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Dan@FWD
Dan@FWD
New Participant
February 19, 2022
Question

Dreamweaver PHP Source Format - Incorrect Rewriting of Backslashes

  • February 19, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 691 views

In a .php file, when selecting Edit > Code > Apply Source Formatting, Dreamweaver has a code-breaking bug. It applies incorrect spacing before and after backslashes used in PHP Class namespaces. For instance, this is what a namespace looks like after formatting (two examples: one without a backslash to begin the namespace and one with):

<?php

use Path\ ToMy\ Namespaced\ PHPClass;

// Fully qualified name
use\ FullyQualified\ Namespaced\ PHPClass;

 

Before PHP version 8, this didn’t seem to affect the parser at all, so I never worried about it. After I updated my local environment to PHP 8.1, it throws a syntax error whenever there is a space after a backslash, or no space after a reserved keyword (use, new, return).  This is probably a strict-mode condition that can be turned off, but that shouldn’t be necessary.

 

In all instances, it just seems like incorrect behavior to ever change source code in this way. Backslashes have a very important role in PHP and should not be affected by source formatting. Is there a way to change this behaviour in Dreamweaver, or is this simply a bug that Adobe needs to fix?

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

P
Paul-M
Community Expert
February 21, 2022

Some code formatting issues with PHP have been around for a long time, some were fixed/some still remain.

Also I'm guessing Dreamweaver does not officially supports PHP 8 as in preferences the highest version option is PHP 7.1, so it is way behind the curve....

Paul-M - Community Expert
Jon Fritz
Jon Fritz
Community Expert
February 21, 2022

This was a known bug that had been sitting in the old uservoice forum (bug report/feature request forum) for quite a while. It was far worse when it was originally discovered and they did fix a lot of php rewriting issues that were introduced when Brackets was added.

However, I don't think Adobe plans any more bug fixes for DW. They're calling it "minimally maintained" now and have gotten rid of the uservoice forum all together. 

Your best course is probably going to be what Nancy implies, don't use Apply Source Formatting in php files.

    Dan@FWD
    Dan@FWDAuthor
    New Participant
    February 21, 2022

    I’m unfortunately, one of those poor souls that started using GoLive back in the day and then transitioned to Dreamweaver. I haven’t been able to find an IDE that does what DW does out of the box without tons of mods and configuration. I’m just too ensconsed in it to change my work flow at this point. That might have to change...

     

    It seems like DW is nearing end-of-life phase, so I hope Adobe does the right thing and releases the code into the wild as open source. It would free up their resources for other projects that are more important to them, and allow the open source community to actually do some critically necessary work on the app.

    Dan@FWD
    Dan@FWDAuthor
    New Participant
    February 21, 2022
    quote

    I haven’t been able to find an IDE that does what DW does out of the box without tons of mods and configuration. 

     

    By @Dan@FWD

     

    I'd be interested to know what Dreamweaver can do out of the box in terms of php.........have you tried the 'php storm' IDE from jet brains? Personally I think its the number one premium php editor out there, although granted it does have rather a lot going on, most of which I just ignore. At least its being actively updated.


    DW can't do anything that even a text editor like VS Code or Atom can't do better. But I am a full stack developer who is constantly moving from php to html to js to css to twig to blade, etc. 

     

    I manage a lot of different sites, most with staging sites. The built-in sftp with sync is invaluable. The snippets library comes into use a lot. It feels like it would take me a month to configure another ide, set up shortcuts, install the necessary modules and learn the new workflow. But I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet soon.

    Nancy OShea
    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    February 19, 2022

    I tried it with the following code and can't reproduce what you describe.  Auto format didn't not change my code. 

     

    <!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>PHP Info</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>
<?php phpinfo() ?>
<?php use Path\ToMy\Namespaced\PHPClass; ?>
</p>
</body>
</html>

     

    When DW misbehaves, it's usually due to 1 of 2 things:  1) Code errors in the document or 2) corrupted preferences. See Restore Preferences below.

    https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver.html

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    Dan@FWD
    Dan@FWDAuthor
    New Participant
    February 20, 2022

    I am referring to a pure PHP document (as my example clearly showed), not a mixed content page. I rarely, if ever mix PHP and HTML anymore, since there are many good templating systems out there, and it isn’t good MVC principles to mix them anyway.

     

    Also, this problem occurred in Dreamweaver 2020 and persisted in Dreamweaver 2021, even after a completely fresh install. It isn’t the preferences, and it isn’t a coding error. It is a problem with Dreamweaver’s source formatting engine, and there is no way given to alter the behaviour on the user’s end that I can see.

    Nancy OShea
    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    February 20, 2022

    PATIENT:  Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I format source code in PHP scripts.

    DOCTOR:  Then stop doing it.

    😀

     

    Seriously, I don't know of any way to change it, either.  Sorry.

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
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