DREAMWEAVER MX 2004 GLITCH

Report · Dec 27, 2021

I have been using Dreamweaver MX 2004 in Windows 10 for many years with no problems. Yes there is newer better software available but I don't have the time to learn how to use it and prefer to stick with what I know. I have a couple of websites that are very basic and MX 2004 enables me to keep them updated myself without outsourcing to designers. I currently have two websites installed on the software which I will call Site A and Site B. Site A is working fine as usual - update, put, synchronise etc. Site B has recently developed a fault that causes the program to crash whenever I try to connect to the remote server to view files, put or synchronise. Tis happened after I made some edits to the root file index.html and mucked up the code. I did not make any changes to any other file in the site.
Here is the error message I receive when trying to connect to remote server:

While executing receiveArguments in Site_File.htm, the following JavaScript error(s) occurred:

At line 30 of ‘c:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX \\Configuration\Menus\MM\Site_File.js’:
Exception thrown in native function.

Is there a simple code fix for this or do i need to look at using another program to download my remote files (which are not corrupted) and copy them into a fresh local site definition in Dreamweaver?

Report · Dec 27, 2021

... if I understand quite well... Site B was working fine, you did some change on the local site, then now you get the DW's error... ?

without seeing your code it's hard to get the trouble that you face... probably an extension trouble... are you using Server Behavior ? or Widget ?... or Spry library ?

Report · Dec 27, 2021

Is there a simple code fix for this or do i need to look at using another program to download my remote files (which are not corrupted) and copy them into a fresh local site definition in Dreamweaver?

By @AARON22417749wsjs

Well DW can esaly handle it... just create Site C on your local folder, define it as it (Site C) in DW, connect remote and get all the files

Report · Dec 27, 2021

yes i was thinking something like that would be an easier fix - i will give that a try, ta.

Report · Dec 28, 2021

You don't need to create a new site, JS errors in DW are fairly common. I would just delete the Configuration folder and let it be created. There is a KB article of other steps you can take, but that one should do it.

https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/troubleshoot-javascript-errors-dreamweaver-cs6-cc.html

Additionally if the index file is really an issue can you upload it to a server for us to view the source? I doubt that even a improperly formatted document or code error would cause this.

Report · Dec 28, 2021

@Ben M I agree, but why the Site A describe by @AARON22417749wsjs works normally... so as just Site B is getting the error, it must be a Site error and not a DW error... don't you think ?

Report · Dec 29, 2021

i tried
- renaming/deleting the Configuration folder
- re-creating site cache
- deleting the filecache.dat file
- downloading remote files with Filezilla and using these files to create Site C in Dreamweaver
- replacing Site B header code with Site A header code
however Site B and Site C both still crash the application (DW) when trying to connect to remote view.

Site B header code now looks like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<title>PAGE TITLE</title>
<link href="css/class.css" rel="stylesheet">
<style type="text/css">
<!--

I also tried reinstalling the application but got a "catastrophic failure" error
"An installation support file could not be installed".

Report · Dec 29, 2021

however Site B and Site C both still crash the application (DW) when trying to connect to remote view.
By @AARON22417749wsjs

two points strange

are you talking about remote view ? what do you mean by remote view ?
in those site are you using widget ? Server behavior ? Spry library ?... that you don't use in site A

Report · Dec 29, 2021

Remote view is the list of files in the website that are residing on the remote (hosting) server.
Local view is the corresponding list of site files on my computer.
DW MX 2004 enables me to work on local copies of the website files and then upload them to the hosting server, which is essential for people like me who don't have a permanent internet connection.
Trying to find another more modern app that does the same thing has been difficult.

No server behaviours or other bells and whistles on any of my sites - just HTML codes, cascading style sheets and a bit of JS

Report · Dec 29, 2021

ok... so you talk about the files panel, not the page rendering. OK.

so you don't use any DW specific features, juste plain HTML , CSS and JS.

well, could please give a try to those steps...

create site D, and see if dreamweaver gets the error or not
add by copying just the HTML (the index one) file of site C (the very first one without any modification) the one that was working
add the linked CSS file (in the appropriate tree folder)
is this still working...
so yo get the idea

Report · Dec 29, 2021

good idea, i will try this, maybe this will identify the source of the problem

Report · Dec 28, 2021

I had to double check the date of this post to be sure I wasn't in a time warp. 🙃

In any case, validate your code and fix all reported errors. Use free Filezilla Client to transfer files to your server.

HTML Validation Service: https://validator.w3.org/

FileZilla Client: https://filezilla-project.org/download.php

In its day, MX2004 was no great shakes at FTP or producing stellar code. But back then bad code didn't matter much. Most browsers weren't too picky and would consume whatever we threw at them without much fuss. But that all changed.

18 years later, the story has some new plot twists: most web traffic comes from smartphones, tablets & hybrid devices, not desktops & laptops. Also web browsers are much less forgiving of code errors. So if you're not working with mobile-friendly, standards-compliant code, you have problems whether or not you're aware of them.

Compared to modern coding tools, MX 2004 ranks somewhere between rotting garbage & putrid sewer sludge. Notwithstanding the JS errors you're receiving, MX lacks any support for modern HTML5, CSS, SASS/LESS, EC6, SVG & PHP7 scripts. So you're not doing anyone any favors by clinging to an obsolete code editor.

Best advice, get up to speed with modern code standards and download a good code editor.
-- https://www.w3schools.com/html/
-- https://www.w3schools.com/css/
-- https://www.w3schools.com/js/

MODERN CODE EDITORS:
-- Adobe Dreamweaver CC - https://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver.html
-- Atom (free) - https://atom.io/
-- Codespaces (free, browser-based) - https://github.com/features/codespaces

-- Espresso (Mac only) - https://www.espressoapp.com/

-- Nova (Mac only, formerly called Coda) - https://nova.app/
-- Pinegrow - https://pinegrow.com/
-- Sublime Text - http://www.sublimetext.com/
-- Visual Studio Code (free) - https://code.visualstudio.com/
-- Wappler ~ Visual Web App Builder - https://wappler.io/

Hope that helps.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · Dec 29, 2021

Yes I'm aware I'm working with a dinosaur but as a person with limited coding and design skills and without the time or interest to become more skilled at web design (I'd rather pay somebody else to do it when the time comes) all I want to be able to do for the time being is make minor adjustments / updates to a couple of very old websites originally designed and published in MX 2004 that will not take kindly to being imported into a more modern editor without requiring a major site overheal which I am not ready for yet.
To me one of the most valuable features of Dreamweaver MX 2004 is the site file manager and built in FTP.
I have not yet been able to find another WYSIWYG editor with this feature that has similar functionality to MX 2004.
Am reluctant to move to Dreamweaver CS6 and later as it requires selling your soul to Adobe Creative Cloud which I find intrusive as it wants to control my whole computer and hog all the memory and startup time.

Report · Dec 29, 2021

Am reluctant to move to Dreamweaver CS6 and later as it requires selling your soul to Adobe Creative Cloud which I find intrusive as it wants to control my whole computer and hog all the memory and startup time.

============

You're obviously misinformed about how Creative Cloud apps work. Assuming your device meets the minimum CPU and GPU requirements and is properly configured, Creative Cloud does not take control of anything nor does it abuse memory or hog resources as you claim.

As for Creative Suite 6, that's ancient history now. The CS6 ship sailed 5 years ago when Adobe stopped selling & supporting the Creative Suite product line.

If you want alternatives to Dreamweaver CC, I gave you a well-compiled list above -- some free, some with free trials so you can try before you buy. But honestly, if your code is so f****d up that it won't open in any other code editor, you have much deeper problems that go beyond the scope of this product support community. I wish you the best of luck.

Goodbye and have a happy new year!

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · Dec 29, 2021

You're obviously misinformed about how Creative Cloud apps work. Assuming your device meets the minimum CPU and GPU requirements and is properly configured, Creative Cloud does not take control of anything nor does it abuse memory or hog resources as you claim.
By @Nancy OShea

well... at start up Adobe CC takes :

8 HKLM:Run, 15 are running in all
3 Scheduled Tasks, 7 are running in all
4 windows services, 10 are running in all

not so bad for not taking any control... don't you think...

have fun... 😉

Report · Dec 29, 2021

I can honestly say I have used Dreamweaver, Photoshop and other Adobe products on Windows OS for many, many years without any major issues. If your computer is not configured properly to support Adobe apps, that's not a software problem. It's a user problem.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · Dec 29, 2021

it is well known that DW is greedy in resources and that it freezes as soon as the document (XML or JSON) are very large and that we proceed to a search / replace... I don't list hre all the thread relative to crash of DW... or DW is unusable... and so on...

on the other hand, don't dismiss the remark as a simple nonsense (it's not a machine problem but a user problem... what's the connection???), and admit that Adobe invades our system resources by placing a lot of sniffer at startup... right? or no... 8 HKLM:Run out of 15.... 3 Scheduled Tasks out of 7 and 4 windows services out of 10 !!!! amazing

Report · Dec 29, 2021

@AARON22417749wsjs did you change the local code of site B just before getting the errors you mention, or did these errors appear during a synchronization with the remote site B?

Report · Dec 29, 2021

Yes I was fiddling with the header code of index.html trying to modify the page title and add some meta tags (keywords and description) and this is where i believe I introduced some kind of corruption in the code BUT when I downloaded the uncorrupted index.html from the remote server and pasted this into the local view in placed of the "corrupted" index.html it did not solve the problem - Site B still crashes the app when attempting to connect to remote view.

Report · Dec 29, 2021

does your site A also crash DW... or not ?

Report · Dec 29, 2021

No

Report · Dec 29, 2021

so that mean that there is a problem not with DW but with site B

Report · Dec 29, 2021

sounds like it

Report · Dec 29, 2021

did you see in a previous message a step by step test to reproduce ?

Report · Dec 29, 2021

Interesting.
I created Site D with only one file index.html from the Site B remote server (the supposedly non-corrupt version) but trying to then connect to the remote server with DW the app crashed.
I then recreated Site D with the index.html file from Site A and the app also crashed. Retested Site A and it is still connecting okay to its remote host.
Site A and Site B are hosted on the same remote server but have separate domain names and separate webdev log-ins.
I was wondering if it was a log-in issue on the remote server but File-Zilla has no problem logging in to Site B remote server with the same credentials as I am inputting for DW.