Linking to External Text Editors

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So, you like working with code, and you like Dreamweaver, but you prefer your favorite text editor to the Dreamweaver Code view. You can set up a link between Dreamweaver and your external text editor and have the best of both worlds . For both Windows and Macintosh, you have the choice of standard integration with any text editor you choose, or the special options of an integrated HTML editor (HomeSite+ for Windows, or BBEdit for Mac).

Setting Up an External Text Editor (Nonintegrated)

The procedure for linking to and working with an external text editor other than HomeSite or BBEdit is simple and is basically the same across platforms.

To set up integration with an external editor, follow these steps:

1. In the Preferences dialog box, access the File Types/Editors category, as shown in Figure 27.20.
   
   

   Figure 27.20. The File Types/Editors dialog box, showing options for enabling an external text editor.

   

   
   
2. (Mac only) Find and deselect the Enable BBEdit Integration option.
   
   
3. Find the External Code Editor input field. Browse to select the text editor of your choice.
   
   The Reload Modified Files option determines what happens when you have edited a document in an external editor and then return to Dreamweaver. For more seamless integration, choose Always Reload; the changes are incorporated automatically. For more control over possible discrepancies that might occur between programs, choose Prompt; Dreamweaver warns you that changes have been made.
   
   The Save on Launch option determines whether Dreamweaver saves a document before launching an external text editor. Again, for more seamless integration, choose Always. If you want to be given the chance to review document changes before saving, choose Prompt.
   
   

Your chosen editor appears on the Edit menu as part of the Edit with application menu command (see Figure 27.21). Choose this option to open your current document in the new editor.

Figure 27.21. The Edit menu ready for integration with the TextPad text editor.

Text Editors Beyond HomeSite and BBEdit

Many people already have a favorite text editor. No matter what your platform, if you're in the market for a newer , better, more intuitive editor, you have all sorts of choices, from freeware to commercial.

For Windows, popular shareware/freeware text editors include UltraText, TextPad, CuteHTML, and good old NotePad.

For Macintosh, BBEdit's little brother, TextWrangler, is still commercial but less expensive. And TextEdit comes free with OS X.

Integrating HomeSite+ and Dreamweaver (Windows)

Macromedia's popular HomeSite+ text editor, which ships with Dreamweaver MX 2004/Windows, integrates easily and tightly with Dreamweaver.

To set up HomeSite integration in Dreamweaver, follow the steps outlined earlier for linking to an external editor.

You also can set up Dreamweaver integration in HomeSite. By default, HomeSite should have integration enabled. In HomeSite, go to Options > Settings, and choose the Dreamweaver category to check this and to configure how HomeSite treats modified files' other options.

To edit a Dreamweaver document in HomeSite, open a document in Dreamweaver, and go to Edit > Edit with HomeSite. That program launches, if it's not already running, and your document opens for editing.

To edit a HomeSite document in Dreamweaver, open a document in HomeSite. On the Editing toolbar, click the Dreamweaver icon.

If you have enabled both programs to automatically reload modified files and save before launching, and if you have a large monitor or dualmonitor setup at your workstation, you can leave the same document open in both programs and work back and forth fairly seamlessly, almost like working with the Code Inspector.

Integrating BBEdit and Dreamweaver (Macintosh)

Dreamweaver/Mac includes tight integration with BBEdit, unlike anything available for any other editor on either platform. If both of these applications are present on your system, integration between the two is automatically enabled; no setup is necessary.

To edit a Dreamweaver document in BBEdit, open a document in Dreamweaver, and select Edit > Edit with BBEdit. That program launches, if it's not already running, and comes to the front. Your document opens for editing.

To edit a BBEdit document in Dreamweaver, open a document in BBEdit, and select Markup > Misc > Dreamweaver.

Any code you have selected in Dreamweaver is selected in BBEdit, and vice versa. Any changes made on a document in one program are immediately visible in the other, as soon as that program is activated. If you have a large monitor or dual-monitor setup at your workstation, you can leave the same document open in both programs and work back and forth seamlessly, almost like working with the Code Inspector.

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