Posted By : Dan Wilson     April 13, 2007 7:55 AM

Toby Tremayne has put forth some code as to how Bender will generate AS objects and connect to Transfer. This is an early first pass and there will undoubtedly be changes, but I am pleased to see he has pushed this stone forward.

In Transfer, your business objects, their properties and relationships to other business objects are configured in Transfer.xml. Bender takes advantage of this 'single source' for object properties/relationships by consuming the Transfer.xml, creating AS classes based of the configured Transfer objects as well as a wrapper for Remoting to the back-end TransferFactory. I believe Chris Scott called the Bender Architecture a 'Remote Command Factory'.

Looking forward to more posts on Bender. Maybe Toby will come to #CFFlex again so I can Bender his ear. (Todo: Remove Bad Pun)

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     March 14, 2007 9:29 PM

Sean Corfield pointed out that using ColdSpring to make instance (throwaway) components is quite a heavyweight approach for a simple form bean. He is, of course, correct. Our ContactFormBean is currently created by ColdSpring. In this series, we will add a factory object that will make our instance beans for us. The factory itself will be configured through ColdSpring as well as the configuration for our objects.

This is a very simple factory. It has three methods, GetConfig, SetConfig and getBean. In turn:

1. getConfig() returns a struct with keys = objectnames, and values = paths
2. setConfig() provides an interface for ColdSpring to set the configuration struct.
3. getBean() gets the path for a specific object from the configuration struct and returns a created object.

To use this instance factory, add the following ColdSpring xml snippet to the ColdSpring.xml file.

Now remove the original ContactFormBean configuration.

Next, open the Controller.cfc file and change each instance (getContactForm, handleContactForm and removeContact) of getModelGlue().getBean("ContactFormBean") to getModelGlue().getBean("InstanceFactory").getBean("ContactFormBean") .

Finally, reinitialize your application and click on the ContactForm tab. You should see your form as before.

A factory might seem like overkill right now, since this is a simple application. However, Factory objects are a good pattern to learn. Our motivation for the factory in this case was to reduce the amount of unnecessary processing incurred by using ColdSpring to make a simple form bean. We could however, expand our factory to take additional parameters and create all sorts of dynamic objects for us.

In a later series, we'll do just that.

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     February 20, 2007 8:25 PM

In our last segment we built the functionality to store our contacts to the database. Now we need a way to edit the information because after all, friends can become enemies, and enemies can become co-workers. We have a good structure in place and these changes will be simple.

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     February 8, 2007 9:02 PM

A wonderful presentation by Joe Hewitt, creator of Firebug is available for viewing at Yahoo Theater. I use Firebug a lot when working with Javascript and Ajax and was pleased to note the new Firebug 1.0 release a few weeks ago. Firebug was already a great productivity tool in my development environment. The new features in Firebug add some real power.

New features include:

1. A Javascript profiler - excellent for checking the performance of your scripts.
2. The javascript command line has autocomplete for objects and properties
3. A dom walker, for inspecting elements and their properties in the DOM.
4. An inline CSS editor- for tweaking CSS in real time. There is an interesting feature in the CSS editor where selecting a number and using the arrow keys, adjusts the numeric value. Great for keeping your eyes on the design instead of the code
5. An amazing amount of in-line editing and cross linked properties, for example, in the Javascript debugger, you can put the cursor over a variable and Firebug will show you the value of that variable at the time the breakpoint was hit.

Rather than me banging on about how great it is, have a read directly from the source. These two links got me the most excited:
When your CSS boxes aren't lining up correctly it can be difficult to understand why. Let Firebug be your eyes and it will measure and illustrate all the offsets, margins, padding, and sizes for you.

Firebug includes a powerful JavaScript debugger that lets you pause execution at any time and see what each variable looked like at that moment. If your code is a little sluggish, use the JavaScript profiler to measure performance and find bottlenecks fast.

The video is about a hour long. A worthwhile investment.

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     February 8, 2007 7:55 PM

In our last series, we moved the ContactTypes from a ColdSpring configured struct, to a database table. This set the stage to move the rest of our persisted data to the database.

As we begin this series our main goal is to have our contacts and lists of contacts stored in our database. Originally, we used in-memory storage as it allowed us a functional application without a database.

In this series, we will introduce two new files, ContactDAO and ContactGW (GW = Gateway). Both components will reside in the *ContactManagerMG.model directory. The ContactDAO will handle the DB work for Creating, Reading, Updating and Deleting our Contacts. Incidentally, this group of functionality is commonly referred to as C.R.U.D. The ContactGW will handle the database work for pulling queries of Contacts. We'll have a function called getContactQuery().

Here is a look at the ContactDAO. Note: we reference the AppConfig inside our ContactDAO so we can use the Application Configuration defined in ColdSpring. While we mostly care about the DSN for now, the flexibility to pull other configuration parameters will come in handy later.

Here is a look at the ContactGW. Once again we reference the AppConfig.

Now we add each component to our ColdSpring configuration. Each component takes one Property, the AppConfig object. Add both beans as new property tags to the existing ContactService bean definition. We will also remove the references to the old Array based ContactList. Let's do a little housecleaning on our ColdSpring file shall we?

Add the definitions for the components

Remove the following lines from the existing ContactService definition:

Add in the property tags for our new components.

Once complete, ColdSpring will run setContactDAO() and setContactGW() on the ContactService component and stuff the proper object in our service for us. We need to change the service a little now to account for this new functionality. Open up the ContactService and make the following changes:

Remove the getContactList() and setContactList() functions. These functions used to manage our Array based contact list from ColdSpring, with our new Database driven Contact-O-Matic, we won't need them any longer.

Remove:

Now add in the get/set functions for each component. While we are in here, also add in a new function to get our ContactList from our new ContactGW. The function on the ContactGW is called getContactQuery(). When complete, you'll have removed two functions and added five. Examples of the new functions are below:

Now our service has references to the ContactDAO and the ContactGW, in turn both the ContactDAO and ContactGW have references to our AppConfig. All the plumbing for the database interaction is complete.

Previously, we stored the ContactType in our ContactFormBean. This was acceptable when referential integrity was not on our list. Now, we need to modify the Contact Form and the Contact Form Bean to refer to the ContactTypeID instead of simply the ContactType. In the form itself, all we need to do is switch the reference. Inside the Bean there is a tiny bit more to it. We will start with the form.

The select tag block should be changed as follows

Now open the ContactFormBean and change all the ContactType references to ContactTypeID. A find and replace would be nice here. A simply Find and Replace should make 11 changes...

There are two references in the Init() function, one in the validate function and also a get/set block at the bottom. Each of these should be changed to ContactTypeID.

The completed ContactFormBean is here:

Finally, we need to change how the contacts are saved. In the beginning, we simply appended the ContactFormBean object into an Array of ContactFormBean object and iterated over the array for our ContactList. Now, we need to change the controller function to call the service. We will let the service decide how to handle the save. In the controller located at *ContactManagerMG.controller modify the isvalid branch to call a ContactService method called saveContact()

Now add the saveContact() function into your ContactService. This function will accept a Contact object, being our ContactFormBean, and check to see if the ContactID has been assigned. If so, we will update the record, if not, we will create the record. Your saveContact() function should look like this:

After changing the save contact flow, we have closed the circle for adding / updating the individual contacts. Remaining, is the ContactList page.

We will now be returning a query and ourcontact list page used to operate on an array. Thus, we must adjust.

Change your dspContactList.cfm page to use a query. Your completed list page will look as follows:

Reset your application and run your new Database Powered Contact-O-Matic. If you've followed all the steps, (and I haven't left any out) you now have a proper application.

We touched a good chunk of the application and I trust this has been a good refresher into the inner workings of our Contact-O-Matic. In our next series, we will include the mechanics to delete contacts from the database.

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     February 4, 2007 3:14 PM

We are going to break this up into phases starting with the contact types. At the end of this series, our contact types will come from the database and we will have an even greater appreciation for ModelGlue and ColdSpring.

The last article gave the spec for your database tables, Contact and ContactType. Add in 3 dummy records to the ContactType table. I used Friend, Enemy and Co-worker.

Set up your datasource in the ColdFusion administrator. I used the data source name of 'ContactOMatic'. Test the connection and move on.

Now we will need this datasource name inside of our cfqueries. Can anyone guess where we will keep the DSN? Thats right, in ColdSpring. Give yourself a cookie if you got that one right.

Before we begin, change the ColdSpring.xml ModelGlueConfiguration reload setting to true.

ModelGlue has a standard component called a SimpleConfig. The purpose of the simple config is to hold on to a collection of values and this component is easily configured in ColdSpring. The path for SimpleConfig is ModelGlue.bean.CommonBeans.SimpleConfig, so add a configuration to ColdSpring for this. We will refer to this as AppConfig and it will hold our DSN and an AppTitle.

Run your application. If you have an error at this point, check the exact path to the SimpleConfig component. No errors? Perfect!

Simple enough so far, right? Now we shall write our ContactTypeGW. This component will pull a query of ContactTypes from the database. There are three functions in the ContactTypeGW.

1. setAppConfig - this function provides the way for ColdSpring to stick the AppConfig component in the ContactTypeGW
2. getAppConfig - this function provides a way for us to reference the AppConfig component inside the ContactTypeGW
3. getContactTypeQuery - this function returns the ContactTypes from the database

Your ContactTypeGW should look like this:

Note for the DSN we used 'getAppConfig().getConfig().dsn', when we want to access the AppTitle later, we'll use 'getAppConfig().getConfig().AppTitle'. (If you haven't seen this syntax before, getAppConfig() returns a reference to the AppConfig Object, which has a getConfig() function returning a struct. Then we access a property of the struct using dot notation.)

Now, adjust the ContactService to call ContactTypeGW. Remove the following functions: init, getContactTypes and setContactTypes. Add get and set functions for our ContactTypeGW. Then add the proper function for getContactTypes. It should return a query so be sure to adjust the returntype to 'query'

Your ContactManangerService should look like this:

Now adjust ColdSpring to account for the new gateway functionality. Configure the bean definition for ContactTypeGW and add the AppConfig property. Replace the ContactType map with the ContactTypeGW bean The changed lines should look like this:

Finally, our contact form was expecting a struct, it will now get a query so adjust the ContactType section accordingly

Remember to reinitialize your application and now run your code. You should now see the ContactTypes defined in your database

It seems like we touched a few files to make this change. We altered the ColdSpring.xml file to have an application configuration object, added in our ContactTypeGW and then stitched them together. We also had to adjust our form to account for a query in place of the struct. Note we did not touch our Controller nor our ModelGlue.xml file. Since the flow of the application did not change, those files remain the same and happily work with the new functionality of the application. This is an example of the benefits of compartmentalized, or encapsulated, code.

A zip of all files is included with this article.

Next, we will create the contact persistance and write our contacts to the database

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     February 4, 2007 1:25 PM

In the next few series, our Contact-O-Matic will persist data in a database. The queries and relationships are simple and should translate over to any database. Our code will be organized into two types of components the DAO (Data Access Object) and the Gateway. These two components are common structures used in many Object Oriented systems and a quick google search will land you on endless descriptions for each. For our purposes, all we need to know is the DAO and Gateway will help us organize our code into sections. The DAO is for pulling back a single object, the Gateway for a query of objects.

Another architectural feature of our Contact-O-Matic is our ContactService.cfc component. Service components help tie your other components together. Note how simple it will be to add in new database functionality.

At the end of series 5 of our Contact-O-Matic, we had a ContactService component which returned the ContactType data , a single contact object and a list of contact objects. Even though we are going to add a DAO component as well as a Gateway component, they will be tied together within the service component.

Some of you might be asking yourselves why we have all of these components. After all, there are huge and complex ColdFusion applications written without a single component. Couldn't we just put our queries in the Controller and be done with it? That is a very valid question to ask. You should be proud of thinking of it. Question Everything!!!

The main point of these separations in our code is to isolate variability. Meaning, when the application needs a feature, or a new data column, the affected sections in our code are compartmentalized and perhaps only one section of code needs to change in order for the entire application to be upgraded with the newest feature.

The complete source code up to the end of series 5 is attached to this article. It will be easier to follow along if you use this code.

A few quick notes before we begin:

1. Remember that the application files will be cached if the ModelGlue reload setting is 'false'. Any changes to Controllers, components created with ColdSpring, or stored in the Controllers will NOT change until you reload the application. This trips me up sometimes and my first step is to ALWAYS reload the framework
2. The <include /> tag is processed by BlogCFC as a cfinclude. Thus, whenever I paste in an event-handler section with an <include tag, I always have to use the entity symbol '& lt;' or i'll get an error when I post it. I try to leave a small note at the end of the code block about changing this in your code. If I forget, just know an XML tag will never actually start with '& lt;'
3. I am writing this tutorial with MSSQL server (delete derogatory note about Microsoft Products). Your database might have a slightly different syntax and I trust you to convert it over

Lastly, our database will have two tables:

Without further ado, let us get to the next piece in our Series, database support.

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     January 30, 2007 10:53 PM

I am planning out the next few steps in our ModelGlue:Unity series and would like to tally a vote. Currently our Contact-O-Matic is barebones. We went over how to use portions of ColdSpring to manage our service and to pass in configuration parameters. We also went over adding ModelGlue results to change the programmatic flow of the application. Following this pattern, you should have a good base on ModelGlue:Unity.

However, apart from the tabs, it has a plain-jane look and feel. Heck, it doesn't even save the contacts for very long ;). Before all is said and done, we will add in database persistance, security, the Transfer ORM and some Ajax.

We are going to need to put database persistance really soon as it is keeping us from our larger goals. After that, there are three different paths we can go.

In the spirit of Choose Your Own Adventure ( man, I loved those books ) which would you rather we tackle next? The choices once again:

1. Easy MG:U Security
2. MG:U scaffolding with Transfer ORM
3. Ajax Enhancements

Also, if you are following along with the series, please leave a comment or send me an email with the database you use on your development server. I am going to make an effort to be as cross-DB as I can....

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     January 26, 2007 8:20 PM

Previously in this series, we installed the ModelGlue:Unity framework and the ColdSpring framework. We used the ModelGlueApplicationTemplate as the skeleton, added our basic flow and navigation. We can save and list contacts and our validation is working nicely,

In this section of our Contact-O-Matic, we will pull out the contact types values from coldspring and used them to add defined categories to our contacts. In a previous segment, we added the Contact Types as a 'map' in ColdSpring, now we will pull out the values and add them to our form.

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     January 22, 2007 8:22 PM

Previously in this series, we installed the ModelGlue:Unity framework and the ColdSpring framework. We used the ModelGlueApplicationTemplate as the skeleton, added our basic flow and navigation. Finally we can save and list contacts Our Contact-O-Matic is moving right along.

In the last segment, we tested the 'failure' path and were routed back to the form. We also tested the 'success' path and were routed to the contact list. Open the ContactFormBean.cfc located in *ContactManagerMG/Model and edit the validate function (You did check the validate box in the rooibos generator like the last series said, didn't you ;) )

Our validate function should have the returntype of boolean. We will pass in a structure to hold any error messages and check the lengths of our two properties ContactName and ContactType. Your validate function should look like this:

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