Suggestion for HTML Editor to get past the crappy IDE one

[Lloyd Sheen]

I am out of my mind fighting with the IDE HTML editor. Beyond the fact that
reformatting the text is brain dead (and I am not just talking about the
switching from design to HTML). I am putting in a filter to provide a
gradient background.

Insert the code into the HTML and switch to design. Voila it shows. Back
to HTML and back to design. It is gone. The worst thing is that I can see
no change to the BODY tag. This is beyond reason. Other pages work
(sometimes).

This IDE does not seem to understand that users can be past the IE 3.0
stage. Does MS not provide its developers with up to date tools? It would
seem that QA does not get them.

Lloyd Sheen

 

[Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu]

Insert the code into the HTML and switch to design. Voila it shows.
Back to HTML and back to design. It is gone. The worst thing is that I
can see no change to the BODY tag. This is beyond reason. Other pages
work (sometimes).

This is "FrontPage".

FrontPAge used to be REALLY nasty about this type of stuff. MS has worked
really hard to get rid of this type of stuff.

It might be that the code that you are entering is not completely valid and
is confusing the parser. However the designer is showing it so...


--
Chad Z. Hower (a.k.a. Kudzu) - http://www.hower.org/Kudzu/
"Programming is an art form that fights back"


ELKNews - Get your free copy at http://www.atozedsoftware.com

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

The code is good. I have compared other pages and it works there until I
make any change, even to text. The IDE seems to have some view that it
wants and the designer be dammed.

I have tried the same in FrontPage with no problems. If the IDE is to be
taken seriously then it should help not hinder developers. I keep hearing
wait until the next release. If this is to be MS mantra for the next set of
products then the MS haters will have a case.

Lloyd Sheen

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

When I open the code in Dreamweaver it looks correct. For an expensive
product VS2003 is a real dud in HTML design. I had not done this before but
now I can see why people do not want to use VS as the HTML designer.

Notepad would be better, at least it does not make assumptions about what
the user wants.

Lloyd Sheen

 

[Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu]

I have tried the same in FrontPage with no problems. If the IDE is to
be taken seriously then it should help not hinder developers. I keep

For the record - I did not say that.

hearing wait until the next release. If this is to be MS mantra for the
next set of products then the MS haters will have a case.

Let's just say I have feet on both side of the fence.

VS.net is a HUGE improvement over VS though. To be honest, prior to VS.net,
the IDE was just unusuable. When coming from Delphi (or even VB) it was like
stepping back in time 20 years.

Im not defending the issues you are seeing, but trying to tell you that when
it comes to this type of stuff its taking MS a long time to get their heads
wrapped around it. VS.net IMO is really a "1.1" IDE. For a 1.1, its pretty
darn good.



--
Chad Z. Hower (a.k.a. Kudzu) - http://www.hower.org/Kudzu/
"Programming is an art form that fights back"


ELKNews - Get your free copy at http://www.atozedsoftware.com

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

Not to be argumentative but this IDE should have some of the underpinnings
of the IDE's that preceded it. Someone said that the HTML designer came
from FrontPage. Well that product is quite old and should have the kinks
worked out.

I cannot figure out why anyone when QA'ing this product would accept the
formatting that happens (and I have turned off what I can in the Options).
I just moved a DIV and all contained controls were put on one line. Since
the designer does not allow for the adding of all needed information at
times you must go to the HTML view. I see absolutely no reason to reformat.
Especially after I just spent 20 mins making the format what I wanted.

MS this is the worst IDE I have ever seen and I have used VB since 1.0 and
VC since it was C 1.52.

Lloyd Sheen

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

And even more. At present the designer shows the gradient background. Run
the app and it wants to recompile the page. When it shows the code is
changed, the gradient is gone and another strike for this terrible piece of
crap that MS has presented developers with.

This IDE constantly looses buttons, Intelisence, etc. I spend as much time
stopping and starting the IDE just to get past these problems.

Lloyd Sheen

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

Do the following:

1. Create a new web form
2. Go to HTML
3. Locate the Body tag
4. Insert after MS_POSITIONING="GridLayout" the following:

style="FILTER:
progidXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(endColorstr='#663333',
startColorstr='#66CCFF', gradientType='0')"

5. Go to Design mode and see the gradient
6. Go to HTML and then back to design and it is gone but the code is still
there.

Go figure.

 

[Hermit Dave]

dont know mate.. think you seem to have a lot of problems. could be the
installation
Have been using vs.net 2003 for 6 months now without any issues. Though i
use it for programming as such and not for html designing.
BTW VS.NET has no links with frontpage. front page is a totally different
product. VS.NET is an ide which also lets you do html.
And dont compare it with dreamweaver. you are comparing all the html
editors with VS when it could be
a. you not doing it right
b. you are doing it right but you installation is messed up.

 

[Hermit Dave]

just copy pasted your code as you said.
and switched between the designer and html views a couple of times
and it still works
if can see the code in html and i can see the gradient in designer

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

It seems to have to do with the reformatting. If you can get the filter to
show on one line you can switch back and forth. I just wish I could totally
turn off the reformatting. It is irritating and poorly done.

To paraphrase what most developers tell others in these forums when people
ask about changing the way things look - "let the user decide". MS has not
done this in the HTML designer and we the developer pay for it.

Lloyd Sheen

 

[Hermit Dave]

as i told you you line of code worked fine... no issues with reformatting...
you sure you didnt mess about with some settings ?

 

[Lloyd Sheen]

As I said, add the code switch views and after a couple of switches the
gradient is gone.

 

[Hermit Dave]

swtiched 20 times with a couple of saves
so far so good
added a line save
switched 10 times
so far so good
restart the application
so far so good
make another change
switched 10 times... still good
so it cannot be visual studio cause i am also using vs.net and this is
indeed VS.NET 2003. btw... define couple... more than 40 times is good
enough.