This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Configuring File Editors
By default, when you double-click most files in the Folder List, Expression Web opens that file in its own window. In most cases, that’s what you want to happen; in some cases, however, you might want to override that behavior so certain file types are opened in a different application.
To specify the application to open for a specific file type, select Tools, Application Options and click the Configure Editors tab. The dialog for configuring editors contains a list of file extensions along with the associated editor or editors for each (see Figure 3.19). Available editors can be rearranged in the list or moved to the top of the list so it is used as the default editor. When a file is double-clicked in the Folder List in Expression Web, it will be opened in the default editor for that file type.
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Figure 3.19. The Configure Editors tab allows you to configure specific file types to open with the application of your choice.
NOTE
Some file types (such as images) are not opened in Expression Web by default when you double-click them in the Folder List.
CAUTION
The editor you configure for a specific file extension in Expression Web does not affect Windows file associations. Settings made in Expression Web are specific only to Expression Web.
The following buttons are available on the Configure Editors tab as shown in Figure 3.19:
- New Extension—Allows you to add a new file extension and configure the appropriate editors for it.
- Modify Extension—Allows you to change the selected extension. For example, if HTML is selected, you can click Modify Extension to change the extension to HTM. This does not modify the application used to edit that file type.
- Delete Extension—Removes the selected extension from the list. If the file type is then double-clicked in Expression Web, you are prompted to select which program should be used to edit that file type.
- New Editor—Adds a new editor for the selected file type.
- Delete Editor—Deletes the selected editor from the selected file type.
To configure a new file extension, click the New Extension button to display the Open With dialog, as shown in Figure 3.20. Enter the file extension (with no dot in front of it) and select the program to use for editing that file type from the list of available applications. If the program you want to use for the new file type is not listed, click Browse for More and browse to the executable for the application you want to use.
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Figure 3.20. The Open With dialog contains a preset list of applications. Click Browse for More if the application you want to use isn’t listed.
To configure a new editor for an existing file type, select the file type and then click the New Editor button to display the Open With dialog. Select the editor or click Browse for More; then browse to the executable. You can then use the Move Up, Move Down, or Set as Default buttons to adjust the hierarchy of the new editor.
To select from one of the listed editors when editing a file, right-click the file in the Folder List and select Open With as shown in Figure 3.21. Choose the desired editor from the list to open the selected file in that editor.
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Figure 3.21. Expression Web displays a list of configured editors. Choose the editor you’d like to use to edit the selected file.