Designing An Extension User Interface - Adobe 38040334 - Dreamweaver CS3 User Manual

Chapter 5: User interfaces for
extensions
Most extensions are built to receive information from the user through a user interface (UI). For
example, if you create a Property inspector extension for the tag, you need to create a
marquee
way for the user to specify attributes like direction and height. If you plan to submit your
extension for Adobe certification, you need to follow the guidelines that are available within the
Extension Manager files on the Adobe Exchange website (www.adobe.com/go/exchange). These
guidelines are not intended to limit your creativity. Their purpose is to ensure that certified
extensions work effectively within the Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 user interface (UI) and that the
extension UI design does not detract from its functionality.

Designing an extension user interface

Typically, you create an extension to perform a task that users encounter frequently. Certain
parts of the task are repetitive; by creating an extension, you can automate the repetitive actions.
Some steps in the task can change, or specific attributes of the code that the extension processes
can change. To receive user inputs for these variable values, you build a UI.
For example, you might create an extension to update a web catalog. Users periodically need to
change values for image sources, item descriptions, and prices. Although the values change, the
procedures for getting these values and formatting the information for display on the website
remain the same. A simple extension can automate the formatting while letting users manually
input the new, updated values for image sources, item descriptions, and prices. A more robust
extension can retrieve these values periodically from a database.
The purpose of your extension UI is to receive information that the user inputs. This information
handles the variable aspects of a repetitive task that the extension performs. Dreamweaver
supports HTML and JavaScript form elements as the basic building blocks for creating extension
UI controls and displays the UI using its own HTML renderer. Therefore, an extension UI can
be as simple as an HTML file that contains a two-column table with text descriptions and form
input fields.