Assets View

By Matthew Legare and Phil Garrett

Howdy - Matthew Legare, Senior Technical Support Specialist and Workbench Guy for NetObjects here... over the coming weeks I'll be sharing some tips, tricks and other cool stuff you can do with NetObjects Fusion with you through eFuse.com.

If you like what you see here, and are interested in checking out more stuff on Fusion, check out the Workbench (an "officially unofficial" NetObjects Fusion tip site).

Summary

• One link, mucho pages: updating many at once
• One image, many pages: updating them all at once
• Picturing a Database: automatically inserting pictures

Updating links

I have some links that are used in many pages in my site. These links are not just in the MasterBorders, but in the Layouts of many pages, like more than 100. Is there some way I can update a link once and have that change affect every instance of the link?

This can be done quickly and efficiently using Assets view:

• Go to Assets view and click the Links tab. There you will see a list of all External Links used in your site.
• Double click the link you want to change; a Links dialog box will appear.
• You can change the URL in the ''Link to'' field and click OK for the change to take affect in every page that contains the link.
• To have the changes take affect on your live Web site, simply re-publish the site.

Note: An added bonus of the Links dialog box is that you get a list of all of the pages in which the link is used. This can be helpful when tracking down duplicate and broken links.

Updating image files

I have an image file that is used in many pages in my site. Of course, this image file is in the Layout of many different pages. Is there some way I can update an image once and have that change affect every instance of the image?

As with the Updating Links tip above, this can be done quickly and efficiently in Assets view:

• Go to Assets view; the Files tab will be selected and displayed by default. There you will see a list of all of the files used in your site: images, scripts, Java applets, etc.
• Double click the file you want to change; a File dialog box will appear.
• You can change the source image using the Browse button (Select button on the Mac).
• Once you have selected the new file, click OK for the change to take affect in every page that contains the image file.
• Again, as with the Updating Links tip, you must re-publish the site to have the changes take affect on your live Web site.

Note: In the File dialog box, you can see a list of all of the pages in which the image is used. In addition, there is a check box to tell NetObjects Fusion to "Always publish this file." This can be helpful when you want to ensure an image is uploaded every time, especially helpful if you are changing/updating a particular image often.

Yet another note: If you want to update an existing file, just replace it with a newer version. When you publish the file, NetObjects Fusion will replace the older version with the newer version.

Data objects

External Data Objects and Image Files: I have a Microsoft Access file I am using as the source of an External Data Object in NetObjects Fusion. In the Access file, I have a field called ''Picture'' that contains the full path to images stored on my hard drive—for example, C:\Images\picture.jpg. However, in my stacked pages in Fusion, this field does not display the image! Instead, it displays the text of the path: C:\Images\picture.jpg. How can I get Fusion to display the image instead?

The solution to this situation uses Page view and Assets view. The source of the problem is that Fusion does not know this should be an image field. You need to change the Field Type for the image field in the Data Object. Here are the steps:

• Go to Assets view and click the Data Objects tab. There you will see the External Data Object you inserted from the Access file.
• Double click the Data Object and the properties will appear; you will see the Type for your ''Picture'' field is listed as Simple Text.
• Double click the ''Picture'' field and check the Image File radio button in the resultant Data Field box; then click OK.

Now, you must return to your stacked pages and replace the data field for the images to appear properly:

• Go to Page view on your stacked pages.
• Highlight and delete the now-blank ''Picture'' data field. Note: Data fields are red in color.
• Click and hold the Data Object tool in the Advanced Tools palette until all of the tools appear, then select the Data Field tool.
• Draw a box in your layout to place the field; a Data Field box will appear.
• Select the ''Picture'' field from the drop-down list, and click OK.

The image should now appear on the page.
 

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