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ColdFusion Builder workbench

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ColdFusion User Guide
Introduction to ColdFusion
Cloud Services in ColdFusion
Install ColdFusion
Use ColdFusion
Performance Monitoring Toolset
Adobe ColdFusion Builder extension for Visual Studio Code
Use ColdFusion Builder
Coldfusion API Manager
Configure and administer ColdFusion
ColdFusion functions
ColdFusion Tags
1. ColdFusion tags by category
2. Tags a-b
3. Tags c
  1. cfcache
  2. cfcalendar
  3. cfcase
  4. cfcatch
  5. cfchart
  6. cfchartdata
  7. cfchartseries
  8. cfclient
  9. cfclientsettings
  10. cfcol
  11. cfcollection
  12. cfcomponent
  13. cfcontent
  14. cfcontinue
  15. cfcookie
  16. Tags d-e
4. Tags f
5. Tags g-h
  1. cfgraph
  2. cfgraphdata
  3. cfgrid
  4. cfgridcolumn
  5. cfgridrow
  6. cfgridupdate
  7. cfheader
  8. cfhtmlhead
  9. cfhtmltopdf
  10. cfhtmltopdfitem
  11. cfhttp
  12. cfhttpparam
6. Tags i
  1. cfif
  2. cfimage
  3. cfimap
  4. cfimapfilter
  5. cfimpersonate
  6. cfimport
  7. cfinclude
  8. cfindex
  9. cfinput
  10. cfinsert
  11. cfinterface
  12. cfinvoke
  13. cfinvokeargument
7. Tags j-l
8. Tags m-o
9. Tags p-q
  1. cfparam
  2. cfpdf
  3. cfpdfform
  4. cfpdfformparam
  5. cfpdfparam
  6. cfpdfsubform
  7. cfpod
  8. cfpop
  9. cfpresentation
  10. cfpresentationslide
  11. cfpresenter
  12. cfprint
  13. cfprocessingdirective
  14. cfprocparam
  15. cfprocresult
  16. cfprogressbar
  17. cfproperty
  18. cfquery
  19. cfqueryparam
10. Tags r-s
  1. cfregistry
  2. cfreport
  3. cfreportparam
  4. cfrethrow
  5. cfreturn
  6. cfsavecontent
  7. cfschedule
  8. cfscript
  9. cfsearch
  10. cfselect
  11. cfservlet
  12. cfservletparam
  13. cfset
  14. cfsetting
  15. cfsharepoint
  16. cfsilent
  17. cfslider
  18. cfspreadsheet
  19. cfsprydataset
  20. cfstoredproc
  21. cfswitch
11. Tags t
  1. cftable
  2. cftextarea
  3. cftextinput
  4. cfthread
  5. cfthrow
  6. cftimer
  7. cftooltip
  8. cftrace
  9. cftransaction
  10. cftree
  11. cftreeitem
  12. cftry
12. Tags u-z
  1. cfupdate
  2. cfwddx
  3. cfwebsocket
  4. cfwindow
  5. cfxml
  6. cfzip
  7. cfzipparam
CFML Reference
1. Reserved words and variables
2. Ajax JavaScript functions
3. ColdFusion ActionScript functions
4. ColdFusion mobile functions
5. Application.cfc reference
6. Script functions implemented as CFCs
7. ColdFusion Flash Form style reference
8. ColdFusion event gateway reference
9. ColdFusion C++ CFX Reference
10. ColdFusion Java CFX reference
11. WDDX JavaScript Objects
Develop ColdFusion applications
1. Introducing ColdFusion
2. Changes in ColdFusion
3. Introduction to application development
4. The CFML programming language
5. Building blocks of ColdFusion applications
6. Develop CFML applications
7. Develop mobile applications
8. Access and use data
9. ColdFusion ORM
10. ColdFusion and HTML5
11. Flex and AIR integration in ColdFusion
12. Request and present information
13. Office file interoperability
14. ColdFusion portlets
15. Work with documents, charts, and reports
16. Use web elements and external objects
17. Use external resources

ColdFusion Builder is an Eclipse-based development environment that allows you to develop Adobe ColdFusion applications and run them on ColdFusion servers. You use it to develop ColdFusion applications using coding and debugging tools.

About the workbench

The ColdFusion Builder workbench is a full-featured environment for developing Adobe ColdFusion applications. Much of the basic functionality of the ColdFusion Builder IDE comes from Eclipse. The ColdFusion Builder plug-ins add features and functionality for creating ColdFusion applications. The plug-ins also provide tools for modifying the IDE user interface and supply some core functionality to support application building.

Workbench The workbench is the ColdFusion Builder development environment.

The workbench contains three primary elements: perspectives, editors, and views. You use all three in various combinations at various points in the application development process. The workbench contains all the tools you use to develop applications.

Perspective A perspective is a group of views, editors, menus, and toolbars in the workbench. Essentially it is a special work environment that helps you accomplish a specific type of task. For example, ColdFusion Builder contains two perspectives. You use the ColdFusion Builder Development perspective to develop applications and the ColdFusion Debugging perspective to debug them.

For more information about perspectives, see About ColdFusion Builder perspectives.

Editor An editor allows you to edit various types of files. The editors available to you vary according to the number and types of Eclipse plug-ins installed. ColdFusion Builder contains editors for writing CFML, HTML, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) code. For more information about code editing in ColdFusion Builder, see ColdFusion Builder editors and Code Editing in ColdFusion Builder.

Views A view typically supports an editor. For example, when you edit CFML, the Outline view and Snippet view are also displayed in the ColdFusion Builder Development perspective. These views support the development of ColdFusion applications and are therefore displayed when a CFML file is opened for editing.

Some views support the core functionality of the workbench itself. For example, the File Explorer view allows you to manage files and folders within the workbench. The RDS Dataview and RDS Fileview display data sources, files, and directories on both remote and local servers.

The term view is synonymous with the term panel as it is used in Adobe Dreamweaver® and other Adobe development tools.

For more information about the views in the ColdFusion Builder Development perspective, see ColdFusion Builder Development perspective.

For more information about the views in the ColdFusion Debugging perspective, see ColdFusion Debugging perspective.

Workspace Not to be confused with workbench, a workspace is a defined area of the file system. The workspace contains the resources (files and folders) that make up your application projects. A workspace can contain multiple projects. You can work with only one workspace at a time; however, you can select a different workspace each time you start ColdFusion Builder. For more information, see Managing Projects.

Resource The general term resource applies to the files and folders in the projects in a workspace. For more information, see Add ColdFusion pages, interfaces, and components and Add other files.

Project All the resources that make up your applications are contained within projects. You cannot build an application in ColdFusion Builder without first creating a project. For more information, see Managing Projects.

Workbench menus and toolbars

You access workbench commands through the menu bar, right-click context menus, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts.

Workbench menus

The ColdFusion Builder workbench contains the following main menus:

File menu

The File menu lets you create, save, close, print, import, and export workbench resources and exit the workbench.

Menu command	Description
New	Creates a resource. Before you create a ColdFusion component, interface, or page, ensure that you have created a project to store these resources.
Open File	Open a file for editing. You can also open files that are not in the workspace.
Close	Closes the active editor. You are prompted to save changes before the file closes.
Close All	Closes all open editors. You are prompted to save changes before the files close.
Save	Saves the content of the active editor
Save As	Lets you save the contents of the active editor in a different filename and location
Save All	Saves the contents of all open editors.
Revert	Replaces the contents of the active editor with the previously saved contents.
Move	Moves the currently selected resources to a different project
Rename	Lets you change the name of the selected resource
Refresh	Refreshes the resource with the contents in the file system
Convert Line Delimiters To	Lets you convert line delimiters to the operating system applicable to your development or deployment platform: Windows (default) Unix MacOS 9
Print	Prints the contents of the active editor
Switch Workspace	Opens the Workspace Launcher that lets you switch to a different workspace. When you switch to a different workspace, the workbench is restarted.
Restart	Restarts ColdFusion Builder
Import	Lets you import resources to the workbench using the Import wizard
Export	Lets you export resources from the workbench using the Export wizard
Properties	Displays the properties dialog box for the selected resource. The Properties For dialog box provides information about the path to the resource and the date of the last modification on the resource. It also provides information if the project's resources have inherited their encoding and line delimiters or if they are set to a particular value.
Recent File List	A list of the most recently accessed files in the workbench . You can open these files from the File menu by clicking the filename. You can control the number of files that must appear in this list using the Preferences dialog box.
Exit	Closes the open resources and exits the workbench

Navigate menu

The Navigate menu lets you locate and navigate through resources in your workbench.

Menu command	Description
Go Into	Lets you navigate within hierarchies of resources such that the selected resource is at the root. That is, when you select a folder within a project and select Go Into, only the selected folder (and artifacts within the folder) appear in the Navigation view. This command is useful in navigating through large-sized projects with complex hierarchies.
Go To	Lets you jump to a specific resource or display the hierarchy that appeared before the current display. For example, select the Go Into command for a resource, and then select Go To > Back. The Back command displays the same hierarchy from which you activated the Go Into command.
Open Declaration	Opens declaration for selected code element.
Quick Outline	Displays a quick view of the Outline view. A hierarchical view of the code structure of the page appears in a pop-up menu.
Open Resource	Lets you select a resource in the workspace and open it in an editor using the Open Resource dialog box
Show In	Lets you find and select the currently selected resource in another view. If an editor is active, these commands are used to select the resource that is currently being edited in another view.
Next	Lets you navigate to the next item in a list or table in the active view
Previous	Lets you navigate to the previous item in a list or table in the active view
Last Edit Location	Lets you jump to the last edit position in the active editor
Go To Line	Lets you jump to a specific line in the active editor
Back	Lets you move editor focus to a previously opened file.
Forward	Lets you return editor focus from the previous file.

Project menu

The Project menu lets you manage projects in the workbench.

Menu command	Description
Open Project	Opens the currently selected project. The selected project must be closed for this command to be available.
Close Project	Closes the currently open project]
Properties	Displays the project properties dialog box

Window menu

The Window menu lets you display, hide, and manage the various views, perspectives, and actions in the workbench.

Menu command	Description
New Window	Opens a new workbench window with the same perspective as the currently open perspective
New Editor	Opens an editor that is of the same type as the currently active editor
Open Perspective	Opens a new perspective in the workbench
Show View	Lets you select the views to display in the workbench
Customize Perspective	Lets you customize the currently selected perspective
Save Perspective As	Lets you save the currently selected perspective, creating your own customized perspective.
Reset Perspective	Lets you reset a customized perspective
Close Perspective	Closes the currently open perspective
Close All Perspectives	Closes all the open perspectives in the workbench
Navigation	Contains shortcuts to navigate between the views, perspectives, and editors in the workbench
Preferences	Lets you set you preferences for using the workbench. There are a number of preferences to configure the appearance of the workbench and the views and editors contained in the workbench.

Toolbars

Workbench toolbar

The workbench toolbar contains buttons for important and frequently used commands. These commands are also available from various ColdFusion Builder menus.

Workbench toolbar

The following buttons appear in the workbench toolbar (shown left to right):

Button/command	Description
New	Displays a pop-up menu that displays all the types of projects and documents you can create.
Save	Saves the document that is open in the editor and currently selected
Print	Prints the document that is open in the editor and currently selected
New ColdFusion Project	Opens the wizard to create a ColdFusion project.
Open CFC	Lists all the CFCs that are available for projects displayed in the Navigator view.
Debug	Uses the project’s currently open file to begin a debugging session. You can also select other application files in the project from the attached pop-up menu.
Run	Runs the project’s currently open file. You can also select other application files in the project from the attached pop-up menu.
External Tools	Selects a custom launch configuration
Search	Searches for text strings and filename patterns for files in the project
Next Annotation	Allows you to select and move forward to code annotations
Previous Annotation	Allows you to select and move backward to code annotations
Last Edit Location	Takes you to the code element that you last edited in the currently open file.
Back To	Lets you move editor focus to a previously opened file.
Forward To	Lets you return editor focus from the previous file.

CFML Editor toolbar

The CFML Editor contains buttons that are user interface shortcuts to frequently used commands. These commands are also available from various ColdFusion Builder menus. Some buttons in the toolbar are shortcuts to frequently used code elements, and are context sensitive to the code that you enter in the CFML Editor.

CFML editor toolbar

Button/command	Description
Open Tag Editor	Opens the Tag Editor. For more information about using the Tag Editor, see Tag Editor.
Insert cfabort	Inserts the cfabort tag. This command is context sensitive to the script code.
Insert cfdump	Inserts the cfdump tag. This command is context sensitive to the script code.
Wrap in cfoutput	Wraps the selected code within the cfoutput tag.This command is context sensitive to the script code that you enter in the CFML Editor.
Insert cfset	Inserts the cfset tag.
Insert cfscript Block	Inserts a cfscript code block.
Wrap in cftry/cfcatch	Wraps the selected code within the cftry or cfcatch tag, depending on the code.This command is context sensitive to the script code.
Wrap in ##	Wraps the selected code within "#" marks.
Wrap/Unwrap in cfcomment	Comments or uncomments the selected code.
Wrap/Unwrap in /* */	Wraps or unwraps the selected code within ""/* */"" marks
Wrap in Single Quotes	Wraps the selected code within single quotation marks.
Wrap in Double Quotes	Wraps the selected within double quotation marks.
To Uppercase	Changes the text in the selected code to uppercase
To Lowercase	Changes the text in the selected code to lowercase.

About ColdFusion Builder perspectives

A perspective is a group of editors and views that support the completion of a task. ColdFusion Builder contains two perspectives: the ColdFusion Builder Development perspective and the ColdFusion Builder Debugging perspective.

Open and switch perspectives

When you open a file that is associated with a particular perspective, ColdFusion Builder automatically opens that perspective. That is, perspectives change automatically to support the task at hand. For example, when you create a ColdFusion project, the workbench displays the Development perspective. Similarly, when you start a debugging session, ColdFusion Builder switches to the Debugging perspective.

By default, perspectives open in the same window. To open a perspective in a new window, do the following:

Select Window > Preferences
In the tree view structure, select General > Perspectives.
Under Open a New Perspective, select In The Same Window.

You can manually switch perspectives by doing one of the following:

Select Window > Open Perspective > Other from the main menu.
Use the perspective bar in the main workbench toolbar.

Eclipse provides many predefined perspectives. So, if you use the plug-in configuration of ColdFusion Builder, you sometimes have additional perspectives.

You can access the other Eclipse perspectives by doing one of the following:

Select Window > Open Perspective > Other from the main menu.
Click in the perspective bar in the main workbench toolbar and select Other.

Set a default perspective

Select Window > Preferences.
In the tree view structure, select General > Perspectives.
Under Available Perspectives, select the perspective that you want to set as the default, and click Make Default.
Click OK.

The default perspective has the word "default" in parentheses after the perspective name.

ColdFusion Builder Development perspective

You use the ColdFusion Builder Development perspective to create, edit, configure, and run ColdFusion applications in ColdFusion Builder. In addition, you can configure and manage local or remote ColdFusion servers.

The ColdFusion Builder Development perspective includes these views:

Outline view

The Outline view displays a hierarchy of elements in the file that is currently open in the editor. For example, it displays the functions in a CFC file and the tags in an HTML file.

You use Outline view to inspect and navigate the structure of your CFML, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS pages. If a page contains multiple code elements, you can use the Outline view to see a hierarchical view of the code structure of the page.

You can sort the elements in Outline view alphabetically or in the order of their definition in the page. You can choose to view all the code elements or view only specific code elements.

The Outline view displays the structure of your CFML code. For example, each item in the Outline view can represent a CFML tag.
Double-click an element in Outline view to directly go to that element in the editor, instead of scrolling through the entire code. When you select an item in Outline view, that item is highlighted in the editor, which makes it easier to navigate your code.
Use the filter to search for a tag or element in the Outline view. Enter the name of the tag or element to search for in the Filter field. The matching strings are displayed in the Outline view.

To specify the CFML tags to be displayed in an Outline view, select ColdFusion > Editor profiles > Editor > Outline. Then select, add, or remove tags, as required.

RDS FileView and RDS DataView

To use Remote Data Services (RDS), enable RDS while installing the ColdFusion server. ColdFusion Builder provides views to access files and data sources on a remote server.

The RDS FileView displays the files and directories on both remote and local servers. The RDS DataView displays the data sources configured in a remote server.

When you add a ColdFusion server instance in ColdFusion Builder, it automatically becomes available in RDS FileView and RDS DataView.

Configure a remote server for RDS FileView

If you want to configure a remote server manually and then access its files and directories using RDS FileView, do the following:

Click RDS FileView in the upper-right corner of the ColdFusion Builder perspective.
Right-click in RDS FileView and select RDS Configuration.
Click New.
Specify remote server information such as the host name , port number, user name , and password.
Select Prompt For Password.
Click Test Connection to check that the RDS configuration is correct. Then, click OK.
Select the remote server from RDS FileView.
Specify the password for the remote server to view its files and directories.

Configure a remote server for RDS DataView

To configure a remote sever and access data sources from the remote server using RDS DataView:

Click RDS DataView.
Right-click in RDS DataView and select RDS Configuration.
Click New.
Specify the server information such as host name, port number, remote server user name , and password.
Select Prompt for Password.
Click Test Connection to check that the RDS configuration is correct. Then, click OK.
Expand the new server in RDS DataView to view data sources.

RDS Query viewer

The RDS Query viewer lets you create and run queries on a selected data source.

The RDS Query Viewer is available in the RDS DataView toolbar. To create and execute a query using the RDS Query viewer, do the following:

Click in RDS DataView to open RDS Query Viewer area.
Type the query in the blank area. You can also build a query by dragging tables and columns from the RDS DataView view into the RDS Query Viewer.
Select the server and data source from the drop-down list.
Click Execute Query. The results of the query are displayed in the RDS Query Viewer area.

RDS query viewer

Right-click a table in the RDS DataView view and select Show Table Contents. You can view all the records of the selected table in the RDS Query Viewer.

Navigator view

The Navigator view displays ColdFusion projects and other projects, and allows navigation through the project’s files and folders.

File view

The File view displays files and directories on the local computer where ColdFusion Builder is installed and allows you to create new files.

If you edit a file outside ColdFusion Builder, you can automatically refresh the file in ColdFusion Builder. To do so, select Window > Preferences > General > Workspace, and select Refresh Automatically.

The File view also lets you add FTP sites and browse files on the FTP server. ColdFusion projects can be associated with FTP connections so that you can easily upload, download, and synchronize files. For more information, see Deploy projects over FTP and Secure FTP connections.

Servers view

Displays the details of ColdFusion servers including server name, status, description, server type, server host, and port. You can use the Server view to perform these tasks:

Add and delete a ColdFusion server
Start and stop a server
Launch Server Monitor
Launch ColdFusion Server Administrator
Open server log

For more information, see Managing Servers.

Source view and Default Browser view

The Source view displays the source code for files. The Default Browser View displays the output in an HTML or CFML page.

Console view

The Console view displays the status of the ColdFusion server and any messages from the ColdFusion server.

TailView view

The TailView view displays the Server log and Workspace log, and lets you easily navigate through the logs. To automatically display the logs, RDS must be configured and enabled.

After selecting a server, you can open logs from the shortcut in the button bar of the Server Manager. Select the log to open it in the TailView view. By default, the TailView view opens the Exception log. When you are in Server view, you can open the Exception log by right-clicking and selecting Open Log.

To manually open the logs, right-click in the TailView view and select Add. Browse to and select a log file on your computer’s file system.

The Tailview view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you manage multiple logs in different tabs.

TailView toolbar

Button/command	Description
Move Left	Moves the Server log or Workspace log to the left
Move Right	Moves the Server log or Workspace log to the right
Adds Log	Opens a log file on your computer’s file system
Starts Watching Log File	Starts watching on a log file
Stops Watching Log File	Stop watching on a log file
Reloads The Log File	Reloads a log file
Clears Log File In Display	Removes the log file displayed in the TailView view, without deleting it from the computer’s file system
Erases Log File On Disk	Remove a log file from the computer’s file system
Deletes Log Tab	Removes a log file from the computer’s file system
Deletes All Log Tabs	Removes all the log tabs from the TailView view
Scroll Lock	Prevents the Console view from scrolling.
Color Settings	Sets color preferences for displaying the log file in the TailView view

Services Browser view

The Services Browser view lists the servers added in the Server Manager and lets you browse through ColdFusion components (CFCs), web services and their methods.

Browse ColdFusion components

The Services Browser view lists the following components:

Components that the ColdFusion component browser lists. The ColdFusion component browser is located at cf_root/ wwwroot /CFIDE/ componentutils /componentdoc.cfm
Components that are located in any directories specified in the ColdFusion Administrator Mappings page
Components that are located in any directories specified in the ColdFusion Administrator Custom Tag paths page

The Services Browser view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you filter methods in CFCs based on the access type - remote, public, package, and private.

Services browser toolbar

Button/command	Description
Show System CFCs	A toggle button that shows or hides system CFCs. System CFCs are stored within the server web root.
Show Remote	A toggle button that shows or hides methods with the access type - remote
Show Public	A toggle button that shows or hides methods with the access type - public
Show Package	A toggle button that shows or hides methods with the access type - package
Show Private	A toggle button that shows or hides methods with the access type - private

Manage web services

The Services Browser view lets you manage a list of web services by adding or deleting WSDL URLs from a list.

To view the list of web services, click in the Services Browser view.
To add a web service to the list, click , enter a valid WSDL URL, and click OK.
To delete a web service, select the web service, and click .

When you are editing a ColdFusion file, you can use the Services Browser view to generate CFML code to run a web service or to create a web service object. Similarly, when you are editing an ActionScript file, you can use the Services Browser to generate ActionScript.To run or create a web service, do the following:

Place your pointer where you want to insert the code.
View the list of web services.
Highlight a web service or a method in a web service, right-click, and select:

Insert CFObject to insert a web service.
Insert CreateObject to create a web service.

Extensions view

You use the Extensions view to perform the following tasks:

Install and uninstall extensions
Import and reload extensions

The Extensions view also displays details like the extension name and description of the installed extension.

The Extensions view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you manage extensions in the Extensions view.

Extensions view toolbar

Button/command	Description
Install Extension From Archive File	Lets you select the Archive file to install and opens the Extension Install wizard to guide you through the installation.
Import Extension From Folder	Lets you select the folder that contains the extension files.
Uninstall Selected Extension	Uninstalls the selected extension.
View Details About Selected Extension	Displays details about the selected extension.

Snippets view

A code snippet is a piece of text that you can insert and reuse in your files, without having to type the text each time. You use the ColdFusion Snippet view to create and save code snippets, variables, and plain text. You can add code snippets to an existing or new document.

The Snippet view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you manage code snippets in the Snippets view.

Code snippet toolbar

Button/command	Description
Refresh Snippet View	Refreshes the Snippet view
Insert The Selected Snippet	Inserts the selected snippet into the document
Create A New Snippet	Creates a code snippet
Edit The Selected Snippet	Lets you modify the selected code snippet
Delete The Selected Snippet	Deletes the selected code snippet
Create A New Snippet Package	Creates a snippet package to which you can add code snippets
Delete Selected Snippet Package	Deletes the selected snippet package only if it is empty. You cannot delete a snippet package that contains snippets.

Create a code snippet

In the Code Snippet area, click .
In the New Snippet dialog box, specify the snippet name, and the start and end blocks of code.
Click OK to create the code snippet.

Insert a code snippet

Move the cursor to the desired insertion point.
Select the code snippet from the Code Snippet area.
Click in the Code Snippet toolbar.

If you select code in the editor, and then insert a snippet, the snippet is wrapped between the start and end block of the selected code. If you insert a snippet without selecting code in the editor, the snippet is inserted at the current caret position. caret is the marker in the CFML editor that indicates where the next character appears.You can also edit or delete an existing code snippet or an entire code snippet package from the Code Snippet area.

Using trigger text to insert snippets

You can insert snippets in the CFML editor using trigger text. For example, you create a snippet and give it the trigger text "abc." To insert this snippet in the editor, you type abc and press Ctrl + J (Windows) or Command + J (Mac). The text abc is replaced with the associated snippet.

Specify the path to store snippets

Snippets are stored in a snippet’s directory as an XML file. By default, snippets are stored in the workspace/.metadata/snippets directory of your project workspace. To specify a different directory, do the following:

From the Windows menu, select Preferences.
In the tree view structure of the Preferences dialog box, select ColdFusion > Snippets.
Specify the path to the directory in which to store snippets.

System-defined snippet variables

Snippet variables are case sensitive. The following system-defined variables are available.

Variable	Description
$${DATE}	The system date with the year as a four-digit number. For example, 12/01/2009
$${TIME}	The system time using a 12-hour clock. For example, 03:15:05 PM
$${DATETIME}	The system date and time. For example, 12/01/2009 15:15:05 PM
$${DAYOFWEEK}	The full name of the day of the week. For example, Monday
$${CURRENTFILE}	The filename of the currently open file. For example, application.cfm
$${CURRENTFOLDER}	The fully qualified path of the currently open folder. For example, C:\workspace\myproject
$${CURRENTPATH}	The fully qualified path of the currently open file. For example, C:\workspace\myproject\application.cfm
$${CURRENTPRJPATH}	The project name of the currently open project. For example, myproject
$${USERNAME}	The name of the current user.
$${MONTHNUMBER}	The month, from 01 through 12.
$${DAYOFMONTH}	The day of the month from 01 through 31.
$${DAYOFWEEKNUMBER}	The day of the week as a number, from 1 through 7. Sunday is considered as the start of ther week. So, for example, Monday is 2.
$${DATETIME24}	The date and time using a 24-hour clock. For example, 12/01/2009 15:30:00
$${YEAR}	The current year as a four-digit number. For example, 2009
$${YEAR2DIGIT}	The current year as a two- didgit number. For example, 09

For example, to insert the current date, use the following system-defined variable:

Date: $${DATE}

User-defined snippet variables

User-defined variables prompt you for the variable name and default value. For example, the following user-defined variable prompts you to enter the author’s name:

Author name: $${Author}

ColdFusion Debugging perspective

The ColdFusion Debugging perspective contains tools to debug your ColdFusion applications. There are different views that let you add breakpoints to your code, step into or over functions in your code, and examine and evaluate expressions. The editor works with the debugging tools to locate and highlight lines of code that need correction.

The ColdFusion Debugging perspective contains the following views:

Variables view

The Variables view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you show the current variables, including the variable scope.

Variables view toolbar

Button/command	Description
Show Type Names	Displays the type of the variables
Show Logical Structure	This command is not supported in ColdFusion Builder
Collapse All	Collapses the information in the view to show only variable types

Debug Output Buffer view

The Debug Output Buffer contains two panes:

Browser Displays what appears in the browser during application execution. Specify the URL of the page that you want to debug.

Note:

When you click the Home button, the URL that you specified as the Home Page URL in the Preferences dialog box (Window > Preferences > ColdFusion > Debug Settings) appears. For more information on editing the Debugger settings, see Specify debugger settings in ColdFusion Builder.

Server Output Buffer Displays the Debugger output in two views - source view and HTML view.

The Server Output Buffer pane displays an output only when the Debugger is suspended at breakpoint . The output that appears is only up to the suspended breakpoint.

Note:

The Server Output Buffer displays the output even for a page that is executed using an external browser.

Breakpoints view

The Breakpoints view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you manage breakpoints during a debugging session.

Breakpoint view toolbar

Button/command	Description
Remove Selected Breakpoints	Removes the selected breakpoint
Remove All Breakpoints	Removes all breakpoints
Show Breakpoints Supported by Selected Targets	Displays the breakpoints that you are currently debugging
Go to File for Breakpoint	Goes to the file in which the selected breakpoint is set
Skip All Breakpoints	Ignores all breakpoints
Expand All	Expands all the breakpoint information in the view
Collapse All	Collapses all the breakpoint information in the view
Link with Debug View	Highlights the selected breakpoint when the application stops execution in the Debug View
Add Java Exception Breakpoint	Lets you specify which Java exception to throw when you reach the selected breakpoint
Menu	Lets you specify the type of information to display in the Breakpoints view

Expressions view

The Expressions view lets you create expressions using variables and functions; you can inspect, evaluate, and watch these expressions. The Expressions view also lets you evaluate and watch variables that you selected in the Variables view.

The Expression view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you create, evaluate, and watch expressions.

Expressions view toolbar

Button/command	Description
Show Type Names	Displays the type of the variables
Show Logical Structure	Displays the logical structure in the view
Collapse All	Collapses all expressions in the view
Create a New Watch Expression	Adds a watch expression
Remove Selected Expressions	Removes the selected variable or watch expression
Remove All Expressions	Removes all variables and watch expressions in the Expressions view

Outline view

The Outline view displays the current source file’s content in outline form. For more information, see Outline view.

Debug View

The Debug view keeps the results of each debug session. The Debug view shows the stack trace when the page execution is suspended at breakpoint or when stepping into or over code.

The Debug toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right):

Debug toolbar

Button/command	Description
Resume	Resumes a debugging session
Suspend	Pauses a debugging session
Terminate	Stops a debugging session
Disconnect	Disconnects the debugger from the selected debug target when debugging remotely
Remove All Terminated Launches	Clears all terminated debug targets from the display
Step Into	Executes code line by line, including included code, UDFs, and CFCs
Step Over	Executes code line by line, excluding included code, UDFs, and CFCs
Step Return	Returns to the original page from which you entered the included code, UDF, or CFC
Drop to Frame	This command is not supported in ColdFusion Builder.
Use Step Filters/Step Debug	Ensures that all step functions apply step filters

Edit view

The Edit view displays the stacked source tabs, one tab for each source file that you have open.

Servers view

The Servers View lets you start, stop, and manage servers in ColdFusion Builder. You can also launch the ColdFusion Server Monitor and ColdFusion Server Administrator from the Servers View.

Servers view toolbar

The Servers view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you manage servers.

Button/command	Description
Add Server	Adds a server
Start Server	Starts a server
Restart Server	Stops and starts a server
Pause Server	Pauses the server
Stop Server	Stops a server
Open Console/Shell	Opens a new console and displays a pop-up menu to select other servers
Open Log	Opens the server log in the TailView view

For more information about managing servers and using Servers view, see Using Servers View.

Console view

Console view displays the output from trace statements placed in your CFML code and also feedback, like status, warnings, and errors from the debugger itself.

The Console view toolbar contains the following buttons (left to right) that let you view and manage the trace statements in the Console view.

Console toolbar

Button/command	Description
Clear Console	Clears all content from the Console view
Scroll Lock	Prevents the Console view from scrolling
Pin Console	Prevents the console from refreshing its contents when another process is selected
Display Selected Console	Displays the selected console
Open Console	Opens a new console and displays a pop-up menu to select other console views

Problems view

As you enter code, the ColdFusion Builder compiler detects syntax and other compilation errors, and displays the errors in the Problems view. The Problems view shows errors only for CFML files that are open in ColdFusion Builder.

TailView view

The TailView view displays the server logs. For more information, see TailView view.

Add views to the workbench

The workbench contains views besides the views associated with ColdFusion Builder’s default development and debugging perspectives. These additional workbench views help you streamline the application development process.

To add a view to the workbench, select Window > Show View > Other > General

These optional views are categorized by type and are associated with distinct workbench functionality or with specific Eclipse plug-ins.

Several workbench views, like the Tasks, Bookmarks, and Search views, are valuable aids as you develop your applications in ColdFusion Builder.

ColdFusion Builder editors

Editors are associated with resource types. As you open resources in the workbench, the appropriate editor is opened. The workbench is a document-centric (and project-centric) environment for developing applications.

Use the CFML editor to edit CFML files. For more information, see Code Editing in ColdFusion Builder.

Use the HTML editor to edit HTML code and the JavaScript editor to edit JavaScript code. The CSS editor lets you display and edit Cascading Style Sheets; you can then apply styles to the visual elements of your applications.

You can use the Link with Cursor feature to switch between the different editors based on the type of code you are editing. The editors provide many features, including code colorization, code assist, and Outline view, that help you navigate through your code and keep it valid.

As you enter CFML, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS code, hints are displayed to help you complete your code. This feature is called Code Assist. For more information, see Code Assist.

Customizing a perspective

You can configure the layout of your perspective; that is, you can configure the views and editors that are visible in the perspective. For example, you can configure the Tasks view to be visible in one perspective, and hidden in another perspective. You can also configure several other aspects of a perspective, such as the following:

File > New submenu items
Window > Perspective > Other submenu items
Window > Other Views submenu items
Action sets (buttons and options) that appear in the toolbar and in the main menu

Note:

Menu names differ slightly in the plug-in configuration of ColdFusion Builder.

Create a customized perspective

Open the perspective to modify.
Select Window > Customize Perspective.
Select the Shortcuts tab or the Commands Groups Availability tab, depending on the items that you want to add or remove in your customized perspective.
Use the check boxes to select the element that you want to be visible on menus and toolbars in the selected perspective.
Click OK.
Select Window > Save Perspective As.
In the Save Perspective As dialog box, enter a name for the modified perspective and click OK.

Note:

When you save a modified perspective, ColdFusion Builder adds the name of the modified perspective to the Window > Open Perspective > Other menu.

Delete a customized perspective

You can only delete perspectives that you created. You cannot delete perspectives that are delivered with the workbench.

In ColdFusion Builder, select Window > Preferences.
In the Preferences dialog box, you see a tree-view structure on the left side.
In the tree-view structure, select General > Perspectives.
Under Available Perspectives, select the perspective that you want to delete.
Click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the delete action.
Click OK.

Reset a customized perspective

After you have modified a perspective, you can restore it to its original layout.

In ColdFusion Builder, select Window > Preferences.
In the Preferences dialog box, you see a tree-view structure on the left side.
In the tree-view structure, select General > Perspectives.
Under Available Perspectives, select the modified perspective that you want to reset.
Click Reset, and then click OK.