Maintenance Release Special

On this page:

Last-minute fixes and the DocSwitcher
Expression Builder for PHP
Linkbot Toolbar Extension

Fixes

Shortly after Release Candidate 1 of the Maintenance release became available, a few bugs in my HTML Tag Definitions were reported. I fixed them, and while doing that found a few more which I also fixed (of course). I also made (on request) a few small enhancements to the IMG Tag Editor. All this was sunbmitted to Allaire but alas the code had already been frozen and these improvements didn't make it into the "Gold" maintenance Release. They were included in the code base, of course, and will appear in the next version. Meanwhile, I suppose you'd like to have the fixes available now.

The fixes comprise the following:

• COL and COLGROUP: fix for find() bug
• SELECT and MULTICOL: fix for superfluous VertSpacingGap (the Allaire release notes list a fix for SELECT but this fix is incomplete and doesn't cover MULTICOL)
• TEXTAREA: fix for almost invisible scroll bar on Contents tab (the Allaire release notes list a fix for this but the layout isn't consistent with other Tag Editors)
• IMG: implemented two suggestions:
  1. Option to write ALT attribute even when empty
  2. Option to copy ID attribute (HTML 4.0) to NAME attribute (Netscape-specific)
• VTML_Tag_Definitions.html (in Help\Tag_Definitions): fixed version dates
• MarkUpTags.vtm (Tag Chooser): somehow, the visible difference between directly entered tags and tags for which a Tag Editor will be called, got lost for some groups of Tag Editors (in Allaire's version of this file - not in mine); this version restores this visibility in the Tag Chooser user interface. It also adds entries for CFX_CYBERCASH and CFX_ICV for which there are Tag Editors but which were missing in the Tag Chooser. And the coding of the file is fully XML-compliant again.
• When using the Frames Wizard, an extra space could be entered in some cases - this was fixed (Frames_HandleFrameset.wml).
• HomeSite now has a new tool (previously already available for ColdFusion Studio): the Expression Builder. The documentation files Cat.html and E.html in Extensions\Docs\VTMLTags now reflect this. Read more about Expression Builder in the next section: Expression Builder for PHP.

Tag Editor Toolbar

A new toolbar is included which gives easy access to the VTML versions of A, BODY and IMG. You can use these for inserting a tag only - but at least you have a choice between the built-in versions and the VTML versions.

DocSwitcher

All HTML Tag Editors now included with HomeSite and ColdFusion Studio now link to Stephen LeHunte's HTML reference (included with these programs). However, I much prefer Brian Wilson's Index DOT Html and I know many other people do as well. The Tag Editors have a facility to make it easy to switch to Index DOT Html (and back again) as a help source: each has two TAGDESCRIPTION tags, one referring to LeHunte's reference, one to Index DOT Html - with the latter "commented out". Included in this package is DocSwitcher, a small program that uncomments one, and comments the other, for all HTML tag editors. The Tag Editors toolbar contains a button that runs DocSwitcher. Clear the cache (Shift+Alt+Ctrl+C) after running DocSwitcher so the new versions of the Tag Editors will become available! The DocSwitcher program is installed in the same directory as the HTML Tag Definitions; it will work only on .vtm files in its own directory.

Installation

All fixes, the Tag Editor toolbar and DocSwitcher are included in a single, easy to install package. The install consists of two programs: The backup utility (setup.exe) will automatically find the installation directory of HomeSite or ColdFusion Studio from the Registry, create a unique backup directory below the program directory and make a backup of all files that can be overwritten, in a directory structure that mirrors the original one. Once the backup utility finishes, it will automatically start the installation program (setup1.exe); this installs the new files, each in their proper directory.

If you use , simply open the archive and choose the Install... menu item or the Install button and the rest will be fully automatic. Otherwise, unpack the archive in a temporary directory and run setup.exe.

There are two separate installs, one for each program:

HomeSite

MR_fixes_hs401.zip - 1.40 MB (1999-04-28)

ColdFusion Studio

MR_fixes_cfs401.zip - 1.40 MB (1999-04-28)

If you use both programs, just get both installation files.

Turn HomeSite or ColdFusion Studio into an intelligent PHP editor!

Expression Builder has been a part of ColdFusion Studio since version 3. This built-in function uses a source file, ExpressionElements.vtm, for its content.

Curiously, HomeSite 3 was distributed with this same source file, but the Expression Builder tool was never there - until now: the maintenance release 4.01.

The source file ExpressionElements.vtm that is distributed with both applications is geared to constructing CFML. But since it's a simple VTML file, I soon realized it would be possible to construct such files for other languages. Many HomeSite users use PHP as a server-side programming language - including me.

Here you find an Expression Elements file that supports PHP: Essentially, this turns HomeSite or ColdFusion Studio into an "intelligent" PHP editor. It's complete (as far as I can tell) for version 3.07. Descriptions are largely based on the on-line documentation for PHP. Since PHP (and its documentation) is covered by the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, so is this file. A copy of the GPL is installed along with the PHP Expression Elements file.

The installation program will create a Backup directory below the Extensions directory and copy the original ExpressionElements.vtm file there, renaming it to ExpressionElements.vtm_orig. (Since ColdFusion Studio users have had the Expression Builder available since version 3, I cannot make any assumptions about what it currently contains - so I avoided name like CFML_ExpressionElements.vtm; rename the backup file to anything you like). The new file will also be placed in this backup directory with the name PHP_ExpressionElements.vtm: that way you'll be able to switch files fairly easily. Finally, the original ExpressionElements.vtm file in Extensions will be replaced by the one that supports PHP. After clearing the cache (Shift+Ctrl+Alt+C) or restarting the program, you can start using it. You may see a small delay when it's activated the first time: it first needs to be loaded into the cache; after that, it's simply fast.

You may want to combine the original file with this file: simply load this file into the editor (or any text editor), and copy the original file after that (or the other way round) and save as ExpressionElements.vtm file in the Extensions directory.

Installation

New version 1.5. There are two installation files by now; one searches for the installation path of HomeSite, the other for ColdFusion Studio. The installation path can be changed though: if you have both HomeSite and Studio, you'll need only a single installation file; the archive's file name indicates which installation will be searched for by default. All ColdFusion Studio users can use this; HomeSite users will need the maintenance release (4.01).
This version 1.5 also supports Function Insight, available as of HomeSite 4.5 alpha 2 and Studio 4.5 beta 1.

PHP_eb15_hs45.zip - 619 KB (1999-09-01)

PHP_eb15_cfs45.zip - 619 KB (1999-09-01)

Linkbot integration

If you use Watchfire's Linkbot for your links checking, the maintenance release now provides some integration with this program (you'll need Linkbot 4.0c for this integration to work - available from the Tetranet site). HomeSite and ColdFusion Studio have acquired an extra toolbar (not activated on installation) from where you can run Linkbot. You can activate the program by right-clicking on the Quickbar and selecting Linkbot.

If you're a seasoned Linkbot user, you may be disappointed, though. There are two tool buttons. One runs Linkbot on the current page (only), the other runs Linkbot on the current project. I cannot imagine running Linkbot on a single page - its power is to analyze a whole site blindingly fast. And I don't use projects since with version 4.0 of HS/CFS they're no longer logical collections of documents used for a site. So neither of those two buttons are really useful. That's the bad news.

The good news is that with version 4.0c Linkbot doesn't only have hooks for integration with other programs, it also has a command-line interface. This enables a different kind of integration with HomeSite and ColdFusion Studio: you can run the program with the current page as starting page and still have it analyze the whole site. All you need is a toolbar button that launches Linkbot with the current file as a command-line parameter.

Installation

There is a single installation file; you can choose whether to install for HomeSite, ColdFusion Studio, or both. Obviously, you'll need the maintenance release of (one of) these programs installed, as well as Linkbot 4.0c or higher.

Linkbot_tbx_401.zip - 430 KB (1999-05-03)

The installation adds another button to your Linkbot toolbar - it will automatically find the location of the Linkbot program in the Registry.