User Guide

What’s new in Extending Dreamweaver 15
What’s new in Extending Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver MX 2004 includes the following new features and interfaces that are extensible.
• New Insert Bar
The Insert Bar is now divided into separate categories (instead of tabs) for grouping various
objects, and also supports pop-up menus. This new grouping and functionality presents a less
cluttered user interface. Users can now group their favorite objects into a Favorites category for
their own quick reference. Extensions can be added to their own category or pop-up menu and
grouped with other existing objects. See Chapter 6, “Insert Bar Objects,” on page 113.
• Extensible code coloring
Lets you add new keywords to an existing code coloring scheme or create a new one. If you
develop new JavaScript functions to use in your client-side script, for example, you can add the
names of these functions to the keywords section so that they display in the color that is
specified in Preferences. You can also add new code coloring schemes for a new document type.
For more information, see Chapter 5, “Customizing Code View,” on page 77.
• The cssimport and cssmedia tags support code coloring rules for the @import and @media
functions of the
style element in a cascading style sheet. For more information, see
Chapter 5, “Customizing Code View,” on page 77.
• API support for Flash Elements (SWC files).
Extension developers can add their own Flash Elements to the Insert Bar, Insert menu, or other
Toolbars so users can insert them into documents by simply clicking a button or menu option.
See “Flash Integration” in the Dreamweaver API Reference.
• Enhanced support for “code behind” pages can be found in the CodeBehindMgr.js file in the
Dreamweaver Configuration/Shared/Common folder. See Appendix A, “The Shared folder
contents,” on page 375.
• Integration of Customizing Dreamweaver content.
Material formerly available only as a separate document download from the Macromedia
website is now integrated into this book.
Documentation Changes
Extending Dreamweaver MX has been divided into two books: Extending Dreamweaver and the
Dreamweaver API Reference. Extending Dreamweaver describes how to build various types of
Dreamweaver extensions, including the functions that you must write to create each type. It also
describes how to customize Dreamweaver by modifying some of its configurable HTML and
XML files. The Dreamweaver API Reference describes the two APIs that let you perform various
supporting tasks in your Dreamweaver extensions.
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.
Extending Dreamweaver includes the following improvements to help new extension authors to
get started.