MACROMEDIA DREAMWEAVER MX 2004-EXTENDING DREAMWEAVER User manual

Extending Fireworks

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Macromedia, Inc. Part Number ZFW70M300
Acknowledgments
Project Management: Gary White
Writing: David Jacowitz and Gary White
Editing Management: Rosana Francescato
Editors: Linda Adler, Rosana Francescato, Mary Kraemer, Noreen Maher, Antonio Padial, Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla
Production Management: Patrice O'Neill
Multimedia Development: Aaron Begley
Production: Adam Barnett, John Francis, Jeff Harmon
Special thanks to Hiroshi Miyazawa, Brian Edgin, Robbie San Juan, and Andy Finnell
First Edition: September 2003
Macromedia, Inc.
600 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

3
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: Extending Fireworks Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Installing an extension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
What’s new in Extending Fireworks MX 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Conventions used in this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Additional resources for extension writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
CHAPTER 2: The Fireworks Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Using the Fireworks Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Global methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Core objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Fireworks object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Objects within Fireworks documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
HTML export objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Working with selected objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
CHAPTER 3: Cross-Product Extensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Cross-product architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Flash panels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
CHAPTER 4: Auto Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
How Auto Shapes work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Creating an Auto Shape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
CHAPTER 5: Fireworks JavaScript API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Using Fireworks API functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Document functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Fireworks functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Property inspector functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
History panel functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Using the common API. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

4 Contents

5
CHAPTER 1
Extending Fireworks Overview
To extend Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004, you must write JavaScript code. You can use
JavaScript to write your own objects and commands that affect Fireworks documents and the
elements within them. To accomplish these tasks, you must be proficient in JavaScript and
in Fireworks.
This guide introduces the Fireworks Object Model, explains how to write cross-product
extensions (extensions written in, or for, other Macromedia applications), and discusses the
JavaScript Auto Shape construction. The final chapter is a reference to the Fireworks JavaScript
application programming interface (API)—the custom JavaScript functions that are built
into Fireworks.
Prerequisites
Because Fireworks extensions must be written in JavaScript, this guide assumes that readers are
familiar with JavaScript syntax and with basic programming concepts such as functions,
arguments, and data types. It also assumes that readers understand the concept of working with
objects and properties. This guide does not attempt to teach programming in general or
JavaScript in particular.
Anyone who wants to extend Fireworks should have a good JavaScript reference to help with
syntax questions (for example, is it substring() or subString()?). Useful JavaScript references
include JavaScript Bible by Danny Goodman (IDG), JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David
Flanagan (O’Reilly), and Pure JavaScript by R. Allen Wyke, Jason D. Gilliam, and Charlton Ting
(Sams). For a free JavaScript reference, see: http://devedge.netscape.com/library/manuals/2000/
javascript/1.5/reference.

6 Chapter 1: Extending Fireworks Overview
Installing an extension
As you start learning the process of writing extensions, you might want to explore the extensions
and resources already available through the Macromedia Exchange website
(www.macromedia.com/exchange). By installing an existing extension, you will become familiar
with some of the tools that you need to work with your own extensions.
To install an extension:
1Download and install the Extension Manager, which is available on the Macromedia
Downloads website (www.macromedia.com/software/downloads).
2Log on to the Macromedia Exchange website (www.macromedia.com/exchange).
3Click the Fireworks Exchange link.
4From the available extensions, select one that you want to use. Click the Download link to
download the extension package.
5Save the extension package in a directory on your machine.
6In Fireworks, choose Commands > Manage Extensions to start the Extension Manager (or,
you can start Extension Manager, located in the Macromedia program group, independently
from Fireworks).
7In the Extension Manager, choose File > Install Extension, and choose the extension package
you just saved.
The Extension Manager automatically installs the extension into Fireworks.
You cannot begin using some extensions until you restart Fireworks. If you are running Fireworks
when you install the extension, you might be prompted to quit and restart the application.
To view basic information on the extension after its installation, go to the Extension Manager
(Commands > Manage Extensions) in Fireworks.
What’s new in Extending Fireworks MX 2004
Fireworks MX 2004 includes the following new features and interfaces that you can use to
develop extensions for the product:
•Cross-product JavaScript communication
Cross-product JavaScript communication allows any application to control Fireworks by
sending JavaScript instructions directly to Fireworks encoded in XML through a local socket.
Through this connection, Fireworks can do anything that is supported in the Fireworks API.
•Event handling for SWF panels
Third-party command panels developed in Flash for Fireworks (SWF command panels) can
listen and respond to events that happen inside Fireworks MX 2004. So, if you develop a SWF
command panel that creates a specific object for the user (such a spiral pattern), you can also
leverage the new Fireworks event handling so the user can inspect the object and adjust the
object properties.
•Auto Shapes
Along with the new Auto Shapes implementation, the Fireworks M X 2004 API lets you define
an Auto Shape entirely in JavaScript. (For information about working with Auto Shapes in
Fireworks, see Using Fireworks Help.)

Additional resources for extension writers 7
Conventions used in this guide
The following typographical conventions are used in this guide:
•Code font indicates code fragments and API literals, including class names, method names,
function names, type names, scripts, SQL statements, and HTML and XML tag and
attribute names.
•Italic code font indicates replaceable items in code.
•The continuation symbol (¬) indicates that a long line of code has been broken across two or
more lines to fit on the page. When copying the lines of code, eliminate the continuation
symbol and type the code as one line.
•Curly braces ({ }) around a function argument indicate that the argument is optional.
The following naming conventions are used in this guide:
•You refers to the developer who is responsible for writing extensions.
•The user refers to the person using Fireworks.
•The visitor refers to the person who views the graphic that the user created.
Additional resources for extension writers
To communicate with other developers who are writing extensions, you can visit the Fireworks
Online Forums. The Fireworks Online Forums are available through www.macromedia.com/
support/fireworks/ts/documents/fwnewsgroup.htm.

8 Chapter 1: Extending Fireworks Overview

9
CHAPTER 2
The Fireworks Object Model
If you want to extend the functionality of Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 by writing or
modifying a JavaScript extensibility file, you must become familiar with the objects that
Fireworks makes available through JavaScript. The hierarchy of these objects makes up the
Fireworks Object Model, containing the following major components:
•Five global methods that are available from any part of the application and need not be
declared as methods of a particular object. These methods are described in “Global methods”
on page 12.
•Four core objects: Document, Errors, Files, and Find. These objects and their properties and
methods are described in detail in “Core objects” on page 12. (The App object that was used in
Fireworks 3 is supported for backward compatibility, but its use is deprecated in favor of the
Fireworks object.)
•The Fireworks object, which is described in “The Fireworks object” on page 22.
•Numerous objects associated with Fireworks documents, such as ExportOptions, Guides, Path,
Image, and Text. These objects and their properties are described in “Objects within Fireworks
documents” on page 26.
•A set of objects that you can use to specify the format of HTML code when exporting from
Fireworks. These are described in “HTML export objects” on page 64.
Using the Fireworks Object Model
When scripting extensions for Fireworks, you write JavaScript commands that send calls to the
Fireworks Object Model to determine or change the current settings for a Fireworks document.
For example, the following command calls the Fireworks object (fw) to obtain the path to the
Export Settings directory (appExportSettingsDir), which is expressed as a file://URL. In other
words, fw references the Fireworks global object, of which appExportSettingsDir is a property
(see “The Fireworks object” on page 22), so a JavaScript command can assign the resulting value
to a variable, as follows:
var expSetDir = fw.appExportSettingsDir;

10 Chapter 2: The Fireworks Object Model
Accessing a Fireworks document
All the functions listed in “Document functions” on page 104 are methods of the Document
object, which represents a Fireworks document. To perform a function on a Document object,
you must first get the Document Object Model (DOM) of the document. You then call the
functions as methods of that DOM.
Note: You can use methods that operate on a document’s DOM only on open documents.
•To use a DOM function with a document other than the active document, use the following
syntax; note that documentIndex is a zero-based index that specifies which document the
command will affect.
fw.documents[documentIndex].functionName();
•To use a DOM function with the active document, use
fw.getDocumentDOM().functionName(), see fw.getDocumentDOM().
Passing values
For all properties that are not read-only, you can pass values to change elements of a document.
For example, the following command sets the fifth brush in the third open document to a
square shape:
fw.documents[2].brushes[4].shape = "square";
The preceding example includes the following properties:
•documents is a property of the Fireworks object and contains an array of Document objects.
•brushes is a property of the Document object and contains an array of Brush objects.
•shape is a property of the Brush object.
Note: Throughout this manual, optional arguments are enclosed in {braces}.
Fireworks Object Model calls and API calls
In some cases, you can use Fireworks Object Model calls or API calls to perform the same
operations. In other cases, a certain function might be available in either the Fireworks Object
Model or the API, but not in both.
For example, if the first open document is the current document, the first code fragment has the
same effect as the second and third code fragments. The fw.getDocumentDOM() function
references the current document (see “Accessing a Fireworks document” on page 10).
fw.getDocumentDOM().setDocumentResolution({pixelsPerUnit:72, units:"inch"});
fw.documents[0].resolution =72;
fw.documents[0].resolutionUnits ="inch";