Dan Mackey On ColdFusion Development

After my initial post yesterday CFX_CompareHTML ColdFusion HTML diff custom tag I got quite a bit of feedback and one of the items raised was that some people dont like CFX tags and I should use JavaLoader to use the JAR file from within ColdFusion. (Thanks Dan Vega)

I have uploaded a JAR file called CompareHTMLComponent which allows you to do this.

To call the diff component use the following:

<cfset paths = arrayNew(1)>
<cfset paths[1] = expandPath("CompareHTMLComponent.jar")>
<cfset loader = createObject("component", "javaloader.JavaLoader").init(paths)>
<cfset compareComponent = loader.create("CompareHTMLComponent")>
<cfset diff = compareComponent.init()>

As always, feedback is most appreciated so hit me with your thoughts in the comments!

The JAR file and examples can be downloaded from here :

DOWNLOAD PACKAGE

Requires Java 1.5 JRE to be installed or it will throw an exception! ColdFusion 8 & Railo 3 should have this but CFMX7 may not.

Following on from my last post I have released Version 1 of my ColdFusion HTML Diff Custom Tag, CFX_CompareHTML.

When we wrote Teamwork Project Manager one of my jobs was to compare versions of Notebooks which were marked up using HTML.

I did lots of searching and found Diff.cfc which did a line for line comparison but did not represent the changes in HTML format, it only output the differences line-by-line with all the HTML viewable.

Diff.cfc is perfect for text or source code but we needed something a little bit more user-friendly.

A great start on this was DaisyDiff,  a Java library that diffs (compares) HTML files.

The problem with this was that I had to use CFExecute and some timeouts, writing to the drive etc to get some results. It soon became a nightmare on large files so I decided the best thing to do was to build a CFX tag around the main components of DaisyDiff.

CFX_CompareHTML was born.

You can call the tag using :

<cfx_CompareHTML left="Some HTML content" right="Some more HTML Content">

The tag can be downloaded from here :

DOWNLOAD CFX_COMPAREHTML

I have a small project that I am working on that needs a Java custom tag that I'm writing. I need this running on ColdFusion 7/8 and Railo 3.

Adding the CFX to CF is fine and I had no problems, except that its laborious. Having to place the file in the right folder, adding that folder to the Java Classpath and restarting CF Application Server.

Railo is a little different. Infact, its a bit easier once you know.

Everytime Railo starts up it runs through the Railo/lib/ folder and adds all JAR files to the Class Path, saving you the hassle of adding them manually.

You still have to add the CFX tag using the Administrator though.

BTW : Railo 3 Community Administrator doesnt have a CFX option in the menu anymore (V2.0 had it) but you can call the page directly using:

Just a quick post as I havent posted in ages due to the considerable committments from Teamwork Project Manager

My CFOrgChart demo has gained a huge amount of interest from people and I have unexpectedly been flooded with requests for the code so here it is ;-)

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE

I'll be updating this soon to:

• Use Prototype.js for the AJAX
• Use functions instead of Custom Tags for the recurrsion
• Add more functionality

I upgraded to an iPhone 3G recently and love it. I am doing this one legally and have not Jailbroken it so I dont have all the cool 3rd party apps from Installer App.

The main app I miss is an IM service app. I used to use Fring but now can't so I was delighted when I found Palringo. Very nice app but due to the restrictions on iphone apps, it cant run in the background.

This morning, a new chat app called MobileChat from Twenty08 was released which promises support built in for Apples Push technology. This will enable the app to notify you of IM messages without having the app running in the background.

I see the Push technology being a major benefit for the iphone with the current app restrictions. The main reason you would want an app running in the background is to have it "listen" for events and alert the user.

If the Push technology (promised to be available to all SDK developers) does what it intends, this would be the perfect solution and will solve alot of issues for alot of existing great apps.