Josh Adams's Blog - Adobe

Must Have Administrative Rights on Windows to Run Adobe Updater

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:30:00 GMT

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.

ColdFusion 8 and 9, ColdFusion Builder, and Flash Builder 4 Installers

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:50:00 GMT

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; how ColdFusion behaves once installed is dependent on the installation type you choose and the license key (a.k.a. serial number) you apply. So no matter if you want Enterprise, Standard, Trial (in which case you apply no license key), or Developer (in which case you apply no license key), 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. And it doesn't matter where or from whom you purchased ColdFusion 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. If you don't supply a license key and you choose Trial, you get the Trial edition, which is effectively the Enterprise edition for 30 days and after that point it becomes the Developer edition, which is effectively the Enterprise edition with technical limitations on access by external IP addresses. In addition, both Trial and Developer have additional EULA restrictions so be sure to check those out. 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. When you install ColdFusion 8 or ColdFusion 9, you are given the choice to install it in any of the following configurations: Server (a.k.a. "standalone"), Multi-server, and J2EE. Please note that if you have a Standard license key, you must choose the Server configuration; Multi-server and J2EE installations will not accept Standard license keys. If you choose to supply your license key during installation and you supply a Standard license key, you will only be able to choose the Server configuration. 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.

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 Available on Adobe Labs

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:15:00 GMT

ColdFusion Builder Beta 3 is available on Adobe Labs: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusionbuilder Download it, install it, rock it!

ColdFusion Builder Frozen, Consuming Large Amounts of RAM

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:11:00 GMT

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.

ColdFusion 9 Training in Washington, DC on December 22, 2009 from Fig Leaf

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:05:00 GMT

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.

PDF Portfolios & ColdFusion 9

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:50:00 GMT

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:

Attach all the items to the email. This is messy.
Put the items in a ZIP file and attach it to the email. Good luck getting this through email filters!
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:

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.
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.
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).

Issue with ColdFusion 9 Accepting Standard License Keys during Installation on 64-bit Linux

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT

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.

Short URLs for ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder Bugtrackers

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:20:00 GMT

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! :)

Getting Started with ColdFusion

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:25:00 GMT

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

Presentastic: Working with PowerPoint Files in ColdFusion 9

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Presentastic is a demo app I created to show off how easy it is to take advantage of ColdFusion's cool capabilities for working with PowerPoint files. The instructions for creating Presentastic are available via this link. Check it out! 2009-11-19 UPDATE: You asked for it, you got it: The actual code file for PresentasticPlus is available via this link. PresentasticPlus is the version of the app that implements the PDF Portfolio creation functionality referenced at the end of the instruction document. 2009-12-01 UPDATE: The one cool new ColdFusion 9 feature for working with PowerPoint files that the original app didn't showcase was converting HTML to PPT--so in order to showcase this feature, I created a new version: PresentasticGold. The code file for PresentasticGold is available via this link.

The Scoop on Scoping

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:25:00 GMT

I did a presentation called "The Scoop on Scoping" and it's high time I post it here. It has a lot of good information, however, if you don't plan to read it, let me at least give you the Golden Rule of ColdFusion Scoping: Scope all references to all variables all the time (where ColdFusion allows it) In ColdFusion 9, with the introduction of the "Local" keyword to identify the function local scope, there really won't be any good excuse to not refer to scopes by name all the time and so that "(where ColdFusion allows it)" part can pretty much go away. :) The PDF version of the presentation is available via this link.

Getting Started with iPhone Development

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:00:00 GMT

My CFUnited presentation "iPhone Apps + Adobe ColdFusion," is about so much more than just using iPhone Apps and Adobe ColdFusion together! It's a really good place to start when you're looking to get into iPhone development, regardless of whether or not you're interested in making calls to a remote ColdFusion server. Certainly there is great information in the presentation for anyone who wants to make calls to a remote server, particularly a ColdFusion server, but you don't have to be interested in making remote calls from your iPhone apps to find the information in the presentation useful. So check it out! The related link for this blog post gives the link to my blog post "iPhone Apps + Adobe ColdFusion" from Friday containing links to the presentation in PDF format and to the code resources in a ZIP file.

iPhone Apps + Adobe ColdFusion

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:00:00 GMT

I'm presenting "iPhone Apps + Adobe ColdFusion" right now (well, right now as this post is going live anyway). And in this post, I am making the PDF version of my presentation file available via this link (note: the file location and link may change in the future but on this post on my blog itself the link will always be kept current). UPDATE: I've been asked for my code samples from the presentation; you can find them here. To use them with NimbleKit, you'll need to create a new NimbleKit project in Xcode then drop these resources into wherever it is that you put the NimbleKit project; you'll need to overwrite the project's main.html file with this one. Note that the sayHello.cfc and sayHello.cfm files are not needed for your NimbleKit project; they are included so you can see what they do and so that you can deploy them to your own web server (of course, in that situation you'll need to change the NimbleKit code to make its calls to the server where you put the files).

Flash Player on Mobile Devices

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:25:00 GMT

I'm at CFUnited. If you're not here, we miss you! Last night I attended the Birds of a Feather session (for those not familiar, this is a session that is a bit more of an open forum than it is a presentation) on iPhone development and those present asked me lots of questions about if and when Flash Player will be on the iPhone. That's outside my Adobe arena so I didn't have great answers for them (though I'm relatively certain that even if I did have great answers, I wouldn't have been authorized to share them). But I did do some asking and some research and so I give you: The official(ish) statement:

We would like to work with Apple to bring Flash to the iPhone, meanwhile we continue to work towards bringing the full Flash Player to Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android and other smartphones enabling a more complete web experience.

Now, as I know that's not particularly enlightening, here are some blog posts I ran across which you may find of interest:

ColdFusion 9 & ColdFusion Builder Public Betas Now Available!

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:01:00 GMT

Breaking news: the ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder public beta releases are now available for download on Adobe Labs. For ColdFusion 9, go to http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusion9 and for ColdFusion Builder, go to http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusionbuilder. ColdFusion 9, previously codenamed Centaur, is the planned next major release of ColdFusion. ColdFusion Builder, previously codenamed Bolt, is the highly-anticipated first ColdFusion IDE from Adobe. What are you waiting for? Go check 'em out!!!

ColdFusion 8 Security Bulletin Has Been Posted re: FCKEditor Security Vulnerability

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:25:00 GMT

As Ben Forta has posted on his blog, a Hotfix for the ColdFusion 8 FCKEditor Security Vulnerability has been posted. You can read more about it in the accompanying security bulletin available at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-09.html. Please take time to read this security bulletin--as Ben notes in his post, this is must-read material!

Adobe ColdFusion eSeminar in Dutch - Wednesday, July 7, 2009

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:45:00 GMT

Join us as we present our first (well, if it's not the first, it's the first in a very long time!) Adobe ColdFusion eSeminar in Dutch! The topic is "ColdFusion Powered Flex Application Development" and you can find more details and register at http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=1345643. Note: if you are unable to attend or if you read this post after the eSeminar is over, be sure to check the Adobe ColdFusion OnDemand eSeminars listing to see if we have posted the recording there (no promises as to how quickly, but hopefully we will get the recording posted there when it is available).

Adobe eSeminar: UCF (Ultimate ColdFusion) for the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:40:00 GMT

The UFC is red hot--and so are their online applications powered with ColdFusion! Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 11:00 AM PDT for a customer showcase where we'll hear all about how the UFC, the New England Patriots, and other sports giants use ColdFusion to power high-traffic applications. The eSeminar is called Ultimate ColdFusion: High Performance, Scalability and Features and you can find more information and register for it at http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=1345643. Note: if you are unable to attend or if you read this post after the eSeminar is over, be sure to check the Adobe ColdFusion OnDemand eSeminars listing to see if we have posted the recording there (no promises as to how quickly, but hopefully we will get the recording posted there when it is available).

Questions about the FCKEditor Vulnerability in ColdFusion

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Adobe Platform Evangelist Terry Ryan has a new post in regards to Questions about the FCKEditor Vulnerability in ColdFusion. Be sure to read it!

ColdFusion 8 Enterprise or Standard?

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:15:00 GMT

How do you decide between ColdFusion 8 Enterprise and ColdFusion 8 Standard? Start by attending my Adobe eSeminar "The Right Fit: Adobe ColdFusion 8 Enterprise or Standard" to be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 11:00 AM PST. I hope to see you there!

Learn about ColdFusion + the Flash Platform (including Flex & AIR) LIVE in DC!

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:50:00 GMT

Want to learn more about ColdFusion + the Adobe Flash Platform? If you're in (or can be in) Washington, D.C. on this Thursday, February 10, 2009, check out the Adobe Day we're holding @ Hotel Palomar in Washington, D.C. starting @ 10:00 AM. For more information and to RSVP, visit this URL: http://www.adoberegistrations.com/adobedays/2009/DC/AdobeDay_DC_CF.html Unfortunately, they don't have the schedule at that URL but good news: I have that information! Here is what is currently planned:

9:15 AM - 10:00 AM - Registration and Continental Breakfast
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM - Kickoff and Introductions
10:15 AM - noon - Adobe Flash Platform - Overview and Demos
noon - 12:30 PM - Lunch
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM - Leveraging ColdFusion and Flex To Create RIAs
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM - ROI of Rich Internet Applications and Success Stories
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM - Q&A and Best Practices

Adobe Platform Evangelist Ryan Stewart is currently scheduled to be driving the content of the event.

Adobe eSeminars for 2009 Quarter 1

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:18:00 GMT

One of my roles at Adobe is to present eSeminars (online seminars via Adobe Acrobat Connect) related to ColdFusion. Join me, won't you? I will be presenting the Adobe ColdFusion 8 eSeminar Series for 2009 Quarter 1 over the next couple of months; details for dates, times, and topics can be found via this URL: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=1345643 Speaking of eSeminars: you might also be interested in the Adobe Flash Platform eSeminar series for Adobe AIR and Flex developers; details can be found via this URL: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=462539 If there are any topics you'd like us to consider for future eSeminars, please let me know via a Comment on this entry.

ColdFusion @ Adobe MAX 2008

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:25:00 GMT

Adobe MAX 2008 figures to be the best MAX ever. But did you know that there are a ton of great ColdFusion sessions on tap? I don't know specifics, but I know there are more sessions planned this year than in at least the recent past. So...hopefully you have heard only good things about Adobe MAX, but if you instead heard something about there not being enough ColdFusion content, put that thought to rest! But don't just take my word for it, check out the Adobe MAX 2008 North America Session Locator and see for yourself (as Charlie Arehart pointed out to me, it's important to notice that the tool includes a Product selection and by choosing "ColdFusion" you will see over 30 distinct sessions, not including repeats, pertaining to ColdFusion)! Then check out all the great information and register on the Adobe MAX 2008 North America website. Speaking of registration: for the best possible price, you need a special code--and I may be able to provide one; contact me for more information.

Unsupported ColdFusion Configurations

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:05:00 GMT

I guess you could say this is the unofficial thread on unofficial ColdFusion configurations. :) But before we get to that, I need to make this statement: I recommend running ColdFusion in a supported configuration as specified here: http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/systemreqs ANY deviation from these System Requirements is strictly at your own risk! Among the risks is a lack of support from Adobe--Adobe only supports configurations meeting the System Requirements! Now, let me explain things a little further: the System Requirements information indicates tested and supported configurations for ColdFusion; it does not (at least necessarily) contain definitive information on what configurations will run ColdFusion. That is to say, there may well be configurations not listed that will run ColdFusion, but Adobe cannot and will not make any comments about these and again I must stress that, most importantly, Adobe will not support such configurations. I hope the information I have just shared is enlightening in and of itself; I think it will be because I'm regularly asked questions on the subject, usually in the form of "will xxx work with ColdFusion." But for those questions to which I have to answer "it is not supported, but as to whether or not it will work, I cannot say" my hope here is that others will be able to share their experiences with these unsupported configurations. My intention is in no way to encourage the use of ColdFusion with unsupported configurations; my only desire is to help those who choose to use such configurations knowingly and with a full understanding the implications of using such configurations. So...if you have a question about an unsupported ColdFusion configuration, ask away in a comment! If your experience has been that ColdFusion either does or does not work with a certain unsupported configuration, please note it in a comment! When commenting, please specify as much information as possible about your configuration, certainly including your version of ColdFusion.

Adobe eSeminars

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:30:00 GMT

One of my roles at Adobe is to present eSeminars (online seminars via Adobe Acrobat Connect) related to ColdFusion. Join me, won't you? I will be presenting the Adobe ColdFusion 8 eSeminar Series over the next couple of months; details can be found via this URL: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=1345643 Speaking of eSeminars: you might also be interested in the Adobe Flex eSeminar Series for Developers; details can be found via this URL: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=462539

Upgrading from ColdFusion MX to ColdFusion 8

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:50:00 GMT

Just as I am frequently asked about the process of migrating from ColdFusion 5 or older to ColdFusion 8, I am also regularly asked about the process of upgrading from ColdFusion MX (the versions variously known as ColdFusion MX, ColdFusion MX 6, ColdFusion MX 6.1, ColdFusion MX 7, ColdFusion MX 7.0.1, ColdFusion MX 7.0.2, ColdFusion 7, ColdFusion 7.0.1, and ColdFusion 7.0.2) to ColdFusion 8 (at the time of this posting, the current release of ColdFusion 8 is ColdFusion 8.0.1). And so here too I have compiled some helpful information: First and foremost, to set things up: as noted in the following link, ColdFusion MX to ColdFusion 8 is a valid upgrade path (upgrading to ColdFusion 8 is supported for the 2 most recent previous major releases of ColdFusion):

http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/upgrade [UPDATE: with the release of ColdFusion 9, this link has been updated to pertain to upgrading to ColdFusion 9--why not upgrade to ColdFusion 9?]

You can use the ColdFusion Code Compatibility Analyzer to determine if your code is valid for ColdFusion 8:

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 8 introduced the isImage() function; if your code has a user-defined function called isImage() you will need to change the name of that user-defined function and all references to it in your code before upgrading to ColdFusion 8):

You may also wish to check the CFML Language History:

http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_18791

It's very important to read the release notes in case some might apply to your environment:

http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/coldfusion/releasenotes.html

Many of these upgrading best practices from Adobe's Sarge Sargent's blog will certainly apply:

http://www.sargeway.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=6DBD3FC6-C29F-05EC-8BC78715AD424685

For even more helpful info, visit this blog post from Charlie Arehart:

http://www.carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2009/8/10/cf8_migration_resources

When you're ready to install ColdFusion 8, you'll want to review the "Installing and Using ColdFusion" documentation:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/Part_1_Installing_1.html (HTML LiveDocs version, containing comments from users and Adobe employees)
http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/install.pdf (PDF version with no comments)

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 8 Enterprise from ColdFusion 8 Standard:

Enter your license key for ColdFusion 8 Enterprise 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 8 is required. This is true because there is a single runtime (per platform; the same is true for the installer) for ColdFusion 8 which acts as a particular edition based on what license key(s) are entered--if you enter a license key for ColdFusion 8 Enterprise, the runtime will act as ColdFusion 8 Enterprise; if you enter a license key for ColdFusion 8 Standard, the runtime will act as ColdFusion 8 Standard. Note that both ColdFusion 8 Trial and ColdFusion 8 Developer are the same as ColdFusion 8 Enterprise, with the notable exception that neither is licensed for production use, Trial becomes Developer after 30 days, and Developer accepts connections only from a limited number of IP addresses.

To upgrade to ColdFusion 8 from standalone installations of any release of ColdFusion MX (NOTE: the process is the same for both standalone installations of ColdFusion Enterprise and ColdFusion Standard):

Run the ColdFusion 8 installation wizard to install ColdFusion 8
Browse to the ColdFusion Administrator to launch the Configuration Wizard and allow it to import the settings from ColdFusion MX

To upgrade to ColdFusion 8 Enterprise from multi-server and J2EE installations of any release of ColdFusion MX, follow this TechNote:

http://www.adobe.com/go/kb405205

As long as you choose to use the built-in web server during installation of ColdFusion 8, your installation of ColdFusion MX will not be altered or removed by the installation of ColdFusion 8. You will therefore be able to continue running ColdFusion MX while you test your new ColdFusion 8 installation. If during installation of ColdFusion 8 you choose to use the same external web server as you are using for ColdFusion MX, 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 8. If you wish to avoid this, you must instead choose to use the built-in web server during installation of ColdFusion 8. As Adobe Technical Account Manager 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 8:

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 and ColdFusion 8 on an ongoing basis (as opposed to working with only one version or the other), 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

There is no need for you to uninstall ColdFusion MX once you are no longer using it, but you may do so if you would like. However, if you wish to install any release of ColdFusion MX and you have ColdFusion configured to use an external web server, please view the following TechNote (which is written for the uninstallation of ColdFusion MX after upgrading to ColdFusion MX 7, but is also applicable to the uninstallation of any release of ColdFusion MX after upgrading to ColdFusion 8) before uninstalling ColdFusion MX:

http://www.adobe.com/go/b41d02c5

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; if you would like more information on this offering, please contact me.

Migrating from ColdFusion 5 or older to ColdFusion 8

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:40:00 GMT

I am regularly asked about the process of moving applications from ColdFusion 5 or older to ColdFusion 8. Nowhere else is there good consolidated information on the subject so, with some help from the excellent Adobe ColdFusion Support Team, I have compiled this information: First and foremost, to set things up: as noted in the following link, ColdFusion 5 to ColdFusion 8 is not a valid upgrade path:

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

However, you can still migrate your ColdFusion applications from ColdFusion 5 to ColdFusion 8. Note that unlike the valid upgrade paths available for moving from ColdFusion MX 6.x and 7.x to ColdFusion 8, migrating from ColdFusion 5 to ColdFusion 8 does not allow for automated migration of ColdFusion settings like datasources, mappings, custom tag paths, and so on; instead, you must migrate your ColdFusion 5 settings to ColdFusion 8 manually. Below you will find a number of resources that will be helpful in the process of migrating from ColdFusion 5 to ColdFusion 8: "Migrating Applications to ColdFusion MX 7" is an incredibly valuable resource and although it was unfortunately not updated for ColdFusion 8, to a large extent that's because there really wasn't any need: the concerns involved when migrating from ColdFusion 5 to ColdFusion 8 are (with possibly some small exceptions that don't come to mind right now) the same as those involved when migrating from ColdFusion 5 to ColdFusion MX 7:

http://download.macromedia.com/pub/documentation/en/coldfusion/mx7/cfmx7_migrating.pdf

Although this article was written for migration to ColdFusion MX, which is 2 full releases earlier than ColdFusion 8, many of the topics covered will apply to ColdFusion 8 as well:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/coldfusion/articles/migration_overview.html

The previous link also mentions the Code Compatibility Analyzer. You can use the ColdFusion Code Compatibility Analyzer to determine if your code is valid for ColdFusion 8:

I recommend also this link for ensuring your migration from ColdFusion 5 will at least be compatible with ColdFusion MX:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/6/Migrating_ColdFusion_5_Applications/cf_migration_guide.htm

You may also wish to check the CFML Language History:

http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_18791

It's very important to read the release notes in case some might apply to your environment:

http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/coldfusion/releasenotes.html

Many of these upgrading best practices from Adobe's Sarge Sargent's blog will certainly apply:

http://www.sargeway.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=6DBD3FC6-C29F-05EC-8BC78715AD424685

For even more helpful info, visit this blog post from Charlie Arehart:

http://www.carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2009/8/10/cf8_migration_resources

And finally, when you're ready to install ColdFusion 8, you'll want to review the "Installing and Using ColdFusion" documentation:

http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/Part_1_Installing_1.html (HTML LiveDocs version, containing comments from users and Adobe employees)
http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/install.pdf (PDF version with no comments)

ColdFusion 8 Enterprise Now FREE for Qualifying Educational Use

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:35:00 GMT

As announced at CFUnited 2008, ColdFusion 8 Enterprise is now FREE for qualifying educational use! One big point I want to make up front: ColdFusion 8 Enterprise in a production environment at even a qualifying institution still requires a commercial license. For more details on this andother important program details, please see the following links:

Adobe ColdFusion 8 for Eduction site
Adobe ColdFusion Product Marketing Manager Kristen Schofield's press announcement
The Adobe ColdFusion 8 FAQ (note in particular the section entitled "Free ColdFusion Enterprise for education")

Creating an RSS Feed Using <cffeed> with a Structure

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:35:00 GMT

The Adobe ColdFusion 8 documentation has a ton of great information on the <cffeed> tag, including a nice example of how to create an RSS feed using <cffeed> with a structure. There's no need to rehash that information, but I do want to expound on it to explain how you specify categories and enclosures as well as guid info for an item in a feed because I think specifying these for an item in a feed is a little tricky. So what I'm going to do is take the above example as a starting point, adding in the code that demonstrates how to specify categories and enclosures and guid info for an item and removing some non-essential code so as not to overly complicate things:





	/* Create the feed data structure and add the metadata. */
	myStruct = StructNew();
	myStruct.link = "http://" & CGI.HTTP_HOST & CGI.SCRIPT_NAME;
	myStruct.title = "My RSS Feed";
	myStruct.description = "A demonstration of ";
	myStruct.pubDate = Now();
	myStruct.version = "rss_2.0";
	
	/* Add the feed items. A more sophisticated application would use dynamic variables
		and support varying numbers of items. */
	myStruct.item = ArrayNew(1);
	myStruct.item[1] = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[1].category = ArrayNew(1);
	myStruct.item[1].category[1] = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[1].category[1].value = "Cat1";
	myStruct.item[1].enclosure = ArrayNew(1);
	myStruct.item[1].enclosure[1] = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[1].enclosure[1].url = "http://" & CGI.HTTP_HOST & "enc/myenclosure.mp3";
	myStruct.item[1].enclosure[1].length = 1212;
	myStruct.item[1].enclosure[1].type = "audio/mp3";
	myStruct.item[1].description = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[1].description.value = "The first item in the feed";
	myStruct.item[1].guid = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[1].guid.isPermaLink = "Yes";
	myStruct.item[1].guid.value = "http://" & CGI.HTTP_HOST;
	myStruct.item[1].title = "Item 1";
	myStruct.item[2] = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[2].category = ArrayNew(1);
	myStruct.item[2].category[1] = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[2].category[1].value = "Cat1";
	myStruct.item[2].category[2] = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[2].category[2].value = "Cat2";
	myStruct.item[2].description = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[2].description.value = "The second item in the feed";
	myStruct.item[2].guid = StructNew();
	myStruct.item[2].guid.isPermaLink = "Yes";
	myStruct.item[2].guid.value = "http://" & CGI.HTTP_HOST;
	myStruct.item[2].title = "Item 2";




#myXML#

Please note the following:

The code was specifically written without external dependencies so that it will work on any ColdFusion 8 installation.
<cfsetting showdebugoutput="no"> can be a lifesaver when working with <cffeed>--I was tearing my hair out for a bit until I had that head-slapping moment when it dawned on me why I kept being told by the browser that the feed was invalid.
I consider it good coding practice to always scope variables, even those in the Variables scope. The only reason the above code doesn't use scoped variables is to keep it as similar as possible to the example code referenced at the top of this post.
If you're looking for information on the metadata properties for the feed itself, see Ray Camden's blog post on the subject.

Redirecting RSS feeds

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:10:00 GMT

After my last post (about my blog's move) generated a whopping 3 views (possibly all by me!), I began to believe that my suspicions that RSS readers may not like HTTP 302 redirects might be well-founded. So I checked out Full As a Goog and sure enough, it wasn't showing my new post some many hours after I posted it. So I did a little digging into the matter of redirecting RSS feeds and I found that an HTTP 302 redirect (which is what I was using) should temporarily redirect the feed. I'm not sure why that wasn't working. But it doesn't really matter because I don't truly want a temporary redirect, I want a permanent redirect. For that it appears there are two choices: use an HTTP 301 redirect or use an XML level redirect (further info on both is given at the above link). It is possible to generate either using ColdFusion (for the former, you would use <cfheader> and for the latter you just put the appropriate XML into your RSS XML output). The latter struck me as a more interesting approach so that is the one I am now using. Does it work? I'm not sure--you tell me! If you were consuming the feed from its old location at http://www.joshuaadams.com/blog and your reader is now consuming the feed from its new location at http://blog.joshuaadams.com then yep, it worked for you. But if you're still showing the old feed, then no, it isn't working for you (although that then begs the question of how you ended up here). Comments letting me know if it worked for you are appreciated; comments letting me know it didn't work for you are even more appreciated.

My blog has moved!

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:30:00 GMT

I have made a slight change in the location of my blog: previously it was at http://www.joshuaadams.com/blog and now it can be found at http://blog.joshuaadams.com. So is that old location given above now a broken link? Nope--if you hit a page in its old location, you will be redirected to its new location. Note that this is true not just for the main page of the blog but for any page. How does it work? Just a few lines of code for ColdFusion 8. Stay tuned for more details.... What I'm not sure about is how consumers of RSS feeds will react to this change--the RSS feed isn't present in its old location but requests for it in its old location will be redirected to its new location. However, I'm not sure how well readers will handle this. Please leave me a comment and let me know how yours does.

ColdFusion 8: more great features than you realize

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:50:00 GMT

Lest I become one of those people who has a blog but never posts: ColdFusion has more great features than you realize. Well, okay, I can't legimately claim to know what you realize. But as I am coming up to speed in my job as ColdFusion Specialist, it strikes me just how many great features there are in ColdFusion 8. And my guess is I'm not the only one who would have that reaction. Rather than expound on all these great features myself, let me instead point you to adobe.com for this list of new features in ColdFusion 8. In time I expect to post additional information and code samples for some of these features. Are you interested in learning more about any features in particular? If so, post a comment and let me know!

And the new Adobe ColdFusion Specialist is...me!

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:30:00 GMT

I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a Systems Engineer position in the role of ColdFusion Specialist with Adobe Systems, Inc. I am excited about working for Adobe and about the role as ColdFusion Specialist. What has me so jazzed up? Getting to work with ColdFusion (and also Flex, AIR, LiveCycle, and the many other great tools from Adobe) and at the same time with you, the ColdFusion user. I love ColdFusion, but what I love even more is working with ColdFusion users as they do new, better, bigger, and innovative things with ColdFusion! And that's exactly what I have been hired to do. Over the past several years, I have had the pleasure of getting to know so many in the ColdFusion user community at conferences, user group meetings, and other events. I'm excited for this opportunity to focus on continuing those relationships and forging new ones. Because for me, that's the greatest thing about my job: I am here for you! If there is anything that you need from Adobe in regards to ColdFusion, I'm your man. So don't be shy--get in touch! I'm still in ramp up mode so I'm not going to list contact information here, but you can simply add a comment to this post or use the Contact link at the bottom of the page to send me a message. I look forward to hearing from you soon! One more thing: not to make this sound too much like an awards acceptance speech, but the reality is that there are a number of people who deserve my thanks for their role in helping me get to the point where I was able to land this position. But rather than try to cover them all and risk missing any, I will instead turn my thanks to the Atlanta ColdFusion User Group as so many of those deserving my thanks are people I know through my involvement in ACFUG. Thanks ACFUG and those I know because of it--I appreciate you! If you're reading this and you're serious about your career and you're not attending meetings of your local user group, you need to start. If there is no local user group, you need to start one. And another great option--and the place to turn if absolutely no one lives near you such that any user group you would start would be a user group of one--is the Online ColdFusion Meetup.

Quality costs money

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:11:00 GMT

Look, there are exceptions to every rule, but generally, quality costs money--and the more quality, the more money it costs. Today I was asked if I could DJ for 60% less than my minimum price for a wedding reception. My response in short was yes--if the budget is a shoestring with the event at a rec center and the frills at a minimum. I said, however, that if she is willing and able to pay for a nice venue, nice food, nice flowers, and so on, then if she wants me to DJ for her, she's also going to have to pay my rate, the rate of a nice DJ. The truth is that, from the perspective of my materials costs, I could justify the lower price. However, time is a precious resource: if I'm doing a job for you, how much time it takes me is an important consideration in how much I charge for that job. And I invest a large amount of time in DJing a wedding reception because that's what it takes to do it right. Now, that doesn't mean that anyone has to be willing to pay me what I ask. But people hire me. And they do pay me what I ask because they understand that quality costs money and what I'm asking is a great price for the value I deliver. (NOTE: again, there are exceptions to the "quality costs money" rule; for instance, maybe this particular prospect can find a DJ of equal or better quality for the price she wants to pay. But any DJ who charges what she wants and delivers quality on par with what I deliver is, in all truth, doing bad business--he/she isn't charging enough for his/her services...and time!) What's this have to do with ColdFusion? Well, it reminds me of a great blog post about ColdFusion (see--you thought I'd put this post in the wrong category, didn't you?) from Jason Delmore. Give it a read if you haven't already.