Have you ever wished CFINPUT provided a way to validate an e-mail address? Or
were you frustrated that its telephone validation didn't allow parentheses
around an area code among other such limitations?
Well, your wish has been granted in a new, little-known feature of CF5.
While many will know of the top 10 or so new features in CF5, few will know
about the dozens (yes, dozens) of less-promoted enhancements. One of these is
the ability to validate user input by way of regular expressions. (If you're
new to regular expressions, we'll show you some examples and point you to the
CF docs where you can learn more.)
The new feature isn't something that you couldn't do previously, if you knew
how to code input validation tests in JavaScript. But, like so many features
in CF, the point is that a single tag can solve the problem for you much more
easily.
New Capabilities fo... (more)
Many new J2EE developers get caught up in focusing on the details and nuances
of servlets and JSPs and, as a result, may not learn how to leverage
JavaScript. Some may even dismiss it as too much hassle, given cross-browser
compatibility issues.
For both audiences there's still value in learning at least a minimal amount
about client-side scripting. Even learning about just one feature - setting
the cursor on the first form field you may have - can bring measurable
benefit to your site visitors.
In this month's Journeyman J2EE, we depart from pure J2EE topics to address
this su... (more)
You're nearly finished with the code you've been slaving over for hours (or
days or weeks, or maybe it was just a few seconds' effort). You're about to
turn it loose for your customers to enjoy. The questions are: Is it ready? Do
you know it will work? Have you tested it? If so, how? Indeed, should you be
turning it over to the users as the next step?
Running the code to make sure it works is the most common "test" performed by
beginning and even many experienced developers, but it's rarely adequate.
There are just too many things that can go wrong within a given CF template,
it... (more)
FusionDebug is an easy straightforward tool, but if you leverage the
experience of others, you can be even more productive.
Elsewhere in this issue, Jeff Houser introduces the FusionDebug interactive
step debugger. I'd like to carry that discussion a bit farther and share
various tips, tricks, and traps I've learned from my experience with the tool
and that I've gleaned from available FusionDebug resources. I've been using
FusionDebug (FD) for a couple of months now and am a fan.
First I'd like to share some general tips that address some common questions
or concerns I've observe... (more)
It seems that many, especially newcomers, are not aware that Allaire created
a free, limited functionality version of ColdFusion. Called ColdFusion
Express, you can learn more at www.allaire.com/cfexpress.
There are links to pages the explain the differences between it and the full
version of CF, what tags are and aren't supported, and of course a link to
download it. You can also get the documentation online.
Charlie Arehart
Founder and CTO
Systemanage
... (more)