Datasheet

Toolbars

So far, you’ve learned that the menu bar can be used when you need to insert or modify elements within

your Web pages. In the previous section, you saw that Task Panes offer specific property modification

options to particular elements that you happen to be working with within the development area. While

these options are perfectly acceptable for use, it’s important to understand that there’s an easier, more

visual way of inserting, modifying, and working with elements within your Web pages in what are

known as toolbars.

If you’re no stranger to Office applications, then there’s no doubt that you’ve used toolbars. Toolbars,

which are usually fixed under the menu bar and above the Document window, provide a visual approach

(through the use of icons) for inserting, modifying, and managing specific types of elements within the

development area. For example, if you’re working with tables, you may decide to show the Tables tool-

bar. Alternatively, if you’re working with CSS, you may decide to show the Style and Style Application

toolbars. Or, if you’re working within the Code view in Expression Web, you may decide to keep the

Code View toolbar floating near or around where you’re typing in code. Doing so would allow you

quick, visual access to commonly accessed features without your having to fumble around through a

massive collection of menus and submenus, which can be the case when working with the menu bar.

There are numerous ways of showing a particular toolbar, but probably none easier or more straightfor-

ward than choosing the toolbar you want to use from the View ➪ Toolbars menu. As Figure 1-7 indicates,

I’ve opened and docked the Common, Style, Style Application, and Tables toolbars. I also have the Code

View toolbar open. However, this toolbar is floating, whereas the others are docked.

Once the toolbar is open and visible, a simple click of the icon performs the operation that the icon rep-

resents. For example, if I open the Tables toolbar and click the Draw Table icon (the first icon to the left

in the Tables toolbar), I should expect to immediately be able to draw a table onto my Web page.

It’s important to understand that icons won’t always be enabled within a particular

toolbar. An icon’s availability depends on the context for which you plan to use that

feature that is ultimately offered by that icon. For example, if I haven’t inserted a

Layer into my Web page, I shouldn’t expect options offered within the Positioning

toolbar to become enabled. Additionally, unless I’ve already inserted a table, I

shouldn’t expect table formatting features offered within the Tables toolbar to

become available either.

Out-of-the-box, Expression Web docks the Common toolbar under the menu bar and

just above the Document window. Obviously, you’re not limited to having just this

toolbar open. Furthermore, the toolbar doesn’t have to be docked in this location.

As mentioned earlier in the chapter, toolbars, like the Task Panes and the menu bar,

can be undocked and repositioned anywhere within the Expression Web interface.

Alternatively, you may decide not to re-dock a toolbar, but rather to keep it floating

for easier access.

Chapter 1

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