User Guide

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CHAPTER 7
Commands
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 commands can perform almost any kind of edit to a user’s
current document, other open documents, or any HTML document on a local drive. Commands
can insert, remove, or rearrange HTML tags and attributes, comments, and text.
Commands are HTML files. The
BODY section of a command file can contain an HTML form
that accepts options for the command (for example, how a table should be sorted and by which
column). The
HEAD section of a command file contains JavaScript functions that process form
input from the
BODY section and control what edits are made to the user’s document.
How commands work
When a user clicks a menu that contains a command, the following events occur:
1 Dreamweaver calls the canAcceptCommand() function to determine whether the menu
item should be disabled. If the
canAcceptCommand() function returns a false value, the
command is dimmed in the menu, and the procedure stops. If the
canAcceptCommand()
function returns a true value, the procedure can continue.
2 The user selects a command from the menu.
3 Dreamweaver calls the receiveArguments() function, if defined, in the selected Command
file to let the command process any arguments that pass from the menu item or from the
dreamweaver.runCommand() function. For more information on the
dreamweaver.runCommand() function, see the Dreamweaver API Reference.
4 Dreamweaver calls the commandButtons() function, if defined, to determine which buttons
appear on the right side of the Options dialog box and what code should execute when the user
clicks the buttons.
5 Dreamweaver scans the command file for a FORM tag. If a form exists, Dreamweaver calls the
windowDimensions() function, which sizes the Options dialog box that contains the BODY
elements of the file. If the
windowDimensions() function is not defined, Dreamweaver
automatically sizes the dialog box.
6 If the command file’s BODY tag contains an onLoad handler, Dreamweaver executes it (whether
or not a dialog box appears). If no dialog box appears, the remaining steps do not occur.
7 The user selects options for the command. Dreamweaver executes event handlers that are
associated with the fields as the user encounters them.
8 The user clicks one of the buttons that is defined by the commandButtons() function.
9 Dreamweaver executes the associated code. The dialog box remains visible until one of the
scripts in the command calls the window.close() function.