Many Dreamweaver CS3 features are extensions developed in JavaScript and HTML.
The Configuration folders contain these extensions. If you customize or extend
the Dreamweaver product, you modify these files or add your code source files
to one or more of these folders. By familiarizing yourself with these folders,
you can discover the interface for extensions as well as working examples of
each extension type.
Some folder names are obvious. For example, Objects are kept in the Objects
folder; Behaviors are kept in the Behaviors folder. One folder that does
not correspond to a particular extension type is the Shared folder. The Shared
folder is the central repository for utility functions, classes, and images
that are commonly used by all extensions.
Each subsequent installation of Dreamweaver CS3 produces another version of
the Configuration directory. Dreamweaver appends each old Configuration folder
with a version number (for example "Configuration-1", "Configuration-2",
etc.) where the higher the number, the older the folder. The most recent version
of the Configuration folder is always called, simply, "Configuration".
The following Configuration files and folders correspond to how Dreamweaver CS3 features are organized:
File/folder name |
Contents |
ActiveXNames.txt |
A list of ActiveX class IDs; used to populate the ClassID
pop-up menu in the ActiveX inspector. |
fields.css |
A style sheet for the dialogs and property inspectors in the Configuration folder.
It mostly defines sizes for form elements to aid in localization (when menus that show connection or recordset names need to be 30% larger for German, for example, it's easy to change them all by increasing one or two values in fields.css). For this reason, be careful about adjusting any values yourself: any changes are likely to affect many dialogs and property inspectors. |
Extensions.txt |
A list of file extensions recognized by Dreamweaver.
If you add an extension to this file, double-clicking a file with that
extension in the Site panel opens it in Dreamweaver.
Extensions.txt also determines what file types are shown in the File
> Open dialog box. To show files of a particular type in that dialog
box by default, add the appropriate extension to the first line of Extensions.txt.
For more information, see Extending Dreamweaver. |
FTPExtensionMap.txt |
A list of file extensions and the transfer modes associated
with them.
This file determines how files are uploaded and downloaded by Dreamweaver:
in ASCII mode or Binary mode. You can add items to this list or change
the mode of existing items. On the Macintosh, this file is also used to
set the file type and creator of files that are downloaded from a non-Macintosh
server. |
version.xml |
The version.xml file contains information about your Dreamweaver
installation. Do not edit or delete this file. |
Behaviors |
Files used by the Behavior inspector. |
|
Actions |
Items that appear in the Actions (+) pop-up menu in the Behavior inspector.
Each action is separated into two files (one .js file and one .htm file)
for localization purposes. The HTML file contains the interface for the
behavior: the text and form fields that appear in a dialog box when you
select the action from the Actions pop-up menu. The JavaScript file contains
the JavaScript code that inserts the behavior into your document. Do not
make changes to this file unless you are proficient in JavaScript and
familiar with the Behavior API as documented in Extending Dreamweaver. |
|
Events |
Items that appear in the Show Events For submenu at the bottom of the
Actions menu.
Each file is named for the browser or W3C spec it represents, and it
contains a list of HTML elements and the events that are supported for
each element. If the name of the file encompasses more than one browser (for example, "4.0 and Later Browsers"), the events listed are those supported by all of the browsers in the name. That is, the events listed represent the intersection of support among the browsers.
For each element, one event is marked with an asterisk (for example,
onClick="*" ). This is the default event for the
element. Unless otherwise specified in an action file, this event appears
in the Events column of the Behavior inspector when you apply a behavior
to the element. |
BrowserProfiles |
Files used by the Browser Compatibility Check feature.
Each file in this folder is named for the browser it represents. The HTML file contains the official name of the browser; this should not be changed, as the files in the Issues folder depend on it. The XML file contains information about the CSS properties and values that are and are not supported
by that browser. For more information about browser profiles, see Extending Dreamweaver. |
|
Issues |
Files that define and search the user's document for browser rendering issues. The files in this folder are executed when the user runs a Browser Compatibility Check.
Each Issue is separated into two files (one .js file and one .htm file)
for localization purposes. The HTML file contains the localizable strings that will be presented to the user in the Browser Compatibility Check panel, should the issue be detected. (Issues have no user interface in and of themselves, so the body of the Issue HTML file is empty.) The JavaScript file contains
the JavaScript code that defines the browsers for which the issue is relevant, that returns the strings from the HTML file, and that detects the presence of the issue in the user's document. Do not
make changes to this file unless you are proficient in JavaScript and
familiar with the Issues API as documented in Extending Dreamweaver. |
BuiltIn |
Templates for creating a variety
of documents, including different page layouts. |
Classes |
Files used to read JavaBeans
as data sources. |
CodeColoring |
XML files that contain the color
assignments for the Code View of a document. The CodeColoring directory
also has specific files that correspond to the supported scripting languages
(Javascript, VBScript, C#, and Visual Basic) where colors are assigned
to code blocks and keywords. |
CodeHints |
XML files that contain the associations
and content for providing code hints while editing in Code view. (Note that many of the tags and attributes that are available as Code Hints come from tag libraries; see the Tag Libraries folder below.) |
Commands |
Items that appear in the Commands
menu (and other menus within Dreamweaver).
Many of the commands in this folder are separated into two files (one
.js file and one .htm file) for localization purposes. The HTML file contains
the interface—the text and form fields that appear in
a dialog box when you select the command from the menu—for the command, if there is one, and it may also contain localizable strings and references to external JavaScript files (including the .js file of the same name). The JavaScript file
contains the JavaScript code that makes the command work; do not make
changes to this file unless you are proficient in JavaScript.
You may notice that some of the items in the Commands folder have the
same names as some of the items in the Objects folder. This is because
some objects launch commands. Commands are more flexible than objects,
but only objects can appear in the Insert panel. By calling a command
from an object file, Dreamweaver can get the best of both kinds of extensions. |
Components |
The Components directory has
a subfolder for each supported server model (ASP.Net/C#, ASP.Net/VisualBasic,
ASP/JavaScript, ASP/VBScript, ColdFusion, JSP, and PHP/MySQL). The files
in these directories establish the menu items for managing connections
to servers. The ColdFusion subfolder also contains supporting files
for defining ColdFusion Datasources, Components (CFCs), and Web Services. |
Connections |
The files in this directory determine what appears in
the plus (+) pop-up menu of the database panel. This directory also includes
the scripts (stored in the Scripts subfolder) used to retrieve data
from the server. For more information about data connections, see "The
Database API" in Extending Dreamweaver. |
Content |
The Content folder contains dictionary files for the Check Spelling feature, as well as all of the files used by the Reference panel. |
Data Sources |
The files used by the Dynamic Data dialog box and the Bindings panel.
The dynamic data objects shown in the plus (+) pop-up menu of these user
interfaces depend on the server model specified for the site. For more
information about editing Data Sources files, see "The Data Sources
API" in Extending Dreamweaver. |
Debugger |
Supporting files for the JavaScript
Debugger module. |
DocumentTypes |
Basic templates for each supported
document type. |
Encodings |
Additional character encodings
for Dreamweaver; used to populate the Document Encoding pop-up menu in
the Page Properties dialog box.
Dreamweaver supports several encodings by default, including UTF-8 (Unicode), Western
(Latin1), Japanese (Shift JIS, JIS, EUC), Traditional Chinese, Simplified
Chinese, and Korean. These encodings always appear in the Document Encoding
pop-up menu and cannot be removed. Support for additional languages and
character sets (including Cyrillic, Greek, and Icelandic) is provided
by the files in this folder. |
ExtensionData |
Note: The
files in this directory are only included for backwards compatibility,
and are not used in the current method for working with extensions.
XML metadata: Group and Participant data for extensions, including server
behaviors. |
|
MM |
XML Group and Participant extension data files.
|
Flash Objects |
Flash templates (.swt files) for creating
Flash Button and Flash Text objects. |
|
Flash Buttons |
Flash Button template files. |
|
Flash Buttons Preview |
SWF previews of Flash Button templates. |
|
Flash Text |
Flash Text template file. |
Flash Player |
SWFs for the welcome message
and other interactive information. |
Floaters |
Custom floating panels.
If you create or download a custom floating panel, it should be stored
in this folder. |
Formatters |
Scripts for applying various display
formats, such as different Date/Time display formats or setting text to
all uppercase or all lowercase. |
Generator |
Files required for using Flash
Objects inside Dreamweaver. |
Inspectors |
Custom property inspectors.
Most of the property inspectors in Dreamweaver are built into the core code of the
product, but some—such as the inspectors for the META , TITLE , and LINK tags—are written in HTML and JavaScript. The property inspectors in this folder
are separated into two files (one .js file and one .htm file) for localization
purposes. The HTML file contains the interface for the inspector: the
text and form fields that appear in the Property inspector floating panel.
The JavaScript file contains the JavaScript code that makes the inspector
work; do not make changes to this file unless you are proficient in JavaScript
and familiar with the Property inspector API as documented in Extending
Dreamweaver. |
JDBCDrivers |
An directory for storing
client-side JDBC drivers for use in Dreamweaver to make local connections
for JSP files. |
JSExtensions |
Custom shared libraries.
The custom shared libraries in this folder make Dreamweaver's extensions
more powerful and flexible by adding new JavaScript functions. Because
some of the files in the Translators and Commands files depend on these
shared libraries, they should not be removed. To add your own shared libraries
to Dreamweaver, see the section on C-level extensibility in Extending
Dreamweaver. |
Menus |
The file that defines the entire
menu structure for Dreamweaver (menus.xml), and a backup copy of that
file (menus.bak) to allow you to restore default menus.
The menus.xml file specifies the names and behavior of all menus and
menu items in Dreamweaver (with a few notable exceptions; see Behaviors above and ServerBehaviors below, for example, for information on how the (+) menus in the Behaviors and Server Behaviors panels, respectively, are populated). It also specifies all of the keyboard shortcuts
and mnemonics used by Dreamweaver. For information about menu commands and menus.xml, see "Menus and Menu Commands" in
Extending Dreamweaver. |
|
Custom Sets |
Customizations of the menu.xml file that provide keyboard shortcuts
similar to other products. |
|
MM |
Files (called menu commands) that control the behavior of many of
the menu items in Dreamweaver.
This folder is reserved for the menu commands that ship with Dreamweaver. To add your own menu commands, save them in another subfolder of the Menus folder. |
Objects |
Items that appear in the Insert
menu and Insert bar.
To appear in the Insert bar and Insert menu, all Object files must be
stored in a subfolder of the Objects folder and be listed in the insertbar.xml and menus.xml files. For more information about
modifying these files, see "Insert Bar Objects" in Extending
Dreamweaver. |
Plugins (Windows)
plug-ins (Macintosh) |
Any plug-ins that can be used to play active content (such as Flash and Shockwave movies) in Dreamweaver, as well as a list of plug-ins that Dreamweaver
does not support (UnsupportedPlugins.txt).
Dreamweaver automatically scans the plug-ins folders of any browsers on
your hard drive for a suitable plugin when you opt to play plugin content,
so storing plug-ins in this folder is not strictly necessary. |
Queries |
Search patterns that you save
in the Find or Replace dialog box. By default, this folder is empty. |
Reports |
Files associated with the Site Reports feature.
The folders inside Reports contain the Site Reports that ship with Dreamweaver; you can create additional reports and save them in one of the existing folders or create a new subfolder. For more information about Reports, see The Reports API in Extending Dreamweaver. |
|
HTML Reports |
Report files for analyzing your HTML (such as finding images with missing alt attributes, removing empty tags, or finding untitled documents). |
|
Workflow |
Report files for assisting with site maintenance tasks (such as finding all the files checked out by a specific user or finding recently modified documents). |
Server Behaviors |
The files used by the Server Behaviors inspector. Each
server model (ASP.Net/C#, ASP.Net/VisualBasic, ASP/JavaScript, ASP/VBScript,
ColdFusion, JSP, and PHP/MySQL) has a corresponding subfolder. The ServerBehaviors.xml file in each subfolder determines
what appears in the plus (+) menu of the Server Behaviors panel.
Server behaviors create the functionality that Web applications need,
such as filtering records based on user criteria, paging through records,
linking result lists to details pages, and inserting records into a result
set. For more information about editing Server Behaviors files, see "Server
Behaviors" in Extending Dreamweaver. |
ServerDebugOutput |
Supporting files for ColdFusion
debugging. |
Server
Formats |
The files used to format dynamic data. Each server
format (ASP.Net/C#, ASP.Net/VisualBasic, ASP/JavaScript, ASP/VBScript,
ColdFusion, JSP, and PHP/MySQL) has a corresponding subfolder. The Formats.xml file in each subfolder determines what appears in the Formats menu; it can be (carefully) hand edited if you would like to add additional formats.
For more information about editing Server Formats files, see "Data
Formatting" in Extending Dreamweaver. |
Server Models |
The files that define available server models. Each server
model (ASP.Net/C#, ASP.Net/VisualBasic, ASP/JavaScript, ASP/VBScript,
ColdFusion, JSP, and PHP/MySQL) has an HTML file containing configuration
information, and a corresponding subfolder to store specific implementations
of certain functions for each server model.
For more information about editing Server Model files, see "Server
Models" in Extending Dreamweaver. |
Shared |
Files to be shared by multiple extensions. (Any extension can reference the files in these directories.)
Many third-party extensions—and many Dreamweaver features—depend on the functions defined in Shared files, so the files in this folder should never be overwritten, and existing functions in the files should not be modified.
To add
your own shared files, create a separate folder inside the Shared directory
and store your files there. |
|
Common |
Shared scripts and classes for use in extensions throughout the Configuration folder. |
|
Controls |
Common user interface controls for use mainly in Server Behaviors. |
|
Fireworks |
Supporting files for Fireworks integration. |
|
MM |
Shared scripts, images, and classes used by the extensions that
ship with Dreamweaver. Third-party extensions may use these files as well, but often more up-to-date functionality can be found in the files in the Common folder. |
|
UltraDev |
Shared scripts, images, and classes used by server-related extensions that
ship with Dreamweaver. Third-party extensions may use these files as well, but often more up-to-date functionality can be found in the files in the Common folder.
|
|
UsableNet_508ASOEM |
Supporting files for Accessibility reports (see Reports, above). |
Shutdown |
Commands that should execute when Dreamweaver shuts down. Often used by extensions to clean up temporary files they have created. |
Snippets |
Supporting files and default
contents for the Snippets panel. |
Startup |
Scripts that run when Dreamweaver
starts up.
For more information on creating startup scripts, see "The Document
Object Model" in Extending Dreamweaver. |
Strings |
The Strings directory contains
XML files that specify the content to populate various message and dialog
boxes. |
TagLibIntrospection |
Supporting files for the tag library
tag importers (the tag importers are in the TagLibraries/TagImporters directory). |
TagLibraries |
Contains the tag database (TagLibraries.vtm)
and tag definition files for the markup and scripting languages supported
by Dreamweaver. These folders also contain the files for the
dialog interface that appears to the user within Dreamweaver for editing
tags. For more information, see "Tag Libraries and Dialogs" in
Extending Dreamweaver. |
Third Party Source
Code |
Files from sources outside Macromedia
that provide functionality to Dreamweaver. For example, this folder contains
the JavaScript interpreter that Dreamweaver uses. |
ThirdPartyTags |
Files that define the syntax
and tag names of third-party markup (such as ASP, PHP, and custom HTML).
Third-party tag definition files are XML files. Each XML file contains
one or more tagspecs, and each tagspec may have an associated GIF file
that defines the icon for the markup. For more information about third-party
tags and tagspecs, see Extending Dreamweaver. |
Toolbars |
Defines the toolbars available
and the icons and commands on each toolbar. |
Translators |
Supporting data translation files.
Data translators translate specialized markup server-side includes, conditional
JavaScript statements, or other code such as PHP3,JSP,CFML,or ASP into code
that Dreamweaver can read and display. |
Validators |
Supporting scripts for adding text
field entry validation to forms. |
WebServices |
Supporting files for specific
Web Service connections. |