TopStyle
Encyclopedia
TopStyle is a CSS
/XHTML
/HTML editor
for Microsoft Windows
developed by Nick Bradbury and now maintained by Stefan van As. The editor is code-centric rather than WYSIWYG
, with integrated support for previews using either the Mozilla
Gecko
, Internet Explorer
Trident
, or Apple Inc. Webkit
layout engine
s. The software is available as a commercial version
with a trial period.
(then just "HomeSite") in 1995. HomeSite was acquired by Allaire
in March 1997, by Macromedia
in 2001, and finally (as of 2006) by Adobe Systems
. Nick Bradbury left the company to found Bradbury Software in 2003 and created the editor TopStyle and a news aggregator titled FeedDemon
. Bradbury Software was acquired by NewsGator Technologies
in May 2005. Stefan van As has acquired TopStyle in December 2008.
The software additionally supports converting deprecated HTML styling to CSS code, converting HTML code to valid XHTML, and checking for orphaned code or pages.
TopStyle integrates with HTML Tidy
and W3C's validation services.
For thorough offline validating and checking of HTML and XHTML syntax, TopStyle integrates with CSE HTML Validator
. TopStyle 4 can also use CSE HTML Validator to check links.
TopStyle also integrates with Adobe Dreamweaver.
Syntax highlighting
is supported for PHP, ASP, CFML, CSS, XHTML, HTML, JavaScript, and VBScript.
TopStyle 4 was released on May 31, 2009. New features include (UTF-8) unicode support, live FTP editing, support for browsers released since TopStyle 3.5 (IE8, Firefox 3, Safari 3, and Safari 4), Script Insight for ASP + PHP + ColdFusion, support for iPhone (and iPod touch) webapp development, support for HTML 5, IE8 document compatibility, and many more including a large number of bug fixes and improvements.
TopStyle 5 is expected by the end of 2011.
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
/XHTML
XHTML
XHTML is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely-used Hypertext Markup Language , the language in which web pages are written....
/HTML editor
HTML editor
An HTML editor is a software application for creating web pages. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality. For example, many HTML editors work not only with HTML, but also with related...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
developed by Nick Bradbury and now maintained by Stefan van As. The editor is code-centric rather than WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
, with integrated support for previews using either the Mozilla
Mozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
Gecko
Gecko (layout engine)
Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corporation , as well as in many other open source software projects....
, Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
Trident
Trident (layout engine)
Trident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer.It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
, or Apple Inc. Webkit
WebKit
WebKit is a layout engine designed to allow web browsers to render web pages. WebKit powers Google Chrome and Apple Safari and by October 2011 held over 33% of the browser market share between them. It is also used as the basis for the experimental browser included with the Amazon Kindle ebook...
layout engine
Layout engine
A web browser engine, , is a software component that takes marked up content and formatting information and displays the formatted content on the screen. It "paints" on the content area of a window, which is displayed on a monitor or a printer...
s. The software is available as a commercial version
Commercial software
Commercial software, or less commonly, payware, is computer software that is produced for sale or that serves commercial purposes.Commercial software is most often proprietary software, but free software packages may also be commercial software....
with a trial period.
History
TopStyle was created by Nick Bradbury. He also created Macromedia HomeSiteMacromedia HomeSite
HomeSite was an HTML editor owned by Adobe Systems . Unlike WYSIWYG HTML editors such as Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe Dreamweaver, HomeSite was designed for direct editing, or "hand coding," of HTML and other website languages...
(then just "HomeSite") in 1995. HomeSite was acquired by Allaire
Allaire Corporation
Allaire Corporation was a computer software company founded by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in Minnesota, later headquartered in Cambridge, then Newton, Massachusetts...
in March 1997, by Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
in 2001, and finally (as of 2006) by Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
. Nick Bradbury left the company to found Bradbury Software in 2003 and created the editor TopStyle and a news aggregator titled FeedDemon
FeedDemon
FeedDemon is a free RSS Feed reader for Windows. It was created and developed by Nick Bradbury, author of tools HomeSite, an HTML editor, and TopStyle, a CSS editor. FeedDemon is developed in Delphi. FeedDemon was purchased by NewsGator Technologies in May 2005. It is able to synchronize with...
. Bradbury Software was acquired by NewsGator Technologies
NewsGator Technologies
NewsGator Technologies, headquartered in Denver, Colorado with offices in Canada and the Netherlands, is a provider of social and collaborative computing software that utilizes Enterprise 2.0 and Government 2.0 technologies...
in May 2005. Stefan van As has acquired TopStyle in December 2008.
Features
TopStyle supports HTML, XHTML, and CSS editing in various revisions, along with powerful checking for standards and browser compatibility issues. Checking optionally covers a variety of levels, such as a strict W3C CSS specifications, to issues on a wide variety of browsers. This style checker feature not only provides detailed warning messages but enables the user to visually see if parts of HTML or CSS code would be incompatible with a particular browser.The software additionally supports converting deprecated HTML styling to CSS code, converting HTML code to valid XHTML, and checking for orphaned code or pages.
TopStyle integrates with HTML Tidy
HTML Tidy
HTML Tidy is a computer program and a library whose purpose is to fix invalid HTML and to improve the layout and indent style of the resulting markup....
and W3C's validation services.
For thorough offline validating and checking of HTML and XHTML syntax, TopStyle integrates with CSE HTML Validator
CSE HTML Validator
CSE HTML Validator is a software program for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and above that was created by Albert Wiersch and is developed and sold electronically by AI Internet Solutions based near Dallas, TX.CSE HTML Validator is designed to help...
. TopStyle 4 can also use CSE HTML Validator to check links.
TopStyle also integrates with Adobe Dreamweaver.
Syntax highlighting
Syntax highlighting
Syntax highlighting is a feature of some text editors that display text—especially source code—in different colors and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature eases writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and...
is supported for PHP, ASP, CFML, CSS, XHTML, HTML, JavaScript, and VBScript.
Version history
TopStyle 3.5 was released on October 15, 2007 (version 3.5.0.9). New features include better support for Windows Vista and browsers released since TopStyle 3.12 (Safari 2, IE7, Firefox 2, Opera 9), Box Spy (tool that shows padding/margins of boxes in the preview window), and many more including a large number of bug fixes and improvements.TopStyle 4 was released on May 31, 2009. New features include (UTF-8) unicode support, live FTP editing, support for browsers released since TopStyle 3.5 (IE8, Firefox 3, Safari 3, and Safari 4), Script Insight for ASP + PHP + ColdFusion, support for iPhone (and iPod touch) webapp development, support for HTML 5, IE8 document compatibility, and many more including a large number of bug fixes and improvements.
TopStyle 5 is expected by the end of 2011.
See also
- List of HTML editors
- Comparison of HTML editorsComparison of HTML editorsThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of HTML editors.This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up to date...
- CSE HTML ValidatorCSE HTML ValidatorCSE HTML Validator is a software program for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and above that was created by Albert Wiersch and is developed and sold electronically by AI Internet Solutions based near Dallas, TX.CSE HTML Validator is designed to help...
- ValidatorValidatorA validator is a computer program used to check the validity or syntactical correctness of a fragment of code or document. The term is commonly used in the context of validating HTML, CSS and XML documents or RSS feeds though it can be used for any defined format or language.-HTML validator:In the...
External links
- TopStyle
- Official TopStyle News
- [news://svanas.dynip.com/ TopStyle NNTP newsgroups]
- TopStyle's web-based forums
- Nick Bradbury's blog