation Confirm widget
The Validation Confirm Widget is a text field or a password form field that displays valid or invalid states when a user
enters a value that does not match the value of a similar field in the same form. For example, you can add a Validation
Confirm widget to a form that requires a user to retype the password they've specified in a previous field. If the user
fails to type the password exactly as they've specified it previously, the widget returns an error message stating that the
values do not match.
You can also use a Validation Confirm widget in conjunction with a Validation Text Field widget to validate email
addresses.
Note: You should be familiar with Spry validation widgets before you work with the Confirm widget. If you’re not familiar
with them, see “Working with the Spry Validation Text Field widget” on page 427, or any of the other validation widget
overviews before proceeding. This overview does not present all basic validation widget concepts.
The following illustration shows a typical setup for a Confirm widget:
A. A password field or Spry Password Validation widget B. Confirm widget
The Validation Confirm widget includes a number of states (for example, valid, invalid, required, and so on). You can
alter the properties of these states by editing the corresponding CSS file (SpryValidationConfirm.css), depending on
the desired validation results. A Validation Confirm widget can validate at various points—for example, when the site
visitor clicks outside the widget, when they type, or when they try to submit the form.
Initial state When the page loads in the browser, or when the user resets the form.
Focus state When the user places the insertion point in the widget.
Color to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant property to change
Background color of widget
in valid state
.passwordValidState input,
input.passwordValidState
background-color: #B8F5B1;
Background color of widget
in invalid state
input.passwordRequiredState,
.passwordRequiredState input,
input.passwordInvalidStrengthState,
.passwordInvalidStrengthState input,
input.passwordMinCharsState,
.passwordMinCharsState input,
input.passwordCustomState,
.passwordCustomState input,
input.passwordMaxCharsState,
.passwordMaxCharsState input
background-color: #FF9F9F;
Background color of widget
in focus
.passwordFocusState input,
input.passwordFocusState
background-color: #FFFFCC;
B
A
445
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Valid state When the user enters information correctly, and the form can be submitted.
Invalid state When the user enters text that does not match the text entered in a previous text field, Validation Text
Field widget, or Validation Password widget.
Required state When the user fails to enter required text in the text field.
For a more comprehensive explanation of how Validation Confirm widgets work, as well as additional information
about widget structure, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryconfirm_en.
More Help topics
Validation Confirm widget samples
Insert and edit the Validation Confirm widget
Insert the Validation Confirm widget
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Validation Confirm.
2Complete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box and click OK.
Note: You can also insert a Validation Confirm widget by using the Spry category in the Insert panel.
More Help topics
“Create accessible HTML forms” on page 645
Change required status of a Validation Confirm widget
By default, all Validation Confirm widgets that you insert with Dreamweaver require user input when published on a
web page. You can, however, make the completion of confirm text fields optional for the user.
1Select a Validation Confirm widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select or deselect the Required option, depending on your
preference.
Specify the text field to validate against
1Select a Validation Confirm widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the text field you want to validate against by selecting a text
field from the Validate Against pop-up menu. All text fields with unique IDs assigned to them appear as options in
the pop-up menu.
Display widget states in Design view
1Select a Validation Confirm widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the state you want to see from the Preview States pop-up
menu. For example, if you want to see the widget in its valid state, select Valid.
Specify when validation occurs
You can set the point at which validation occurs—when the site visitor clicks outside the widget, as the visitor types,
or when the visitor tries to submit the form.
1Select a Validation Confirm widget in the Document window by clicking its blue tab.
446
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), select the option that indicates when you want validation to
occur. You can select all of the options or Submit only.
Blur Validates whenever the user clicks outside the confirm text field.
Change Validates as the user changes text inside the confirm text field.
Submit Validates when the user tries to submit the form. The submit option is selected by default, and cannot be
deselected.
Customize the Confirm widget
Although the Property inspector enables you to make simple edits to a Validation Confirm widget, it does not support
customized styling tasks. You can alter the CSS for the Validation Confirm widget so that you can create a widget that
is styled to your liking. For a more advanced list of styling tasks, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryconfirm_custom_en.
All CSS rules in the topics below refer to the default rules located in the SpryValidationConfirm.css file. Dreamweaver
saves the SpryValidationConfirm.css file in the SpryAssets folder of your site whenever you create a Spry Validation
Confirm widget. Consulting this file is helpful because it contains commented information about various styles that
apply to the widget.
Although you can easily edit rules for the Validation Confirm widget directly in the accompanying CSS file, you can
also use the CSS Styles panel to edit the widget’s CSS. The CSS Styles panel is helpful for locating the CSS classes
assigned to different parts of the widget, especially if you use the panel’s Current mode.
More Help topics
“The CSS Styles panel in Current mode” on page 123
Style a Validation Confirm widget (general instructions)
1Open the SpryValidationConfirm.css file.
2
Locate the CSS rule for the part of the widget to change. For example, to change the background color of the Confirm
widget’s required state, edit the
input.confirmRequiredState
rule in the SpryValidationConfirm.css file.
3Make your changes to the CSS and save the file.
The SpryValidationConfirm.css file contains extensive comments, explaining the code and the purpose for certain
rules. For further information, see the comments in the file.
Style Validation Confirm widget error message text
By default, error messages for the Validation Confirm widget appear in red with a 1-pixel solid border surrounding
the text.
❖To change the text styling of Validation Confirm widget error messages, use the following table to locate the
appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default properties, or add your own text-styling properties and values.
Change Validation Confirm widget background colors
❖To change the background colors of the Validation Confirm widget in various states, use the following table to
locate the appropriate CSS rule, and then change the default background color values.
Text to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant properties to change
Error message text .confirmRequiredState .confirmRequiredMsg,
.confirmInvalidState .confirmInvalidMsg
color: #CC3333; border: 1px solid
#CC3333;
447
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Displaying data with Spry
About Spry data sets
A Spry data set is fundamentally a JavaScript object that holds a collection of data that you specify. With Dreamweaver
you can quickly create this object and load data from a data source (such as an XML file or HTML file) into the object.
The data set results in an array of data in the form of a standard table containing rows and columns. As you’re creating
a Spry data set with Dreamweaver, you can also specify how you want to display the data on a web page.
You can think of a data set as a virtual holding container whose structure is rows and columns. It exists as a JavaScript
object whose information is only visible when you specify exactly how to display it on the web page. You can display
all of the data in this holding container, or you might choose to display only selected pieces of it.
For complete information on how Spry data sets work, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sdg_sprydataset_en.
For a video overview from the Dreamweaver engineering team about working with Spry data sets, see
www.adobe.com/go/dw10datasets.
For a video tutorial on working with Spry data sets, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4047_dw.
Create a Spry data set
Create a Spry HTML data set
1If you are only creating a data set, you do not need to worry about the insertion point. If you are creating a data set
and also inserting a layout, make sure that the insertion point is where you want to insert the layout on the page.
2Choose Insert > Spry > Spry Data Set.
3In the Specify Data Source screen, do the following:
•Select HTML from the Select Data Type pop-up menu. (It’s selected by default.)
•Specify a name for the new data set. The default name is ds1 the first time you create a data set. The data set name
can contain letters, numbers, and underscores, but cannot start with a number.
•Specify the HTML elements in your data source that you want Dreamweaver to detect. For example, if you’ve
organized your data inside a div tag, and you want Dreamweaver to detect div tags instead of tables, select Divs
from the Detect pop-up menu. The Custom option lets you type any tag name that you want to detect.
•Specify the path to the file that contains your HTML data source. The path can be a relative path to a local file
in your site (for example, data/html_data.html), or an absolute URL to a live web page (using HTTP or HTTPS).
You can click the Browse button to navigate to a local file and select it.
Color to change Relevant CSS rule Relevant property to change
Background color of widget
in valid state
.confirmValidState input,
input.confirmValidState
background-color: #B8F5B1;
Background color of widget
in invalid state
input.confirmRequiredState,
.confirmRequiredState input,
input.confirmInvalidState,
.confirmInvalidState input
background-color: #FF9F9F;
Background color of widget
in focus
.confirmFocusState input,
input.confirmFocusState
background-color: #FFFFCC;
448
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver renders the HTML data source in the Data Selection window, and displays visual markers for the
elements that are eligible as containers for the data set. The element you want to use must already have a unique
ID assigned to it. If it doesn’t, Dreamweaver will display an error message, and you’ll need to go back to the data
source file and assign a unique ID. Additionally, eligible elements in the data source file cannot reside in Spry
regions, or contain other data references.
Alternatively you can specify a Design Time Feed as your data source. For more information, see “Use a design-
time feed” on page 454.
•Select the element for your data container by clicking one of the yellow arrows that appears in the Data Selection
window, or by choosing an ID from the Data Containers pop-up menu.
Selecting the element for the HTML data set data container.
For lengthy files, you can click the Expand/Collapse arrow at the bottom of the Data Selection window to see
more of the data.
Once you select the container element for the data set, Dreamweaver displays a preview of the data set in the
Data Preview window.
•(Optional) Select Advanced Data Selection if you want to specify CSS data selectors for the data set. For example,
if you specified .product in the Row Selectors text box, and .boximage in the Column Selectors text box, the data
set would include only those rows with the .product class assigned to them, and only those columns with the
.boximage class assigned to them.
If you want to type more than one selector in a given text box, separate the selectors with a comma.
For more information, see “About Spry data selectors” on page 454.
•When you’re finished in the Specify Data Source screen, click Done to create the data set right away, or click
Next to go on to the Set Data Options screen. If you click Done, the data set becomes available in the Bindings
panel (Window
> Bindings).
449
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
4In the Set Data Options screen, do the following:
•(Optional) Set data set column types by selecting a column, and choosing a column type from the Type pop-up
menu. For example, if a column in the data set contains numbers, select the column and choose number from
the Type pop-up menu. This option is only important if you want your user to be able to sort the data by that
column.
You can select a data set column by clicking its header, by choosing it from the Column Name pop-up menu, or
by navigating to it using the left and right arrows in the upper-left corner of the screen.
•(Optional) Specify how you want to sort the data by selecting the column you want to sort by from the Sort
Columns pop-up menu. Once you’ve selected the column, you can specify whether to sort it in ascending or
descending order.
•(Optional: tables only) Deselect Use First Row as Header if you want to use generic column names (that is
column0, column1, column 2, and so on) instead of the column names specified in your HTML data source.
Note: If you’ve selected something other than a table for the container element of your data set, this option and the
next option are not available. Dreamweaver automatically uses column0, column1, column2, and so on, for the
column names of non-table-based data sets.
•(Optional: tables only) Select Use Columns as Rows to reverse the horizontal and vertical orientation of the data
in the data set. If you select this option, columns will be used as rows.
•(Optional) Select Filter out Duplicate rows to exclude duplicate rows of data from the data set.
•(Optional) Select Disable Data Caching if you always want to have access to the most recent data in the data set.
If you want data to autorefresh, select Autorefresh Data and specify a refresh time in milliseconds.
•When you’re finished in the Set Data Options screen, click Done to create the data set right away, or click Next
to go on to the Choose Insert Options screen. If you click Done, the data set becomes available in the Bindings
panel (Window
> Bindings).
5In the Choose Insert Options screen, do one of the following:
•Select a layout for the new data set, and specify the appropriate setup options. For more information, see
“Choose a layout for the data set” on page 451.
•Select Do Not Insert HTML. If you select this option, Dreamweaver creates the data set, but does not add any
HTML to the page. The data set becomes available from the Bindings panel (Window
> Bindings), and you can
manually drag pieces of data from the data set to the page.
6Click Done.
Dreamweaver creates the data set and, if you selected a layout option, displays the layout and data placeholders on
your page. If you look in Code view, you’ll see that Dreamweaver has added references in the header to the
SpryData.js file and the SpryHTMLDataSet.js file. These files are important Spry assets that work in conjunction
with the page. Be sure not to remove this code from your page or the data set will not function. When you upload
your page to a server, you’ll also need to upload these files as dependent files
Create a Spry XML data set
1If you are only creating a data set, you do not need to worry about the insertion point. If you are creating a data set
and also inserting a layout, make sure that the insertion point is where you want to insert the layout on the page.
2Choose Insert > Spry > Spry Data Set.
3In the Specify Data Source screen, do the following:
•Select XML from the Select Data Type pop-up menu.
450
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Specify a name for the new data set. The default name is ds1 the first time you create a data set. The data set name
can contain letters, numbers, and underscores, but cannot start with a number.
•Specify the path to the file that contains your XML data source. The path can be a relative path to a local file in
your site (for example, datafiles/data.xml), or an absolute URL to a page on the web (using HTTP or HTTPS).
You can click the Browse button to navigate to a local file and select it.
Dreamweaver renders the XML data source in the Row Elements window, displaying the XML tree of data
elements available for selection. Repeating elements are marked with a plus (+) sign, and child elements are
indented.
Alternatively you can specify a Design Time Feed as your data source. For more information, see “Use a design-
time feed” on page 454.
•Select the element that contains the data you want to display. Typically this element is a repeating element, such
as <menu_item>, with several children elements, such as <item>, <link>, <description>, and so on.
Selecting a repeating element for the XML data set.
Once you select the container element for the data set, Dreamweaver displays a preview of the data set in the
Data Preview window. The XPath text box displays an expression that shows where the selected node is located
in the XML source file.
Note: XPath (XML Path Language) is a syntax for addressing portions of an XML document. It is used mostly as
a query language for XML data, just as the SQL language is used to query databases. For more information on
XPath, see the XPath language specification on the W3C website at www.w3.org/TR/xpath.
•When you’re finished in the Specify Data Source screen, click Done to create the data set right away, or click
Next to go on to the Set Data Options screen. If you click Done, the data set becomes available in the Bindings
panel (Window
> Bindings).
451
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
4In the Set Data Options screen, do the following:
•(Optional) Set data set column types by selecting a column, and choosing a column type from the Type pop-up
menu. For example, if a column in the data set contains numbers, select the column and choose number from
the Type pop-up menu. This option is only important if you want your user to be able to sort the data by that
column.
You can select a data set column by clicking its header, by choosing it from the Column Name pop-up menu, or
by navigating to it using the left and right arrows in the upper-left corner of the screen.
•(Optional) Specify how you want to sort the data by selecting the column you want to sort by from the Sort
Column pop-up menu. Once you’ve selected the column, you can specify whether to sort it in ascending or
descending order.
•(Optional) Select Filter Out Duplicate rows to exclude duplicate rows of data from the data set.
•(Optional) Select Disable Data Caching if you always want to have access to the most recent data in the data set.
If you want to autorefresh data, select Autorefresh Data and specify a refresh time in milliseconds.
•When you’re finished in the Set Data Options screen, click Done to create the data set right away, or click Next
to go on to the Choose Insert Options screen. If you click Done, the data set becomes available in the Bindings
panel (Window
> Bindings).
5In the Choose Insert Options screen, do one of the following:
•Select a layout for the new data set, and specify the appropriate setup options. For more information, see
“Choose a layout for the data set” on page 451.
•Select Do Not Insert HTML. If you select this option, Dreamweaver creates the data set, but does not add any
HTML to the page. The data set becomes available from the Bindings panel (Window
> Bindings), and you can
manually drag pieces of data from the data set to the page.
6Click Done.
Dreamweaver creates the data set and, if you selected a layout option, displays the layout and data placeholders on
your page. If you look in Code view, you’ll see that Dreamweaver has added references in the header to the xpath.js
file and the SpryData.js file. These files are important Spry assets that work in conjunction with the page. Be sure
not to remove this code from your page or the data set will not function. When you upload your page to a server,
you’ll also need to upload these files as dependent files.
Choose a layout for the data set
The Choose Insert Options screen lets you select different display options for how you want to display values from the
data set on the page. You can display data using a dynamic Spry Table, a master/detail layout, a stacked containers
(single column) layout, or a stacked containers with spotlight area (two-column) layout. A thumbnail depiction of
what each layout looks like appears in the Choose Insert Options screen.
Dynamic Table layout
Select this option if you want to display your data in a dynamic Spry Table. Spry Tables allow for dynamic column
sorting and other interactive behaviors.
Once you’ve selected this option, click the Set Up button to open the Insert Table dialog box and follow these steps:
1In the Columns panel, adjust the columns for your table by doing the following:
•Select a column name and click the minus (-) sign to delete the column from the table. Click the plus (+) sign
and select a column name to add new columns to the table.
452
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Select a column name and click the up or down arrows to move the column. Moving a column up moves it
further left in the displayed table; moving a column down moves it to the right.
2To make a column sortable, select the column in the Columns panel and select Sort Column When Header Is
Clicked. By default, all columns are sortable.
If you want to make a column unsortable, select its column name in the Columns panel, and deselect Sort Column
When Header Is Clicked.
3If you have CSS styles associated with your page, either as an attached style sheet or as a set of individual styles in
your HTML page, you can apply a CSS class for one or more of the following options:
Odd Row Class Changes the appearance of the odd-numbered rows in the dynamic table according to the selected
class style.
Even Row Class Changes the appearance of the even-numbered rows in the dynamic table according to the selected
class style.
Hover Class Changes the appearance of a table row when you move the mouse over it according to the selected class
style.
Select Class Changes the appearance of a table row when you click it according to the selected class style.
Note: The order of the odd, even, hover, and select classes in your style sheet is very important. The rules should be in
the exact order indicated above (odd, even, hover, select). If the hover rule appears below the select rule in the style
sheet, the hover effect won’t appear until the user mouses over a different row. If the hover and select rules appear
above the even and odd rules in the style sheet, the even and odd effects will not work at all. You can drag rules in the
CSS panel to order them correctly, or you can manipulate the CSS code directly.
4If the table you are creating is going to become a dynamic Spry master table, select Update Detail Region When
Row Is Clicked. For more information, see “About dynamic Spry master tables and updating detail regions” on
page 455.
5Click OK to close the dialog box and then click Done in the Choose Insert Options screen.
If you’re in Design view you’ll see the table appear with a row of headers and a row of data references. The data
references are highlighted and enclosed in curly brackets ({}).
Master/Detail layout
Select this option if you want to display your data using a master/detail layout. Master/detail layouts let users click an
item in the master (left) region that updates the information in the detail (right) region. Typically the master region
contains a long list of names, for example a list of available products. When the user clicks one of the product names,
the detail region displays much more detailed information about the selection.
Once you’ve selected this option, click the Set Up button to open the Insert Master/Detail Layout dialog box and follow
these steps:
1In the Master Columns panel, adjust the content of your master region by doing the following:
•Select a column name and click the minus (-) sign to delete the column from the master region. Click the plus
(+) sign and select a column name to add new columns to the master region. By default Dreamweaver populates
the master region with data from the first column in the data set.
•Select a column name and click the up or down arrows to move the column. Moving a column up or down in
the Master Columns panel sets the order of the data’s appearance in the master region on the page.
2Repeat the above steps for the Detail Columns panel. By default Dreamweaver populates the detail region with all
of the data that is not in the master region (that is, all columns except for the first column in the data set).
453
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
3(Optional) Set different container types for data in the detail region. To do so, select the name of a detail column,
and select the container you want to use for it from the Container Type pop-up menu. You can choose from DIV,
P, SPAN, or H1-H6 tags.
4Click OK to close the dialog box and then click Done in the Choose Insert Options screen.
If you’re in Design view you’ll see the master/detail regions appear, populated with your selected data references.
The data references are highlighted and enclosed in curly brackets ({}).
Stacked Containers layout
Select this option if you want to display your data using a repeating container structure on the page. For example, if
you have four columns of data in the data set, each container can include all four columns, and the container structure
will repeat itself for each row in the data set.
Once you’ve selected this option, click the Set Up button to open the Insert Stacked Containers dialog box and follow
these steps:
1In the Columns panel, adjust the content of your stacked containers by doing the following:
•Select a column name and click the minus (-) sign to delete the column from the stacked containers. Click the
plus (+) sign and select a column name to add new columns to the containers. By default Dreamweaver
populates the stacked containers with data from every column in the data set.
•Select a column name and click the up or down arrows to move the column. Moving a column up or down in
the Columns panel sets the order of the data’s appearance in the stacked containers on the page.
2(Optional) Set different container types for data in the stacked container. To do so, select the name of a data set
column, and select the container you want to use for it from the Container Type pop-up menu. You can choose
from DIV, P, SPAN, or H1-H6 tags.
3Click OK to close the dialog box and then click Done in the Choose Insert Options screen.
If you’re in Design view you’ll see the container, populated with your selected data references. The data references
are highlighted and enclosed in curly brackets ({}).
Stacked Containers with Spotlight Area layout
Select this option if you want to display your data using a repeating container structure on the page with a spotlight
area in each container. Typically, the spotlight area contains a picture. The Spotlight Area layout is similar to the
Stacked Containers layout, the difference being that in the Spotlight Area layout, the data display is divided into two
separate columns (within the same container).
Once you’ve selected this option, click the Set Up button to open the Insert Spoltlight Area Layout dialog box and
follow these steps:
1In the Spotlight Columns panel, adjust the content of your spotlight area by doing the following:
•Select a column name and click the minus (-) sign to delete the column from the spotlight area. Click the plus
(+) sign and select a column name to add new columns to the spotlight area. By default Dreamweaver populates
the spotlight area with data from the first column in the data set.
•Select a column name and click the up or down arrows to move the column. Moving a column up or down in
the Spotlight Columns panel sets the order of the data’s appearance in the spotlight area on the page.
2(Optional) Set different container types for data in the spotlight area. To do so, select the name of a data set column,
and select the container you want to use for it from the Container Type pop-up menu. You can choose from DIV,
P, SPAN, or H1-H6 tags.
454
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Repeat the above steps for the Stacked Columns panel. By default Dreamweaver populates the stacked columns
with all of the data that is not in the spotlight area (that is, all columns except for the first column in the data set).
4Click OK to close the dialog box and then click Done in the Choose Insert Options screen.
If you’re in Design view you’ll see the spotlight area with stacked containers alongside of it, populated with your
selected data references. The data references are highlighted and enclosed in curly brackets ({}).
Do Not Insert HTML
Select this option if you want to create a data set, but do not want Dreamweaver to insert an HTML layout for the data
set. The data set becomes available from the Bindings panel (Window
> Bindings), and you can manually drag pieces
of the data set to the page.
Even if you create a data set without inserting a layout, you can still insert one of the available HTML layouts at any
time. To do so, double-click the name of the data set in the Bindings panel, click through to the Choose Insert Options
screen, select your layout, and click Done.
Note: You can also drag the name of the data set from the Bindings panel to the insertion point on the page. When you
do so, the Choose Insert Options screen opens. Make your layout selection and click Done.
Edit a data set
After you create a Spry data set, you can edit it at any time.
❖In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), double-click the name of your data set, and make your edits.
Note: When you edit a data set, and select a new layout in the Choose Insert Options screen, Dreamweaver does not
replace whatever layout is on the page, but rather inserts a new one.
Use a design-time feed
If you are working with data that is still being developed, you may find it useful to use a design-time feed. For example,
if the server developer is still finalizing the database behind your XML data file, you can use a test version of the file to
design your page separately from the database development.
When you use a design-time feed, Dreamweaver only populates your work environment with data from that feed.
References to the data source that exist in the page code remain references to the real data source you want to use.
1Begin creating a Spry Data Set (see previous procedures for instructions).
2In the Specify a Data Source screen, click the Design-time feed link.
3Click the Browse button to locate the design-time feed and click OK.
About Spry data selectors
When you use Dreamweaver to create a Spry data set, Dreamweaver includes all of the data in a selected container by
default. You can refine this selection by using CSS data selectors. CSS data selectors let you include only a portion of
the data from the data source by allowing you to specify CSS rules that are attached to certain pieces of data. For
example, if you specify .product in the Row Selectors text box of the Specify Data Source screen, Dreamweaver creates
a data set that only contains rows with the .product class assigned to them.
You must select the Advance Data Selection option in the Specify Data Source screen for the data selectors boxes to
become active. If you enter data selectors and deselect the option, Dreamweaver retains what you typed in the boxes,
but does not use them as filters for the data set.
455
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
About dynamic Spry master tables and updating detail regions
One of the most common uses of Spry data sets is to create one or more HTML tables that dynamically update other
page data in response to a user action. For example, if a user selects a product from a list of products in a table, the data
set can immediately update data elsewhere on the page with detailed information about the selected product. With
Spry, these updates do not require a page refresh.
These separate page regions are referred to as master and detail regions. Typically, one area on the page (the master
region) displays a list of categorized items (for example, a list of products), and another area of the page (the detail
region) displays more information about a selected record.
Each data set maintains the notion of a current row, and by default, the current row is set to the first row of data in the
data set. When a user makes different selections in a master region (again, taking the example of a list of different
products), Spry actually changes the data set’s current row. Because the detail region is dependent on the master
region, any changes that occur from user interaction with the master region (for example, selecting different products),
result in changes to the data displayed in the detail region.
Dreamweaver creates master/detail layouts for you automatically, so that all of the correct associations between master
and detail regions are in place. But if you want to create a dynamic master table on your own, you have the option of
preparing it for association with a detail region later. When you select the Update Detail Regions When Row is Clicked
Option (in the Insert Table dialog box), Dreamweaver inserts a spry:setrow tag inside the tag for the repeating row
of your dynamic table. This attribute prepares the table as a master table that has the ability of resetting the current
row of the data set as the user interacts with the table.
For more information on creating master/detail regions by hand, see the Spry Developer Guide at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sdg_masterdetail_en.
Create a Spry region
The Spry framework uses two types of regions: one is a Spry Region that wraps around data objects such as tables and
repeat lists, and the other is a Spry Detail Region that is used in conjunction with a master table object to allow dynamic
updating of data on a Dreamweaver page.
All Spry data objects must be enclosed in a Spry Region. (If you try to add a Spry data object before adding a Spry region
to a page, Dreamweaver prompts you to add a Spry region.) By default, Spry regions are in HTML div containers. You
can add them before you add a table, add them automatically when you insert a table or repeat list, or you can wrap
them around existing tables or repeat list objects.
If you are adding a detail region, typically you add the master table object first and select the Update Detail Regions
option (see “Dynamic Table layout” on page 451). The only value that is different and specific for a detail region is the
Type option in the Insert Spry Region dialog box.
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Region.
You can also click the Spry Region button in the Spry category in the Insert panel.
2For the object container, select the <div> or <span> option. The default is to use a <div> container.
3Choose one of the following options:
•To create a Spry Region, select Region (the default) as the type of region to insert.
•To create a Spry Detail Region, select the Detail Region option. You would only use a detail region if you want to
bind dynamic data that updates as data in another Spry region changes.
Important: You need to insert a detail region in a different <div> from the master table region. You might need to use
Code view to place the insertion point precisely.
456
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Choose your Spry data set from the menu.
5If you want to create or change the region defined for an object, select the object and choose one of the following:
Wrap Selection Puts a new region around an object.
Replace Selection Replaces an existing region for an object.
6When you click OK, Dreamweaver puts a region placeholder into your page with the text “Content for Spry Region
Goes Here.” You can replace this placeholder text with a Spry data object such as a table or repeat list, or with
dynamic data from the Bindings panel (Window
> Bindings).
The Bindings panel displays the available data from the data set.
Note: In the Bindings panel, there are some built-in Spry elements, ds_RowID, ds_CurrentRowID, and ds_RowCount,
also listed. Spry uses these to define the row a user clicked in when determining how to update dynamic detail regions.
7To replace the placeholder text with a Spry data object (for example, a Spry Table), click the appropriate Spry data
object button in the Spry category of the Insert panel.
8To replace the placeholder text with dynamic data, use one of the following methods:
•Drag one or more elements from the Bindings panel on top of the selected text.
•In Code view, type the code for one or more elements directly. Use this format: {dataset-name::element-name},
as in {ds1::category}. or {dsProducts::desc}. If you are only using one data set in your file, or if you are using
data elements from the same data set that you defined for the region, you can omit the data set name and simply
write {category} or {desc}.
Regardless of which method you use to define the contents of your region, the following lines are added to your HTML code:
<div spry:region="ds1">{name}{category}</div>
<div spry:region="ds2">{ds1::name}{ds1::descheader}</div>
Create a Spry repeat region
You can add repeat regions to display your data. A repeat region is a simple data structure that you can format as
needed to present your data. For example, you can use a repeat region to display a set of photograph thumbnails one
after another within a page layout object such as an AP div element.
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Repeat.
You can also click the Spry Repeat button in the Spry category in the Insert panel.
2For the object container, select the <div> or <span> option depending on the type of tag you want. The default is
to use a <div> container.
3Select the Repeat (default) or Repeat Children option.
457
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
If you want more flexibility, you may want to use the Repeat Children option where data validation is done for each
line in a list at the child level. For instance, if you have a <ul> list, the data is checked at the <li> level. If you choose
the Repeat option, the data is checked at the <ul> level. The Repeat Children option may be especially useful if you use
conditional expressions in your code.
4Choose your Spry data set from the menu.
5If you already have text or elements selected, you can wrap or replace them.
6Click OK to display a repeat region on your page.
Note: All Spry data objects must be within regions, so make sure you’ve created a Spry region on your page before inserting
a repeat region.
7When you click OK, Dreamweaver inserts a region placeholder into your page with the text “Content for Spry
Region Goes Here.” You can replace this placeholder text with a Spry data object such as a table or repeat list or
with dynamic data from the Bindings panel (Window
> Bindings).
The Bindings panel displays the available data from the data set.
Note: In the Bindings panel, there are some built-in Spry elements, ds_RowID, ds_CurrentRowID, and ds_RowCount,
also listed. Spry uses these to define the row a user clicked in when determining how to update dynamic detail regions.
8To replace the placeholder text with a Spry data object, click the appropriate Spry data object button in the Insert
panel.
9To replace the placeholder text with one or more dynamic data, use one of the following methods:
•Drag one or more elements from the Bindings panel on top of the selected text.
•In Code view, type the code for one or more elements directly. Use this format: {dataset-name::element-name},
as in {ds1::category}. or {dsProducts::desc}. If you are only using one data set in your file, or if you are using
data elements from the same data set that you defined for the region, you can omit the data set name and simply
write {category} or {desc}.
Regardless of which method you use to define the contents of your region, the following lines of code are added to your
HTML code:
<div spry:region="ds1">{name}{category}</div>
<div spry:region="ds2">{ds1::name}{ds1::descheader}</div>
Create a Spry repeat list region
You can add repeat lists to display your data as an ordered list, an unordered (bulleted) list, a definition list, or a drop-
down list.
1Select Insert > Spry > Spry Repeat List.
458
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also click the Spry Repeat List button in the Spry category in the Insert panel.
2Select the container tag you want to use: UL, OL, DL, or SELECT. The other options vary depending on which
container you choose. If you choose SELECT, you must define the following fields:
•Display Column: This is what users see when they view the page in their browsers.
•Value Column: This is the actual value sent to the background server.
For example, you can create a list of states and show users Alabama and Alaska, but send AL or AK to the server. You
can also use the SELECT as a navigational tool and show product names such as “Adobe Dreamweaver” and “Adobe
Acrobat” to users, but send URLs such as “support/products/dreamweaver.html” and
“support/products/acrobat.html” to the server.
3Choose your Spry data set from the menu.
4Choose the columns you want to display.
5Click OK to display a repeat list region on your page. In Code View, you can see that HTML <ul>, <ol>, <dl> or
FORM select tags are inserted into your file.
Note: If you try to insert a repeat list region but you haven’t created a region, Dreamweaver prompts you to add one before
inserting the table. All Spry data objects must be contained within regions.
Adding Spry effects
Spry effects overview
Spry effects are visual enhancements that you can apply to almost any element on an HTML page using JavaScript.
Effects are often used to highlight information, create animated transitions, or alter a page element visually for a
duration of time. You can apply effects to HTML elements without needing additional custom tags.
Note: To apply an effect to an element, it must be currently selected or it must have an ID. If, for example, you are
applying highlighting to a div tag that is not currently selected, the div must have a valid ID value. If the element doesn’t
already, you will need to add one to the HTML code.
Effects can alter an element’s opacity, scale, position, and styling properties such as background color. You can create
interesting visual effects by combining two or more properties.
Because these effects are Spry-based, when a user clicks on an element with an effect, only that element is dynamically
updated, without refreshing the entire HTML page.
Spry includes these effects:
Appear/Fade Makes an element appear or fade away.
Highlight Changes the background color of an element.
Blind Simulates a window blind that goes up or down to hide or reveal the element.
Slide Moves the element up or down.
Grow/Shrink Increases or reduces the size of the element.
Shake Simulates shaking the element from left to right.
Squish Makes the element disappear into the upper-left corner of the page.
459
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Important: When you use an effect, various lines of code are added to your file in the Code view. One line identifies the
SpryEffects.js file, which is necessary to include the effects. Do not remove this line from your code or the effects will not work.
For a comprehensive overview of the Spry effects available in the Spry framework, visit
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_spryeffects.
Apply an Appear/Fade effect
Note: You can use this effect with any HTML elements except applet, body, iframe, object, tr, tbody, or th.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2
In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Appear/Fade from the menu.
3Select the element’s ID from the target element menu. If you already selected an element, choose <Current
Selection>.
4In the Effect Duration box, define the time it takes for the effect to occur, in milliseconds.
5Select the effect you want to apply: Fade or Appear.
6In the Fade From box, define the percentage of opacity you want the effect to have when it appears.
7In the Fade To box, define the percentage of opacity you want to fade to.
8Select Toggle Effect if you want the effect to be reversible, going from fade to appear and back again with successive
clicks.
Apply a Blind effect
Note: You can only use this effect with these HTML elements: address, dd, div, dl, dt, form, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p,
ol, ul, li, applet, center, dir, menu, or pre.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Blind from the menu.
3Select the element’s ID from the target element menu. If you already selected an element, choose <Current
Selection>.
4In the Effect Duration box, define the time it takes for the effect to occur, in milliseconds.
5Select the effect you want to apply: Blind Up or Blind Down.
6In the Blind Up From/Blind Down From box, define the blind-scrolling starting point as a percentage or as a pixel
number. These values are calculated from the top of the element.
7In the Blind Up To/Blind Down To field, define the blind-scrolling end point as a percentage or as a pixel number.
These values are calculated from the top of the element.
8Select Toggle Effect if you want the effect to be reversible, scrolling up and down with successive clicks.
Apply a Grow/Shrink effect
Note: You can use this effect with these HTML elements: address, dd, div, dl, dt, form, p, ol, ul, applet, center,
dir, menu, or pre.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Grow/Shrink from the
popup menu.
460
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Select the element’s ID from the target element pop-up menu. If you have already selected an element, choose
<Current Selection>.
4In the Effect Duration field, define the time it takes for the effect to occur, in milliseconds.
5Select the effect you want to apply: Grow or Shrink.
6In the Grow/Shrink From box, define the element’s size when the effect starts. This is a percentage of the size or a
pixel value.
7In the Grow/Shrink To box, define the element’s size when the effect ends. This is a percentage of the size or a pixel
value.
8If you choose pixels for either the Grow/Shrink From or To boxes, the wide/high field becomes visible. Depending
on the option you choose, the element will grow or shrink proportionately.
9Select whether you want the element to grow or shrink to the upper-left corner of the page or into the page’s center.
10 Select Toggle Effect if you want the effect to be reversible, growing and shrinking with successive clicks.
Apply a Highlight effect
Note: You can use this effect with any HTML elements except applet, body, frame, frameset, or noframes.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2
In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Highlight from the menu.
3Select the element’s ID from the target element menu. If you already selected an element, choose <Current
Selection>.
4In the Effect Duration box, define how long you want the effect to last, in milliseconds.
5Select the color you want the highlight to start with.
6Select the color you want the highlight to end with. This color lasts only as long as the duration you define in Effect
Duration.
7Select the color for the element after the highlight has finished.
8Select Toggle Effect if you want the effect to be reversible, cycling through the highlight colors with successive
clicks.
Apply a Shake effect
Note: You can use this effect with these HTML elements: address, blockquote, dd, div, dl, dt, fieldset, form, h1,
h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, iframe, img, object, p, ol, ul, li, applet, dir, hr, menu, pre, or table.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Shake from the menu.
3Select the element’s ID from the target element menu. If you have already selected an element, choose <Current
Selection>.
Apply a Slide effect
For the Slide effect to work properly the target element must be wrapped in a container tag that has a unique ID. The
container tag with which you wrap the target element must be a blockquote, dd, form, div, or center tag.
461
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building Spry pages visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The target element tag must be one of the following: blockquote, dd,div, form, center, table, span, input,
textarea, select, or image.
1(Optional) Select the container tag of the content you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Slide from the menu.
3Select the container tag’s ID from the target element menu. If the container is already selected, choose <Current
Selection>.
4In the Effect Duration field, define the time it takes for the effect to occur, in milliseconds.
5Select the effect you want to apply: Slide Up or Slide Down.
6In the Slide Up From box, define the sliding starting point as a percentage or as a pixel number.
7In the Slide Up To box, define the sliding end point as a percentage or as a positive pixel number.
8Select Toggle Effect if you want the effect to be reversible, sliding up and down with successive clicks.
Apply a Squish effect
Note: You can only use this effect with these HTML elements: address, dd, div, dl, dt, form, img, p, ol, ul, applet,
center, dir, menu, or pre.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Effects > Squish from the menu.
3Select the element’s ID from the target element menu. If you have already selected an element, choose <Current
Selection>.
Add an additional effect
You can associate multiple effect behaviors with the same element to produce interesting results.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select an effect from the Effects menu.
3Select the element’s ID from the target element menu. If you have already selected an element, choose <Current
Selection>.
Delete an effect
You can remove one or more effect behaviors from an element.
1(Optional) Select the content or layout element you want to apply the effect to.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the effect you want to delete from the list of behaviors.
3Do one of the following:
•Click the Remove Event button in the subpanel title bar (-).
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the behavior, and select Delete Behavior.
462
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 16: Designing for multiple screens
and devices
Creating media queries (CS5.5 and later)
You can use media queries to specify CSS files based on the reported characteristics of a device. The browser on a
device checks the media query and uses the corresponding CSS file to display the web page.
For example, the following media query specifies the phone.css file for devices that are 300-320 pixels wide.
<link href="css/orig/phone.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="all and (min-width:
300px) and (max-width: 320px)">
For an extensive introduction to media queries see Don Booth’s article on the Adobe Developer Center
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_medquery_don_en.
For more information on media queries from the W3C see www.w3.org/TR/css3-mediaqueries/.
Create a media query
In Dreamweaver, you can create a site-wide media query file, or a document-specific media query.
Site-wide media query file Specifies display settings for all pages in your site that include the file.
The site-wide media query file acts as the central repository for all media queries in your site. After you create this file,
link to it from pages in your site that must use the media queries in the file for their display.
Document-specific media query The media query is inserted directly into the document, and the page is displayed
based on the inserted media query.
1Create a web page.
2Select Modify > Media Queries.
3Do one of the following:
•To create a site-wide media query file, select Site Wide Media Queries File.
•To create a document-specific media query, select This Document.
4For site-wide media query, do the following:
aClick Specify.
bSelect Create New File.
cSpecify a name for the file, and click OK.
5It is possible that some devices do not report their actual width. To force devices to report their actual width, ensure
that the option Force Devices To Report Actual Width is enabled.
The following code is inserted into your file when you choose this option.
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
6Do one of the following:
•Click "+" to define the properties for the media query file.
463
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Click Default Presets if you want to begin with standard presets.
7Select rows in the table, and edit their properties using the options under Properties.
Description The description of the device for which the CSS file must be used. For example, phone, TV, tablet, and
so on.
Min Width and Max width The CSS file is used for devices whose reported width is within the specified values.
Note: Leave either Min Width or Max Width blank if you do not want to specify an explicit range for a device. For
example, it is common to leave Min Width blank if you want to target phones, which are 320px wide, or less.
CSS file Select Use Existing File, and browse to the CSS file for the device.
If you want to specify a CSS file that you are yet to create, select Create New File. Enter the name of the CSS file.
The file is created when you press OK.
8Click OK.
9For site-wide media query, a new file is created. Save it.
Site-wide media query: For existing pages, ensure that you include the media query file in all the pages in the <head> tag.
Example of a media query link where mediaquery_adobedotcom.css is the site-wide media query file for the site
www.adobe.com:
<link href="mediaquery_adobedotcom.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
Use an existing media queries file
1Create a web page, or open an existing page.
2Select Modify > Media Queries.
3Select Site-Wide Media Queries File.
4Click Specify.
5Select Use Existing File if you have already created a CSS file with the Media Query.
6Click the browse icon to navigate to, and specify the file. Click OK.
7Select Site-Wide Media Queries File.
8To force devices to report their actual width, ensure that the option Force Devices To Report Actual Width is
enabled. The following code is inserted into your file when you choose this option.
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
9Click OK.
Choose a different site-wide media queries file
Use this procedure to change the site-wide media queries file that you have set in the Media Queries dialog box.
1Select Site > Manage Sites.
2In the Manage Sites dialog, select your site.
3Click Edit. The Site Setup dialog box is displayed.
4Under Advanced Settings in the left panel, select Local Info.
5In Site-Wide Media Query File on the right panel, click Browse to select the media query CSS file.
464
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Changing the site-wide media queries file does not affect documents linked to a different or previous site-wide
media query file.
6Click Save.
Viewing web pages based on media query
Dimensions specified in a media query appear in the options for Multiscreen button/window size. When you select a
dimension from the menu, the following changes are seen:
•The view size changes to reflect the specified dimensions. The document frame size is unaltered.
•The CSS file specified in the media query is used to display the page.
Change page orientation for mobile devices (CS5.5 and
later)
In most advanced mobile devices, the orientation of a page changes based on how the device is held. When the user
holds the phone vertically, the portrait view is displayed. When the user flips the device horizontally, the page readjusts
itself to fit the landscape dimensions.
In Dreamweaver, the option to view a page in either Portrait or Landscape orientation is available in both Live View
and Design View. Using these options you can test how your page adapts to these settings. You can then, if necessary,
modify your CSS file such that the page is displayed as intended in both these orientations.
❖Select View > Window Size > Orientation Landscape, or Orientation Portrait.
Creating web applications for mobile devices (CS5.5 and
later)
Dreamweaver’s integration with jQuery Mobile helps you quickly design a web application that works on most mobile
devices while adapting itself to the dimensions of the device.
More Help topics
http://jquerymobile.com/demos/1.0a3/
Creating a web application using jQuery Mobile
1. Open a jQuery Mobile starter page, or create a HTML5 page
Use the jQuery Mobile starter pages in Dreamweaver to create your application. Alternatively, you can start creating
your web application with a new HTML5 page.
The jQuery Mobile starter pages include the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image files that help you get started with
designing your application. You can use the CSS and JavaScript files hosted on a CDN, your own server, or files
installed along with Dreamweaver.
Note: To identify the location of the linked files, see the <link> and <script src> tags in code view.
465
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
2. Insert jQuery Mobile components from the Insert panel
Insert jQuery Mobile components from the Insert panel into the HTML page. The jQuery Mobile CSS and JavaScript
files define the style and behavior of the components.
About CDNs and local jQuery Mobile files
CDNs
A CDN (content delivery network) is a computer network containing copies of data placed at various points in the
network. When you create a web application using the URL for a CDN, the CSS and JavaScript files specified in the
URL are used for your application. By default, Dreamweaver uses the jQuery Mobile CDN.
Alternatively, you can use URLs of CDNs from other sites such as Microsoft and Google. In code view, edit the server
location of the CSS and JavaScript files specified in the <link> and <script src> tags.
The files downloaded from a CDN are read-only.
More Help topics
http://docs.jquery.com/Downloading_jQuery#CDN_Hosted_jQuery
Local jQuery Mobile files
When you install Dreamweaver, a copy of the jQuery Mobile files is copied to your computer. The HTML page that
opens when you choose the jQuery Mobile (local) starter page is linked to local CSS, JavaScript, and image files.
Starter pages for jQuery Mobile
Dreamweaver provides you with the following starter pages to create your web application:
jQuery Mobile (CDN) Use this starter page if you plan to host the jQuery Mobile library on a CDN.
jQuery Mobile (Local) Use this starter page if you plan to host the assets yourself, or if your application doesn’t rely on
an Internet connection.
jQuery Mobile (PhoneGap) Use this starter page if your web application, when deployed as a mobile application,
accesses features native to mobile devices. For more information, see “Packaging web applications” on page 467.
Use starter pages to create an application for mobile devices
1Select File > New.
2Select one of the following based on your requirement:
•Page From Sample > Mobile Starters > jQuery Mobile (CDN).
•Page From Sample > Mobile Starters > jQuery Mobile (Local).
3Click Create.
In the page that appears, enable Follow Links Continuously (View > Live View Options), and switch to Live View.
Use the navigation components to test how the application works.
Use the options in the Multiscreen menu to see how the design is displayed in devices with various dimensions.
Disable Live view, and switch back to the Design view.
4In the Insert panel (Window > Insert), select jQuery Mobile. The components that you can add to the web
application are displayed.
466
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
5In Design view, place the cursor at the location where you want to insert the component, and click the component
in the Insert Panel. In the dialog box that appears, customize the components using the options.
6(jQuery Mobile - Local) After you save the HTML file, the jQuery Mobile files, including image files, are copied to
a folder in the HTML file location.
Preview the page in Live view. Some of the CSS classes are applied only in the Live view.
More Help topics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_delivery_network
http://docs.jquery.com/Downloading_jQuery
Create a web application for mobile devices from a new page
The Page component acts as the container for all the other jQuery Mobile components. Add the Page component
before you proceed to insert other components.
1Select File > New.
2Select Blank Page > HTML.
Some of the jQuery Mobile components use HTML5-specific attributes. To ensure HTML5 compliance during
validation, ensure that you select HTML5 as your DocType.
3In the Insert panel (Window > Insert), select jQuery Mobile from the menu. The jQuery Mobile components
appear in the panel.
4From the Insert panel, drag the Page component to Design view.
5In the jQuery Mobile Files dialog, select one of the following:
Remote (CDN) If you want to connect to a remote CDN server hosting the jQuery Mobile files. Use the default
option for the jQuery site if you have not configured a site containing jQuery Mobile files. You can also choose to
use other CDN servers.
Local The files that are available in Dreamweaver are displayed. To specify a different folder, click Browse, and
navigate to the folder containing the jQuery Mobile files.
The CSS and JavaScript files are copied to a local temp directory until you save the HTML file to your computer.
After you save the HTML file, all associated jQuery Mobile and image files are copied to a folder in the site’s root
folder.
6Enter the properties for the Page component.
7In Design view, place the cursor at the location where you want to insert the component, and click the component
in the Insert Panel. In the dialog box that appears, customize the components using the options.
Preview the page in Live view. Some of the CSS classes are applied only in the Live view.
Using custom files and folders
You can choose to create custom CSS and JS files for your application. Ensure that your files are named
jquery.mobile.js, jquery.mobile.css, and jquery.js
If you are using custom folders, do the following:
1Download the uncompressed version of the jQuery 1.5 core library from
http://docs.jquery.com/Downloading_jQuery#Download_jQuery.
2Save the file to the core folder containing the other resources.
467
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
Packaging web applications
Packaging web applications as native mobile applications (CS5.5 and later)
Dreamweaver’s integration with jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap helps you create and package web applications for
deployment on Android™ and iOS-based devices. Dreamweaver uses PhoneGap SDKs to create the package (.apk file
for Android/.xcodeproj for iPhone/iPad)
Once you’ve packaged a mobile application with Dreamweaver, you can view it in a device emulator, or deploy it to
your own device.
Important: The mobile application you package with Dreamweaver is an application for debugging purposes only. The
application will run in the Android and iOS emulators, or on your personal mobile device if you make the transfer, but
you cannot upload the debug mobile apps to the Apple and Android stores. In order to upload iOS or Android apps, you
must take the additional step of signing them outside of Dreamweaver. For more information about uploading
applications to the Apple and Android stores, see the Android documentation, or the Program User Guide on the Apple
iOS Provisioning Portal. (Before you can access the Apple iOS Provisioning Portal you must register with the Apple
Developer Program [free] and enroll in the iOS Developer Program [annual fee].)
More Help topics
http://www.phonegap.com/about
http://jquerymobile.com/demos/1.0a2/
http://docs.phonegap.com/
Create a web application using the starter page
You can use any of the starter pages to create your Web application. However, if your web application, when deployed
as a mobile application, accesses features native to mobile devices, use the jQuery Mobile (PhoneGap) page.
The jQuery Mobile (PhoneGap) starter page contains the phonegap.js file in addition to the other jQuery Mobile files.
The phonegap.js file contains the APIs required to work with the native mobile features such as GPS, accelerometer,
camera, and so on.
1Select File > New.
2Select Page From Sample > Mobile Starters > jQuery Mobile (PhoneGap).
3Click Create.
4In the Insert panel (Window > Insert), select jQuery Mobile. The components that you can add to the web
application are displayed.
5In Design view, place the cursor at the location where you want to insert the component, and click the component
in the Insert Panel. In the dialog box that appears, customize the components using the options.
Note: To edit the PhoneGap.js file, configure the application framework and application settings. For more
information, see the topics on creating application packages.
Preview the page in Live view. Some of the CSS classes are applied only in Live view.
System requirements for packaging applications
You must ensure that you meet the following system requirements before you can proceed with packaging an
application.
468
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
MAC OS - iOS
•Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.x or later
•Xcode 3.2.x with the iOS SDK (Install instructions below.)
MAC OS - Android
•Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later (x86 only)
•Android SDK (Install instructions below.)
Windows - iOS
•iOS is only available for users with an Apple computer
Windows - Android
•Windows XP (32-bit), Vista (32- or 64-bit), or Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit)
•Android SDK (Install instructions below.)
Create an application package (Windows)
For information on creating a web application, including sample files, see this tutorial on the Dreamweaver Developer
Center.
1Open the web application that you want to convert to a mobile application. Ensure that your web application is set
up as a site in Dreamweaver, and the size of your site is smaller than 25 MB.
Note: Ensure that the application contains only HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript files.
2Select Site > Mobile Applications > Configure Application Framework.
3Click Easy Install to install the Android SDK.
Note: If the Easy Install fails, please see tech note 90408.
4Select a location to install the SDK files, and click Select. After the installation is complete, click Save.
5Select Site > Mobile Applications > Application Settings.
6For Bundle ID, enter a name for the package using the information in the dialog box.
7Enter a name for the application, and the name of the person who designed the application.
8Optionally, specify the following:
aIn Application Icon PNG, specify a PNG file to be used as the icon for the application. Dreamweaver resizes the
icon to the standard size if you haven’t resized it already.
bSpecify a target path for the package.
cTo download and install the latest SDK components from Google, click Manage AVDs. Use the Android SDK
and AVD Manager to update the Android SDK. For information on using the manager, see
http://developer.android.com/sdk/adding-components.html.
Note: When you click Save, the phonegap.js file is copied to the site root.
9 Do one of the following:
•If you are directly deploying your application to a device, select Site > Mobile Applications > Build. Select a
platform/device for the build.
•If you want to see how the build looks on an emulator before you build it, select Site > Mobile Applications >
Emulate and Build.
469
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create an application package (Mac OS)
For a tutorial on creating a web application, including sample files, see this article on the Dreamweaver Developer
Center.
1Open the web application that you want to convert to a mobile application. Ensure that your web application is set
up as a site in Dreamweaver, and the size of your site is lesser than 25 MB.
Note: Ensure that the application contains only HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript files.
2Select Site > Mobile Applications > Configure Application Framework.
3Install the SDK for iOS or Android based on your requirements:
•Click the Apple iOS Dev Center link to download and install the xcode and iOS SDK. The application is, by
default, installed to the OS <version number>/developer directory.
Log in to the Dev Center using your Apple ID. Registration is free. Create an account if you are not a registered user.
Note: You can use the SDK package that you download from the Apple dev center for testing. However, to upload
your application to the Apple store, register yourself as an Apple developer after paying the required fee.
•Click Easy Install to install the Android SDK.
Note: If the Easy Install fails, please see tech note 90408.
4Click Save.
5Select Site > Mobile Applications > Application Settings.
6In Bundle ID, enter a name for the package using the information in the dialog box.
7Enter a name for the application, and the name of the person who designed the application.
8Optionally, do the following:
•(Android) In Application Icon PNG, specify a PNG file to be used as the icon for the Android application.
Dreamweaver resizes the icon to the standard size if you haven’t resized it already.
•(Mac® OS 10.6.x) In Startup Screen PNG, specify a PNG file to be used as the icon for the iOS application.
Dreamweaver resizes the icon to the standard size if you haven’t resized it already.
•(Mac OS 10.6.x) Select a version of the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad for which you are creating the package.
•Define a different target path for the package.
Note: When you click Save, the phonegap.js file is copied to the site root.
9 Do one of the following:
•If you are directly deploying your application to a device, select Site > Mobile Applications > Build. Select a
platform/device for the build.
•If you want to see how the build looks like on an emulator before you build it, select Site > Mobile Applications
> Emulate and Build.
More Help topics
Packaging web applications tutorial
470
USING DREAMWEAVER
Designing for multiple screens and devices
Last updated 12/7/2011
Preview pages using the Multiscreen Preview panel
Multiscreen preview in Dreamweaver provides a preview of the page that you are currently editing as it would appear
on devices supporting different screen resolutions.
To open the Multiscreen Preview panel,select File > Multiscreen preview.
Multiscreen preview supports the following screen types:
•Phone (default screen size: 320x300 pixels)
•Tablet (default screen size: 768x300 pixels)
•Desktop (default screen width: 1126 pixels)
Note: If you know the dimensions of any other devices that you want to target, you can specify different styles for different
devices. For example, you can create a screen dimension of 480x272 pixels for a Sony PSP device.
The phone, tablet, and desktop dimensions used for previewing are set to default sizes. However, you can change the
default sizes by clicking the Viewport Sizes button in the Multiscreen Preview panel.
Note: Do not use the Multiscreen Preview panel as a browser. It is not intended to display dynamic media such as movies
and audio clips.
Change the Viewport sizes
1Select File > Multiscreen Preview to open the Multiscreen Preview panel.
2In the Multiscreen panel, click Viewport Sizes.
3Specify viewport sizes and click OK. For example, specify 480 as the width and 272 as the height to target a Sony
PSP device.
4(Optional) Reset settings to their default values by clicking Reset to defaults.
Add media queries
See “Creating media queries (CS5.5 and later)” on page 462.
Navigate links
The Multiscreen Preview panel does not sync automatically with Design View or Live View. If you edit in one of these
views, click the Refresh button in the Multiscreen Preview panel.
Note: If you navigate away from the original file in Live View, the Multiscreen Preview panel does not display the file that
you navigated to. even if you click the Refresh button.
Navigate among pages in the Multiscreen Preview panel.
Navigate within the Multiscreen Preview panel to navigate away from the original file. Dreamweaver updates all three
panes as you navigate within the Multiscreen Preview panel. If you switch between different top-level tabs in
Dreamweaver, click the Refresh button in the Multiscreen Preview panel to render the currently selected file.
471
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 17: Using Adobe Online Services
Using Dreamweaver with Adobe Online services
Adobe online services are hosted web applications that work similarly to traditional desktop tools. The advantage of
online services, however, is that they are always up to date because they are hosted on the web, as opposed to on your
computer.
Dreamweaver integrates directly with Adobe® BrowserLab and Adobe® Business Catalyst InContext Editing. Help for
working with those services is included in the Help sections that follow.
Dreamweaver also integrates with Adobe® CS Live online services (which includes BrowserLab). For more information
on working with CS Live, see Using Adobe CS Live.
For information on managing Adobe online services, see the Adobe website at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_creativeservices_en.
BrowserLab
Adobe BrowserLab lets you preview local web content from within Dreamweaver, without requiring you to post it to
a publicly-accessible server first. You can preview files from your local Dreamweaver site, or from a remote or testing
server.
For information about using the BrowserLab online service, including information about using BrowserLab with
Dreamweaver, see www.adobe.com/go/lr_abl_en.
Business Catalyst InContext Editing
Business Catalyst InContext Editing
Adobe Business Catalyst InContext Editing is an editing component of Adobe Business Catalyst that lets users make
simple content changes within a web browser. To change a web page, users simply browse to the page, log into
InContext Editing, and edit the page. The editing options are simple and elegant, and using them requires no previous
knowledge of HTML code or web editing.
Before you enable users to make live changes on the web, however, you use Dreamweaver to make your HTML pages
editable. You do this by specifying regions on the page that you want to allow users to edit. For example, you might
have a news page with titles and blurbs for articles. You can select this content and then transform it into an InContext
Editing editable region so that when a user logs into InContext Editing, they can edit the titles and blurbs directly in a
browser.
This documentation tells you how to work with InContext Editing editable regions in Dreamweaver; but Adobe also
provides other resources to help you work with InContext Editing:
•For documentation on using InContext Editing to edit pages in a browser, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_incontextediting_browser_en.
•For documentation on working with the InContext Editing Administration Panel, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_incontextediting_administration_guide_en.
For more information about Adobe Business Catalyst, visit www.businesscatalyst.com.
472
USING DREAMWEAVER
Using Adobe Online Services
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Adobe AIR
Note: does not support Adobe Business Catalyst InContext Editing. If you use the AIR Extension for Dreamweaver to
export an application that contains InContext Editing regions, the InContext Editing functionality will not work.
Create an InContext Editing editable region
An InContext Editing editable region is a pair of HTML tags that includes the ice:editable attribute in the opening
tag. The editable region defines an area on the page that a user can edit directly in a browser.
Note: If you are adding an InContext Editing editable region to a page that’s based on a Dreamweaver template, the new
InContext Editing editable region must exist within a region that is already editable.
1Do one of the following:
•Select a div, th, or td tag that you want to transform into an editable region.
•Place the insertion point where you want to insert a new editable region on the page.
•Select exactly one editable region in a Dreamweaver template (DWT file).
•Select other content on your page that you want to make editable (for example, a block of text).
2Choose Insert > InContext Editing > Create Editable Region.
3Your options vary, depending on your selection.
•If you selected a div, th, or td tag, Dreamweaver transforms the tag into an editable region without any further
steps.
•If you’re inserting a new, blank editable region do one of the following:
•Select Insert New Editable Region at the Current Insertion Point and click OK. Dreamweaver inserts a div
tag in your code with the ice:editable attribute in the opening tag.
•
Select Transform the Parent Tag Into an Editable Region if you want Dreamweaver to make the parent tag of
the selection the container element for the region. Only certain HTML tags are transformable:
div
,
th
, and
td
.
Note: This second option is only available when the parent node meets the exact criteria for transformation. For
example, it must be one of the listed transformable tags, and it must not be subject to any of the errors listed in
“InContext Editing Error messages” on page 475.
•If you selected a Dreamweaver template editable region, click OK in the Create Editable Region dialog box.
Dreamweaver wraps the template editable region with a div tag that acts as a container for the new InContext
Editing editable region.
•If you selected other content that you want to make editable, do one of the following:
•Select Wrap Current Selection With a DIV Tag and Then Transform It if you want to wrap whatever you
selected with a div tag and turn it into an editable region. The div tag with which Dreamweaver wraps the
content acts as the container for the editable region.
Note: Adding div tags to pages might alter page rendering and the effects of CSS rules. For example, if you have
a CSS rule that applies a red border around div tags, you would see a red border around your current selection
when Dreamweaver wraps it with a div tag and transforms it. If you want to avoid this type of conflict, you can
rewrite the CSS rules that affect the current selection, or you can undo the transformation (Edit
> Undo), and
then select and transform a supported tag that Dreamweaver doesn’t need to wrap with a div tag.
•Select Transform the Parent Tag Into an Editable Region if you want Dreamweaver to make the parent tag
of the selection the container element for the editable region. Only certain HTML tags are transformable:
div, th, and td.
4In Design view, click the blue tab of the editable region to select it if it’s not already selected.
473
USING DREAMWEAVER
Using Adobe Online Services
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If you are working in a Dreamweaver template, be sure to select the InContext Editing editable region (the
container region), and not the Dreamweaver template editable region.
5Select or deselect options in the Editable Regions Property inspector. The options you select will be available to a
user when they edit the contents of the editable region in a browser. For example, if you select the Bold option, the
user will be able to make text bold; if you select the Numbered List and Bulleted List option, the user will be able to
create numbered and bulleted lists; if you select the Link option, the user will be able to create links; and so on.
Hover over the icon of each option to see a tooltip of what the option enables.
6Save the page.
If this is the first time you’re adding InContext Editing functionality to a page, Dreamweaver informs you that it is
adding InContext Editing supporting files to your site: ice.conf.js, ice.js, and ide.html. Be sure to upload these files
to the server when you upload your page, otherwise InContext Editing functionality will not work in a browser.
Create an InContext Editing repeating region
An InContext Editing repeating region is a pair of HTML tags that includes the ice:repeating attribute in the
opening tag. The repeating region defines an area on the page that a user can “repeat” and add content to when editing
in a browser. For example, if you have a heading and a paragraph of text that follows it, you can transform these
elements into a repeating region that a user can then duplicate on a page.
Repeating regions as seen in an editable InContext Editing browser window. The lower region is selected and can be duplicated again, deleted,
or moved up and down.
In addition to adding repeating regions based on the original region, you can also give the user the option to delete regions,
add completely new regions (not based on the content of the original region), and to move the regions up or down.
When you create a repeating region, Dreamweaver wraps it in another container called a repeating regions group. This
container—a div tag with the ice:repeatinggroup attribute added to the opening tag—acts as the container for all
of the editable repeating regions that a user might add to the group. You cannot move repeating regions outside of
their repeating regions group containers. Additionally, you should not manually add repeating regions group tags to
your page. Dreamweaver adds them for you automatically when necessary.
474
USING DREAMWEAVER
Using Adobe Online Services
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: When creating a repeating region from a table row (tr tag), Dreamweaver applies the repeating regions group
attribute to the parent tag (for example, the table tag), and does not insert a div tag.
If you are working on a page that already contains a repeating regions group, and you try to add a repeating region
immediately after the existing group, Dreamweaver detects that a repeating regions group precedes the region you are
trying to add, and gives you the option of adding the new region to the existing group. You can choose to add the new
repeating region to the existing group, or create an entirely new repeating regions group.
Note: If you are adding an InContext Editing repeating region to a page that’s based on a Dreamweaver template, the
new InContext Editing repeating region must exist within a region that is already editable.
To create a repeating region in Dreamweaver, follow these steps.
1Do one of the following:
•Select a tag that you want to transform into a repeating region. The list of possible tags is extensive: a, abbr,
acronym, address, b, big, blockquote, center, cite, code, dd, dfn, dir, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4,
h5, h6, hr, i, img, ins, kbd, label, li, menu, ol, p, pre, q, s, samp, small, span, strike, strong, sub, sup,
table, tbody, tr, tt, u, ul, and var.
Note: Only div tags can contain the editable region and repeating region attributes simultaneously.
•Place the insertion point where you want to insert a new repeating region on the page.
•Select exactly one repeating region in a Dreamweaver template (DWT file).
•Select other content on your page that you want to make repeatable (for example, a heading and a block of text).
2Choose Insert > InContext Editing > Create Repeating Region.
3Your options vary, depending on your selection.
•If you selected a transformable tag, Dreamweaver transforms the tag into a repeating region without any further
steps.
•If you’re inserting a new, blank repeating region, do one of the following:
•Select Insert New Repeating Region at the Current Insertion Point and click OK.
•Select Transform the Parent Tag Into a Repeating Region if you want Dreamweaver to make the parent tag
of the selection the container element for the region. Only certain HTML tags are transformable: a, abbr,
acronym, address, b, big, blockquote, center, cite, code, dd, dfn, dir, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3,
h4, h5, h6, hr, i, img, ins, kbd, label, li, menu, ol, p, pre, q, s, samp, small, span, strike, strong, sub,
sup, table, tbody, tr, tt, u, ul, and var.
Note: This second option is only available when the parent node meets the exact criteria for transformation. For
example, it must be one of the listed transformable tags, and it must not be subject to any of the errors listed in
“InContext Editing Error messages” on page 475.
•If you selected a Dreamweaver template repeating region, click OK in the Create Repeating Region dialog box.
Dreamweaver wraps the template repeating region with a div tag that acts as a container for the new InContext
Editing repeating region.
•If you selected other content that you want to make repeatable, do one of the following:
•Select Wrap Current Selection With a DIV Tag and Then Transform It if you want to wrap whatever you
selected with a div tag and turn it into a repeating region. The div tag with which Dreamweaver wraps the
content acts as the container for the repeating region.
475
USING DREAMWEAVER
Using Adobe Online Services
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Select Transform the Parent Tag Into a Repeating Region if you want Dreamweaver to make the parent tag
of the selection the container element for the repeating region. Only certain HTML tags are transformable:
a, abbr, acronym, address, b, big, blockquote, center, cite, code, dd, dfn, dir, div, dl, dt, em, font,
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, img, ins, kbd, label, li, menu, ol, p, pre, q, s, samp, small, span, strike,
strong, sub, sup, table, tbody, tr, tt, u, ul, and var.
4In Design view, click the blue tab of the repeating region to select it if it’s not already selected. Notice that
Dreamweaver actually forces you to select the tab for the repeating regions group. This is because all repeating
regions exist within a repeating regions group, and you must set options for repeating regions by setting options
for the entire group.
5Select or deselect options in the Repeating Regions Group Property inspector. Two options are available: Reorder
and Add/Remove. When you select Reorder, users will be able to move repeating regions up or down when editing
in a browser. When you select Add/Remove, users will be able to add or remove repeating regions when editing in
a browser. Both options are selected by default, and you must always have at least one of them selected.
6Save the page.
If this is the first time you’re adding InContext Editing functionality to a page, Dreamweaver informs you that it is
adding InContext Editing supporting files to your site: ice.conf.js, ice.js, and ide.html. Be sure to upload these files
to the server when you upload your page, otherwise InContext Editing functionality will not work in a browser.
Delete a region
It’s best to delete a region by using the region’s Property inspector. Using the region’s Property inspector ensures that
you delete all of the code associated with the region.
1Select an editable region, a repeating region, or a repeating regions group.
2In the region’s Property inspector, click the Remove Region button.
Specify CSS classes for formatting
The InContext Editing Manage Available CSS Classes feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
InContext Editing Error messages
Cannot apply InContext Editing to tags containing script tags or server-side block(s) of code
If your selection contains server-side code, Dreamweaver does not allow you to transform it into an editable or
repeating region. This issue has to do with how InContext Editing saves editable pages when the user is working in the
browser. When a user saves the page after editing, InContext Editing removes server-side code from the region.
Current selection cannot be transformed or wrapped with a DIV tag because the parent node doesn't allow
DIV as child tag
When the selection you want to transform on your page can’t be transformed directly, Dreamweaver needs to wrap
the selection with div tags that will act as the container for your new editable or repeating region. For this reason, the
parent tags of what you want to transform must allow div tags as children. If the parent tag of the tag you’re trying to
transform doesn’t permit child div tags, Dreamweaver will not allow you to perform the transformation.
Current selection already contains or is inside of an Editable Region. Nested Editable Regions are not
allowed.
If your selection is inside an editable region, or if there is an editable region within the selection, Dreamweaver does
not allow you to perform the transformation. InContext Editing does not support nested editable regions.
476
USING DREAMWEAVER
Using Adobe Online Services
Last updated 12/7/2011
Editable Regions should not contain Repeating Regions or Repeating Regions Groups
InContext Editing editable regions cannot contain any other InContext Editing functionality. If you try to add a
repeating region or a repeating regions group to an editable region, Dreamweaver does not allow you to perform the
transformation.
Repeating Regions should not be inside Editable Regions or contain Repeating Regions Groups
InContext Editing editable regions cannot contain any other InContext Editing functionality. If you try to add a
repeating region or a repeating regions group to an editable region, Dreamweaver does not allow you to perform the
transformation. Additionally, Dreamweaver will not transform an element into an editable or repeating region if it
already contains a repeating regions group.
Current selection already contains or is inside of a Repeating Region. Nested Repeating Regions are not
allowed.
If your selection is inside a repeating region, or if there is a repeating region within the selection, Dreamweaver does
not allow you to perform the transformation. InContext Editing does not support nested repeating regions.
Selection must contain exactly one Dreamweaver template editable/repeating region, or be inside any
Dreamweaver template editable region
When working with Dreamweaver template files (.dwt files), you must follow certain rules. To transform a
Dreamweaver template editable/repeating region into an InContext Editing editable/repeating region, you must select
exactly one Dreamweaver template editable/repeating region on the page and then transform it. To transform another
selection on the page (for example, a block of text), the selection must be within a Dreamweaver template editable
region.
Only DIV tags can have both Editable Region and Repeating Region functionality applied at the same time
If your selection is not a div tag, and already has a repeating region attribute applied to it, Dreamweaver will not allow
you to apply the editable region attribute to that tag as well. Only div tags can have the editable region and repeating
region attributes applied simultaneously.
Dreamweaver detected that a Repeating Regions Group tag precedes the Repeating Region
All InContext Editing repeating regions must exist within a repeating regions group. When you add a new repeating
region to a page, Dreamweaver detects if there is already a repeating regions group immediately before it. If there is,
Dreamweaver gives you the option of adding the new repeating region to the repeating regions group that is already
there, or creating a new repeating regions group to contain the new repeating region.
477
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 18: Displaying XML data with
XSLT
About XML and XSLT
Using XML and XSL with web pages
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a language that lets you structure information. Like HTML, XML lets you
structure your information using tags, but XML tags are not predefined as HTML tags are. Instead, XML lets you create
tags that best define your data structure (schema). Tags are nested within others to create a schema of parent and child
tags. Like most HTML tags, all tags in an XML schema have an opening and closing tag.
The following example shows the basic structure of an XML file:
<?xml version="1.0">
<mybooks>
<book bookid="1">
<pubdate>03/01/2004</pubdate>
<title>Displaying XML Data with Adobe Dreamweaver</title>
<author>Charles Brown</author>
</book>
<book bookid="2">
<pubdate>04/08/2004</pubdate>
<title>Understanding XML</title>
<author>John Thompson</author>
</book>
</mybooks>
In this example, each parent <book> tag contains three child tags: <pubdate>, <title>, and <author>. But each
<book> tag is also a child tag of the <mybooks> tag, which is one level higher in the schema. You can name and
structure XML tags in any way, provided that you nest tags accordingly within others, and assign each opening tag a
corresponding closing tag.
XML documents do not contain any formatting—they are simply containers of structured information. Once you have
an XML schema, you can use the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) to display the information. In the way that
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS) let you format HTML, XSL lets you format XML data. You can define styles, page elements, layout, and so forth
in an XSL file and attach it to an XML file so that when a user views the XML data in a browser, the data is formatted
according to whatever you’ve defined in the XSL file. The content (the XML data) and presentation (defined by the
XSL file) are entirely separate, providing you with greater control over how your information appears on a web page.
In essence, XSL is a presentation technology for XML, where the primary output is an HTML page.
Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) is a subset language of XSL that actually lets you display XML
data on a web page, and “transform” it, along with XSL styles, into readable, styled information in the form of HTML.
You can use Dreamweaver to create XSLT pages that let you perform XSL transformations using an application server
or a browser. In a server-side XSL transformation, the server does the work of transforming the XML and XSL, and
displaying it on the page. In a client-side transformation, a browser (such as Internet Explorer) does the work.
478
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
The approach you ultimately take (server-side transformations versus client-side transformations) depends on what
you are trying to achieve as an end result, the technologies available to you, the level of access you have to XML source
files, and other factors. Both approaches have their own benefits and limitations. For example, server-side
transformations work in all browsers while client-side transformations are restricted to modern browsers only
(Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 8, Mozilla 1.8, and Firefox 1.0.2). Server-side transformations let you display XML data
dynamically from your own server or from anywhere else on the web, while client-side transformations must use XML
data that is locally hosted on your own web server. Finally, server-side transformations require that you deploy your
pages to a configured application server, while client-side transformations only require access to a web server.
For a tutorial about understanding XML, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0165.
More Help topics
XML tutorial
Server-side XSL transformations
Dreamweaver provides methods for creating XSLT pages that let you perform server-side XSL transformations. When
an application server performs the XSL transformation, the file containing the XML data can reside on your own
server, or anywhere else on the web. Additionally, any browser can display the transformed data. Deploying pages for
server-side transformations, however, is somewhat complex, and requires that you have access to an application
server.
When working with server-side XSL transformations, you can use Dreamweaver to create XSLT pages that generate
full HTML documents (entire XSLT pages), or XSLT fragments that generate a portion of an HTML document. An
entire XSLT page is similar to a regular HTML page. It contains a <body> tag and a <head> tag, and lets you display a
combination of HTML and XML data on the page. An XSLT fragment is a piece of code, used by a separate document,
that displays formatted XML data. Unlike an entire XSLT page, it is an independent file that contains no <body> or
<head> tag. If you want to display XML data on a page of its own, you would create an entire XSLT page, and bind
your XML data to it. If, on the other hand, you wanted to display XML data in a particular section of an existing
dynamic page—for example, a dynamic home page for a sporting goods store, with sports scores from an RSS feed
displayed on one side of the page—you would create an XSLT fragment and insert a reference to it in the dynamic page.
Creating XSLT fragments, and using them in conjunction with other dynamic pages to display XML data, is the more
common scenario.
The first step in creating these types of pages is to create the XSLT fragment. It is a separate file that contains the layout,
formatting, and so on of the XML data that you eventually want to display in the dynamic page. Once you create the
XSLT fragment, you insert a reference to it in your dynamic page (for example, a PHP or ColdFusion page). The
inserted reference to the fragment works much like an Server Side Include (SSI) — the formatted XML data (the
fragment) resides in a separate file, while in Design view, a placeholder for the fragment appears on the dynamic page
itself. When a browser requests the dynamic page containing the reference to the fragment, the server processes the
included instruction and creates a new document in which the formatted contents of the fragment appear instead of
the placeholder.
479
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
1. Browser requests dynamic page 2. Web server finds page and passes it to application server 3. Application server scans page for instructions
and gets XSLT fragment 4. Application server performs transformation (reads XSLT fragment, gets and formats xml data) 5. Application
server inserts transformed fragment into page and passes it back to the web server 6. Web server sends finished page to browser
You use the XSL Transformation server behavior to insert the reference to an XSLT fragment in a dynamic page. When
you insert the reference, Dreamweaver generates an includes/MM_XSLTransform/ folder in the site’s root folder that
contains a runtime library file. The application server uses the functions defined in this file when transforming the
specified XML data. The file is responsible for fetching the XML data and XSLT fragments, performing the XSL
transformation, and outputting the results on the web page.
The file containing the XSLT fragment, the XML file containing your data, and the generated run-time library file must
all be on the server for your page to display correctly. (If you select a remote XML file as your data source—one from
an RSS feed, for example—that file must of course reside somewhere else on the Internet.)
You can also use Dreamweaver to create entire XSLT pages for use with server-side transformations. An entire XSLT
page works in exactly the same way as an XSLT fragment, only when you insert the reference to the entire XSLT page
using the XSL Transformation server behavior, you are inserting the full contents of an HTML page. Thus, the
dynamic page (the .cfm, .php, or .asp page that acts as the container page) must be cleared of all HTML before you
insert the reference.
Dreamweaver supports XSL transformations for ColdFusion, ASP, and PHP pages.
Note: Your server must be correctly configured to perform server-side transformations. For more information, contact
your server administrator.
More Help topics
“Performing XSL transformations on the server” on page 484
Client-side XSL transformations
You can perform XSL transformations on the client without the use of an application server. You can use
Dreamweaver to create an entire XSLT page that will do this; however, client-side transformations require
manipulation of the XML file that contains the data you want to display. Additionally, client-side transformations will
only work in modern browsers (Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 8, Mozilla 1.8, and Firefox 1.0.2). For more information
on browsers that do and don’t support XSL transformations, see www.w3schools.com/xsl/xsl_browsers.asp.
<HTML>
<code>
</HTML>
<HTML>
<p>data
</HTML>
<xsl:>
</xsl:>
XML
5
2
34
6
1
Application
server
Web browser
WEB SERVER
480
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
First, create an entire XSLT page and attach an XML data source. (Dreamweaver prompts you to attach the data source
when you create the new page.) You can create an XSLT page from scratch, or you can convert an existing HTML page
to an XSLT page. When you convert an existing HTML page to an XSLT page you must attach an XML data source
using the Bindings panel (Window
> Bindings).
After you’ve created your XSLT page, you must link it to the XML file containing the XML data by inserting a reference
to the XSLT page in the XML file itself (much like you would insert a reference to an external CSS style sheet in the
<head> section of an HTML page). Your site visitors must view the XML file (not the XSLT page) in a browser. When
your site visitors view the page, the browser performs the XSL transformation and displays the XML data, formatted
by the linked XSLT page.
The relationship between the linked XSLT and XML pages is conceptually similar, yet different from the external
CSS/HTML page model. When you have an HTML page that contains content (such as text), you use an external style
sheet to format that content. The HTML page determines the content, and the external CSS code, which the user never
sees, determines the presentation. With XSLT and XML, the situation is reversed. The XML file (which the user never
sees in its raw form), determines the content while the XSLT page determines the presentation. The XSLT page
contains the tables, layout, graphics, and so forth that the standard HTML usually contains. When a user views the
XML file in a browser, the XSLT page formats the content.
1. Browser requests XML file 2. Server responds by sending XML file to browser 3. Browser reads XML directive and calls XSLT file 4. Server
sends XSLT file to browser 5. Browser transforms XML data and displays it in browser
When you use Dreamweaver to link an XSLT page to an XML page, Dreamweaver inserts the appropriate code for you
at the top of the XML page. If you own the XML page to which you’re linking (that is, if the XML file exclusively lives
on your web server), all you need to do is use Dreamweaver to insert the appropriate code that links the two pages.
When you own the XML file, the XSL transformations performed by the client are fully dynamic. That is, whenever
you update the data in the XML file, any HTML output using the linked XSLT page will be automatically updated with
the new information.
Note: The XML and XSL files you use for client-side transformations must reside in the same directory. If they don’t, the
browser will read the XML file and find the XSLT page for the transformation, but will fail to find assets (style sheets,
images, and so on) defined by relative links in the XSLT page.
<XML>
<directive>
XSLT
2
4
3
1
5
Web browser WEB SERVER
481
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
If you don’t own the XML page to which you’re linking (for example, if you want to use XML data from an RSS feed
somewhere out on the web), the workflow is a bit more complicated. To perform client-side transformations using
XML data from an external source, you must first download the XML source file to the same directory where your
XSLT page resides. When the XML page is in your local site, you can use Dreamweaver to add the appropriate code
that links it to the XSLT page, and post both pages (the downloaded XML file and the linked XSLT page) to your web
server. When the user views the XML page in a browser, the XSLT page formats the content, just like in the previous
example.
The disadvantage of performing client-side XSL transformations on XML data that comes from an external source is
that the XML data is only partially “dynamic.” The XML file that you download and alter is merely a “snapshot” of the
file that lives elsewhere on the web. If the original XML file out on the web changes, you must download the file again,
link it to the XSLT page, and repost the XML file to your web server. The browser only renders the data that it receives
from the XML file on your web server, not the data contained in the original XML source file.
More Help topics
“Performing XSL transformations on the client” on page 500
XML data and repeating elements
The Repeating Region XSLT object lets you display repeating elements from an XML file within a page. Any region
containing an XML data placeholder can be turned into a repeated region. However, the most common regions are a
table, a table row, or a series of table rows.
482
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following example shows how the Repeating Region XSLT object is applied to a table row that displays menu
information for a restaurant. The initial row displays three different elements from the XML schema: item, description,
and price. When the Repeating Region XSLT object is applied to the table row, and the page is processed by an
application server or a browser, the table is repeated with unique data inserted in each new table row.
When you apply a Repeating Region XSLT object to an element in the Document window, a thin, tabbed, gray outline
appears around the repeated region. When you preview your work in a browser (File
> Preview in Browser), the gray
outline disappears and the selection expands to display the specified repeating elements in the XML file, as in the
previous illustration.
When you add the Repeating Region XSLT object to the page, the length of the XML data placeholder in the Document
window is truncated. This is because Dreamweaver updates the XPath (XML Path language) expression for the XML
data placeholder so that it is relative to the path of the repeating element.
For example, the following code is for a table that contains two dynamic placeholders, without a Repeating Region
XSLT object applied to the table:
<table width="500" border="1">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="rss/channel/item/title"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="rss/channel/item/description"/></td>
</tr>
</table>
483
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following code is for the same table with the Repeating Region XSLT object applied to it:
<xsl:for-each select="rss/channel/item">
<table width="500" border="1">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="description"/></td>
</tr>
</table>
</xsl:for-each>
In the previous example, Dreamweaver has updated the XPath for the items that fall within the Repeating Region (title
& description) to be relative to the XPath in the enclosing <xsl:for-each> tags, rather than the full document.
Dreamweaver generates context-relative XPath expressions in other cases as well. For example, if you drag an XML
data placeholder to a table that already has a Repeating Region XSLT object applied to it, Dreamweaver automatically
displays the XPath relative to the existing XPath in the enclosing <xsl:for-each> tags.
More Help topics
“Display repeating XML elements” on page 488
Previewing XML data
When you use Preview in Browser (File > Preview in Browser) to preview XML data that you’ve inserted in an XSLT
fragment or an entire XSLT page, the engine that performs the XSL transformation differs from situation to situation.
For dynamic pages containing XSLT fragments, the application server always performs the transformation. At other
times, either Dreamweaver or the browser might be performing the transformation.
The following table summarizes the situations when using Preview in Browser, and the engines that perform the
respective transformations:
The following topics provide guidelines for helping you determine the appropriate previewing methods, based on your
needs.
Previewing pages for server-side transformations
In the case of server-side transformations, the content the site visitor ultimately sees is transformed by your application
server. When building XSLT and dynamic pages for use with server-side transformations, it is always preferable to
preview the dynamic page that contains the XSLT fragment instead of the XSLT fragment itself. In the former scenario,
you make use of the application server, which ensures that your preview is consistent with what your site visitors will
see when they visit your page. In the latter scenario, Dreamweaver performs the transformation, and could provide
slightly inconsistent results. You can use Dreamweaver to preview your XSLT fragment while you are building it, but
you’ll be able to see the most accurate results of the data rendering if you use the application server to preview your
dynamic page after you’ve inserted the XSLT fragment.
Type of page previewed in browser Data transformation performed by
Dynamic page containing XSLT fragment Application server
XSLT fragment or entire XSLT page Dreamweaver
XML file with link to entire XSLT page Browser
484
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
Previewing pages for client-side transformations
In the case of client-side transformations, the content the site visitor ultimately sees is transformed by a browser. You
accomplish this by adding a link from the XML file to the XSLT page. If you open the XML file in Dreamweaver and
preview it in a browser, you force the browser to load the XML file and perform the transformation. This provides you
with the same experience as that of your site visitor.
Using this approach, however, makes it more difficult to debug your page because the browser transforms the XML
and generates the HTML internally. If you select the browser’s View Source option to debug the generated HTML, you
will only see the original XML that the browser received, not the full HTML (tags, styles, and so forth) responsible for
the rendering of the page. To see the full HTML when viewing source code, you must preview the XSLT page in a
browser instead.
Previewing entire XSLT pages and XSLT fragments
When creating entire XSLT pages and XSLT fragments, you’ll want to preview your work to make sure that your data
is being displayed correctly. If you use Preview in Browser to display an entire XSLT page or an XSLT fragment,
Dreamweaver performs the transformation using a built-in transformation engine. This method gives you quick
results, and makes it easier for you to incrementally build and debug your page. It also provides a way for you to view
the full HTML (tags, styles, and so forth) by selecting the View Source option in the browser.
Note: This previewing method is commonly used when you begin building XSLT pages, regardless of whether you use the
client or the server to transform your data.
Performing XSL transformations on the server
Workflow for performing server-side XSL transformations
You can perform server-side XSL transformations on the server. Read about server-side and client-side XSL
transformations and about using XML and XSL with web pages before building pages that display XML data.
Note: Your server must be correctly configured to perform server-side transformations. For more information, contact
your server administrator.
The general workflow for performing server-side XSL transformations is as follows (each step is described in other
topics):
1. Set up a Dreamweaver site.
2. Choose a server technology and set up an application server.
3. Test the application server.
For example, create a page that requires processing, and make sure that the application server processes the page.
4. Create an XSLT fragment or page, or convert an HTML page to an XSLT page.
•In your Dreamweaver site, create an XSLT fragment or an entire XSLT page.
•Convert an existing HTML page to an entire XSLT page.
485
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
5. Attach an XML data source to the page.
6. Display XML data by binding the data to the XSLT fragment or to the entire XSLT page.
7. If appropriate, add a Repeating Region XSLT object to the table or table row that contains the XML data
placeholders.
8. Insert references.
•To insert a reference to the XSLT fragment in your dynamic page, use the XSL Transformation server behavior.
•To insert a reference to the entire XSLT page in the dynamic page, delete all of the HTML code from a dynamic
page, and then use the XSL Transformation server behavior.
9. Post the page and the fragment.
Post both the dynamic page and the XSLT fragment (or entire XSLT page) to your application server. If you are using
a local XML file, you will need to post that as well.
10. View the dynamic page in a browser.
When you do so, the application server transforms the XML data, inserts it in the dynamic page, and displays it in the
browser.
More Help topics
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Choosing an application server” on page 513
“Using XML and XSL with web pages” on page 477
“Client-side XSL transformations” on page 479
“Server-side XSL transformations” on page 478
Create an XSLT page
You can create XSLT pages that let you display XML data on web pages. You can create either an entire XSLT page—
an XSLT page that contains a <body> tag and a <head> tag—or you can create an XSLT fragment. When you create
an XSLT fragment, you create an independent file that contains no body or head tag—a simple piece of code that is
later inserted in a dynamic page.
Note: If you are starting with an existing XSLT page, you need to attach an XML data source to it.
1Select File > New.
2In the Blank Page category of the New Document dialog box, select one of the following from the Page Type
column:
•Select XSLT (Entire page) to create an entire XSLT page.
•Select XSLT (Fragment) to create an XSLT fragment.
3Click Create and do one of the following in the Locate XML Source dialog box:
•Select Attach A Local File, click the Browse button, browse to a local XML file on your computer, and click OK.
•Select Attach A Remote File, enter the URL of an XML file on the Internet (such as one coming from an RSS feed),
and click OK.
486
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Clicking the Cancel button generates a new XSLT page with no attached XML data source.
The Bindings panel is populated with the schema of your XML data source.
The following table provides an explanation of the various elements in the schema that might appear:
4Save your new page (File > Save) with the .xsl or .xslt extension (.xsl is the default).
Convert HTML pages to XSLT pages
You can also convert existing HTML pages to XSLT pages. For example, if you have a predesigned static page to which
you want to add XML data, you can convert the page to an XSLT page, instead of creating an XSLT page and
redesigning the page from scratch.
1Open the HTML page that you want to convert.
2Select File > Convert > XSLT 1.0.
A copy of the page opens in the Document window. The new page is an XSL style sheet, saved with the .xsl extension.
Attach XML data sources
If you are starting with an existing XSLT page, or if you don’t attach an XML data source when creating a new XSLT
page with Dreamweaver, you must attach an XML data source using the Bindings panel.
1In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the XML link.
Element Represents Details
<> Required non-repeating XML element An element that appears exactly once within its parent
node
<>+ Repeating XML element An element that appears one or more times within its
parent node
<>+ Optional XML element An element that appears zero or more times within its
parent node
Element node in boldface type Current context element Normally the repeating element when the insertion point
is inside a repeating region
@ XML attribute
487
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: You can also click the Source link at the upper-right corner of the Bindings panel to add an XML data source.
2Do one of the following:
•Select Attach A Local File, click the Browse button, browse to a local XML file on your computer, and click OK.
•Select Attach A Remote File, and enter the URL of an XML file on the Internet (such as one coming from an RSS
feed).
3Click OK to close the Locate XML Source dialog box.
The Bindings panel is populated with the schema of your XML data source.
Display XML data in XSLT pages
After you’ve created an XSLT page and attached an XML data source, you can bind data to the page. To do this, you
add an XML data placeholder to your page and then use the XPath Expression Builder or the Property inspector to
format selected data that will be displayed on the page.
1Open an XSLT page with an attached XML data source.
2(Optional) Select Insert > Table to add a table to the page. A table helps you organize your XML data.
Note: In most cases, you use the Repeating Region XSLT object to display repeating XML elements on a page. In this case,
you might want to create a single-row table with one or more columns, or a two-row table if you want to include a table
header.
3In the Bindings panel, select an XML element and drag it to the place on the page where you want to insert data.
An XML data placeholder appears on the page. The placeholder is highlighted and in curly brackets. It uses the XPath
(XML Path language) syntax to describe the hierarchical structure of the XML schema. For example, if you drag the
child element title to the page, and that element has the parent elements rss, channel, and item, then the syntax for the
dynamic content placeholder will be {rss/channel/item/title}.
Double-click the XML data placeholder on the page to open the XPath Expression Builder. The XPath Expression
Builder lets you format selected data, or select other items from the XML schema.
488
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
4(Optional) Apply styles to your XML data by selecting an XML data placeholder and applying styles to it like any
other piece of content using the Property inspector or the CSS Styles panel. Alternatively, you can use Design-time
style sheets to apply styles to XSLT fragments. Each of these methods has its own set of benefits and limitations.
5Preview your work in a browser (File > Preview in Browser).
Note: When you preview your work using Preview in Browser, Dreamweaver performs an internal XSL transformation
without the use of an application server.
More Help topics
“Previewing XML data” on page 483
“Presenting content with tables” on page 170
Display repeating XML elements
The Repeating Region XSLT object lets you display repeating elements from an XML data source in a web page. For
example, if you are displaying article titles and descriptions from a news feed, and that news feed contains between 10
and 20 articles, each title and description in the XML file would probably be a child element of a repeating element.
Any region in Design view containing an XML data placeholder can be changed to a repeated region. However, the
most common regions are tables, table rows, or a series of table rows.
1In Design view, select a region that contains an XML data placeholder or placeholders.
The selection can be anything, including a table, a table row, or even a paragraph of text.
To select a region on the page precisely, you can use the tag selector in the lower-left corner of the Document window.
For example, if the region is a table, click inside the table on the page, and then click the tag in the tag selector.
2Do one of the following
•Select Insert > XSLT Objects > Repeating Region.
•In the XSLT category of the Insert panel, click the Repeating Region button.
489
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
3In the XPath Expression Builder, select the repeating element, indicated by a small plus sign.
4Click OK.
In the Document window, a thin, tabbed, gray outline appears around the repeated region. When you preview your
work in a browser (File
> Preview in Browser), the gray outline disappears and the selection expands to display the
specified repeating elements in the XML file.
When you add the Repeating Region XSLT object to the page, the XML data placeholder in the Document window is
truncated. This is because Dreamweaver truncates the XPath for the XML data placeholder so that it is relative to the
path of the repeating element.
More Help topics
“Use the XPath Expression Builder to add expressions for XML data” on page 496
“XML data and repeating elements” on page 481
Set Repeating Region (XSL) properties
In the Property inspector, you can select a different XML node to create the repeating region.
❖In the Select box, enter a new node, and then press the lightning bolt icon and select the node from the XML schema
tree that appears.
Edit a Repeating Region XSLT object
After you’ve added a Repeating Region XSLT object to a region, you can edit it using the Property inspector.
1Select the object by clicking the gray tab that surrounds the repeated region.
2In the Property inspector (Window > Properties), click the dynamic icon next to the Select text field.
3In the XPath Expression Builder, make your changes and click OK.
490
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert XSLT fragments in dynamic pages
After you have created an XSLT fragment, you can insert it in a dynamic web page using the XSL Transformation
server behavior. When you add the server behavior to your page and view the page in a browser, an application server
performs a transformation that displays the XML data from the selected XSLT fragment. Dreamweaver supports XSL
transformations for ColdFusion, ASP, or PHP pages.
Note: If you want to insert the contents of an entire XSLT page in a dynamic page, the procedure is exactly the same.
Before using the XSL Transformation server behavior to insert the entire XSLT page, delete all HTML code from the
dynamic page.
1Open an existing ColdFusion, ASP, or PHP page.
2In Design view, place the insertion point in the location where you want to insert the XSLT fragment.
Note: When inserting XSLT fragments, you should always click the Show Code And Design Views button after placing
the insertion point on the page so that you can ensure that the insertion point is in the correct location. If it isn’t, you
might need to click somewhere else in Code view to place the insertion point where you want it.
3In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select XSL
Transformation.
4
In the XSL Transformation dialog box, click the Browse button and browse to an XSLT fragment or an entire XSLT page.
Dreamweaver populates the next text field with the file path or URL of the XML file that is attached to the specified
fragment. To change it, click the Browse button and browse to another file.
5(Optional) Click the Plus (+) button to add an XSLT parameter.
6Click OK to insert a reference to the XSLT fragment in the page. The fragment is not editable. You can double-click
the fragment to open the fragment’s source file and edit it.
An includes/MM_XSLTransform/ folder is also created in the site’s root folder that contains a runtime library file. The
application server uses the functions defined in this file to perform the transformation.
491
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
7Upload the dynamic page to your server (Site > Put) and click Yes to include dependent files. The file containing
the XSLT fragment, the XML file containing your data, and the generated run-time library file must all be on the
server for your page to display correctly. (If you selected a remote XML file as your data source, that file must reside
somewhere else on the Internet.)
More Help topics
“Create an XSLT page” on page 485
“Server-side XSL transformations” on page 478
Delete XSLT fragments from dynamic pages
You can remove an XSLT fragment from a page by deleting the XSL Transformation server behavior used to insert the
fragment. Deleting the server behavior deletes the XSLT fragment only—it does not delete the associated XML, XSLT,
or run-time library files.
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), select the XSL Transformation server behavior that
you want to delete.
2Click the minus (-) button.
Note: You should always remove server behaviors in this fashion. Manually deleting the generated code only partially
removes the server behavior, even though the server behavior may disappear from the Server Behaviors panel.
Edit XSL Transformation server behaviors
After you’ve added an XSLT fragment to a dynamic web page, you can edit the XSL Transformation server behavior
at any time.
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), double-click the XSL Transformation server behavior
that you want to edit.
2Make your changes and click OK.
Create a dynamic link
You can create a dynamic link on your XSLT page that links to a specific URL when the user clicks a specified word or
group of words from your XML data. For full instructions, see the Dreamweaver errata at
www.adobe.com/go/dw_documentation.
Applying styles to XSLT fragments
When you create an entire XSLT page (that is, an XSLT page that contains <body> and <head> tags), you can display
XML data on the page and then format the data like any other piece of content using the Property inspector or the CSS
Styles panel. When you create an XSLT fragment for insertion in a dynamic page, however (for example, a fragment
for insertion in an ASP, PHP, or Cold Fusion page), the rendering of styles in the fragment and in the dynamic page
becomes more complicated. Although you work on an XSLT fragment separately from the dynamic page, it is
important to remember that the fragment is intended for use within the dynamic page, and that the output from the
XSLT fragment ultimately resides somewhere within the <body> tags of the dynamic page. Given this workflow, it is
important to make sure that you do not include <head> elements (such as style definitions or links to external style
sheets) in XSLT fragments. Doing so will cause the application server to place these elements into the <body> of the
dynamic page, thereby generating invalid markup.
492
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
For example, you might want to create an XSLT fragment for insertion in a dynamic page and format the fragment
using the same external style sheet as the dynamic page. If you attach the same style sheet to the fragment, the resulting
HTML page contains a duplicate link to the style sheet (one in the <head> section of the dynamic page, and another
in the <body> section of the page, where the content of the XSLT fragment appears). Instead of this approach, you
should use Design-time style sheets to reference the external style sheet.
When formatting the content of XSLT fragments, use the following workflow:
•First, attach an external style sheet to the dynamic page. (This is a best practice for applying styles to the content of
any web page).
•Next, attach the same external style sheet to the XSLT fragment as a Design-time style sheet. As the name implies,
Design-time style sheets only work in the Dreamweaver Design view.
After you have completed the two previous steps, you can create new styles in your XSLT fragment using the same
style sheet that you’ve attached to your dynamic page. The HTML output will be cleaner (because the reference to
the style sheet is only valid while working in Dreamweaver), and the fragment will still display the appropriate styles
in Design view. Additionally, all of your styles will be applied to both the fragment and the dynamic page when you
view the dynamic page in Design view, or preview the dynamic page in a browser.
Note: If you preview the XSLT fragment in a browser, the browser does not display the styles. Instead you should
preview the dynamic page in the browser to see the XSLT fragment within the context of the dynamic page.
More Help topics
“Use Design-Time style sheets” on page 144
Use parameters with XSL transformations
You can define parameters for your XSL transformation when adding the XSL Transformation server behavior to a
web page. A parameter controls how XML data is processed and displayed. For example, you might use a parameter
to identify and list a specific article from a news feed. When the page loads in a browser, only the article you specified
with the parameter appears.
Add an XSLT parameter to an XSL transformation
1Open the XSL Transformation dialog box. You can do this by double-clicking an XSL Transformation server
behavior in the Server Behaviors panel (Window
> Server Behaviors), or by adding a new XSL Transformation
server behavior.
2In the XSL Transformation dialog box, click the Plus (+) button next to XSLT Parameters.
493
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
3In the Add Parameters dialog box, enter a name for the parameter in the Name box. The name can only contain
alphanumeric characters. It cannot contain spaces.
4Do one of the following:
•If you want to use a static value, enter it in the Value box.
•If you want to use a dynamic value, click the dynamic icon next to the Value box, complete the Dynamic Data dialog
box, and click OK. For more information, click the Help button in the Dynamic Data dialog box.
5In the Default Value box, enter the value you want the parameter to use if the page receives no run-time value, and
click OK.
Edit an XSLT parameter
1Open the XSL Transformation dialog box. You can do this by double-clicking an XSL Transformation server
behavior in the Server Behaviors panel (Window
> Server Behaviors), or by adding a new XSL Transformation
server behavior.
2Select a parameter from the XSLT parameters list.
3Click the Edit button.
4Make your changes and click OK.
Delete an XSLT parameter
1Open the XSL Transformation dialog box. You can do this by double-clicking an XSL Transformation server
behavior in the Server Behaviors panel (Window
> Server Behaviors), or by adding a new XSL Transformation
server behavior.
2Select a parameter from the XSLT parameters list.
3Click the minus (-) button.
Create and edit conditional XSLT regions
You can create simple conditional regions or multiple conditional regions on an XSLT page. You can either select an
element in Design view and apply a conditional region to the selection, or you can insert a conditional region wherever
the insertion point is in the document.
For example, if you wanted to display the word “Unavailable” next to the price of an item when the item is unavailable,
you type the text “Unavailable” on the page, select it, and then apply a conditional region to the selected text.
Dreamweaver surrounds the selection with <xsl:if> tags, and only displays the word “Unavailable” on the page when
the data match the conditions of the conditional expression.
Apply a conditional XSLT region
You can write a simple conditional expression to insert into your XSLT page. If content is selected when you open the
Conditional Region dialog box, the content will be wrapped in an <xsl:if> block. If you rcontent is not selected, the
<xsl:if> block is added at the insertion point on the page. It’s a good idea to use the dialog box to get started and then
customize the expression in Code view.
The <xsl:if> element is similar to the if statement in other languages. The element provides a way for you to test a
condition and take a course of action based on the result. The <xsl:if> element allows you to test an expression for
a single true or false value.
1Select Insert > XSLT Objects > Conditional Region or click the Conditional Region icon in the XLST category of
the Insert panel.
494
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
2In the Conditional Region dialog box, enter the conditional expression to use for the region.
In the following example, you want to test to see if the context node’s @available attribute value is true.
3Click OK.
The following code is inserted in your XSLT page:
<xsl:if test="@available=&apos;true&apos;">
Content goes here
</xsl:if>
Note: You must surround string values such as true in quotes. Dreamweaver encodes the quotes for you (&apos;) so that
they are entered as valid XHTML.
In addition to testing nodes for values, you can use any of the supported XSLT functions in any conditional statement.
The condition is tested for the current node within your XML file. In the following example, you want to test for the
last node in the result set:
For more information and examples on writing conditional expressions, see the <xsl:if> section in the Reference
panel (Help
> Reference).
Apply multiple conditional XSLT regions
You can write a simple conditional expression to insert into your XSLT page. If content is selected when you open the
Conditional Region dialog box, the content is wrapped in an <xsl:choose> block. If you do not select content, the
<xsl:choose> block is added at the insertion point on the page. It’s a good idea to use the dialog box to get started
and then customize the expression in Code view.
The <xsl:choose> element is similar to the case statement in other languages. The element provides a way for you
to test a condition and take a course of action based on the result. The <xsl:choose> element allows you to test for
multiple conditions.
1Select Insert > XSLT Objects > Multiple Conditional Region or click the Multiple Conditional Region icon in the
XLST category of the Insert panel.
2In the Multiple Conditional Region dialog box, enter the first condition.
495
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
In the following example, you want to test to see if the context node’s price subelement is less than 5.
3Click OK.
In the example, the following code is inserted in your XSLT page:
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="price&lt;5">
Content goes here
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
Content goes here
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
4To insert another condition, place the insertion point in Code view between <xsl:when> tag pairs or just before
the <xsl:otherwise> tag, and then insert a conditional region (Insert > XSLT Objects > Conditional Region).
After you specify the condition and click OK, another <xsl:when> tag is inserted in the <xsl:choose> block.
For more information and examples on writing conditional expressions, see the <xsl:choose> sections in the
Reference panel (Help
> Reference).
Set conditional region (If) properties
The purpose of the Set Conditional Region Property inspector is to change the condition used in a conditional region
in your XSL page. The conditional region tests the condition and takes a course of action based on the result.
❖In the Test box, enter a new condition, and then press Enter.
Set conditional (When) properties
The purpose of the Set Conditional Region Property inspector is to change the condition used in a multiple conditional
region in your XSL page. The multiple conditional region tests the condition and takes a course of action based on the
result.
❖In the Test box, enter a new condition, and then press Enter.
Insert XSL comments
You can add XSL comment tags to a document, or you can wrap a selection in XSL comment tags.
Add XSL comment tags to a document
❖Do one of the following:
•In Design view, select Insert > XSLT Objects > XSL Comment, type the contents of the comment (or leave the box
blank), and click OK.
•In Code view, select Insert > XSLT Objects > XSL Comment.
496
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also click on the XSL Comment icon in the XSLT category of the Insert panel.
Wrap a selection in XSL comment tags
1Switch to Code view (View > Code).
2Select the code you want to comment.
3In the Coding toolbar, click the Apply Comment button and select Apply <xsl:comment></xsl:comment>
Comment.
Use the XPath Expression Builder to add expressions for XML data
XPath (XML Path Language) is a non-XML syntax for addressing portions of an XML document. It is used mostly as
a query language for XML data, just as the SQL language is used to query databases. For more information on XPath,
see the XPath language specification on the W3C website at www.w3.org/TR/xpath.
The XPath Expression Builder is a Dreamweaver feature that lets you build simple XPath expressions for identifying
specific nodes of data and for repeating regions. The advantage of using this method instead of dragging values from
the XML schema tree is that you can format the value that is displayed. The current context is identified based on the
position of the insertion point in the XSL file when the XPath Expression Builder dialog box is opened. The current
context is in boldface type in the XML schema tree. As you make selections within this dialog box, the correct XPath
statements, relative to your current context, are generated. This simplifies the process of writing correct XPath
expressions for beginners and advanced users.
Note: This feature is designed to help you build simple XPath expressions to identify a specific node or for repeating
regions. It does not allow you to edit the expressions by hand. If you need to create complex expressions, use the XPath
Expression Builder to get started and then customize your expressions in Code view or with the Property inspector.
Create an XPath expression to identify a specific node
1Double-click the XML data placeholder on the page to open the XPath Expression Builder.
2In the XPath Expression Builder (Dynamic Text) dialog box, select any node in the XML schema tree.
The correct XPath expression is written in the Expression box to identify the node.
Note: If you select a different node in the XML schema tree, the expression changes to reflect your choice.
497
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
In the following example, you want to display the price subelement of the item node:
This selection would insert the following code in your XSLT page:
<xsl:value-of select="price"/>
3(Optional) Select a formatting option from the Format pop-up menu.
Formatting a selection is useful when the value of your node returns a number. Dreamweaver provides a predefined
list of formatting functions. For a complete list of available formatting functions and examples, see the Reference panel.
In the following example, you want to format the price subelement as a currency with two decimal places:
These options would insert the following code in your XSLT page:
<xsl:value-of select="format-number(provider/store/items/item/price,'$#.00')"/>
4Click OK.
498
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
5To display the value of each node in the XML file, apply a repeating region to the element containing the dynamic
text (for example, an HTML table row or a paragraph).
For more information and examples on selecting nodes to return a value, see the <xsl:value-of/> section in the
Reference panel.
Select a node to repeat
You can select a node to repeat over and, optionally, to filter the results. In the XPath Expression Builder dialog box,
your selected content will be wrapped inside an <xsl:for-each> block. If you have not selected content, the
<xsl:for-each> block will be entered at the insertion point of your cursor.
1Double-click the XML data placeholder on the page to open the XPath Expression Builder.
2In the XPath Expression Builder (Repeating Region) dialog box, select the item to repeat in the XML schema tree.
The correct XPath expression is written in the Expression box to identify the node.
Note: Repeating items are identified with a Plus (+) symbol in the XML schema tree.
In the following example, you want to repeat each item node within the XML file.
When you click OK, the following code is inserted in your XSLT page:
<xsl:for-each select="provider/store/items/item">
Content goes here
</xsl:for-each>
In some cases, you may want to work with a subset of the repeating nodes—for example, you may only want items
where an attribute has a specific value. In this case, you need to create a filter.
Filter the data to be repeated
Use a filter to identify repeating nodes that have specific attribute values.
1In the XML schema tree, select a node to repeat.
2Click the Build Filter expander button.
3Click the Plus (+) button to create an empty filter.
499
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Enter the filter criteria in the following fields:
Filter By Specifies the repeating node that contains the data you want to filter by. The pop-up menu provides a list of
ancestor nodes relative to the node you selected in the XML schema tree.
Where Specifies the attribute or subelement of the Filter By node that will be used to limit the results. You can select
an attribute or subelement from the pop-up menu, or you can enter your own XPath expression in this field to identify
children that exist deeper within the schema tree.
Operator Specifies the comparison operator to use in the filter expression.
Value Specifies the value to check for in the Filter By node. Enter the value. If dynamic parameters are defined for your
XSLT page, you can select one from the pop-up menu.
5To specify another filter, click the Plus (+) button again.
As you enter values or make selections in the pop-up menus, the XPath expression in the Expression box changes.
In the following example, you want to restrict the result set to those item nodes where the value of the @available
attribute is true.
When you click OK, the following code is inserted in your XSLT page:
<xsl:for-each select="provider/store/items/item[@available = &apos;true&apos;]">
Content goes here
</xsl:for-each>
Note: You need to surround string values such as true in quotes. Dreamweaver encodes the quotes for you (&apos;) so
that they are entered as valid XHTML.
500
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can create more complex filters that allow you to specify parent nodes as part of your filter criteria. In the
following example, you want to restrict the result set to those item nodes where the store’s @id attribute is equal to
1 and the item’s price node is greater than 5.
When you click OK, the following code is inserted in your XSLT page:
<xsl:for-each select="provider/store[@id = 1]/items/item[price &gt; 5]">
Content goes here
</xsl:for-each>
For more information and examples of repeating regions, see the <xsl:for-each> section in the Reference panel.
Performing XSL transformations on the client
Workflow for performing client-side XSL transformations
You can perform client-side XSL transformations. Read about server-side and client-side XSL transformations and
about using XML and XSL with web pages before building pages that display XML data.
The general workflow for performing client-side XSL transformations is as follows (each step is described in other
topics):
1. Set up a Dreamweaver site.
2. Create an XSLT page or convert an HTML page to XSLT.
•In your Dreamweaver site, create an entire XSLT page.
•Convert an existing HTML page to an entire XSLT page.
501
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
3. Attach an XML data source to the page (if you haven’t already done so).
The XML file that you attach must reside in the same directory as the XSLT page.
4. Bind your XML data to the XSLT page.
5. Display XML data by binding the data to the entire XSLT page.
6. If appropriate, add a Repeating Region XSLT object to the table or table row that contains the XML data
placeholder(s).
7. Attach the XSLT page to the XML page.
8. Post both the XML page and the linked XSLT page to your web server.
9. View the XML page in a browser.
When you do so, the browser transforms the XML data, formats it with the XSLT page, and displays the styled page in
the browser.
More Help topics
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Choosing an application server” on page 513
“Link an XSLT page to an XML page” on page 502
“Using XML and XSL with web pages” on page 477
“Client-side XSL transformations” on page 479
“Server-side XSL transformations” on page 478
Creating entire XSLT pages and displaying data
You must use an entire XSLT page for client-side transformations. (XSLT fragments don’t work for this type of
transformation.) Follow these general steps for creating, binding XML data to, and formatting XSLT pages for client-
side transformations:
1. Create the XSLT page.
2. Display data in the XSLT page.
3. Display repeating elements in the XSLT page.
More Help topics
“Create an XSLT page” on page 485
“Display XML data in XSLT pages” on page 487
“Display repeating XML elements” on page 488
502
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
Link an XSLT page to an XML page
After you have an entire XSLT page with dynamic content placeholders for your XML data, you must insert a reference
to the XSLT page in the XML page.
Note: The XML and XSL files you use for client-side transformations must reside in the same directory. If they don’t, the
browser will read the XML file and find the XSLT page for the transformation, but will fail to find assets (style sheets,
images, and so on) defined by relative links in the XSLT page.
1Open the XML file that you want to link to your XSLT page.
2Select Commands > Attach an XSLT Stylesheet.
3In the dialog box, click the Browse button, browse to the XSLT page you want to link to, select it, and click OK.
4Click OK to close the dialog box and insert the reference to the XSLT page at the top of the XML document.
Missing character entities for XSLT
Specify a missing character entity
In XSLT, some characters are not allowed in certain contexts. For example, you cannot use the less than sign (<) and
the ampersand (&) in the text between tags or in an attribute value. The XSLT transformation engine will give you an
error if those characters are used incorrectly. To solve the problem, you can specify character entities to replace the
special characters.
A character entity is a string of characters that represents other characters. Character entities are either named or
numbered. A named entity begins with an ampersand (&) followed by the name or characters, and ends with a
semicolon (;). For example, &lt; represents the left angle bracket character (<). Numbered entities also start and end
the same way, except that a hash sign (#) and a number specify the character.
XSLT has the following five predefined entities:
If you use other character entities in an XSL file, you need to define them in the DTD section of the XSL file.
Dreamweaver provides several default entity definitions that you can see at the top of an XSL file created in
Dreamweaver. These default entities cover a broad selection of the most commonly used characters.
When you preview your XSL file in a browser, Dreamweaver checks the XSL file for undefined entities and notifies you
if an undefined entity is found.
If you preview an XML file attached to an XSLT file or if you preview a server-side page with an XSLT transformation,
the server or browser (instead of Dreamweaver) notifies you of an undefined entity. The following is an example of a
message you may get in Internet Explorer when you request an XML file transformed by an XSL file with a missing
entity definition:
Character Entity Code
< (less-than) &lt;
& (ampersand) &amp;
> (greater-than) &gt;
" (quote) &quot;
‘ (apostrophe) &apos;
503
USING DREAMWEAVER
Displaying XML data with XSLT
Last updated 12/7/2011
Reference to undefined entity 'auml'. Error processing resource
'http://localhost/testthis/list.xsl'. Line 28, Position 20
<p class=''test''>&auml;</p>
-------------------^
To correct the error in your page, you must add the entity definition to your page manually.
Specify a missing entity definition
1Look up the missing character in the character entity reference page on the W3C website at www.w3.org/TR/REC-
html40/sgml/entities.html.
This web page contains the 252 allowed entities in HTML 4 and XHTML 1.0.
For example, if the character entity Egrave is missing, search for “Egrave” on the W3C web page. You will find the
following entry:
<!ENTITY Egrave CDATA "&#200;" -- latin capital letter E with grave, U+00C8 ISOlat1 -->
2Make a note of the entity name and entity code in the entry.
In the example, Egrave is the entity name, and &#200 is the entity code.
3With this information, switch to Code view and enter the following entity tag at the top of your XSL file (following
the Doctype declaration and with the other entity tags):
<!ENTITY entityname "entitycode;">
In the example, you would enter the following entity tag:
<!ENTITY Egrave "&#200;">
4Save your file.
If you repeatedly use the same character entities, you may want to permanently add their definitions in the XSL files
Dreamweaver creates by default when you use File
> New.
Add entity definitions to the XSL files Dreamweaver creates by default
1Locate the following configuration file in the Dreamweaver application folder and open it in any text editor:
Configuration/DocumentTypes/MMDocumentTypeDeclarations.xml
2Locate the declaration called mm_xslt_1:
<documenttypedeclaration id="mm_xslt_1">
3Enter the new entity tag or tags in the list of entity tags, as follows:
<!ENTITY entityname "entitycode;">
4Save the file and restart Dreamweaver.
504
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 19: Preparing to build dynamic
sites
Before you begin building dynamic web pages, there are a few preparations that must be done, including setting up a
web application server and connecting to a database for Coldfusion, ASP, and PHP applications.
Adobe®
Dreamweaver® CS5 handles database connections differently depending on your server technology.
Understanding web applications
About web applications
A web application is a website that contains pages with partly or entirely undetermined content. The final content of
a page is determined only when the visitor requests a page from the web server. Because the final content of the page
varies from request to request based on the visitor’s actions, this kind of page is called a dynamic page.
Web applications are built to address a variety of challenges and problems. This section describes common uses for
web applications and gives a simple example.
Common uses for web applications
Web applications have many uses for both site visitors and developers, including the following:
•Let visitors find information quickly and easily on a content-rich website.
This kind of web application gives visitors the ability to search, organize, and navigate content as they see fit.
Examples include company intranets, Microsoft MSDN (www.msdn.microsoft.com), and Amazon.com
(www.amazon.com).
•Collect, save, and analyze data provided by site visitors.
In the past, data entered in HTML forms was sent as e-mail messages to employees or CGI applications for
processing. A web application can save form data directly into a database and also extract the data and create web-
based reports for analysis. Examples include online banking pages, store check-out pages, surveys, and user-
feedback forms.
•Update websites that have constantly changing content.
A web application frees the web designer from continually updating the site’s HTML. Content providers such as
news editors provide the web application with content, and the web
application updates the site automatically.
Examples include the Economist (www.economist.com) and CNN (www.cnn.com).
Web application example
Janet is a professional web designer and longtime Dreamweaver user responsible for maintaining the intranet and
Internet sites of a medium-sized company of 1000 employees. One day, Chris from Human Resources comes to her
with a problem. HR administers an employee fitness program that gives employees points for every mile walked, biked,
or run. Each employee must report his or her monthly mile totals in an e-mail to Chris. At the end of the month, Chris
gathers all the e-mail messages and awards employees small cash prizes according to their point totals.
505
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chris’s problem is that the fitness program has grown too successful. So many employees now participate that Chris
is inundated with e-mails at the end of each month. Chris asks Janet if a web-based solution exists.
Janet proposes an intranet-based web application that performs the following tasks:
•Lets employees enter their mileage on a web page using a simple HTML form
•Stores the employees’ mileage in a database
•Calculates fitness points based on the mileage data
•Lets employees track their monthly progress
•Gives Chris one-click access to point totals at the end of each month
Janet gets the application up and running before lunchtime using Dreamweaver, which has the tools she needs to
build this kind of application quickly and easily.
How a web application works
A web application is a collection of static and dynamic web pages. A static web page is one that does not change when
a site visitor requests it: The web server sends the page to the requesting web browser without modifying it. In contrast,
a dynamic web page is modified by the server before it is sent to the requesting browser. The changing nature of the
page is why it’s called dynamic.
For example, you could design a page to display fitness results, while leaving certain information (such as employee
name and results) to be determined when the page is requested by a particular
employee.
The next sections describe how web applications work in greater detail.
Processing static web pages
A static website comprises a set of related HTML pages and files hosted on a computer running a web server.
A web server is software that serves web pages in response to requests from web browsers. A page request is generated
when a visitor clicks a link on a web page, selects a bookmark in a browser, or enters a URL in a browser’s address text box.
The final content of a static web page is determined by the page designer and doesn’t change when the page is
requested. Here’s an example:
<html>
<head>
<title>Trio Motors Information Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>About Trio Motors</h1>
<p>Trio Motors is a leading automobile manufacturer.</p>
</body>
</html>
Every line of the page’s HTML code is written by the designer before the page is placed on the server. Because the
HTML doesn’t change once it’s on the server, this kind of page is called a static page.
Note: Strictly speaking, a “static” page may not be static at all. For example, a rollover image or Flash content (a SWF
file) can make a static page come alive. However, this documentation refers to a
page as static if it is sent to the browser
without modifications.
When the web server receives a request for a static page, the server reads the request, finds the page, and sends it to the
requesting browser, as the following example shows:
506
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
1. Web browser requests static page. 2. Web server finds page. 3. Web server sends page to requesting browser.
In the case of web applications, certain lines of code are undetermined when the visitor requests the page. These lines
must be determined by some mechanism before the page can be sent to the browser. The mechanism is discussed in
the following section.
Processing dynamic pages
When a web server receives a request for a static web page, the server sends the page directly to the requesting browser.
When the web server receives a request for a dynamic page, however, it reacts differently: It passes the page to a special
piece of software responsible for finishing the page. This special software is called an application server.
The application server reads the code on the page, finishes the page according to the instructions in the code, and then
removes the code from the page. The result is a static page that the application server passes back to the web server,
which then sends the page to the requesting browser. All the browser gets when the page arrives is pure HTML. Here’s
a view of the process:
1. Web browser requests dynamic page. 2. Web server finds page and passes it to application server. 3. Application server scans page for
instructions and finishes page. 4. Application server passes finished page back to web server 5. Web server sends finished page to requesting
browser
<HTML>
<p>H1
</HTML>
Web browser
WEB SERVER
1
2
3
Response
Request
Application
server
<HTML>
<p>H1
</HTML>
<HTML>
<code>
</HTML>
Web browser
WEB SERVER
1
2 3
45
Response
Request
507
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Accessing a database
An application server lets you work with server-side resources such as databases. For example, a dynamic page may
instruct the application server to extract data from a database and insert it into the page’s HTML. For more
information, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_dbguide.
Using a database to store content allows you to separate your website’s design from the content you want to display to
site users. Instead of writing individual HTML files for every page, you only need to write a page—or template—for
the different kinds of information you want to present. You can then upload content into a database and then have the
website retrieve that content in response to a user request. You can also update information in a single source, and then
populate that change throughout the website without having to manually edit each page. You can use
Adobe®
Dreamweaver® CS5 to design web forms to insert, update, or delete data from the database.
The instruction to extract data from a database is called a database query. A query consists of search criteria expressed
in a database language called SQL (Structured Query Language). The SQL query is written into the page’s server-side
scripts or tags.
An application server cannot communicate directly with a database because the database’s proprietary format renders
the data undecipherable in much the same way that a Microsoft Word document opened in Notepad or BBEdit may
be undecipherable. The application server can communicate with the database only through the intermediary of a
database driver: software that acts like an interpreter between the application server and the database.
After the driver establishes communication, the query is executed against the database and a recordset is created. A
recordset is a set of data extracted from one or more tables in a database. The recordset is returned to the application
server, which uses the data to complete the page.
Here’s a simple database query written in SQL:
SELECT lastname, firstname, fitpoints
FROM employees
This statement creates a three-column recordset and fills it with rows containing the last name, first name, and fitness
points of all employees in the database. For more information, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sqlprimer.
The following example shows the process of querying a database and returning data to the browser:
508
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
1. Web browser requests dynamic page. 2. Web server finds page and passes it to application server. 3. Application server scans page for
instructions. 4. Application server sends query to database driver. 5. Driver executes the query against the database. 6. Recordset is returned
to driver. 7. Driver passes recordset to application server 8. Application server inserts data in page, and then passes the page to the web server
9. Web server sends finished page to requesting browser.
You can use almost any database with your web application, as long as the appropriate database driver for it is installed
on the server.
If you plan to build small low-cost applications, you can use a file-based database, such as one created in Microsoft
Access. If you plan to build robust, business-critical applications, you can use a server-based database, such as one
created in Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle 9i, or MySQL.
If your database is located on a system other than your web server, make sure you have a fast connection between the
two systems so that your web application can operate quickly and
efficiently.
More Help topics
Beginner's guide to databases
Authoring dynamic pages
Authoring a dynamic page consists of writing the HTML first, and then adding the server-side scripts or tags to the
HTML to make the page dynamic. When you view the resulting code, the language appears embedded in the page’s
HTML. Accordingly, these languages are known as HTML embedded programming languages. The following basic
example uses ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML):
Application
server
<HTML>
<p>data
</HTML>
<HTML>
<code>
</HTML>
Recordset
Query
Database
driver
Web browser
WEB SERVER
1
2 3
45
6
789
Response
Request
Database
509
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
<html>
<head>
<title>Trio Motors Information Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>About Trio Motors</h1>
<p>Trio Motors is a leading automobile manufacturer.</p>
<!--- embedded instructions start here --->
<cfset department="Sales">
<cfoutput>
<p>Be sure to visit our #department# page.</p>
</cfoutput>
<!--- embedded instructions end here --->
</body>
</html>
The embedded instructions on this page perform the following actions:
1Create a variable called department and assign the string "Sales" to it.
2Insert the variable’s value, "Sales", in the HTML code.
The application server returns the following page to the web server:
<html>
<head>
<title>Trio Motors Information Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>About Trio Motors</h1>
<p>Trio Motors is a leading automobile manufacturer.</p>
<p>Be sure to visit our Sales page.</p>
</body>
</html>
The web server sends the page to the requesting browser, which displays it as follows:
About Trio Motors
Trio Motors is a leading automobile manufacturer.
Be sure to visit our Sales page.
You choose a scripting or tag-based language to use depending on the server technology available on your server. Here
are the most popular languages for the server technologies supported by Dreamweaver:
Dreamweaver can create the server-side scripts or tags necessary to make your pages work, or you can write them by
hand in the Dreamweaver coding environment.
Server technology Language
ColdFusion ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML)
Active Server Pages (ASP) VBScript
JavaScript
PHP PHP
510
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Choosing an application server” on page 513
Web application terminology
This section defines frequently used terms relating to web applications.
An application server Software that helps a web server process web pages containing server-side scripts or tags. When
such a page is requested from the server, the web server hands the page off to the application server for processing
before sending the page to the browser. For more information, see “How a web application works” on page 505.
Common application servers include ColdFusion and PHP.
A database A collection of data stored in tables. Each row of a table constitutes one record and each column
constitutes a field in the record, as shown in the following example:
A database driver Software that acts as an interpreter between a web application and a database. Data in a database is
stored in a proprietary format. A database driver lets the web application read and manipulate data that would
otherwise be undecipherable.
A database management system (DBMS, or database system) Software used to create and manipulate databases.
Common database systems include Microsoft Access, Oracle 9i, and
MySQL.
A database query The operation that extracts a recordset from a database. A query consists of search criteria expressed
in a database language called SQL. For example, the query can specify that only certain columns or only certain records
be included in the recordset.
A dynamic page A web page customized by an application server before the page is sent to a browser.
A recordset A set of data extracted from one or more tables in a database, as in the following example:
Number LastName FirstName Position Goal
Records
(rows)
Fields (columns)
Number
Database table
LastName FirstName Position Goals
Recordset table
LastName FirstName Position
511
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
A relational database A database containing more than one table, with the tables sharing data. The following database
is relational because two tables share the DepartmentID column.
A server technology The technology that an application server uses to modify dynamic pages at runtime.
The Dreamweaver development environment supports the following server technologies:
•Adobe® ColdFusion®
•Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP)
•PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
You can also use the Dreamweaver coding environment to develop pages for any other server technology not listed.
A static page A web page that is not modified by an application server before the page is sent to a browser. For more
information, see “Processing static web pages” on page 505.
A web application A website that contains pages with partly or entirely undetermined content. The final content of
these pages is determined only when a visitor requests a page from the web server. Because the final content of the page
varies from request to request based on the visitor’s actions, this kind of page is called a dynamic page.
A web server Software that sends out web pages in response to requests from web browsers. A page request is
generated when a visitor clicks a link on a web page in the browser, selects a bookmark in the browser, or enters a URL
in the browser’s address text box.
Popular web servers include Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Apache HTTP Server.
Set up your computer for application development
What you need to build web applications
To build web applications in Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5, you need the following software:
•A web server
•An application server that works with your web server
Note: In the context of web applications, the terms web server and application server refer to software, not hardware.
If you want to use a database with your application, you require the following additional software:
•A database system
•A database driver that supports your database
512
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Several web hosting companies offer plans that let you use their software to test and deploy web applications. In
some cases, you can install the required software on the same computer as Dreamweaver for development purposes.
You can also install the software on a network computer (typically a Windows 2000 or XP computer) so that other
developers on your team can work on a project.
If you want to use a database with your web application, you must first connect to it.
More Help topics
“Setting up a ColdFusion development environment” on page 514
“Setting up a PHP development environment” on page 514
“Setting up an ASP development environment” on page 514
Web server basics
To develop and test dynamic web pages, you need a functioning web server. A web server is software that serves web
pages in response to requests from web browsers. A web server is sometimes called an HTTP server. You can install
and use a web server on your local computer.
If you’re a Macintosh user, you can use the Apache web server already installed on your Macintosh.
Note: Adobe does not provide technical support for third-party software such as Microsoft Internet Information Server.
If you need assistance with a Microsoft product, please contact Microsoft technical support.
If you use Internet Information Server (IIS) to develop web applications, the default name of your web server is the
name of your computer. You can change the server name by changing the name of your computer. If your computer
has no name, the server uses the word localhost.
The server name corresponds to the server’s root folder, which (on a Windows computer) is most likely
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot. You can open any web page stored in the root folder by entering the following URL in a browser
running on your computer:
http://your_server_name/your_file_name
For example, if the server name is mer_noire and a web page called soleil.html is stored in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\, you
can open the page by entering the following URL in a browser running on the local computer:
http://mer_noire/soleil.html
Note: Remember to use forward slashes, not backslashes, in URLs.
You can also open any web page stored in any subfolder of the root folder by specifying the subfolder in the URL. For
example, suppose the soleil.html file is stored in a subfolder called gamelan, as follows:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\gamelan\soleil.html
You can open this page by entering the following URL in a browser running on your computer:
http://mer_noire/gamelan/soleil.html
When the web server is running on your computer, you can replace the server name with localhost. For example,
the following URLs open the same page in a browser:
http://mer_noire/gamelan/soleil.html
http://localhost/gamelan/soleil.html
513
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: .Another expression you can use instead of the server name or localhost is 127.0.0.1 (for example,
http://127.0.0.1/gamelan/soleil.html).
More Help topics
“Setting up a ColdFusion development environment” on page 514
“Setting up a PHP development environment” on page 514
“Setting up an ASP development environment” on page 514
Choosing a web server
To develop and test web applications, you can choose from a number of common web servers including Microsoft
Internet Information Server (IIS) and Apache HTTP Server.
If you’re not using a web hosting service, choose a web server and install it on your local computer for development
purposes. Windows and Macintosh users who want to develop ColdFusion web applications can use the web server
included in the developer edition of the ColdFusion 8 application server, which you can install and use for free.
Other Windows users can run a web server on their local computer by installing IIS. This web server may already be
installed on your system. Check your folder structure to see if it contains a C:\Inetpub or D:\Inetpub folder. IIS creates
this folder during installation.
Mac OS users can use the local Apache web server installed with the operating system.
For information on installing and configuring other web servers, see the server vendor’s documentation or your
system administrator.
Choosing an application server
An application server is software that helps a web server process dynamic pages. When choosing an application server,
you should consider several factors, including your budget, the server technology you want to use (ColdFusion, ASP,
or PHP), and the type of web server.
Budget Some vendors sell high-end application servers that are expensive to buy and administer. Others vendors
provide easier, more cost-effective solutions (an example is ColdFusion). Some application servers are built into web
servers (such as Microsoft IIS) and others can be downloaded for free from the Internet (such as PHP).
Server technology Application servers use different technologies. Dreamweaver supports three server technologies:
ColdFusion, ASP, and PHP. The following table shows common application servers available for the server
technologies supported by Dreamweaver:
To learn more about ColdFusion, select ColdFusion Help from the Help menu.
To learn more about ASP, visit the Microsoft website at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnanchor/html/activeservpages.asp.
To learn more about PHP, visit the PHP website at www.php.net/.
Server technology Application server
ColdFusion Adobe ColdFusion 8
ASP Microsoft IIS
PHP PHP server
514
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Choosing a database
Databases come in many forms depending upon the amount and the complexity of the data they must store. When
choosing a database, you should consider several factors, including your budget and the number of users you anticipate
will access the database.
Budget Some vendors produce high-end application database servers that are expensive to buy and administer.
Others vendors provide easier, more cost-effective solutions, such as Microsoft Access or the open-source database
MySQL.
Users If you anticipate a large user community accessing the site, select a database designed to support your site’s
intended user base. For websites requiring greater flexibility in their data modeling, and the ability to support large,
concurrent user communities, consider server-based relational databases (typically referred to as RDBMS) like
Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.
Setting up a ColdFusion development environment
For detailed instructions on setting up a ColdFusion development environment for Dreamweaver on your Windows
or Mac computer, see the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/setup_cf.html.
Both Windows and Macintosh users can download and install a free, fully functional, developer edition of the
ColdFusion application server from the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/coldfusion/.
Note: The Developer Edition is for non-commercial use for developing and testing web applications. It is not licensed for
deployment. It supports requests from the local host and two remote IP addresses. You can use it to develop and test your
web applications as long as you want; the software does not expire. For more information, see ColdFusion help (Help
>
ColdFusion Help).
During installation, you can configure ColdFusion to use the web server built into ColdFusion or another web server
installed on your system. Generally, it’s best to match your development environment to your production
environment. Therefore, if you have an existing web server such as Microsoft IIS on your development computer, you
may want to use it instead of the built-in ColdFusion web server.
Setting up a PHP development environment
For detailed instructions on setting up a PHP development environment for Dreamweaver on your Windows or Mac
computer, see the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/setup_php.html.
Editions of the PHP application server exist for Windows, Linux, UNIX, HP-UX, Solaris, and Mac OS X systems. For
more information on the application server, see the PHP documentation, which you can also download from the PHP
website at www.php.net/download-docs.php.
Setting up an ASP development environment
For detailed instructions on setting up an ASP development environment for Dreamweaver on your Windows or Mac
computer, see the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/setup_asp.html.
To run ASP pages, you need an application server that supports Microsoft Active Server Pages 2.0., such as Microsoft
IIS (Internet Information Services), which comes with Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional. Windows XP
Professional users can install and run IIS on their local computer. Macintosh users can use a web hosting service with
an ASP plan or install IIS on a remote computer.
515
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Creating a root folder for the application
After signing up with a web hosting company or setting up the server software yourself, create a root folder for your
web application on the computer running the web server. The root folder can be local or remote, depending on where
your web server is running.
The web server can serve any file in this folder or in any of its subfolders in response to an HTTP request from a web
browser. For example, on a computer running ColdFusion 8, any file in the \ColdFusion8\wwwroot folder or any of
its subfolders can be served to a web browser.
The following are the default root folders of selected web servers:
To test the web server, place a test HTML page in the default root folder and attempt to open it by entering the page’s
URL in a browser. The URL comprises the domain name and the filename of the HTML page, as follows:
www.example.com/testpage.htm.
If the web server is running on your local computer, you can use localhost instead of a domain name. Enter one of
the following localhost URLs to match your web server:
Note: By default the ColdFusion web server runs on port 8500 and the Apache web server for Windows runs on port 80.
If the page doesn’t open as expected, check for the following errors:
•The web server is not started. Consult the web server’s documentation for starting instructions.
•The file does not have an .htm or .html extension.
•You entered the page’s file path (for example, c:\ColdFusion8\wwwroot\testpage.htm), not its URL (for example,
http://localhost:8500/testpage.htm), in the browser’s address text box.
•The URL contains a typing mistake. Check for errors and make sure the filename is not followed by a slash, such as
http://localhost:8080/testpage.htm/.
After creating a root folder for your application, define a Dreamweaver site to manage your files.
More Help topics
“Web server basics” on page 512
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
Web server Default root folder
ColdFusion 8 \ColdFusion8\wwwroot
IIS \Inetpub\wwwroot
Apache (Windows) \apache\htdocs
Apache (Macintosh) Users:MyUserName:Sites
Web server Localhost URL
ColdFusion 8 http://localhost:8500/testpage.htm
IIS http://localhost/testpage.htm
Apache (Windows) http://localhost:80/testpage.htm
Apache (Macintosh) http://localhost/~MyUserName/testpage.htm (where MyUserName is your Macintosh user name)
516
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
About defining a Dreamweaver site
After configuring your system to develop web applications, define a Dreamweaver site to manage your files.
Before you start, make sure you meet the following requirements:
•You have access to a web server. The web server can be running on your local computer, on a remote computer
such as a development server, or on a server maintained by a web hosting company.
•An application server is installed and running on the system running your web server.
•You created a root folder for your web application on the system running your web server.
Defining a Dreamweaver site for your web application consists of three steps:
1. Define a local folder
The local folder is the folder you use to store working copies of site files on your hard disk. You can define a local folder
for each new web application you create. Defining a local folder also gives you the ability to manage your files and to
transfer files to and from your web server easily.
2. Define a remote folder
Define a folder located on the computer running your web server as a Dreamweaver remote folder. The remote folder
is the folder you created for your web application on the web server.
3. Define a testing folder
Dreamweaver uses this folder to generate and display dynamic content and connect to databases while you work. The
testing server can be your local computer, a development server, a staging server, or a production server. As long as it
can process the kind of dynamic pages you plan to develop, the choice doesn’t matter.
After the Dreamweaver site is defined, you can start building your web application.
More Help topics
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
Database connections for ColdFusion developers
Connecting to a ColdFusion database
When developing a ColdFusion web application in Dreamweaver, you connect to a database by selecting a ColdFusion
data source defined in Dreamweaver or in ColdFusion Administrator, the server’s management console.
Before connecting to a database, you must set up a ColdFusion web application. You must also set up a database on
your local computer or on a system to which you have network or FTP access.
Make sure that Dreamweaver knows where to find the ColdFusion data sources. To retrieve the ColdFusion data
sources at design time, Dreamweaver places scripts in a folder on the computer running ColdFusion. You must specify
this folder in the Testing Server category of the Site Definition dialog box.
Next, you must create a ColdFusion data source in Dreamweaver or in ColdFusion Administrator (if one doesn’t
already exist). After creating a ColdFusion data source, you can use it in Dreamweaver to connect to the database.
517
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create or modify a ColdFusion data source
Before you can use database information in your page, you must create a ColdFusion data source. If you’re running
ColdFusion MX 7 or later, you can create or modify the data source directly in Dreamweaver. If you’re running
ColdFusion MX, you must use the server’s management console, ColdFusion MX Administrator, to create or modify
the data source. You can still use Dreamweaver to open ColdFusion MX Administrator in that case.
More Help topics
“Set up a testing server” on page 45
“Enable the ColdFusion enhancements” on page 647
Create or modify a ColdFusion data source if running ColdFusion MX 7 or later
1Make sure a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later is defined as a testing server for your site.
2Open any ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
3To create a new data source, click the Plus (+) button in the Databases panel (Windows > Databases) and enter the
parameter values specific to the database driver.
Note: Dreamweaver displays the Plus (+) button only if you’re running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
4To modify a data source, double-click the database connection in the Databases panel and make your changes.
You can edit any parameter except the name of the data source. For more information, see the driver vendor’s
documentation or consult your system administrator.
Create or modify a ColdFusion data source if running ColdFusion MX 6.1 or 6.0
1Open any ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
2In the Databases panel (Window > Databases) in Dreamweaver, click Modify Data Sources in the panel toolbar.
3Log in to ColdFusion MX Administrator, and create or modify the data source.
For instructions, see ColdFusion help (Help > ColdFusion Help).
You must provide certain parameter values to create the ColdFusion data source. For the parameter values specific to
your database driver, see the driver vendor’s documentation or consult your system administrator.
After you create a ColdFusion data source, you can use it in Dreamweaver.
Connecting to the database in Dreamweaver
After creating a ColdFusion data source, use it to connect to the database in Dreamweaver.
Open any ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver, then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases). Your ColdFusion
data sources should appear in the panel.
If the data sources do not appear, complete the checklist in the panel. Make sure that Dreamweaver knows where to
find the ColdFusion data sources. In the Testing Server category of the Site Definition dialog box, specify the site’s root
folder on the computer running ColdFusion.
More Help topics
“Troubleshooting database connections” on page 526
518
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Database connections for ASP developers
About ASP database connections
An ASP application must connect to a database through an open database connectivity (ODBC) driver or an object
linking and embedding database (OLE DB) provider. The driver or provider acts as an interpreter that lets the web
application communicate with the database. The following table shows some drivers you can use with Microsoft
Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle databases:
You can use a data source name (DSN) or a connection string to connect to the database. You must use a connection
string if you’re connecting through an OLE DB provider or an ODBC driver not installed on a Windows system.
A DSN is a one-word identifier, such as myConnection, that points to the database and contains all the information
needed to connect to it. You define a DSN in Windows. You can use a DSN if you’re connecting through an ODBC
driver installed on a Windows system.
A connection string is a hand-coded expression that identifies the database and lists the information needed to connect
to it, as shown in the following example:
Driver={SQL Server};Server=Socrates;Database=AcmeMktg;
UID=wiley;PWD=roadrunner
Note: You can also use a connection string if you’re connecting through an ODBC driver installed on a Windows system,
but using a DSN is easier.
More Help topics
“Accessing a database” on page 507
About OLE DB connections
You can use an OLE DB provider to communicate with your database (OLE DB is available only on Windows NT,
2000, or XP). Creating a direct database-specific OLE DB connection can improve the speed of your connection by
eliminating the ODBC layer between your web application and the database.
If you don’t specify an OLE DB provider for your database, ASP uses the default OLE DB provider for ODBC drivers
to communicate with an ODBC driver, which in turn communicates with the database.
Different OLE DB providers exist for different databases. You can obtain OLE DB providers for Microsoft Access and
SQL Server by downloading and installing the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.5 and 2.7 packages on
the Windows computer running IIS. You can download the MDAC packages for free from the Microsoft website at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/mdac/downloads/.
Note: Make sure you install MDAC 2.5 before installing MDAC 2.7.
Database Database driver
Microsoft Access Microsoft Access Driver (ODBC)
Microsoft Jet Provider for Access (OLE DB)
Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server Driver (ODBC)
Microsoft SQL Server Provider (OLE DB)
Oracle Microsoft Oracle Driver (ODBC)
Oracle Provider for OLE DB
519
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can download OLE DB providers for Oracle databases from the Oracle website at
www.oracle.com/technology/software/tech/windows/ole_db/index.html (registration is required).
In Dreamweaver, you create an OLE DB connection by including a Provider parameter in a connection string. For
example, here are parameters for common OLE DB providers for Access, SQL Server, and Oracle databases,
respectively:
Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;...
Provider=SQLOLEDB;...
Provider=OraOLEDB;...
For the parameter value of your OLE DB provider, see your provider vendor’s documentation, or consult your system
administrator.
About connection strings
A connection string combines all the information your web application needs to connect to a database. Dreamweaver
inserts this string in your page’s server-side scripts for later processing by your application server.
A connection string for Microsoft Access and SQL Server databases consists of a combination of the following
parameters separated by semicolons:
Provider Specifies the OLE DB provider for your database. For example, here are parameters for common OLE DB
providers for Access, SQL Server, and Oracle databases, respectively:
Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;...
Provider=SQLOLEDB;...
Provider=OraOLEDB;...
For the parameter value of your OLE DB provider, see your provider vendor’s documentation, or consult your system
administrator.
If you don’t include a Provider parameter, then the default OLE DB provider for ODBC is used and you must specify
an appropriate ODBC driver for your database.
Driver Specifies the ODBC driver to use if you don’t specify an OLE DB provider for your database.
Server Specifies the server hosting the SQL Server database if your web application runs on a different server.
Database The name of a SQL Server database.
DBQ The path to a file-based database such as one created in Microsoft Access. The path is the one on the server
hosting the database file.
UID Specifies the user name.
PWD Specifies the user password.
DSN The data source name, if you use one. Depending on how you define the DSN on your server, you can omit the
connection string’s other parameters. For example, DSN=Results can be a valid connection string if you define the
other parameters when you create the DSN.
Connection strings for other kinds of databases may not use the parameters listed above, or will have different names
or uses for the parameters. For more information, see your database vendor’s documentation, or consult your system
administrator.
Here’s an example of a connection string that will create an ODBC connection to an Access database called trees.mdb:
Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};
DBQ=C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Research\trees.mdb
520
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Here’s an example of a connection string that will create an OLE DB connection to a SQL Server database called
Mothra located on a server called Gojira:
Provider=SQLOLEDB;Server=Gojira;Database=Mothra;UID=jsmith;
PWD=orlando8
Create a connection using a local DSN
Note: This section assumes you have set up an ASP application. It also assumes a database is set up on your local
computer or on a system to which you have network or FTP access.
You can use a data source name (DSN) to create an ODBC connection between your web application and your
database. A DSN is a name containing all the parameters needed to connect to a specific database using an ODBC
driver.
Because you can only specify an ODBC driver in a DSN, you must use a connection string if you want to use an OLE
DB provider.
You can use a locally defined DSN to create a database connection in Dreamweaver.
1Define a DSN on the Windows computer running Dreamweaver.
For instructions, see the following articles on the Microsoft website:
•If the computer runs Windows 2000, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 300596 at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300596
•If the computer runs Windows XP, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 305599 at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305599
2Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver, and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
3Click the Plus (+) button on the panel and select Data Source Name (DSN) from the menu.
4Enter a name for the new connection, without spaces or special characters.
5Select the Using Local DSN option and choose the DSN you want to use from the Data Source Name (DSN) menu.
If you want to use a local DSN but haven’t defined one yet, click Define to open the Windows ODBC Data Source
Administrator.
6Complete the User Name and Password boxes.
7You can restrict the number of database items Dreamweaver retrieves at design time by clicking Advanced, and
entering a schema or catalog name.
Note: You cannot create a schema or catalog in Microsoft Access.
8Click Test to connect to the database, and then click OK. If the connection fails, double-check the connection string
or check the settings for the test folder Dreamweaver uses to process dynamic pages.
More Help topics
“Restrict database information displayed in Dreamweaver” on page 534
“Set up your computer for application development” on page 511
“Troubleshooting database connections” on page 526
521
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create a connection using a remote DSN
Note: This section assumes you have set up an ASP application. It also assumes a database is set up on your local
computer or on a system to which you have network or FTP access.
Note: Dreamweaver can retrieve only server DSNs created with the Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator.
You can use a DSN defined on a remote computer to create a database connection in Dreamweaver. If you want to use
a remote DSN, the DSN must be defined on the Windows computer running your application server (probably IIS).
Note: Because you can only specify an ODBC driver in a DSN, you must use a connection string if you want to use an
OLE DB provider.
1Define a DSN on the remote system running your application server.
For instructions, see the following articles on the Microsoft website:
•If the remote computer runs Windows 2000, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 300596 at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300596
•If the remote computer runs Windows XP, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 305599 at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305599
2Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver, then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
3Click the Plus (+) button on the panel and select Data Source Name (DSN) from the menu.
4Enter a name for the new connection, without spaces or special characters.
5Select Using DSN On Testing Server.
Note: Macintosh users can ignore this step because all database connections use DSNs on the application server.
6Enter the DSN or click the DSN button to connect to the server and select the DSN for the database you want, then
complete the options.
7Complete the User Name and Password boxes.
8You can restrict the number of database items Dreamweaver retrieves at design time by clicking Advanced and
entering a schema or catalog name.
Note: You cannot create a schema or catalog in Microsoft Access.
9Click Test to connect to the database, and then click OK. If the connection fails, double-check the connection string
or check the settings for the testing folder Dreamweaver uses to process dynamic pages.
More Help topics
“Set up your computer for application development” on page 511
“Restrict database information displayed in Dreamweaver” on page 534
“Troubleshooting database connections” on page 526
Create a connection using a connection string
You can use a DSN-less connection to create an ODBC or OLE DB connection between your web application and your
database. You use a connection string to create this kind of connection.
1Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver, and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
2Click the Plus (+) button on the panel, select Custom Connection String from the menu, complete the options, and
click OK.
522
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Enter a name for the new connection without spaces or special characters.
4Enter a connection string to the database. If you do not specify an OLE DB provider in the connection string—that
is, if you don’t include a Provider parameter—ASP will automatically use the OLE DB provider for ODBC drivers.
In that case, you must specify an appropriate ODBC driver for your database.
If your site is hosted by an ISP and you don’t know the full path to your database, use the MapPath method of the ASP
server object in your connection string.
5If the database driver specified in the connection string is not installed on the same computer as Dreamweaver,
select Using Driver On Testing Server.
Note: Macintosh users can ignore this step because all database connections use the application server.
6You can restrict the number of database items Dreamweaver retrieves at design time by clicking Advanced and
entering a schema or catalog name.
Note: You cannot create a schema or catalog in Microsoft Access.
7Click Test to connect to the database, and then click OK. If the connection fails, double-check the connection string
or check the settings for the testing folder Dreamweaver uses to process dynamic pages.
More Help topics
“Connecting to a ColdFusion database” on page 516
“Restrict database information displayed in Dreamweaver” on page 534
“Troubleshooting database connections” on page 526
Connecting to a database on an ISP
If you’re an ASP developer working with a commercial Internet service provider (ISP), you often don’t know the
physical path of the files you upload, including your database file or files.
If your ISP doesn’t define a DSN for you or is slow to do so, you must find another way to create the connections to
your database files. One alternative is to create a DSN-less connection to a database file, but you can define such a
connection only if you know the physical path of the database file on the ISP server.
You can obtain the physical path of a database file on a server by using the MapPath method of the ASP server object.
Note: The techniques discussed in this section apply only if your database is file-based, such as a Microsoft Access
database where data is stored in an .mdb file.
Understanding physical and virtual paths
After using Dreamweaver to upload your files to a remote server, the files reside in a folder in the server’s local
directory tree. For example, on a server running Microsoft IIS, the path to your home page could be as follows:
c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\accounts\users\jsmith\index.htm
This path is known as the physical path to your file.
The URL to open your file, however, does not use the physical path. It uses the name of the server or domain followed
by a virtual path, as in the following example:
www.plutoserve.com/jsmith/index.htm
The virtual path, /jsmith/index.htm, stands in for the physical path,
c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\accounts\users\jsmith\index.htm.
523
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Find a file’s physical path with the virtual path
If you work with an ISP, you don’t always know the physical path to the files you upload. ISPs typically provide you
with an FTP host, possibly a host directory, and a login name and password. ISPs also specify a URL to view your pages
on the Internet, such as www.plutoserve.com/jsmith/.
If you know the URL, then you can get the file’s virtual path—it’s the path that follows the server or domain name in
a URL. Once you know the virtual path, you can get the file’s physical path on the server using the MapPath method.
The MapPath method takes the virtual path as an argument and returns the file’s physical path and filename. Here’s
the method’s syntax:
Server.MapPath("/virtualpath")
If a file’s virtual path is /jsmith/index.htm, then the following expression returns its physical path:
Server.MapPath("/jsmith/index.htm")
You can experiment with the MapPath method as follows.
1Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver and switch to Code view (View > Code).
2Enter the following expression in the page’s HTML code.
<%Response.Write(stringvariable)%>
3Use the MapPath method to obtain a value for the stringvariable argument.
Here’s an example:
<% Response.Write(Server.MapPath("/jsmith/index.htm")) %>
4Switch to Live view (View > Live View) to view the page.
The page displays the physical path of the file on the application server, for example:
c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\accounts\users\jsmith\index.htm
For more information on the MapPath method, consult the online documentation that comes with Microsoft IIS.
Use a virtual path to connect to a database
To write a DSN-less connection string to a database file located on a remote server, you must know the physical path
to the file. The following example is a typical DSN-less connection string for a Microsoft Access database:
Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};
DBQ=c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\accounts\users\jsmith\data\statistics.mdb
If you don’t know the physical path of your files on the remote server, you can get the path by using the MapPath
method in your connection string.
1Upload the database file to the remote server and make a note of its virtual path—for example,
/jsmith/data/statistics.mdb.
2Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver, then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
3Click the Plus (+) button on the panel and select Custom Connection String from the menu.
4Enter a name for the new connection, without spaces or special characters.
5Enter the connection string and use the MapPath method to supply the DBQ parameter.
Suppose that the virtual path to your Microsoft Access database is /jsmith/data/statistics.mdb; the connection string
can be expressed as follows if you use VBScript as your scripting language:
524
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=" & Server.MapPath¬
("/jsmith/data/statistics.mdb")
The ampersand (&) is used to concatenate (combine) two strings. The first string is enclosed in quotation marks and
the second is returned by the Server.MapPath expression. When the two strings are combined, the following string
is created:
Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};
DBQ=C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\accounts\users\jsmith\data\statistics.mdb
If you use JavaScript, the expression is identical except that you use a Plus (+) sign instead of an ampersand (&) to
concatenate the two strings:
"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=" + Server.MapPath¬
("/jsmith/data/statistics.mdb")
6Select Using Driver On Testing Server, click Test, and then click OK.
Note: Macintosh users can ignore this step because all database connections use the application server.
Note: If the connection fails, double-check the connection string or contact your ISP to make sure that the database driver
you specified in the connection string is installed on the remote server. Also check that the ISP has the most recent version
of the driver. For example, a database created in Microsoft Access 2000 will not work with Microsoft Access Driver 3.5.
You need Microsoft Access Driver 4.0 or later.
7Update the database connection of existing dynamic pages (open the page in Dreamweaver, double-click the
recordset name in the Bindings panel or Server Behaviors panel, and select the connection you just created from
the Connection menu) and use the new connection with any new page you build.
Edit or delete a database connection
When you create a database connection, Dreamweaver stores the connection information in an include file in the
Connections subfolder in the site’s local root folder. You can edit or delete the connection information in the file
manually or as follows.
Edit a connection
1Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the connection and select Edit Connection from the menu.
3Edit the connection information and click OK.
Dreamweaver updates the include file, which updates all the pages in the site that use the connection.
Delete a connection
1Open an ASP page in Dreamweaver and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the connection and select Delete Connection from the menu.
3In the dialog box that appears, confirm that you want to delete the connection.
Note: To avoid receiving errors after deleting a connection, update every recordset that uses the old connection by double-
clicking the name of the recordset in the Bindings panel and choosing a new connection.
525
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Database connections for PHP developers
About PHP database connections
For PHP development, Dreamweaver only supports the MySQL database system. Other database systems such as
Microsoft Access or Oracle are not supported. MySQL is open-source software you can download for free from the
Internet for non-commercial use. For more information, see the MySQL website at http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/.
This section assumes you have set up a PHP application. It also assumes a MySQL database is set up on your local
computer or on a system to which you have network or FTP access.
For development purposes, download and install the Windows Essentials version of the MySQL database server.
More Help topics
“Setting up a PHP development environment” on page 514
Connect to a database
To connect to a database when developing a PHP application in Dreamweaver, you must have one or more MySQL
databases and the MySQL server must be started.
1Open a PHP page in Dreamweaver, and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
2Click the Plus (+) button on the panel, select MySQL Connection from the menu, and complete the dialog box.
•Enter a name for the new connection, without spaces or special characters.
•In the MySQL Server box, enter an IP address or a server name for the computer hosting MySQL. If MySQL is
running on the same computer as PHP, you can enter localhost.
•Enter your MySQL user name and password.
•In the Database box, enter the name of the database, or click Select and select the database from the list of MySQL
databases, and click Test.
Dreamweaver attempts to connect to the database. If the connection fails, double-check the server name, user name,
and password. If the connection still fails, check the settings for the testing folder Dreamweaver uses to process
dynamic pages.
Dreamweaver makes a best guess at auto-populating the value for the URL prefix in the Testing Server category of the
Site Definition dialog box, but sometimes you will have to adjust the URL prefix to get your connection to work. Make
sure that the URL prefix is the URL that users type in their browsers to open the web application, minus the file name
(or start page) of the application.
3Click OK.
Note: If you encounter the error message “Client does not support authentication protocol requested. Consider upgrading
MySQL client” when testing a PHP database connection to MySQL 4.1, see “Troubleshooting MySQL error messages” on
page 531.
Edit or delete a database connection
When you create a database connection, Dreamweaver stores the connection information in an include file in the
Connections subfolder in the site’s local root folder. You can edit or delete the connection information in the file
manually or as follows.
526
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Edit a connection
1Open a PHP page in Dreamweaver, and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the connection and select Edit Connection from the menu.
3Edit the connection information and click OK.
Dreamweaver updates the include file, which updates all the pages in the site that use the connection.
Delete a connection
1Open a PHP page in Dreamweaver, and then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
2Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the connection and select Delete Connection from the menu.
3In the dialog box that appears, confirm that you want to delete the connection.
Note: To avoid getting errors after deleting a connection, update every recordset that uses the old connection by double-
clicking the name of the recordset in the Bindings panel and selecting a new connection in the Recordset dialog box.
Troubleshooting database connections
Troubleshooting permissions problems
One of the most common problems is insufficient folder or file permissions. If your database is located on a Windows
2000 or Windows XP computer and you receive an error message when you try to view a dynamic page in a web
browser or in Live view, the error might be due to a permissions problem.
The Windows account attempting to access the database doesn’t have sufficient permissions. The account might be
either the anonymous Windows account (by default, IUSR_computername) or a specific user account, if the page has
been secured for authenticated access.
You must change the permissions to give the IUSR_computername account the correct permissions so the web server
can access the database file. In addition, the folder containing the database file must also have certain permissions set
to write to that database.
If the page is meant to be accessed anonymously, give the IUSR_computername account full control to the folder and
database file, as described in the procedure below.
Additionally, if the path to the database is being referenced using UNC (\\Server\Share), make sure the Share
Permissions give the IUSR_computername account full access. This step applies even if the share is on the local web
server.
If you copy the database from another location, it may not inherit the permissions from its destination folder and you
may have to change the permissions for the database.
Check or change the database file permissions (Windows XP)
1Make sure that you have administrator privileges on the computer.
2In
3Windows Explorer
4, locate the database file or the folder containing the database, right-click the file or folder, and select Properties.
5Select the Security tab.
527
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: This step applies only if you have an NTFS file system. If you have an FAT file system, the dialog box won't have a
Security tab.
6If the IUSR_computername account is not listed in the Group or User Names list, click the Add button to add it.
7In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, click Advanced.
The dialog box changes to show more options.
8Click Locations and select the computer’s name.
9Click Find Now to display a list of account names associated with the computer.
10 Select the IUSR_computername account and click OK; then click OK again to clear the dialog box.
11 To assign the IUSR account full permissions, select Full Control and click OK.
Check or change the database file permissions (Windows 2000)
1Make sure that you have administrator privileges on the computer.
2In
3Windows Explorer
4, locate the database file or the folder containing the database, right-click the file or folder, and select Properties.
5Select the Security tab.
Note: This step applies only if you have an NTFS file system. If you have an FAT file system, the dialog box won't have a
Security tab.
6If the IUSR_computername account is not listed among the Windows accounts in the File Permissions dialog box,
click the Add button to add it.
7In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, select the computer name from the Look In menu to display
a list of account names associated with the computer.
8Select the IUSR_computername account and click Add.
9To assign the IUSR account full permissions, select Full Control from the Type Of Access menu and click OK.
For added security, permissions can be set so that Read permission is disabled for the web folder containing the
database. Browsing the folder won’t be permitted, but web pages will still be able to access the database.
For more information about the IUSR account and web server permissions, see the following TechNotes on the Adobe
Support Center:
•Understanding anonymous authentication and the IUSR account at www.adobe.com/go/authentication
•Setting IIS web server permissions at www.adobe.com/go/server_permissions
Troubleshooting Microsoft error messages
These Microsoft error messages can occur when you request a dynamic page from the server if you use Internet
Information Server (IIS) with a Microsoft database system such as Access or SQL Server.
Note: Adobe does not provide technical support for third-party software such as Microsoft Windows, and IIS. If this
information does not fix your problem, please contact Microsoft technical support or visit the Microsoft support website
at http://support.microsoft.com/.
For more information on 80004005 errors, see “INFO: Troubleshooting Guide for 80004005 Errors in Active Server
Pages and Microsoft Data Access Components (Q306518),” on the Microsoft website at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q306518.
528
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
[Reference]80004005—Data source name not found and no default driver specified
This error occurs when you attempt to view a dynamic page in a web browser or in Live view. The error message may
vary depending on your database and web server. Other variations of the error message include:
•80004005—Driver's SQLSetConnectAttr failed
•80004005—General error unable to open registry key 'DriverId'
Here are possible causes and solutions:
•The page can’t find the DSN. Make sure a DSN has been created on both the web server and on the local machine.
•The DSN might have been set up as a user DSN, not as a system DSN. Delete the user DSN and create a system DSN
to replace it.
Note: If you don’t delete the user DSN, the duplicate DSN names produce a new ODBC error.
If you use Microsoft Access, the database file (.mdb) might be locked. The lock might be due to a DSN with a different
name accessing the database. In
Windows Explorer
, search for the lock file (.ldb) in the folder containing the database file (.mdb) and delete the .ldb file. If another DSN
is pointing to the same database file, delete the DSN to prevent the error in the future. Reboot the computer after
making any changes.
[Reference]80004005—Couldn’t use ‘(unknown)’; file already in use
This error occurs when you use a Microsoft Access database and attempt to view a dynamic page in a web browser or
in Live view. Another variation of this error message is “80004005—Microsoft Jet database engine cannot open the file
(unknown).”
The probable cause is a permissions problem. Here are some specific causes and solutions:
•The account being used by Internet Information Server (usually IUSR) might not have the correct Windows
permissions for a file-based database or for the folder containing the file. Check the permissions on the IIS account
(IUSR) in the user manager.
•You might not have permission to create or destroy temporary files. Check the permissions on the file and the
folder. Make sure that you have permission to create or destroy any temporary files. Temporary files are usually
created in the same folder as the database, but the file may also be created in other folders such as /Winnt.
•In Windows 2000, the time-out value may need to be changed for the Access database DSN. To change the time-
out value, select Start
> Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC). Click the System
tab, highlight the correct DSN, and click the Configure button. Click the Options button and change the Page
Timeout value to 5000.
If you still have problems, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
•PRB: 80004005 “Couldn't Use ‘(unknown)’; File Already in Use” at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q174943.
•PRB: Microsoft Access Database Connectivity Fails in Active Server Pages at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q253604.
•PRB: Error “Cannot Open File Unknown” Using Access at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;Q166029.
529
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
[Reference]80004005—Logon Failed()
This error occurs when you use Microsoft SQL Server and attempt to view a dynamic page in a web browser or in Live
view.
This error is generated by SQL Server if it doesn’t accept or recognize the logon account or password being submitted
(if you’re using standard security), or if a Windows account does not map to a SQL account (if you’re using integrated
security).
Here are possible solutions:
•If you use standard security, the account name and password might be incorrect. Try the system Admin account
and password (UID= “sa” and no password), which must be defined in the connection string line. (DSNs do not
store user names and passwords.)
•
If you use integrated security, check the Windows account calling the page and find its mapped SQL account (if any).
•SQL Server does not allow an underscore in SQL account names. If someone manually maps the Windows
IUSR_machinename account to a SQL account of the same name, it will fail. Map any account that uses an
underscore to an account name on SQL that does not use an underscore.
[Reference]80004005—Operation must use an updateable query
This error occurs when an event is updating a recordset or inserting data in a recordset.
Here are possible causes and solutions:
•The permissions set on the folder containing the database are too restrictive. IUSR privileges must be set to
read/write.
•The permissions on the database file itself does not have full read/write privileges in effect.
•The database might be located outside the Inetpub/wwwroot directory. Though you can view and search the data,
you might not be able to update it unless the database is located in the wwwroot directory.
•The recordset is based on a non-updateable query. Joins are good examples of non-updateable queries within a
database. Restructure your queries so they are updateable.
For more information on this error, see “PRB: ASP ‘Error The Query Is Not Updateable’ When You Update Table
Record,” in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q174640.
[Reference]80040e07—Data type mismatch in criteria expression
This error occurs when the server tries to process a page containing an Insert Record or Update Record server
behavior, and the server behavior attempts to set the value of a Date/Time column in a Microsoft Access database to
an empty string ("").
Microsoft Access has strong data typing; it imposes a rigorous set of rules on given column values. The empty string
value in the SQL query cannot be stored in an Access Date/Time column. Currently, the only known workaround is
to avoid inserting or updating Date/Time columns in Access with empty strings ("") or with any other value that does
not correspond to the range of values specified for the data type.
[Reference]80040e10—Too few parameters
This error occurs when a column specified in your SQL query does not exist in the database table. Check the column
names in your database table against the SQL query. The cause of this error is often a typographical error.
530
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
[Reference]80040e10—COUNT field incorrect
This error occurs when you preview a page containing an Insert Record server behavior in a web browser and try to
use it to insert a record in a Microsoft Access database.
You might be trying to insert a record into a database field that has a question mark (?) in its field name. The question
mark is a special character for some database engines, including Microsoft Access, and should not be used for database
table names or field names.
Open your database system and delete the question mark (?) from the field names, and update the server behaviors on
your page that refer to this field.
[Reference]80040e14—Syntax error in INSERT INTO statement
This error occurs when the server tries to process a page containing an Insert Record server behavior.
This error typically results from one or more of the following problems with the name of a field, object, or variable in
the database:
•Using a reserved word as a name. Most databases have a set of reserved words. For example, “date” is a reserved
word and cannot be used for column names in a database.
•Using special characters in the name. Examples of special characters include:
. / * : ! # & - ?
•Using a space in the name.
The error can also occur when an input mask is defined for an object in the database, and the inserted data does not
conform to the mask.
To fix the problem, avoid using reserved words such as “date”, “name”, “select”, “where,” and “level” when
specifying column names in your database. Also, eliminate spaces and special characters.
See the following web pages for lists of reserved words for common database systems:
•Microsoft Access at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q209187
•Microsoft SQL Server at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/tsqlref/ts_ra-
rz_9oj7.asp
•MySQL at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/reserved-words.html
[Reference]80040e21—ODBC error on Insert or Update
This error occurs when the server tries to process a page containing an Update Record or Insert Record server
behavior. The database cannot handle the update or insert operation the server behavior is trying to perform.
Here are possible causes and solutions:
•The server behavior is trying to update a database table’s auto-number field or to insert a record into an auto-
number field. Because auto-number fields are populated automatically by the database system, any attempt to
externally populate them with a value fails.
•The data the server behavior is updating or inserting is the wrong type for the database field, such as inserting a date
into a Boolean (yes/no) field, inserting a string into a numeric field, or inserting an improperly formatted string
into Date/Time field.
[Reference]800a0bcd—Either BOF or EOF is true
This error occurs when you attempt to view a dynamic page in a web browser or in Live view.
531
USING DREAMWEAVER
Preparing to build dynamic sites
Last updated 12/7/2011
The problem occurs when the page tries to display data from an empty recordset. To solve the problem, apply the Show
Region server behavior to the dynamic content to be displayed on the page, as follows:
1Highlight the dynamic content on the page.
2In the Server Behaviors panel, click the Plus (+) button and select Show Region > Show Region If Recordset Is Not
Empty.
3Select the recordset supplying the dynamic content and click OK.
4Repeat steps 1 to 3 for each element of dynamic content on the page.
Troubleshooting MySQL error messages
One common error message that you might encounter when testing a PHP database connection to MySQL 4.1 is
“Client does not support authentication protocol requested. Consider upgrading MySQL client.”
You may have to revert to an earlier version of MySQL, or install PHP 5 and copy some dynamic link libraries (DLLs).
For detailed instructions, see “Setting up a PHP development environment” on page 514.
Removing connection scripts
Using the Remove Connection Scripts command
You can use the Remove Connection Scripts command to remove scripts that Dreamweaver places in a remote folder
to access databases. These scripts are only needed for design-time authoring in Dreamweaver.
When you select the Using Driver On Testing Server option or the Using DSN On Testing Server option in the
Database Connections dialog box, Dreamweaver uploads an MMHTTPDB script file to the testing server. This allows
Dreamweaver to manipulate the remote database driver with the HTTP protocol, which in turn allows Dreamweaver
to get the database information it needs to help you create your site. However, this file does make it possible to see the
data source names (DSNs) defined on the system. If the DSNs and databases are not password protected, the script
also enables an attacker to issue SQL commands to the database.
The MMHTTPDB script files are located in the _mmServerScripts folder, which is located in the root of your website.
Note: The Dreamweaver file browser (the Files panel) hides the _mmServerScripts folder. You can see the
_mmServerScripts folder if you use a third-party FTP client or the file browser.
In some configurations these scripts are not necessary at all. The scripts are not involved when serving web pages to
visitors to your website, so they should not be placed on a production server.
If you’ve uploaded the MMHTTPDB scripts file to a production server, you should delete the MMHTTPDB scripts
file. The Remove Connection Scripts command automatically removes the script files for you.
532
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 20: Making pages dynamic
You can create dynamic pages that display information from dynamic content sources such as databases and session
variables. Adobe®
Dreamweaver® CS5 supports dynamic page development for ColdFusion, ASP, and PHP server
models.
You can also use an Ajax-based framework called Spry to create dynamic pages that display and process XML data.
Using prebuilt Spry form elements lets you build dynamic pages that don’t require a full-page refresh.
Optimizing the workspace for visual development
Displaying web-application development panels
Select the Data category from the Category pop-up menu of the Insert panel to display a set of buttons that let you add
dynamic content and server behaviors to your page.
The number and type of buttons that appear vary depending upon the document type opened in the Document
window. Move your mouse over an icon to display a tooltip that describes what that button does.
The Insert panel includes buttons to add the following items to the page:
•Recordsets
•Dynamic text or tables
•Record navigation bars
If you switch to Code view (View > Code), additional panels might appear in their own Insert panel category,
allowing you to insert code in the page. For example, if you view a ColdFusion page in Code view, a CFML panel
becomes available in the CFML category of the Insert panel.
Several panels provide ways for you to create dynamic pages:
•Select the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings) to define sources of dynamic content for your page and add the
content to the page.
•Select the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) to add server-side logic to your dynamic pages.
•Select the Databases panel (Window >Databases) to explore databases or create database connections.
•Select the Components panel (Window > Components) to inspect, add, or modify code for ColdFusion
components.
Note: The Components panel is enabled only if you open a ColdFusion page.
A server behavior is the set of instructions inserted in a dynamic page at design time and executed on the server at
run time.
For a tutorial on setting up the development workspace, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0144.
More Help topics
“Bindings panel” on page 541
“Server Behaviors panel” on page 542
533
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
“Databases panel” on page 542
“Components panel” on page 542
Development workspace tutorial
View your database within Dreamweaver
After connecting to your database, you can view its structure and data within Dreamweaver.
1Open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
The Databases panel displays all the databases for which you created connections. If you’re developing a ColdFusion
site, the panel displays all the databases that have data sources defined in the ColdFusion Administrator.
Note: Dreamweaver looks at the ColdFusion server you defined for the current site.
If no database appears in the panel, you must create a database connection.
2To display the tables, stored procedures, and views in the database, click the Plus (+) sign beside a connection in
the list.
3To display the columns in the table, click a table name.
The column icons reflect the data type and indicate the primary key of the table.
4To view the data in a table, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the table name in the list, and select
View Data from the pop-up menu.
More Help topics
“Setting up a ColdFusion development environment” on page 514
“Setting up a PHP development environment” on page 514
“Setting up an ASP development environment” on page 514
Previewing dynamic pages in a browser
Web application developers often debug their pages by checking them often in a web browser. You can quickly view
dynamic pages in a browser without first manually uploading them to a server (press F12).
To preview dynamic pages, you must complete the Testing Server category of the Site Definition dialog box.
You can specify that Dreamweaver use temporary files instead of the original files. With this option, Dreamweaver
runs a temporary copy of the page on a web server before displaying it in your browser. (Dreamweaver then deletes
the temporary file from the server.) To set this option, select Edit
> Preferences > Preview In Browser.
The Preview In Browser option does not upload related pages such as a results or a detail page, dependent files such as
image files, or server-side includes. To upload a missing file, select Window
> Site to open the Site panel, select the file
under Local Folder, and click the blue up arrow in the toolbar to copy the file to the web server folder.
More Help topics
“Set up a testing server” on page 45
534
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Restrict database information displayed in Dreamweaver
Advanced users of large database systems like Oracle should restrict the number of database items retrieved and
displayed by Dreamweaver at design time. An Oracle database may contain items that Dreamweaver cannot process
at design time. You can create a schema in Oracle and use it in Dreamweaver to filter out unnecessary items at design
time.
Note: You cannot create a schema or catalog in Microsoft Access.
Other users may benefit from restricting the amount of information Dreamweaver retrieves at design time. Some
databases contain dozens or even hundreds of tables, and you might prefer not to list them all while you work. A
schema or catalog can restrict the number of database items that are retrieved at design time.
You must create a schema or catalog in your database system before you can apply it in Dreamweaver. Consult your
database system documentation or your system administrator.
Note: You cannot apply a schema or catalog in Dreamweaver if you’re developing a ColdFusion application, or using
Microsoft Access.
1Open a dynamic page in Dreamweaver; then open the Databases panel (Window > Databases).
•If the database connection exists, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the connection in the list,
and select Edit Connection from the pop-up menu.
•If the connection does not exist, click the Plus (+) button at the top of the panel and create it.
2In the dialog box for the connection, click Advanced.
3Specify your schema or catalog, and click OK.
Set the Property inspector for ColdFusion stored procedures and ASP
commands
Modify the selected stored procedure. The available options vary depending on the server technology.
❖Edit any of the options. When you select a new option in the inspector, Dreamweaver updates the page.
More Help topics
“Edit dynamic content” on page 560
Input Name options
This Property inspector appears when Dreamweaver encounters an unrecognized input type. Typically this occurs
because of a typing or other data entry error.
If you change the field type in the Property inspector to a value that Dreamweaver recognizes—for example, if you
correct the spelling error—the Property inspector updates to show the properties for the recognized type. Set any of
the following options in the Property inspector:
Input Name Assigns a name to the field. This box is required, and the name must be unique.
Type Sets the input type of the field. The contents of this box reflect the input type value that currently appears in your
HTML source code.
Value Sets the value of the field.
Parameters Opens the Parameters dialog box so you can view the current attributes of the field, as well as add or
remove attributes.
535
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Designing dynamic pages
Dreamweaver and dynamic page design
Follow these general steps to successfully design and create a dynamic website.
1Design the page.
A key step in designing any website—whether static or dynamic—is the visual design of the page. When adding
dynamic elements to a web page, the design of the page becomes crucial to its usability. You should carefully
consider how users will interact with both individual pages and the website as a whole.
A common method of incorporating dynamic content into a web page is to create a table to present content, and
import dynamic content into one or more of the table’s cells. Using this method you can present information of
various types in a structured format.
2Create a source of dynamic content.
Dynamic websites require a content source from which to extract data before they can display it on a web page.
Before you can use content sources in a web page, you must do the following:
•Create a connection to the dynamic content source (such as a database) and the application server processing
the page. Create the data source by using the Bindings panel; then you can select and insert the data source in
the page.
•Specify what information in the database you want to display, or what variables to include in the page by creating
a recordset. You can also test the query from within the Recordset dialog box, and make any needed adjustments
before adding it to the Bindings panel.
•Select and insert dynamic content elements into the selected page.
3Add dynamic content to a web page.
After you define a recordset or other data source, and add it to the Bindings panel, you can insert the dynamic
content the recordset represents into the page. The Dreamweaver menu-driven interface makes adding dynamic
content elements as easy as selecting a dynamic content source from the Bindings panel, and inserting it into an
appropriate text, image, or form object within the current page.
When you insert a dynamic content element or other server behavior into a page, Dreamweaver inserts a server-
side script into the page’s source code. This script instructs the server to retrieve data from the defined data source
and render it within the web page. To place dynamic content within a web page, you can do one of the following:
•Place it at the insertion point in either Code or Design view.
•Replace a text string or other placeholder.
Insert it into an HTML attribute. For example, dynamic content can define the src attribute of an image or the
value attribute of a form field.
4Add server behaviors to a page.
In addition to adding dynamic content, you can incorporate complex application logic into web pages by using
server behaviors. Server behaviors are predefined pieces of server-side code that add application logic to web pages,
providing greater interaction and functionality.
The Dreamweaver server behaviors let you add application logic to a website without having to write the code
yourself. The server behaviors supplied with Dreamweaver support ColdFusion, ASP, and PHP document types.
The server behaviors are written and tested to be fast, secure, and robust. The built-in server behaviors support
cross-platform web pages for all browsers.
536
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver provides a point-and-click interface that makes applying dynamic content and complex behaviors to
a page as easy as inserting textual and design elements. The following server behaviors are available:
•Define a recordset from an existing database. The recordset you define is then stored in the Bindings panel.
•Display multiple records on a single page. You select either an entire table or individual cells or rows that contain
dynamic content, and specify the number of records to display on each page view.
•Create and insert a dynamic table into a page, and associate the table with a recordset. You can later modify both
the table’s appearance and the repeating region by using the Property inspector and Repeating Region Server
Behavior, respectively.
•Insert a dynamic text object into a page. The text object you insert is an item from a predefined recordset, to
which you can apply any of the data formats.
•Create record navigation and status controls, master/detail pages, and forms for updating information in a
database.
•Display more than one record from a database record.
•Create recordset navigation links that allow users to view the previous or next records from a database record.
•Add a record counter to help users keep track of how many records were returned, and where they are in the
returned result.
You can also extend Dreamweaver server behaviors by writing your own, or installing server behaviors written by
third parties.
5Test and debug the page.
Before making a dynamic page—or an entire website—available on the web, you should test its functionality. You
should also consider how your application’s functionality might affect people with disabilities.
More Help topics
“Presenting content with tables” on page 170
“Adding and modifying images” on page 226
“Inserting SWF files” on page 242
Dynamic content sources overview
About dynamic content sources
A dynamic content source is a store of information from which you can retrieve and display dynamic content for use
in a web page. Sources of dynamic content include not only information stored in a database, but values submitted by
HTML forms, values contained in server objects, and other content sources.
Dreamweaver lets you easily connect to a database and create a recordset from which to extract dynamic content. A
recordset is the result of a database query. It extracts the specific information you request and allows you to display that
information within a specified page. You define the recordset based on the information contained in the database and
the content you want to display.
Different technology vendors may use different terminology for a recordset. In ASP and ColdFusion, a recordset is
defined as a query. If you are using other sources of data, such as user input or server variables, the name of the data
source that is defined in Dreamweaver is the same as the data source name itself.
537
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dynamic websites require a data source from which to retrieve and display dynamic content. Dreamweaver lets you
use databases, request variables, URL variables, server variables, form variables, stored procedures, and other sources
of dynamic content. Depending on the data source, you can either retrieve new content to satisfy a request, or modify
the page to meet the needs of users.
Any content source that you define in Dreamweaver is added to the list of content sources in the Bindings panel. Then
you can insert the content source into the currently selected page.
About recordsets
Web pages can’t directly access the data stored in a database. Instead, they interact with a recordset. A recordset is a
subset of the information (records), extracted from the database using a database query. A query is a search statement
designed to find and extract specific information from a database.
When using a database as a content source for a dynamic web page, you must first create a recordset in which to store
the retrieved data. Recordsets serve as an intermediary between the database storing the content and the application
server generating the page. Recordsets are temporarily stored in the application server’s memory for faster data
retrieval. The server discards the recordset when it is no longer needed.
A query can produce a recordset that includes only certain columns, only certain records, or a combination of both. A
recordset can also include all the records and columns of a database table. However, because applications rarely need
to use every piece of data in a database, you should strive to make your recordsets as small as possible. Because the web
server temporarily holds the recordset in memory, using a smaller recordset uses less memory, and can potentially
improve server performance.
Database queries are written in Structured Query Language (SQL, pronounced “sequel”), a simple language that allows
you to retrieve, add, and delete data to and from a database. The SQL builder included with Dreamweaver lets you
create simple queries without having to understand SQL. However, if you want to create complex SQL queries, a basic
knowledge of this language lets you create more advanced queries, and provides you with greater flexibility in
designing dynamic pages.
Before you define a recordset for use with Dreamweaver, you must create a connection to a database and—if no data
exists yet—enter data into the database. If you have not yet defined a database connection for your site, refer to the
database connection chapter for the server technology you are developing for, and follow the instructions on creating
a database connection.
More Help topics
“Define a recordset without writing SQL” on page 543
About URL and form parameters
URL parameters store retrieved information input by users. To define a URL parameter you create a form or hypertext
link that uses the GET method to submit data. The information is appended to the URL of the requested page and
communicated to the server. When using URL variables, the query string contains one or more name-value pairs that
are associated with the form fields. These name-value pairs are appended to the URL.
Form parameters store retrieved information that is included in the HTTP request for a web page. If you create a form
that uses the POST method, the data submitted by the form is passed to the server. Before you begin, make sure you
pass a form parameter to the server.
538
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“URL parameters” on page 631
“Define form parameters” on page 550
About session variables
Session variables let you store and display information maintained for the duration of a user’s visit (or session). The
server creates a different session object for each user and maintains it for a set period of time or until the object is
explicitly terminated.
Because session variables last throughout the user’s session and persist when the user moves from page to page within
the website, they’re ideal for storing user preferences. Session variables can also be used for inserting a value in the
page’s HTML code, assigning a value to a local variable, or providing a value to evaluate a conditional expression.
Before defining session variables for a page, you must create them in the source code. After you create a session variable
in the web application’s source code, you can use Dreamweaver to retrieve its value and use it in a web page.
How session variables work
Session variables store information (usually form or URL parameters submitted by users) and make it available to all
of a web application’s pages for the duration of the user’s visit. For example, when users log on to a web portal that
provides access to e-mail, stock quotes, weather reports, and daily news, the web application stores the login
information in a session variable that identifies the user throughout the site’s pages. This allows the user to see only
the types of content they have selected as they navigate through the site. Session variables can also provide a safety
mechanism by terminating the user’s session if the account remains inactive for a certain period of time. This also frees
server memory and processing resources if the user forgets to log off a website.
Session variables store information for the life of the use session. The session begins when the user opens a page within
the application and ends when the user does not open another page in the application for a certain period of time, or
when the user explicitly terminates the session (typically by clicking a “log-off” link). While it exists, the session is
specific to an individual user, and every user has a separate session.
Use session variables to store information that every page in a web application can access. The information can be as
diverse as the user’s name, preferred font size, or a flag indicating whether the user has successfully logged in. Another
common use of session variables is to keep a running tally, such as the number of questions answered correctly so far
in an online quiz, or the products the user selected so far from an online catalog.
Session variables can only function if the user’s browser is configured to accept cookies. The server creates a session
ID number that uniquely identifies the user when the session is first initiated, then sends a cookie containing the ID
number to the user’s browser. When the user requests another page on the server, the server reads the cookie in the
browser to identify the user and to retrieve the user’s session variables stored in the server’s memory.
Collecting, storing, and retrieving information in session variables
Before creating a session variable, you must first obtain the information you want to store, and then send it to the server
for storage. You can gather and send information to the server using HTML forms or hypertext links containing URL
parameters. You can also obtain information from cookies stored on the user’s computer, from the HTTP headers sent
by the user’s browser with a page request, or from a database.
A typical example of storing URL parameters in session variables is a product catalog that uses hard-coded URL
parameters created using a link to send product information back to the server to be stored in a session variable. When
a user clicks the “Add to shopping cart” link, the product ID is stored in a session variable while the user continues to
shop. When the user proceeds to the check-out page, the product ID stored in the session variable is retrieved.
539
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
A form-based survey is a typical example of a page that stores form parameters in session variables. The form sends
the selected information back to the server, where an application page scores the survey and stores the responses in a
session variable to be passed to an application that might tally up the responses gathered from the survey population.
Or the information might be stored in a database for later use.
After information is sent to the server, you store the information in session variables by adding the appropriate code
for your server model to the page specified by the URL or form parameter. Referred to as the destination page, this page
is specified in either the action attribute of the HTML form or the href attribute of the hypertext link on the starting
page.
After you store a value in a session variable, you can use Dreamweaver to retrieve the value from session variables and
use it in a web application. After you define the session variable in Dreamweaver, you can insert its value in a page.
The HTML syntax for each appears as follows:
<form action="destination.html" method="get" name="myform"> </form>
<param name="href"value="destination.html">
Both the server technology used and the method you use to obtain the information determines the code used to store
the information in a session variable. The basic syntax for each server technology is as follows:
ColdFusion
<CFSET session.variable_name = value>
ASP
<% Session("variable_name") = value %>
The value expression is usually a server expression such as Request.Form("lastname"). For example, if you use a
URL parameter called product (or an HTML form with the GET method and a text field called product) to gather
information, the following statements store the information in a session variable called prodID:
ColdFusion
<CFSET session.prodID = url.product>
ASP
<% Session("prodID") = Request.QueryString("product") %>
If you use an HTML form with the post method and a text field called txtProduct to gather the information, then
the following statements store the information in the session variable:
ColdFusion
<CFSET session.prodID = form.txtProduct>
ASP
<% Session("prodID") = Request.Form("txtProduct") %>
540
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Example of information stored in session variables
You’re working on a site with a large audience of senior citizens. In Dreamweaver, add two links to the Welcome screen
that let users customize the size of the site’s text. For larger, easy-to-read text, the user clicks one link, and for regular-
size text, the user clicks another link.
Each link has a URL parameter called fontsize that submits the user’s text preference to the server, as the following
Adobe ColdFusion® example shows:
<a href="resort.cfm?fontsize=large">Larger Text</a><br>
<a href="resort.cfm?fontsize=small">Normal Text</a>
Store the user’s text preference in a session variable and use it to set the font size on each page the user requests.
Near the top of the destination page, enter the following code to create a session called font_pref that stores the user’s
font size preference.
ColdFusion
<CFSET session.font_pref = url.fontsize>
ASP
<% Session("font_pref") = Request.QueryString("fontsize") %>
When the user clicks the hypertext link, the page sends the user’s text preference in a URL parameter to the destination
page. The code on the destination page stores the URL parameter in the font_pref session variable. For the duration
of the user’s session, all the pages of the application retrieve this value and display the selected font size.
More Help topics
“Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556
“Define session variables” on page 550
ASP and ColdFusion application variables
In ASP and ColdFusion, you can use application variables to store and display information that is maintained for the
lifetime of the application and persists from user to user. The application’s lifetime lasts from the time the first user
requests a page in the application to the time the web server is stopped. (An application is defined as all the files in a
virtual directory and its subdirectories.)
Because application variables last for the lifetime of the application, and persist from user to user, they’re ideal for
storing information that must exist for all users, such as the current time and date. The value of the application variable
is defined in the application’s code.
541
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
ASP server variables
You can define the following ASP server variables as sources of dynamic content: Request.Cookie,
Request.QueryString, Request.Form, Request.ServerVariables, and Request.ClientCertificates.
More Help topics
“Define server variables” on page 552
ColdFusion server variables
You can define the following ColdFusion server variables:
Client variables Associate data with a specific client. Client variables maintain the application’s state as the user moves
from page to page in the application, as well as from session to session. “Maintaining state” means to preserve
information from one page (or session) to the next so that the application remembers the user, and the user’s previous
choices and preferences.
Cookie variables Access cookies passed to the server by the browser.
CGI variables Provide information about the server running ColdFusion, the browser requesting a page, and other
information about the processing environment.
Server variables Can be accessed by all clients and applications on the server. They persist until the server is stopped.
Local variables Created with the CFSET tag or CFPARAM tag within a ColdFusion page.
More Help topics
“Define server variables” on page 552
Dynamic content panels
Bindings panel
Use the Bindings panel to define and edit sources of dynamic content, add dynamic content to a page, and apply data
formats to dynamic text.
You can perform the following tasks with this panel:
•“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
•“Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556
•“Change or delete content sources” on page 555
•“Use predefined data formats” on page 570
•“Attach XML data sources” on page 486
•“Display XML data in XSLT pages” on page 487
•“URL parameters” on page 631
•“Define session variables” on page 550
•“Define application variables for ASP and ColdFusion” on page 551
•“Define server variables” on page 552
542
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
•“Cache content sources” on page 555
•“Copy a recordset from one page to another page” on page 556
•“Make HTML attributes dynamic” on page 558
Server Behaviors panel
Use the Server Behavior panel to add Dreamweaver server behaviors to a page, edit server behaviors, and create server
behaviors.
You can perform the following tasks with this panel:
•“Displaying database records” on page 562
•“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
•“Build master and detail pages in one operation” on page 589
•“Building search and results pages” on page 590
•“Building a record insert page” on page 596
•“Building an update record page” on page 599
•“Building a delete record page” on page 604
•“Building a page that only authorized users can access” on page 619
•“Building a registration page” on page 615
•“Building a login page” on page 617
•“Building a page that only authorized users can access” on page 619
•“Add a stored procedure (ColdFusion)” on page 613
•“Delete dynamic content” on page 560
•“Adding custom server behaviors” on page 572
Databases panel
Use the Databases panel to create database connections, to inspect databases, and to insert database-related code in
your pages.
You can view and connect to your database with this panel:
•“View your database within Dreamweaver” on page 533
•“Database connections for ColdFusion developers” on page 516
•“Database connections for ASP developers” on page 518
•“Database connections for PHP developers” on page 525
Components panel
Use the Components panel to create and inspect components, and to insert component code in your pages.
Note: The panel does not work in Design view.
You can perform the following tasks with this panel:
❖“Using ColdFusion components” on page 623
543
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Defining sources of dynamic content
Define a recordset without writing SQL
You can create a recordset without manually entering SQL statements.
1In the Document window, open the page that will use the recordset.
2Select Windows > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
3In the Bindings panel, click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset (Query) from the pop-up menu.
The simple Recordset dialog box appears. If you are developing a ColdFusion site, the Recordset dialog box is slightly
different. (If the advanced Recordset dialog appears instead, click the Simple button to switch to the simple Recordset
dialog box.)
4Complete the Recordset dialog box for your document type.
For instructions, see the topics below.
5Click the Test button to execute the query and ensure that it retrieves the information you intended.
If you defined a filter that uses parameters input by users, enter a value in the Test Value box, and click OK. If an
instance of the recordset is successfully created, a table appears that displays data extracted from the recordset.
6Click OK to add the recordset to the list of available content sources in the Bindings panel.
Options for the simple Recordset dialog box (PHP, ASP)
1In the Name box, enter a name for the recordset.
A common practice is to add the prefix rs to recordset names to distinguish them from other object names in the
code, for example: rsPressReleases.
Recordset names can only contain letters, numbers, and the underscore character (_). You cannot use special
characters or spaces.
2Select a connection from the Connection pop-up menu.
If no connection appears in the list, click Define to create one.
3In the Table pop-up menu, select the database table that will provide data to the recordset.
The pop-up menu displays all tables in the specified database.
4To include a subset of the table’s columns in the recordset, click Selected and choose the desired columns by
Control-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Macintosh) them in the list.
5To further limit the records returned from the table, complete the Filter section:
•From the first pop-up menu, select a column in the database table to compare against a test value you define.
•From the second pop-up menu, select a conditional expression to compare the selected value in each record
against the test value.
•From the third pop-up menu, select Entered Value.
•In the box, enter the test value.
If the specified value in a record meets your filtering condition, the record is included the recordset.
6(Optional) To sort the records, select a column to sort by, and then specify whether the records should be sorted in
ascending order (1, 2, 3... or A, B, C...) or descending order.
544
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
7Click Test to connect to the database and create an instance of the data source, and click OK to close the data source.
A table appears displaying the returned data. Each row contains a record and each column represents a field in that
record.
8Click OK. The newly defined recordset appears in the Bindings panel.
Options for the simple Recordset dialog box (ColdFusion)
Define a recordset for ColdFusion document types as a source of dynamic content without you having to hand code
SQL statements.
1In the Name box, enter a name for the recordset.
A common practice is to add the prefix rs to recordset names to distinguish them from other object names in your
code. For example: rsPressReleases
Recordset names can only contain letters, numbers, and the underscore character (_). You cannot use special
characters or spaces.
2If you’re defining a recordset for a ColdFusion component (that is, if a CFC file is currently open in Dreamweaver),
select an existing CFC function from the Function pop-up menu, or click the New Function button to create a new
function.
Note: The Function pop-up menu is only available if a CFC file is the current document and you have access to a
computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or better.
The recordset is defined in the function.
3Select a data source from the Data Source pop-up menu.
If no data source appears in the pop-up menu, you must create a ColdFusion data source.
4In the Username and Password boxes, enter the user name and password for the ColdFusion application server if
required.
Data sources in ColdFusion may require a user name and password to access them. If you do not have the user name
and password to access a data source in ColdFusion, contact your organization’s ColdFusion administrator.
5In the Table pop-up menu, select the database table that will provide data to the recordset.
The Table pop-up menu displays all tables in the specified database.
6To include a subset of the table’s columns in the recordset, click Selected and choose the desired columns by
Control-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Macintosh) them in the list.
7To further limit the records returned from the table, complete the Filter section:
•From the first pop-up menu, select a column in the database table to compare against a test value you define.
•From the second pop-up menu, select a conditional expression to compare the selected value in each record
against the test value.
•From the third pop-up menu, select Entered Value.
•In the box, enter the test value.
If the specified value in a record meets your filtering condition, the record is included in the recordset.
8(Optional) To sort the records, select a column to sort by, and then specify whether the records should be sorted in
ascending (1, 2, 3... or A, B, C...) or descending order.
9Click Test to connect to the database and create an instance of the data source.
545
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
A table appears displaying the returned data. Each row contains a record and each column represents a field in that
record. Click OK to close the test recordset.
10 Click OK. The newly defined ColdFusion recordset appears in the Bindings panel.
Define an advanced recordset by writing SQL
Write your own SQL statements by using the advanced Recordset dialog box, or create a SQL statement by using the
graphical Database Items tree.
1In the Document window, open the page that will use the recordset.
2Select Windows > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
3In the Bindings panel, click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset (Query) from the pop-up menu.
The advanced Recordset dialog box appears. If you are developing a ColdFusion site, the Recordset dialog box is
slightly different. (If the simple Recordset dialog box appears instead, switch to the advanced Recordset dialog box by
clicking the Advanced button.)
4Complete the advanced Recordset dialog box.
For instructions, see the topics below.
5Click the Test button to execute the query and ensure that it retrieves the information you intended.
If you defined a filter that uses parameters input by users, the Test button displays the Test Value dialog box. Enter a
value in the Test Value box and click OK. If an instance of the recordset is successfully created, a table displaying the
data from the recordset appears.
6Click OK to add the recordset to the list of available content sources in the Bindings panel.
More Help topics
“Create SQL queries using the Database Items tree” on page 548
“Database connections for ASP developers” on page 518
“Database connections for PHP developers” on page 525
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
“Add a stored procedure (ColdFusion)” on page 613
SQL primer
Options for the advanced Recordset dialog box (PHP, ASP)
Define a recordset as a source of dynamic content by writing a custom SQL statement, or by creating a SQL statement
using the graphical Database Items tree.
1In the Name box, enter a name for the recordset.
A common practice is to add the prefix rs to recordset names to distinguish them from other object names in the code.
For example: rsPressRelease
Recordset names can only contain letters, numbers, and the underscore character (_). You cannot use special
characters or spaces.
2Select a connection from the Connection pop-up menu.
546
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Enter a SQL statement in the SQL text area or use the graphical Database Items tree at the bottom of the dialog box
to build a SQL statement from the chosen recordset.
Do the following to use the Database Items tree to build the SQL statement:
•Ensure the SQL text area is blank.
•Expand the branches of the tree until you find the database object you need—a column in a table, for example, or
a stored procedure in the database.
•Select the database object and click one of the buttons on the right side of the tree.
For example, if you select a table column, the available buttons are SELECT, WHERE, and ORDER BY. Click one of
the buttons to add the associated clause to your SQL statement.
You can also use a predefined SQL statement in a stored procedure by selecting the stored procedure from the
Database Items tree and clicking the Procedure button. Dreamweaver automatically fills in the SQL and Variable areas.
4If the SQL statement contains variables, define their values in the Variables area by clicking the Plus (+) button and
entering the variable’s name, type (integer, text, date, or floating point number), default value (the value the variable
should take if no run-time value is returned), and run-time value.
Note: When using variables in a SQL statement in PHP, Dreamweaver automatically adds a leading dollar sign to the
variable name, so you should omit the dollar sign (e.g., colname, instead of $colname).
If the SQL statement contains variables, make sure the Default Value column of the Variables box contains valid test
values.
The run-time value is usually a URL or form parameter entered by a user in an HTML form field.
URL parameters in the Run-time Value column:
Form parameters in the Run-time Value column:
5Click Test to connect to the database and create an instance of the recordset.
If the SQL statement contains variables, make sure the Default Value column of the Variables box contains valid test
values before clicking Test.
If successful, a table appears displaying the data in your recordset. Each row contains a record and each column
represents a field in that record. Click OK to clear the recordset.
6If satisfied with your work, click OK.
Options for the advanced Recordset dialog box (ColdFusion)
Use the advanced Recordset dialog box to write custom SQL queries, or use the Database Items tree to author SQL
queries using a point-and-click interface.
1In the Name box, enter a name for the recordset.
Server Model Run-Time value expression for URL parameter
ASP Request.QueryString(“formFieldName”)
PHP $_GET['formFieldName']
Server Model Run-Time value expression for form parameter
ASP Request.Form(“formFieldName”)
PHP $_POST['formFieldName']
547
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
A common practice is to add the prefix rs to recordset names to distinguish them from other object names in your
code. For example: rsPressReleases
Recordset names can only contain letters, numbers, and the underscore character (_). You cannot use special
characters or spaces.
If you’re defining a recordset for a ColdFusion component (that is, if a CFC file is currently open in Dreamweaver),
select an existing CFC function from the Function pop-up menu, or click the New Function button to create a new
function.
Note: The Function pop-up menu is only available if a CFC file is the current document and you have access to a
computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or better.
The recordset is defined in the function.
2Select a data source from the Data Source pop-up menu.
If no data source appears in the pop-up menu list, you will need to first create a ColdFusion data source.
3In the Username and Password boxes, enter the user name and password for the ColdFusion application server if
required.
Data sources in ColdFusion may require a user name and password to access them. If you do not have the user name
and password to access a data source in ColdFusion, contact your organization’s ColdFusion administrator.
4Enter a SQL statement in the SQL text area or use the graphical Database Items tree at the bottom of the dialog box
to build a SQL statement from the chosen recordset.
5(Optional) Do the following to use the Database Items tree to build the SQL statement:
•Ensure the SQL text area is blank.
•Expand the branches of the tree until you find the database object you need—for example, a column in a table.
•Select the database object and click one of the buttons on the right side of the tree.
For example, if you select a table column, the available buttons are Select, Where, and Order By. Click one of the
buttons to add the associated clause to your SQL statement.
If your SQL statement contains parameters, define their values in the Parameters area by clicking the Plus (+) button
and entering the parameter’s name and default value (the value the parameter should take if no run-time value is
returned).
If the SQL statement contains parameters, make sure the Default Value column of the Parameters box contains valid
test values.
The Page Parameters allow you to provide default values for run-time value references in the SQL you write. For
example, the following SQL statement selects an employee record based on the value of the employee’s ID. You can
assign a default value to this parameter, ensuring that a run-time value is always returned. In this example,
FormFieldName refers to a form field in which the user enters an employee ID:
SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE EmpID = + (Request.Form(#FormFieldName#))
The Add Page Parameters dialog box would contain a name-value pairing similar to:
The run-time value is usually a URL or form parameter entered by a user in an HTML form field.
6Click Test to connect to the database and create an instance of the recordset.
Name Default values
FormFieldName 0001
548
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
If the SQL statement contains run-time references, make sure the Default Value column of the Page Parameters field
contains valid test values before clicking Test.
If successful, a table appears displaying the data in your recordset. Each row contains a record and each column
represents a field in that record. Click OK to clear the recordset.
7If satisfied with your work, click OK.
Define parameters in a SQL statement (ColdFusion)
Define parameters in a SQL statement; the default value is the value that the parameter should use if no run-time value
is returned.
1Select a parameter name from the Name pop-up menu.
2Enter a default value for the parameter in the Default Parameter box, and click OK.
Define parameters in a SQL statement (PHP)
Define parameters in a SQL statement; the default value is the value that the parameter should use if no run-time value
is returned.
1Enter a parameter name in the Name box.
2Enter a default value for the parameter in the Default Parameter box.
3Enter a run-time value for a parameter in the Run-time Value box, and click OK.
Create SQL queries using the Database Items tree
Instead of manually typing SQL statements into the SQL box, you can use the Database Item’s point-and-click
interface to create complex SQL queries. The Database Items tree lets you select database objects and link them using
the SQL SELECT, WHERE, and ORDER BY clauses. After you create a SQL query, you can define any variables using
the Variables area of the dialog box.
The next two examples describe two SQL statements and the steps for creating them using the advanced Recordset
dialog box’s Database Items tree.
Example: Selecting a table
This example selects the entire contents of the Employees table. The SQL statement defining the query appears as
follows:
SELECT * FROM Employees
To create this query, follow these steps.
1Expand the Tables branch to display all of the tables in the selected database.
2Select the Employees table.
3Click the Select button.
4Click OK to add the recordset to the Bindings panel.
Example: Selecting specific rows from a table and ordering the results
The following example selects two rows from the Employees table, and selects the job type using a variable that you
must define. The results are then ordered by employee name.
549
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
SELECT emplNo, emplName
FROM Employees
WHERE emplJob = 'varJob'
ORDER BY emplName
1Expand the Tables branch to display all of the tables in the selected database; then expand the Employees table to
display the individual table rows.
2Build the SQL statement as follows:
•Select emplNo, and click the Select button.
•Select emplName, and click the Select button.
•Select emplJob, and click the Where button.
•Select emplName, and click the Order By button.
3Place the insertion point after WHERE emplJob in the SQL text area and type ='varJob' (include the equal sign).
4Define the variable 'varJob' by clicking the Plus (+) button in the Variables area and entering the following values
in the Name, Default Value, and Run-Time Value columns: varJob, CLERK, Request("job").
5Click OK to add the recordset to the Bindings panel.
Define URL parameters
URL parameters store retrieved information input by users. Before you begin, make sure you pass a form or URL
parameter to the server. After you define the URL variable, you can use its value in the currently selected page.
1In the Document window, open the page that will use the variable.
2Select Windows > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
3In the Bindings panel, click the Plus (+) button and select one of the following from the pop-up menu:
4In the URL Variable dialog box, enter the name of the URL variable in the box, and click OK.
The URL variable name is normally the name of the HTML form field or object used to obtain its value.
5The URL variable appears in the Bindings panel.
More Help topics
“About URL and form parameters” on page 537
“Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556
“URL parameters” on page 631
“ColdFusion server variables” on page 541
Document Types Menu item in Bindings panel for URL variable
ASP Request Variable > Request.QueryString
ColdFusion URL Variable
PHP URL Variable
550
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Define form parameters
Form parameters store retrieved information that is included in the HTTP request for a web page. If you create a form
that uses the POST method, the data submitted by the form is passed to the server. Before you begin, make sure you
pass a form parameter to the server. After you define the form parameter as a content source, you can use its value in
your page.
1In the Document window, open the page that will use the variable.
2Select Windows > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
3In the Bindings panel, click the Plus (+) button and select one of the following from the pop-up menu:
4In the Form Variable dialog box, enter the name of the form variable, and click OK. The form parameter name is
normally the name of the HTML form field or object used to obtain its value.
The form parameter appears in the Bindings panel.
More Help topics
“About dynamic content sources” on page 536
“About URL and form parameters” on page 537
“Define server variables” on page 552
Define session variables
You can use session variables to store and display information maintained for the duration of a user’s visit (or session).
The server creates a different session object for each user and maintains it for a set period of time or until the object is
explicitly terminated.
Before defining session variables for a page, you must create them in the source code. After you create a session variable
in the web application’s source code, you can use Dreamweaver to retrieve its value and use it in a web page.
1Create a session variable in the source code, and assign a value to it.
For example, this ColdFusion example instantiates a session called username, and assigns it the value Cornelius:
<CFSET session.username = Cornelius>
2Select Window > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
Document Types Menu item in Bindings panel for form variable
ASP Request Variable > Request.Form
ColdFusion Form Variable
PHP Form Variable
551
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Click the Plus (+) button, and select Session Variable from the pop-up menu.
4Enter the name of the variable you defined in the application’s source code, and click OK.
More Help topics
“Using forms to collect information from users” on page 630
“How session variables work” on page 538
“Collecting, storing, and retrieving information in session variables” on page 538
Define application variables for ASP and ColdFusion
In ASP and ColdFusion, you can use application variables to store and display information that is maintained for the
lifetime of the application and persists from user to user. After you define the application variable, you can use its value
in a page.
Note: There are no application variable objects in PHP.
1Open a dynamic document type in the Document window.
2Select Window > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
3Click the Plus (+) button, and select Application Variable from the pop-up menu.
4Enter the name of the variable as defined in the application’s source code, and click OK.
The application variable appears in the Bindings panel under the Application icon.
More Help topics
“About adding dynamic content” on page 556
“Define server variables” on page 552
Use a variable as a data source for a ColdFusion recordset
When you define a recordset for a page in the Bindings panel, Dreamweaver enters the name of the ColdFusion data
source in the cfquery tag on the page. For more flexibility, you can store a data source name in a variable and use the
variable in the cfquery tag. Dreamweaver provides a visual method of specifying such a variable in your recordsets.
1Make sure a ColdFusion page is active in the Document window.
2In the Bindings panel, click the Plus (+) button and select Data Source Name Variable from the pop-up menu.
The Data Source Name Variable dialog box appears.
552
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Define a variable, and click OK.
4When defining the recordset, select the variable as the data source for the recordset.
In the Recordset dialog box, the variable appears in the Data Source pop-up menu along with the ColdFusion data
sources on the server.
5Complete the Recordset dialog box, and click OK.
6Initialize the variable.
Dreamweaver does not initialize the variable for you so that you can initialize it how and where you want. You can
initialize the variable in the page code (before the cfquery tag), in an include file, or in some other file as a session or
application variable.
Define server variables
You define server variables as sources of dynamic content for use within a web application. Server variables vary from
document type to document type and include form variables, URL variables, session variables, and application
variables.
Server variables can be accessed by all clients that access the server, and by any applications running on the server. The
variables persist until the server is stopped.
More Help topics
“Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556
“URL parameters” on page 631
“HTML form parameters” on page 630
“ColdFusion server variables” on page 541
Define ColdFusion server variables
1Open the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings). In the Server Variable dialog box, enter the name of the server
variable, and click OK.
2Click the Plus (+) button and select the server variable from the pop-up menu.
3Enter the name of the variable, and click OK. The ColdFusion server variable appears in the Bindings panel.
The following table lists the built-in ColdFusion server variables:
Variable Description
Server.ColdFusion.ProductName ColdFusion product name.
Server.ColdFusion.ProductVersion ColdFusion version number.
Server.ColdFusion.ProductLevel ColdFusion edition (Enterprise, Professional).
Server.ColdFusion.SerialNumber Serial number of currently installed version of ColdFusion.
Server.OS.Name Name of operating system running on the server (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Linux).
Server.OS.AdditionalInformation Additional information about installed operating system (service packs, updates).
Server.OS.Version Version of installed operating system.
Server.OS.BuildNumber Build number of installed operating system.
553
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Define a ColdFusion local variable
Local variables are variables created with the CFSET or CFPARAM tag within a ColdFusion page. The defined local
variable appears in the Bindings panel.
❖In the Local Variable dialog box, enter the name of the local variable and click OK.
Define ASP server variables
You can define the following ASP server variables as sources of dynamic content: Request.Cookie,
Request.QueryString, Request.Form, Request.ServerVariables, and Request.ClientCertificates.
1Open the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings).
2Click the Plus (+) button, and select Request Variable from the pop-up menu.
3In the Request Variable dialog box, select one of the following request collections from the Type pop-up menu:
The QueryString collection Retrieves information appended to the sending page’s URL, such as when the page has an
HTML form using the GET method. The query string consists of one or more name-value pairs (for example,
last=Smith, first=Winston) appended to the URL with a question mark (?). If the query string has more than one
name-value pair, they are combined with ampersands (&).
The Form collection Retrieves form information included in the body of the HTTP request by an HTML form using
the POST method.
The ServerVariables collection Retrieves the values of predefined environment variables. The collection has a long list
of variables, including CONTENT_LENGTH (the length of content submitted in the HTTP request, which you can use to
see if a form is empty), and HTTP_USER_AGENT (provides information about the user’s browser).
For example, Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT") contains information about the submitting
browser, such as Mozilla/4.07
[en] (WinNT; I), which denotes a Netscape Navigator 4.07 browser.
For a complete list of ASP server environment variables, see the online documentation installed with Microsoft
Personal Web Server (PWS) or Internet Information Server (IIS).
The Cookies collection Retrieves the values of the cookies sent in an HTTP request. For example, suppose the page
reads a cookie called "readMe" on the user’s system. On the server, the values of the cookie are stored in the variable
Request.Cookies("readMe").
The ClientCertificate collection Retrieves the certification fields from the HTTP request sent by the browser. The
certification fields are specified in the X.509 standard.
4Specify the variable in the collection that you want to access, and click OK.
For example, if you want to access the information in the Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT")
variable, enter the argument HTTP_USER_AGENT. If you want to access the information in the
Request.Form("lastname") variable, enter the argument lastname.
The request variable appears in the Bindings panel.
Define PHP server variables
Define server variables as a source of dynamic content for PHP pages. The PHP server variables appear in the Bindings
panel.
1Open the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings).
2Click the Plus (+) button, and select the variable from the pop-up menu.
3
In the Request Variable dialog box, enter the name of the variable (for example, REQUEST_METHOD), and click OK.
554
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
For more information, search for the keyword $_SERVER in the PHP documentation.
Define a ColdFusion client variable
Define a ColdFusion client variable as a source of dynamic content for the page. The newly defined ColdFusion client
variables appear in the Bindings panel.
❖In the Client Variable dialog box, enter the name of the variable, and click OK.
For example, to access the information in the Client.LastVisit ColdFusion variable, enter LastVisit.
Client variables are variables created in the code to associate data with a specific client. Client variables maintain the
application’s state as the user moves from page to page within the application, as well as from session to session.
Client variables can be user-defined or built-in. The following table lists the built-in ColdFusion client variables:
Define a ColdFusion cookie variable
Cookie variables are created in the code, and access information contained in cookies passed to the server by a browser.
The defined cookie variable appears in the Bindings panel.
❖In the Cookie Variable dialog box, enter the name of the cookie variable, and click OK.
Define a ColdFusion CGI variable
The defined CGI variable appears in the Bindings panel.
❖In the CGI Variable dialog box, enter the name of the variable, and click OK.
For example, if you want to access the information in the CGI.HTTP_REFERER variable, enter HTTP_REFERER.
The following table lists the most common ColdFusion CGI variables that are created on the server:
Variable Description
Client.CFID An incremental ID for each client that connects to the server.
Client.CFTOKEN A randomly generated number used to uniquely identify a particular client.
Client.URLToken A combination of CFID and CFTOKEN to be passed between templates when cookies are not used.
Client.LastVisit Records the timestamp of the last visit made by a client.
Client.HitCount The number of page requests tied to a single client (tracked using CFID and CFTOKEN).
Client.TimeCreated Records the timestamp when CFID and CFTOKEN were first created for a particular client.
Variable Description
SERVER_SOFTWARE The name and version of the information server software answering the request (and running the
gateway). Format: name/version.
SERVER_NAME The server's hostname, DNS alias, or IP address as it appears in self-referencing URLs.
GATEWAY_INTERFACE The revision of the CGI specification to which this server complies. Format: CGI/revision.
SERVER_PROTOCOL The name and revision of the information protocol this request came in with. Format:
protocol/revision.
SERVER_PORT The port number to which the request was sent.
REQUEST_METHOD The method with which the request was made. For HTTP, this is Get, Head, Post, and so on.
555
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
The following table lists the most common CGI variables created by the browser and passed to the server:
Cache content sources
You can cache—or store—sources of dynamic content in a Design Note. This lets you work on a site even if you don’t
have access to the database or application server storing the sources of dynamic content. Caching may also speed up
development by eliminating repeated access across a network to the database and application server.
❖Click the arrow button in the top right corner of the Bindings panel and toggle Cache in the pop-up menu.
If you make changes to one of the content sources, you can refresh the cache by clicking the Refresh button (the circle-
arrow icon) in the upper-right corner of the Bindings panel. (Expand the panel if you don’t see the button.)
Change or delete content sources
You can change or delete any existing source of dynamic content—that is, any content source listed in the Bindings
panel.
Changing or deleting a content source in the Bindings panel does not change or delete any instance of that content on
the page. It merely changes or deletes it as a possible source of content for the page.
PATH_INFO The extra path information, as given by the client. Scripts can be accessed by their virtual pathname,
followed by extra information at the end of this path. The extra information is sent as PATH_INFO.
PATH_TRANSLATED The server provides a translated version of PATH_INFO, which takes the path and does any virtual-to-
physical mapping to it.
SCRIPT_NAME A virtual path to the script being executed; used for self-referencing URLs.
QUERY_STRING The query information that follows the question mark (?) in the URL that referenced this script.
REMOTE_HOST The hostname making the request. If the server does not have this information, it sets REMOTE_ADDR
and does not set REMOTE_HOST.
REMOTE_ADDR The IP address of the remote host making the request.
AUTH_TYPE If the server supports user authentication, and the script is protected, this is the protocol-specific
authentication method used to validate the user.
REMOTE_USER AUTH_USER If the server supports user authentication, and the script is protected, this is the user name they have
authenticated as. (Also available as AUTH_USER.)
REMOTE_IDENT If the HTTP server supports RFC 931 identification, this variable is set to the remote user name
retrieved from the server. Use this variable for logging only.
CONTENT_TYPE For queries that have attached information, such as HTTP POST and PUT, this is the content type of the
data.
CONTENT_LENGTH The length of the content as given by the client.
Variable Description
HTTP_REFERER The referring document. This is the document that linked to or submitted form data.
HTTP_USER_AGENT The browser the client is currently using to send the request. Format: software/version library/version.
HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE The last time the page was modified. This variable is sent at the discretion of the browser, usually in
response to the server having sent the LAST_MODIFIED HTTP header. It can be used to take advantage
of browser-side caching.
Variable Description
556
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Change a content source in the Bindings panel
1In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), double-click the name of the content source you want to edit.
2Make your changes in the dialog box that appears.
3If satisfied with your work, click OK.
Delete a content source from the Bindings panel
1In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), select the content source from the list.
2Click the Minus (-) button.
Copy a recordset from one page to another page
You can copy a recordset from one page to another within a defined site.
1Select the recordset in either the Bindings panel or the Server Behaviors panel.
2Right-click the recordset, and select Copy from the pop-up menu.
3Open the page you want to copy the recordset to.
4Right-click the Bindings panel or the Server Behaviors toolbar, and select Paste from the pop-up menu.
More Help topics
“About dynamic content sources” on page 536
“Change or delete content sources” on page 555
Adding dynamic content to pages
About adding dynamic content
After you define one or more sources of dynamic content, you can use the sources to add dynamic content on the page.
Content sources can include a column in a recordset, a value submitted by an HTML form, the value contained in a
server object, or other data.
In Dreamweaver, you can place dynamic content almost anywhere in a web page or its HTML source code. You can
place dynamic content at the insertion point, replace a text string, or insert it as an HTML attribute. For example,
dynamic content can define the src attribute of an image, or the value attribute of a form field.
You can add dynamic content to a page by selecting a content source in the Bindings panel. Dreamweaver inserts a
server-side script in the page’s code instructing the server to transfer the data from the content source to the page’s
HTML code when the page is requested by a browser.
There is often more than one way to make a given page element dynamic. For example, to make an image dynamic
you can use the Bindings panel, the Property inspector, or the Image command in the Insert menu.
By default, an HTML page can display only one record at a time. To display the other records in the recordset, you can
add a link to move through the records one at a time, or you can create a repeating region to display more than one
record on a single page.
557
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
“Create a recordset navigation bar” on page 563
“Display multiple recordset results” on page 565
“Applying typographic and page layout elements to dynamic data” on page 562
“Use predefined data formats” on page 570
About dynamic text
Dynamic text adopts any text formatting applied to the existing text or to the insertion point. For example, if a
Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) style affects the selected text, the dynamic content replacing it is also affected by the style.
You can add or change the text format of dynamic content by using any of the Dreamweaver text formatting tools.
You can also apply a data format to dynamic text. For example, if your data consists of dates, you can specify a
particular date format such as 04/17/00 for U.S. visitors, or 17/04/00 for Canadian visitors.
Make text dynamic
You can replace existing text with dynamic text, or you can place dynamic text at a given insertion point on the page.
More Help topics
“About recordsets” on page 537
“Use predefined data formats” on page 570
Add dynamic text
1In Design view, select text on the page, or click where you want to add dynamic text.
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), select a content source from the list. If you select a recordset, specify
the column you want in the recordset.
The content source should contain plain text (ASCII text). Plain text includes HTML. If no content sources appear in
the list, or if the available content sources don’t meet your needs, click the Plus (+) button to define a new content
source.
3(Optional) Select a data format for the text.
4Click Insert, or drag the content source onto the page.
A dynamic content placeholder appears. (If you selected text on the page, the placeholder replaces the text selection.)
The placeholder for recordset content uses the syntax {RecordsetName.ColumnName}, where Recordset is the name
of the recordset and ColumnName is the name of the column you chose from the recordset.
Sometimes, the length of the placeholders for dynamic text distorts the page’s layout in the Document window. You
can solve the problem by using empty curly braces as placeholders, as described in the next topic.
Display placeholders for dynamic text
1Select Edit > Preferences > Invisible Elements (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences > Invisible Elements
(Macintosh).
2In the Show Dynamic Text As pop-up menu, select { }, and click OK.
558
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Make images dynamic
You can make images on your page dynamic. For example, suppose you design a page to display items for sale at a
charity auction. Each page would include descriptive text and a photo of one item. The page’s general layout would
remain the same for each item, but the photo (and descriptive text) could change.
1With the page open in Design view (View > Design), place the insertion point where you want the image to appear
on the page.
2Select Insert > Image.
The Select Image Source dialog box appears.
3Click the Data Sources option (Windows) or the Data Source button (Macintosh).
A list of content sources appears.
4Select a content source from the list, and click OK.
The content source should be a recordset that contains the paths to your image files. Depending on the file structure
of your site, the paths can be absolute, document relative, or root relative.
Note: Dreamweaver does not currently support binary images stored in a database.
If no recordsets appear in the list, or if the available recordsets don’t meet your needs, define a new recordset.
More Help topics
“Define a recordset without writing SQL” on page 543
Make HTML attributes dynamic
You can dynamically change the appearance of a page by binding HTML attributes to data. For example, you can
change the background image of a table by binding the table’s background attribute to a field in a recordset.
You can bind HTML attributes with the Bindings panel or with the Property inspector.
Make HTML attributes dynamic with the Bindings panel
1Open the Bindings panel by choosing Window > Bindings.
2Ensure that the Bindings panel lists the data source you want to use.
The content source should contain data that’s appropriate for the HTML attribute you want to bind. If no sources of
content appear in the list, or if the available content sources don’t meet your needs, click the Plus (+) button to define
a new data source.
3In Design view, select an HTML object.
For example, to select an HTML table, click inside the table and click the <table> tag in the tag selector on the bottom-
left of the Document window.
4In the Bindings panel, select a content source from your list.
5In the Bind To box, select an HTML attribute from the pop-up menu.
6Click Bind.
The next time the page runs on the application server, the value of the data source will be assigned to the HTML
attribute.
559
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Make HTML attributes dynamic with the Property inspector
1In Design view, select an HTML object and open the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
For example, to select an HTML table, click inside the table and click the <table> tag in the tag selector on the bottom-
left of the Document window.
2How you bind a dynamic content source to the HTML attribute depends on where it is located.
•If the attribute you want to bind has a folder icon next to it in the Property inspector, click the folder icon to open
a file selection dialog box; then click the Data Sources option to display a list of data sources.
•If the attribute you want to bind does not have a folder icon next to it, click the List tab (the lower of the two tabs)
on the left side of the inspector.
The Property inspector’s List view appears.
•If the attribute you want to bind is not listed in the List view, click the Plus (+) button; then enter the attribute’s
name or click the small arrow button and select the attribute from the pop-up menu.
3To make the attribute’s value dynamic, click the attribute; then click the lightning-bolt icon or folder icon at the
end of the attribute’s row.
If you clicked the lightning bolt icon, a list of data sources appears.
If you clicked the folder icon, a file selection dialog box appears. Select the Data Sources option to display a list of
content sources.
4Select a source of content from the list of content sources, and click OK.
The content source should hold data that’s appropriate for the HTML attribute you want to bind. If no content sources
appear in the list, or if the available content sources don’t meet your needs, define a new content source.
The next time the page runs on the application server, the value of the data source will be assigned to the HTML
attribute.
Make ActiveX, Flash, and other object parameters dynamic
You can make the parameters of Java applets and plug-ins dynamic, as well as the parameters of ActiveX, Flash,
Shockwave, Director, and Generator objects.
Before starting, make sure the fields in your recordset hold data that’s appropriate for the object parameters you want
to bind.
1In Design view, select an object on the page and open the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
2Click the Parameters button.
3If your parameter does not appear in the list, click the Plus (+) button and enter a parameter name in the Parameter
column.
4Click the parameter’s Value column, and then click the lightning-bolt icon to specify a dynamic value.
A list of data sources appears.
5Select a data source from the list, and click OK.
The data source should hold data that’s appropriate for the object parameter you want to bind. If no data sources
appear in the list, or if the available data sources don’t meet your needs, define a new data source.
More Help topics
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
560
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Changing dynamic content
About dynamic content
You can change the dynamic content on your page by editing the server behavior that provides the content. For
example, you can edit a recordset server behavior to provide more records to your page.
Dynamic content on a page is listed in the Server Behaviors panel. For example, if you add a recordset to your page,
the Server Behaviors panel lists it as follows:
Recordset(myRecordset)
If you add another recordset to your page, the Server Behaviors panel lists both recordsets as follows:
Recordset(mySecondRecordset)Recordset(myRecordset)
Edit dynamic content
1Open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors).
2Click the Plus (+) button to display the server behaviors, and double-click the server behavior in the panel.
The dialog box that you used to define the original data source appears.
3Make your changes in the dialog box, and click OK.
Delete dynamic content
❖After adding dynamic content to a page, delete it in one the following ways:
•Select the dynamic content on the page, and press Delete.
•Select the dynamic content in the Server Behaviors panel, and click the Minus (-) button.
Note: This operation removes the server-side script in the page that retrieves the dynamic content from the database. It
does not delete the data in the database.
Test dynamic content
You can preview and edit dynamic content using Live view.
While dynamic content is displayed, you can perform the following tasks:
•Adjust the page’s layout using the page-design tools
•Add, edit, or delete dynamic content
•Add, edit, or delete server behaviors
1Click the Live view button to display dynamic content.
2Make the necessary changes to the page. You’ll need to toggle between Live view and Design or Code view to make
changes and see how they take effect.
More Help topics
“HTML form parameters” on page 630
“URL parameters” on page 631
“How session variables work” on page 538
561
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Let Adobe Contribute users edit dynamic content
When a Contribute user edits a page containing dynamic content or invisible elements (such as scripts and
comments), Contribute displays the dynamic content and invisible elements as yellow markers. By default, Contribute
users can’t select or delete these markers.
If you want Contribute users to be able to select and delete dynamic content and other invisible elements from a page,
you can change permission-group settings to allow them to do so; Contribute users normally can never edit dynamic
content, even when you allow them to select it.
Note: Using some server technologies, you can display static text using a server tag or function. To allow Contribute users
to edit the static text in a dynamic page that uses such a server technology, place the static text outside of the server tags.
For more information, see Administering Adobe Contribute.
1Select Site > Administer Contribute Site.
2If certain required options for Contribute compatibility aren’t enabled, a dialog box appears, asking if you want to
enable those options. Click OK to enable those options and Contribute compatibility.
3If prompted, enter the administrator password, and then click OK.
The Administer Website dialog box appears.
4In the Users And Roles category, select a role, and then click the Edit Role Settings button.
5Select the Editing category, and deselect the option to protect scripts and forms.
6Click OK to close the Edit Settings dialog box.
7Click Close to close the Administer Website dialog box.
More Help topics
“Managing Contribute sites” on page 52
“Create a template for a Contribute site” on page 384
Modify recordsets with the Property inspector
Use the Property inspector is to modify the selected recordset. The available options vary depending on the server
model.
1Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties) and then select the recordset in the Server Behaviors panel
(Window
> Server Behavior).
2Edit any of the options. When you select a new option in the inspector, Dreamweaver updates the page.
More Help topics
“Edit dynamic content” on page 560
562
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Displaying database records
About database records
Displaying database records involves retrieving information stored in a database or other source of content, and
rendering that information to a web page. Dreamweaver provides many methods of displaying dynamic content, and
provides several built-in server behaviors that let you both enhance the presentation of dynamic content, and allow
users to more easily search through and navigate information returned from a database.
Databases and other sources of dynamic content provide you with more power and flexibility in searching, sorting,
and viewing large stores of information. Using a database to store content for websites makes sense when you need to
store large amounts of information, and then retrieve and display that information in a meaningful way. Dreamweaver
provides you with several tools and prebuilt behaviors to help you effectively retrieve and display information stored
in a database.
Server behaviors and formatting elements
Dreamweaver provides the following server behaviors and formatting elements to let you enhance the display of
dynamic data:
Formats let you apply different types of numerical, monetary, date/time, and percentage values to dynamic text.
For example, if the price of an item in a recordset reads 10.989, you can display the price on the page as $10.99 by
selecting the Dreamweaver “Currency - 2 Decimal Places” format. This format displays a number using two decimal
places. If the number has more than two decimal places, the data format rounds the number to the closest decimal. If
the number has no decimal places, the data format adds a decimal point and two zeros.
Repeating Region server behaviors let you display multiple items returned from a database query, and let you specify
the number of records to display per page.
Recordset Navigation server behaviors let you insert navigation elements that allow users to move to the next or
previous set of records returned by the recordset. For example, if you choose to display 10 records per page using the
Repeating Region server object, and the recordset returns 40 records, you can navigate through 10 records at a time.
Recordset Status Bar server behaviors let you include a counter that shows users where they are within a set of records
relative to the total number of records returned.
Show Region server behaviors let you choose to show or hide items on the page based on the relevance of the currently
displayed records. For example, if a user has navigated to the last record in a recordset, you can hide the Next link, and
display only the Previous records link.
Applying typographic and page layout elements to dynamic data
A powerful feature of Dreamweaver is the ability to present dynamic data within a structured page, and to apply
typographic formatting using HTML and CSS. To apply formats to dynamic data in Dreamweaver, format the tables
and placeholders for the dynamic data using the Dreamweaver formatting tools. When the data is inserted from its
data source, it automatically adopts the font, paragraph, and table formatting you specified.
More Help topics
“Presenting content with tables” on page 170
563
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Navigating database recordset results
Recordset navigation links let users move from one record to the next, or from one set of records to the next. For
example, after designing a page to display five records at a time, you might want to add links such as Next or Previous
that let users display the five next or previous records.
You can create four types of navigation links to move through a recordset: First, Previous, Next, and Last. A single page
can contain any number of these links, provided they all work on a single recordset. You can’t add links to move
through a second recordset on the same page.
Recordset navigation links require the following dynamic elements:
•A recordset to navigate
•Dynamic content on the page to display the record or records
•Text or images on the page to serve as a clickable navigation bar
•A Move To Record set of server behaviors to navigate the recordset
You can add the last two elements by using the Record Navigation Bar server object, or you can add them separately
by using the design tools and the Server Behaviors panel.
Create a recordset navigation bar
You can create a recordset navigation bar in a single operation using the Recordset Navigation Bar server behavior.
The server object adds the following building blocks to the page:
•An HTML table with either text or image links
•A set of Move To server behaviors
•A set of Show Region server behaviors
The text version of the Recordset Navigation Bar looks like this:
The image version of the Recordset Navigation Bar looks like this:
Before placing the navigation bar on the page, make sure the page contains a recordset to navigate and a page layout
in which to display the records.
After placing the navigation bar on the page, you can use the design tools to customize the bar to your liking. You
can also edit the Move To and Show Region server behaviors by double-clicking them in the Server Behaviors panel.
Dreamweaver creates a table that contains text or image links that allow the user to navigate through the selected
recordset when clicked. When the first record in the recordset is displayed, the First and Previous links or images
are hidden. When the last record in the recordset is displayed, the Next and Last links or images are hidden.
You can customize the layout of the navigation bar by using the design tools and the Server Behaviors panel.
1In Design view, place the insertion point at the location on the page where you want the navigation bar to appear.
2
Display the Recordset Navigation Bar dialog box (Insert > Data Objects > Recordset Paging > Recordset Navigation Bar).
3Select the recordset you want to navigate from the Recordset pop-up menu.
564
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
4From the Display Using section, select the format to display the navigation links on the page, and click OK.
Text Places text links on the page.
Images Includes graphical images as links. Dreamweaver uses its own image files. You can replace these images with
image files of your own after placing the bar on the page.
Custom recordset navigation bars
You can create your own recordset navigation bar that uses more complex layout and formatting styles than the simple
table created by the Recordset Navigation Bar server object.
To create your own recordset navigation bar, you must:
•Create navigation links in text or images
•Place the links in the page in Design view
•Assign individual server behaviors to each navigation link
This section describes how to assign individual server behaviors to the navigation links.
Create and assign server behaviors to a navigation link
1In Design view, select the text string or image on the page you want to use as a record navigation link.
2Open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), and click the Plus (+) button.
3Select Recordset Paging from the pop-up menu; then select a server behavior appropriate to that link from the listed
server behaviors.
If the recordset contains a large number of records, the Move To Last Record server behavior can take a long time to
run when the user clicks the link.
4In the Recordset pop-up menu, select the recordset that contains the records, and click OK.
The server behavior is assigned to the navigation link.
Set the Move To (server behavior) dialog box options
Add links that let the user navigate through records in a recordset.
1If you didn’t select anything on the page, select a link from the pop-up menu.
2Select the recordset that contains the records to page through, and click OK.
Note: If the recordset contains a large number of records, the Move To Last Record server behavior can take a long time
to run when the user clicks the link.
Navigation bar design tasks
When creating a custom navigation bar, begin by creating its visual representation using the Dreamweaver page-
design tools. You don’t have to create a link for the text string or image, Dreamweaver creates one for you.
The page you create the navigation bar for must contain a recordset to navigate. A simple recordset navigation bar
might look like this, with link buttons created out of images, or other content elements:
565
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
After you have added a recordset to a page, and have created a navigation bar, you must apply individual server
behaviors to each navigation element. For example, a typical recordset navigation bar contains representations of the
following links matched to the appropriate behavior:
More Help topics
“About recordsets” on page 537
Display and hide regions based on recordset results
You can also specify that a region be displayed or hidden based on whether the recordset is empty. If a recordset is
empty (for example, no records were found matching the query), you can display a message informing the user that
no records were returned. This is especially useful when creating search pages that rely on user input search terms to
run queries against. Similarly, you can display an error message if there is a problem connecting to a database, or if a
user’s user name and password do not match those recognized by the server.
The Show Region server behaviors are:
•Show If Recordset Is Empty
•Show If Recordset Is Not Empty
•Show If First Page
•Show If Not First Page
•Show If Last Page
•Show If Not Last Page
1In Design view, select the region on the page to show or hide.
2In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button.
3Select Show Region from the pop-up menu, select one of the listed server behaviors, and click OK.
More Help topics
“About database records” on page 562
“Create a dynamic table” on page 567
Display multiple recordset results
The Repeating Region server behavior lets you display multiple records from a recordset within a page. Any dynamic
data selection can be turned into a repeating region. However, the most common regions are a table, a table row, or a
series of table rows.
1In Design view, select a region that contains dynamic content.
The selection can be anything, including a table, a table row, or even a paragraph of text.
Navigation link Server behavior
Go to first page Move to first page
Go to previous page Move to previous page
Go to next page Move to next page
Go to last page Move to last page
566
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
To select a region on the page precisely, you can use the tag selector on the left corner of the document window. For
example, if the region is a table row, click inside the row on the
page, then click the rightmost <tr> tag in the tag
selector to select the table row.
2Select Window > Server Behaviors to display the Server Behaviors panel.
3Click the Plus (+) button, and select Repeating Region.
4Select the name of the recordset to use from the pop-up menu.
5Select the number of records to display per page, and click OK.
In the Document window, a thin, tabbed, gray outline appears around the repeating region.
More Help topics
“About database records” on page 562
“Edit dynamic content” on page 560
Modify repeating regions in the Property inspector
❖Modify the selected repeating region by changing any of the following options:
•The name of the repeating region.
•The recordset providing the records for the repeating region.
•The number of records displayed
When you select a new option, Dreamweaver updates the page.
Reuse PHP recordsets
For a tutorial on reusing PHP recordsets, see David Powers’s tutorial, How Do I Reuse a PHP Recordset in More Than
One Repeat Region?
567
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Create a dynamic table
The following example illustrates how the Repeating Region server behavior is applied to a table row, and specifies that
nine records are displayed per page. The row itself displays four different records: city, state, street address, and ZIP code.
To create a table such as the one in the previous example, you must create a table that contains dynamic content, and
apply the Repeating Region server behavior to the table row containing the dynamic content. When the page is
processed by the application server, the row is repeated the number of times specified in the Repeating Region server
object, with a different record inserted in each new row.
1Do one of the following to insert a dynamic table:
•Select Insert > Data Objects > Dynamic Data > Dynamic Table to display the Dynamic Table dialog box.
•From the Data category of the Insert panel, click the Dynamic Data button and select the Dynamic Table icon from
the pop-up menu.
2Select the recordset from the Recordset pop-up menu.
3Select the number of records to display per page.
4(Optional) Input values for the table border, cell padding, and cell spacing.
The Dynamic Table dialog box retains the values you enter for table borders, cell padding, and cell spacing.
Note: If you are working on a project that requires several dynamic tables with the same appearance, enter the table
layout values, which further simplifies page development. You can adjust these values after inserting the table by using
the table Property inspector.
5Click OK.
568
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
A table and placeholders for the dynamic content defined in its associated recordset are inserted into the page.
In this example, the recordset contains four columns: AUTHORID, FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME, and BIO. The table’s
heading row is populated with the names of each column. You can edit the headings using any descriptive text, or
replace them with representative images.
Create record counters
Record counters give users a reference point when they are navigating through a set of records. Typically, record
counters display the total number of records returned, and the current records being viewed. For example, if a
recordset returns 40 individual records, and 8 records are displayed per page, the record counter on the first page
would indicate “Displaying records 1-8 of 40.”
Before you create a record counter for a page, you must create a recordset for the page, an appropriate page layout to
contain the dynamic content, and then a recordset navigation bar.
More Help topics
“About recordsets” on page 537
“Create a recordset navigation bar” on page 563
“Display multiple recordset results” on page 565
“Create a dynamic table” on page 567
Create simple record counters
Record counters let users know where they are within a given set of records relative to the total number of records
returned. For this reason record counters are a useful behavior that can significantly add to the usability of a web page.
Create a simple record counter by using the Recordset Navigation Status server object. This server object creates a text
entry on the page to display the current record status. You can customize the record counter by using Dreamweaver
page-design tools.
1Place the insertion point where you want to insert the record counter.
2Select Insert > Data Objects > Display Record Count > Recordset Navigation Status, select the recordset from the
Recordset pop-up menu, and click OK.
The Recordset Navigation Status server object inserts a text record counter that appears similar to the following
example:
When viewed in Live view, the counter appears similar to the following example:
569
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Build and add the record counter to the page
❖In the Insert Recordset Navigation Status dialog box, select the recordset to track, and click OK.
Create custom record counters
You use individual record count behaviors to create custom record counters. Creating a custom record counter lets
you create a record counter beyond the simple, single row table inserted by the Recordset Navigation Status server
object. You can arrange design elements in a number of creative ways, and apply an appropriate server behavior to
each element.
The Record Count server behaviors are:
•Display Starting Record Number
•Display Ending Record Number
•Display Total Records
Before you create a custom record counter for a page, you must first create a recordset for the page, an appropriate
page layout to contain the dynamic content, and a recordset navigation bar.
This example creates a record counter that appears similar to the example in “Simple record counters.” In this example,
the text in sans-serif font represents the record count placeholders that will be inserted in the page. The record counter
in this example appears as follows:
Displaying records StartRow through EndRow of RecordSet.RecordCount.
1In Design view, enter the counter’s text on the page. The text can be anything you want, for example:
Displaying records thru of .
2Place the insertion point at the end of the text string.
3Open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors).
4Click the Plus (+) button in the upper-left corner, and click Display Record Count. Within this submenu, select
Display Total Records. The Display Total Records behavior is inserted into the page, and a placeholder is inserted
where the insertion point was. The text string now appears as follows:
Displaying records thru of {Recordset1.RecordCount}.
5Place the insertion point after the word records, and select the Display Starting Record Count Number from the
Server Behaviors
> Plus (+) button > Record Count panel. The text string now appear as follows:
Displaying records {StartRow_Recordset1} thru of {Recordset1.RecordCount}.
6Now place the insertion point between the words thru and of, and select the Display Starting Record Count
Number from the Server Behaviors
> Plus (+) button > Record Count panel. The text string now appear as follows:
Displaying records {StartRow_Recordset1} thru {EndRow_Recordset1} of{Recordset1.RecordCount}.
7Confirm that the counter functions correctly by viewing the page in Live view; the counter is similar to the following
example:
Displaying records 1 thru 8 of 40.
If the results page has a navigation link to move to the next set of records, clicking the link updates the record counter
to read as follows:
Showing records 9 thru 16 of 40.
570
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Use predefined data formats
Dreamweaver includes several predefined data formats that you can apply to dynamic data elements. The data format
styles include date and time, currency, numerical, and percentage formats.
Apply data formats to dynamic content
1Select the dynamic content placeholder in the Document window.
2Select Window > Bindings to display the Bindings panel.
3Click the down arrow button in the Format column.
If the down arrow is not visible, expand the panel.
4From the Format pop-up menu, select the data format category you want.
Ensure that the data format is appropriate for the type of data you are formatting. For example, the Currency formats
work only if the dynamic data consists of numerical data. Note that you cannot apply more than one format to the
same data.
5Verify that the format was applied correctly by previewing the page in Live view.
Customize a data format
1Open a page that contains dynamic data in Design view.
2Select the dynamic data whose format you want to customize.
The bound data item whose dynamic text you selected is highlighted in the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings). The
panel displays two columns for the selected item—Binding and Format. If the Format column is not visible, widen the
Bindings panel to reveal it.
3In the Bindings panel, click the down arrow in the Format column to expand the pop-up menu of available data
formats.
If the down arrow is not visible, widen the Bindings panel more.
4Select Edit Format List from the pop-up menu.
5Complete the dialog box, and click OK.
aSelect the format from the list, and click Edit.
bChange any of the following parameters in the Currency, Number, or Percent dialog boxes, and click OK.
•The number of digits to display after the decimal point
•Whether to place a leading zero in front of fractions
•Whether to use parentheses or a minus sign for negative values
•Whether to group digits
cTo delete a data format, click the format in the list, and click the Minus (-) button.
Create a data format (ASP only)
1Open a page containing dynamic data in Design view.
2Select the dynamic data you want to create a custom format for.
3Select Window > Bindings to display the Bindings panel, and click the down arrow in the Format column. If the
down arrow is not visible, expand the panel.
4Select Edit Format List from the pop-up menu.
571
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Click the Plus (+) button, and select a format type.
6Define the format, and click OK.
7Enter a name for the new format in the Name column, and click OK.
Note: Though Dreamweaver only supports creating data formats for ASP pages, ColdFusion and PHP users can
download formats that other developers created, or create server formats and post them to the Dreamweaver Exchange.
For more information on the Server Format API, see
Note: Extending Dreamweaver
Note: (Help >
Note: Extending Dreamweaver
Note: > Server Formats).
Viewing live data
The View Live Data feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5. It has been replaced by the more streamlined
Live view feature.
To view live data in Live view, make sure that you have done the following:
•Define a folder to process dynamic pages (for example, a root folder on a ColdFusion server, either on your
computer or on a remote machine).
If the page displays an error message when you enter Live View, make sure the Web URL in the Site Definition
dialog box is correct.
•Copy related files (if any) to the folder.
•Provide the page with any parameters a user would normally provide.
Provide the page with live data in Live view
1Open the Live View Settings dialog box (View > Live View Options > HTTP Request Settings).
2In the URL Request area, click the Plus (+) button and enter a parameter your page expects.
3Specify a name and a test value for each parameter.
4In the Method pop-up menu, select the HTML form method your page expects: POST or GET.
5To save your settings for the current page, select
6Save Settings
7For This Document, and click OK.
Note: To save the settings, you must enable Design Notes (File > Design Notes).
Troubleshooting live data in Live view
Many problems viewing live data in Live view can be traced back to missing or incorrect values in the Site Definition
dialog box (Site
> Edit Sites).
572
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Check the settings for the server that you’ve specified as your testing server. You need to specify a folder capable of
processing dynamic pages where the Site Definition dialog asks for a server folder or root directory. Here’s an example
of a suitable server folder if you’re running IIS or PWS on your hard disk:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myapp\
Verify that the Web URL box specifies a URL that corresponds (maps) to the server folder. For example, if PWS or IIS
is running on your local computer, then the following remote folders have the following Web URLs:
More Help topics
“Switch between views in the Document window” on page 17
“Preview pages in Live view” on page 276
“Previewing dynamic pages in a browser” on page 533
Adding custom server behaviors
About custom server behaviors
Dreamweaver comes with a set of built-in server behaviors that lets you easily add dynamic capabilities to a site. You
can extend the Dreamweaver functionality by creating server behaviors to suit your development needs, or by
obtaining server behaviors from the Dreamweaver Exchange website.
Before creating your own server behaviors, you should check the Dreamweaver Exchange website to see if another
party has already created a server behavior that supplies the functionality you’d like to add to your website. Often, a
third-party developer has created and tested a server behavior that will address your needs.
Access Dreamweaver Exchange
1In Dreamweaver, access Dreamweaver Exchange in one of these ways:
•Select Help > Dreamweaver Exchange.
•Select Window > Server Behaviors, click the Plus (+) button, and select Get More Server Behaviors.
The Dreamweaver Exchange web page opens in your browser.
2Log on to the Exchange using your
3Adobe ID
4, or, if you have not yet created a Dreamweaver Exchange ID for yourself, follow the instructions to open an Adobe
account.
Install a server behavior or other extension in Dreamweaver
1Start the Extension Manager by selecting Commands > Manage Extensions.
2Select File > Install Package in the Extension Manager.
Remote folder Web URL
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ http://localhost/
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myapp\ http://localhost/myapp/
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\fs\planes http://localhost/fs/planes
573
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
For more information, see Using the Extension Manager.
Custom server behaviors workflow
If you are a web developer proficient in ColdFusion, JavaScript, VBScript, or PHP, you can write your own server
behaviors. The steps to create a server behavior include the following tasks:
•Write one or more code blocks that perform the required action.
•Specify where the code block should be inserted within the page’s HTML code.
•If the server behavior requires that a value be specified for a parameter, create a dialog box that prompts the web
developer applying the behavior to supply an appropriate value.
•Test the server behavior before making it available to others.
More Help topics
“Request a parameter for the server behavior” on page 579
“Testing server behaviors” on page 582
Use the Server Behavior Builder
Use the Server Behavior Builder to add the code block or blocks that the behavior inserts into a page.
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select New Server
Behavior.
2From the Document Type pop-up menu, select the document type that you are developing the server behavior for.
3In the Name box, enter a name for the server behavior.
4(Optional) To copy an existing server behavior to add to the behavior you are creating, select the Copy Existing
Server Behavior option, and then select the server behavior in the Behavior to Copy pop-up menu. Click OK.
The Server Behavior Builder dialog box is displayed.
5To add a new code block, click the Plus (+) button, enter a name for the code block, and click OK.
The name you enter appears in the Server Behavior Builder, with the appropriate scripting tags visible in the Code
block box.
6In the Code Block box, enter the run-time code necessary to implement the server behavior.
Note: When entering code in the Code Block box, you can only insert a single tag or code block for each named code block
(for example, myBehavior_block1, myBehavior_block2, myBehavior_blockn, etc.). If you have to enter multiple
tags or code blocks, create an individual code block for each one. You can also copy and paste code from other pages.
7Place the insertion point in the code block where you’d like to insert the parameter, or select a string to replace with
a parameter.
8Click the Insert Parameters in Code Block button.
9Enter a name for the parameter in the Parameter Name box (for example, Session), and click OK.
The parameter is inserted into the code block at the location where you placed the insertion point prior to defining the
parameter. If you selected a string, every instance of the selected string in the code block is replaced with a parameter
marker (for example, @@Session@@).
10 Select an option from the Insert Code pop-up menu specifying where to embed the code blocks.
574
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
11 (Optional) To specify additional information about the server behavior, click the Advanced button.
12 To create more code blocks, repeat steps 5 through 11.
13 If the server behavior requires that parameters be supplied to it, you must create a dialog box that accepts
parameters from the person applying the behavior. See the link below.
14 After you perform the required steps to create the server behavior, click OK.
The Server Behaviors panel lists the server behavior.
15 Test the server behavior and ensure that it functions properly.
More Help topics
“Repeating code blocks with the loop directive” on page 577
“Coding guidelines” on page 581
“Request a parameter for the server behavior” on page 579
“Adding custom server behaviors” on page 572
Advanced options
After you specify the source code and insert location for each code block, the server behavior is completely defined. In
most cases, you don’t need to specify any additional information.
If you are an advanced user, you can set any of the following options:
Identifier Specifies whether the code block should be treated as an identifier.
By default, every code block is an identifier. If Dreamweaver finds an identifier code block anywhere in a document,
it lists the behavior in the Server Behaviors panel. Use the Identifier option to specify whether the code block should
be treated as an identifier.
At least one of the server behavior’s code blocks must be an identifier. A code block should not be an identifier if one
of the following conditions applies: the same code block is used by some other server behavior; or the code block is so
simple that it might occur naturally on the page.
Server Behavior Title Specifies the title of the behavior in the Server Behaviors panel.
When the page designer clicks the Plus (+) button on the Server Behaviors panel, the new server behavior’s title will
appear in the pop-up menu. When a designer applies an instance of a server behavior to a document, the behavior
appears in the list of applied behaviors in the Server Behaviors panel. Use the Server Behavior Title box to specify the
contents of the Plus (+) pop-up menu and the list of applied behaviors.
The initial value in the box is the name you supplied in the New Server Behavior dialog box. As parameters are defined,
the name is automatically updated so that the parameters appear inside parentheses after the server behavior name.
Set Session Variable (@@Name@@, @@Value@@)
If the user accepts the default value, everything before the parentheses appears in the Plus (+) pop-up menu (for
example, Set Session Variable). The name plus the parameters will appear in the list of applied behaviors—for example,
Set Session Variable ("abcd", "5").
Code Block to Select Specifies what code block is selected when the user selects the behavior in the Server Behaviors
panel.
When you apply a server behavior, one of the code blocks within the behavior is designated the “code block to select.”
If you apply the server behavior and then select the behavior in the Server Behaviors panel, the designated block is
selected in the Document window. By default, Dreamweaver selects the first code block that is not above the html tag.
575
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
If all the code blocks are above the html tag, then the first one is selected. Advanced users can specify which code block
is the selected one.
Creating code blocks
The code blocks you create in the Server Behavior Builder are encapsulated in a server behavior that appears in the
Server Behaviors panel. The code can be any valid run-time code for the specified server model. For example, if you
choose ColdFusion as the document type for your custom server behavior, the code you write must be valid
ColdFusion code that runs on a ColdFusion application server.
You can create the code blocks either directly in the Server Behavior Builder, or you can copy and paste the code from
other sources. Each code block you create in the Server Behavior Builder must be a single tag or script block. If you
must insert multiple tag blocks, split them into separate code blocks.
Conditions in code blocks
Dreamweaver lets you develop code blocks that incorporate control statements that execute conditionally. The Server
Behavior Builder uses if, elseif, and else statements, and may also contain server behavior parameters. This
enables you to insert alternate text blocks based on the values of OR relationships among server behavior parameters.
The following example shows the if, elseif, and else statements. The square brackets ([ ]) denote optional code and
the asterisk (*) denotes zero or more instances. To execute a portion of a code block or the entire code block only if a
certain condition or conditions apply, use the following syntax:
<@ if (expression1) @>conditional text1[<@ elseif (expression2) @>conditional text2]*[<@ else
@>
conditional text3]<@ endif @>
Condition expressions can be any JavaScript expression that can be evaluated using the JavaScript eval() function,
and may include a server behavior parameter marked by @@’s. (The @@’s distinguish the parameter from JavaScript
variables and keywords.)
Effectively using conditional expressions
When using if, else, and elseif directives within the insertText XML tag, the participant text is preprocessed to
resolve the if directives and to determine which text to include in the result. The if and elseif directives take the
expression as an argument. The condition expression is the same as that for JavaScript condition expressions, and can
also contain server behavior parameters. Directives such as this allow you to choose between alternative code blocks
based on the values of, or relationships between, server behavior parameters.
For example, the following JSP code comes from a Dreamweaver server behavior that uses a conditional code block:
@@rsName@@.close();
<@ if (@@callableName@@ != '') @>
@@callableName@@.execute();
@@rsName@@ = @@callableName@@.getResultSet();<@ else @>
@@rsName@@ = Statement@@rsName@@.executeQuery();
<@ endif @>
@@rsName@@_hasData = @@rsName@@.next();
The conditional code block starts with <@ if (@@callableName@@ != '')
@> and ends with <@ endif @>. According to the code, if the user enters a value for the @@callableName@@ parameter
in the server behavior's Parameter dialog box—in other words, if the @@callableName@@ parameter value is not null,
or (@@callableName@@ != '')—then the conditional code block is replaced with the following statements:
@@callableName@@.execute();
@@rsName@@ = @@callableName@@.getResultSet();
576
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Otherwise, the code block is replaced with the following statement:
@@rsName@@ = Statement@@rsName@@.executeQuery();
More Help topics
“Repeating code blocks with the loop directive” on page 577
Positioning a code block
When you create code blocks using the Server Behavior Builder, you must specify where to insert them in the page’s
HTML code.
For example, if you insert a code block above the opening <html> tag, you must then specify the code block’s position
relative to other tags, scripts, and server behaviors in that section of the page’s HTML code. Typical examples include
positioning a behavior either before or after any recordset queries that might also exist in the page code above the
opening <html> tag.
When you select a positioning option from the Insert Code pop-up menu, the options available in the Relative Position
pop-up menu change to provide relevant options for that part of the page. For example, if you select Above The <html>
Tag In The Insert Code pop-up menu, the positioning options available in the Relative Position pop-up menu reflect
choices relevant for that part of the page.
The following table shows the code block insert options, and the relative positioning options available for each:
To specify a custom position, you must assign a weight to the code block. Use the Custom Position option when you
need to insert more than one code block in a particular order. For example, to insert an ordered series of three code
blocks after the code blocks that open recordsets, you would enter a weight of 60 for the first block, 65 for the second,
and 70 for the third.
Insert Code options Relative position options
Above the <html> Tag •At the beginning of the file
•Just before the recordsets
•Just after the recordsets
•Just above the <html> tag
•Custom position
Below the </html> Tag •Before the end of the file
•Before the recordset close
•After the recordset close
•After the </html> tag
•Custom position
Relative to a Specific Tag Select a tag from the Tag pop-up menu, and then choose from the tag positioning options.
Relative to the Selection Before the selection
After the selection
Replace the selection
Wrap the selection
577
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
By default, Dreamweaver assigns a weight of 50 to all recordset-opening code blocks inserted above the <html> tag. If
the weight of two or more blocks match, Dreamweaver randomly sets the order among the blocks.
More Help topics
“Request a parameter for the server behavior” on page 579
“Coding guidelines” on page 581
“About custom server behaviors” on page 572
“Creating code blocks” on page 575
“Testing server behaviors” on page 582
Position a code block (general instructions)
1Using the Server Behavior Builder, write a code block.
2In the Server Behavior Builder dialog box, select a position in which to insert the code block from the Insert Code
pop-up menu.
3In the Server Behavior Builder dialog box, select a position relative to that which you selected in the Insert Code
pop-up menu.
4If you complete the authoring of the code block, click OK.
The server behavior is listed in the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behavior); click the Plus (+) button to
view the server behavior.
5Test the server behavior and ensure that it functions properly.
Position a code block relative to another tag on the page
1In the Insert Code pop-up menu, select Relative To A Specific Tag.
2In the Tag box, enter the tag or select one from the pop-up menu.
If you enter a tag, don’t include the angled brackets (<>).
3Specify a location relative to the tag by choosing an option in the Relative Position pop-up menu.
Position a code block relative to a tag selected by the page designer
1In the Insert Code pop-up menu, select Relative To The Selection.
2Specify a location relative to the selection by choosing an option in the Relative Position pop-up menu.
You can insert your code block just before or just after the selection. You can also replace the selection with your code
block, or you can wrap the code block around the selection.
To wrap the code block around a selection, the selection must consist of an opening and closing tag with nothing in
between, as follows:
<CFIF Day="Monday"></CFIF>
Insert the opening tag piece of the code block before the selection’s opening tag and the closing tag piece of the code
block after the selection’s closing tag.
Repeating code blocks with the loop directive
To repeat a portion of a code block or the entire code block a number of times, use the following syntax:
578
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
<@ loop (@@param1@@,@@param2@@) @>code block<@ endloop @>
When creating server behaviors, you can use looping constructs to repeat a code block a specified number of times.
<@ loop (@@param1@@,@@param2@@,@@param3@@,@@param_n@@) @>code block
<@ endloop @>
The loop directive accepts a comma-separated list of parameter arrays as arguments. In this case, parameter array
arguments allow a user to supply multiple values for a single parameter. The repeating text is duplicated n times, where
n is the length of the parameter array arguments. If more than one parameter array argument is specified, all the arrays
must have the same length. On the ith evaluation of the loop, the ith elements of the parameter arrays replace the
associated parameter instances in the code block.
When you create a dialog box for the server behavior, you can add a control to the dialog box that lets the page designer
create parameter arrays. Dreamweaver includes a simple array control that you can use to create dialog boxes. This
control, called Text Field Comma Separated List, is available through the Server Behavior Builder. To create user
interface elements of greater complexity, see the API documentation to create a dialog box with a control to create
arrays (a grid control, for example).
You can nest any number of conditionals or a loop directive within a conditional directive. For example, you can
specify that if an expression is true to execute a loop.
The following example shows how such repeating code blocks can be used to create server behaviors (the example is a
ColdFusion behavior used to access a stored procedure):
<CFSTOREDPROC procedure="AddNewBook"
datasource=#MM_connection_DSN#
username=#MM_connection_USERNAME#
password=#MM_connection_PASSWORD#>
<CFPROCPARAM type="IN" dbvarname="@CategoryId" value="#Form.CategoryID#"
cfsqltype="CF_SQL_INTEGER">
<CFPROCPARAM type="IN" dbvarname="@ISBN" value="#Form.ISBN#"
cfsqltype="CF_SQL_VARCHAR">
</CFSTOREDPROC>
In this example, the CFSTOREDPROC tag can include zero or more CFPROCPARAM tags. However, without support for the
loop directive, there is no way to include the CFPROCPARAM tags within the inserted CFSTOREDPROC tag. If this were to
be created as a server behavior without the use of the loop directive, you would need to divide this example into two
participants: a main CFSTOREDPROC tag, and a CFPROCPARAM tag whose participant type is multiple.
Using the loop directive, you can write the same procedure as follows:
<CFSTOREDPROC procedure="@@procedure@@"
datasource=#MM_@@conn@@_DSN#
username=#MM_@@conn@@_USERNAME#
password=#MM_@@conn@@_PASSWORD#>
<@ loop (@@paramName@@,@@value@@,@@type@@) @>
<CFPROCPARAM type="IN"
dbvarname="@@paramName@@"
value="@@value@@"
cfsqltype="@@type@@">
<@ endloop @>
</CFSTOREDPROC>
Note: New lines after each “@>” are ignored.
If the user entered the following parameter values in the Server Behavior Builder dialog box:
579
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
procedure = "proc1"
conn = "connection1"
paramName = ["@CategoryId", "@Year", "@ISBN"]
value = ["#Form.CategoryId#", "#Form.Year#", "#Form.ISBN#"]
type = ["CF_SQL_INTEGER", "CF_SQL_INTEGER", "CF_SQL_VARCHAR"]
The server behavior would insert the following run-time code in the page:
<CFSTOREDPROC procedure="proc1"
datasource=#MM_connection1_DSN#
username=#MM_connection1_USERNAME#
password=#MM_connection1_PASSWORD#>
<CFPROCPARAM type="IN" dbvarname="@CategoryId" value="#Form.CategoryId#"
cfsqltype="CF_SQL_INTEGER">
<CFPROCPARAM type="IN" dbvarname="@Year" value="#Form.Year#"
cfsqltype="CF_SQL_INTEGER">
<CFPROCPARAM type="IN" dbvarname="@ISBN" value="#Form.ISBN#"
cfsqltype="CF_SQL_VARCHAR">
</CFSTOREDPROC>
Note: Parameter arrays cannot be used outside of a loop except as part of a conditional directive expression.
Using the loop directive’s _length and _index variables
The loop directive includes two built-in variables that you can use for embedded if conditions. The variables are:
_length and _index. The _length variable evaluates to the length of the arrays processed by the loop directive, while
the _index variable evaluates to the current index of the loop directive. To ensure that the variables are only
recognized as directives, and not as actual parameters to be passed into the loop, do not enclose either variable in @@s.
An example of using built-in variables is to apply them to the import attribute of the page directive. The import
attribute requires comma separation of packages. If the loop directive extends around the entire import attribute, you
would only output the attribute name import= on the first iteration of the loop—this includes the closing double quote
(")—and not output a comma on the last iteration of the loop. Using the built-in variable, you can express this as
follows:
<@loop (@@Import@@)@>
<@ if(_index == 0)@>import="
<@endif@>@@Import@@<@if (_index == _length-1)@>"<@else@>,
<@ endif @>
<@endloop@>
Request a parameter for the server behavior
Server behaviors often require that the page designer supply a parameter value. This value must be inserted before the
server behavior’s code is inserted into the page.
You create the dialog box by defining the designer-supplied parameters in the code. Then you generate a dialog box
for the server behavior, which prompts the page designer for a parameter value.
Note: A parameter is added to your code block without your intervention if you specify that your code should be inserted
relative to a specific tag chosen by the page designer (that is, you chose Relative to a Specific Tag in the Insert Code pop-up
menu). The parameter adds a tag menu to the behavior’s dialog box to let the page designer select a tag.
Define the parameter in the server behavior code
1Enter a parameter marker in the code where you want to insert the supplied parameter value. The parameter has
the following syntax:
580
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
@@parameterName@@
2Enclose the formParam string in parameter markers (@@):
<% Session("lang_pref") = Request.Form("@@formParam@@"); %>
For example, if the server behavior contains the following code block:
<% Session("lang_pref") = Request.Form("Form_Object_Name"); %>
To require the page designer to supply the value of Form_Object_Name, enclose the string in parameter markers (@@):
<% Session("lang_pref") = Request.Form("@@Form_Object_Name@@"); %>
You can also highlight the string and click the Insert Parameter In Code Block button. Enter a parameter name and
click OK. Dreamweaver replaces every instance of the highlighted string with the specified parameter name enclosed
in parameter markers.
Dreamweaver uses the strings that you enclose in parameter markers to label the controls in the dialog box it generates
(see the following procedure). In the previous example, Dreamweaver creates a dialog box with the following label:
Note: Parameter names in the server behavior code cannot have any spaces. Therefore, the dialog box labels cannot have
any spaces. If you want to include spaces in the label, you can edit the generated HTML file.
Create a dialog box for your server behavior to request the parameter value
1In the Server Behavior Builder, click Next.
2To change the display order of the dialog box controls, select a parameter and click the up and down arrows.
3To change a parameter’s control, select the parameter and select another control in the Display As column.
4Click OK.
Dreamweaver generates a dialog box with a labeled control for each designer-supplied parameter that you defined.
View the dialog box
❖Click the Plus (+) button in the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), and select your custom server
behavior from the pop-up menu.
Edit the dialog box you created for the server behavior
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Edit Server
Behaviors from the pop-up menu.
2Select your server behavior from the list, and click Open.
3Click Next.
A dialog box appears listing all the designer-supplied parameters that you defined in your code.
4To change the display order of the dialog box controls, select a parameter and click the up and down arrows.
5To change a parameter’s control, select the parameter and select another control in the Display As column.
581
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
6Click OK.
Edit and modify server behaviors
You can edit any server behavior created with the Server Behavior Builder, including server behaviors you download
from the Dreamweaver Exchange website, and other third-party developers.
If you apply a server behavior to a page and then edit the behavior in Dreamweaver, instances of the old behavior no
longer appear in the Server Behaviors panel. The Server Behaviors panel searches the page for code that matches the
code of known server behaviors. If the code of a server behavior changes, the panel does not recognize earlier versions
of the behavior on that page.
More Help topics
“Use the Server Behavior Builder” on page 573
“Positioning a code block” on page 576
Retain the old and new versions of the behavior in the panel
❖Click the Plus (+) button on the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), select New Server Behavior,
and create a copy of the old server behavior.
Edit the code of a server behavior created with the Server Behavior Builder
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Edit Server
Behaviors from the pop-up menu.
The Edit Server Behaviors dialog box displays all the behaviors for the current server technology.
2Select the server behavior and click Edit.
3Select the appropriate code block and modify the code, the parameter marks, or the position of the code block to
be inserted in pages.
4If the modified code does not contain any designer-supplied parameters, click OK.
Dreamweaver regenerates the server behavior without a dialog box. The new server behavior appears in the Plus (+)
pop-up menu of the Server Behaviors panel.
5If the modified code does contain designer-supplied parameters, click Next.
Dreamweaver asks you whether you want to create a new dialog box, overwriting the old one. Make your changes and
click OK.
Dreamweaver saves all changes in the server behavior’s EDML file.
Coding guidelines
In general, your server behavior’s code should be compact and robust. Web application developers are very sensitive
to the code added to their pages. Follow generally accepted coding practices for the document type’s language
(ColdFusion, JavaScript, VBScript, or PHP). When writing comments, consider the different technical audiences that
might need to understand the code, such as web and interaction designers, or other web application developers.
Include comments that accurately describe the purpose of the code, and any special instructions for including it within
a page.
582
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 12/7/2011
Keep in mind the following coding guidelines when you create server behaviors:
Error checking An important requirement. The server behavior’s code should handle error cases gracefully. Try to
foresee every possibility. For example, what if a parameter request fails? What if no records are returned from a query?
Unique names Help to ensure that your code is clearly identifiable and avoids name collisions with existing code. For
example, if the page contains a function called hideLayer() and a global variable called ERROR_STRING, and your
server behavior inserts code that uses those names too, the server behavior may conflict with the existing code.
Code prefixes Allow you to identify your own run-time functions and global variables in a page. One convention is to
use your initials. Never use the MM_ prefix, as it is reserved for Dreamweaver use only. Dreamweaver precedes all
functions and global variables with the prefix MM_ to prevent them from conflicting with any code that you write.
var MM_ERROR_STRING = "...";
function MM_hideLayer() {
Avoid similar code blocks so that the code you write doesn’t resemble too closely the code in other blocks. If a code
block looks too much like another code block on the page, the Server Behaviors panel might mistakenly identify the
first code block as an instance of the second code block (or conversely). A simple solution is to add a comment to a
code block to make it more unique.
More Help topics
“About custom server behaviors” on page 572
“Custom server behaviors workflow” on page 573
Testing server behaviors
The Dreamweaver Exchange recommends performing the following tests on each server behavior you create:
•Apply the behavior from the Server Behaviors panel. If it has a dialog box, enter valid data in each field and click
OK. Verify that no error occurs when the behavior is applied. Verify that the run-time code for the server behavior
appears in the Code inspector.
•Apply the server behavior again and enter invalid data in each field of the dialog box. Try leaving the field blank,
using large or negative numbers, using invalid characters (such as /, ?, :, *, and so on), and using letters in numeric
fields. You can write form validation routines to handle invalid data (validation routines involve hand-coding,
which is beyond the scope of this book).
After successfully applying your server behavior to the page, verify the following:
•Check the Server Behaviors panel to make sure the name of the server behavior appears in the list of behaviors
added to the page.
•If applicable, verify that server-side script icons show up on the page. The generic server-side script icons are gold
shields. To see the icons, enable Invisible Elements (View
> Visual Aids > Invisible Elements).
•In Code view (View > Code), verify that no invalid code is generated.
In addition, if your server behavior inserts code in the document establishing a connection to a database, create a
test database to test the code inserted in the document. Verify the connection by defining queries that produce
different sets of data, and different sizes of data sets.
Finally, upload the page to the server and open it in a browser. View the page’s HTML source code and verify that
no invalid HTML has been generated by the server-side scripts.
583
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 21: Building applications visually
In Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5, you can use Adobe ColdFusion, PHP, or ASP to build pages that let you search, insert,
delete, and update database records, display master and detail information, and restrict access to certain users.
Building master and detail pages
About master and detail pages
Master and detail pages are sets of pages used to organize and display recordset data. These pages provide a visitor to
your site with both an overview and a detailed view. The master page lists all of the records and contains links to detail
pages that display additional information about each record.
Master page
584
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Detail page
You can build master and detail pages by inserting a data object to create a master page and detail page in one operation
or by using server behaviors to build the master and detail pages in a more customized way. When using server
behaviors to build master and detail pages, you first create a master page to list the records and then add links from the
list to the detail pages.
More Help topics
“About search and results pages” on page 590
Build a master page
Before you start, ensure that you define a database connection for your site.
1To create a blank page, select File > New > Blank Page, select a page type, and click Create. This page becomes the
master page.
2Define a recordset.
In the Bindings panel (Windows > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button, select Recordset, and choose options. If you
want to write your own SQL statement, click Advanced.
Ensure that the recordset contains all the table columns you need to create your master page. The recordset must also
include the table column containing the unique key of each record—that is, the record ID column. In the following
example, the Code column contains the unique key of each record.
585
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Recordset columns selected for a master page
Typically, the recordset on the master page extracts a few columns from a database table while the recordset on the
detail page extracts more columns from the same table to provide the extra detail.
The recordset can be defined by the user at run time. For more information, see “Building search and results pages”
on page 590.
3Insert a dynamic table to display the records.
Place the insertion point where you want the dynamic table to appear on the page. Select Insert > Data Objects >
Dynamic Data
> Dynamic Table, set the options, and click OK.
If you don’t want to show record IDs to users, you can delete the column from the dynamic table. Click anywhere on
the page to move the focus to the page. Move the cursor near the top of the column in the dynamic table until the
column cells are outlined in red, and then click to select the column. Press Delete to delete the column from the table.
More Help topics
“Define a recordset without writing SQL” on page 543
“Define an advanced recordset by writing SQL” on page 545
“Create a dynamic table” on page 567
Create links to the detail page
After building the master page and adding the recordset, you create links that open the detail page. You then modify
the links to pass the IDs of the records the user selects. The detail page uses this ID to find the requested record in the
database and display it.
Note: You create links to update pages using the same process. The results page is similar to a master page, and the update
page is similar to a detail page.
More Help topics
“Building an update record page” on page 599
586
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Open the detail page and pass a record ID (ColdFusion, PHP)
1In the dynamic table, select the content placeholder for text that will serve as a link.
Links applied to placeholder selected.
2In the Property inspector, click the folder icon beside the Link box.
3Browse and select the detail page. The detail page appears in the Link box in the Property inspector.
In the dynamic table, the selected text appears linked. When the page runs on the server, the link is applied to the text
in every table row.
4On the master page, select the link in the dynamic table.
5(ColdFusion) In the Link box in the Property inspector, add the following string at the end of the URL:
?recordID=#recordsetName.fieldName#
The question mark tells the server that what follows is one or more URL parameters. The word recordID is the name
of the URL parameter (you can make up any name you like). Make a note of the name of the URL parameter because
you'll use it in the detail page later.
The expression after the equal sign is the value of the parameter. In this case, the value is generated by a ColdFusion
expression that returns a record ID from the recordset. A different ID is generated for each row in the dynamic table.
In the ColdFusion expression, replace recordsetName with the name of your recordset, and replace fieldName with
the name of the field in your recordset that uniquely identifies each record. In most cases, the field will consist of a
record ID number. In the following example, the field consists of unique location codes.
locationDetail.cfm?recordID=#rsLocations.CODE#
When the page runs, the values of the recordset's CODE field are inserted in the corresponding rows in the dynamic
table. For example, if the Canberra, Australia, rental location has the code CBR, the following URL is used in the
Canberra row in the dynamic table:
locationDetail.cfm?recordID=CBR
6(PHP) In the Link field in the Property inspector, add the following string at the end of the URL:
?recordID=<?php echo $row_recordsetName['fieldName']; ?>
The question mark tells the server that what follows is one or more URL parameters. The word recordID is the name
of the URL parameter (you can use any name you like). Make a note of the name of the URL parameter because you’ll
use it in the detail page later.
The expression after the equal sign is the value of the parameter. In this case, the value is generated by a PHP expression
that returns a record ID from the recordset. A different ID is generated for each row in the dynamic table. In the PHP
expression, replace recordsetName with the name of your recordset, and replace fieldName with the name of the
field in your recordset that uniquely identifies each record. In most cases, the field will consist of a record ID number.
In the following example, the field consists of unique location codes.
locationDetail.php?recordID=<?php echo $row_rsLocations['CODE']; ?>
587
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
When the page runs, the values of the recordset’s CODE field are inserted in the corresponding rows in the dynamic
table. For example, if the Canberra, Australia, rental location has the code CBR, the following URL is used in the
Canberra row in the dynamic table:
locationDetail.php?recordID=CBR
7Save the page.
Open the detail page and pass a record ID (ASP)
1Select the dynamic content to double as a link.
2In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Go to Detail Page
from the pop-up menu.
3In the Detail Page box, click Browse and locate the page.
4Specify the value you want to pass to the detail page by selecting a recordset and a column from the Recordset and
Column pop-up menus. Typically the value is unique to the record, such as the record’s unique key ID.
5If desired, pass existing page parameters to the detail page by selecting the URL Parameters or Form Parameters
options.
6Click OK.
A special link surrounds the selected text. When the user clicks the link, the Go To Detail Page server behavior passes
a URL parameter containing the record ID to the detail page. For example, if the URL parameter is called id and the
detail page is called customerdetail.asp, the URL looks something like the following when the user clicks on the link:
http://www.mysite.com/customerdetail.asp?id=43
The first part of the URL, http://www.mysite.com/customerdetail.asp, opens the detail page. The second part, ?id=43,
is the URL parameter. It tells the detail page what record to find and display. The term id is the name of the URL
parameter and 43 is its value. In this example, the URL parameter contains the record’s ID number, 43.
Find and display the requested record on the detail page
In order to display the record requested by the master page, you must define a recordset to hold a single record and
bind the recordset columns to the detail page.
1Switch to the detail page. If you don’t have a detail page yet, create a blank page (File > New).
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset (Query) or DataSet
(Query) from the pop-up menu.
The simple Recordset or DataSet dialog box appears. If the advanced dialog box appears instead, click Simple.
3Name the recordset, and select a data source and the database table that will provide data to your recordset.
4In the Columns area, select the table columns to include in the recordset.
The recordset can be identical to or different from the recordset on the master page. Usually a detail page recordset
has more columns to display more detail.
If the recordsets are different, make sure the recordset on the detail page contains at least one column in common with
the recordset on the master page. The common column is usually the record ID column, but it can also be the join field
of related tables.
To include only some of the table’s columns in the recordset, click Selected and choose the desired columns by
Control-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Macintosh) them in the list.
588
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Complete the Filter section as to find and display the record specified in the URL parameter passed by the master
page:
•
From the first pop-up menu in the Filter area, select the column in the recordset containing values that match the value
of the URL parameter passed by the master page. For example, if the URL parameter contains a record ID number,
select the column containing record ID numbers. In the example discussed in the previous section, the recordset
column called CODE contains the values that match the value of the URL parameter passed by the master page.
•From the pop-up menu beside the first menu, select the equal sign (it should already be selected).
•From the third pop-up menu, select URL Parameter. The master page uses a URL parameter to pass information
to the detail page.
•In the fourth box, enter the name of the URL parameter passed by the master page.
6Click OK. The recordset appears in the Bindings panel.
7Bind the recordset columns to the detail page by selecting the columns in the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings)
and dragging them onto the page.
After uploading both the master and detail pages to the server, you can open the master page in a browser. After
clicking a detail link on the master page, the detail page opens with more information about the selected record.
More Help topics
“Set up a testing server” on page 45
Find a specific record and display it on a page (ASP)
You can add a server behavior that finds a specific record in a recordset so that you can display the record data on the
page. The server behavior is only available when using the ASP server model.
1Create a page that has the following prerequisites:
•A record ID contained in a URL parameter passed by another page to the current page. You can create URL
parameters on the other page with HTML hyperlinks or with an HTML form. For more information, see “Using
forms to collect information from users” on page 630.
•A recordset defined for the current page. The server behavior extracts the record details from this recordset. For
instructions, see “Define a recordset without writing SQL” on page 543 or “Define an advanced recordset by writing
SQL” on page 545.
•Recordset columns bound to the page. The specific record must be displayed on the page. For more information,
see “Make text dynamic” on page 557.
2Add the server behavior to find the record specified by the URL parameter by clicking the Plus (+) button on the
Server Behaviors panel (Window
> Server Behaviors) and selecting Recordset Paging > Move to Specific Record.
3In the Move To Record In pop-up menu, select the recordset you defined for the page.
4In the Where Column pop-up menu, select the column that contains the value passed by the other page.
For example, if the other page passes a record ID number, select the column containing record ID numbers.
5In the Matches URL Parameter box, enter the name of the URL parameter passed by the other page.
For example, if the URL the other page used to open the detail page is id=43, enterid in the Matches URL Parameter box.
6Click OK.
The next time the page is requested by a browser, the server behavior will read the record ID in the URL parameter
passed by the other page and move to the specified record in the recordset.
589
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Build master and detail pages in one operation
When developing web applications, you can quickly build master and detail pages using the Master Detail Page Set
data object.
1To create a blank dynamic page, select File > New > Blank Page, select a dynamic page from the Page Type list, and
click Create.
This page becomes the master page.
2Define a recordset for the page.
Make sure the recordset contains not only all the columns you’ll need for the master page, but also all the columns
you’ll need for the detail page. Typically, the recordset on the master page extracts a few columns from a database table
while the recordset on the detail page extracts more columns from the same table to provide the extra detail.
3Open the master page in Design view, and select Insert > Data Objects > Master Detail Page Set.
4In the Recordset pop-up menu, make sure the recordset containing the records you want to display on the master
page is chosen.
5In the Master Page Fields area, select the recordset columns to display on the master page.
By default, all the columns in the recordset are selected. If your recordset contains a unique key column such as
recordID, select it and click the Minus (-) button so that it is not displayed on your page.
6To change the order in which the columns appear on the master page, select a column in the list and click the up
or down arrow.
On the master page, the recordset columns will be arranged horizontally in a table. Clicking the up arrow moves the
column to the left; clicking the down arrow moves the column to the right.
7In the Link To Detail From pop-up menu, select the column in the recordset that will display a value that also serves
as a link to the detail page.
For example, if you want each product name on your master page to have a link to the detail page, select the recordset
column containing product names.
8In the Pass Unique Key pop-up menu, select the column in the recordset containing values identifying the records.
Usually, the column chosen is the record ID number. This value is passed to the detail page so that it can identify the
record chosen by the user.
9Deselect the Numeric option if the unique key column is not numeric.
Note: This option is selected by default; it does not appear for all server models.
10 Specify the number of records to display on the master page.
11 In the Detail Page Name box, click Browse and locate the detail page file you created, or enter a name and let the
data object create one for you.
12 In the Detail Page Fields area, select the columns to be displayed on the detail page.
By default, all the columns in the master page’s recordset are selected. If the recordset contains a unique key column
such as recordID, select it and click the Minus (-) button so that it is not displayed on the detail page.
13 To change the order in which the columns appear on the detail page, select a column in the list and click the up or
down arrow.
On the detail page, the recordset columns are arranged vertically in a table. Clicking the up arrow moves the column
up; clicking the down arrow moves the column down.
14 Click OK.
590
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The data object creates a detail page (if you didn’t already create one) and adds dynamic content and server behaviors
to both the master and detail pages.
15 Customize the layout of the master and detail pages to suit your needs.
You can fully customize the layout of each page by using the Dreamweaver page-design tools. You can also edit the
server behaviors by double-clicking them in the Server Behaviors panel.
After creating master and detail pages with the data object, use the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server
Behaviors) to modify the various building blocks the data object inserts into the pages.
More Help topics
“Edit dynamic content” on page 560
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
Building search and results pages
About search and results pages
You can use Dreamweaver to build a set of pages to let users search your database and view the search results.
In most cases, you need at least two pages to add this feature to your web application. The first page is a page that
contains an HTML form in which users enter search parameters. Although this page doesn’t do any actual searching,
it is referred to as the search page.
The second page you need is the results page, which performs most of the work. The result’s page does the following
tasks:
•Reads the search parameters submitted by the search page
•Connects to the database and searches for records
•Builds a recordset with the records found
•Displays the contents of the recordset
Optionally, you can add a detail page. A detail page gives users more information about a particular record on the
results page.
If you have only one search parameter, Dreamweaver lets you add search capabilities to your web application
without using SQL queries and variables. Simply design your pages and complete a few dialog boxes. If you have
more than one search parameter, you need to write a SQL statement and define multiple variables for it.
Dreamweaver inserts the SQL query in your page. When the page runs on the server, each record in the database
table is checked. If the specified field in a record meets your SQL query conditions, the record is included in a
recordset. The SQL query in effect builds a recordset containing only the search results.
For example, field sales staff might have information about customers in a certain area who have incomes above a
certain level. In a form on a search page, the sales associate enters a geographical area and a minimum income level,
and then clicks the Submit button to send the two values to a server. On the server, the values are passed to the
results page’s SQL statement, which then creates a recordset containing only customers in the specified area with
incomes above the specified level.
591
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
“Building search and results pages” on page 590
Build the search page
A search page on the web typically contains form fields in which the user enters search parameters. At minimum, your
search page must have an HTML form with a Submit button.
To add an HTML form to a search page, complete the following procedure.
1Open the search page or a new page, and select Insert > Form > Form.
An empty form is created on the page. You might need to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible
Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.
2Add form objects for users to enter their search parameters by selecting Form from the Insert menu.
Form objects include text fields, menus, options, and radio buttons. You can add as many form objects as you want to
help users refine their searches. However, keep in mind that the greater the number of search parameters on the search
page, the more complex your SQL statement will be.
3Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).
4(Optional) Change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector
(Window
> Properties), and entering a new value in the Value box.
Next, you’ll tell the form where to send the search parameters when the user clicks the Submit button.
5Select the form by selecting the <form> tag in the tag selector at the bottom of the Document window, as the
following image shows:
6In the Action box in the form’s Property inspector, enter the filename of the results page that will conduct the
database search.
7In the Method pop-up menu, select one of the following methods to determine how the form sends data to the
server:
•GET sends the form data by appending it to the URL as a query string. Because URLs are limited to 8192 characters,
don’t use the GET method with long forms.
•POST sends the form data in the body of a message.
•Default uses the browser’s default method (usually GET).
The search page is done.
More Help topics
“About search and results pages” on page 590
“Creating web forms” on page 633
592
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Build a basic results page
When the user clicks the form’s Search button, the search parameters are sent to a results page on the server. The
results page on the server, not the search page on the browser, is responsible for retrieving records from the database.
If the search page submits a single search parameter to the server, you can build the results page without SQL queries
and variables. You create a basic recordset with a filter that excludes records that don’t meet the search parameter
submitted by the search page.
Note: If you have more than one search condition, you must use the advanced Recordset dialog box to define your
recordset (see “Build an advanced results page” on page 593).
More Help topics
“About search and results pages” on page 590
“Build the search page” on page 591
“Create a detail page for a results page” on page 595
Create the recordset to hold the search results
1Open your results page in the Document window.
If you don’t have a results page yet, create a blank dynamic page (File > New > Blank Page).
2Create a recordset by opening the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), clicking the Plus (+) button, and selecting
Recordset from the pop-up menu.
3Make sure the simple Recordset dialog box appears.
If the advanced dialog box appears instead, switch to the simple dialog box by clicking the Simple button.
4Enter a name for the recordset, and select a connection.
The connection should be to a database containing data you want the user to search.
5In the Table pop-up menu, select the table to be searched in the database.
Note: In a single-parameter search, you can search for records in only a single table. To search more than one table at a
time, you must use the advanced Recordset dialog box and define a SQL query.
593
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
6To include only some of the table’s columns in the recordset, click Selected and select the desired columns by
Control-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Macintosh) them in the list.
You should include only the columns containing information you want to display on the results page.
Leave the Recordset dialog box open for now. You’ll use it next to retrieve the parameters sent by the search page and
create a recordset filter to exclude records that don’t meet the parameters.
Create the recordset filter
1From the first pop-up menu in the Filter area, select a column in the database table in which to search for a match.
For example, if the value sent by the search page is a city name, select the column in your table that contains city names.
2From the pop-up menu beside the first menu, select the equal sign (it should be the default).
3From the third pop-up menu, select Form Variable if the form on your search page uses the POST method, or URL
Parameter if it uses the GET method.
The search page uses either a form variable or a URL parameter to pass information to the results page.
4In the fourth box, enter the name of the form object that accepts the search parameter on the search page.
The name of the object doubles as the name of the form variable or URL parameter. You can get the name by switching
to the search page, clicking the form object on the form to select it, and checking the object’s name in the Property
inspector.
For example, suppose you want to create a recordset that includes only adventure trips to a specific country. Assume
you have a column in the table called TRIPLOCATION. Also assume the HTML form on your search page uses the GET
method and contains a menu object called Location that displays a list of countries. The following example shows how
your Filter section should look:
5(Optional) Click Test, enter a test value, and click OK to connect to the database and create an instance of the
recordset.
The test value simulates the value that would otherwise have been returned from the search page. Click OK to close
the test recordset.
6If you’re satisfied with the recordset, click OK.
A server-side script is inserted on your page that checks each record in the database table when it runs on the server.
If the specified field in a record meets the filtering condition, the record is included in a recordset. The script builds a
recordset that contains only the search results.
The next step is to display the recordset on the results page. For more information, see “Display the search results” on
page 595.
Build an advanced results page
If the search page submits more than one search parameter to the server, you must write a SQL query for the results
page and use the search parameters in SQL variables.
594
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: If you have only one search condition, you can use the simple Recordset dialog box to define your recordset (see
“Build a basic results page” on page 592).
1Open the results page in Dreamweaver, and then create a recordset by opening the Bindings panel (Window >
Bindings), clicking the Plus (+) button, and selecting Recordset from the pop-up menu.
2Make sure the advanced Recordset dialog box appears.
The advanced dialog box has a text area to enter SQL statements. If the simple dialog box appears instead, switch to
the advanced dialog box by clicking the Advanced button.
3Enter a name for the recordset, and select a connection.
The connection should be to a database containing data you want the user to search.
4Enter a Select statement in the SQL text area.
Make sure the statement includes a WHERE clause with variables to hold the search parameters. In the following
example, the variables are called varLastName and varDept:
SELECT EMPLOYEEID, FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME, DEPARTMENT, EXTENSION FROM EMPLOYEE ¬
WHERE LASTNAME LIKE 'varLastName' ¬
AND DEPARTMENT LIKE 'varDept'
To reduce the amount of typing, you can use the tree of database items at the bottom of the advanced Recordset dialog
box. For instructions, see “Define an advanced recordset by writing SQL” on page 545.
For help on SQL syntax, see the SQL primer at www.adobe.com/go/learn_dw_sqlprimer.
5Give the SQL variables the values of the search parameters by clicking the Plus (+) button in the Variables area and
entering the variable’s name, default value (the value the variable should take if no run-time value is returned), and
run-time value (usually a server object holding a value sent by a browser, such as a request variable).
In the following ASP example, the HTML form on the search page uses the GET method and contains one text field
called LastName and another called Department:
In ColdFusion, the run-time values would be #LastName# and #Department#. In PHP, the run-time values would be
$_REQUEST["LastName"] and $_REQUEST["Department"].
6(Optional) Click Test to create an instance of the recordset using the default variable values.
The default values simulate the values that would otherwise have been returned from the search page. Click OK to close
the test recordset.
7If you’re satisfied with the recordset, click OK.
The SQL query is inserted in your page.
The next step is to display the recordset on the results page.
595
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Display the search results
After creating a recordset to hold the search results, you must display the information on the results page. Displaying
the records can be a simple matter of dragging individual columns from the Bindings panel to the results page. You
can add navigation links to move forward and backward through the recordset, or you can create a repeating region
to display more than one record on the page. You can also add links to a detail page.
For more information on methods of displaying dynamic content on a page other than displaying results in a dynamic
table, see “Displaying database records” on page 562.
1Place the insertion point where you want the dynamic table to appear on the results page, and select Insert > Data
Objects
> Dynamic Data > Dynamic Table.
2Complete the Dynamic Table dialog box, selecting the recordset you defined to hold the search results.
3Click OK. A dynamic table that displays search results is inserted on the results page.
Create a detail page for a results page
Your set of search and results pages can include a detail page to display more information about specific records on
the results page. In this situation, your results page also doubles as the master page in a master-detail page set.
More Help topics
“Build master and detail pages in one operation” on page 589
“Build the search page” on page 591
“Build a basic results page” on page 592
Create a link to open a related page (ASP)
You can create a link that opens a related page and that passes existing parameters to that page. The server behavior is
only available when using the ASP server model.
Before adding a Go To Related Page server behavior to a page, make sure the page receives form or URL parameters
from another page. The job of the server behavior is to pass these parameters to a third page. For example, you can pass
search parameters received by a results page to another page and save the user from entering the search parameters
again.
Also, you can select text or an image on the page to serve as the link to the related page, or you can position your pointer
on the page without selecting anything, and the link text is inserted.
1In the Go To Related Page box, click Browse and locate the related page file.
If the current page submits data to itself, enter the current page’s file name.
2If the parameters you want to pass were received directly from an HTML form using the GET method, or are listed
in the page’s URL, select the URL Parameters option.
3If the parameters you want to pass were received directly from an HTML form using the POST method, select the
Form Parameters option.
4Click OK.
When the new link is clicked, the page passes the parameters to the related page using a query string.
More Help topics
“Using forms to collect information from users” on page 630
596
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Building a record insert page
About building record insert pages
Your application can contain a page that lets users insert new records in a database.
An insert page consists of two building blocks:
•An HTML form that lets users enter data
•An Insert Record server behavior that updates the database
When a user clicks Submit on a form, the server behavior inserts records in a database table.
You can add these building blocks in a single operation using the Record Insertion Form data object or you can add
them separately using the Dreamweaver form tools and the Server Behaviors panel.
Note: The insert page can contain only one record-editing server behavior at a time. For example, you cannot add an
Update Record or a Delete Record server behavior to the insert page.
Build an insert page block by block
You can also build an insert page by using the forms tools and server behaviors.
More Help topics
“Creating web forms” on page 633
Add an HTML form to an insert page
1Create a dynamic page (File > New > Blank Page), and lay out your page using the Dreamweaver design tools.
2Add an HTML form by placing the insertion point where you want the form to appear and selecting Insert >
Form
> Form.
An empty form is created on the page. You may have to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible
Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.
3Name the HTML form by clicking the <form> tag at the bottom of the Document window to select the form,
opening the Property inspector (Window
> Properties), and entering a name in the Form Name box.
You don’t need to specify an action or method attribute for the form to tell it where and how to send the record data
when the user clicks the Submit button. The Insert Record server behavior sets these attributes for you.
4Add a form object such as a text field (Insert > Form > Text Field) for each column in the database table you want
to insert records into.
The form objects are for data entry. Text fields are common for this purpose, but you can also use menus, options, and
radio buttons.
5Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).
You can change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector (Window >
Properties), and entering a new value in the Label box.
Add a server behavior to insert records in a database table (ColdFusion)
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Insert Record from
the pop-up menu.
597
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Select a form from the Submit Values From pop-up menu.
3In the Data Source pop-up menu, select a connection to the database.
4Enter your user name and password.
5In the Insert Into Table pop-up menu, select the database table to insert the record in.
6Specify a database column to insert the record in, select the form object that will insert the record from the Value
pop-up menu, and then select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop-up menu.
The data type is the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values).
Repeat the procedure for each form object in your form.
7In the After Inserting, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record is inserted in the table or click the Browse
button to browse to the file.
8Click OK.
Dreamweaver adds a server behavior to the page that lets users insert records in a database table by filling out the
HTML form and clicking the Submit button.
Add a server behavior to insert records in a database table (ASP)
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Insert Record from
the pop-up menu.
2In the Connection pop-up menu, select a connection to the database.
Click the Define button if you need to define a connection.
3In the Insert Into Table pop-up menu, select the database table into which the record should be inserted.
4In the After Inserting, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record is inserted into the table or click Browse
to browse to the file.
5In the Get Values From pop-up menu, select the HTML form used to enter the data.
Dreamweaver automatically selects the first form on your page.
6Specify a database column to insert the record in, select the form object that will insert the record from the Value
pop-up menu, and then select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop-up menu.
The data type is the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values).
Repeat the procedure for each form object in your form.
7Click OK.
Dreamweaver adds a server behavior to the page that lets users insert records in a database table by filling out the
HTML form and clicking the Submit button.
To edit the server behavior, open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) and double-click the Insert
Record behavior.
Add a server behavior to insert records in a database table (PHP)
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Insert Record from
the pop-up menu.
2Select a form from the Submit Values From pop-up menu.
3In the Connection pop-up menu, select a connection to the database.
4In the Insert Table pop-up menu, select the database table to insert the record in.
598
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Specify a database column to insert the record in, select the form object that will insert the record from the Value
pop-up menu, and then select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop-up menu.
The data type is the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values).
Repeat the procedure for each form object in your form.
6In the After Inserting, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record is inserted in the table or click the Browse
button to browse to the file.
7Click OK.
Dreamweaver adds a server behavior to the page that lets users insert records in a database table by filling out the
HTML form and clicking the Submit button.
Build the insert page in one operation
1Open the page in Design view, and select Insert > Data Objects > Insert Record > Record Insertion Form Wizard.
2In the Connection pop-up menu, select a connection to the database. Click Define if you need to define a
connection.
3In the Insert Into Table pop-up menu, select the database table into which the record should be inserted.
4If you use ColdFusion, enter a user name and password.
5In the After Inserting, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record is inserted into the table or click the
Browse button to browse to the file.
6In the Form Fields area, specify the form objects you want to include on the insert page’s HTML form, and which
columns in your database table each form object should update.
By default, Dreamweaver creates a form object for each column in the database table. If your database automatically
generates unique key IDs for each new record created, remove the form object corresponding to the key column by
selecting it in the list and clicking the Minus (-) button. This eliminates the risk that the user of the form will enter an
ID value that already exists.
You can also change the order of the form objects on the HTML form by selecting a form object in the list and clicking
the up or down arrow on the right side of the dialog box.
7Specify how each data-entry field should be displayed on the HTML form by clicking a row in the Form Fields table
and entering the following information in the boxes below the table:
•In the Label box, enter a descriptive label to display beside the data-entry field. By default, Dreamweaver displays
the table column’s name in the label.
•In the Display As pop-up menu, select a form object to serve as the data-entry field. You can select Text Field, Text
Area, Menu, Checkbox, Radio Group, and Text. For read-only entries, select Text. You can also select Password
Field, File Field, and Hidden Field.
Note: Hidden fields are inserted at the end of the form.
•In the Submit As pop-up menu, select the data format accepted by your database table. For example, if the table
column only accepts numeric data, select Numeric.
•Set the form object’s properties. You have different options depending on the form object you select as your data-
entry field. For text fields, text areas, and text, you can enter an initial value. For menus and radio groups, you open
another dialog box to set the properties. For options, select the Checked or Unchecked option.
8Click OK.
599
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver adds both an HTML form and an Insert Record server behavior to your page. The form objects are laid
out in a basic table, which you can customize using the Dreamweaver page design tools. (Make sure all the form objects
remain within the form’s boundaries.)
To edit the server behavior, open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) and double-click the Insert
Record behavior.
Building an update record page
About record update pages
Your application can contain a set of pages that lets users update existing records in a database table. The pages
normally consist of a search page, a results page, and an update page. The search and results page let users retrieve the
record and the update page lets users modify the record.
Search for the record to update
When users want to update a record, they must first find that record in the database. Accordingly, you need a search
and a results page to work with the update page. The user enters search criteria in the search page and selects the record
on the results page. When the user clicks the record on the results page, the update page opens and displays the record
in an HTML form.
More Help topics
“Building search and results pages” on page 590
Create links to the update page
After creating the search and results pages, you create links on the results page to open the update page. You then
modify the links to pass the IDS of the records the user selects. The update page uses this ID to find the requested
record in the database and display it.
You use the same process to open the update page and pass a record ID that you do to open a detail page and pass a
record ID. For more information, see “Create links to the detail page” on page 585.
More Help topics
“URL parameters” on page 631
Retrieve the record to update
After the results page passes a record ID to the update page identifying the record to update, the update page must read
the parameter, retrieve the record from the database table, and store it temporarily in a recordset.
1Create a page in Dreamweaver and save it.
The page will become your update page.
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset.
If the advanced dialog box appears, click Simple. The advanced dialog box has a text area to enter SQL statements; the
simple one does not.
600
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Name the recordset and specify where the data you want to update is located using the Connection and Table
pop-up menus.
4Click Selected, and select a key column (usually the record ID column) and the columns that contain the data to be
updated.
5Configure the Filter area so that the value of your key column equals the value of the corresponding URL parameter
passed by the results page.
This kind of filter creates a recordset that contains only the record specified by the results page. For example, if your
key column contains record ID information and is called PRID, and if the results page passes the corresponding record
ID information in the URL parameter called id, the Filter area should look like the following example:
6Click OK.
When the user selects a record on the results page, the update page generates a recordset containing only the selected
record.
Complete the update page block by block
An update page has three building blocks:
•A filtered recordset to retrieve the record from a database table
•An HTML form to let users modify the record’s data
•An Update Record server behavior to update the database table
You can add the final two basic building blocks of an update page separately using the form tools and the Server
Behaviors panel.
More Help topics
“Retrieve the record to update” on page 599
“Creating web forms” on page 633
Add an HTML form to an update page
1Create a page (File > New > Blank Page). This becomes your update page.
2Lay out your page using the Dreamweaver design tools.
3Add an HTML form by placing the insertion point where you want the form to appear and selecting Insert >
Form
> Form.
An empty form is created on the page. You may have to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible
Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.
4Name the HTML form by clicking the <form> tag at the bottom of the Document window to select the form,
opening the Property inspector (Window
> Properties), and entering a name in the Form Name box.
You don’t have to specify an action or method attribute for the form to tell it where and how to send the record data
when the user clicks the Submit button. The Update Record server behavior sets these attributes for you.
601
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
5Add a form object such as a text field (Insert > Form > Text Field) for each column you want to update in the
database table.
The form objects are for data entry. Text fields are common for this purpose, but you can also use menus, options, and
radio buttons.
Each form object should have a corresponding column in the recordset you defined earlier. The only exception is the
unique key column, which should have no corresponding form object.
6Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).
You can change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector (Window >
Properties), and entering a new value in the Label box.
Display the record in the form
1Make sure you defined a recordset to hold the record the user wants to update.
See “Retrieve the record to update” on page 599.
2Bind each form object to data in the recordset, as described in the following topics:
•“Display dynamic content in HTML text fields” on page 642
•“Dynamically preselect an HTML check box” on page 643
•“Dynamically preselect an HTML radio button” on page 643
•“Insert or change a dynamic HTML form menu” on page 642
•“Make existing HTML form menus dynamic” on page 642
Add a server behavior to update the database table
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Update Record
from the pop-up menu.
The Update Record dialog box appears.
2Select a form from the Submit Values From pop-up menu.
3In the Data Source or Connection pop-up menu, select a connection to the database.
4Enter your user name and password if applicable.
5In the Update Table pop-up menu, select the database table that contains the record you are updating.
6(ColdFusion, PHP) Specify a database column to update, select the form object that will update the column from
the Value pop-up menu, select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop-up menu, and select Primary
Key if you want to identify this column as the primary key.
The data type is the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values).
Repeat the procedure for each form object in your form.
7(ASP) In the Select Record From pop-up menu, specify the recordset that contains the record displayed in the
HTML form. In the Unique Key Column pop-up menu, select a key column (usually the record ID column) to
identify the record in the database table. Select the Numeric option if the value is a number. A key column usually
accepts only numeric values, but sometimes accepts text values.
8In the After Updating or On Success, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record updates in the table or click
the Browse button to browse to the file.
602
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
9(ASP) Specify a database column to update, select the form object that will update the column from the Value
pop-up menu, and then select a data type for the form object from the Submit As pop-up menu. The data type is
the kind of data the column in your database table is expecting (text, numeric, Boolean option values). Repeat the
procedure for each form in your form.
10 Click OK.
Dreamweaver adds a server behavior to the page that lets users update records in a database table by modifying the
information displayed in the HTML form and clicking the Submit button.
To edit the server behavior, open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) and double-click the
Update Record behavior.
Complete the update page in one operation
An update page has three building blocks:
•A filtered recordset to retrieve the record from a database table
•An HTML form to let users modify the record’s data
•An Update Record server behavior to update the database table
You can add the final two building blocks of an update page in a single operation using the Record Update Form data
object. The data object adds both an HTML form and an Update Record server behavior to the page.
Before you can use the data object, your web application must be able to identify the record to update, and your update
page must be able to retrieve it.
After the data object places the building blocks on the page, you can use the Dreamweaver design tools to customize
the form to your liking, or the Server Behaviors panel to edit the Update Record server behavior.
Note: The update page can contain only one record-editing server behavior at a time. For example, you cannot add an
Insert Record or a Delete Record server behavior to the update page.
1Open the page in Design view, and select Insert > Data Objects > Update Record > Record Update Form Wizard.
The Record Update Form dialog box appears.
2In the Connection pop-up menu, select a connection to the database.
Click the Define button if you need to define a connection.
3In the Table To Update pop-up menu, select the database table that contains the record to update.
4
In the Select Record From pop-up menu, specify the recordset that contains the record displayed in the HTML form.
5In the Unique Key Column pop-up menu, select a key column (usually the record ID column) to identify the record
in the database table.
If the value is a number, select the Numeric option. A key column usually accepts only numeric values, but sometimes
it accepts text values.
6In the After Updating, Go To box, enter the page to open after the record updates in the table.
7In the Form Fields area, specify which columns in your database table each form object should update.
By default, Dreamweaver creates a form object for each column in the database table. If your database automatically
generates unique key IDs for each new record created, remove the form object corresponding to the key column by
selecting it in the list and clicking the Minus (-) button. This eliminates the risk that the user of the form will enter an
ID value that already exists.
603
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also change the order of the form objects on the HTML form by selecting a form object in the list and clicking
the up or down arrow on the right side of the dialog box.
8Specify how each data-entry field should appear on the HTML form by clicking a row in the Form Fields table and
entering the following information in the boxes below the table:
•In the Label box, enter a descriptive label to display beside the data-entry field. By default, Dreamweaver displays
the table column’s name in the label.
•In the Display As pop-up menu, select a form object to serve as the data-entry field. You can select Text Field, Text
Area, Menu, Checkbox, Radio Group, and Text. For read-only entries, select Text. You can also select Password
Field, File Field, and Hidden Field.
Note: Hidden fields are inserted at the end of the form.
•In the Submit As pop-up menu, select the data format expected by your database table. For example, if the table
column only accepts numeric data, select Numeric.
•Set the form object’s properties. You have different options depending on the form object you select as your data-
entry field. For text fields, text areas, and text, you can enter an initial value. For menus and radio groups, you open
another dialog box to set the properties. For options, select the Checked or Unchecked option.
9Set the properties of other form objects by selecting another Form Fields row and entering a label, Display As value,
and Submit As value.
For menus and radio groups, open another dialog box to set the properties. For options, define a comparison between
the current record’s value for the option and a given value to determine whether the option is checked when the record
is displayed.
10 Click OK.
Dreamweaver adds both an HTML form and an Update Record server behavior to your page.
The data object adds both an HTML form and an Update Record server behavior to your page. The form objects are
laid out in a basic table, which you can customize using the Dreamweaver page design tools. (Make sure all the form
objects remain within the form’s boundaries.)
To edit the server behavior, open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors) and double-click the
Update Record behavior.
More Help topics
“Retrieve the record to update” on page 599
“Insert or change a dynamic HTML form menu” on page 642
Form Element Properties options
The purpose of the Form Element Properties dialog box is to set the options for form elements on pages that let users
update records in a database.
1Select either Manually or From Database, depending on how you plan to create the form element.
2Click the Plus (+) button to add an element.
3Enter a label and value for the element.
4In the Select Value Equal To box, if you want a particular element selected when the page opens in a browser or
when a record displays in the form, enter a value equal to the element’s value.
604
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can enter a static value or you can specify a dynamic value by clicking the lightning bolt icon, and selecting a
dynamic value from the list of data sources. In either case, the value you specify should match one of the element’s
values.
Building a delete record page
About record delete pages
Your application can contain a set of pages that lets users delete records in a database. The pages normally consist of
a search page, a results page, and a delete page. A delete page is usually a detail page working in tandem with a results
page. The search and results pages let the user retrieve the record and the delete page lets the user confirm and delete
the record.
After creating the search and results pages, you add links on the results page to open the delete page and then build a
delete page that displays the records and a Submit button.
Search for the record to delete
When users want to delete a record, they must first find that record in the database. Accordingly, you need a search
and a results page to work with the delete page. The user enters search criteria in the search page and selects the record
on the results page. When the user clicks the record, the delete page opens and displays the record in an HTML form.
More Help topics
“Building search and results pages” on page 590
Create links to a delete page
After creating the search and results pages, you must create links on the results page to open the delete page. You then
modify the links to pass the IDs of the records the user wants to delete. The delete page uses this ID to find and display
the record.
More Help topics
“URL parameters” on page 631
To create the links manually
1On the results page, create a column in the table used to display records by clicking inside the last table column and
selecting Modify
> Table > Insert Rows or Columns.
2Select the Columns option and the After Current Column option, and click OK.
A column is added to the table.
3In the newly created table column, enter the string Delete in the row containing the dynamic content placeholders.
Make sure you enter the string inside the tabbed repeating region.
You can also insert an image with a word or symbol for delete.
4Select the Delete string to apply a link to it.
5In the Property inspector, enter the delete page in the Link box. You can enter any filename.
605
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
After clicking outside the Link box, the Delete string appears linked in the table. If you Live view, you can see that the
link is applied to the same text in every table row.
6Select the Delete link on the results page.
7(ColdFusion) In the Link box in the Property inspector, add the following string at the end of the URL:
?recordID=#recordsetName.fieldName#
The question mark tells the server that what follows is one or more URL parameters. The word recordID is the name
of the URL parameter (you can make up any name you like). Note the name of the URL parameter because you'll use
it in the delete page later.
The expression after the equal sign is the value of the parameter. In this case, the value is generated by a ColdFusion
expression that returns a record ID from the recordset. A different ID is generated for each row in the dynamic table.
In the ColdFusion expression, replace recordsetName with the name of your recordset, and replace fieldName with
the name of the field in your recordset that uniquely identifies each record. In most cases, the field will consist of a
record ID number. In the following example, the field consists of unique location codes:
confirmDelete.cfm?recordID=#rsLocations.CODE#
When the page runs, the values of the recordset's CODE field are inserted in the corresponding rows in the dynamic
table. For example, if the Canberra, Australia, rental location has the code CBR, the following URL is used in the
Canberra row in the dynamic table:
confirmDelete.cfm?recordID=CBR
8(PHP) In the Link field in the Property inspector, add the following string at the end of the URL:
?recordID=<?php echo $row_recordsetName['fieldName']; ?>
The question mark tells the server that what follows is one or more URL parameters. The word recordID is the name
of the URL parameter (you can make up any name you like). Note the name of the URL parameter because you'll use
it in the delete page later.
The expression after the equal sign is the value of the parameter. In this case, the value is generated by a PHP expression
that returns a record ID from the recordset. A different ID is generated for each row in the dynamic table. In the PHP
expression, replace recordsetName with the name of your recordset, and replace fieldName with the name of the
field in your recordset that uniquely identifies each record. In most cases, the field will consist of a record ID number.
In the following example, the field consists of unique location codes:
confirmDelete.php?recordID=<?php echo $row_rsLocations['CODE']; ?>
When the page runs, the values of the recordset's CODE field are inserted in the corresponding rows in the dynamic
table. For example, if the Canberra, Australia, rental location has the code CBR, the following URL is used in the
Canberra row in the dynamic table:
confirmDelete.php?recordID=CBR
9(ASP) In the Link field in the Property inspector, add the following string at the end of the URL:
?recordID=<%=(recordsetName.Fields.Item("fieldName").Value)%>
The question mark tells the server that what follows is one or more URL parameters. The word recordID is the name
of the URL parameter (you can make up any name you like). Note the name of the URL parameter because you'll use
it in the delete page later.
606
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The expression after the equal sign is the value of the parameter. In this case, the value is generated by an ASP
expression that returns a record ID from the recordset. A different ID is generated for each row in the dynamic table.
In the ASP expression, replace recordsetName with the name of your recordset, and replace fieldName with the
name of the field in your recordset that uniquely identifies each record. In most cases, the field will consist of a record
ID number. In the following example, the field consists of unique location codes:
confirmDelete.asp?recordID=<%=(rsLocations.Fields.Item("CODE").Value)%>
When the page runs, the values of the recordset's CODE field are inserted in the corresponding rows in the dynamic
table. For example, if the Canberra, Australia, rental location has the code CBR, the following URL is used in the
Canberra row in the dynamic table:
confirmDelete.asp?recordID=CBR
10 Save the page.
To create the links visually (ASP only)
1On the results page, create a column in the table used to display records by clicking inside the last table column and
selecting Modify
> Table > Insert Rows or Columns.
2Select the Columns option and the After Current Column option, and click OK.
A column is added to the table.
3In the newly created table column, enter the string Delete in the row containing the dynamic content placeholders.
Make sure you enter the string inside the tabbed repeating region.
You can also insert an image with a word or symbol for delete.
4Select the Delete string to apply a link to it.
5In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Go to Detail Page
from the pop-up menu.
6In the Detail Page box, click Browse and locate the delete page.
7In the Pass URL Parameter box, specify the name of your parameter, such as recordID.
You can make up any name you like, but take note of the name because you'll use it in the delete page later.
8Specify the value you want to pass to the delete page by selecting a recordset and a column from the Recordset and
Column pop-up menus. Typically the value is unique to the record, such as the record’s unique key ID.
9Select the URL Parameters option.
10 Click OK.
A special link surrounds the selected text. When the user clicks the link, the Go To Detail Page server behavior passes
a URL parameter containing the record ID to the specified delete page. For example, if the URL parameter is called
recordID and the delete page is called confirmdelete.asp, the URL looks something like the following when the user
clicks on the link:
http://www.mysite.com/confirmdelete.asp?recordID=43
The first part of the URL, http://www.mysite.com/confirmdelete.asp, opens the delete page. The second part,
?recordID=43, is the URL parameter. It tells the delete page what record to find and display. The term recordID is the
name of the URL parameter and 43 is its value. In this example, the URL parameter contains the record’s ID number, 43.
607
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Build the delete page
After completing the page listing the records, switch to the delete page. The delete page shows the record and asks the
user if they're sure they want to delete it. When the user confirms the operation by clicking the form button, the web
application deletes the record from the database.
Building this page consists of creating an HTML form, retrieving the record to display in the form, displaying the
record in the form, and adding the logic to delete the record from the database. Retrieving and displaying the record
consists of defining a recordset to hold a single record—the record the user wants to delete—and binding the recordset
columns to the form.
Note: The delete page can contain only one record-editing server behavior at a time. For example, you cannot add an
Insert Record or an Update Record server behavior to the delete page.
Create an HTML form to display the record
1Create a page and save it as the delete page you specified in the previous section.
You specified a delete page when you created the Delete link in the previous section. Use this name when saving the
file for the first time (for example, deleteConfirm.cfm).
2Insert an HTML form on the page (Insert > Form > Form).
3Add a hidden form field to the form.
The hidden form field is required to store the record ID passed by the URL parameter. To add a hidden field, place the
insertion point in the form and select Insert
> Form > Hidden Field.
4Add a button to the form.
The user will click the button to confirm and delete the displayed record. To add a button, place the insertion point in
the form and select Insert
> Form > Button.
5Enhance the design of the page any way you want and save it.
Retrieve the record the user wants to delete
1In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset (Query) from the
pop-up menu.
The simple Recordset or DataSet dialog box appears. If the advanced Recordset dialog box appears instead, click
Simple.
2Name the recordset, and select a data source and the database table that contains the records that users can delete.
3In the Columns area, select the table columns (record fields) you want to display on the page.
To display only some of the record’s fields, click Selected and choose the desired fields by Control-clicking (Windows)
or Command-clicking (Macintosh) them in the list.
Make sure to include the record ID field even if you won't be displaying it.
4Complete the Filter section as follows to find and display the record specified in the URL parameter passed by the
results page:
•From the first pop-up menu in the Filter area, select the column in the recordset containing values that match the
value of the URL parameter passed by the page with the Delete links. For example, if the URL parameter contains
a record ID number, select the column containing record ID numbers. In the example discussed in the previous
section, the recordset column called CODE contains the values that match the value of the URL parameter passed
by the page with the Delete links.
•From the pop-up menu beside the first menu, select the equal sign, if not already selected.
608
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
•From the third pop-up menu, select URL Parameter. The page with the Delete links uses a URL parameter to pass
information to the delete page.
•In the fourth box, enter the name of the URL parameter passed by the page with the Delete links.
5Click OK.
The recordset appears in the Bindings panel.
Display the record the user wants to delete
1Select the recordset columns (record fields) in the Bindings panel, and drag them to the delete page.
Make sure you insert this read-only dynamic content within the form boundaries. For more information on inserting
dynamic content in a page, see “Make text dynamic” on page 557.
Next, you must bind the record ID column to the hidden form field.
2Make sure Invisible Elements are enabled (View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements), and then click the yellow
shield icon that represents the hidden form field.
The hidden form field is selected.
3In the Property inspector, click the lightning bolt icon beside the Value box.
4In the Dynamic Data dialog box, select the record ID column in the recordset.
In the following example, the record ID column, CODE, contains unique store codes.
609
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Record ID column selected
5Click OK and save the page.
Completed delete page
Add logic to delete the record
After displaying the selected record on the delete page, you must add logic to the page that deletes the record from the
database when the user clicks the Confirm Deletion button. You can add this logic quickly and easily by using the
Delete Record server behavior.
To add a server behavior to delete the record (ColdFusion, PHP)
1Make sure the ColdFusion or PHP delete page is open in Dreamweaver.
2In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Delete Record.
3In the First Check If Variable Is Defined box, make sure Primary Key Value is selected.
You specify the primary key value later in the dialog box.
610
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
4In the Connection or Data Source (ColdFusion) pop-up menu, select a connection to the database so that the server
behavior can connect to the affected database.
5In the Table pop-up menu, select the database table that contains the records that will be deleted.
6In the Primary Key Column pop-up menu, select the table column that contains record IDs.
The Delete Record server behavior searches this column for a match. The column should contain the same record ID
data as the recordset column you bound to the hidden form field on the page.
If the record ID is numeric, select the Numeric option.
7(PHP) In the Primary Key Value pop-up menu, select the variable on your page that contains the record ID
identifying the record to be deleted.
The variable is created by your hidden form field. It has the same name as the name attribute of the hidden field and
is either a form or URL parameter, depending on the form’s method attribute.
8 In the After Deleting, Go To box, or the On Success, Go To box, specify a page to open after the record has been
deleted from the database table.
You can specify a page that contains a brief success message to the user, or a page listing the remaining records so that
the user can verify that the record has been deleted.
9Click OK, and save your work.
To add a server behavior to delete the record (ASP)
1Make sure the ASP delete page is open in Dreamweaver.
2In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Delete Record.
3In the Connection pop-up menu, select a connection to the database so that the server behavior can connect to the
affected database.
Click the Define button if you need to define a connection.
4In the Delete from Table pop-up menu, select the database table that contains the records to be deleted.
5In the Select Record From pop-up menu, specify the recordset that contains the records to be deleted.
6In the Unique Key Column pop-up menu, select a key column (usually the record ID column) to identify the record
in the database table.
If the value is a number, select the Numeric option. A key column usually accepts only numeric values, but sometimes
it accepts text values.
611
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
7In the Delete By Submitting pop-up menu, specify the HTML form with the Submit button that sends the delete
command to the server.
8In the After Deleting, Go To box, specify a page to open after the record has been deleted from the database table.
You can specify a page that contains a brief success message to the user, or a page listing the remaining records so that
the user can verify that the record has been deleted.
9Click OK, and save your work.
Test your delete pages
1Upload the search, results, and delete pages to your web server, open a browser and search for a disposable test
record to delete.
When you click a Delete link on the results page, the delete page should appear.
2Click the Confirm button to delete the record from the database.
3Verify that the record has been deleted by searching for the record again. The record should no longer appear in
the results page.
Building pages with advanced data manipulation
objects (ColdFusion, ASP)
About ASP command objects
An ASP command object is a server object that performs some operation on a database. The object can contain any
valid SQL statement, including one that returns a recordset, or one that inserts, updates, or deletes records in a
database. A command object can alter the structure of a database if the SQL statement adds or deletes a column in a
table. You can also use a command object to run a stored procedure in a database.
A command object can be reusable, in the sense that the application server can reuse a single compiled version of the
object to execute the command a number of times. You make a command reusable by setting the Prepared property
of the Command object to true, as in the following VBScript statement:
mycommand.Prepared = true
If you know the command will be executed more than a few times, having a single compiled version of the object can
make database operations more efficient.
Note: Not all database providers support prepared commands. If your database does not support it, it might return an
error when you set this property to true. It might even ignore the request to prepare the command and set the Prepared
property to false.
A command object is created by scripts on an ASP page, but Dreamweaver lets you create command objects without
writing a line of ASP code.
Use ASP commands to modify a database
You can use Dreamweaver to create ASP command objects that insert, update, or delete records in a database. You
supply the command object with the SQL statement or stored procedure that performs the operation on the database.
1In Dreamweaver, open the ASP page that will run the command.
2Open the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Command.
612
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Enter a name for the command, select a connection to the database that contains the records you want to edit, and
select the editing operation that you want the command to perform—Insert, Update, or Delete.
Dreamweaver starts the SQL statement, based on the type of operation you select. For example, if you select Insert, the
dialog box looks like the following example:
4Complete the SQL statement.
For information on writing SQL statements that modify databases, consult a Transact-SQL manual.
5Use the Variables area to define any SQL variables. Provide the name and run-time value. Specifying the type and
size of each variable prevents injection attacks.
The following example shows an Insert statement that contains three SQL variables. The values of these variables are
provided by URL parameters passed to the page, as defined in the Run-Time Value column of the Variables area.
To get the Size value, use the Databases panel in Dreamweaver. Find your database in the Databases panel and expand
it. Next, find the table you’re working with and expand it. The table lists the sizes for your fields. For example, it might
say ADDRESS (WChar 50). In this example, 50 is the size. You can also find the size in your database application.
Note: Numeric, Boolean and date/time data types always use -1 as the size.
To determine the Type value, see the following table:
Type in database Type in Dreamweaver Size
Numeric (MS Access, MS SQL Server, MySQL) Double -1
Boolean, Yes/No (MS Access, MS SQL Server, MySQL) Double -1
Date/Time (MS Access, MS SQL Server, MySQL) DBTimeStamp -1
613
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
For more information on the type and size of SQL variables, see www.adobe.com/go/4e6b330a.
6Close the dialog box.
Dreamweaver inserts ASP code in your page that, when run on the server, creates a command that inserts, updates, or
deletes records in the database.
By default, the code sets the Prepared property of the Command object to true, which makes the application server
reuse a single compiled version of the object every time the command is run. To change this setting, switch to Code
view and change the Prepared property to false.
7Create a page with an HTML form so users can enter record data. In the HTML form, include three text fields
(txtCity, txtAddress, and txtPhone) and a submit button. The form uses the GET method and submits the text field
values to the page that contains your command.
About stored procedures
Although you can use server behaviors to build pages that modify databases, you can also use database manipulation
objects such as stored procedures or ASP command objects to build the pages.
A stored procedure is a reusable database item that performs some operation on the database. A stored procedure
contains SQL code that can, among other things, insert, update, or delete records. Stored procedures can also alter the
structure of the database itself. For example, you can use a stored procedure to add a table column or even delete a
table.
A stored procedure can also call another stored procedure, as well as accept input parameters and return multiple
values to the calling procedure in the form of output parameters.
A stored procedure is reusable in the sense that you can reuse a single compiled version of the procedure to execute a
database operation a number of times. If you know a database task will be executed more than a few times—or the same
task will be executed by different applications—using a stored procedure to execute that task can make database
operations more efficient.
Note: MySQL and Microsoft Access databases do not support stored procedures.
Add a stored procedure (ColdFusion)
You can use a stored procedure to modify a database. A stored procedure is a reusable database item that performs
some operation on the database.
Before you use a stored procedure to modify a database, make sure the stored procedure contains SQL that modifies
the database in some way. To create and store one in your database, consult your database documentation and a good
Transact-SQL manual.
1In Dreamweaver, open the page that will run the stored procedure.
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button, and then select Stored Procedure.
3In the Data Source pop-up menu, select a connection to the database containing the stored procedure.
All other types of text fields, including the MySQL text data types char,
varchar and longtext
LongVarChar check database table
Text (MS Access) or nvarchar, nchar (MS SQL Server) VarWChar check database table
Memo (MS Access), ntext (MS SQL Server), or fields that support large
amounts of text
LongVarWChar 1073741823
Type in database Type in Dreamweaver Size
614
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
4Enter the ColdFusion Data Source user name and password.
5Select a stored procedure from the Procedures pop-up menu.
Dreamweaver automatically fills in any parameters.
6Select a parameter, and click Edit if you have to make changes.
The Edit Stored Procedure Variable dialog box appears. The name of the variable you are editing appears in the Name box.
Note: You must enter test values for any stored procedure input parameters.
7Make changes as necessary:
•Select a Direction from the pop-up menu. A stored procedure might have input values, output values, or both input
and output values.
•Select a SQL type from the pop-up menu. Enter a return variable, a run-time value, and a test value.
8If the stored procedure takes a parameter, click the Plus (+) button to add a page parameter.
Note: You must enter corresponding page parameters for each stored procedure parameter return value. Do not add page
parameters unless there is a corresponding return value.
Click the Plus (+) button again to add another page parameter, if necessary.
9Select a page parameter, and click the Minus (-) button to delete the parameter if necessary or click Edit to make
changes to the parameter.
10 Select the Returns Recordset Named option, and then enter a name for the recordset; if the stored procedure returns
a recordset, click the Test button to see the recordset that the stored procedure returns.
Dreamweaver runs the stored procedure and displays the recordset, if any.
Note: If the stored procedure returns a recordset and takes parameters, you must enter a value in the Default Value
column in the Variables box to test the stored procedure.
You can use different test values to generate different recordsets. To change test values, click the Edit button for
Parameter, and change the test value, or click the Edit button for Page Parameter and change the default value.
11 Select the Returns Status Code Named option, enter a name for the status code, if the stored procedure returns a
status code return value. Click OK.
After you close the box, Dreamweaver inserts ColdFusion code in your page that calls a stored procedure in the
database, when the code runs on the server. The stored procedure in turn performs a database operation, such as
inserting a record.
If the stored procedure takes parameters, you can create a page that gathers the parameter values and submits them to
the page with the stored procedure. For example, you may create a page that uses URL parameters or an HTML form
to gather parameter values from users.
More Help topics
“Define an advanced recordset by writing SQL” on page 545
Run a stored procedure (ASP)
With ASP pages, you must add a command object to a page to run a stored procedure. For more information on
command objects, see “About ASP command objects” on page 611.
1In Dreamweaver, open the page that will run the stored procedure.
615
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button, and then select Command (Stored
Procedure).
The Command dialog box appears.
3Enter a name for the command, select a connection to the database containing the stored procedure, and then select
Stored Procedure from the Type pop-up menu.
4Select your stored procedure by expanding the Stored Procedures branch in the Database Items box, selecting the
stored procedure from the list, and clicking the Procedure button.
5Enter any required parameters in the Variables table.
You don’t need to enter any parameters for any RETURN_VALUE variable.
6Click OK.
After you close the dialog box, ASP code is inserted in your page. When the code runs on the server, the code creates
a command object that runs a stored procedure in the database. The stored procedure in turn performs a database
operation, such as inserting a record.
By default, the code sets the Prepared property of the Command object to true, which makes the application server
reuse a single compiled version of the object every time the stored procedure is run. If you know the command will be
executed more than a few times, having a single compiled version of the object can improve the efficiency of database
operations. However, if the command will only be executed one or two times, using one might actually slow down your
web application because the system has to pause to compile the command. To change the setting, switch to Code view
and change the Prepared property to false.
Note: Not all database providers support prepared commands. If your database does not support it, you might get an error
message when you run the page. Switch to Code view and change the Prepared property to false.
If the stored procedure takes parameters, you might create a page that gathers the parameter values and submits them
to the page with the stored procedure. For example, you may create a page that uses URL parameters or an HTML form
to gather parameter values from users.
Building a registration page
About registration pages
Your web application can contain a page that requires users to register the first time they visit your site.
A registration page is made up of the following building blocks:
•A database table to store login information about the users
•An HTML form that lets users select a user name and password
You can also use the form to obtain other personal information from users.
•An Insert Record server behavior to update the database table of site users
•
A Check New Username server behavior to make sure the user name entered by the user is not taken by another user
616
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Add an HTML form for selecting a user name and password” on page 616
“Update the database table of users” on page 617
“Add a server behavior to ensure a unique user name” on page 617
Storing login information about users
A registration page requires a database table to store the login information entered by users.
•Make sure your database table contains a user name and a password column. If you want logged-in users to have
different access privileges, include an access privilege column.
•If you want to set a common password for all users of the site, configure your database application (Microsoft
Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and so on) to enter the password in each new user record by default. In most
database applications, you can set a column to a default value each time a new record is created. Set the default value
to the password.
•You can also use the database table to store other useful information about the user.
The next step in creating a registration page is to add an HTML form to the registration page to let users choose a user
name and password (if applicable).
More Help topics
“Store access privileges in the user database” on page 621
Add an HTML form for selecting a user name and password
You add an HTML form to the registration page to let users select a user name and password (if applicable).
1Create a page (File > New > Blank Page) and lay out your registration page using the Dreamweaver design tools.
2Add an HTML form by placing the insertion point where you want the form to appear and selecting Form from the
Insert menu.
An empty form is created on the page. You may have to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible
Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.
3Name the HTML form by clicking the <form> tag at the bottom of the Document window to select the form,
opening the Property inspector (Window
> Properties), and entering a name in the Form Name box.
You don’t have to specify an action or method attribute for the form to tell it where and how to send the record data
when the user clicks the Submit button. The Insert Record server behavior sets these attributes for you.
4Add text fields (Insert > Form > Text Field) to let the user enter a user name and password.
The form can also have more form objects to record other personal data.
You should add labels (either as text or images) beside each form object to tell users what they are. You should also
line up the form objects by placing them inside an HTML table. For more information on form objects, see “Creating
web forms” on page 633.
5Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).
You can change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector (Window >
Properties), and entering a new value in the Value box.
617
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
The next step in creating a registration page is to add the Insert Record server behavior to insert records in the table of
users in the database.
Update the database table of users
You must add an Insert Record server behavior to the registration page to update the table of users in the database.
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Insert Record from
the pop-up menu.
The Insert Record dialog box appears.
2Complete the dialog box, making sure to specify the table of users in the database into which the user data will be
inserted. Click OK.
The final step in creating a registration page is to make sure the user name is not used by another registered user.
More Help topics
“Build an insert page block by block” on page 596
Add a server behavior to ensure a unique user name
You can add a server behavior to a user registration page that verifies that the user name is unique before adding that
user to your database of registered users.
When the user clicks the Submit button on the registration page, the server behavior compares the user name entered
by the user against the user names stored in a database table of registered users. If no matching user name is found in
the database table, the server behavior carries out the insert record operation normally. If a matching user name is
found, the server behavior cancels the insert record operation and opens a new page (usually a page alerting the user
that the user name is already taken).
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select User
Authentication
> Check New Username from the pop-up menu.
2In the Username Field pop-up menu, select the form text field that your visitors use to enter a user name.
3In the If Already Exists, Go To box, specify a page to open if a matching user name is found in the database table,
and click OK.
The opened page should alert the user that the user name is already taken and let the user try again.
Building a login page
About login pages
Your web application can contain a page that lets registered users log in to the site.
A login page is made up of the following building blocks:
•A database table of registered users
•An HTML form to let users enter a user name and password
•A Log In User server behavior to make sure the entered user name and password are valid
A session variable consisting of the user name is created for the user when the user logs in successfully.
618
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Add an HTML form to let users log in” on page 618
“Verify the user name and password” on page 618
Create a database table of registered users
You need a database table of registered users to verify that the user name and password entered in the login page are
valid.
❖Use your database application and a registration page to create the table. For instructions, see the related topic link
below.
The next step in building a login page is to add an HTML form to the page to let users log in. See the next topic for
instructions.
More Help topics
“Building a registration page” on page 615
Add an HTML form to let users log in
You add an HTML form to the page to let users log in by entering a user name and password.
1Create a page (File > New > Blank Page), and lay out your login page using the Dreamweaver design tools.
2Add an HTML form by placing the insertion point where you want the form to appear and choosing Form from
the Insert menu.
An empty form is created on the page. You may have to enable Invisible Elements (View > Visual Aids > Invisible
Elements) to see the form’s boundaries, which are represented by thin red lines.
3Name the HTML form by clicking the <form> tag at the bottom of the Document window to select the form,
opening the Property inspector (Window
> Properties), and entering a name in the Form Name box.
You don’t have to specify an action or method attribute for the form to tell it where and how to send the record data
when the user clicks the Submit button. The Log In User server behavior sets these attributes for you.
4Add a user name and a password text field (Insert > Form > Text Field) to the form.
Add labels (either as text or images) beside each text field, and line up the text fields by placing them inside an HTML
table and setting the table’s border attribute to 0.
5Add a Submit button to the form (Insert > Form > Button).
You can change the label of the Submit button by selecting the button, opening the Property inspector (Window >
Properties), and entering a new value in the Label box.
The next step in building a login page is to add the Log In User server behavior to verify that the entered user name
and password are valid.
Verify the user name and password
You must add a Log In User server behavior to the login page to ensure that the user name and password that a user
enters are valid.
619
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
When a user clicks the Submit button on the login page, the Log In User server behavior compares the values entered
by the user against the values for registered users. If the values match, the server behavior opens one page (usually the
site’s Welcome screen). If the values do not match, the server behavior opens another page (usually a page alerting the
user that the login attempt failed).
1In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select User
Authentication
> Log In User from the pop-up menu.
2Specify the form and the form objects that visitors use to enter their user name and password.
3(ColdFusion) Enter your user name and password if applicable.
4Specify the database table and columns that contain the user names and passwords of all the registered users.
The server behavior compares the user name and password a visitor enters on the login page against the values in these
columns.
5Specify a page to open if the login process succeeds.
The specified page is usually the site’s Welcome screen.
6Specify a page to open if the login process fails.
The specified page usually alerts the user that the login process failed and lets the user try again.
7If you want users forwarded to the login page after attempting to access a restricted page to return to that restricted
page after logging in, select the Go To Previous URL option.
If a user tries to access your site by opening a restricted page without first logging in, the restricted page can forward
the user to the login page. After the user logs in successfully, the login page redirects the user to the restricted page that
forwarded them to the login page in the first place.
When you complete the dialog box for the Restrict Access To Page server behavior on these pages, ensure that you
specify your login page in the If Access Denied, Go To box.
8Specify whether to grant access to the page based on user name and password alone, or based on authorization level
too, and click OK.
A server behavior is added to the login page that ensures the user name and password entered by a visitor are valid.
More Help topics
“Redirect unauthorized users” on page 620
“Building a page that only authorized users can access” on page 619
Building a page that only authorized users can access
About protected pages
Your web application can contain a protected page that only authorized users can access.
For example, if a user attempts to bypass the login page by typing the protected page’s URL in a browser, the user is
redirected to another page. Similarly, if you set the authorization level for a page to Administrator only users with
Administrator access privileges can view the page. If a logged-in user attempts to access the protected page without the
proper access privileges, the user is redirected to another page.
620
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
You can also use authorization levels to review newly registered users before granting them full access to the site. For
example, you may want to receive payment before allowing a user access to the member pages of the site. To do so, you
can protect the member pages with a Member authorization level and only grant newly registered users Guest
privileges. After receiving payment from the user, you can upgrade the user’s access privileges to Member (in the
database table of registered users).
If you do not plan to use authorization levels, you can protect any page on your site simply by adding a Restrict Access
To Page server behavior to the page. The server behavior redirects to another page any user who has not successfully
logged in.
If you do plan to use authorization levels, you can protect any page on your site with the following building blocks:
•A Restrict Access To Page server behavior to redirect unauthorized users to another page
•An extra column in your users database table to store each user’s access privileges
Regardless of whether you use authorization levels, you can add a link to the protected page that lets a user log out
and clears any session variables.
More Help topics
“Securing a folder in your application (ColdFusion)” on page 622
Redirect unauthorized users
To prevent unauthorized users from accessing a page, add a Restrict Access To Page server behavior to it. The server
behavior redirects the user to another page if the user attempts to bypass the login page by typing the protected page’s
URL in a browser, or if the user is logged in but attempts to access the protected page without the proper access
privileges.
Note: The Restrict Access To Page server behavior can only protect HTML pages. It does not protect other site resources
such as image files and audio files.
If you want to give many pages on your site the same access rights, you can copy and paste access rights from one page
to another.
Redirect unauthorized users to another page
1Open the page you want to protect.
2In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select User
Authentication
> Restrict Access To Page from the pop-up menu.
3Select the level of access for the page. To allow only users with certain access privileges to view the page, select the
Username, Password, and Access Level option and specify the authorization levels for the page.
For example, you can specify that only users with Administrator privileges can view the page by selecting
Administrator in the authorization levels list.
4To add authorization levels to the list, click Define. In the Define Access Levels list that appears, enter a new
authorization level, and click the Plus (+) button. The new authorization level is stored for use with other pages.
Ensure that the string for the authorization level matches exactly the string stored in your user database. For example,
if the authorization column in your database contains the value "Administrator", enter Administrator, not Admin,
in the Name box.
5To set more than one authorization level for a page, Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the
levels in the list.
621
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
For example, you can specify that any user with Guest, Member, or Administrator privileges can view the page.
6Specify the page to open if an unauthorized user attempts to open the protected page.
Ensure that the page you choose is not protected.
7Click OK.
Copy and paste a page’s access rights to other pages on the site
1Open the protected page and select the Restrict Access To Page server behavior listed in the Server Behaviors panel
(not the one in the Plus (+) pop-up menu).
2Click the arrow button in the upper-right corner of the panel, and select Copy from the pop-up menu.
The Restrict Access To Page server behavior is copied to your system’s Clipboard.
3Open another page you want to protect in the same way.
4In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the arrow button in the upper-right corner, and
select Paste from the pop-up menu.
5Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each page you want to protect.
Store access privileges in the user database
This building block is required only if you want certain logged-in users to have different access privileges. If you simply
require users to log in, you don’t have to store access privileges.
1To provide certain logged-in users with different access privileges, make sure your database table of users contains
a column specifying each user’s access privileges (Guest, User, Administrator, and so on). The access privileges of
each user should be entered in the database by the site administrator.
In most database applications, you can set a column to a default value each time a new record is created. Set the default
value to the most common access privilege on your site (for example, Guest); then manually change the exceptions (for
example, changing Guest to Administrator). The user now has access to all administrator pages.
2Make sure each user in the database has a single access privilege, such as Guest or Administrator, not multiple
privileges like User, Administrator. To set multiple access privileges for your pages (for example, all guests and
administrators can see this page), set those privileges at the page level, not the database level.
Log out users
When a user logs in successfully, a session variable is created that consists of the user name. When the user leaves your
site, you can use the Log Out User server behavior to clear the session variable and redirect the user to another page
(usually a goodbye or thank you page).
You can invoke the Log Out User server behavior when the user clicks a link or when a specific page loads.
Add a link to let users log out
1Select text or an image on a page to serve as the link.
2In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select User Authentication >
Log
Out User.
3Specify a page to open when the user clicks the link, and click OK.
The page is usually a goodbye or thank you page.
622
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Log out users when a specific page loads
1Open the page that will load in Dreamweaver.
The page is usually a goodbye or thank you page.
2In the Server Behaviors panel, click the Plus (+) button and select User Authentication > Log Out User.
3Select the Log Out When Page Loads option, and click OK.
Securing a folder in your application (ColdFusion)
Secure a folder or site on the server (ColdFusion)
You can use Dreamweaver to password-protect a specific folder in your ColdFusion application, including the
application’s root folder. When a visitor to your site requests any page in the specified folder, ColdFusion prompts the
visitor for a user name and password. ColdFusion stores the user name and password in session variables so the visitor
doesn’t need to enter them again during the session.
Note: This feature is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1With a ColdFusion document open in Dreamweaver, select Commands > ColdFusion Login Wizard.
2Complete the ColdFusion Login Wizard.
aSpecify the full path to the folder you want to secure and click Next.
bIn the next screen, select one of the following authentication types:
Simple Authentication Secures your application with a single user name and password for all users.
Windows NT Authentication Secures your application using NT user names and passwords.
LDAP Authentication Secures your application with user names and passwords stored on an LDAP server.
cSpecify whether you want users to log in using a ColdFusion login page or a pop-up menu.
dIn the next screen, specify the following settings:
•If you selected simple authentication, specify the user name and password that each visitor must enter.
•If you selected Windows NT authentication, specify the NT domain to validate against.
•If you selected LDAP authentication, specify the LDAP server to validate against.
3Upload the new files to your remote site. The files are located in your local site folder.
More Help topics
“Enable the ColdFusion enhancements” on page 647
“Building a page that only authorized users can access” on page 619
“Securing a folder in your application (ColdFusion)” on page 622
623
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Using ColdFusion components
About ColdFusion components
ColdFusion component (CFC) files let you encapsulate application and business logic into self-contained, reusable
units. CFCs also provide a fast, easy way to create web services.
A CFC is a reusable software unit written in ColdFusion markup language (CFML), which makes it easy to reuse and
maintain your code.
You can use Dreamweaver to work with CFCs. For information on CFC tags and syntax, see the ColdFusion
documentation from within Dreamweaver (Help
> Using ColdFusion).
Note: You can use CFCs only with ColdFusion MX or later. CFCs are not supported in ColdFusion 5.
CFCs are meant to provide a simple yet powerful way for developers to encapsulate elements of their websites.
Generally, you should use components for application or business logic. Use customs tags for presentation elements
such as customized greetings, dynamic menus, and so on.
As with many other types of construction, dynamic sites can often benefit from interchangeable parts. For example, a
dynamic site may run the same query repeatedly, or calculate the total price of shopping cart pages and recalculate it
every time an item is added. These tasks can be handled by components. You can fix, improve, extend, and even replace
a component with minimal impact to the rest of your application.
Suppose an online store calculates shipping charges based on the price of orders. For orders under $20, the shipping
charge is $4; for orders between $20 and $40, the shipping charge is $6, and so on. You could insert the logic for
calculating the shipping charge in both the shopping cart page and the checkout page, but that would mix HTML
presentation code and CFML logic code and generally make the code difficult to maintain and reuse.
You decide to create a CFC called Pricing that has, among other things, a function called ShippingCharge. The
function takes a price as an argument and returns a shipping charge. For example, if the value of the argument is 32.80,
the function returns 6.
In both the shopping cart page and the checkout page, you insert a special tag to invoke the ShippingCharge function.
When the page is requested, the function is invoked and a shipping charge is returned to the page.
Later, the store announces a special promotion: free shipping for all orders above $100. You make the change to the
shipping rates in one place—the ShippingCharge function of the Pricing component—and all the pages using the
function automatically get accurate shipping charges.
Components panel overview (ColdFusion)
Use the Components panel (Window > Components) to view and edit ColdFusion components, and add code in the
page that invokes the function when the CFM page is requested.
Note: The Components panel is available only when viewing a ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
More Help topics
“Build web pages that use CFCs” on page 626
Create or delete a CFC in Dreamweaver
You can use Dreamweaver to visually define a CFC and its functions. Dreamweaver creates a .cfc file and inserts the
necessary CFML tags for you.
624
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: Depending on the component, you may have to complete some code by hand.
1Open a ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
2In the Components panel (Window > Components), select CF Components from the pop-up menu.
3Click the Plus (+) button, and complete the Create Components dialog box, and click OK.
aIn the Components section, enter the details about the component. Here is a partial list:
Name Specifies the filename of the component. The name must contain only alphanumeric characters and
underscores (_). Don’t specify the .cfc file extension when entering the name.
Component Directory Specifies where the component is saved. Select the web application’s root folder (such as
\Inetpub\wwwroot\myapp\) or any of its subfolders.
bTo define one or more functions for the component, select Functions from the Section list, click the Plus (+) button,
and enter the details of the new function.
Ensure that you specify the type of the value returned by the function in the Return Type option.
If you select remote from the Access menu, the function becomes available as a web service.
cTo define one or more arguments for a function, select Arguments from the Section list, select the function from
the pop-up menu, click the Plus (+) button, and enter the details of the new argument on the right.
4If you use a remote development server, upload the CFC file and any dependent files (such as those used to
implement a function or include files) to the remote server.
Uploading the files ensures that Dreamweaver features such as Live view and Preview In Browser work properly.
Dreamweaver writes a CFC file and saves it in the folder you specified. The new component also appears in the
Components panel (after clicking Refresh).
5To remove a component, you must delete the CFC file manually from the server.
More Help topics
“Build web pages that use CFCs” on page 626
“About ColdFusion components” on page 623
View CFCs in Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver provides a way to visually examine the ColdFusion components (CFCs) located in your site folder or on
the server as a whole. Dreamweaver reads the CFC files and displays information about them in an easy-to-navigate
tree view in the Components panel.
Dreamweaver looks for the components on your testing server (see “Connecting to the database in Dreamweaver” on
page 517). If you create CFCs or make changes to existing CFCs, make sure to upload the CFC files to the testing server
so they are accurately reflected in the Components panel.
To view components located on another server, change the testing server settings.
You can view any of the following information about your CF components:
•List all of the ColdFusion components defined on the server.
•If you’re running ColdFusion MX 7 or later, filter the list to show only the CFCs located in your site folder.
•Explore the functions and arguments of each component.
625
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Inspect the properties of functions that serve as web services.
To use Dreamweaver to inspect CFCs residing in the server root while also managing your site files in a different
website root, you can define two Dreamweaver sites. Set the first site to point to the server root and the second to point
to the website root. Use the site pop-up menu on the Files panel to switch quickly between the two sites.
To view CFCs in Dreamweaver, follow these steps:
1Open any ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
2In the Components panel (Window > Components), select CF Components from the pop-up menu.
3Click the Refresh button in the panel to retrieve the components.
The components package is displayed on the server. A component package is a folder that contains CFC files.
If existing component packages do not appear, click the Refresh button in the panel toolbar.
4To display only the CFCs located in your site folder, click the Show Only Current Site’s CFCs button in the
Components panel toolbar.
Note: This feature is available only if you’ve defined a computer running ColdFusion MX 6 or later as a testing server for
Dreamweaver.
Note: If the current site is listed in a virtual folder on the remote server, the filtering does not work.
5Click the Plus (+) button beside the package name to view the components stored in the package.
•To list the functions of a component, click the Plus (+) button beside the component name.
•To see the arguments a function takes, as well as the arguments’ type and whether they are required or optional,
open the function’s branch in the tree view.
Functions that take no arguments have no Plus (+) button beside them.
•To quickly view the details of an argument, a function, a component, or a package, select the item in the tree view,
and click the Get Details button in the panel toolbar.
You can also right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the item and select Get Details from the pop-up menu.
Details about the item are displayed in a message box.
More Help topics
“Set up a testing server” on page 45
“Enable the ColdFusion enhancements” on page 647
“Build web pages that use CFCs” on page 626
Edit CFCs in Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver provides a streamlined way of editing the code of the ColdFusion components defined for your site. For
example, you can add, change, or delete any component function without leaving Dreamweaver.
To use this feature, your development environment must be set up as follows:
•ColdFusion must be running locally.
•In the advanced Site Definition dialog box in Dreamweaver, the Access type specified in the Testing Server category
must be Local/Network.
626
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
•In the advanced Site Definition dialog box, the path of your local root folder must be the same as the path of the
testing server folder (for example, c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\cf_projects\myNewApp\). You can examine and change
these paths by selecting Site
> Edit Sites.
•The component must be stored in the local site folder or any of its subfolders on your hard disk.
Open any ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver and display the components in the Components panel. To display the
components, open the Components panel (Window
> Components), select CF Components from the panel’s pop-up
menu, and click the Refresh button on the panel.
Because ColdFusion is running locally, Dreamweaver displays component packages on your hard disk.
Use the following procedure to edit a component.
1Open any ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver and display the components in the Components panel (Window >
Components).
2Select CF Components from the panel’s pop-up menu, and click the Refresh button on the panel.
Because ColdFusion is running locally, Dreamweaver displays component packages on your hard disk.
Note: To edit the CFC recordset visually, double-click it in the Bindings panel.
3To edit a component file generally, open the package and double-click the component name in the tree view.
The component’s file opens in Code view.
4To edit a specific function, argument, or property, double-click the item in the tree view.
5Make your changes by hand in Code view.
6Save the file (File > Save).
7To see any new function in the Components panel, refresh the view by clicking the Refresh button on the panel
toolbar.
More Help topics
“View CFCs in Dreamweaver” on page 624
Build web pages that use CFCs
One way to use a component function in your web pages is to write code in the page that invokes the function when
the page is requested. You can use Dreamweaver to help you write this code.
Note: For other ways to use components, see the ColdFusion documentation from within Dreamweaver (Help > Using
ColdFusion).
1In Dreamweaver, open the ColdFusion page that will use the component function.
2Switch to Code view (View > Code).
3Open the Components panel (Window > Components), and select CF Components from the panel’s pop-up menu.
4Find the component you want and insert it using one of the following techniques:
•Drag a function from the tree view to the page. Code is inserted in the page to invoke the function.
•Select the function in the panel and click the Insert button on the panel toolbar (the second button on the right).
Dreamweaver inserts the code in the page at the insertion point.
5If you insert a function that has arguments, complete the argument code by hand.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation from within Dreamweaver (Help > Using ColdFusion).
627
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
6Save the page (File > Save).
Define a recordset in a CFC
Dreamweaver can help you define a recordset (also known as a ColdFusion query) in a ColdFusion component (CFC).
By defining a recordset in a CFC, you don’t need to define the recordset on each page that uses it. You define the
recordset once in the CFC and use the CFC on different pages.
Note: This feature is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later. For more
information, see “Enable the ColdFusion enhancements” on page 647.
1Create or open an existing CFC file in Dreamweaver.
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset (Query) from the
pop-up menu.
The Recordset dialog box appears. You can work in either the simple or the advanced Recordset dialog boxes.
3To use an existing function in the CFC, select the function from the Function pop-up menu and skip to step 5.
The recordset is defined in the function.
4To define a new function in the CFC, click the New Function button, enter a name for the function in the dialog
box that appears, and then click OK.
The name must contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores (_).
5To define a recordset for the function, complete the Recordset dialog box options.
The new function is inserted into the CFC that defines the recordset.
More Help topics
“Create or delete a CFC in Dreamweaver” on page 623
Use a CFC recordset as a source of dynamic content
You can use a ColdFusion component (CFC) as a source of dynamic content for your pages if the component contains
a function defining a recordset.
Note: This feature is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later. For more
information, see Enable the ColdFusion enhancements.
1Open a ColdFusion page in Dreamweaver.
2In the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings), click the Plus (+) button and select Recordset (Query) from the
pop-up menu.
The Recordset dialog box appears. You can work in either the simple or the advanced Recordset dialog box.
3Click the CFC Query button.
4Complete the CFC query dialog box, click OK, and then click OK again to add the CFC recordset to the list of
available content sources in the Bindings panel.
5Use the Bindings panel to bind the recordset to various page elements.
For more information, see “Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556.
628
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
Define dynamic content by using a CFC
You can define a recordset as a source of dynamic content in Dreamweaver by using a CFC that contains a recordset
definition.
1In the Name box, enter a name for the CFC recordset.
A common practice is to add the prefix rs to recordset names to distinguish them from other object names in the code,
for example: rsPressRelease.
Recordset names must contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores (_). You cannot use special characters
or spaces.
2Select a package from the ones already defined on the server.
If the package does not appear in the pop-up menu, you can refresh the list of packages by clicking the Refresh button
near the pop-up menu.
Make sure you upload your CFCs to the testing server first. Only CFCs on the testing server are displayed.
3Select a component from the ones defined in the currently selected package.
If the Component pop-up menu does not contain any components, or if none of your previously created components
appear in the menu, you should upload the CFC files to the testing server.
4(Optional) To create a component, click the Create New Component button.
aIn the Name box, enter the name for the new CFC. The name must contain only alphanumeric characters and
underscores (_).
bIn the Component Directory box, enter the location for your CFC, or browse to locate the folder.
Note: The folder must be the relative path to the site root folder.
5From the Function pop-up menu, select the function that contains the recordset definition.
The Function pop-up menu contains only the functions defined in the currently selected component. If no function
appears in this pop-up menu, or if your last changes are not reflected in the currently listed functions, check that your
last changes were saved and uploaded to server.
Note: The Connection and SQL boxes are read-only.
6Edit each parameter (type, value, and default value) that must be passed as a function argument by clicking the Edit
button.
aEnter a value for the current parameter by selecting the value type from the Value pop-up menu and entering the
value in the box to the right.
The value type can be a URL parameter, a form variable, a cookie, a session variable, an application variable, or an
entered value.
bEnter a default value for the parameter in the Default Value box.
If no run-time value is returned, the default parameter value is used.
cClick OK.
You cannot modify the database connection and the SQL query for the recordset. These fields are always disabled—
the connection and SQL query are displayed for your information.
7Click Test to connect to the database and create an instance of the recordset.
629
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building applications visually
Last updated 12/7/2011
If the SQL statement contains page parameters, ensure that the Default Value column of the Parameters box contains
valid test values before clicking Test.
If the query was executed successfully, a table displays the recordset. Each row contains a record and each column
represents a field in that record.
Click OK to clear the CFC Query.
8Click OK.
630
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 22: Building forms
When a visitor enters information into a web form displayed in a web browser and clicks the submit button, the
information is sent to a server where a server-side script or application processes it. The server responds by sending
the processed information back to the user (or client), or by performing some other action based on the form’s
contents.
You can use Dreamweaver to create forms that submit data to most application servers, including PHP, ASP, and
ColdFusion. If you use ColdFusion, you can also add ColdFusion-specific form controls to your forms. Your forms
can have text fields, password fields, radio buttons, check boxes, pop-up menus, clickable buttons, and other form
objects. Dreamweaver can also write code that validates the information a visitor provides. For example, you can check
that an e-mail address that a user enters contains an “@” symbol, or that a required text field contains a value.
Using forms to collect information from users
About collecting information from users
You can use web forms or hypertext links to gather information from users, store that information in the server’s
memory, and then use the information to create a dynamic response based on the user’s input. The most common
tools for gathering user information are HTML forms and hypertext links.
HTML forms Let you gather information from users and store it in the server’s memory. An HTML form can send the
information either as form parameters or as URL parameters.
Hypertext links Let you gather information from users and store it in the server’s memory. You specify a value (or
values) to be submitted when a user clicks a link—a preference, for example—by appending the value to the URL
specified in the anchor tag. When a user clicks the link, the browser sends the URL and the appended value to the
server.
HTML form parameters
Form parameters are sent to the server by means of an HTML form using either the POST or GET method.
When using the POST method, parameters are sent to the web server as part of the document's header, and are not
visible or accessible to anyone who's viewing the page using standard methods. The POST method should be used for
values that affect database content (for example inserting, updating, or deleting records), or for values that are sent by
email.
The GET method appends parameters to the requested URL. The parameters are in turn visible to anyone viewing the
page. The GET method should be used for search forms.
You can use Dreamweaver to quickly design HTML forms that send form parameters to the server. Be aware of the
method you use to transmit information from the browser to the server.
Form parameters take the names of their corresponding form objects. For example, if your form contains a text field
named txtLastName, then the following form parameter is sent to the server when the user clicks the Submit button:
txtLastName=enteredvalue
631
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
In cases where a web application expects a precise parameter value (for example, when it performs an action based on
one of several options), use a radio button, check box, or list/menu form object to control the values the user can
submit. This prevents users from typing information incorrectly and causing an application error. The following
example depicts a pop-up menu form offering three choices:
Each menu choice corresponds to a hard-coded value that is submitted as a form parameter to the server. The List
Values dialog box in the following example matches each list item to a value (Add, Update, or Delete):
After a form parameter is created, Dreamweaver can retrieve the value and use it in a web application. After defining
the form parameter in Dreamweaver, you can insert its value within a page.
More Help topics
“Creating web forms” on page 633
“Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556
“Accessing a database” on page 507
URL parameters
URL parameters let you pass user-supplied information from the browser to the server. When a server receives a
request and parameters are appended to the URL of the request, the server gives the requested page access to the
parameters before serving that page to the browser.
A URL parameter is a name-value pair appended to a URL. The parameter begins with a question mark (?) and takes
the form name=value. If more than one URL parameter exists, each parameter is separated by an ampersand (&). The
following example shows a URL parameter with two name-value pairs:
http://server/path/document?name1=value1&name2=value2
632
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
In this example workflow, the application is a web-based storefront. Because the developers of the site want to reach
the widest possible audience, the site is designed to support foreign currencies. When users log in to the site, they can
select the currency in which to view the prices of the available items.
1The browser requests the report.cfm page from the server. The request includes the URL parameter
Currency="euro". The Currency="euro" variable specifies that all monetary amounts retrieved be displayed as the
European Union euro.
2The server temporarily stores the URL parameter in memory.
3The report.cfm page uses the parameter to retrieve the cost of items in euros. These monetary amounts can either
be stored in a database table of different currencies, or converted from a single currency associated with each item
(any currency supported by the application).
4The server sends the report.cfm page to the browser and displays the value of items in the requested currency.
When this user ends the session, the server clears the value of the URL parameter, freeing server memory to hold
new user requests.
URL parameters are also created when the HTTP GET method is used in conjunction with an HTML form. The GET
method specifies that the parameter value be appended to the URL request when the form is submitted.
Typical uses of URL parameters include personalizing websites based on user preferences. For example, a URL
parameter consisting of a user name and password can be used to authenticate a user, displaying only information
that user has subscribed to. Common examples of this include financial websites that display individual stock prices
based on stock market symbols the user has previously chosen. Web application developers commonly use URL
parameters to pass values to variables within applications. For example, you could pass search terms to SQL
variables in a web application to generate search results.
Creating URL parameters using HTML links
You create URL parameters within an HTML link by using the href attribute of the HTML anchor tag. You can enter
the URL parameters directly in the attribute in Code view (View
> Code), or by appending the URL parameters at the
end of the link URL in the Property inspector Link box.
In the following example, three links create a single URL parameter (action) with three possible values (Add, Update,
and Delete). When the user clicks a link, a parameter value is sent to the server, and the requested action is performed.
Currency="€"
<HTML>
<code>
</HTML>
http://www.mysite.com/
report.cfm?Currency="€"
report.cfm
Web browser
WEB SERVER
633
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
<a href="http://www.mysite.com/index.cfm?action=Add">Add a record</a>
<a href="http://www.mysite.com/index.cfm?action=Update">Update a record</a>
<a href="http://www.mysite.com/index.cfm?action=Delete">Delete a record</a>
The Property inspector (Window > Properties) lets you create the same URL parameters by selecting the link and
appending the URL parameter values at the end of the link URL in the Link box.
After a URL parameter is created, Dreamweaver can retrieve the value and use it in a web application. After defining
the URL parameter in Dreamweaver, you can insert its value within a page.
More Help topics
“About URL and form parameters” on page 537
“Linking” on page 263
“Define form parameters” on page 550
“Adding dynamic content to pages” on page 556
“Accessing a database” on page 507
Creating web forms
About web forms
When a visitor enters information into a web form displayed in a web browser and clicks the submit button, the
information is sent to a server where a server-side script or application processes it. The server responds by sending
the processed information back to the user (or client), or by performing some other action based on the form’s
contents.
You can create forms that submit data to most application servers, including PHP, ASP, and ColdFusion. If you use
ColdFusion, you can also add ColdFusion-specific form controls to your forms.
Note: You can also send form data directly to an e-mail recipient.
More Help topics
“Using forms to collect information from users” on page 630
“Building ColdFusion forms” on page 646
634
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Form objects
In Dreamweaver, form input types are called form objects. Form objects are the mechanisms that allow users to input
data. You can add the following form objects to a form:
Text fields Accept any type of alphanumeric text entry. The text can be displayed as a single line, multiple lines, and
as a password field where entered text is replaced by asterisks or bullets to hide the text from onlookers.
Note: Passwords and other information sent to a server using a password field are not encrypted. The transferred data
can be intercepted and read as alphanumeric text. For this reason, you should always provide encryption for data you
want to keep secure.
Hidden fields Store information entered by a user, such as a name, e-mail address, or viewing preference, and then use
that data when the user next visits the site.
Buttons Perform actions when clicked. You can add a custom name or label for a button, or use one of the predefined
“Submit” or “Reset” labels. Use a button to submit form data to the server or to reset the form. You can also assign
other processing tasks that you define in a script. For example, the button might calculate the total cost of items
selected based on assigned values.
Check boxes Allow multiple responses within a single group of options. A user can select as many options as apply.
The following example shows three check box items selected: Surfing, Mountain Biking, and Rafting.
Single-line text eld
Multi-line text eld
Password eld
635
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Radio buttons Represent exclusive choices. Selecting a button within a radio button group deselects all others in the
group (a group consists of two or more buttons that share the same name). In the example below, Rafting is the
currently selected option. If the user clicks Surfing, the Rafting button is automatically cleared.
List menus Display option values within a scrolling list that allows users to select multiple options. The List option
displays the option values in a menu that allows users to select only a single item. Use menus when you have a limited
amount of space, but must display many items, or to control the values returned to the server. Unlike text fields where
users can type anything they want, including invalid data, you set the exact values returned by a menu.
Note: A pop-up menu on an HTML form is not the same as a graphical pop-up menu. For information on creating,
editing, and showing and hiding a graphical pop-up menu, see the link at the end of this section.
Jump menus Navigational lists or pop-up menus that let you insert a menu in which each option links to a document
or file.
File fields Let users browse to a file on their computer and upload the file as form data.
Image fields Let you insert an image in a form. Use image fields to make graphical buttons such as Submit or Reset
buttons. Using an image to perform tasks other than submitting data requires attaching a behavior to the form object.
More Help topics
“Apply the Show Pop-Up Menu behavior” on page 344
Create an HTML form
1Open a page and place the insertion point where you want the form to appear.
2Select Insert > Form, or select the Forms category in the Insert panel and click the Form icon.
In Design view, forms are indicated by a dotted red outline. If you don’t see this outline, select View > Visual Aids >
Invisible Elements.
3Set the properties of the HTML form in the Property inspector (Window >Properties):
aIn the Document window, click the form outline to select the form.
bIn the Form Name box, type a unique name to identify the form.
Naming a form makes it possible to reference or control the form with a scripting language, such as JavaScript or
VBScript. If you do not name the form, Dreamweaver generates a name using the syntax formn, and increments the
value of n for each form added to the page.
cIn the Action box, specify the page or script that will process the form data by typing the path, or clicking the folder
icon to navigate to the appropriate page or script. Example: processorder.php.
636
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
dIn the Method pop-up menu, specify the method to transmit the form data to the server. Set any of the following
options:
Default Uses the browser’s default setting to send the form data to the server. Typically, the default value is the GET
method.
GET Appends the value to the URL requesting the page.
POST Embeds the form data in the HTTP request.
Do not use the GET method to send long forms. URLs are limited to 8192 characters. If the amount of data sent is too
large, data will be truncated, leading to unexpected or failed processing results.
Dynamic pages generated by parameters passed by the GET method can be bookmarked because all the values needed
to regenerate the page are contained in the URL displayed in the browser’s Address box. In contrast, dynamic pages
generated by parameters passed by the POST method cannot be bookmarked.
If you collect confidential user names and passwords, credit card numbers, or other confidential information, the POST
method may appear more secure than the GET method. However, the information sent by the POST method is not
encrypted and can easily be retrieved by a hacker. To ensure security, use a secure connection to a secure server.
e(Optional) In the Enctype pop-up menu, specify the MIME encoding type of the data submitted to the server for
processing.
The default setting of application/x-www-form-urlencode is typically used in conjunction with the POST method.
If you are creating a file-upload field, specify the multipart/form-data MIME type.
f(Optional) In the Target pop-up menu, specify the window in which to display the data returned by the invoked
program.
If the named window is not already open, a new window with that name opens. Set any of the following target values:
_blank Opens the destination document in a new unnamed window.
_parent Opens the destination document in the parent window of the one displaying the current document.
_self Opens the destination document in the same window as the one in which the form was submitted.
_top Opens the destination document in the body of the current window. This value can be used to ensure that the
destination document takes over the full window even if the original document was displayed in a frame.
4Insert form objects in the page:
aPlace the insertion point where the form object should appear in the form.
bSelect the object in the Insert > Form menu, or in the Forms category of the Insert panel.
cComplete the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box. For more information, click the Help button in the
dialog box.
Note: If you don’t see the Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box, you might have had the Insertion point in Code
view when you tried to insert the form object. Make sure the Insertion point is in Design view and try again. For more
information on this topic, see David Powers’s article Creating HTML forms in Dreamweaver.
dSet the properties of the objects.
eEnter a name for the object in the Property inspector.
Every text field, hidden field, check box, and list/menu object must have a unique name that identifies the object in the
form. Form object names cannot contain spaces or special characters. You can use any combination of alphanumeric
characters and an underscore (_). The label you assign to the object is the variable name that stores the value (the
entered data) of the field. This is the value sent to the server for processing.
637
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Note: All radio buttons in a group must have the same name.
fTo label the text field, check box, or radio button object on the page, click beside the object and type the label.
5Adjust the layout of the form.
Use line breaks, paragraph breaks, preformatted text, or tables to format your forms. You cannot insert a form in
another form (that is, you cannot overlap tags), but you can include more than one form in a page.
When designing forms, remember to label the form fields with descriptive text to let users know what they’re
responding to—for example, “Type your name” to request name information.
Use tables to provide structure for form objects and field labels. When using tables in forms make sure all the table
tags are included between the form tags.
For a tutorial on creating forms, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0160.
For a tutorial on styling forms with CSS, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0161.
More Help topics
“Using forms to collect information from users” on page 630
“Define form parameters” on page 550
“Define URL parameters” on page 549
“Building ColdFusion forms” on page 646
“Building Spry pages visually” on page 407
Creating forms tutorial
Styling forms tutorial
Text Field object properties
Select the text field object, and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Char Width Specifies the maximum number of characters that can be displayed in the field. This number can be less
than Max Chars, which specifies the maximum number of characters that can be entered in the field. For example, if
the Char Width is set to 20 (the default value) and a user enters 100 characters, only 20 of those characters will be
viewable in the text field. Although you cannot view the characters in the field, they are recognized by the field object
and are sent to the server for processing.
Max Chars Specifies the maximum number of characters that the user can enter in the field for single-line text fields.
Use Max Chars to limit zip codes to 5 digits, limit passwords to 10 characters, and so on. If you leave the Max Chars
box blank, users can enter any amount of text. If the text exceeds the character width of the field the text will scroll. If
a user exceeds the maximum number of characters, the form produces an alert sound.
Num Lines (Available when the Multiline option is selected) Sets the height of the field for multiple-line text fields.
Disabled Disables the text area.
Read-only Makes the text area a read-only text area.
Type Designates the field as a single-line, multiple-line, or password field.
•Single-line Results in an input tag with its type attribute set to text. The Char Width setting maps to the size
attribute, and the Max Chars setting maps to the maxlength attribute.
•Multi-line Results in a textarea tag. The Char Width setting maps to the cols attribute, and the Num Lines
setting maps to the rows attribute.
638
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Password Results in an input tag with its type attribute set to password. The Char Width and Max Chars settings
map to the same attributes as in single-line text fields. When a user types in a password text field, the input appears as
bullets or asterisks to protect it from observation by others.
Init val Assigns the value displayed in the field when the form first loads. For example, you might indicate that the user
enters information in the field by including a note or example value.
Class Lets you apply CSS rules to the object.
Button object options
Button Name Assigns a name to the button. Two reserved names, Submit and Reset, tell the form to submit the form
data to the processing application or script, or to reset all the form fields to their original values, respectively.
Value Determines the text that appears on the button.
Action Determines what happens when the button is clicked.
•Submit Form Submits the form data for processing when the user clicks the button. The data is submitted to the
page or script specified in the form’s Action property.
•Reset Form Clears the contents of the form when the button is clicked.
•None Specifies the action to be performed when the button is clicked. For example, you can add a JavaScript
behavior that opens another page when the user clicks the button.
Class Applies CSS rules to the object.
Check Box object options
Checked Value Sets the value to be sent to the server when the check box is checked. For example, in a survey you
might set a value of 4 for strongly agree and a value of 1 for strongly disagree.
Initial State Determines whether the check box is selected when the form loads in the browser.
Dynamic Lets the server dynamically determine the initial state of the check box. For example, you can use check boxes
to visually present the Yes/No information stored in a database record. At design time, you don’t know that
information. At run time the server reads the database record and selects the check box if the value is Yes.
Class Applies
Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS) rules to the object.
Single radio button object options
Checked Value Sets the value to be sent to the server when the radio button is selected. For example, you might type
skiing in the Checked Value box to indicate a user chose skiing.
Initial State Determines whether the radio button is selected when the form loads in the browser.
Dynamic Lets the server dynamically determine the initial state of the radio button. For example, you can use radio
buttons to visually present information stored in a database record. At design time, you don’t know that information.
At run time the server reads the database record and checks the radio button if the value matches one you specified.
Class Applies CSS rules to the object.
Menu options
List/Menu Assigns a name to the menu. The name must be unique.
639
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Type Indicates whether the menu drops down when clicked (the Menu option) or displays a scrollable list of items
(the List option). Select the Menu option if you want only one option to be visible when the form is displayed in a
browser. To display the other choices, the user must click the down arrow.
Select the List option to list some or all the options when the form is displayed in a browser, to let users select multiple
items.
Height (List type only) Sets the number of items displayed in the menu.
Selections (List type only) Indicates whether the user can select multiple items from the list.
List Values Opens a dialog box that lets you add the items to a form menu:
1Use the Plus (+) and Minus (–) buttons to add and remove items in the list.
2Enter label text and an optional value for each menu item.
Each item in the list has a label (the text that appears in the list) and a value (the value that is sent to the processing
application if the item is selected). If no value is specified, the label is sent to the processing application instead.
3Use the up and down arrow buttons to rearrange items in the list.
Items appear in the menu in the same order as they appear in the List Values dialog box. The first item on the list
is the selected item when the page is loaded in a browser.
Dynamic Lets the server dynamically select an item in the menu when it is first displayed.
Class Lets you apply CSS rules to the object.
Initially Selected Sets the items selected in the list by default. Click the item or items in the list.
Insert file-upload fields
You can create a file-upload field that lets users select a file on their computer—such as a word processing document
or graphics file—and upload the file to the server. A file field looks like other text fields except it also contains a Browse
button. The user either manually enters the path to the file they want to upload, or uses the Browse button to locate
and select the file.
Before you can use file-upload fields, you must have a server-side script or a page capable of handling file submissions.
Consult the documentation of the server technology you use to process form data. For example, if you use PHP, see
“Handling files uploads” in the online PHP Manual at http://us2.php.net/features.file-upload.php.
File fields require that you use the POST method to transmit files from the browser to the server. The file is posted to
the address you specify in the form’s Action box.
Note: Contact your server’s administrator to confirm that anonymous file uploads are allowed before using the file field.
1Insert a form in the page (Insert > Form).
2Select the form to display its Property inspector.
3Set the form Method to POST.
4From the Enctype pop-up menu, select multipart/form-data.
5In the Action box, specify the server-side script or page capable of handling the uploaded file.
6Place the insertion point inside the form outline, and select Insert > Form > File Field.
7Set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
File Field Name Specifies the name for the file field object.
Char Width Specifies the maximum number of characters that can be displayed in the field.
640
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Max Chars Specifies the maximum number of characters the field will hold. If the user browses to locate the file, the
filename and path can exceed the specified Max Chars value. However, if the user attempts to type in the filename and
path, the file field will only allow the number of characters specified by the Max Chars value.
Insert an image button
You can use images as button icons. Using an image to perform tasks other than submitting data requires attaching a
behavior to the form object.
1In the document, place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2Select Insert > Form > Image Field.
The Select Image Source dialog box appears.
3Select the image for the button in the Select Image Source dialog box, and click OK.
4Set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
ImageField Assigns a name to the button. Two reserved names, Submit and Reset, tell the form to submit the form
data to the processing application or script, or to reset all the form fields to their original values, respectively.
Src Specifies the image you want to use for the button.
Alt Lets you enter descriptive text in case the image fails to load in the browser.
Align Sets the align attribute of the object.
Edit Image Starts your default image editor and opens the image file for editing.
Class Lets you apply CSS rules to the object.
5To attach a JavaScript behavior to the button, select the image, and then select the behavior in the Behaviors panel
(Window
> Behaviors).
Hidden field object options
HiddenField Specifies the name for the field.
Value Assigns a value to the field. This value is passed to the server when the form is submitted.
Insert a group of radio buttons
1Place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2Select Insert > Form > Radio Group.
3Complete the dialog box and click OK.
aIn the Name box, enter a name for the radio button group.
If you set the radio buttons to pass parameters back to the server, the parameters are associated with the name. For
example, if you name the group myGroup and set the form method to GET (that is, you want the form to pass URL
parameters instead of form parameters when the user clicks the submit button), the expression
myGroup="CheckedValue" is passed in the URL to the server.
bClick the Plus (+) button to add a radio button to the group. Enter a label and checked value for the new button.
cClick the up or down arrows to reorder the buttons.
dTo set a particular radio button to be selected when the page opens in a browser, enter a value equal to the radio
button’s value in the Select Value Equal To box.
641
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Enter a static value or specify a dynamic one by clicking the lightning bolt icon beside the box and selecting a recordset
that contains possible checked values. In either case, the value you specify should match the checked value of one of
the radio buttons in the group. To view the checked values of the radio buttons, select each radio button and open its
Property inspector (Window
> Properties).
eSelect the format in which you want Dreamweaver to lay out the buttons.
Lay out the buttons using line breaks or a table. If you select the table option, Dreamweaver creates a single-column
table, and places the radio buttons on the left and the labels on the right.
You can also set the properties in the Property inspector or directly in Code view.
Insert a group of check boxes
1Place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2Select Insert > Form > Checkbox Group.
3Complete the dialog box and click OK.
aIn the Name box, enter a name for the check box group.
If you set the check boxes to pass parameters back to the server, the parameters are associated with the name. For
example, if you name the group myGroup and set the form method to GET (that is, you want the form to pass URL
parameters instead of form parameters when the user clicks the submit button), the expression
myGroup="CheckedValue" is passed in the URL to the server.
bClick the Plus (+) button to add a check box to the group. Enter a label and checked value for the new check box.
cClick the up or down arrows to reorder the check boxes.
dTo set a particular check box to be selected when the page opens in a browser, enter a value equal to the check box’s
value in the Select Value Equal To box.
Enter a static value or specify a dynamic one by clicking the lightning bolt icon beside the box and selecting a recordset
that contains possible checked values. In either case, the value you specify should match the checked value of one of
the check boxes in the group. To view the checked values of the check boxes, select each check boxand open its
Property inspector (Window
> Properties).
eSelect the format in which you want Dreamweaver to lay out the check boxes.
Lay out the check boxes using line breaks or a table. If you select the table option, Dreamweaver creates a single-
column table, and places the check boxes on the left and the labels on the right.
You can also set the properties in the Property inspector or directly in Code view.
About dynamic form objects
A dynamic form object is a form object whose initial state is determined by the server when the page is requested from
the server, not by the form designer at design time. For example, when a user requests a PHP page that contains a form
with a menu, a PHP script in the page automatically populates the menu with values stored in a database. The server
then sends the completed page to the user’s browser.
Making form objects dynamic can simplify site maintenance. For example, many sites use menus to present users with
a set of options. If the menu is dynamic, you can add, remove, or change menu items in a single place—the database
table in which the items are stored—to update all instances of the same menu on the site.
More Help topics
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
642
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert or change a dynamic HTML form menu
You can dynamically populate an HTML form menu or list menu with entries from a database. For most pages, you
can use an HTML menu object.
Before you begin, you must insert an HTML form in a ColdFusion, PHP, or ASP page, and you must define a recordset
or other source of dynamic content for the menu.
1Insert an HTML List/Menu form object in your page:
aClick inside the HTML form on the page (Insert > Form > Form).
bSelect Insert > Form > List/Menu to insert the form object.
2Do one of the following:
•Select the new or an existing HTML List/Menu form object, and then click the Dynamic button in the Property
inspector.
•Select Insert > Data Objects > Dynamic Data > Dynamic Select List.
3Complete the Dynamic List/Menu dialog box, and click OK.
aIn the Options From Recordset pop-up menu, select the recordset to use as a content source. You also use this menu
to edit both static and dynamic list/menu items later.
bIn the Static Options area, enter a default item in the list or menu. Also, use this option to edit static entries in a
list/menu form object after adding dynamic content.
c(Optional) Use the Plus (+) and Minus (–) buttons to add and remove items in the list. Items are in the same order
as in the Initial List Values dialog box. The first item on the list is the selected item when the page is loaded in a
browser. Use the up and down arrow buttons to rearrange items in the list.
dIn the Values pop-up menu, select the field containing the values of the menu items.
eIn the Labels pop-up menu, select the field containing the labels for the menu items.
f(Optional) To specify that a particular menu item is selected when the page opens in a browser or when a record is
displayed in the form, enter a value equal to the menu item’s value, in the Select Value Equal To box.
You can enter a static value or you can specify a dynamic one by clicking the lightning bolt icon beside the box, and
selecting a dynamic value from the list of data sources. In either case, the value you specify should match one of the
menu item values.
Make existing HTML form menus dynamic
1In Design view, select the list/menu form object.
2In Property inspector, click the Dynamic button.
3Complete the dialog box, and click OK.
Display dynamic content in HTML text fields
You can display dynamic content in HTML text fields when the form is viewed in a browser.
Before you begin, you must create the form in a ColdFusion, PHP, or ASP page, and you must define a recordset or
other source of dynamic content for the text field.
1Select the text field in the HTML form on your page.
2
In the Property inspector, click the lightning bolt icon beside the Init Val box to display the Dynamic Data dialog box.
643
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
3Select the recordset column that will supply a value to the text field, and then click OK.
Set the Dynamic Text Field dialog box options
1Select the text field to make dynamic from the Text Field pop-up menu.
2
Click the lightning bolt icon beside the Set Value To box, select a data source from the list of data sources, and click OK.
The data source should contain textual information. If no data sources appear in the list, or if the available data sources
don’t meet your needs, click the Plus
(+) button to define a new data source.
More Help topics
“Defining sources of dynamic content” on page 543
Dynamically preselect an HTML check box
You can let the server decide whether to select a check box when the form is displayed in a browser.
Before you begin, you must create the form in a ColdFusion, PHP, or ASP page, and you must define a recordset or
other source of dynamic content for the check boxes. Ideally, the source of content should contain Boolean data, such
as Yes/No or true/false.
1Select a check box form object on your page.
2In the Property inspector, click the Dynamic button.
3Complete the Dynamic CheckBox dialog box, and click OK:
•Click the lightning bolt icon beside the Check If box and select the field from the list of data sources.
The data source must contain Boolean data such as Yes and No, or true and false. If no data sources appear in the
list, or if the available data sources don’t meet your needs, click the Plus
(+) button to define a new data source.
•In the Equal To box, enter the value the field must have for the check box to appear selected.
For example, for the check box to appear selected when a specific field in a record has a value of Yes, enter Yes in the
Equal To box.
Note: This value is also returned to the server if the user clicks the form’s Submit button.
Dynamically preselect an HTML radio button
Dynamically preselect an HTML radio button when a record is displayed in the HTML form in a browser.
Before you begin, you must create the form in a ColdFusion, PHP, or ASP page, and insert at least one group of HTML
radio buttons (Insert
> Form > Radio Group). You must also define a recordset or other source of dynamic content
for the radio buttons. Ideally, the source of content should contain Boolean data, such as Yes/No or true/false.
1In Design view, select a radio button in the radio group.
2In the Property inspector, click the Dynamic button.
3Complete the Dynamic Radio Group dialog box, and click OK.
Set the Dynamic Radio Group dialog box options
1In the Radio Button Group pop-up menu, select a form and radio button group in the page.
The Radio Button Value box displays the values of all radio buttons in the group.
644
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Select a value to dynamically preselect from the list of values. This value is displayed in the Value box.
3Click the lightning bolt icon beside the Select Value Equal To box and select a recordset that contains possible
checked values for the radio buttons in the group.
The recordset you select contains values that match the radio buttons’ checked values. To view the checked values of
the radio buttons, select each radio button and open its Property inspector (Window
> Properties).
4Click OK.
Set the Dynamic Radio Group dialog box options (ColdFusion)
1Select a radio group and form from the Radio Group pop-up menu.
2Click the lightning bolt icon next to Select Value Equal To box.
3Complete the Dynamic Data dialog box, and click OK.
aSelect a data source from the list of data sources.
b(Optional) Select a data format for the text.
c(Optional) Modify the code that Dreamweaver inserts in your page to display the dynamic text.
4Click OK to close the Dynamic Radio Group dialog box, and insert the dynamic content placeholder in the Radio
Group.
Validate HTML form data
Dreamweaver can add JavaScript code that checks the contents of specified text fields to ensure that the user has
entered the correct type of data.
You can use Spry form widgets to build your forms and validate the contents of specified form elements. For more
information, consult the Spry topics listed below.
You can also build ColdFusion forms in Dreamweaver that validate the contents of specified fields. For more
information, consult the ColdFusion chapter listed below.
1Create an HTML form that includes at least one text field and one Submit button.
Make sure every text field that you want to validate has a unique name.
2Select the Submit button.
3In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select the Validate Form behavior from
the list.
4Set the validation rules for each text field, and click OK.
For example, you might specify that a text field for a person’s age accepts only numbers.
Note: The Validate Form behavior is available only if a text field has been inserted into the document.
More Help topics
“Working with the Spry Validation Text Field widget” on page 427
“Working with the Spry Validation Text Area widget” on page 431
“Working with the Spry Validation Select widget” on page 435
“Working with the Spry Validation Checkbox widget” on page 438
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
645
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Attach JavaScript behaviors to HTML form objects
You can attach JavaScript behaviors stored in Dreamweaver to HTML form objects such as buttons.
1Select the HTML form object.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select a behavior from the list.
Attach custom scripts to HTML form buttons
Some forms use JavaScript or VBScript to perform form processing or some other action on the client as opposed to
sending the form data to the server for processing. You can use Dreamweaver to configure a form button to run a
specific client-side script when the user clicks the button.
1Select a Submit button in a form.
2In the Behaviors panel (Window > Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button, and select Call JavaScript from the list.
3In the Call JavaScript box, enter the name of the JavaScript function to run when the user clicks the button, and
click OK.
For example, you can enter the name of a function that doesn’t exist yet, such as processMyForm().
4If your JavaScript function doesn’t exist in the head section of the document yet, add it now.
For example, you could define the following JavaScript function in the head section of the document to display a
message when the user clicks the Submit button:
function processMyForm(){
alert('Thanks for your order!');
}
More Help topics
“Apply the Call JavaScript behavior” on page 336
Create accessible HTML forms
When you insert an HTML form object, you can make the form object accessible, and change the accessibility
attributes later.
Add an accessible form object
1The first time you add accessible form objects, activate the Accessibility dialog box for form objects (see
“Optimizing the workspace for visual development” on page 532).
This is a one-time-only step.
2In the document, place the insertion point where you want the form object to appear.
3Select Insert > Form, and select a form object to insert.
The Input Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box appears.
4Complete the dialog box, and click OK. Here is a partial list of options:
Note: The screen reader reads the name you enter as the Label attribute for the object.
ID assigns an ID to the form field. This value can be used to refer to the field from JavaScript; it's also used as the value
of the for attribute if you choose the Attach Label Tag Using For option under the Style options.
Wrap With Label Tag Wraps a label tag around the form item, as follows:
646
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
<label>
<input type="radio" name="radiobutton" value="radiobutton">
RadioButton1</label>
Attach Label Tag Using For Uses the for attribute to wrap a label tag around the form item, as follows:
<input type="radio" name="radiobutton" value="radiobutton" id="radiobutton">
<label for="radiobutton">RadioButton2</label>
This choice causes the browser to render text associated with a check box and radio button with a focus rectangle, and
enables the user to select the check box and radio button by clicking anywhere in the associated text instead of just the
check box or radio button control.
Note: This is the preferred option for accessibility; however, the functionality may vary depending on the browser.
No Label Tag Does not use a label tag, as follows:
<input type="radio" name="radiobutton" value="radiobutton">
RadioButton3
Access Key Uses a keyboard equivalent (one letter) and the Alt key (Windows) or the Control key (Macintosh) to
select the form object in the browser. For example, if you enter B as the Access Key, users with a Macintosh browser
could type Control+B to select the form object.
Tab Index Specifies a tab order for the form objects. If you set tab order for one object, you must set the tab order for
all objects.
Setting a tab order is useful when you have other links and form objects on the page and need the user to tab through
them in a specific order.
5Click Yes to insert a form tag.
The form object appears in the document.
Note: If you press Cancel, the form object appears in the document, but Dreamweaver does not associate accessibility tags
or attributes with it.
Edit accessibility values for a form object
1In the Document window, select the object.
2Do one of the following:
•Edit the appropriate attributes in Code view.
•Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and then select Edit Tag.
Building ColdFusion forms
About ColdFusion forms
ColdFusion forms provide you with several built-in mechanisms to validate form data. For example, you can check to
make sure a user has entered a valid date. Some form controls have additional features. Several do not have HTML
counterparts, and others directly support dynamically populating the control from data sources.
647
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Dreamweaver provides a number of enhancements for ColdFusion developers who use ColdFusion MX 7 or later as
their development server. These enhancements include more Insert panel buttons, menu items, and Property
inspectors so that you can rapidly build and set the properties of ColdFusion forms. You can also generate code that
validates the information provided by site visitors. For example, you can check that the e-mail address provided by a
user contains the @ symbol, or that a required text field contains a certain type of value.
Enable the ColdFusion enhancements
Some of these enhancements require that you define a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later as a testing server
for Dreamweaver. For example, the Property inspectors for form controls are available only if you specify the correct
testing server.
You define a testing server only once. Dreamweaver then automatically detects the testing server version and makes
the enhancements available if it detects ColdFusion.
1If you haven’t already done so, define a Dreamweaver site for your ColdFusion project.
2Select Site > Manage Sites, select your site from the list, and click Edit.
3Select the Servers category and specify a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later as the testing server for your
Dreamweaver site. Ensure that you specify a valid Web URL.
4Open any ColdFusion document.
You won’t see any visible changes to the Dreamweaver work space until you open a ColdFusion document.
More Help topics
“Securing a folder in your application (ColdFusion)” on page 622
“Working with Dreamweaver sites” on page 36
“Set up a testing server” on page 45
Create ColdFusion forms
You can use a number of Insert panel buttons, menu items, and Property inspectors to rapidly create ColdFusion
forms and set their properties in Dreamweaver.
Note: These enhancements are available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Open a ColdFusion page and place the insertion point where you want the ColdFusion form to appear.
2Select Insert > ColdFusion Objects > CFForm > CFForm, or select the CFForm category from the Insert panel and
click the CF Form icon.
Dreamweaver inserts an empty ColdFusion form. In Design view, the form is indicated by a dotted red outline. If you
don’t see this outline, make sure that View
> Visual Aids > Invisible Elements is selected.
3Ensure that the form is still selected, and then use the Property inspector to set any of the following form properties.
CFForm Sets the name of the form.
Action Lets you specify the name of the ColdFusion page to be processed when the form is submitted.
Method Lets you define the method that the browser uses to send the form data to the server:
•POST Sends the data using the HTTP post method; this method sends the data in a separate message to the server.
•GET Sends the data using the HTTP get method, placing the form field contents in the URL query string.
Target Lets you to modify the value of the target attribute of the cfform tag.
648
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Encoding Type Specifies the encoding method used for transmitting the form data.
Note: Encoding type does not refer to character encoding. This attribute specifies the content type used to submit the form
to the server (when the value of method is post). The default value for this attribute is application/x-www-form-
urlencoded.
Format Determines what kind of form is created:
•HTML Generates an HTML form and sends it to the client. The cfgrid and cftree child controls can be in Flash or
applet format.
•Flash Generates a Flash form and sends it to the client. All controls are in Flash format.
•XML Generates XForms XML and puts the results in a variable with the ColdFusion form name. Does not send
anything to the client. The cfgrid and cftree child controls can be in Flash or applet format.
Style Lets you specify a style for the form. For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Flash/XML Skin Lets you specify a halo color to stylize the output. The theme determines the color used for highlighted
and selected elements.
Preserve Data Determines whether to override the initial control values with submitted values when the form posts to
itself.
•If False, values specified in the control tag attributes are used.
•If True, submitted values are used.
Scripts src Specifies the URL, relative to the web root, of the JavaScript file that contains client-side code used by the
tag and its child tags. This attribute is useful if the file is not in the default location. This attribute may be required in
some hosting environments and configurations that block access to the /CFIDE directory. The default location is set
in the ColdFusion Administrator; by default, it is /CFIDE/scripts/cfform.js.
Archive Specifies the URL of downloadable Java classes for cfgrid, cfslider, and cftree applet controls. The default
location is /CFIDE/classes/cfapplets.jar.
Height Specifies the height of the form.
Width Specifies the width of the form.
Display Tag Editor for cfform Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
4Insert ColdFusion form controls.
Place the insertion point where you want the ColdFusion form control to appear in the ColdFusion form, and then
select the control from the Insert menu (Insert
> ColdFusion Objects > CFForm), or from the CFForm category in the
Insert panel.
5If required, set the properties of the control with the Property inspector.
Make sure the control is selected in Design view and then set the properties in the Property inspector. For more
information on the properties, click the Help icon in the Property inspector.
6Adjust the layout of the ColdFusion form.
If you’re creating an HTML-based form, you can use line breaks, paragraph breaks, preformatted text, or tables to
format your forms. You cannot insert a ColdFusion form in another ColdFusion form (that is, you cannot overlap
tags), but you can include more than one ColdFusion form in a page.
If you’re creating a Flash-based form, use
Cascading Style Sheets
649
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
(CSS) styles to lay out your form. ColdFusion ignores any HTML in the form.
Remember to label the ColdFusion form fields with descriptive text to let users know what they are responding to. For
example, create a “Type your name label” to request name information.
More Help topics
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
“Create an HTML form” on page 635
Insert ColdFusion form controls
Use the Insert panel or Insert menu to quickly insert ColdFusion form controls into a ColdFusion form. You need to
create a blank ColdFusion form before inserting controls in it.
Note: These enhancements are only available if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1In Design view, place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2Select the control from the Insert menu (Insert > ColdFusion Objects > CFForm), or from the CFForm category in
the Insert panel.
3Click the control on the page to select it and then set its properties in the Property inspector.
For information on the properties of specific controls, see the topics about the controls.
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
Insert ColdFusion text fields
You can visually insert a ColdFusion text field or password field into your form, and then set its options.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
Visually insert a ColdFusion text field
1In Design view, place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Text Field icon or select Insert > ColdFusion Objects >
CFForm
> CFtextfield.
A text field appears in the form.
3Select the text field and set its properties in the Property inspector.
4To label the text field on the page, click beside it and enter text for the label.
Visually insert a password field
1Repeat steps 1 and 2 in the previous procedure for inserting a text field.
2Select the inserted text field to display its Property inspector.
3Select the Password value from the Text Mode pop-up menu in the Property inspector.
650
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
CFTextField options (ColdFusion)
To set the options of a ColdFusion text or password field, set any of the following options in the CFTextField Property
inspector:
CFtextfield Sets the id attribute of the <cfinput> tag.
Value Lets you specify text to be displayed in the field when the page first opens in a browser. The information can
either be static or dynamic.
To specify a dynamic value, click the lightning bolt icon beside the Value box and select a recordset column in the
Dynamic Data dialog box. The recordset column supplies a value to the text field when you view the form in a browser.
Text Mode Lets you switch between the standard text input field and the password input field. The attribute modified
by this control is type.
Read Only Lets you make the displayed text read-only.
Max Length Sets the maximum number of characters accepted by the text field.
Mask Lets you specify a mask for your requested text. You use this property to validate the user input. The mask
format is composed of A, 9, X and ? characters.
Note: The mask attribute is ignored for the cfinput type="password" tag.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the current field.
Validate At Specifies when the field is validated: onSubmit, onBlur or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the text field.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels.
Width Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control.
Required Lets you specify whether the text field must contain data before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
Insert ColdFusion hidden fields
You can visually insert a ColdFusion hidden field into your form and set its properties. Use hidden fields to store and
submit information that the user does not enter. The information is hidden from the user.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1In Design view, place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Hidden Field icon.
A marker appears in the ColdFusion form. If you don’t see the marker, select View > Visual Aids > Invisible Elements.
3Select the hidden field on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cfhiddenfield Lets you specify the unique name for the hidden field.
Value Lets you specify a value for the hidden field. The data can either be static or dynamic.
To specify a dynamic value, click the lightning bolt icon beside the Value box and select a recordset column in the
Dynamic Data dialog box. The recordset column supplies a value to the text field when you view the form in a browser.
651
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the current field.
Validate At Specifies when the field is validated: onSubmit, onBlur or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the control. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height
Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Width
Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Required Lets you specify whether the hidden field must contain data before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
Insert ColdFusion text areas
You can visually insert a ColdFusion text area into your form and set its properties. A text area is an input element that
consists of multiple lines of text.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Text Area icon.
A text area appears in the ColdFusion form.
3Select the text area on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cftextarea Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Char Width Lets you set the number of characters per line.
Num Lines Lets you set the number of rows to display in the text area.
Wrap Lets you specify how you want the text entered by users to wrap.
Required Lets you specify whether the user must enter data in the field (checked) or not (unchecked).
Initial Value Lets you specify text to display in the text area when the page is initially opened in a browser.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the field.
Validate At Specifies when the field is validated: onSubmit, onBlur, or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the control.
Style Lets you specify a style for the control. For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run
time.
Width Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run
time.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
652
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
4To label the text area, click beside it and enter text for the label.
More Help topics
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
Insert ColdFusion buttons
You can visually insert a ColdFusion button into your form and set its properties. ColdFusion buttons control
ColdFusion form operations. Buttons can be used to submit ColdFusion form data to the server or to reset the
ColdFusion form. Standard ColdFusion buttons are typically labeled Submit, Reset, or Send. You can also assign other
processing tasks that you defined in a script. For example, the button might calculate the total cost of selected items
based on assigned values.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Place the insertion point inside the ColdFusion form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Button icon.
A button appears in the ColdFusion form.
3Select the button on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cfbutton Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Action Lets you specify the type of button to create.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
The other properties are ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
Insert ColdFusion check boxes
You can visually insert a ColdFusion check box into your form and set its properties. Use check boxes to let users select
more than one option from a set of options.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Checkbox icon.
A check box appears in the ColdFusion form.
3Select the check box on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cfcheckbox Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Checked Value Lets you specify a value to be returned by the check box if the user checks it.
Initial State Lets you specify whether the check box is checked when the page first opens in a browser.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the check box.
Validate At Specifies when the check box is validated: onSubmit, onBlur, or onServer.
653
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Label Lets you specify a label for the check box.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height
Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Width
Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Required Lets you specify whether the checkbox must be checked before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
4To label the check box, click next to the check box on the page and enter text for the label.
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
Insert ColdFusion radio buttons
You can visually insert a ColdFusion radio button into your form and set its properties. Use radio buttons when you
want users to select only one choice from a set of options. Radio buttons are typically used in groups. All radio buttons
in a group must have the same name.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2Select Insert > ColdFusion Objects > CFForm > CFradiobutton.
A radio button appears in the ColdFusion form.
3Select the radio button on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cfradiobutton Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Checked Value Lets you specify a value to be returned by the radio button if the user checks it.
Initial State Lets you specify whether the radio button is checked when the page first opens in a browser.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the radio button.
Validate At Specifies when the radio button is validated: onSubmit, onBlur, or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the radio button.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height
Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Width
Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Required Lets you specify whether the radio button must be checked before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
4To label the radio button, click beside it on the page and enter text for the label.
654
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
Insert ColdFusion select boxes
You can visually insert a ColdFusion select box into your form and set its properties. A select box lets a visitor select one
or more items from a list. Select boxes are useful when you have a limited amount of space, but need to display many
items. They’re also useful when you want to control the values returned to the server. Unlike text fields, where users can
type anything they want, including invalid data, with select boxes, you can set the exact values returned by a menu.
You can insert two types of select boxes into a form: a menu that “drops down” when the user clicks it, or a menu that
displays a scrollable list of items that the user can select.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Select icon.
A select box appears in the ColdFusion form.
3Select the select box on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cfselect Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Type Lets you choose between a pop-up menu or a list. If you select the list type, the List Height and Allow Multiple
List Selections options become available.
List Height Lets you specify the number of lines to display in the list menu. Available only if you select the list type.
Allow Multiple List Selections Lets you specify whether the user can select more than one option from the list at a time.
Available only if you select the list type.
Edit Values Opens a dialog box that lets you add, edit, or remove options from the select box.
Initially Selected Lets you specify which option is selected by default. You can select more than one option if you
selected the Allow Multiple List Selections option.
Recordset Lets you specify the name of the ColdFusion query you want to use to populate the list or menu.
Display Column Lets you specify the recordset column to supply the display label of each list element. Used with
Recordset property.
Value Column Lets you specify the recordset column to supply the value of each list element. Used with the Recordset
property.
Flash Label Lets you specify a label for the select box.
Flash Height Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at
run time.
Flash Width Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at
run time.
Message Specifies the message to be displayed if the Required property is set to Yes and the user failed to make a
selection before submitting the form.
Required Lets you specify whether a menu item must be selected before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
655
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
Insert ColdFusion image fields
You can visually insert a ColdFusion image field into your form and set its options. Use image fields to make custom
buttons.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1In Design view, place the insertion point inside the form outline.
2In the CFForm category of the Insert panel, click the CF Image Field icon. Browse to select the image to insert, and
click OK. Alternatively, you can enter the path of the image file in the Src box.
Note: If the image is outside the site root folder, you should copy the image to the root folder. Images outside the root folder
might not be accessible when you publish the site.
3Select the image field on the page and set any of the following options in the Property inspector:
Cfimagefield Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Src Lets you specify the URL of the inserted image.
Alt Lets you specify a message when the image cannot be displayed.
Align Lets you specify the alignment of the picture.
Border Lets you set the width of the image border.
Edit Image Opens the image in your default image editor.
To define a default image editor, select Edit > Preferences > File Types / Editors. Otherwise, the Edit Image button does
not perform any action.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the image field.
Validate At Specifies when the field is validated: onSubmit, onBlur, or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the radio button.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels.
Width Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Required Lets you specify whether the control must contain data before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
656
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert ColdFusion file fields
You can visually insert a ColdFusion file field into your form and set its properties. Use a file field to let users select a
file from their computer, such as a word processing document or a graphics file, and upload it to the server. A
ColdFusion file field looks like other text fields, except it also has a Browse button. Users can manually enter the path
to the file they want to upload, or use the Browse button to locate and select the file.
File fields require that you use the POST method to transmit files from the browser to the server. The file is posted to
the address that you specify in the form’s Action box. Contact your server administrator to confirm that anonymous
file uploads are allowed before using a file field in your form.
File fields also require that the form encoding be set to multipart/form. Dreamweaver sets this automatically when you
insert a file field control.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1In Design view, select the CFForm to display its Property inspector.
To quickly select the form, click anywhere in the form outline and click the <cfform> tag in the tag selector at the
bottom of the Document window.
2In the Property inspector, set the form method to POST.
3From the Enctype pop-up menu, select multipart/form-data.
4Position the insertion point inside the form outline where you want to file field to appear.
5Select Insert > ColdFusion Objects > CFForm > CFfilefield.
A file field appears in the document.
6Select the file field on the page and set any of the following properties in the Property inspector:
Cffilefield Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Max Length Lets you specify the maximum number of characters that the path to the file can have.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the field.
Validate At Specifies when the field is validated: onSubmit, onBlur, or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the field.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height
Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Width
Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels. This property is ignored by the ColdFusion server at run time.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control.
Required Lets you specify whether the file field must contain data before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
More Help topics
“Modify ColdFusion form controls” on page 657
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
657
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
Insert ColdFusion date fields
Although you can’t visually insert a ColdFusion date field in Dreamweaver, you can visually set its properties. A
ColdFusion date field is a special type of text field that lets users select a date from a pop-up calendar to insert it in the
text field.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1In Design view, select the CFForm to display its Property inspector.
To quickly select the form, click anywhere in the form outline and click the <cfform> tag in the tag selector at the
bottom of the Document window.
2In the Property inspector, set the form’s Format property to Flash.
The date field control can only be rendered in Flash-based ColdFusion forms.
3
Switch to Code view (View > Code) and enter the following tag anywhere between the opening and closing CFForm tags:
<cfinput name="datefield" type="datefield">
4Switch to Design view, select the date field on the page, and then set any of the following options in the Property
inspector:
Cfdatefield Lets you specify a unique name for the control.
Value Lets you specify a date to be displayed in the field when the page first opens in a browser. The date can either
be static or dynamic.
To specify a dynamic value, click the lightning bolt icon beside the Value box and select a recordset column in the
Dynamic Data dialog box. The recordset column supplies a value to the date field when you view the form in a browser.
Validate Specifies the type of validation for the field.
Validate At Specifies when the field is validated: onSubmit, onBlur, or onServer.
Label Lets you specify a label for the field.
Pattern Lets you specify a JavaScript regular expression pattern to validate input. Omit leading and trailing slashes.
For more information, see the ColdFusion documentation.
Height Lets you specify the height of the control, in pixels.
Width Lets you specify the width of the control, in pixels.
Size Lets you specify the size of the control.
Required Lets you specify whether the date field must contain a value before the form is submitted to the server.
Display Tag Editor Lets you edit properties not listed in the Property inspector.
More Help topics
“Validate ColdFusion form data” on page 658
Modify ColdFusion form controls
You can visually change the properties of ColdFusion form controls whether you’re working in Design view or Code view.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1In Design view, select the form control on the page; in Code view, click anywhere inside the control’s tag.
The Property inspector displays properties of the form control.
658
USING DREAMWEAVER
Building forms
Last updated 12/7/2011
2Change the control’s properties in the Property inspector.
For more information, click the Help icon in the Property inspector.
3To set more properties, click the Display Tag Editor button in the Property inspector and set the properties in the
Tag editor that appears.
Validate ColdFusion form data
You can build ColdFusion forms in Dreamweaver that check the contents of specified fields to ensure the user entered
the correct data type.
Note: This enhancement is available only if you have access to a computer running ColdFusion MX 7 or later.
1Create a ColdFusion form that includes at least one input field and one Submit button. Ensure that every
ColdFusion field that you want to validate has a unique name.
2Select a field in the form that you want to validate.
3In the Property inspector, specify how you want to validate the field.
The lower part of each input Property inspector contains controls to help you define the specific validation rule. For
example, you might want to specify that a text field should contain a telephone number. To do this, select Telephone
from the Value pop-up menu in the Property inspector. You can also specify when to validate from the Validate At
pop-up menu.
659
Last updated 12/7/2011
Chapter 23: Accessibility
Dreamweaver and accessibility
About accessible content
Accessibility refers to making websites and web products usable for people with visual, auditory, motor, and other
disabilities. Examples of accessibility features for software products and websites include screen reader support, text
equivalents for graphics, keyboard shortcuts, change of display colors to high contrast, and so on. Dreamweaver
provides tools that make it accessible to use and tools that help you author accessible content.
For Dreamweaver developers who need to use accessibility features, the application offers screen reader support,
keyboard navigation, and operating system accessibility support.
For web designers who need to create accessible content, Dreamweaver assists you in creating accessible pages that
contain useful content for screen readers and comply with federal government guidelines. For example, dialog boxes
prompt you to enter accessibility attributes—such as text equivalents for an image—when you insert page elements.
Then, when the image appears on a page for a user with visual disabilities, the screen reader reads the description.
Note: For more information about two significant accessibility initiatives, see the World Wide Web Consortium Web
Accessibility Initiative (www.w3.org/wai) and Section 508 of the U.S. Federal Rehabilitation Act (www.section508.gov).
No authoring tool can automate the development process. Designing accessible websites requires you to understand
accessibility requirements and make ongoing decisions about how users with disabilities interact with web pages. The
best way to ensure that a website is accessible is through deliberate planning, development, testing, and evaluation.
Using screen readers with Dreamweaver
A screen reader recites text that appears on the computer screen. It also reads non-textual information, such as button
labels or image descriptions in the application, provided in accessibility tags or attributes during authoring.
As a Dreamweaver designer, you can use a screen reader to assist you in creating your web pages. The screen reader
starts reading from the upper-left corner of the Document window.
Dreamweaver supports JAWS for Windows, from Freedom Scientific (www.freedomscientific.com), and Window-
Eyes screen readers, from GW Micro (www.gwmicro.com).
Support for operating system accessibility features
Dreamweaver supports accessibility features in both the Windows and Macintosh operating systems. For example, on
the Macintosh you set the visual preferences in the Universal Access Preferences dialog box (Apple
> System
Preferences). Your settings are reflected in the Dreamweaver work space.
The Windows operating system’s high contrast setting is also supported. You activate this option through the
Windows Control Panel and it affects Dreamweaver as follows:
•Dialog boxes and panels use system color settings. For example, if you set the color to White on Black, all
Dreamweaver dialog boxes and panels appear with a white foreground color and black background.
•Code view uses the system and window text color. For example, if you set the system color to White on Black, and
then change text colors in Edit
> Preferences > Code Coloring, Dreamweaver ignores those color settings and
displays the code text with a white foreground color and black background.
660
USING DREAMWEAVER
Accessibility
Last updated 12/7/2011
•Design view uses the background and text colors you set in Modify > Page Properties so that pages you design
render colors as a browser will.
Optimize the work space for accessible page design
When you create accessible pages, you need to associate information, such as labels and descriptions, with your page
objects to make your content accessible to all users.
To do this, activate the Accessibility dialog box for each object, so that Dreamweaver prompts you for accessibility
information when you insert objects. You can activate a dialog box for any of the objects in the Accessibility category
in Preferences.
1Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
2Select Accessibility from the Category list on the left, select an object, set any of the following options, and click OK.
Show Attributes When Inserting Select the objects for which you want to activate accessibility dialog boxes. For
example, form objects, frames, media, and images.
Keep Focus In The Panel Maintains focus on the panel, which makes it accessible to the screen reader. (If you don’t
select this option, the focus remains in Design or Code view when a user opens a panel.)
Offscreen Rendering Select this option when using a screen reader.
Note: Accessibility attributes appear in the Insert Table dialog box when you insert a new table.
Dreamweaver accessibility validation report feature
The Dreamweaver accessibility validation report feature has been deprecated as of Dreamweaver CS5.
Navigate Dreamweaver using the keyboard
You can use the keyboard to navigate panels, inspectors, dialog boxes, frames, and tables without a mouse.
Note: Tabbing and the use of arrow keys are supported for Windows only.
Navigate panels
1In the Document window, press Control+F6 to shift focus to a panel.
A dotted line around the panel title indicates that focus is on that panel. The screen reader reads the panel title bar that
has focus.
2Press Control+F6 again to shift focus until you have focus on the panel you want to work in. (Press
Control+Shift+F6 to shift focus to the previous panel.)
3If the panel you want to work in is not open, use the keyboard shortcuts in the Windows menu to display the
appropriate panel; then press Control+F6.
If the panel you want to work in is open, but not expanded, place focus on the panel title bar, and then press the
Spacebar. Press the Spacebar again to collapse the panel.
4Press the Tab key to move through the options in the panel.
5Use the arrow keys as appropriate:
•If an option has choices, use the arrow keys to scroll through the choices, and then press the Spacebar to make a
selection.
661
USING DREAMWEAVER
Accessibility
Last updated 12/7/2011
•If there are tabs in the panel group to open other panels, place focus on the open tab, and then use the left or right
arrow key to open another tabs. Once you open a new tab, press the Tab key to move through the options in that
panel.
Navigate the Property inspector
1Press Control+F3 to display the Property inspector, if it is not visible.
2Press Control+F6 (Windows only) until you shift focus to the Property inspector.
3Press the Tab key to move through the Property inspector options.
4Use the arrow keys as appropriate to move through option choices.
5Press Control+Down arrow/Up arrow (Windows) or Command Down arrow/Up arrow (Macintosh) to open and
close the expanded section of the Property inspector, as necessary, or, with focus on the expander arrow in the
lower-right corner, press the Spacebar.
Note: Keyboard focus must be inside the Property inspector (and not on the panel title) for expanding and collapsing to work.
Navigate a dialog box
1Press the Tab key to move through the options in a dialog box.
2Use the arrow keys to move through choices for an option.
3If the dialog box has a Category list, press Control+Tab (Windows) to shift focus to the category list, and then use
the arrow keys to move up or down the list.
4Press Control+Tab again to shift to the options for a category.
5Press Enter to exit the dialog box.
Navigate frames
❖If your document contains frames, you can use the arrow keys to shift focus to a frame.
Select a frame
1Press Alt+Down Arrow to place the insertion point in the Document window.
2Press Alt+Up Arrow to select the frame that currently has focus.
3Continue pressing Alt+Up Arrow to shift focus to the frameset, and then to the parent framesets, if there are nested
framesets.
4Press Alt+Down Arrow to shift focus to a child frameset or a single frame within the frameset.
5With focus on a single frame, press Alt+Left or Right Arrow to move between frames.
Navigate a table
1Use the arrow keys or press Tab to move to other cells in a table as necessary.
Pressing Tab in a right-most cell adds another row to the table.
2To select a cell, press Control+A (Windows only) while the insertion point is in the cell.
3To select the entire table, press Control+A twice if the insertion point is in a cell, or once if a cell is selected.
4To exit the table, press Control+A three times if the insertion point is in a cell, twice if the cell is selected, or once
if the table is selected, and then press the Up, Left, or Right Arrow key.

Navigation menu