Tag library file format

A tag library consists of a single root file, the TagLibraries.vtm file, that lists every installed tag, plus a VTML file for each tag in the tag library. The TagLibraries.vtm file functions as a table of contents and contains pointers to each individual tag's VTML file. The following figure shows how Adobe Dreamweaver organizes the VTML files by markup language:

This is a picture of the feature being described.

Adobe HomeSite users can recognize the VTML file structure, but Adobe Dreamweaver does not use VTML files in the same way as HomeSite. The most important difference is that Adobe Dreamweaver contains its own HTML renderer that displays extension user interfaces (UIs), so the Adobe Dreamweaver VTML files are not used in the GUI rendering process.

The following example illustrates the structure of the TagLibraries.vtm file:

<taglibraries><taglibrary name="Name of tag library" doctypes="HTML,ASP-JS,ASP-VB" tagchooser="relative path to TagChooser.xml file" id="DWTagLibrary_html"> <tagref name="tag name" file="relative path to tag .vtm file"/></taglibrary><taglibrary name="CFML Tags" doctypes="ColdFusion" servermodel="Cold Fusion" tagchooser="cfml/TagChooser.xml" id="DWTagLibrary_cfml"> <tagref name="cfabort" file="cfml/cfabort.vtm"/></taglibrary><taglibrary name="ASP.NET Tags" doctypes="ASP.NET_CSharp,ASP.NET_VB"¬ servermodel="ASPNet" prefix="<asp:" tagchooser="ASPNet/TagChooser.xml"¬ id="DWTagLibrary_aspnet"> <tagref name="dataset" file="aspnet/dataset.vtm" prefix="<mm:dataset"/></taglibrary> </taglibraries>

The taglibrary tag groups one or more tags into a tag library. When you import tags or create a new set of tags, you can group them into tag libraries. Typically, a taglibrary grouping corresponds to a set of tags that are defined in a JavaServer Pages (JSP) TLD file, an XML document type definition (DTD) file, an ASP.Net name space, or some other logical grouping.

The following table lists the taglibrary attributes:

Attribute	Description	Mandatory/optional
taglibary.name	Used to refer to the tag library in the UI.	Mandatory
taglibrary.doctypes	Indicates the document types for which this library is active. When the library is active, library tags appear in the Code Hints pop-up menu. Not all tag libraries can be active at the same time because name conflicts can occur (for example, HTML and WML files are incompatible).	Mandatory
taglibrary.prefix	When specified, tags within the tag library have the form `taglibrary.prefix + tagref.name` For example, if the `taglibrary.prefix` is `"<jrun:"` and the `tagref.name` is `"if"` then the tag is of the form `"<jrun:if"`. This can be overridden for a particular tag.	Optional
taglibrary.servermodel	If the tags in the tag library execute on an application server, the `servermodel` attribute identifies the server model of the tag. If the tags are client-side tags (not server-side tags), the `servermodel` attribute is omitted. The `servermodel` attribute is also used for Check Target Browsers.	Optional
taglibrary.id	This can be any string that is different from the `taglibrary.ID` attributes of other tag libraries in the file. The Extension Manager uses the ID attribute, so the MXP files can insert new `taglibrary` and the `tags` files into the TagLibraries.vtm file.	Optional
taglibrary.tagchooser	A relative path to the TagChooser.xml file that is associated with this tag library.	Optional

The following table lists tagref attributes:

Attribute	Description	Mandatory/optional
tagref.name	Used to refer to the tag in the UI.	Mandatory
tagref.prefix	Specifies how the tag appears in Source view. When used, the `tagref.prefix` attribute determines the prefix of the current tag. When the attribute is defined, it overrides the value specified for the `taglibrary.prefix` attribute.	Optional
tagref.file	References the VTML file for the tag.	Optional

Because the tagref.prefix attribute can override the taglibrary.prefix attribute, the relationship between the two attributes can be confusing. The following table shows the relationship between the taglibrary.prefix and tagref.prefix attributes:

Is the taglibrary.prefix defined?	Is the tagref.prefix defined?	Resulting tag prefix
No	No	'<' + tagref.name
Yes	No	taglibrary.prefix + tagref.name
No	Yes	tagref.prefix
Yes	Yes	tagref.prefix

To define tags, Adobe Dreamweaver uses a modified version of the Adobe VTML file format. The following example demonstrates all the elements that Adobe Dreamweaver must use to define an individual tag:

<tag name="input" bind="value" casesensitive="no" endtag="no"> <tagformat indentcontents="yes" formatcontents="yes" nlbeforetag ¬ nlbeforecontents=0 nlaftercontents=0 nlaftertag=1 /> <tagdialog file = "input.HTM"/> <attributes> <attrib name="name"/> <attrib name="wrap" type="Enumerated"> <attriboption value="off"/> <attriboption value="soft"/> <attriboption value="hard"/> </attrib> <attrib name="onFocus" casesensitive="yes"/> <event name="onFocus"/> </attributes></tag>

The following table lists the attributes that define tags:

Attribute	Description	Mandatory/optional
tag.bind	Used by the Data Binding panel. When you select a tag of this type, the `bind` attribute indicates the default attribute for data binding.	Optional
tag.casesensitive	Specifies whether the tag name is case-sensitive. If the tag is case-sensitive, it is inserted into the user's document using exactly the case that the tag library specifies. If the tag is not case-sensitive, it is inserted using the default case that is specified in the Code Format tab in the Preferences dialog box. If `casesensitive` is omitted, the tag is assumed to be case-insensitive.	Optional
tag.endtag	Specifies whether the tag has both an opening and a closing tag. For example, the `input` tag has no closing tag; there is no matching `/input` tag. If the closing tag is optional, the `ENDTAG` attribute should be set to `Yes`.tag. Specify `xml` to enforce XML syntax for an empty tag. For example, `<tag name="foo" endtag="xml" tagtype="empty">` inserts `<foo/>.`	Optional
tagformat	Specifies the tag's formatting rules. In Adobe Dreamweaver versions before Adobe Dreamweaver MX, these rules were stored in the SourceFormat.txt file.	Optional
tagformat.indentcontents	Specifies whether the contents of this tag should be indented.	Optional
tagformat.formatcontents	Specifies whether the contents of this tag should be parsed. This attribute is set to `No` for tags such as `SCRIPT` and `STYLE`, for which content is something other than HTML.	Optional
tagformat.nlbeforetag	The number of newline characters to insert before this tag.	Optional
tagformat.nlbeforecontents	The number of newline characters to insert before the contents of this tag.	Optional
tagformat.nlaftercontents	The number of newline characters to insert after the contents of this tag.	Optional
tagformat.nlaftertag	The number of newline characters to insert after this tag.	Optional
attrib.name	The name of the attribute, as it appears in the source code.	Mandatory
attrib.type	If omitted, `attrib.type` is `"text"`. It can have the following values: `TEXT`--free text content `ENUMERATED`--a list of enumerated values `COLOR`--a color value (name or hex) `FONT`--font name or font family `STYLE`--CSS styles attribute `CSSSTYLE`--CSS class name `CSSID`--CSS class ID `FILEPATH` --a full file path `DIRECTORY`--a folder path `FILENAME`--filename only `RELATIVEPATH` --a relative representation of the path `FLAG` --an ON/OFF attribute that contains no value	Optional
attrib.casesensitive	Specifies whether the attribute name is case-sensitive. If the `CASESENSITIVE` attribute is missing, the attribute name is case-insensitive.	Optional

NOTE

In versions before Adobe Dreamweaver MX, tag information is stored in the Configuration/TagAttributeList.txt file.