Two months after the beta hit Adobe Labs, ColdFusion Builder 2 is now available! You can find information and links to learn lots more about it, to try it, and to buy it at http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion-builder.html. And be sure to check out the ColdFusion Builder team's blog at http://blogs.adobe.com/cfbuilder.

ColdFusion Builder 2 now comes in a free edition called ColdFusion Builder 2 Express! I'm not seeing much in the way of details ColdFusion Builder 2 Express listed on the Adobe site but Ray Camden's blog post about it and Ben Forta's blog post about it are good places to get a bit of information.

2012-01-08: given the age and content of this post, it is difficult at this point to conceive of a legitimate comment that could be posted. Yet comments continue to be posted: spam. So it seems wise to me then to stop the insanity by closing comments to this post. Should you have a legitimate comment you wish to post here, please contact me via the contact form here on my blog. Thanks!

The public beta for ColdFusion Builder 2 is now available on Adobe Labs! Check it out at http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusionbuilder2!

ColdFusion 9 is the best release of ColdFusion ever--so of course you want to run your ColdFusion applications on it! :) But how do you get there from where you are now? It depends on what release of ColdFusion you're on currently; this blog post is for those on ColdFusion MX 7 (the releases variously known as ColdFusion MX 7, ColdFusion MX 7.0.1, ColdFusion MX 7.0.2, ColdFusion 7, ColdFusion 7.0.1, and ColdFusion 7.0.2) or ColdFusion 8 (the releases variously known as ColdFusion 8, ColdFusion 8.0, and ColdFusion 8.0.1). If you're on ColdFusion MX (the versions variously known as ColdFusion MX, ColdFusion MX 6, ColdFusion MX 6.1) or earlier (releases such as ColdFusion 5, ColdFusion 4.5, ColdFusion 4, etc.) you should check out the companion blog post to this one.

If you're on ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8, you are eligible to upgrade to ColdFusion 9 because, as noted in the following link, the valid upgrade paths to ColdFusion 9 are from ColdFusion MX 7 and ColdFusion 8:

• http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/upgrade

The ColdFusion team has worked very hard to maintain backward-compatibility in ColdFusion 9 for applications coded for previous versions of ColdFusion: in many cases, your code will simply run without any changes when you move it to ColdFusion 9. But of course you shouldn't just deploy your production applications to ColdFusion 9 and hope they work: you should test your applications fully before deploying them to production. And to get you started with the greatest chance of success, you should first use the ColdFusion Code Compatibility Analyzer to determine if your code is valid for ColdFusion 9:

• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/Admin/WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbf3638e6-7fe0.html#WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbf3638e6-7fd6
• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/Developing/WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbec0d04c-7fee.html

I recommend reviewing the tag and function changes to ColdFusion. Be sure to note the addition of functions with names that collide with user-defined functions in your code (for instance, ColdFusion 9 introduced the SpreadsheetNew() function; if your code has a user-defined function called SpreadsheetNew() you will need to change the name of that user-defined function and all references to it in your code before upgrading to ColdFusion 9):

• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/CFMLRef/WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbec17576-7fef.html
• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/CFMLRef/WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbec1a60c-7ffa.html

It's very important to read the release notes for ColdFusion 9.0.1 and ColdFusion 9 in case some might apply to your environment:

• http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/coldfusion/releasenotes.html#9
• http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/coldfusion/releasenotes.html#901

There are a couple of blog posts that, while written for moving to previous releases of ColdFusion, are certainly worth perusing:

• http://www.sargeway.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=6DBD3FC6-C29F-05EC-8BC78715AD424685
• http://www.carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2009/8/10/cf8_migration_resources

When you're ready to install ColdFusion 9, make sure your environment is in compliance with the ColdFusion 9 system requirements and systems support matrix, then review my blog post on the installers for ColdFusion 9, and then review the "Installing Adobe ColdFusion 9" documentation:

• http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/systemreqs
• http://blog.joshuaadams.com/index.cfm/2010/6/3/ColdFusion-8-and-9-ColdFusion-Builder-and-Flash-Builder-4-Installers
• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/Installing/index.html (HTML version, containing comments from users and Adobe employees)
• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/Installing/coldfusion_9_install.pdf (PDF version with no comments)

Once you have installed ColdFusion 9, you'll want to install ColdFusion 9 Update 1 to bring your install up to ColdFusion 9.0.1; for more information, including links to additional information and the installer, on this free update for ColdFusion 9, see the following FAQ:

• http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/849/cpsid_84973.html

Next you'll want to check out the Hot Fixes and Cumulative Hot Fixes available for ColdFusion 9.0.1:

• http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/529/cpsid_52967.html

And finally, it's extremely important that you check out the security bulletins and advisories for ColdFusion and apply any relevant security Hotfixes--and while you're at it, consider signing up to receive security notifications via the Security Notification Service so you don't miss any security bulletins or advisories for ColdFusion in the future:

• http://www.adobe.com/support/security/#coldfusion
• http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=szalert

Adobe has worked hard to make the upgrade process as smooth and easy as possible. The process involved varies depending on:

• Your current product version and edition as well as, in the case of ColdFusion Enterprise, your current deployment type.
• Your desired product version and edition as well as, in the case of ColdFusion Enterprise, your desired deployment type.

To upgrade to ColdFusion 9 Enterprise from ColdFusion 9 Standard while maintaining a Server (a.k.a. standalone) installation:

1. Enter your license key for ColdFusion 9 Enterprise (or your ColdFusion 9 Enterprise upgrade license key valid for upgrading from ColdFusion 9 Standard) in the ColdFusion Administrator in the System Information section accessible via the link marked with an "i" Information icon in the upper-right. No reinstall of ColdFusion 9 is required and, since you will be using the same installation of ColdFusion 9, you will not need to import any settings (they'll already be there). This works this way because there is a single runtime (per platform and language; the same is true for the installer) for ColdFusion 9 which acts as a particular edition based on what license key(s) are entered: if you enter a license key for ColdFusion 9 Enterprise (or a valid combination of ColdFusion 9 Enterprise upgrade license key and appropriate upgradeable ColdFusion license key), the runtime will act as ColdFusion 9 Enterprise; if you enter a license key for ColdFusion 9 Standard (or a valid combination of ColdFusion 9 Standard upgrade license key and appropriate upgradeable ColdFusion license key), the runtime will act as ColdFusion 9 Standard.

To upgrade to a Server (a.k.a. standalone) installation of ColdFusion 9 from a Server installation of any release of ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 (NOTE: the process is the same for Server installations of both ColdFusion Enterprise and ColdFusion Standard):

1. Run the ColdFusion 9 installer to install ColdFusion 9
2. Browse to the ColdFusion 9 Administrator to launch the Configuration Wizard and allow it to import the settings from ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8

To upgrade to ColdFusion 9 Enterprise from multi-server and J2EE installations of any release of ColdFusion MX, follow this documentation and TechNote (written for upgrading from ColdFusion MX 7 to ColdFusion 8 but the principles apply for upgrading from ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 to ColdFusion 9):

• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/Installing/WSe9cbe5cf462523a0-b18e31f121c8f9f003-8000.html
• http://www.adobe.com/go/kb405205

If as a part of your upgrade to ColdFusion 9 you wish to switch to an installation type you are not currently using (for instance, if you wish to switch to a Multi-Server installation from a Server installation), you must perform a new installation of your chosen ColdFusion 9 installation type and then manually migrate your settings from your current ColdFusion installation.

As long as you choose to use the built-in web server during installation of ColdFusion 9, your installation of ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 will not be altered or removed by the installation of ColdFusion 9. You will therefore be able to continue running ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 while you test your new ColdFusion 9 installation.

If during installation of ColdFusion 9 you choose to use the same external web server as you are using for ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 9, note that the CFIDE and CFDOCS directories in the root of your external web server will be replaced by the CFIDE and CFDOCS directories for ColdFusion 9. If you wish to avoid this, you must instead choose to use the built-in web server during installation of ColdFusion 9. As Michael Collins explains in the following blog post, you can later use the Web Server Configuration Tool to configure your external web server for ColdFusion 9:

• http://blogs.adobe.com/mcollins/2007/11/test.html

If you wish to configure your external web server to work properly with both ColdFusion MX 7 and/or ColdFusion 8 and ColdFusion 9 on an ongoing basis (as opposed to working with only one release of ColdFusion), you can do so, but you will need to do some manual configuration of your web server; see the following blog post by Adobe Community Expert Charlie Arehart for more information (even if you're not using Microsoft IIS and Microsoft Windows XP, the principles described will apply):

• http://carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2007/8/21/multiple_cf_versions_on_IIS_XP

Installing ColdFusion 9 will not uninstall ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8; this is by design: it is possible, and desirable in some circumstances, to run multiple versions of ColdFusion at once. There is no need for you to uninstall ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 once you are no longer using it (note that if you simply stop it from running, the only resource it uses is some space on your hard drive). However, if you wish to uninstall ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 after installing ColdFusion 9, you should first make a backup copy of the CFIDE and cfdocs directories in your web root folder because the uninstallation of ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 can remove these directories. After you uninstall ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8, simply restore these directories from backup. The uninstallation of ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8 can also remove "index.cfm" from the list of default documents in your web server. Therefore, if having "index.cfm" listed in your web server as one of the default document is required for your ColdFusion application, you may have to add this listing to your web server after the uninstallation of ColdFusion MX 7 or ColdFusion 8. See your web server's documentation for information on adding default document listings. Alternatively, you may be able to use the ColdFusion 9 Web Server Configuration Tool to do it for you:

• http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/Admin/WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbf364104-7fd6.html

Still have questions? First, visit the Installation section of the ColdFusion Support Center. If you can't find your answer there, feel free to contact me or, particularly if your question is one you believe would benefit other readers of this post, add a comment on this post.

One final note: Adobe offers implementation consulting for a fee and in addition, we have a number of partners who can help you with implementation and troubleshooting; if you would like more information on these offerings, please contact me.

Well, okay, so I don't know that the title of this post is strictly true: you may be able to run the Adobe Updater even if you're not logged into Windows as a user with administrative rights--but I don't know how you launch Adobe Updater other than from the Help menu of an Adobe product and the point I'm really making in this post is that if you aren't logged into Windows with administrative rights, you either won't have the menu option "Check for Updates" (this was the behavior I observed in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader) or the menu option "Adobe [Product Name] Updates" will be "grayed out" and unavailable to be selected (this was the behavior I observed in Adobe ColdFusion Builder).

So the point is this: make sure you're logged into Windows with administrative rights if you want to update your Adobe products! If you find this same behavior on another operating system, please post a comment to let me know.

I'm posting this because when I searched to figure out what the problem was, I couldn't find anything; fortunately, it dawned on me what the issue was. But some keywords for search engine indexing are in order here: Adobe Check for Updates menu item not shown, Adobe Check for Updates menu item not available, Adobe Check for Updates menu item not there, Adobe Check for Updates menu item missing, cannot run Adobe Updater.

I am commonly asked questions about the installers for ColdFusion 8 and 9, ColdFusion Builder, and Flash Builder 4 so I thought I'd make my long-overdue return to the world of blogging by compiling here some details that are hard to ascertain elsewhere.

Before I get into the details: you can find the EULAs for all the Adobe products mentioned here at http://www.adobe.com/products/eulas. Regardless of what the technical limitations are or aren't with any of this software, you're bound to the terms of the EULA for whatever product you're using. Okay, now let's get on with it.

ColdFusion 8 and 9 Installers

For ColdFusion 8 and ColdFusion 9 (the following facts are actually true for certain earlier versions as well but as all earlier versions and their corresponding installers are no longer available from Adobe, I'm not going to concern myself with them here), there is for any given platform and language (e.g. Windows 32-bit English, Windows 64-bit Japanese, Solaris 64-bit English, etc.) only a single installer for ColdFusion. This means that no matter if you want Enterprise, Standard, Trial, or Developer, you use the same installer--the way the download links are labeled may seem to imply otherwise, but do not be mislead! Take Windows 64-bit for example: there is only 1 installer for Windows 64-bit English (and then another for Windows 64-bit Japanese), not separate installers for Enterprise, Standard, Trial, and Developer. It doesn't matter where or from whom you purchased ColdFusion nor does it matter via which sales program you purchased: you still use this same single installer for your platform.

How ColdFusion behaves (that is, which of Enterprise, Standard, Trial, or Developer it acts as) once installed is dependent on choices you make during installation. If you supply your Enterprise license key (a.k.a. serial number) during installation, you get the Enterprise edition and if you supply your Standard license key during installation, you get the Standard edition. If you do not supply your license key during installation, you can choose either to have ColdFusion install as the Trial edition or the Developer edition. If you've supplied an Enterprise license key or chosen either the Trial edition or the Developer edition, you'll then be given the choice to install ColdFusion in the Server (a.k.a. "standalone") configuration, the Multi-server configuration, or the J2EE configuration. If you have supplied your Standard license key, you will only be able to install in the Server configuration (Multi-server and J2EE configurations are only available for Enterprise, Trial, and Developer).

So this single installer for your platform then allows you to install any of the following:

• Enterprise in the Server configuration
• Enterprise in the Multi-server configuration
• Enterprise in the J2EE configuration
• Standard in the Server configuration (Standard does not allow the Muti-server or J2EE configurations)
• Trial in the Server configuration
• Trial in the Multi-server configuration
• Trial in the J2EE configuration
• Developer in the Server configuration
• Developer in the Multi-server configuration
• Developer in the J2EE configuration

The ColdFusion 9 installers can be accessed via http://www.adobe.com/go/trycoldfusion.

The ColdFusion 8 installers can be accessed via http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=coldfusion8.

Two important notes:

• ColdFusion 8 Standard is only available for the 32-bit platforms on which ColdFusion 8 is supported (even for the Server configuration). If you install a 64-bit version of ColdFusion 8, you must supply a ColdFusion 8 Enterprise license key. If you try to supply a Standard license key, the key will not be accepted.
• Though ColdFusion 9 Standard is available for 64-bit Linux, there is a known issue with ColdFusion 9 not accepting standard license keys during installation on 64-bit Linux. But this is only an issue during installation: you can apply the key after installation via the ColdFusion Administrator.

UPDATE: The story is much the same for the ColdFusion 9 Update 1 installers (these bring your ColdFusion installation up to ColdFusion 9.0.1): there is only a single installer per platform (this single installer is for all languages on the given platform); these installers can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/downloads_updates.html#cf9. For more information on this free update for ColdFusion 9, see the FAQ available at http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/849/cpsid_84973.html.

ColdFusion Builder Installers

For ColdFusion Builder, the story is much the same: there is for any given platform and language (Windows English, Mac English, Windows Japanese, and Mac Japanese) only a single installer for ColdFusion Builder; how ColdFusion Builder behaves once installed is dependent on the license key (a.k.a. serial number) you apply. It doesn't matter if you want to do a Standalone installation or if you want to install ColdFusion Builder as a plug-in to Flash Builder or any other Eclipse installation--you use the same installer either way. When you fire up ColdFusion Builder, you'll be asked for a license key and if you don't supply one, you'll get the Trial edition, which is a fully functioning version of ColdFusion Builder that can be used for 60 days after installation. To keep rolling along beyond 60d ays, you'll just need to supply (after legally acquiring, of course) a valid license key when starting ColdFusion Builder. Here too it doesn't matter where or from whom you purchased ColdFusion Builder nor does it matter via which sales program you purchased: you still use the same installer; there really is only one installer for any given supported platform and language.

The ColdFusion Builder installers can be accessed via http://www.adobe.com/go/trycoldfusionbuilder.

Incidentally, if you're installing both ColdFusion Builder and Flash Builder 4 and/or any other Eclipse plug-ins in the same eclipse environment on Windows, my recommendation is that you install ColdFusion Builder in the Standalone configuration and then install Flash Builder 4 and/or the other Eclipse plug-ins as plug-ins to the ColdFusion Builder installation. The reason for this is that when it is the base install, you can have ColdFusion Builder associate ColdFusion files (.cfm, .cfc, and so on) in Windows so that when you open one of these files from Windows, it will open properly in ColdFusion Builder. This may not sound like much but trust me: this is actually a nifty little feature for an Eclipse-based IDE. Speaking of Flash Builder 4...

Flash Builder 4 Installers

For Flash Builder 4, the story is much the same but there is an important difference: for any given platform and language (and there are numerous languages available), there is one installer to use if you're doing a Standalone installation and another to use if you're doing an Eclipse Plug-in installation. So for any given platform and language, there are two installers and you need to choose the right one for the installation type you're going to perform. But note that there are not separate installers for Flash Builder 4 Standard and Flash Builder 4 Premium: just as ColdFusion 8 and 9 behave as Standard if you supply a Standard license key and Enterprise if you supply an Enterprise license key, so too does Flash Builder 4 behave as Standard if you supply a Standard license key and Premium if you supply a Premium license key. Like ColdFusion Builder, when you fire up Flash Builder, you'll be asked for a license key and if you don't supply one, you'll get the Trial edition, which is a fully functioning version of Flash Builder 4 Premium that can be used for 60 days after installation. To keep rolling along beyond 60 days, you'll just need to supply (again, after legally acquiring, of course) a valid license key when starting Flash Builder 4. Here too it doesn't matter where or from whom you purchased Flash Builder 4 nor does it matter via which sales program you purchased: you still use one of the same two installers (the Standalone installer if you want to do a Standalone installation or the Eclipse Plug-in installer if you want to install Flash Builder 4 as a plug-in to ColdFusion Builder or any other Eclipse installation) for your platform and language.

The Flash Builder 4 installers can be accessed via http://www.adobe.com/go/try_flashbuilder.

ColdFusion Builder Beta 3 is available on Adobe Labs:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusionbuilder

Download it, install it, rock it!

I just had an experience where every time I would launch ColdFusion Builder beta 2, it would consume as much RAM as it could get. ColdFusion Builder seemed to launch properly but I couldn't interact with it: it was unresponsive as it went about its rampant RAM consumption and I had no choice but to kill the process.

I have Flash Builder 4 beta 2 installed as a plug-in and I was running it in Trial mode and accordingly every time I launched ColdFusion Builder, Flash Builder presented me with a registration screen. Normally, I'd have to clear this screen before ColdFusion Builder would launch completely but during the time when ColdFusion Builder was getting all whacked out on RAM, it was launching completely even while presenting this screen.

But the good news is that I got ColdFusion Builder working again by removing my "Adobe ColdFusion Builder workspace" directory; ColdFusion Builder then created a new one on its next launch and all was well. This is a drastic step that effectively completely resets ColdFusion Builder--but of course, that's a lot better than what I was dealing with. But actually, I was able to bail myself out on that and perhaps this will work for you too: rather than completely deleting my "Adobe ColdFusion Builder workspace" directory, I just renamed it (you could of course also move it) and then when the new one was created upon my next restart, I did a folder comparison of the 2 and I copied over a number of directories and files. By and large, what I copied over were those directories and files that were missing from the new directory, not those that were simply changed. In the end, as well as I could tell, when I next launched ColdFusion Builder, it not only launched properly but it was back in the state I wanted it in.

My friends at Fig Leaf have developed the Advanced ColdFusion 9 Development class that will be rolling out soon and they have a special offer (call it a Christmas present!): participate in their 1-day beta class on December 22, 2009 in Washington, DC for only $99! They'll get validation of their class exercises, you'll get the full benefit of the training at this great, one-time-only price. Click here for full info and to register.

I think that one of the coolest features in ColdFusion 9 is the ability to create PDF Portfolios. But this feature isn't one that I hear anyone talking about. Why? Well, I find that most ColdFusion developers--and I've talked to a whole lot about this--have never heard of PDF Portfolios. So what I need to do here first is point you to some info about PDF Portfolios themselves.

The best place to start is with this Adobe Acrobat 9 help documentation. Check out all those cool features!

Let's say you need ColdFusion 9 to send multiple pieces of content via email. Your options:

1. Attach all the items to the email. This is messy.
2. Put the items in a ZIP file and attach it to the email. Good luck getting this through email filters!
3. Put the items in a PDF Package and attach it to the email. Your user gets a single attached file, opens it with Adobe Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9 and browses through the content, even previewing it directly within Adobe Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9!

Let's say you need a user to be able to get multiple logically connected pieces of content from your ColdFusion 9 web app; perhaps you even need to allow the user to select the pieces of content himself/herself. Your options:

1. Display links to all the content; have your user click the link for each piece of content he/she wants. This is messy, plus the user has to do the work to keep the content logically connected when saving the content locally.
2. Put the items in a ZIP file and display a link to it. This works and in certain situations may be the best approach, however the display of a ZIP file is rather bland.
3. Put the items in a PDF Package and display a link to it. Your user gets a single file and, in many browsers, this file will open automatically for viewing with Adobe Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9.

Starting to see how cool and useful PDF Packages can be? Want to see their use in action? Check out the related post linked below: you'll see that I have provided a link to the code for the PresentasticPlus app (and yes, that code is in a ZIP file but that's because ZIP files make sense for code) and in that app there is functionality for dynamically creating a PDF Package based on a user's selection(s).

I should point out that ColdFusion 9 creates a sub-type of a PDF Portfolio known as a PDF Package. Really, the main difference is that PDF Portfolios can have a custom user interface and PDF Packages can't (for more information on this, see this blog post from the LiveCycle Doc team). This is a cool feature and I recommend you learn more about how you can use it with Adobe Acrobat 9 (see Joel Geraci on Adobe TV).

We've recently seen an issue where the ColdFusion 9 installation program on 64-bit Linux will not accept (will reject) valid ColdFusion 9 Standard license keys (a.k.a serial numbers). You may see the following fail (failure) message:

The serial number that you entered is invalid

The workaround for this issue is to install ColdFusion 9 as Trial--that is, do not enter the license key (a.k.a. serial number) during installation--and then enter the license key (a.k.a serial number) via the ColdFusion Administrator after the installation has completed.

This issue only applies to ColdFusion 9 Standard license keys (a.k.a serial numbers); we have not seen any issue with the ColdFusion 9 installation program on 64-bit Linux accepting valid ColdFusion 9 Enterprise license keys (a.k.a. serial numbers).

2009-12-02 UPDATE: There is now an Adobe TechNote for this issue.

Good news: we now have short URLs for the public bugtrackers for ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder. Here they are:

ColdFusion: http://www.adobe.com/go/CF_bugs
ColdFusion Builder: http://www.adobe.com/go/CFB_bugs

Tell all your friends! :)

I'm giving the Getting Started with ColdFusion Lab at Adobe MAX 2009. You can get my presentation for it by clicking this link.