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Debugging JavaScript in Dreamweaver

Although JavaScript works well for client-side scripting, identifying and fixing errors in the code can be difficult. Dreamweaver's JavaScript Debugger comes to the rescue: Find out how to find and fix incorrect JavaScript code here.
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JavaScript is an excellent programming language for client-side scripting. When there are errors in your JavaScript code, however, they can be difficult to identify and fix. Beginning with Dreamweaver 4β€”and included in Dreamweaver MXβ€”Macromedia included a very handy tool known as the JavaScript Debugger.

In this article, you'll learn how to use Dreamweaver's JavaScript Debugger to find and fix incorrect JavaScript code in a fictitious company's "contact us" form.

In this article, you'll learn how to do the following:

Part 1: "JavaScript Debugger Basics"

  • Launch the JavaScript Debugger

  • Debug syntax errors

Part 2: "Debugging Logic Errors"

  • Debug logic errors

  • Set break points

  • Watch variables while debugging

  • Step through code to locate logic errors

Part 3: "Limitations of the JavaScript Debugger"

  • Understand the limitations of the JavaScript Debugger

Part 4: "Balancing Braces"

The "Contact Us" Form

To make this tutorial as interesting as possible, a basic Web form was created to collect the following information about a visitor (see Figure 1):

  • Department to reach
  • First name
  • Last name
  • E-mail address
  • Comments

Figure 1Figure 1 The "contact us" form.

If you like, you can download the HTML and style sheet files to follow along in your copy of Dreamweaver MX or Dreamweaver 4. Download the following two files and place them in the same subdirectory:

After you've downloaded these two files, open the "contact us" form in Dreamweaver.

The "contact us" form contains a drop-down menu, three single-line text fields and a multiline text box, as shown in Figure 1.

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