.MXI documentation

[SalesCart]

Can someone point me to the documentation on how to create the .mxi file. The
acceptable structures within the .mxi, etc. I can't find any direct
documentation on it...on other documents elluding to it. I'm looking for API,
developer level documentation of the .mxi file format and the acceptably syntax.

[Andres Cayon]

Hi SalesCart:
[url]http://www.adobe.com/go/em_file_format[/url]

HTH
Andres Cayon
Spain Adobe Dreamweaver User Group
[url]http://www.dwug.es[/url]
----------------------


"SalesCart" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> escribió en el mensaje de
noticias news:gibog6$itd$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Can someone point me to the documentation on how to create the .mxi file.
> The
> acceptable structures within the .mxi, etc. I can't find any direct
> documentation on it...on other documents elluding to it. I'm looking for
> API,
> developer level documentation of the .mxi file format and the acceptably
> syntax.
>

[Randy Edmunds]

Here's a link to a DW extension that provides a UI for specifying your
settings and generates the .mxi for you:

[url]http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&extid=149758[/url]

There may be a few fields that it doesn't support, but it's the easiest
way to get started.

HTH,
Randy

> Can someone point me to the documentation on how to create the .mxi file. The
> acceptable structures within the .mxi, etc. I can't find any direct
> documentation on it...on other documents elluding to it. I'm looking for API,
> developer level documentation of the .mxi file format and the acceptably syntax.

[SalesCart]

Thanks guys...we already have .mxi files. We were just looking for a way to
specify files "relative" to the location of the .mxi files. It looks like you
can do that if the files are "upstream" in the folder heiracy but not
"downstream". If you can, it does not appear we can find it in the
documentation.

[danilocelic AdobeCommunityExpert]

SalesCart wrote:

> Thanks guys...we already have .mxi files. We were just looking for a way to
> specify files "relative" to the location of the .mxi files. It looks like you
> can do that if the files are "upstream" in the folder heiracy but not
> "downstream". If you can, it does not appear we can find it in the
> documentation.

Actually the docs do state that you can do it using relative paths:
[url]http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ExtensionManager/2.0/mxi_file_format.pdf#Page=13[/url]
(page 13 in case the anchor doesn't take you there automatically), however, in practice, it doesn't seem to work for the ../ type of relative pathing. In Extension Manager 2 (CS4) you'll get an error message:
"A file contains an invalid parent path reference (..). The extension package will not be created."


--
Danilo Celic
| [url]http://blog.extensioneering.com/[/url]
| WebAssist Extensioneer
| Adobe Community Expert

[SalesCart]

[q]Originally posted by: Newsgroup User

Actually the docs do state that you can do it using relative paths:
[url]http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ExtensionManager/2.0/mxi_file_format.pdf#Page=13[/url]
(page 13 in case the anchor doesn't take you there automatically), however, in
practice, it doesn't seem to work for the ../ type of relative pathing. In
Extension Manager 2 (CS4) you'll get an error message:
"A file contains an invalid parent path reference (..). The extension package
will not be created."


--
Danilo Celic
| [url]http://blog.extensioneering.com/[/url]
| WebAssist Extensioneer
| Adobe Community Expert
[/q]

Yes, we read that. It indicates you can do it, but does not specifically
document "how". It leaves you thinking that ../ might work but it doesn't. So
perhaps, there is a way to do it, but it appears to be undocumented. Some
symbol like ~\ perhaps. We tested more than a few ways and could not discover
it...we didn't test ~ though. Perhaps $?? Not sure.

[Andres Cayon]

I'm not sure if this will suit your needs, but...
You can specify both the source (the location where the file to be included
is) and the destination (the place where the fille will be put when the
extension is installed):
<file source="myFile.htm" destination="$dreamweaver/Configuration/.../.../"
/>

Just curious: Is there a reason to put the files in another place rather
than the folder where you are building the mxi file and the extension
itself?

--
Andres Cayon
Spain Adobe Dreamweaver User Group
[url]http://www.dwug.es[/url]
----------------------


"SalesCart" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> escribió en el mensaje de
noticias news:gie8ua$rar$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> [q]Originally posted by: Newsgroup User
>
> Actually the docs do state that you can do it using relative paths:
> [url]http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ExtensionManager/2.0/mxi_file_format.pdf#Page=13[/url]
> (page 13 in case the anchor doesn't take you there automatically),
> however, in
> practice, it doesn't seem to work for the ../ type of relative pathing.
> In
> Extension Manager 2 (CS4) you'll get an error message:
> "A file contains an invalid parent path reference (..). The extension
> package
> will not be created."
>
>
> --
> Danilo Celic
> | [url]http://blog.extensioneering.com/[/url]
> | WebAssist Extensioneer
> | Adobe Community Expert
> [/q]
>
> Yes, we read that. It indicates you can do it, but does not specifically
> document "how". It leaves you thinking that ../ might work but it
> doesn't. So
> perhaps, there is a way to do it, but it appears to be undocumented. Some
> symbol like ~\ perhaps. We tested more than a few ways and could not
> discover
> it...we didn't test ~ though. Perhaps $?? Not sure.
>

[SalesCart]

[q]
Just curious: Is there a reason to put the files in another place rather
than the folder where you are building the mxi file and the extension
itself?

--
Andres Cayon
Spain Adobe Dreamweaver User Group
[url]http://www.dwug.es[/url]
----------------------
[/q]

Well if you have a lot of files you have to organize them into folders. We
have been able to get away with everything upstream relative to the .mxi file
so far. However, if you have multiple builds that intersect different folder
structures, then it starts getting complex where you need to pick and choose
files from different folders that may be folders downstream relative to the
current folder and file structure.

However, it is only a matter of clean coding convenience of the .mxi file.

[Al Sparber - PVII]

We encountered the same problem a long time ago and it was a pain because a
lot of our extensions have 100 or more files. We just make a folder
structure for the assets in the same structure as they will be written to
the configuration folder and then create a duplicate folder for each
extension build.
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/mxi.gif[/url]

That way the source files in the MXI are all at the same folder level.

--
Al Sparber - PVII
[url]http://www.projectseven.com[/url]
Fully Automated Menu Systems | Galleries | Widgets
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/go/Elevators[/url]


"SalesCart" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:gie8ua$rar$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> [q]Originally posted by: Newsgroup User
>
> Actually the docs do state that you can do it using relative paths:
> [url]http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ExtensionManager/2.0/mxi_file_format.pdf#Page=13[/url]
> (page 13 in case the anchor doesn't take you there automatically),
> however, in
> practice, it doesn't seem to work for the ../ type of relative pathing.
> In
> Extension Manager 2 (CS4) you'll get an error message:
> "A file contains an invalid parent path reference (..). The extension
> package
> will not be created."
>
>
> --
> Danilo Celic
> | [url]http://blog.extensioneering.com/[/url]
> | WebAssist Extensioneer
> | Adobe Community Expert
> [/q]
>
> Yes, we read that. It indicates you can do it, but does not specifically
> document "how". It leaves you thinking that ../ might work but it
> doesn't. So
> perhaps, there is a way to do it, but it appears to be undocumented. Some
> symbol like ~\ perhaps. We tested more than a few ways and could not
> discover
> it...we didn't test ~ though. Perhaps $?? Not sure.
>

[danilocelic AdobeCommunityExpert]

SalesCart wrote:

> Yes, we read that. It indicates you can do it, but does not specifically
> document "how". It leaves you thinking that ../ might work but it doesn't. So
> perhaps, there is a way to do it, but it appears to be undocumented. Some
> symbol like ~\ perhaps. We tested more than a few ways and could not discover
> it...we didn't test ~ though. Perhaps $?? Not sure.

It's not undocumented how it works, it's just not documented accurately compared to how it actually works: relative paths that go up a folder level are not allowed, and in fact generate an error, at least in EMCS4.

--
Danilo Celic
| [url]http://blog.extensioneering.com/[/url]
| WebAssist Extensioneer
| Adobe Community Expert