Dreamweaver MX 2004 Extensions

Dreamweaver is not the only product that Macromedia made easily extensible. Flash and Fireworks can take advantage of custom extensions as well. For this reason, instead of enabling each one of these applications to handle the installation and packaging of extensions individually, Macromedia developed a program called Macromedia Extension Manager, which serves extensions to all of them, and presents other useful features.

NOTE Although Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks are not the only Macromedia products that can be extended, they are the MX Studio products that take advantage of the Extension Manager. Programs such as Director and Freehand can be extended using extensions called Xtras. For more information on these, see http://www.macromedia.com/software/xtras/ .

The Extension Manager has reached version 1.6 and is able to manage extensions for Dreamweaver 4, Dreamweaver MX, Dreamweaver MX 2004, UltraDev 4, Fireworks MX, Flash 5, Flash MX, and Flash MX 2004. Extension Manager is usually installed by default with Dreamweaver or any other of the previously mentioned software packages, but it can also be downloaded for free from the Macromedia web site at http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/em_download/. 

TIP Though Dreamweaver does install the Extension Manager by default, it is always worth visiting the Macromedia Exchange to check if a new version of the Extension Manager is available. If you create extensions using version 1.5 or above, developers who want to install the extension will also have to download the new version of the Extension Manager if it is not already installed on their machine.

When launched, the Extension Manager presents us with a list of installed extensions, as shown in Figure 9-1. Please be aware that if you are working on an operating system that allows multiple user configurations (such as Windows 2000, Windows XP and Mac OS X), you will be able to view only the extensions installed in the current user’s account and those installed by the system administrator.

Figure 9-1. The Macromedia Extension Manager

Extensions can be installed by choosing File -> Install Extension, clicking on the Install New Extension button (the icon in the top left of Figure 9-1), or simply by double-clicking the MXP file.

Although the Extension Manager permits it, you are strongly discouraged from installing an extension into a version of the application other than what it was intended for (for example, installing a Dreamweaver 4 extension into Dreamweaver) unless you test the extension thoroughly before using it. You may have compatibility problems if you don’t heed this advice.

Once an extension has been installed, it will be displayed along with the others in the Extension Manager. Extensions that are no longer needed can be disabled or removed. When you have a large number of extensions installed, this can affect Dreamweaver’s performance, so it is a good idea to disable extensions that you are not currently using. To disable an extension, just uncheck its checkbox in the On/Off column, or select the extension and press the spacebar. To enable it, simply reverse the process.

If you would like to permanently remove an extension, you first must select it, then either select File -> Remove Extension, or click the Remove Extension button (the trash can icon).

In addition to installing new extensions, the Extension Manager enables us to import them from other instances of Dreamweaver present on a local network or disk. This feature is very useful, for example, if you are working in a team and each member needs to use certain extensions to increase productivity. Another possible scenario is when upgrading to a newer version of Dreamweaver and you want to import all your previously installed extensions in a single operation (although, as stated before, when moving extensions between different product versions, it is be better to install and test each extension singularly to avoid possible compatibility issues).

To import extensions, first select the product from the drop-down menu on the main interface. Next, choose File -> Import Extensions, and the Select Product dialog box will appear, as shown in Figure 9-2. Choose the application where the extensions you want to import are installed. 

Figure 9-2. The Select Product dialog box

Click OK, and the Import Extensions dialog box should appear, as shown in Figure 9-3. From here choose the extensions you want to import, enabling them in the Import column. Once you have chosen, click the Import button to import the extensions.

Figure 9-3. The Import Extensions dialog box

The Extension Manager also contains functionality to allow us to package the extensions we write and submit them to the Macromedia Exchange (for more on packaging extensions, see the “Distributing Server Behavior” section later on). The Macromedia Exchange is a great online resource where you can download extensions and upload your own.

To go to the exchange, either click on the Go To Macromedia Exchange button (or choose File -> Go To Macromedia Exchange) in the Extension Manager, or type the following URL into a browser: http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/.

Without doubt, the Macromedia Exchange is the biggest extensions resource available on the Web; however, it isn’t the only one. Each day, more and more extensions for Dreamweaver and other Macromedia products are created or updated by a number of third-party developers. It may happen, for example, that more recent or exclusive versions of extensions published on the Macromedia Exchange have been made available by their developers only on their personal web sites.

Many of these developers are well known and respected “extensionologists”— developers who have been creating and distributing extensions since the early days of Dreamweaver. To list all their web sites would take up more space than we have available, but you will find a useful list of the better extension sites to visit at http://www.dwfaq.com/Resources/Extensions/default.asp.

In the sections that follow, we showcase two of the best and most popular extensions available for free over the Internet:

• Yaromat Check Form adds a wealth of invaluable form validation functionality to Dreamweaver—something that the core product was considered slightly lacking in.

• Massimocorner CF Upload helps you develop ColdFusion file uploads really quickly by writing all the ColdFusion code for you.