Rob Gonda's Blog

ajaxCFC update for Model Glue and MachII

I previously released some examples of Ajax for Model Glue, including port of the Contact Manager example that works with Ajax and XML Sockets. I missed to consider that most people will not be able to get the XML Socket server running, thus not being able to run this example on their servers. Added another example that uses only Ajax, without the sockets complication ... if you diff both versions, you'll find that I only changed a single line in the config file to use an ajaxLayout instead of socketLayout ... nonetheless, this should allow you to run this example out of the box ...

And the moment everyone has been waiting for: ajaxCFC for MachII is out thanks to Dan Wilson! He did a great job taking the same Contact Manager example and porting it to the MachII framework. His implementation is really clean, using Plugins and Filters to extend the MachII framework, not to mention that the layout he built for the example is much prettier than mines :)

The code is really clean and should make sense for every MachII developer. I'll try to write some documentation and instructions, but that will take some time. Sorry for delaying this post Dan, I really appreciate your contribution and so does the CF Community.

Enjoy.

ajaxCFC Update: addOptions() - serializeForm()

I just updated the ajaxCFC distribution files to include an update to the addOptions() utility. The y! group has been talking about passing a CF Query to the addOptions() function for a few weeks and thanks to the contribution of Jeff Lester it's possible now. It behaves exactly like the addRows() function, where it takes _cell_ functions to get the value and text of the returned query. It is usually easier to learn by example, so check out how it's done.

Additionally, some of you must be familiar and frustrated with the lack of ability of passing an entire form as an object; if you try, you'd get an maximum recursion error. I wrote a small function in my contact manager example that takes a form and serialize it into a JavaScript object, so I chose to include it into the DWRUtil namespace... You can now call x = DWRUtil.serializeForm(document.frm) and pass it to your Ajax call.

JSMin for ColdFusion

JSMin is a utility to compress JavaScript by removing unnecessary whitespace and comments. Unlike obfuscation, it doesn't rename any of your variables or functions, leaving the core functionality intact. Depending on amount of comments, this utility may save from 50-80% on file size. Here's a good Minification Vs. Obfuscation article.

Darryl Lyons released CFJSMin, a ColdFusion utility to compress JavaScripts. I'm not sure why would you want to compress your scripts from a server side scripting language instead of running a binary executable... I guess that if you have a source folder and production folder you could automate changes... CFJSMin also has the ability of taking several input files and save them all in a single compressed file. This is good for caching.

Darryl, if you're reading this, here's a request: I'd like the tool to read several JS files as input, but instead of writing a target file, I'd like the output in a variable.

In addition of compressing your files, take a look at gzip and real time data compression. Here's a good article on how to set your IIS to compression. For those who run apache, I know it's really easy, but I don't have the information handy.

Model Glue 2.0 a.k.a Unity Video

Joe released a must see video where he uses Model Glue 2.0 to quickly build a blog -- under 9 minutes. MG2.0 makes use of ColdSpring and Reactor to generate components, define relationships, and wire them together... Joe didn't write a single sql statement, it was all purely based on defining events and configuring some xml files. Very impressive I must say.

Model Glue 2.0 will go public beta probably this week and final release @ CFUnited.

CFLive! AJAX for ColdFusion Recording

I did my CFLive presentation today ... let's clarify --again-- that it was only a sneak preview of CFUnited, not a class, demo, or tutorial... I didn't talk about ajaxCFC or any particular implementation. I listed all the topics I'm planning to cover at CFUnited, did a quick Ajax overview, and showed a few examples... The Breeze presentation was recorded and it is available for everyone.

You may also download the slides if wish.

Coldfusion skill divide

I just found this blog entry on ColdFusion skill levels divide; it's interesting, and it is completely true. We're interviewing lots of CF developers lately and there are usually the two types: the one that has been working is CF of a while and never improved, still using procedural calls, no structure, not even objects... and the second one who's crazy about OOP, design patterns, has tested all frameworks and methodologies: mg, mii, coldspring, has done ajax, flex, etc... Are we being too passionate/picky, or is there a huge skill gap?

reminder: tomorrow at your local cfug

Just a quick reminder for the South Florida people: I'll be speaking tomorrow at the CFUG, topic, more on Ajax. You'll have a chance to get the best from the last few conferences I've been, especially, the Ajax Experience, which was fantastic! Hope to see you all there.

If you didn't assist to my last session please get the slides here, and if you wish to be prepared and ask nice questions, you may find enclosed the slides I'll use tomorrow.

ajaxCFC update for Blue Dragon Compatibility

It's been a while since my last ajaxCFC update, but my last release had a small bug when running in Blue Dragon. It seems like the getMetaData function doesn't behave exactly the same, so thanks to Vience's help I fixed it to work with BD too.

I also have a port for the Mach II framework coming really soon thanks to Dan Wilson. Don't you love open source projects?

I'm back: news news news

It's been almost two weeks since I left ... and there've been great. I spent the first few days at the Ajax Experience... what a show! let me tell you: the best organized show I've talked or assisted. Props to Jay Zimmerman, he did an outstanding job. I spent most of the time there perhaps networking, rather than at the sessions, which I will still be able to catch later in an on-demand webcast. I met great people btw... it had a great attendance.

Changing topics, during my absence, my CFUnited Class sold out... that's right ... if you didn't register yet, I'm sorry... it's too late... Hopefully CFUnited will allow me to post some of the material here, if not, I may disguise some of it ;)

Other news, blogCFC 5.0 is officially out and I'm planning to upgrade soon, maybe this weekend.

CFUnited is blogging too; nothing much going on yet, but stay tooned for important information.

I'm speaking next week at the South Florida CFUG. Topic, more Ajax ... I'll start where I left off in my last session in February.

I'll have a CFLive session in a couple of weeks... briefly showing what I have planned for CFUnited... I hope to see you all there.

That's it for now, more tomorrow.

Cheers.

RSVP for CFLive! Rob Gonda on AJAX for ColdFusion

I will be giving a short presentation on my CFUnited Pre-Conference AJAX class, which is almost sold out btw: only 7 seats left.

When:
Thursday, June 8, 2006, 12:30 PM

This is United Coldfusion Meetup Day

20060608T163000Z
Where:

Want to know where this event is? Sign up for this group.

Already a member? Sign in

Description:

(New Date) Rob Gonda will discuss AJAX for ColdFusion developers.

Rob Gonda is the CTO for iChameleon Group and Editor-in-Chief of AJAX Developer's Journal. He is an Advanced Certified Coldfusion Developer, frequent contributor to the CFDJ, holds a BS in computer science and engineering, and has an MBA with a specialization in entrepreneurship from the Wayne Huizenga School of Business. You can reach him at rob[at]robgonda[dot]com and Rob’s blog is at http://www.robgonda.com

This event is among the 2006 line up of previews for CFUNITED called CFLive!. This talk will be about 1/2 hour including time for Q&A.

These talks are intended to help you plan your conference schedule in advance without "giving away the store" so to speak.

The FREE EVENT will be held on:
**** Thursday June 8th at 12:30 PM US/Eastern. ****

Please refer to: http://www.timezoneconverte... for timezone assistance.

The URL for the Breeze meeting is listed in the MORE INFORMATION section of the RSVP page. Just click the button to login as GUEST with no password and enter your name when prompted in order to join the meeting from your browser.

If you've never used Breeze Meeting, get a quick overview:
http://www.adobe.com/produc...

More information:

http://stevenerat.breezecentra l.com/cflive2006/

More Entries

This blog is running version 5.9.003. Contact Blog Owner