TechNote (Archived)

Setting the external code editor within Dreamweaver

External code editors
Dreamweaver features the ability to launch an external text editor to hand-code your HTML. You can use any text editor for this feature in Dreamweaver, includingMacromedia's HomeSite,Bare Bones Software's BBEdit,Notepad (bundled with Windows), and SimpleText (bundled with Macintosh).

HomeSite, in particular, is a general purpose text editor which supports the creation of HTML and code pages.BBEdit, for Macintosh, performs as a text editor with special features for HTML and code editors. For purposes of illustration, the steps below will focus on using HomeSite and BBEdit as the external code editors for Dreamweaver. You can use the same steps to establish other text editors as Dreamweaver's external code editor. Below you'll find instructions for:

	Setting Homesite as the external code editor in Windows.
	Setting BBEdit as the external code editor on the Macintosh.
	Launching the external code editor.

Setting HomeSite as the external code editor in Windows

1	Choose Edit > Preferences.
2	Under Category in the Preferences dialog box, select the Files Types/Editors. See Example 1 to view the Preferences dialog box with Files Types/Editors selected.
3	On the right side of the Preferences dialog box, click Browse to set the External Code Editor.
4	In the Select External Editor dialog box, navigate to the HomeSite executable file on your hard drive and select it. Example 2 shows this dialog box with HomeSite selected.
5	Click Open.
6	You can now make several choices about how to coordinate modifications between Dreamweaver and Homesite in the Reload Modified Files pop-up menu on the Preferences dialog box (seeExample 1). These choices are: Always This setting will always reload the updated document without prompting. Never This option will never reload updated documents in Dreamweaver that have been modified in HomeSite. Prompt This option means that you will be prompted by a message window to reload the document when you switch back to Dreamweaver after making changes to the document within HomeSite. Example 3 features the message window that appears if you made a change to the document in Homesite and then switched the focus back to Dreamweaver. Example 4 shows the message window that appears if you made a change to the document while the focus was in Dreamweaver and then switched to Homesite.
	Next, determine whether a Dreamweaver document should be saved when the external code editor is launched. The choices are listed in the Save on Launch pop-up menu. Again, you have three choices about whether Dreamweaver should save the document before launching the external code editor: Always Dreamweaver will always save the document before launching the external editor. Never Dreamweaver will never save the document before launching the external editor. Prompt Dreamweaver will ask to save the document before launching the external editor.

Setting BBEdit as the external text editor on the Macintosh
When BBEdit integration is turned on, once you have a document open in Dreamweaver, switching from one application to the other automatically updates the documents with the latest changes. In addition, both programs track the current selection; for example, you can make a selection in Dreamweaver and then switch to BBEdit, where the same element will be selected.

	BBEdit Integration 1 Choose Edit > Preferences. 2 In the Preferences dialog box, select the Enable BBEdit Integration option. Example 5 displays this option on the Macintosh Preferences dialog box. 3 Click OK.
	Using BBEdit without Integration. Follow the same steps outlined above for setting HomeSite as the external code editor in Windows.

Launching the external code editor
Once HomeSite has been set as the external editor, there are two ways to launch it from within Dreamweaver:

	Choose Edit > Edit with HomeSite (Windows) or Edit with BBEdit (Macintosh).
	Press Control-E (Windows) or Command-E (Macintosh).

Additional information
More information onHomeSite can be found at the Macromedia/Allaire Web site. Consult the Bare Bones Software, Inc. Web site for additional information about BBEdit.