Dreamweaver MX Bible

1226 Pages·2002·20.579 MB·English

by  Joseph W. Lowery

4931-6 cover 7/10/02 9:45 AM Page 1
If Dreamweaver MX can do it, you can do it too . . . 100% 100% “Joseph shows how to use the most significant release of Dreamweaver
since version 1 to solve real-world development problems.”
You’re holding in your hands the definitive guide to Dreamweaver MX — the only book you need to master
— David Deming, Product Manager for Dreamweaver, Macromedia
today’s leading Web development tool. Author Joseph Lowery has worked with the Dreamweaver team at
C O M P R E H E N S I V E
ONE HUNDRED PERCENT
Macromedia since the program’s first release, and he is intimately familiar with every Dreamweaver tool,
COMPREHENSIVE
DD
technique, and shortcut. From Dreamweaver basics to all the dramatic changes in MX — enhanced CSS AUTHORITATIVE
WHAT YOU NEED
capabilities, new template options, the new tag library structure, ASP.NET and PHP support, ColdFusion
integration, and Web services tools — he shows you step by step how to get the most out of Dreamweaver rr ONE HUNDRED PERCENT
and create sites that are truly state-of-the-art. ee
Master the radically
Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of Dreamweaver MX aa
new version of the
• Get up and running fast in the revamped Dreamweaver workspace mm leading Web site
• Ramp up your coding with built-in Snippets, Code Hints, and the advanced development
Tag Chooser
program
ww
• Build complex pages using enhanced CSS rendering capabilities and advanced
selector options Harness the power
ee
• Discover how to fine-tune dynamic Web pages using Live Data Preview of major new layout
• Harness new Dreamweaver behaviors for advanced navigation techniques using aa and code-editing
pop-up menus vv enhancements
• Seamlessly integrate rich client interfaces built in Flash with Fireworks graphics
Build data-driven sites with ee Create Web
and digital video
drag-and-drop ease through
• Increase team site-building productivity securely with nested templates, Library Dreamweaver MX’s enhanced rr applications and
page elements, and Sitespring integration user interface. ®® services using ASP,
MM
• Get the scoop on XML and XHTML support in Dreamweaver ASP.NET, JSP,
• Extend Dreamweaver with commands, custom tags, translators, and behaviors ColdFusion, or PHP
Create catalog
sites rapidly with XX DD
Bonus CD-ROM
DreamweaverMX
features such as rreeaammwweeaavveerr MMXX
Over 300 extensions— Macromedia Example style sheets
nested templates,
behaviors, objects, Dreamweaver MX, and Web pages from ®®
drop-down
commands, inspectors, Fireworks MX, and the book
floaters, and browser Flash MX trial menus, and LOWERY
profiles versions pop-up windows.
Bible
w w w . w i l e y . c o m / c o m p b o o k s /
System Requirements: $49.99 USA Reader Level: Shelving Category:
PC running Windows 98/2000/Me/XP, Windows $74.99 Canada Beginning to Advanced Web Development/Dreamweaver
NT 4 or later; Power Macintosh running System 8.6 £37.50 UK incl. VAT DreamweaverMX
or later. See “What's on the CD-ROM” appendix for trial and more BONUS
details and complete system requirements. ISBN 0-7645-4931-6 on CD-ROM CD-ROM
*85555-BAHHDb ,!7IA7G4-fejdbb!:p;o;t;T;T Hundreds of
Dreamweaver extensions
Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX,
and Fireworks MX trials Joseph W. Lowery
Plus plugins and more
Foreword by David Deming, Product Manager for Dreamweaver

014931-6 FM.F 7/18/02 6:54 AM Page i
Dreamweaver® MX Bible
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Dreamweaver® MX
Bible
Joseph W. Lowery
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Dreamweaver®MX Bible
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2002 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Library of Congress Control Number: 2002108095
ISBN: 0-7645-4931-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1B/QX/QY/QS/IN
Published simultaneously in Canada
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, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal
Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, [phone], fax [phone],
E-Mail: [email protected].
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.
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 [phone], outside the U.S. at [phone] or fax [phone].
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available
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Trademarks:Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wiley
Publishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Macromedia
Flash MX , FreeHand 10, JRun Server, and Macromedia Sitespring 1.2 copyright ©1995-2001. Macromedia, Inc., 600 Townsend
Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 USA. All Rights Reserved. Macromedia, Flash, FreeHand, JRun SiteSpring and Dreamweaver
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trade-
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mentioned in this book.
014931-6 FM.F 7/18/02 6:54 AM Page v
About the Author
Joseph Loweryhas been writing about computers and new technology since 1981. He is
the author of the previous editions of Dreamweaver Bibleand Fireworks Bibleas well as
Buying Online For Dummies(all published by Wiley). 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 300,000 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 UCON in the U.S. and Europe, and
at ThunderLizard’s Web World. As a partner in Deva Associates, Ltd., Joe developed the Deva
Tools for Dreamweaver set of navigational extensions. Joe and his wife, dancer/choreogra-
pher Debra Wanner, have a daughter, Margot.
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About the Contributors
Lisa Boesenspent eleven years as a systems programmer — working with, learning from, and
being inspired by some of the most impressive people in the computer industry. This back-
ground in computer science and her experience as both a software developer and an end user
perfectly suited her to step into the role of technical writer in 1993. As a specialist in online
documentation, Lisa has consulted with a wide variety of clients, designing, writing, and imple-
menting their online documentation in formats that include WinHelp, Adobe Acrobat, and
HTML. Most recently, Lisa has focused on developing training materials to teach others about
her favorite Web authoring tool, Dreamweaver.
Rick Scotthas worked as a technical writer, programmer, tester, layout artist, instructor,
multimedia developer, Web site designer, philologist, linguist, composer, performer, failed
screenwriter, (marginally) successful novelist, and devout neopagan herbalist. What draws
him to technical writing is the great and good joy of creating Order from Chaos.
Daniel Shortnever planned to be a Web designer, it just happened. He started out in the
Army tearing apart computers and eventually began 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 business
through Web Shorts Site Design. Dan helps maintain several HTML and Dreamweaver refer-
ence 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 several
resource sites, including AListApart.com, run by Jeffrey Zeldman, and Spider Food.net, run
byJ.K. Bowman. Dan is a contributing author for Dreamweaver MX Magic(published by
NewRiders).
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About the Technical Editors
Angela C. Buraglia spent six years as an independent film makeup artist before realizing that
she wanted a career that would allow her to start a family and stay home with her husband and
child. In an effort to give back to the Macromedia Dreamweaver newsgroup community that
helped and encouraged her in her new career, she founded DreamweaverFAQ. com. Although
she only intended to be a Web developer, life’s path has led her to become that and more. In
addition to her contribution to this book, Angela is also a contributing author for Dreamweaver
MX Magic(published by New Riders) and ColdFusion MX Web Application Construction Kit(pub-
lished by Macromedia Press). Currently, Angela is also a Team Macromedia volunteer for
Dreamweaver. Angela’s future plans are to continue developing DreamweaverFAQ.com, to build
and sell Dreamweaver extensions, to give presentations at conferences, and perhaps to become
involved in new book projects. Long gone are the days of applying makeup; now Angela applies
behaviors and CSS to Web sites and — most importantly — is home with her little boy.
Marc Garnerruns sixtyeight, a UK-based Web design and development company (www.
sixtyeight.co.uk). He has over 15 years experience in the creative design industry, with
the last 6 years devoted to Web design and application development. Marc has provided
organizations with Macintosh training in major graphics and Internet software packages. In
addition, he was the Macintosh technical editor for Dreamweaver MX Weekend Crash Course,
also published by Wiley. Away from the studio, Marc can be found painting with Aimee or
playing trains with Curtis.
Jon Parkhurst’sInternet quest began when he was handed MPI’s Web site in 1995. As he
delved further into the underbelly of the Net, he soon became lost with the endless lines
ofcode-crunching minions. In 1996, Jon began doing contract work under CDC Digital
(www.cdcdigital.com) and continued until 2000. Jon currently works as the head of the
E-Commerce Department at Unimark, Inc. (www.unimark.com) and contracts under
NetNucleus.org. During the workday, he can typically be found peppering the Macromedia
newsgroups as a volunteer Team Macromedia Member. During his off hours, he can be found
administering his main personal site, IdentityOutpost.com, or hiking through the foothills of
Missouri with his two kids.
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Credits
Acquisitions Editor Executive Editorial Director
Carol Sheehan Mary Bednarek
Senior Project Editor Project Coordinator
Jodi Jensen Erin Smith
Lead Technical Editor Graphics and Production Specialists
Angela Buraglia Beth Brooks
Sean Decker
Technical Editors Melanie DesJardins
Marc Garner Stephanie D. Jumper
Jon Parkhurst Heather Pope
Betty Schulte
Development Editors Jeremey Unger
Erik Dafforn
Susan Hobbs Quality Control Technician
Laura Albert
Copy Editors David Faust
Mary Lagu
Luann Rouff Permissions Editor
Carmen Krikorian
Editorial Manager
Mary Beth Wakefield Media Development Specialist
Angela Denny
Vice President and
Executive Group Publisher Proofreading and Indexing
Richard Swadley TECHBOOKS Production Services
Vice President and Cover Image
Executive Publisher Murder By Design
Bob Ipsen