User Guide

30 Chapter 1: Introduction
The Extending Dreamweaver book is designed to serve the user who wants to learn how to build a
Dreamweaver extension. The Dreamweaver API Reference is designed to serve the experienced
Dreamweaver programmer who wants to quickly locate the right function to accomplish a
particular task. Dividing the material into two books also clarifies the distinction between the
extension API functions that an extension author must code, and which Dreamweaver calls, and
the JavaScript and Utility API functions that a programmer can call to accomplish various tasks
from within an extension.
The Dreamweaver API Reference includes the following improvements for extension authors:
• Reorganization of functions into chapters.
The JavaScript API functions are now grouped first by chapter, according to the related
Dreamweaver context (Workspace, Document, Design, and so on), and then by topic
according to the specific functionality (Keyboard functions, Menu functions, Window
functions, and so on).
• Deprecated functions now “inline.”
Deprecated functions were previously in their own section. Now, deprecated functions remain
in their original topic to provide context, and are denoted with the suffix “(deprecated)” in the
function name.
• Enabler functions chapter.
The Enabler functions have been organized into their own chapter with cross references to
their relevant API functions.
Errata
A current list of known issues can be found in the Extensibility section of the Dreamweaver
Support Center (www.macromedia.com/go/extending_errata).
Conventions used in this guide
The following typographical conventions are used in this guide:
• Code font indicates code fragments and API literals, including class names, method names,
function names, type names, scripts, SQL statements, and both HTML and XML tag and
attribute names.
• Italic code font indicates replaceable items in code.
• The continuation symbol (¬) indicates that a long line of code has been broken across two or
more lines. Due to margin limits in this book’s format, what is otherwise a continuous line of
code must be split. When copying the lines of code, eliminate the continuation symbol and
type the lines as one line.
• Curly braces ({ }) that surround a function argument indicate that the argument is optional.
• Function names that have the prefix dreamweaver.funcname can be abbreviated to
dw.funcname when you are writing code. This manual uses the full dreamweaver. prefix
when defining the function and in the index. Many examples use the dw. prefix, however.
The following naming conventions are used in this guide:
• You—the developer who is responsible for writing extensions
• The user—the person using Dreamweaver
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