[thelist] "Hand Coding" in DWMX2004

[Russ]

> For instance, I have never been able to figure out how to insert the 
> content I want into a table cell that has squeezed itself so 
> narrow in 
> the layout view that it is impossible to select. Or to select 
> an image 
> without accidentally resizing it. 

I'd agree that those can be issues for most anyone--but I'd also say
"that's what the code view is for" because--and I'm a "certified" DWMX
2004 Developer (ooooh la la)--I don't think it's 100% perfect to use as
a full-on code view tool OR as a WYSIWYG tool, but the way it is useful
is how you can utilze both inside of the same tool, and if you know
enough of the languages you're working in as well as enough about what
you're trying to have the end result look like to be able to view it in
DWMX 2004 and in a browser and note the differences...  Well, then
you've got a useful tool.  Very, very, very useful.

That, I do believe can be said about almost any tool out there.  It's
not like anyone should be able to open it up and expect to start
building websites tomorrow.  I believe you've got to have some core
competencies before you're able to use the tool quite well.

> And the carpel tunnel I get from 
> clicking buttons instead of typing is not fun, either. 

Please, please please stay away from such ignorant statements.  Carpal
Tunnel is NOT caused from clicking a mouse or from typing.  To put this
out there--even tongue-in-cheek--is to further a nasty myth.  Carpal
Tunnel is, most of the time, caused from highly repetetive activities in
a confined space (that is, the same motions, sometimes even data entry,
in a very limited state of mobility), and it is very infrequently caused
by simple mouse clicks.  Check with your local Occupational Therapist. I
did.

> It 
> can't display 
> my content at all if the content is all dynamically done with 
> server-side includes that use variables and control structures. I 

Is there a tool that currently does this?  I ask the question because I
do not know of one and would like to know of one if it exists.

> always wanted to see if I could make it display jsp includes, but all 
> my attempts to hack the js files in the config directory 
> either didn't 
> work or broke DW. 

Well, you did try and hack the js files...

> Finally, it runs awfully slowly the larger the site 
> becomes, and on my Mac it's just plain slow no matter what.

I've not noticed deterioration based upon the size of a site; it has
caching built into it and perhaps you shut off your cache so that DW had
to "look" through the entire site.  In fact, the only times I've noticed
deterioration in performance is when I've had too many pages open at
once, but that was beyond 20 or so pages between a couple of different
sites, and I'd call that a computer performance issue since I don't
believe you could expect any computer to perform optimally with even 20
Word documents open.

> Regular text editors can do a lot of handy things that DW cannot. For 
> example, BBEdit lets me browse the contents of files without actually 
> opening them. It also lets me customize the font and font size of the 
> UI. So when I'm doing a find and replace and need to write a regular 
> expression, I can write it in fixed-width font at 14 points. (If 
> anybody can tell me how to change the font of the UI for 
> Windows apps, 
> so I never have to try to write a regular expression, or try 
> to place a 
> cursor between an "i" and an "l", in 10pt arial again please tell me.)

Unfair and misleading statement up there.  From the barebones website:

"BBEdit is the leading professional HTML and text editor for the
Macintosh. Specifically crafted in response to the needs of Web authors
and software developers, this award-winning product provides a plethora
of features for editing, searching, and manipulation of text. BBEdit
transforms text with high performance."

Even they call it an HTML editor prior to calling it a text editor.  And
I'd hardly call it a "regular" text editor at that.  The functionality
it offers, however, is very nice, there's no disputing that.  Of course,
they're at version 7.1 just like DW is at MX 2004; over time they've
both added features and functionality based upon different weighting
scales and input from different beta, test and focus groups, I would
assume.


> Things I do use DW for, however, include image maps. No way 
> am I going 
> to make one of those by hand when I can just draw shapes with a GUI. 
> And the FTP client is nice.

Couldn't agree more, although imho, staying away from image maps is
almost always a good practice, at least when you're able to.