Tipical Charlie : Upgrading to HomeSite+ 5.5: For CF Studio and HomeSite+ Fans

 
Jul 03, 2004
by Charlie Arehart

Are you still using the HomeSite+ build that came with Dreamweaver MX? Did you even know there was something called HomeSite+? Had you updated to its available updater, 5.2?

It's been updated yet again. There is now a 5.5 version, available to DWMX 2004 customers. I hadn't noticed that change, and maybe you missed it, too. Is it worth it? What's the difference between HomeSite and HomeSite+? All these questions are answered here.

Welcome to this first installment of "Tipical Charlie", my new column in the Fusion Authority News Alert newsletter from the fine folks at House of Fusion. Some will know my past work in other resources like the CFDJ, my blogs, my user group talks, and more. Like those, this will be a space devoted to tips and tricks of value to CFML developers. They may not always be about CFML, per se, as with this month, but I hope you'll find them valuable in your development.

I've long been a crusader for what used to be called ColdFusion Studio, and its progeny since renamed as HomeSite+. If you're not sure what that is, or didn't know that CF Studio had been updated, check out my June 2003 CFDJ article, "Getting Into HomeSite+", available at http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=41617&DE=1.

In it, I explain why HS+ makes sense (especially for those not so enamored of DWMX), and how it was an update over CF Studio 5. I also point out that it was available only to purchasers of DWMX (it was not sold separately) and that there was an available 5.2 update, free to HS+ users.

Since then, though, there has been yet another update to HS+, 5.5, as discussed at http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/homesite/55/releasenotes_plus.html. There are lots of interesting new features, including:

  • macro recording functionality (to store commands based on user keystrokes, mouse clicks, toolbutton and menu option selections, and to allow for saving and playback of commands);
  • enhancements to snippets support, including integration with Dreamweaver MX snippets, the ability to assign snippet shortcuts more easily, the ability to use dynamic values that are prompted when a snippet is run, and more;
  • ColdFusion MX 6.1 CFML tag/function support in the tag chooser and expression builder, tag/function insight, tag editors, and the tag/function help features;
  • TopStyle Lite 3.1 is the style editor installed with HomeSite+ 5.5 rather than TopStyle Lite 2 (which is installed with HomeSite+ 5.2).

If you read the release notes above, you'll find that several "fixed" items will feel like new features as well, such as the ability:

  • to stop an extended find/replace using the Escape key
  • to designate a context root for the RDS properties dialogue and in browser development mappings
  • to select from previously used URLs while entering an HREF field on the anchor <a> tag.
There's even more discussed at the product features page for HomeSite 5.5 (http://www.macromedia.com/software/homesite/productinfo/features/). That brings up an interesting point of clarification: HomeSite 5.5 and HomeSite+ 5.5 are different animals. Let me explain.

HomeSite versus HomeSite+

Some of you may be confused by (or may be tempted to try) the available HomeSite 5.5 product, a $99 commercially packaged product available for download and trial. The thing is, just as HomeSite used to lack features present in CF Studio, so too HomeSite 5.5 lacks features that are part of HomeSite+ 5.5.

CFML developers will generally want the "+" edition, as it adds such things as the database tab, and similar features that leverage RDS-like debugging (supported only by CF4 and 5), as well as the projects feature. One interesting thing is that while the file browse/development mappings feature is not available via the Alt-M keystroke, it is buried in the Options>Settings>Browse dialogue where you must "enable" it and then configure mappings in that pane. I also noticed that HomeSite (the non-"+' version) did not offer any CFML references in the help button, though there is help under F1 and you can indeed get CFML help using tag insight/editors/help, etc. offering CFMX-level tags and functions.

Furthermore, let me warn folks that I tried to install the 30-day HomeSite 5.5 trial alongside my existing HomeSite+ 5.2 (without uninstalling the 5.2). Since they went into different directories, I thought it might work, and it did at first, but I found several problems arose (eventually crashing the new installation). I'd not recommend trying to have both installed at one time.

The HS+ 5.5 Update is Not Free, even to Current HS+ Users

Unfortunately, the HS+ 5.5 update is NOT available for download even by current HomeSite+ users. Just as HomeSite+ was originally available only on the DWMX CD, so too the HomeSite+ 5.5 release is available only with the purchase of the newer Dreamweaver MX 2004. That's a bit of a bummer.

Some good news is that, besides adding enough features to motivate some to make that purchase, keep in mind that of course you're also getting an update to DWMX. DWMX 2004 is faster and offers other enhancements over the original DWMX release (see the Dreamweaver upgrade center for more details). And of course, if you'd not yet bought DWMX at all, there are clearly many benefits that it offers over CF Studio and even HS+ (its built-in CFC and web service support, to name just a couple).

Macromedia is also making it pretty painless to get the upgrade to DWMX 2004. If you're a current owner of DWMX or even just of CF Studio 5 (or a couple other products), they're offering the upgrade for just $199.

For CF Studio users, or those who got HS+ but never updated it, note that there were fixes in the original HomeSite+ that were updates over Studio 5, and then there were fixes in the 5.2 release that HS+ users can get even if they don't want to upgrade to 5.5.

Conclusion

Are the features added in the upgrade from HS+ or HS+ 5.2 to HS+ 5.5 alone worth $200? Probably not, but again you are getting an upgrade to DWMX 2004 as well, and if you didn't have DWMX before, then it really is likely worth $200 to get both upgraded products. If you already have DWMX, the upgrade to DWMX 2004 is the same $200, so you're getting the HS+ upgrade for free.

If you're ardent about having to pay for DWMX when you will never use it (though I'd ask, "have you really tried it again lately?"), then consider that you could just get HS 5.5 for only $99. If you don't use the Database and RDS features, then you may not feel you lack much since it does provide support for 6.1-level CFML tags and functions. There are many who debate and argue whether MM should just release HS+ as its own product. To be honest, HS is now closer (with CFML 6.1 tags) to being acceptable to many for CFML developers, so maybe those folks could just use it. If you want the things that HS+ adds, then paying another $100 for it seems a modest price.

Charlie Arehart, a frequent CFUG speaker and CFDJ columnist, is also a certified Advanced CF Developer and was a contributor to the ColdFusion MX Bible from Wiley. As CTO of New Atlanta, he continues to evangelize CFML while promoting BlueDragon. This is his first column for Fusion Authority.
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