Dreamweaver.MX.1002004.The.Missing.Manual [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

19.1 The History Panel Revisited

As you work on a Web page, Dreamweaver keeps track of everything you do. You can
see a list of your actionsyour historyin the History panel. Each document has a separate history, which Dreamweaver discards when you close the document or quit
the program.

You can use the History panel to quickly undo or redo multiple actions (Section 2.5.2), but
that's only the tip of the iceberg. You can also use it to replay and record a series of
actions you wish to repeat. If you've ever used macros in Microsoft Word or actions
in Adobe Photoshop, you'll probably get the hang of this feature quickly.

To open the History panel, choose WindowHistory, or press Shift-F10 (see Figure
19-1).

19.1.1 Replay Your Steps

To replay a step in the History panel, click the step's name to highlight it. You can also
select multiple steps by using one of these methods:

To select a group of consecutive steps, drag over them. You can drag your mouse
across either the labels or icons. Take special care not to move your cursor onto
the History slider on the left edge of the window, as clicking there will undo or
redo steps (Section 2.5.2).

You can also select consecutive steps by holding down the Shift key as you click
down the list.

To select steps that aren't consecutive, Ctrl-click (-click) only the ones you want.
For example, say you hit Return, typed hello, and then inserted a horizontal rule. If
you wanted to omit the step where you typed hello, you could Ctrl-click (-click)
the other two. Dreamweaver ignores unselected steps.

Now, when you click Replay (see Figure
19-1), Dreamweaver replays the selected
steps. Unfortunately, you can't reorder the steps; they always play from the top of the
list to the bottom.

The History panel lists every little step
you've taken while working on the current
documenteven typos. You can replay one
or more actions on the list, copy them for
use in another document, or save them as
a command in the Commands menu. If
Dreamweaver can't replay an action, such
as a mouse click, it appears with a red X
next to it. Furthermore, you can't replay two
continuous steps if you clicked or dragged in
the document in between them (you'll see a
solid line in the History list separating such
steps). Dreamweaver will merely replay the
first selected step. The History slider indicates
where you are in the document's history.

Once you've created a series of steps, you can reuse it. For example, say you format a
paragraph as a bulleted list and apply a custom style to it. Once Dreamweaver records
these steps in the History panel, you can select more text and replay those steps to
format it the same way. Now imagine that instead of a two-step process, you have a
ten-step chore that involves not only keystrokes, but multiple visits to the Insert bar
and Property inspectoryou can begin to see the power of this feature.

You probably know that you can repeat your last action by pressing Ctrl+Y (-Y) or choosing Edit Repeat. For example, if you type the word hello in the document window, pressing Ctrl+Y (-Y) will type the word hello again. Unless you're Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining, this feature may sound less than useful, but used in combination with the History panel's Replay feature, it can be a real timesaver. When you use the History panel to replay several steps, you'll notice the last item in the History list becomes Replay Steps. Dreamweaver treats all of these steps as a single action. Now if you press Ctrl+Y (-Y), you'll replay all of the steps again.

19.1.2 Exceptions and Errors

Unfortunately, Dreamweaver can't record and play back everything. The exceptions
generally involve making changes in certain dialog boxes or moving objects with the
mouse. For example, you can't record tasks you perform in the Modify Page Properties
dialog box. And you're left to your own devices when you want to click, drag, or
drop a graphic in the document window.

On the other hand, not everything you do with the mouse is off-limits to the History
panel. It can track most common tasks, like clicking the Insert bar, choosing a menu
item, or clicking in the Property inspector to set a property. Also, you can avoid using
many mouse movements by using equivalent keystrokes, which Dreamweaver can
record. (See the box below.)

If you take a step, such as a mouse drag, that Dreamweaver can't replay, a red X appears
next to it in the History panel. A line between two actions also indicates a step
that can't be repeated. This problem usually arises when you've clicked in the document
window (to deselect a selected image, for example). If you get into the habit of
deselecting an object in the document window by pressing the keyboard's arrow keys
instead, you'll find your History steps more fully replayable.

19.1.3 Copying and Pasting Actions

Each document has its own history. Thus, if you work on one page and then switch
to another, the History panel changes to reflect only the actions you performed on
the new document. The biggest drawback of this quirk is that you can't make a series
of steps in one document to replay in another.

For example, while working on your home page, you might click the Date object in
the Insert bar to insert the current date (see Section 2.1.2) and then choose a format for
the date in the dialog box. You want to place the date on another page using the same
format. But when you switch to that page and click Replay on the History panel, your
steps aren't there!

Fortunately, there's a workaround: ye olde copy/paste routine. Select the steps you
want to copy (see "Replay Your Steps" in Section 19.1.1, for selection techniques), and
then click the Copy selected steps button (see Figure 19-1) on the History panel. (The
regular copy shortcut, Ctrl+C or -C, doesn't work in this situation.) Now switch to
the new document, select an object (or click to place the insertion point), and then
choose EditPaste or press Ctrl+V (-V).

Dreamweaver responds by playing the copied steps.

NOTE

You can't reliably copy certain actions, most notably Copy and Paste. If the actions you wish to reuse
include a copy or paste step, save the actions as a command instead; read on.

19.1.4 Save Steps as Commands

It's quick and easy to replay and copy steps to automate repetitive tasks, but if you
close the document or quit Dreamweaver, your recorded actions disappearand with
them, any chance you had of replaying them in the future. What if you come up with
a great sequence of steps that you'd like to use over and over again?

The solution: Before it disappears forever, turn it into a custom command. That way,
Dreamweaver adds your command to the bottom of the Commands menu, and you
can choose it from there anytime.

To save steps as a command, select the steps you want to copy (see "Replay Your Steps"
in Section 19.1.1 for selection techniques), then click the Save Steps button (its icon looks
like a little floppy disk) on the History panel.

The Save as Command dialog box pops open. (If you've selected steps that Dreamweaver
can't replay, such as mouse movements, a warning appears. Click Yes to continue
without those steps; the valid steps will work just fine.) Type a short, descriptive
name and click OK. Now take a look at the Commands menusure enough, your
command now appears at the bottom.

To use your custom command, simply select its name from the Commands menu.

If you decide you want to delete your command or change its name, choose CommandsEdit Command List. In the dialog box that appears, click the command's name to select it. Type a new name or click Delete.

19.1.5 Recording Commands

You can also create a command by telling Dreamweaver to watch and record your actions.
This time, Dreamweaver won't let you perform mouse movements while you're
recording, so you can be sure recorded commands will play back properly.

To record a command, make sure the relevant Web page document is frontmost,
then choose CommandsStart Recording, or press Shift+Ctrl+X (Shift--X). The
cursor turns into a cassette-tape icon to indicate the command is recording. Now's
your chance to do whatever you want Dreamweaver to memorize. (If you try to use
the mouse to move or select anything in the document window, Dreamweaver will
complain via the dialog box.)

When you're finished, choose CommandsStop Recording, or press Shift+Ctrl+X
(Shift--X). Your cursor returns to normal, and Dreamweaver saves the sequence as
a command, which you can replay by choosing CommandsPlay Recorded Command.

Note, however, that this command disappears when you quit Dreamweaver or record
another command. (Dreamweaver can only save one recorded command at a time.)
If you want to preserve it for posterity, you'll have to save it to the Commands menu,
like this:

Choose CommandsPlay Recorded Command.

The History panel lists this action as Run Command.

Click the Run Command step in the History panel.

The step is highlighted to indicate you've selected it.

Click the Save Steps button (its icon looks like a little floppy disk).

The Save as Command dialog box appears.

Type a name for the command; click OK.

Dreamweaver adds your new command to the Commands menu, where it's ready
for action in this or any future Dreamweaver session.