Discover Exactly What “SPRY” is and How It Can Help Add a Professional Touch To Your Web Pages
One of the major features offered in the new Dreamweaver CS3 software is called a “spry” menu. Spry is not technology limited to the Dreamweaver software, it is a new technology created by Adobe. Spry technology itself is distributed for free at Adobe’s web site.
However, Dreamweaver’s incorporation of this feature has taken web design to a new level of ease and efficiency. The “spry” is actually a massive collection of JavaScript programs that work together to a webmaster’s benefit. Dreamweaver presents all of these scripts in a neat and organized form through the use of tabbed “widgets.”
This new spry technology is a framework of the Ajax language. Ajax began as an acronym of sorts for the term “Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.” Today Ajax applies to any system of updating content or features through Javascript.
All technological information aside, Dreamweaver has made it easier than ever to work your pages. The spry menu does much in little space and with little knowledge required of the user.
The widgets available through the Spry menu are varied. The “Insert” button opens the widget for you to use. The “Common” button allows you to insert basic elements such as links or graphics. The “Layout” tab allows you to easily insert < div > or even draw AP Div tags.
A “Forms” provides quick and easy access when you want to set up any kind of form. This widget allows you to do everything from inserting text fields to even adding radio buttons or checkboxes.
The “Data” tab will allow you to insert links for data such as records or recordsets. The other tabs are relatively self-explanatory. These are the “Spry” tab, the “Text” tab, and the “Favorites” tab. The “Favorites” tab is particularly interesting because it will let the webmaster record their favorite elements of the web page.
Webmasters will be delighted that most of those relatively hidden functions, from the older versions of Dreamweaver, are now brought forward and are far easier to find and use. Now, instead of searching through the “File,” “Edit,” “View” and “Modify” tabs, users can simply switch a small tab at the top of the page and the tools are right there.
Further Reading:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2320569_use-spry-effects-dreamweaver-cs3.html
http://www.keyboardsmashing101.com/software/new-features-in-adobe-dreamweaver-cs3/