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To create a new type of connection, including the dialog box with which users interact, you must implement the following three functions: findConnection(), inspectConnection(), and applyConnection(). You write these three functions and include them in the JavaScript implementation file that is associated with your new connection type (see Step 2 "Create a JavaScript file that implements at least the following elements:" on page 606). The applyConnection() function returns an HTML source within an include file. You can see examples of the HTML source in "The generated include file" on page 611. The findConnection() function takes the HTML source and extracts its properties. You can implement findConnection() to use the search patterns in XML files to extract the information that returns from applyConnection(). For an example of such an implementation, see the following two JavaScript files:
When the user opens a site, Dreamweaver goes through each file in the Connections folder, opens it, and passes the contents to findConnection(). If the contents of a file match the criteria for a valid connection, findConnection() returns a connection object. Dreamweaver then lists all the connection objects in the Database Explorer panel. When the user opens a connection dialog box and selects to create a new connection or duplicate or edit an existing connection, Dreamweaver calls the inspectConnection() function and passes back the same connection object that findConnection() created. This process lets Dreamweaver populate the dialog box with the connection information. When the user clicks OK in a connection dialog box, Dreamweaver calls the applyConnection() function to build the HTML, which is placed in the connection include file that is located in the Configuration/Connections folder. The applyConnection() function returns an empty string that indicates there is an error in one of the fields and the dialog box should not be closed. The include file has the default file extension type for the current server model. When the user adds to the page a server behavior that uses the connection, such as a recordset or a stored procedure, Dreamweaver adds a statement to the page that includes the connection include file. findConnection()Availability Dreamweaver UltraDev 4. Description Dreamweaver calls this function to detect a connection in the specified HTML source and to parse the connection parameters. If the contents of this source file match the criteria for a valid connection, findConnection() returns a connection object; otherwise, this function returns a null value. Argument htmlSource The htmlSource argument is the HTML source for a connection. Returns A connection object that provides values for a particular combination of the properties that are listed in the following table. The properties for which this function returns a value depend on the document type.
If a connection is not found in htmlSource, a null value returns. NOTE Developers can add custom properties (for example, metadata) to the HTML source, which applyConnection() returns along with the standard properties. inspectConnection()Availability Dreamweaver UltraDev 4. Description Dreamweaver calls this function to initialize the dialog box data for defining a connection when the user edits an existing connection. This process lets Dreamweaver populate the dialog box with the appropriate connection information. Argument parameters The parameters argument is the same object that the findConnection() function returns. Returns Nothing. applyConnection()Availability Dreamweaver UltraDev 4. Description Dreamweaver calls this function when the user clicks OK in the connection dialog box. The applyConnection() function generates the HTML source for a connection. Dreamweaver writes the HTML to the Configuration/Connections/connection-name.ext include file, where connection-name is the name of your connection (see "Create the layout for the connection dialog box." on page 605), and .ext is the default extension that is associated with the server model. Arguments None. Returns The HTML source for a connection. Dreamweaver also closes the connection dialog box. If a field validation error occurs, applyConnection() displays an error message and returns an empty string to indicate that the dialog box should remain open. |
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