Coldfusion

Coldfusion is a web server technology from Adobe (via Macromedia, via Allaire). I have developed web applications using Coldfusion for about ten years. I know absolutely nothing about cold fusion (note the very important space), the scientific field.

New servers are a good thing. It's like a blank canvas for an artist, and very exciting to geeks. They can also be very frustrating - much like I imagine the artistic process to be.

Especially when the server runs a flavor of Linux.

I've had a server like this for a while now, and it was finally time to do something with it. In case you don't know, Linux doesn't really come with instructions. You have to find them yourself, on the web.

Muggles

It's that time again...

In anticipation of the new Harry Potter book coming out in June, I am re-reading the series from the start.

I am up to Book 4 (Goblet of Fire). The first few are such fast reads... but now things will slow down. Hopefully I will be done with the first six books by July 21... and hopefully I will be able to get a copy of the book on or about that day!



Nerd note: JK Rowling's site was built using ColdFusion. :)

360flex - Flex with ColdFusion

presented by Ben Forta

(Note: he has a really cool logo on the preso title screen, with the Flex and ColdFusion logos morphing together. Cheezy happy moment!)

Brain dump stuff

Talking thru various Flex and CF integration good stuff, including FDS integration with CF.

CF and Flex were designed to work together so they compliment each other.

Flash remoting, FDS adapter, messaging gateway (CF enterprise edition only) ... all part of the CF integration package.

RDS integration includes file system, data source, sql query builder, and service browser goodies.

CF and FDS2 are both Java apps running on the J2EE Server.

Try Flex online at http://www.tryflex.org !!

Flash Remoting

Flash remoting (required for CF/Flex integration) is built into CFMX 7.0.2 with no plug in's or extras to install.

Use RemoteObject to access your CFC's. Please. :) More efficient because of the binary protocol used (AMF3) and there is no FDS required.

The CF application wizard in FB2 is really slick. There is a lot of good info about using this on the Adobe website and Ben's blog so I won't post details here. If you are starting to use CF and Flex together this is a great way to go!

CFC and AS class must have the same properties, so use the tag in your CFC. Use the full path to the CFC with a fully qualified dot notation path. AS object needs to be associated with the CFC - use the [RemoteClass] with the fully qualified path to the CFC. Or... things may work... or not. Remember that even though CF is case insensitive, AS is case sensitive ... so spelling and case (and day of the week and the current ambient temperature) all matter because AS is picky. :)

Flex Messaging

Server initiated communication (as opposed to client request). Publish & subscribe to "push" data to anyone monitoring a "channel".

Uses RMI Registry (must enable FDS via CF server admin first) to connect CF to the messaging gateway.

It is really slick - the push is immediate and doesn't depend on polling or waiting. All initiated by the server, a la "hey all you sessions that are listening, here is the new data you need to display". Cool!

Configured as an Event gateway in CF admin, just needs to be running and connected.

All this integration is really easy with Flex and CF. Connection with Java, PHP, any other backends will require more work!! (So.. another benefit to using CF!)

Security

By default, Flex and CF will only accept connections from the same box.

You can configure a list of allowed IP addresses for both sides if CF and FDS are on different boxes.

FDS Data Sync

Eliminates data versioning problems - the "whomever saves last, wins!" scenario. Server will detect a conflict and raise an alert giving developer ability to code message box to allow the client to decide what to do - or deal with the conflict programmatically.

UNFORTUNATELY HAD TO LEAVE EARLY DUE TO FAMILY ISSUE :(

360flex - Yahoo! AS3 and Flex 2 Libraries - Part

presented by the Yahoo! Flash platform team

A bit of background about the Flash platform team. They are the "evangelists" for projects that should be coded on the Flash platform. They develop corporate implementation, code, library, and component standards. Some of the projects with API's available include: Weather, Answers, and Search. (Other API's will be covered tomorrow!)

Yahoo! Weather is a coordinated effort with the Weather Channel to supply detailed meteorological data, forecasts, and other info. Data is updated hourly. This library is the simplest.

Yahoo! Answers is a community driven resource, and is the largest Q&A site on the web. It was launched in Dec 2005 and already has >90% of the market share. This library is a bit more complicated, but still is pretty elegant.

Important: You will need to register for a free API key in order to access these services. I noticed that they don't have a listing for a Coldfusion developer center... but there is a sample app for the Search API that was written in Coldfusion so hopefully that is coming soon. ;)

The team demo'd some cool applications built using Flex: an Answers GUI, a Weather GUI with Answers "hints" based on current conditions. All of the apps were built in under a day, using the API's. Pretty neat stuff!

Yahoo! Search can find images, video, audio, song downloads, album info... tons of other stuff! This is the simplest API of all... just bind the data provider for your control to the results of the service! A simple example was demo'd where the user can enter a search string and present the results in a SWF. They added a couple of different states for different search types (i.e. display image thumbnails in an image search).

Tomorrow... more AS3 libraries, upcoming.org, maps & pipes!

Introducing...

This is for Tim.

Jen, a female web developer persona

• 32 years old


• In a LTR with a RHPB. They have three kids (two girls, 8 and 12; one son, 11) and a dog.


• Drives a 2005 Toyota Matrix (silver) or a Huffy cruiser (green) - depends on the weather.


• Built a house (and still finishing it). It's decorated using warm colors. Wildlife art from Northwest artists, photos taken by Jen and Scott, and a really big wrought-iron clock are some of the items that hang on the walls.


• Sports? Yes, I love baseball, thanks for asking!


• Likes the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" TV commercials... and uses both herself. Hates IBM ads, and those radio spots for Norwalk.


• Loves movies and prefers to watch them at the local theater pub.


• TiVo's Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Gilmore Girls, Survivor and Top Chef. Watches when she has the time.


• Likes hiking, golfing and boating.


• Lives in a community where almost everyone else skis or snowboards regularly. Used to ski... but is thinking about giving snowboarding a try.


• Loves to cook - both from cookbooks and creatively. She specializes in comfort food.


• Music? Not hip at all... she likes country, smooth jazz and classical tunes. She does like to rock as well, but couldn't name that tune or that band!


• Gets sucked into reading tech blogs on a regular basis. She particularly addicted to the blogs run by Ray Camden and Simeon Bateman.


• She manages the local Web Geek usergroup, COWPU.


• She tried out for "Jeopardy!" once. But didn't make it, and may try again some day.

COWPU

Some upcoming COWPU events...

Special Event

On January 18, 2007 at 6pm the Portland Adobe User Group will be hosting "Get to know Adobe Flex Builder 2.0" (presented by Simeon Bateman). If you haven't seen Flex yet this is a great new platform for developing RIA's. This presentation will be shared via webcast... so if you don't want to drive please join us to watch as a group here in Bend! For more information, please visit the COWPU website.

Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on January 24, 2007 at 6pm. For more information, please visit the COWPU website.

List

As I continue to learn and work to improve my skills as a web developer I constantly come across sites and individuals that are helpful. I consult these resources frequently. This is a "list of lists" so to speak... partly a reference for myself but also for others that might be looking for similar information.

The list is a work in progress... I will update it from time to time, so let me know if you have any suggestions!

Web Development in General
fullasagoog: http://www.fullasagoog.com/
Fix My Site: http://fixmysite.blogspot.com/
CSS Zen Garden: http://www.csszengarden.com/

Coldfusion
Raymond Camden's blog: http://ray.camdenfamily.com/
Ben Forta's blog: http://www.forta.com/
Coldfusion Cookbook: http://www.coldfusioncookbook.com/

Flex
Ted on Flex: http://www.onflex.org/ted/
Flex Component Development: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcomponents/

PHP
PHP manual: http://us3.php.net/manual/en/index.php

Usergroups
Central Oregon Web Professionals' Usergroup (COWPU): http://www.cowpu.com
Portland ColdFusion Users Group (PDXCFUG): http://pdxcfug.org/home.cfm

Tease

I was elated last week when Adobe released a beta for the Mac version of Flex Builder 2 (FB2) on their "labs" site. As I mentioned in a previous post the team I work with has been "getting Flex-y" and this was one of the compelling reasons for our attendance at MAX last week. I have been using FB2 on my PC for a couple of months... but I really prefer my Mac for development.

So... as you can imagine as soon as I returned to work yesterday, the first thing I did was download and install the Eclipse plug-in on my Mac. It's not a small file either, and it took about an hour to pull down.

After I finished installing I noticed that the follow up "Do you want to install extensions for Coldfusion?" message that came up when I installed FB2 on my PC didn't appear. So I naively assumed that they were installed automatically.

I launched Eclipse and switched to the Flex workspace. Looks good so far. But then I noticed that the additional tabs and features for building Coldfusion apps was MISSING. Hmmm...

Next I guessed that this had something to do with being a plug-in instead of the full product, so I downloaded the full version. Again - not a small download. And installed it. And launched it. And... still no Coldfusion goodness.

So I turned to my good buddy, Google. I searched for information and found the following, which was buried on the Adobe website:

Will the ColdFusion Extensions for Flex Builder 2 also be available for Macintosh?
Yes, ColdFusion Extensions for Flex Builder 2 will be made available simultaneously with the Flex Builder 2 for Macintosh release. There is however one functional difference in the Macintosh product. The query-builder will not be available on Macintosh.

Which tells me one thing.

Adobe is a TEASE.

The official release of FB2 for Mac is scheduled for 2007. And in order to develop at a good pace... I really need the Coldfusion extensions. (I really don't need the query builder... it was just nice to have.) SO... I will be developing Flex applications on my PC for a few more months I guess.

Sad...