TopStyle Pro: The 'HomeSite' of the 21st Century? Tons of Tools and Tricks for Leading-Edge Web Design Lee Underwood
Document Editing
Document editing is done by hand (as opposed to WYSIWYG). The program provides helpers for different tags. As the opening "<" is entered, a drop-down menu opens to aid in completing the code and its attributes.
Documents can even be opened from the Web. When an HTML document is retrieved, all linked style sheets will also be downloaded.
A unique aspect of the software is its ability to export style sheets. If you create browser-specific style sheets and use browser sniffing techniques to switch the visitor to an appropriate style sheet, TopStyle can make your job a little easier. Once a style sheet is created, the export command [File > CSS Export] will allow you to choose a specific browser and TopStyle will create a new style sheet from the current one.
The Style Checker
This tool is used to locate errors and compatibility problems. The errors are reported in the Style Checker tab at the bottom of the screen. Clicking on the errors in the tab will highlight the code in the editor window above. When using the Style Checker, errors for specified levels of CSS and individual browsers can be detected.
Site Management
TopStyle provides for management of your Web site, right on your computer. It offers features such as a summary view of your site, including all style sheets and HTML documents, all broken style links, recently changed documents (HTML and style sheets), and all style sheets with @import statements. The program maintains a database of your site layout and can rebuild the site in the event it has been modified by another program. Site reports cover ID overview, class usage, orphan and undefined classes, and case mismatch.
The program also includes a lite version of CSE HTML Validator. If you have the full version, TopStyle will integrate with it. You can also use the built-in link to the W3C Validator. The results are returned within the program. In addition, a link to the online version of Watchfire's Bobby Accessibility Checker is provided.
Odd and Ends
There are many other little goodies in TopStyle Pro for editing, such as a Style Sweeper for reformatting your style sheets and the ability to view all styles relating to a particular (X)HTML tag or CSS rule. TopStyle can even upgrade your HTML to CSS by converting to CSS any HTML markup that has been deprecated in favor of CSS.
Help and PDF Files
Help is available within the program as well as in a very nice PDF file. The PDF file includes the program's help file as well as a tutorial and a section on CSS basics. In addition, an online support forum is available, as well as a tips blog.
Wrap-Up
TopStyle Pro is a very comprehensive (X)HTML/CSS editor. Overall, the program should make your Web design work flow much easier. If you already have a favorite program for developing Web sites, TopStyle Pro can work alongside it, adding many other features not found anywhere else.
The program is available from Bradbury Software for $79.95. System requirements are Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, or 2003; a Pentium 300 MHz or higher processor; and 64MB RAM or greater.
