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Extending the Components panel
If you have invented (or simply use) a component strategy that is not represented in
Dreamweaver's current Components 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 components (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 technologies. 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 drop-down list in the Components panel.
The files you need to alter are discussed in this chapter. 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 Page (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.
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Components
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