The data formatting functions are called in the following scenarios:
In the Dynamic Data or the Dynamic Text dialog box, the user selects a node from the data source tree and a format from the Format menu. When the user selects the format, Dreamweaver calls the generateDynamicDataRef() function and passes the return value from the generateDynamicDataRef() function to the formatDynamicDataRef() function. The return value from the formatDynamicDataRef() function appears in the Code setting of the dialog box. After the user clicks OK, the string of code is inserted into the user’s document. Next, Dreamweaver calls the applyFormat() function to insert a function declaration. For more information, see generateDynamicDataRef(). A similar process occurs when the user works with the Bindings panel.
If the user changes the format or deletes the dynamic data item, the deleteFormat() function is called. The deleteFormat() function removes the support scripts from the document.
When the user clicks the Plus (+) button in the Edit Format List dialog box, Dreamweaver displays a menu that contains all the format types for the specified server model. Each format type corresponds to a file in the Configuration/ServerFormats/currentServerModel folder.
If the user selects a format from the Plus (+) menu that requires a user-specified parameter, Dreamweaver executes the onload handler on the body tag and displays the Parameters dialog box, which shows the parameters for the format type. In this dialog box, when the user selects parameters for the format and clicks OK, Dreamweaver calls the applyFormatDefinition() function.
If the selected format does not need to display a Parameters dialog box, Dreamweaver calls the applyFormatDefinition() function when the user selects the format type from the Plus (+) menu.
Later, if the user edits the format by selecting it in the Edit Format List dialog box and clicking the Edit button, Dreamweaver calls the inspectFormatDefinition() function before the Parameters dialog box appears, so the form controls can be initialized to the correct values.