Alchemy Help:
Project window

The Alchemy Project Window

• Double-clicking on an item with the left mouse button
• Selecting an item and clicking the right mouse button to display the speed menu
• Selecting an item and pressing the Enter key
• Clicking on an item with the left mouse button and dragging it to an application window
• Selecting the appropriate item under the Project pulldown menu

Don't forget to use the speed menu which is accessed by clicking the right mouse button; it's the fastest and easiest way to work with items within most Alchemy windows.

The folder pane

• Project folder
  The first folder in the folder pane is the Project folder. When this folder is selected, the pane on the right displays an overview of the contents of your project, showing the size and approximate download time for each HTML document. The size and download time are calculated based on files in the document that are transferred from the web server to a web browser application when a user asks for the document. For example, this includes items such as the HTML document itself, the background image, inline graphics and Java applets. Items that are not downloaded until the user specifically requests them, such as .ZIP files and CGI-BIN scripts, are not included in the calculation. When this folder is selected, you can add HTML documents to it by selecting the Project/Add new document to folder... menu item, or add new file folders to it (see below) by selecting the Project/Add new folder to project... menu item.

• HTML folders
  HTML folders are displayed in yellow, and represent your HTML source files. When one of these folders is selected, the pane on the right displays the contents of the folder, showing the size and download time for each file referenced in the HTML document. When one of these folders is selected, you can delete it from your project by selecting the Delete selected item from project menu item, or delete both the folder and the HTML file to which it refers by selecting the Delete selected file from project and disk menu item.

  You can edit the HTML document that is represented by an HTML folder by double-clicking on it, or by selecting the Edit selected file menu item. You can view the document by selecting the View selected file menu item. You can simultaneously load an HTML document into your Web Browser and Web Editor by selecting it and pressing the Enter key.

• File folders
  File folders are displayed in green. You can use file folders to include items in your project that are not referenced within any of your HTML source files and therefore would not ordinarily be uploaded to your web server since they are unknown to Alchemy, or items which the current version of Alchemy does not recognize (such as a new graphics file format). When you create a new project, Alchemy automatically creates two file folders, the Home folder and the CGI-BIN folder. Items that you add to the Home folder will be uploaded to your home directory, while items in the CGI-BIN folder will be uploaded to your CGI-BIN directory. In addition to the two default folders, you can create your own file folders by selecting the Project/Add new folder to project... menu item.

  When one of these folders is selected, the pane on the right displays the contents of the folder, showing the size and download time for each file in the folder. You can delete the folder from your project by selecting the Delete selected item from project menu item. You can add files to the folder by selecting the Add new file to folder... menu item.

The document pane

There are three different view styles available in the document pane. You can change the view style by selecting the Options/View menu item on the Project window menu bar, or by clicking one of the view-style buttons on the Project window toolbar.

• Thumbnails + descriptions - For graphics files, a thumbnail image is displayed on the left side of each tile, while the file size, download time and image-specific information are displayed on the right. If the image is in a format that can be displayed by most web browsers (i.e., GIF or JPEG), an inline image graphic will be overlaid onto the thumbnail. For non-graphics files, an icon representing the file's type is displayed on the left side of the tile, and the file size and download time are displayed on the right. If the file is an HTML document which has been modified, the icon will be overlaid with an update required graphic, indicating that the folder size and download time may not be correct.

• Thumbnails only - For graphics files, a thumbnail image is displayed. If the image is in a format that can be displayed by most web browsers (i.e., GIF or JPEG), an inline image graphic will be overlaid onto the thumbnail. For non-graphics files, an icon representing the file's type is displayed. If the file is an HTML document which has been modified, the icon will be overlaid with an update required graphic, indicating that the folder size and download time may not be correct.

• Descriptions only - For graphics files, the file size, download time and image-specific information are displayed. For non-graphics files, the file size and download time are displayed. If the file is an HTML document which has been modified, the text will be red, indicating that the folder size and download time may not be correct.

Alchemy checks each of your HTML documents each time you return to the project window to see if it has been modified, and automatically reloads it to reflect the true size and download time, so you should normally not see the update required indicator. If you do, you can manually update your project by selecting the Project/Refresh project menu item on the Project window menu bar, or by clicking the Refresh project button on the Project window toolbar.

Alchemy uses external applications to edit graphics files. If you are using a document pane view which displays thumbnails, and you switch to an image editing application to edit an image file and then return to the Project window, the image's thumbnail will contain the text "N/A". This indicates that the thumbnail is no longer a true representation of the image. You can update the thumbnail by selecting Update selected thumbnail on the Project window menu bar, or by selecting Update thumbnail from the speed menu. Alchemy does not automatically update the thumbnails since this can be a lengthy operation if you are working with large images, and this allows you to decide how to best use your time.

What's on the menu?

• Double-clicking it
• Pressing the Enter key
• Dragging and dropping it into an editor
• Clicking the right mouse button and selecting Edit from the speed menu

Since you can perform any project operation from the Project window menu bar, we'll give you a walkthrough of everything that's on it, and you can decide later which shortcuts you want to use as you work with Alchemy.

• File
  New project file...
  Displays the New project dialog and allows you to create a new project.

  Open project file...
  Displays the Open file dialog and allows you to open an existing project file.

  Save project file
  Saves the current project file.

  Save project file as...
  Displays the Save file dialog and allows you to save the current project file under a different name.

  Import directory as new project file...
  Displays the New project dialog and allows you to import the contents of a directory as a project file. This will read all HTML files in the directory that you specify and turn them into an Alchemy project. Hint: if you ever end up with a missing or corrupt project file, use this to painlessly recover!

  Import web site as new project file...
  Displays the New project dialog and allows you to import a web site as a project file. Alchemy will use the URL that you supply to download an entire web site from a server and turn it into an Alchemy project. All of the files that are retrieved from the server will be placed in the project directory, and file references within the HTML files will be adjusted so that you can surf the web site on your PC just as you would with any other Alchemy project.

  Export project to directory...
  Displays the Select directory dialog and allows you to select a directory. All of the source files in your project will be copied to the directory. This feature can be used to upload your web site to an intranet server, and is also handy for archiving your web site.

  Export project to file...
  Displays the Open file dialog and allows you to specify a file name. A directory listing of all of the source files in your project will be written to the file.

  Print
  Sends a directory listing of all of the source files in your project to the printer.

  Print setup...
  Displays the Print setup dialog and allows you to select a printer and set options for the printer such as paper size and orientation.

  Exit Alchemy
  Terminates the Alchemy application.

• Project
  Upload project to server
  Uploads the project to your web server. Only files which have changed since they were last uploaded will be sent.

  Clear dependencies
  Alchemy keeps track of the last time you uploaded each of the files in your project, and will not upload a file unless it is newer than the copy on the server. You can select this menu item to clear the date dependencies so that all of the files in your project will be sent to the server the next time you upload the project.

  Set dependencies
  Alchemy keeps track of the last time you uploaded each of the files in your project, and will not upload a file unless it is newer than the copy on the server. You can select this menu item to reset the date dependencies so that none of the files in your project will be sent to the server the next time you upload the project.

  Add new folder to project...
  Displays the Folder properties dialog and allows you to add a folder to the project. The folder will be associated with the server directory which you specify in the Server directory field; any files that you put into the folder (see the next item below) will be copied into this directory when you upload the project.

  Add new file to folder...
  Displays the Open file dialog and allows you to add a file to the currently selected folder. This will be an HTML document if the Project folder is selected, or any type of file if any other folder is selected. You cannot add files to an HTML folder, since the contents are determined by references in the HTML source code.

  Delete selected file from project
  Deletes the reference to the selected file from the project. The file itself is not deleted.

  Delete selected file from project and disk
  Deletes the reference to the selected file from the project and deletes the file from the disk.

  View selected file
  Sends the selected HTML file to your web browser application.

  Edit selected file
  Sends the selected file to an editor application. If the selected file is an HTML document, it will be sent to whatever tool you have selected as your web editor. Otherwise, Alchemy will select a helper application based on the file type.

  Update selected thumbnail
  Updates the thumbnail image for the selected graphics file.

  Update all thumbnails
  Updates the thumbnail images for all graphics files which have been modified.

  Refresh project
  Scans all modified HTML files to display correct file sizes/download times and updates thumbnail graphics.

  Go to web site
  Displays the web browser window and connects to the web site on the server. The URL that is used here is entered in the Home Page section of the Project preferences dialog

• Tools
  Note pad
  Displays the note pad file in the Web Editor window. The note pad is persistent between projects.

  Time tracker
  Displays a dialog which tells you how long the currently loaded project has been active. The timer begins running when you open the project file, and stops when you close it.

  Check project for errors
  Checks the project for broken links and missing or unreadable files, then displays the Message Window. You can double-click on error messages in the Messages Window to go to the offending line of source code.

  Clean project directory
  Displays a list of all files in the project directory which are not referenced within your project. The files that you select will be deleted from the hard drive when you push the Delete button. If the Back up files before deleting checkbox is checked, Alchemy will create a subdirectory named cleaned beneath the project directory and copy each file into the subdirectory before deleting it.

  Create site map
  Generates an HTML document containing a clickable directory-tree-style overview of your project and adds it to the project.

  Create table of contents
  Generates an HTML document containing a clickable table of contents-style overview of your project and adds it to the project.

  Create index
  Generates an HTML document containing a clickable alphabetical index-style overview of your project and adds it to the project.

• Options
  Alchemy preferences...
  Displays the Alchemy preferences dialog and allows you select colors, fonts, tools, helper apps, etc.

  Project preferences...
  Displays the Project preferences dialog and allows you select your home page, change FTP and Telnet settings, etc.

  View
  Allows you to change the document view to Thumbnails+descriptions, Thumbnails only or Descriptions only.

• Helpers
  Allows you to go to a helper application window such as an image editor. You set these items up in the Helper applications section of the Alchemy preferences dialog.

• Window
  Allows you to selectively display, go to or hide any of the Alchemy windows. You set these items up in the Windows section of the Alchemy preferences dialog.

• Help
  Contents
  Displays this file.

  Setting up Alchemy
  Displays help for setting up Alchemy with the Alchemy preferences dialog.

  Setting up a project
  Displays help for creating, importing or modifying a Alchemy project with the Alchemy project dialog.

  About...
  Displays Alchemy product, contact and version information