TABLE OF CONTENTS

I The Fundamentals of ColdFusionDevelopment 1

1 Introducing Dreamweaver MX andColdFusion MX 3A Short History of the Web 4Web Development B.C. (Before ColdFusion) 5Enter ColdFusion and Dreamweaver 6The Modern Era of Web Development 8The Next Big Thing 9ColdFusion Development:What Do I Need? 10Summary 10

2 Introducing ColdFusion MX 11Understanding ColdFusion 11Understanding CFML 13Connecting to External Applications withColdFusion 15Using the ColdFusion Administrator 17Summary 24

3 Introducing Dreamweaver MX 25Understanding the Dreamweaver Workspace 25Defining and Working with a ColdFusion Site 40Creating the Book Template 52Summary 54

4 Working with Databases 55Understanding Databases 55Understanding ColdFusion Data Sources 58Querying Databases with SQL 63Summary 68

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II Creating ColdFusion Forms 69

5 Creating Form and Action Pages 71Creating Form Pages 71Creating Action Pages 76Testing the Form and Action Pages 79Summary 82

6 Creating Pages with Dynamic Elements 83Using Dynamic Elements 84Prefilling Form Pages Dynamically 94Summary 101

7 Validating Data and Handling Errors 103Validating Form Data 104Handling Errors 113Summary 115

III Displaying Results with ColdFusion 117

8 Displaying Records in a Dynamic Table 119Understanding the CFML behind Dynamic Tables 119Building filterParks.cfm 121Building the Display Pages 124Adding Column Sorting 126Testing the Application 128Summary 129

9 Creating Recordset Navigation 131Recordset Navigation 131Building filterParksSimple.cfm 133Building filterResult.cfm 134Testing the Application 140Creating filterResultsDetail.cfm 141Summary 145

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10 Charting Dynamic Data 147Using the CFCHART, CFCHARTSERIES, andCFCHARTDATA Tags 147Building the Form Page 151Building the Dynamic Graph 154Building the Details Page 160Testing the Application 162Summary 164

IV Processing ColdFusion Forms 165

11 Inserting a Record into the Database 167Inserting Records 167Creating the First Wizard Page 169Creating the Second Wizard Page 171Creating the Confirmation Page 174Creating the Final Wizard Page 181Summary 182

12 Updating a Record in the Database 183About Updating Records 183Building displayParks.cfm 186Building updateRecord.cfm 189Building confirmUpdate.cfm 194Building displayParksAfter.cfm 198Testing the Application 200Summary 202

13 Deleting a Record in the Database 203Deleting Records 203Building displayRecords.cfm 205Building confirmDelete.cfm 209Building displayRecordsAfter.cfm 211Testing the Application 215Summary 218

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V Common ColdFusion ProgrammingTechniques 219

14 Conditional Logic Problems andSolutions 221CFML Conditional Logic Overview 222Using CFIF, CFELSEIF, and CFELSE 223Using CFSWITCH, CFCASE, and CFDEFAULTCASE 224Using CFLOOP and CFBREAK 226Using Conditional Logic in Your Application 229Testing the Application 235Summary 236

15 Debugging and Error Handling 237Introduction to Debugging and Error Handling 238Using ColdFusion MX’s Debugging and Error-Handling Features 238Using Dreamweaver MX’s Debugging and Error-Handling Features 255Summary 258

16 Sessions and the Application Variable Scope 259Introduction to ColdFusion Persistent VariableScopes 260Using the Application.cfm File 262ColdFusion Sessions and Session Variables 267Using Client Scope Variables 271Using Application Variables 272Summary 274

17 Building User Authentication 275Introduction to ColdFusion User Security 276Using Dreamweaver’s User Authentication ServerBehaviors 282Summary 290

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18 Building a Search Interface 291Introduction to Building a Search Interface 292Creating Collections 292Creating and Indexing CollectionsProgrammatically 295Building a Search Interface Page 298Building a Search Results Page 301Testing the Search Page 302Summary 303

VI Advanced ColdFusion Development 305

19 Using ColdFusion Components 307About Using ColdFusion Components 307Building directoryExplorer.cfc 309Building directoryClient.cfm 318Testing Your Application 324Troubleshooting ColdFusion Components 327Summary 327

20 Building Flash Remoting Services 329About Building Flash Remoting Services 329Building flashPage.cfm 342Building flashComponent.cfc 343Testing Your Application 346Summary 348

21 Using and Creating Web Services 349About Using and Creating Web Services 349Using Web Services 351Creating Web Services with ColdFusionComponents 365Summary 375

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VII Customizing Dreamweaver 377

22 Customizing Dreamweaver forColdFusion Development 379About Customizing Dreamweaver for ColdFusionDevelopment 379Using the Preferences Panel 380Using and Creating Keyboard Shortcuts 392Recording and Using Commands 395Modifying and Creating Tag Libraries 397Summary 402

23 Building Custom Server Behaviors 403About Building Custom Server Behaviors 403Building Simple Custom Server Behaviors 404Building Advanced Custom Server Behaviors 410Summary 416

24 Building Dreamweaver Extensions 417About Building Dreamweaver Extensions 418Understanding the Role of EDML Files 419Understanding the Role of HTM Files 421Understanding the Role of JavaScript 423Understanding the Dreamweaver APIs 424Packaging Extension Files 426Summary 428

VIII Appendixes 429

A Installing ColdFusion MX andDreamweaver MX 431Preparing Your System 432Installing ColdFusion and Dreamweaver 434Uninstalling ColdFusion and Dreamweaver 445Installation Troubleshooting 446Summary 447

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B ColdFusion MX CFML Tag Reference 449Tag Catagories 449ColdFusion Component Tags 456Database Manipulation Tags 464Data Output Tags 478Variable Manipulation Tags 494Data Flow and Control Tags 497Internet Protocol Tags 508File Management Tags 527Web Application Framework Tags 533Form Tags 537Security Tags 570Utility Tags 572External System Tags 593

C Dreamweaver MX Keyboard Shortcuts 607Dreamweaver MX Keyboard Shortcuts 608

Index 615

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