Macromedia dreamweaver 8-extending dreamweaver Manuel D’Utilisation

Localizing an extension

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Dreamweaver supports the use of event handlers within links. Event handlers in links must 
use syntax, as shown in the following example: 

<a href=”#” onMouseDown=alert(‘hi’)>link text</a>

Plug-ins (set to 

play

 at all times) are supported in the 

BODY

 of extensions. The 

document.write()

 statement, Java applets, and ActiveX controls are not supported 

in extensions.

Displaying Help

The 

displayHelp()

 function, which is part of several extension APIs, causes Dreamweaver to 

do the following two things when you include it in your extension:

■

Add a Help button to the interface.

■

Call 

displayHelp()

 when the user clicks the Help button.

You must write the body of the 

displayHelp()

 function to display Help. How you code the 

displayHelp()

 function determines how your extension displays Help. You can call the 

dreamweaver.browseDocument()

 function to open a file in a browser or devise a custom way 

to display Help such as displaying messages in another layer in alert boxes. 

The following example uses the 

displayHelp()

 function to display Help by calling 

dreamweaver.browseDocument()

:

// The following instance of displayHelp() opens a browser to display a file
// that explains how to use the extension.
function displayHelp() {

var myHelpFile = dw.getConfigurationPath() + "ExtensionsHelp/
myExtHelp.htm";
dw.browseDocument(myHelpFile);

}

Localizing an extension

Use the following techniques to make it easier to translate your extensions into local 
languages.

■

Separate extensions into HTML and JavaScript files. The HTML files can be replicated 
and localized; the JavaScript files are not localized. 

■

Do not define display strings in the JavaScript files (check for alerts and UI code). Extract 
all localizable strings into separate XML files in the Dreamweaver Configuration/Strings 
folder.