Extending The Components Panel; How To Customize The Components Panel - Adobe 38040334 - Dreamweaver CS3 User Manual

Extending the Components panel

If you have invented (or simply use) a component strategy that is not represented in Dreamweaver's current Compo-
nents panel, you can extend the Components panel's logic so the panel can handle new kinds of components.
To add a new kind of component to the Dreamweaver Components panel, you need to locate the available compo-
nents (in the user's environment) and request descriptions from each component (or parse them if they are written
using ASCII files).
The precise way that the location of components and how component details are retrieved varies among technol-
ogies. Additionally, it can vary based on the server model (ASP.NET, JSP/J2EE, ColdFusion, or others). So, the
JavaScript you write to extend the Components panel depends on the component technology you need to add. The
functions described here are meant to assist you in getting information to appear in the Components panel, but you
must write much of the logic for locating components and introspecting them (querying the internal structure of the
component and making its fields, methods, and properties available through Dreamweaver).
Finally, server models such as ASP.NET, JSP/J2EE, or ColdFusion tend to support some, but not all, component
types. For example, ASP.NET supports web services but not JavaBeans. Macromedia ColdFusion also supports web
services and CFCs. When you add a new component type to the Components panel, it must be server-model specific.
For example, if a Dreamweaver user is working on a ColdFusion site, only Web Services and CF Components should
appear in the pop-up menu in the Components panel.
The files you need to alter are discussed in this section. In some cases, you need to write some JavaScript code that
calls certain component-related functions.

How to customize the Components panel

The Dreamweaver Components panel lets users load and work with components. It lists all the available component
types that are compatible with each enabled server model. For instance, because JavaBeans can work only on a
JavaServer Pages (JSP), JavaBeans components appear only in the JSP server model within the Components panel.
Likewise, because CFCs can work only on a ColdFusion page, they appear only in the ColdFusion server model
within the Components panel.
Extensibility lets you add new component types to the panel. There are several general steps that you need to follow
when adding a new component type to the Components panel:
Add the component to the list of available component types for the appropriate server models.
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2 Add instructions, known as setup steps, which appear as interactive numbered steps, for setting up the component
in the Components panel or in a dialog box (depending on the extension for which the steps are implemented). Make
sure check marks appear next to any steps the user has completed.
3 List the components of the component type that exist either on the user's computer or in the current site only.
Create a new component when the user clicks the Plus (+) button in the Components panel.
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In addition, you will probably want to give the user the ability to edit an existing component and delete a component.
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Extending Dreamweaver