I’d like to highlight a product for web development today called Instant Source by Blazing Tools Software. Now a huge disclaimer… I would not normally consider posting about a tool that is specific to the dreaded Internet Explorer. This is an exception, however because this tool is so absolutely cool and useful. (Plus I’m currently searching for a Firefox alternative)
Instant Source lets you take a look at a web page’s source code. Big deal, right? Well of course you have always been able to do this using the View Source command common on all browsers, but Instant Source kicks this concept up a notch. Now you can view the code for selected elements instantly, without having to open the entire source of the page. The program opens up a toolbar window at the bottom of Internet Explorer which displays the source code for whatever part of the page you select in the browser window.
Click the image to enlarge
You can even set it to show source code for every element under your cursor, allowing you to quickly peak through the source as your cursor moves across the page. Instant Source can show all Flash movies, script files (*.JS, *.VBS), style sheets (*.CSS) and images on a page. You can save all external files into the selected folder with a one click. Other features include handy HTML, JavaScript and VBScript syntax highlighting and support for viewing external CSS and scripts files directly in the browser.
Features:
- You get the HTML of the page element as quickly as possible – just hover the mouse over it, or select it.
- HTML editing directly inside web browser.
- Enhanced View Source command replacement.
- Instant Source can display the HTML code that exactly matches the visible content of the page.
- It shows all external files on a page and lets you to save them with a one click.
- Handy HTML, Javascript and VBScript syntax highlighting.
- Easy real-time viewing of the cascade style sheets (CSS) and script files.
- Quick access. Click on the button on the Internet Explorer toolbar to invoke Instant Source.
Now this is commercial software, but at under $15.00 it is not that great an expense for such a nifty piece of software. Also there is a FREE trial that you can download to give it a whirl. I’ve included a link to the trial download below.