Ken Reiss' Blog - Cold Fusion Programming

Installing ColdFusion 8 Help Files into Homesite+

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:24:00 -0400

Yes, I still use homesite+ for CF coding! It still just works and is not nearly as bloated or cumbersome as Dreamweaver, when doing ColdFusion coding. The new CF8 Help Files (homeSiteForcf8.zip) don't properly install. Here's what I did to make them work: Install as per directions, except in step 2 of Adobe's directions DON'T install into the "homesite-root" directory (which is your homesite's main install location). INSTEAD install into the Help folder which is inside homesite's root folder. Hope this helps someone else out who is struggling with them.

Fix for firefox requiring users to right-click and select "Spell check this field"

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 23:40:00 -0400

Starting with a recent version of firefox, rich-text or WYSIWYG text editors no longer cause firefox to automatically spell check. Users needed to right click and select "Spell check this field" every time they went to a page with this type of editor. The solution is to add the following line of code into the text editor: gecko_spellcheck : true For example, in tinyMCE, the code block might look like:

In looking for this solution, I found MANY people with the same problem I had. If this helps you, please post a comment in my blog. Ken.

What FTP Client do you use?

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 15:51:00 -0400

I use to use CuteFTP way back, but then changed over to Van Dyke's AbsoluteFTP years ago. I can't recall why we made this change, but it seemed better. Lately, however, AbsoluteFTP (now called SecureFX) likes to download 0-sized files about once every 3 times on one of our computers. Other programs don't do this and it doesn't happen on any computer. I used to like how CuteFTP allowed multiple instances at a time (i.e. one for the public folders and one for the admin folders). This made it easy to upload changes made in 2 seperate areas without having to navigate folders. So, I think we'll change to a new FTP client. What do you use? What do you like about it? What are it's drawbacks?

Cold Fusion: Way to set default values for XML elements?

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:46:00 -0400

I was working on an XML conversion project recently, and found that neither the IsXmlElem(), IsXmlNode(), nor the IsXmlAttribute() functions would work if I was looking for a non-existent element (the throw errors if the element doesn't exist). I know that XML should all be standardized so all elements always exist. However, this client is using an old Oracle system which doesn't always include all the XML elements. In fact it leaves them out when they're null. So, I wrote the following function to work like a cfparam for XML elements:

While, I REALLY hate using a cftry to do this, I can't see any other way. Perhaps you know one??

Dynamically eveluating the IsXmlElem function

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:05:00 -0400

I was having problems dynamically evaluating with the IsXmlElem function: #IsXmlElem(xml.abc.def)# worked fine, but:


#IsXmlElem(a)#

didn't. To make this work you need to:


#Evaluate("IsXmlElem(#a#)")#

Notes: * The setting of the a variable can be dynamic. This is great if you have a list of elements and are looping over them to check for their existisnce. * This also works of IsXmlNode and IsXmlAttribute.

Time to "PUSH" the limits on the Internet

Fri, 12 May 2006 23:57:00 -0400

I'm truly excited about a new product produced by Adobe/Macromedia called Flex 2.0. This amazing product should be available by Summer 06 and will completely revolutionize the Internet. I know you've heard this before, but I've been involed in telecommuncations since 1982 and have watched the Internet become main-stream and eveolve. Here's why I think Flex 2.0 will change the world: Everyone (developers and users) currently have accepted and live inside a client-server paradigm. We expect to send a page request to a server, then get a reply. We understand that sometimes we have to 'refresh' the page. We never expect the page to actually change itself. With Flex 2.0 sockets remain open and a server can acually push data to the end-user. Take a moment to think about what this means. Effectively, this is equivalent to having your keyboard and monitor directly connected to another computer. Here are a few examples of ways we can use this new PUSH technolgoy that I've heard recently:

Auctions: No need for special java or ajax to try to poll data periodically. Just let the data flow (push) to the end-user.

Stock data/trades

Customer support: Suppose someone is in the middle of placing an order and requsts online help. The rep could actually see their order and work with the end-user real-time in a simultaneous shopping cart With Flex 2.0 a 'shared object' is created and the Flex Data Server handles distributing any changes to that object out to all who are sharing it! I truly beleive that not only will Adobe become the next Microsoft, but that the Internet will completely change. I think the past 10 years have been the Internet just warming up. With univeral broadband and push technology, its a whole new world! Please comment on this article with your ideas for Push technology. What could it possibly do, that our minds are not open to because we're trapped in the client-server transaction-request paradigm.