Any way you look at it, Dreamweaver is a big application. Yet, even the biggest web-authoring tool has its limitations ”and rightfully so. You wouldn't expect your coding environment to also create your graphics or rich media; dedicated applications such as Fireworks or Flash are far better suited for such specialized tasks . However, Dreamweaver's architecture extends the boundary of the program's functionality to embrace the power of other software within the Macromedia product line. In this chapter, we'll look at techniques I used to build cross-application extensions with Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Flash. The Dreamweaver-Fireworks connection is a little older and more developed than the one between Dreamweaver and Flash; numerous extensions that utilize the Fireworks graphics engine from within Dreamweaver are widely available. We'll examine how that communication is handled and demonstrate with a sample application I built ”Thumbnail Builder. The boundary between Dreamweaver and Flash is somewhat in flux, but enough stability exists to permit specialized extensions. Dreamweaver 4 introduced the Flash Objects architecture, along with its first manifestations ” Flash Buttons and Flash Text. Flash Objects rely on Generator templates for their basic functionality. Currently, Generator templates must be authored in Flash 5 because Generator is no longer available in Flash MX. Macromedia has hinted at the development of a technology aimed to replace Generator, but nothing has been officially announced as of this writing. Luckily, the underlying power of Flash Objects is quite extensive and worthy of the in-depth exploration you'll find later in this chapter. |