INTRODUCTION TO COLDFUSION 8

INTRODUCTION TO COLDFUSION 8 ABOUT THE COURSE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS ADOBE COLDFUSION RESOURCES UNIT 1: GETTING STARTED WITH COLDFUSION 8 INSTALLING SOFTWARE AND COURSE FILES UNDERSTANDING DYNAMIC WEB PAGES INTRODUCING COLDFUSION 8 EXPLORING DREAMWEAVER CS4 UNIT 2: BUILDING COLDFUSION APPLICATIONS LESSON 1: CREATING COLDFUSION VARIABLES LESSON 2: DISPLAYING VARIABLE VALUES LESSON 3: INCLUDING FILES LESSON 4: COMMENTING CODE BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: VIEWING THE COURSE APPLICATION UNIT 3: PUBLISHING DATABASE CONTENT LESSON 1: CONNECTING TO A DATABASE LESSON 2: QUERYING A DATABASE TABLE LESSON 3: VIEWING DEBUG DATA LESSON 4: DUMPING A RECORDSET TO A BROWSER LESSON 5: DISPLAYING DATABASE DATA LESSON 6: USING THE DYNAMIC TABLE TOOL LESSON 7: USING THE RESULTSET STRUCTURE DATA LESSON 8: USING COLDFUSION FUNCTIONS BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: CREATING THE HOME PAGE UNIT 4: BUILDING FORMS WITH COLDFUSION LESSON 1: UNDERSTANDING HTML FORMS LESSON 2: ENABLING DEBUG OUTPUT LESSON 3: SELF-POSTING FORMS LESSON 4: DETERMINING FORM SUBMISSION LESSON 5: EVALUATING FORM VARIABLES LESSON 6: INTRODUCING COLDFUSION FORMS BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: CREATING A SEARCH FORM UNIT 5: BUILDING SEARCH INTERFACES LESSON 1: USING FORM DATA IN DYNAMIC QUERIES LESSON 2: PRESERVING FORM DATA LESSON 3: CREATING DYNAMIC SQL FOR MULTIPLE SEARCH CRITERIA LESSON 4: USING TEXT SEARCHES LESSON 5: USING LIST SEARCHES BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: BUILDING CHECK ORDER STATUS LOGIC UNIT 6: BUILDING A DRILL-DOWN INTERFACE LESSON 1: USING DYNAMIC URL PARAMETERS

LESSON 2: CREATING A DATA DRILL-DOWN LESSON 3: CREATING ON-THE-FLY PDF DOCUMENTS LESSON 4: DISPLAYING DATA IN A TABBED INTERFACE BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: DISPLAYING ORDER ITEM INFORMATION UNIT 7: INSERTING NEW DATA LESSON 1: BUILDING AN INSERT FORM PAGE LESSON 2: VALIDATING COLDFUSION FORMS LESSON 3: BUILDING INSERT ACTION LOGIC LESSON 4: REDIRECTING PROCESS FLOW BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: ADDING AN ART PIECE UNIT 8: UPDATING AND DELETING DATA LESSON 1: BUILDING AN UPDATE FORM PAGE LESSON 2: BUILDING UPDATE LOGIC LESSON 3: DELETING RECORDS FROM THE DATABASE LESSON 4: IMPROVING SQL SECURITY BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: UPDATING ART WORK DATA UNIT 9: REUSING TEMPLATES LESSON 1: REUSING CODE LESSON 2: USING USER-DEFINED FUNCTIONS LESSON 3: INTRODUCING COLDFUSION COMPONENTS BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY ON YOUR OWN: CREATE AND USE A CUSTOM TAG UNIT 10: SECURING AN APPLICATION LESSON 1: USING THE APPLICATION FRAMEWORK LESSON 2: USING APPLICATION VARIABLES LESSON 3: PERSISTENT STATE VARIABLES AND WORKING WITH SESSION VARIABLES BEST PRACTICES AND SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION TO COLDFUSION 8
ABOUT THE COURSE
Welcome to Introduction to ColdFusion 8. This course introduces experienced web developers to the fundamentals of ColdFusion 8 from Adobe Systems, Inc.. This is a project-based course where you will learn how to create dynamic, database-driven web applications using the Dreamweaver CS4 and ColdFusion 8 development environment. The course is structured in the form of units arranged around a central theme. Lessons within each unit delve deeper into different aspects of a theme. Following each lesson are Step-by-Step activities in which you build independent, dynamic, data-driven web applications. At the end of each unit is a set of On Your Own activities that will help to further practice the skills you have learned. Each On Your Own activity is organized to help you complete a specific aspect of the Art Gallery dynamic, data-driven ColdFusion web application.

Unit 1: Getting Started with ColdFusion 8

In this unit, you are introduced to the fundamentals of dynamic web applications with ColdFusion 8 using Dreamweaver CS4 as the development environment. As you complete this lesson you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Install and configure ColdFusion 8 Install and configure Dreamweaver CS4 Install and configure the course files Explain the advantages of dynamic web pages Define key features and components of ColdFusion 8 Describe basic and enterprise development configurations Test the development environment Create a site in Dreamweaver CS4

Unit 2: Building Basic ColdFusion Applications

This unit covers the basics of ColdFusion and focuses on best practices and design while stressing the importance of usability, optimization and performance. In the On Your Own activity, you will explore the overall structure of the application that you will work with during the course. You do not create any pages at this point. As you complete these activities you will learn the following basic dynamic web application development skills: Set a local variable Display variables on a page Include common code How to comment code

Unit 3: Publishing Database Content

In this unit you will learn how to create dynamic web pages using content retrieved from a database. In the On Your Own activity, you will build the Art Gallery home page using CFML tags such as <cfquery> and <cfoutput>. As you complete these activities you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications:

Create a data source Query database tables Test a query and view debugging information Display query data on a page Access the resultset structure Use ColdFusion functions

Unit 4: Building Forms with ColdFusion

In this unit you will learn how to process data submitted by users through a web-based HTML form. In the On Your Own activity, you will create an HTML form to allow the user to search for an order. Through the completion of these activities you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Create an HTML form View form variables in debug data Post form values to a form page Perform conditional logic Detect the presence of form variables Use a ColdFusion form

Unit 5: Building Search Interfaces

In this unit you will learn how to create forms that allow users to search database content. In the On Your Own activity, you will write instructions that tells the form to use the values entered by the user in the form page to create a dynamic SELECT statement and return the status of order(s). As you complete these activities you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Use form data in a dynamic query Preserve user input upon form submission Use multiple search criteria in a dynamic query Use text and list searches

Unit 6: Building a Drill-Down Interface

In this unit you will learn how to create a drill-down interface and display the detailed information in HTML, PDF and grid interfaces. In the On Your Own activity, you will create links in the artist ID column to display the artwork associated with each artist. Through the completion of these activities you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Use URL parameters to pass data from one page to another Use URL parameters to create a dynamic data drill-down page Create PDF documents with dynamic data Display data in a sortable grid

Unit 7: Inserting New Data

In this project, you will use Dreamweaver CS4 to customize a ColdFusion form that lets users add a new art piece to the Gallery. In the On Your Own activity, you will customize your own

ColdFusion insert form that lets users add a new art piece to the Art Gallery database. Through the completion of these activities you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, datadriven web applications: Create an insert form Implement user input validation Create insert logic Redirect processing to another page

Unit 8: Updating and Deleting Data

In this unit you will learn how to update and delete records from a database table. You will also learn how to improve security on the dynamic variables you use in your queries. In the On Your Own activity, you use a pre-created list page of all pieces of artwork and create a drill-down functionality to obtain a form with the selected row's data for update. Through the completion of these activities you will learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Build an update form Pre-fill form controls Update a database record using the <cfquery> tag and the SQL UPDATE statement Delete a database record using the <cfquery> tag and the SQL DELETE statement Define the acceptable data types for the dynamic variables used in SQL statements

Unit 9: Reusing Templates

In this unit you learn how to insert user-supplied data into the database. In the On Your Own activity, you create and use a custom tag to display the date in the Art Gallery pages. As you complete these activities you learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Call CFML custom tags from your application Call user-defined functions Call ColdFusion components from your application

Unit 10: Securing an Application

In this unit you will be introduced to various ways to add security to ColdFusion web pages using application and session variables. In the final Step by Ste activities, you work directly with the On Your Own website files to secure access to the application. Through the completion of these activities you learn the following skills to build dynamic, data-driven web applications: Secure access to your web pages Use the application framework Use application variables Use session variables

Prerequisites
The prerequisites for this course are: Familiarity with web terminology

An understanding of web server characteristics Experience with the HTML tag set and syntax Familiarity with the SQL command set, including SELECT, INSERT and UPDATE

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
This section outlines what you will need to develop the ColdFusion application in the Introduction to ColdFusion 8 course.

Reviewing the minimum system requirements

Windows Intel Pentium II or AMD Athlon processor Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 3; Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server, or Datacenter Server with Service Pack 3; Windows Server 2003 Web, Standard, or Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 and R2; Windows XP Professional or Home Edition; or Windows Vista 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) 500MB of available hard-disk space DVD-ROM drive Color monitor with 800 x 600 resolution, 256 colors (1024 x 768 resolution, millions of colors recommended) Note: This course has only been tested on the Windows platform. To review ColdFusion system requirements for other platforms, go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/systemreqs/

Reviewing the required software

Adobe ColdFusion 8 Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 A web browser The course application and files stored in the correct directory Winzip software

ADOBE COLDFUSION RESOURCES

There is a robust supply of Adobe and ColdFusion resources available to you including books, tutorials, user groups, and certification exams.

ColdFusion documentation
Adobe ColdFusion 8 documentation is available in both electronic and printed formats.

Electronic documentation
Adobe ColdFusion 8 help is available: In the ColdFusion Administrator, click the Documentation link located at the top of every page. By directly browsing http://localhost:8500/cfdocs/dochome.htm or http://localhost/cfdocs/dochome.htm depending on your web server. In Dreamweaver CS4, select Help > Using ColdFusion. Online Adobe Documentation at http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/coldfusion/

Printed documentation
Some printed documentation ships with the professional edition of ColdFusion 8 including: CFML Quick Reference Installing and Using ColdFusion 8, Configuring and Administering ColdFusion 8 This and additional documentation including ColdFusion 8 Developers Guide and CFML Reference is available through the Adobe online store: http://www.adobe.com/support/

Online resources
The Adobe website features lots of great information, both for specific products and crossproduct integration.

Adobe ColdFusion support website

http://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/ Find resources to answer your technical questions including: Tech notes Online forums What's new

Adobe ColdFusion developer exchange

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/ Obtain fresh content including: Tips from experienced developers Sample applications

Tutorials White papers Downloads

Adobe user groups

http://www.adobe.com/support/programs/usergroups/ Adobe User Groups provide a forum of support and technology to web professionals of all levels and professions. Whether you're a designer, seasoned developer or just starting out, Adobe User Groups strengthen community, increase networking, unveil the latest technology innovations and reveal the techniques that turn novices into experts, and experts into web gurus.

Developer certification resources

http://www.adobe.com/support/certification/ Are you looking for ways to set yourself apart and advance your career? The Adobe Certified Professional Program can help you achieve your goals. Adobe certified developers and designers are considered the elite in the web development community. Certification exams are available in over 2,500 testing centers worldwide.

Adobe Press resources

http://www.adobe.com/support/mmpress/ Adobe Press is a great resource for supplementing and expanding your product knowledge with tutorials and comprehensive guides. Whether you are a beginner, seasoned professional, designer, or developer, Adobe Press has a book for you. Are you certified? Need help to prepare? Adobe Press Certified Study Guides are now available. These guides are written by recognized Certified Adobe experts, most of whom contributed to the exam itself.