Dreamweaver MX 2004 bible

Dreamweaver®

MX 2004 Bible

Joseph W. Lowery

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Dreamweaver®

MX 2004 Bible

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Dreamweaver®

MX 2004 Bible

Joseph W. Lowery

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LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST

EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS BOOK, THEY MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE

ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED

WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR

EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED

HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION. YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL WHERE

APPROPRIATE. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER

COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER

DAMAGES.

Dreamweaver® MX 2004 Bible

Published by

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

10475 Crosspoint Blvd.

Indianapolis, IN 46256

www.wiley.com

Copyright  2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

Library of Congress Control Number: 2003114747

ISBN: 0-7645-4350-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

1B/RT/QR/QU/IN

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108

of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization

through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA

01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal

Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447,

E-Mail: [email protected].

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer

Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993 or fax 317-572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in

electronic books.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John

Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written

permission. Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004, Dreamweaver MX 2004, Flash MX 2004, FreeHand MX, ColdFusion MX 6.1 for

Professionals, JRun Server v4, and Macromedia Contribute 2.0 copyright  1995-2003. Macromedia, Inc., 600 Townsend

Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 USA. All Rights Reserved. Macromedia, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Flash, FreeHand,

ColdFusion, JRun, and Contribute are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or

other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated

with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

is a trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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About the Author

Joseph Lowery has been writing about computers and new technology since 1981. He is the

author of the previous editions of Dreamweaver Bible and Fireworks Bible as well as of Buying

Online For Dummies (all published by Wiley). He is also the author of Joseph Lowery’s Beyond

Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver MX 2004 Killer Tips (with Angela Buraglia), and Dreamweaver MX

2004 Web Application Recipes (with Eric Ott), all published by New Riders. He recently co￾wrote a book on Flash with designer Hillman Curtis and has also written books on HTML and

using the Internet for business. His books are international bestsellers, having sold more than

350,000 copies worldwide in ten different languages. Joe is also a consultant and trainer and

has presented at Seybold in both Boston and San Francisco, Macromedia conferences

in the U.S. and Europe, and at ThunderLizard’s Web Design World. As a partner in Deva

Associates, Ltd., Joseph developed the Deva Tools for Dreamweaver set of navigational exten￾sions and, with Edoardo Zubler, created FlashBang!, a set of Flash navigation tools. Joseph

and his wife, dancer/choreographer Debra Wanner, have a daughter, Margot.

About the Contributor

Daniel Short never planned to be a Web designer; it just happened. When he was serving in

the Army, he began by tearing apart computers. Eventually he was putting together Web

sites. Dan is a devoted Macromedian (and Team Macromedia volunteer) and uses almost the

entire Macromedia Web Design Suite, including Fireworks and Macromedia Flash. He’s been

doing the Web gig since the end of 1998 and has had great luck building his Web design busi￾ness through Web Shorts Site Design. Dan helps maintain several HTML and Dreamweaver

reference sites including DreamweaverFAQ.com, for which he created the style changer and

all ASP functionality, including the Snippets Exchange. Dan has also written articles for sev￾eral resource sites, including AListApart.com, run by Jeffrey Zeldman, and Spider Food.net,

run by J.K. Bowman. Dan is a contributing author for Dreamweaver MX Magic (published by

New Riders).

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Credits

Executive Editor

Chris Webb

Senior Project Editor

Jodi Jensen

Technical Editors

Derren Whiteman

Charles Brown

Production Editor

Gabrielle Nabi

Copy Editor

Mary Lagu

Editorial Manager

Mary Beth Wakefield

Vice President and Executive Group

Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive

Publisher

Robert Ipsen

Vice President and Publisher

Joseph B. Wikert

Executive Editorial Director

Mary Bednarek

Project Coordinator

Ryan Steffen

Graphics and Production Specialists

Amanda Carter

Lauren Goddard

Joyce Haughey

Jennifer Heleine

Michael Kruzil

Kristin McMullan

Lynsey Osborn

Heather Ryan

Jacque Schneider

Quality Control Technicians

Carl William Pierce

Kathy Simpson

Brian H. Walls

Senior Permissions Editor

Carmen Krikorian

Media Development Specialist

Angela Denny

Proofreading and Indexing

TECHBOOKS Production Services

Cover Image

Murder By Design

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For my good friend and co-worker, Derren Whiteman,

in appreciation of the over-the-top support and technical expertise

he’s generously provided to me and the entire Dreamweaver

community throughout the years. Beauty, eh?

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Foreword

Each year, the Macromedia engineering team visits a number of customers to better under￾stand their workflow and the challenges they face. In other words, what does and doesn’t

work, and what could work better. Several trends were apparent from our last round of visits:

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) had hit the mainstream, and working designers and developers

had to be more productive in less time. Moreover, new Dreamweaver users were somewhat

overwhelmed with all the choices available in the program. After absorbing the feedback from

both long-time and beginning users, the engineers returned to the lab to develop the latest

version of the world’s leading Web-authoring tool: Dreamweaver MX 2004.

The capability to add and edit CSS styles has been a key feature in Dreamweaver since release

1.0. However, designers have begun to depend increasingly on CSS, and it was time to kick it

up a notch. You’ll find the CSS rendering in Dreamweaver MX 2004 to be vastly improved,

enabling Web developers to create pure CSS-based layouts. A new CSS related panel displays

selected styles and allows for direct in-line editing of any existing or newly applied attribute.

Once your CSS is applied, you can examine any tag and see instantly what style rules are

applied; Dreamweaver also indicates which rules remain relevant and which are overruled.

Better yet, Dreamweaver tells you why.

The concept of combining functionality with information is not a new one in Dreamweaver;

given the increasingly complex world of Web authoring, we feel it’s important that designers

be given as much contextual information as possible. You’ll see this philosophy carried

out in the new Browser Check system in Dreamweaver MX 2004, which automatically flags

any browser-specific conflicts when a page is opened. It’s up to the designer to choose which

browsers — and what versions — he or she is coding for. After an error is identified, you can

double-click the listing in the Results panel to go right to the problem, marked with a red

squiggly underline in Code view. Hover your mouse over the error, and Dreamweaver tells

you why the code is marked and offers a possible solution. Functionality + Information =

Increased Productivity.

We’ve also looked toward enhancing productivity in other ways. The new Start Page gives

users a quick way to launch projects or return to recent ones. For new users, it helps to jump￾start development with quick access to pre-built templates and tutorials. Our innovative

Expanded Table mode takes the guesswork out of cell selection and cursor placement whether

you’re working with simple or nested tables. The entire interface — from menus to Insert bar —

has been streamlined and re-organized for a more intuitive workflow. We’ve even added the

capability to make quick edits to existing sites directly on a remote server so that you don’t

have to set up a site locally. Dreamweaver MX 2004 strives to be technologically agnostic:

whether you’re building static Web sites or developing for any of the leading server models,

Dreamweaver allows you to work the way you prefer.

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x Foreword

Revising world-class software as multifaceted as Dreamweaver is truly a team effort — and

the team is larger than you’d expect. Although the highly skilled and dedicated engineering

staff is responsible for the final release, they couldn’t do it without the very active and vocal

Dreamweaver community urging them on. Included in that community are people like Joseph

Lowery, whose book you hold in your hands. Joe is a true Dreamweaver expert who knows —

and knows how to explain — Dreamweaver from top to bottom, <a> tag to z-index.

While each new version is a milestone for the Dreamweaver team, it’s only a stop along the

way. We’re always looking for ways to make Dreamweaver the best tool for you to bring your

visions into reality. We can’t wait to see what dreams you realize.

Jennifer Taylor

Dreamweaver Product Manager

Macromedia, Inc.

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Preface

Dreamweaver MX 2004 stands at the center of a complex series of overlapping worlds. In

one realm, designers of static Web pages are looking to expand their knowledge base into

data-driven sites. Over there, you’ll find application developers — some savvy in Active Server

Pages and ASP.NET, some in ColdFusion, and others in JavaServer Pages and PHP — anxious

to develop for the Internet. The spectrum of experience in both camps runs the gamut from

eager novice to experienced professional, all of whom benefit from the advanced style capa￾bilities of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). There’s yet another group of prospective Web crafts￾men and artists who want to do it all and are looking for a place to start. Dreamweaver MX

2004 is the one program robust enough for them all, and the Dreamweaver MX 2004 Bible is

your guidebook to all its features and capabilities.

What’s in a name? In the case of Macromedia’s Dreamweaver, you find one of the most appro￾priate product names around. Web page design is a blend of art and craft; whether you’re a

deadline-driven professional or a vision-filled amateur, Dreamweaver provides an intuitive

way to make your Web visions a reality. Dreamweaver implies development, and it excels at

producing multifaceted Web pages that bring content locked in a data store to the surface.

To use this book, you need only two items: the Dreamweaver software and a desire to make

cutting-edge Web pages. (Actually, you don’t even need Dreamweaver to begin; the CD-ROM

that accompanies this book contains a trial version.) From quick design prototyping to ongo￾ing Web site management, Dreamweaver automates and simplifies much of a Webmaster’s

workload. Dreamweaver is not only the first Web authoring tool to bring the ease of visual

editing to an HTML-code–oriented world, it also brings a point-and-click interface to complex

coding whether server-side or client-side. The Dreamweaver MX 2004 Bible is designed to

help you master every nuance of the program. Are you styling your pages with CSS? Are you

building multipage Web applications? Are you creating a straightforward layout with the visual

editor? Do you need to extend Dreamweaver’s capabilities by building your own custom

objects? With Dreamweaver and this book, you can weave your dreams into reality for the

entire world to experience.

What’s New in Dreamweaver MX

Since its inception, Dreamweaver has striven to serve two masters: professional Web devel￾opers, savvy in technique and used to hand-coding, and beginning designers looking to over￾come their lack of HTML and JavaScript expertise. Dreamweaver MX 2004 attempts to continue

the balancing act of satisfying the two different markets — and, in large part, it succeeds.

Innovations in Dreamweaver MX 2004 can be categorized into three areas: workspace and

productivity improvements, CSS capabilities, and Web-application building.

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xii Dreamweaver MX 2004 Bible

Workspace and productivity enhancements

From your very first launch of Dreamweaver MX 2004, you’ll notice the design environment

upgrade. The Start Page is not only attractive; it’s highly functional and offers one-click access

to many of Dreamweaver’s starting points. As you continue your tour, you’ll find Dreamweaver

more streamlined and accessible — from the restructured menus to the revamped Insert bar.

One of the changes to the Insert bar is the new Favorites category, where you can make

Dreamweaver even more productive by grouping the objects you use most frequently into

one convenient location.

Other workspace changes are not as immediately noticeable, but just as significant. Copy and

paste part of any Microsoft Word or Excel document, and Dreamweaver transparently trans￾forms the content into lean HTML. Transfer your page with the new Secure FTP (SFTP) proto￾col, and Dreamweaver automatically protects your vital information.

Some productivity enhancements are optional and available on demand. Dreamweaver’s

new Expanded mode takes the guesswork out of precise table manipulation by temporarily

expanding the cell padding and spacing while forcing the border to display; press F6 to toggle

in and out of this new design-time environment. Should your work stretch over multiple ses￾sions, Dreamweaver provides a new saved desktop option. With this option enabled, docu￾ments left open when you quit Dreamweaver are automatically re-opened the next time you

run the program.

Cutting-edge CSS capabilities

Perhaps the greatest feature in the new release of Dreamweaver is not a feature at all — it’s a

major shift in design focus. Because its creators recognized the ever-growing role played by

Cascading Style Sheets in Web design, Dreamweaver MX 2004 has been re-engineered to be

CSS-centric from top to bottom. If you’re just starting out using CSS, Dreamweaver helps you

make the right choices by creating styles rather than adding deprecated <font> tags when

you format your text from the Property inspector. Moreoever, Dreamweaver won’t create

unnecessary styles: If you’ve already got one style that applies Arial type in dark gray at

14 pixels, Dreamweaver uses that style rather than making a new one when you choose those

same attributes.

For the designer who is comfortable with CSS, Dreamweaver brings style-sheet editing right

up-front. Select any tag and the Relevant CSS panel displays all the applicable CSS rules — it

even shows you which ones are applied but overridden so that you can modify your styles as

needed. The Relevant CSS panel makes each exposed style attribute and value immediately

editable, whether the style is defined on the same page or in an external file.

All this stylistic prowess is immediately apparent during design time. The CSS rendering is

vastly improved in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and most CSS level 1 and level 2 features are faith￾fully reproduced. This enhanced rendering capability means you spend more time designing

and less time previewing your design — a major productivity boost.

Web application advancements

Numerous improvements have been applied to the various supported server models. PHP

developers can now take advantage of Dreamweaver’s Master Detail Page Set object to quickly

create the foundation for one of the Web’s most common applications. In addition, authenti￾cation server behaviors have now been added to the PHP server model, greatly simplifying

the task of protecting Intranet and other pages from unauthorized viewing. Developers in the

ASP.NET environment will appreciate the added support for various form controls.

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