If you're looking for how to configure CFBuilder to open htm files with the CFML editor, see that other entry. This one instead is about the related idea of having CF (the server) process htm (or other) file extensions. There are certainly pros and cons.

First, how to configure it in CF

Since I suspect some of the first people to come look at this will be those who want to do it, for any reason, the good news is that yes, you can do it, and it's been documented by many. I won't rehash the details, but instead will point you at any of several resources that do. It's not heard, though it does require a restart of CF (and perhaps your web server) to take effect.

First, Adobe documented it long ago. It's a pretty old and barebones article. It makes only a passing reference to the need to also change the configuration in your web server. To be clear, you do need to make the needed changes to the web.xml file if using an external web server like IIS or Apache, but the point is that you also then therefore need to also make changes in that external web server.

Fortunately, a more modern Adobe technote does address that additional detail. And this solution works for CF 6, 7, 8, and 9. (With Zeus being built on Tomcat, it may well be quite different then.) Do be careful to look closely at the values, as some may change from release to release ("macromedia_mapping" vs "coldfusion_mapping").

Other writers also addressed the issue over the years. For instance, Steven Erat blogged more about it, as did Peter Bell, Brian Anderson of Hostek, Steve Cross, and Tony Weeg, to pick just a few.

My point is, clearly many do find this an intriguing idea, for whatever reason. So why might one want to?

Why people might want to do this

There can be several reasons why people want to do this, some reasonable and some questionable.

I suspect that many delight in (or are compelled to explore) the idea of "hiding" their server implementation. By using htm files rather than cfm ones, no one need know they use CF (by the URLs of their page requests).

Of course, they could use still some other extension, whether some new one not used by anyone else, or perhaps one that others do know, and the solution above works for that as well.

For instance, I've known people who have configured things so that files with the php extension were handed to CF: not because they wanted CF to process PHP code, of course, but rather just because they did NOT use PHP and therefore just wanted to make it seem to the world that they did.

They may hope to throw hackers off the trail, or may want to avoid having to explain to folks that/why they use ColdFusion (sad that this should be the case, but some have felt the need).

Why people might not want to do this, and counters to such concerns

For all those who like the idea, there are probably more who spurn it, again for a number of reasons.

I'll say that while on the surface their concerns may seem clear-cut, as with so many things, "it depends". Those who might still want to try the alternative configuration for whatever reason might offer some reasonable counters to those concerns. Again, I'm not on either side in this debate. I'm just reporting observations for consideration. :-)

The concern of processing all HTM files as CFM, and the counters

For one thing, those who do not like the idea would point out that having htm files processed by CF runs the risk that now EVERY htm file will be processed by CF, even if it has no CFML in it at all, which of course would add overheard for the page execution time and would also add useless overhead to CF.

A counter some may propose is that one could set things up to use *.html extensions for "real" html pages and *.htm for "html/cfml hybrid pages, so that hopefully at least you only have CF process what you really think should have CFML.

Still others would note that they could also control whether and when they do this in the web server, so that perhaps it's only some website or some directories for which this configuration change (htm files being handed to CF) is made.

The concern that some things other than CF might be confused by the change

I noted above that some might use this approach simply to define not htm files but instead some other extension to be processed by CF. There's no real performance impact to doing that.

But it does raise the specter that some things may be confused by the change, if they expect to look for/find/use only cfm extensions. Possibilities include editors, log analysis tools, and so on. (I addressed how to change CFBuilder to open HTM files with the CFML editor in the last entry.)

Might there be other solutions, though?

Even with these concerns and their counters, some might want to propose still other solutions to achieve the goal of obfuscation (hiding the fact that you're running cfm files, if that's the main goal of the above). Let's take a look at a couple.

Using no extension at all

For one thing, some could just set things up so as not to use a file extension in their URLs at all, relying for isntance on the web server support of default documents (like index.cfm) to point to one file in the directory. No, it won't work for everyone, but I in fact do that frequently on my own site, such as for http://carehart.org/presentations/, http://carehart.org/articles/, or http://carehart.org/consulting/. I never bother with the index.cfm, as the web server figures it out for me.

Again, though, that approach only works when you can have one file per directory.

But someone has shown using a variation of the technique above (changing the extensions handled by CF) to have CF process requests for files that have extension at all. It's "out of the box" thinking, but I share it if it may interest someone.

Another solution: URL Rewriting

I'm sure some have been champing at the bit the whole time they've been reading this article, because they know something that perhaps others do not. Another solution for all this trickery above would be to use URL rewriting instead, so that you don't change the file extensions but instead you just don't use any at all in the URL.

With that approach, you configure things on your server (often via an extension to your web server) so that when people ask for one file, they're really sent to another. So if someone asks for url abc (whatever that is, in terms of domain, path, file, path_info), they are instead shown the result of processing file xyz (whatever that may be, to suit your interests), but the browser URL still shows the url as abc.

URL Rewriting can completely hide the underlying server implementation, or whatever level of it you choose, such as hiding what extensions you use, your use of query string/URL variables within code, your use of deep directory structures, and so much more.

This is not the place to discuss and debate all the pros/cons and even alternatives for URL rewriting, but I'll note that I do have a category for them with several alternatives (free and commercial, for Windows and Linux) at my CF411 site's category for URL Rewriting Tools .

BTW, the URLs for my cf411 site are themselves processed by a rewrite rule, though slightly different from what was just discussed. Note that that url I just shared, http://www.cf411.com/urlrewrite, ends up as http://carehart.org/cf411/#urlrewrite. You'll see that in the browser. Not only does the domain change (I wanted to people to get to it as cf411.com), but you also end up within a given subdirectory of my carehart.org site (the cf411 site is really just a subset of that main site).

And finally the URL ends up showing use of a page anchor (the #) to jump down in the very long page to the section chosen.

I wanted to be able to share URLs without all that noise. You've got to admit that cf411.com/urlrewrite is just smoother than carehart.org/cf411/#urlrewrite. :-)

Of course, I could have implemented the rewrite to keep that "new" url hidden. I just didn't bother. But if you're new to url rewriting, do remember that you CAN have the "resulting" url hidden from the user.

So, there you have it. A problem, some solutions, some concerns, some counters to those, and still other alternatives. I'm sure some are thinking "man, I never thought there could be so much to consider for this simple idea". But as always, there are just lots of things to consider, and as a troubleshooting consultant, it's my job to find, understand, and offer solutions to such problems.

But I could well have missed something significant. I know that some people may have far more experience with this particular problem (and to be honest, this is not one I help people solve often. It came up today for one user, so I researched and wrote here about it.)

But I do recognize that there is often more to a problem than seems to most at first, and I wanted to share the observations with any who may appreciate it. That's how I roll. Let me know what you think.

I'll post a review in coming weeks after I've had a chance to take a look.

Free Preview Chapter on ORM

It's chapter 4, ORM Database Interaction, and as you'll see John leads you gently through this important new feature of CF9. Assuming you have no prior experience with ORM, he works in 20 pages from introducing the concepts, to quickly configuring and coding, to working with relationships, and more. You'll see he uses lots of screenshots and example code.

One editorial/review comment: I did notice that the preview chapter lists a last section to be on "custom configuration", which isn't ever found in the chapter. I brought this to John's attention and he apologized that it slipped through.

Having contributed to several books myself^*, I know that can happen and I don't regard it as a big deal. It doesn't take away at all from the rest of the book.

Looking forward to the rest of the book

As for that rest of the book, and why you may want to consider it, the introduction indicates it "will teach you the basics of ColdFusion programming, basic application architecture, object reuse, and ORM concepts before showing you a range of topics including AJAX library integration, RESTful Web Services, Unit Testing, building custom tags, and his hybrid example of tags and objects COOP" ... "with real-world examples of the hows and whys, to get more done faster with ColdFusion 9" ...[and] "also covers the new features of ColdFusion Builder and additional version 9 updates".

I'm sure it will benefit many, and I'll look into all that when I get the review copy, and I'll be back to pass along my observations.

^*I'm sure the publishers of my own books would think it appropriate at this point to mention those other books, which are also out recently and updated for CF9. They are the ColdFusion 9 Web Application Construction Kit, Volume 1 (Getting Started), Volume 2, Application Development, and Volume 3, Advanced Application Development.

I had noticed today that Budd Wright from PelcoSolutions (aka DVS Interactive) blogged this weekend that "BestBuy Uses ColdFusion". That certainly caught my eye (heck, I was in the store just yesterday.)

Just the BestBuy "trade-in" site, but more than meets the eye

But on closer examination I found something that is indeed still more compelling. What BestBuy is using (that uses CF) is really a licensed service from dealtree.com. And if one looks at that page (where DealTree lists others using their service), we see that indeed it's used also by Dell, TomTom, Sharp, Buy.com, Gateway, Casio, Ebay, and others. So this is about more than just BestBuy! :-)

These other companies (Dell, TomTom, etc.) would have high expectations

Perhaps we can hope it may raise the profile of CF within the companies (though really, it's probably just seen as a utility to most, SAAS that just works, so that may be too much to hope for.)

Still, since these are companies which will require fast response in both the in-store and online sites, it's certainly a nice set of examples of e-commerce CF use that we can point to, so thanks for sharing, Budd.

I figured this was all a little much to put in his blog as a comment. :-) Plus I thought that my blogging it separately might be a nice way to give his entry a little more "link juice" in the search engines. :-)

Who else is using CF?

CFML-Powered Web Sites (who's using CFML?)

To be clear, I'm not keeping a list. Instead, I point there to many sites that do keep such lists.

I think it's helpful to have all the resources in one place. Indeed, ultimately I'll move this to my "resource lists" page where I keep similar "compendia".

I created the list of VAR scope resources today after helping a client with a problem which seemed related to this classic problem: the need to remember to var scope your variables in CFCs. It's often the cause of subtle bugs. Like many, they still hadn't heard about the problem (or had seen mention of it but didn't really understand it).

So if you're in that place, or know someone who may be, here are resources to help get started on understanding the topic and related issues. As always, the CF community has rallied the troops on the matter, and several folks have blogged in various detail or on various related aspects.

About the resources

The first few elaborate on the problem, and the first one even includes a live running example to demonstrate the point. Then a couple explain some related issues.

I also then list resources on the related new "local" scope in CF 9, and some more that discuss compatibility issues with that.

Note that these may have been written any time in the past couple/few years, so keep that in mind and be sure to check the comments as well.

The resources

First, some general resources introducing the var scoping issue/feature:

• Thread safety and the var scope - live example, by Mike Schierberl
• Memory Leaks: Part III - sessions and cfcs, Mike's previous blog entry discussing a memory leak he'd found related to CFCs (and perhaps the var scope) back in 2006
• Why precisely is it important to var-scope your variables?, by Nathan Strutz
• Thread safety example: Var scope your loop index in ColdFusion CFCs!, by Dave Shuck
• Object Oriented Coldfusion : 4 : The var scope, by Adrian Moreno

And some that address various issues related to using the VAR scope:

• Always var scope! Always!! Except..., by Ray Camden
• Var Scoping Queries, by Gary Gilbert
• VAR scoping using structures, by Dave Shuck
• The VAR keyword is idiotic, by Steve Nelson
• The REAL reason you need to var-scope your local CFC function variables, by Tyson Vanek

And some on the change in CF9, for the local scope:

• The New ColdFusion LOCAL Scope, by Ben Forta
• Deciphering the new Local Scope, by Adam Tuttle
• Repeat - ColdFusion 9 does NOT remove the need to var scope!, by Ray Camden

And some tangential discussions of that, including some compatibility issues with the new scope:

• Be careful with the 'local' scope when migrating from CF8 to CF9, by Dan Skaggs
• CHF Warning - Impacts MXUnit, by Ray Camden (important impact of CF 9 CHF 1, even if not using MXUnit)
• LOCAL Variables Scope Conflicts With ColdFusion Query of Queries, by Ben Nadel
• Is this an issue with the local scope in ColdFusion 9?, by Paul Kukiel
• ColdFusion 9 and the local scope continued, by Paul Kukiel
• ColdFusion 9 and the LOCAL Scope, by Joseph Lamoree
• Major Flaw in CF9 - May Break Code! and part 2/part 3, by Sami Hoda

The VarScope tool

Conclusion

Hope those are helpful. Again, it's just a starting list. I welcome additions, and I look forward to your comments. In time, I'll move this (and any suggested additions) to my "resource lists" page. Check that out for similar lists of resources on various subjects.

A real live use-case, from scratch

What's interesting is that it will be an installation from scratch, in a "cinema verite" approach where we will assume nothing and if we trip over things, we'll talk about them. We'll talk about what I hope to gain by using Mura, and why it seems a good fit.

Ee'll proceed each step of the way with me as the new user (I have never used Mura), the Mura guys as my trusty guides, and of course with people able to ask questions all along the way and hopefully learning for themselves as we go.

Though I've not yet used Mara (or any CMS), I've been a big fan for a couple of years, observing it from the outside. Indeed, I blogged about how very impressed I was with their site in my May 2008 entry "A CFML-based product that really gets how to win customers, and what we can learn from it". And then I've watched as a couple of the ColdFusion Meetup episodes recently had covered Mura.

Though I've never really considered a CMS for my site, as I saw all that was possible with Mura and how it allowed for integration of existing CFML, I started to wonder if it may make sense to consider it for my site.

Going about enabling a CMS for a hodgepodge site

My site really hosts a few things and therefore offers different challenges in considering enabling a CMS. And this is what we'll cover over the next few weeks.

Some parts are static while others are dynamic (database driven). Some are just long static lists (my articles and presentations). Similarly, the CF411 site (which redirects to a page on my site) is an even larger list.

Each has just grown over time and naturally I'd love to make them both database-driven and to have some sort of paging, categorized presentation, searching, and such, and Mura can provide that. It can also allow me to let others contribute (especially to the CF411 site), which is a natural fit for a CMS.

Of course, I could also enable such db-driven paging and user contribution by hand. Idneed I had done that already for another part of my site, my UGTV repository of links to hundreds of recorded CF presentations. I knew when I started that it would not only grow substantially and that it would require entry of data by others.

So besides wanting to add more dynamic (and user-contributable) features for the other "static" parts of the site, it would also be interesting to see if/how I might keep or change this existing CF-driven part of the site. FWIW, the CF-driven part does not use any framework, either, since it was really a smallish app.

Another thing I've long wanted to add with all these sections (articles, presentations, UGTV, and CF411) is the concept of a "Landing page", where each item could have a page with more detail about it as well as features like rating, commenting, recommended related items, and such.

Again, I could do that for the UGTV site since it was already DB-driven, but since I'd have to make the other three sections be DB-driven and I'd have to code that, I just started to wonder if a CMS may be the way to go.

Mura to the rescue, and a case study is born

I thought to ask the Mura guys about things, and they felt on the surface that it woudl be a good fit. They asked me to present a list of the things I'd be interested in adding (as well as preserving), and on reviewing it, they not only felt it would work fine, but that it would make a great case study for the Mura show. They knew me from the past CFMeetups and they sensed that I would welcome the chance to do all this live on a Connect session. I said I would, absolutely, as I was sure many would benefit from seeing such a raw, live presentation. As they thought it over, they decided to propose a few weeks (whether they happen consecutively is to be determined), and I was open to that, as well.

Indeed, I expressed how I preferred (with the extra time) that we really do do it from scratch, so that people see really everything entailed. And of course we'd introduce how we got to this point (what you've read above), how they think it can all be done, and then (once we do the install, all this in the first show), we would proceed in future shows to start really integrating the site into Mura.

I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope others will too.

Update: The recording is now posted and available.

I'll demonstrate here calling the REST API for the Harvest online timesheet application. (If you would want to point me to another alternative timesheet app, no need as I'm happy. I realize there are many. Indeed, I list many of them on my CF411 site section for time tracking tools and services.)

Anyway, the Harvest API docs pages do show a Ruby example. While I didn't take the time replicate that exactly (it has a few more touches like error-handling, extensibility, etc), I did want to at least show how one could call the REST-based API using CFHTTP.

Some Simple CFHTTP Examples

Here are two simple examples, first, showing calling the who_am_i method:

Note that I'm using the same nomenclature they do in their docs, in that you would need to change the "subdomain" value to be whatever your own it. Also, like them I've just left the placeholders above for your Harvest username/password. And the API docs show needing to pass in those two headers, which I do in the CFHTTPPARAM.

Getting TimeSheet Entries

The next, more interesting example calls the method to get the timesheet data for a given day (and yes, since the REST API has no state you do need to pass in the username/password on each call. In a more complete app, you might prompt the user for those and store it in a session for reuse, etc.):

Note also that the date is in Julian format (the number of the day in the year). I'm showing Dec 10. Again, I could elaborate this to take in URL variables to change the date. I'll leave that to the reader.

So how do you calculate the date in Julian format? Well, you could of course modify the code to use CF's date/time functions to do a conversion, but if you just want to look up a given day for manually, here's a trick. If you've never noticed it (as a Harvest user), the real web-based Harvest timesheet always also shows the julian date in the URL for a timesheet entry.

Getting Real Data from the Returned XML

The result of both calls is some XML. In the first example, I ignored it. In the second, of course, you need to get the data.

So I pass it to the XMLParse function (new in CF6) and still missed by many. That converts the XML into an internal CF XML object, which represents the XML as a series of nested structures, arrays, and attributes. If you do a CFDUMP of the result, you'll see what I mean:

And to output the hours for the first entry, one could do this:

How did I figure out that nested set of arrays and structures, you ask?...

Learning More about XML processing in CFML

I won't elaborate here about how to go about accessing the various parts of the (sometimes complex) internal XML object. But you can learn it really quickly. Most CFers are blithely unaware of the power of this feature set (or they get confused and give up). There are two (well, three) places you can learn more.

First, the best resource on CF/XML processing (in my opinion) is a great extended Adobe Devnet article by Nate Weiss. Though from 2002, it's an all-time classic.

He introduces the topic assuming you know nothing about XML, and steps quickly into processing it in CFML (reading and writing it), including understanding all those structures, arrays, and attributes. Within just a few pages, you'll be amazed at how much more productive you can be with XML processing in CFML.

Nate even introduced the valuable concepts of using XPath/XMLSearch to make accessing XML even easier and XSLT to do conversions from XML to other formats. He does all this very gently and in a compelling way. I still refer people to it often, to this day (and return to it myself when I'm stumped).

That said, there are of course a few ways that XML processing in CFML has evolved since CF6, so you will want to check out the CF docs as well. Besides the CFML Reference on XMLParse, note that there is also a chapter on the topic in the oft-missed ColdFusion Developer's Guide.

Many only know of the CFML Reference, but they miss out on this 1,000+ page free online book (from Adobe). The CF8 version of this is here and the chapter here. The CF9 version of the manual is here and the chapter is here.

Hope any of that may help someone.

I belong to (and also run) many Google groups, which can offer a great solution for a hosted mailing list. Sadly, if the group owners aren't careful, the list can soonbecome a haven for spam.

But there are three simple solutions (one in particular) that the group manager can take to prevent the problem, and I am NOT talking about moderating every message. Two of them add only a little new effort for you as manager, but the reward is so worth it.

To make (or consider) the changes, visit the page to manage settings at http://groups.google.com/group/groupname/manage_access. Or to get there, select "group settings" on the right, then choose the "access" tab at the top, and make the changes below, which I discuss after the screenshot.

From there, change 3 settings:

• "who can join" - change from "anyone" to "people can request an invitation to join". You don't need to use the "custom question" option. This will just require that people request you let them in. Again, most spammers won't bother. It's like how locking your car door causes most thieves to just move on. More than that, this changes it so that people can't just join by sending an email, which really is where most spam comes from
• "Who can post messages?" - change from "anyone" to "members only"
• "Message moderation" - you don't need to set it to "all messages are held for moderation. Leave it as "No moderation", but do consider checking "Messages from new members are moderated". Yes, it means that when a new member posts a message, you'll get an email with a link to view their message and mark them as either "always allow" or "block".

Doing these, especially the first, really will stop most of the spam. Your members will really appreciate it.

A big difference is cf.Objective()'s is ending November 30. Check out Sean Corfield's post for more information on the cf.Objective() call.

Here are the tentative tracks for sessions:

• AIR and UI Development - How to enhance the experience of your applications. Bring your application to the desktop or mobile.
• Best Practices - Tips and Tools for improving and protecting your website.
• ColdFusion (advanced) - Building applications, Charting, APIs, Custom Tags, PDF, Forms, Railo, Groovy, Facebook apps, Geolocation, Web-Oriented languages, and Integration.
• ColdFusion (basics) - Getting started with ColdFusion
• ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder - Topics from Adobe related to the new release of ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder
• Configuration,Testing & Deployment - Deploy your websites with minimal issues and know what to expect
• Databases - SQL, reporting, procedures, integration, server tuning
• Flex (advanced) - An indepth look at building Flex applications
• Flex (basics) - Getting started with Flex
• Frameworks - Discover various Frameworks for ColdFusion and Flex
• Managing Projects - Team Management, Project Requirements, Customer relations, Project management
• OO Development - Object Oriented programming and using CFCs

They note as well that they're always open to new speakers.

Finally, the pointed out as well that the early bird deadline is Nov 30. More at CFUnited.com.

One is a 3-minute conglomeration of comments from several people. These are both the "official" Adobe talkinghead-style videos, and some are more like "live remote shots" taken from the floor of CFUnited. Besides a couple of appearances in it, near the end they included me saying something fairly quotable. I'll let you find it. :-)

Then there's a another set of individual interviews with different folks (the talking head style), which appear (currently) at the top of the CF9 product page. You click on whichever one shows up (or click "community feedback") and an interface like slide show picker appears. You can pick any of them and at the end it offers to advance to the next. (That link to them at the top may eventually no longer appear on that page, I suppose.)

It was a treat being interviewed for these.

About the process

I got the invite over the summer and was told they'd be taken in a room at CFUnited. I assume the others were done there, too, but I don't know. The room was staffed by a video production team.

There was no way of telling for sure as we did them whether what we said would be included ultimately, and/or how much. Indeed, the interviews were a lot longer than what was showed (about 30 minutes for less than a couple), so much ended up on the cutting room floor for each of us, obviously. That was to be expected, of course, and I'm just thrilled to have been included at all.

Any disappointments?

My only disappointment: well, if you look at the videos and even the pictures at the top of the page, you'll notice something about mine stands out from the others. The production folks had made a point from the start about wanting me to "be sure to use my hands", so my inteview and picture show me gesticulating pretty vigorously. :-) It's not really my normal style, but if that's what they wanted.

But then I notice NO ONE ELSE is. Maybe I was an early interview and they dropped it eventually. If I knew the folks doing the interviews, I might feel like they punked me. :-) Heck, even on the tight shots (where they zoom in the editing) you can still see my fingers flying into the frame. Grr... :-)

And yet another appearance spotted

I notice that my shiny face also appears (for now) further down the product page next to a link labeled "Get Inspired". That's cool to see. I suppose it may well rotate with other folks (but it hasn't when I've refreshed it today).

Guess my 12 years of CF experience have born yet more fruit. Thanks, Adobe. And certainly I hope what I said is of value to some viewers, brief though the interviews are. Next time, if invited back, I'll also wear a less floppy-looking shirt! :-)