Adobe Dreamweaver CC 2015 - Manual (Page 610)

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Dynamic sites, pages and web forms
Last updated 6/3/2015
Edit the code of a server behavior created with the Server Behavior Builder
1 In the Server Behaviors panel (Window > Server Behaviors), click the Plus (+) button and select Edit Server
Behaviors from the pop-up menu.
The Edit Server Behaviors dialog box displays all the behaviors for the current server technology.
2 Select the server behavior and click Edit.
3 Select the appropriate code block and modify the code, the parameter marks, or the position of the code block to be
inserted in pages.
4 If the modified code does not contain any designer-supplied parameters, click OK.
Dreamweaver regenerates the server behavior without a dialog box. The new server behavior appears in the Plus (+)
pop-up menu of the Server Behaviors panel.
5 If the modified code does contain designer-supplied parameters, click Next.
Dreamweaver asks you whether you want to create a new dialog box, overwriting the old one. Make your changes
and click OK.
Dreamweaver saves all changes in the server behavior’s EDML file.
Coding guidelines
In general, your server behavior’s code should be compact and robust. Web application developers are very sensitive to
the code added to their pages. Follow generally accepted coding practices for the document type’s language
(ColdFusion, JavaScript, VBScript, or PHP). When writing comments, consider the different technical audiences that
might need to understand the code, such as web and interaction designers, or other web application developers. Include
comments that accurately describe the purpose of the code, and any special instructions for including it within a page.
Keep in mind the following coding guidelines when you create server behaviors:
Error checking An important requirement. The server behavior’s code should handle error cases gracefully. Try to
foresee every possibility. For example, what if a parameter request fails? What if no records are returned from a query?
Unique names Help to ensure that your code is clearly identifiable and avoids name collisions with existing code. For
example, if the page contains a function called hideLayer() and a global variable called ERROR_STRING, and your
server behavior inserts code that uses those names too, the server behavior may conflict with the existing code.
Code prefixes Allow you to identify your own run-time functions and global variables in a page. One convention is to
use your initials. Never use the MM_ prefix, as it is reserved for Dreamweaver use only. Dreamweaver precedes all
functions and global variables with the prefix MM_ to prevent them from conflicting with any code that you write.
var MM_ERROR_STRING = "...";
function MM_hideLayer() {
Avoid similar code blocks so that the code you write doesn’t resemble too closely the code in other blocks. If a code
block looks too much like another code block on the page, the Server Behaviors panel might mistakenly identify the
first code block as an instance of the second code block (or conversely). A simple solution is to add a comment to a code
block to make it more unique.
Testing server behaviors
The Dreamweaver Exchange recommends performing the following tests on each server behavior you create:
• Apply the behavior from the Server Behaviors panel. If it has a dialog box, enter valid data in each field and click
OK. Verify that no error occurs when the behavior is applied. Verify that the run-time code for the server behavior
appears in the Code inspector.