Tag: ColdFusion Builder

Google Language Tools Extension for ColdFusion Builder

I have become obsessed with ColdFusion Builder Extensions. I am convinced that no other single feature of the IDE is as valuable as this. (And I love the rest of the features too, so I’m saying a lot here.) The ability to leverage ColdFusion know-how and features into tooling is awesome. A lot of the extensions we’ve shown off have been about code generation. I think that’s important, as it is big part of the Builder story. We make you more productive, but you make yourself even more productive. Of late though, I’ve been focused on extensions that do more than just generate code, they use ColdFusion capabilities in non-obvious ways. I’ll be posting them over the next few weeks.

Here’s the first:

I created a language translator that allows you to translate content in the editor window to other languages. As a first pass, it only does English, French, German, and Italian, but as I experiment I will expand them. To use:

  • In the Editor window, highlight the content you want to translate
  • Right-click it to bring up the context menu
  • Choose Google Language Tools -> Translate

That should drop the translated content back into your editor, below the original content.

To build this I used a few different pieces. In the last Public Beta drop of ColdFusion we added the ability to grab highlighted content from the editor window in a ColdFusion Builder extension. I take that highlighted content and pass it to the server. On the server I pass it to a CFC that I wrote that consumes the Google Language API. It’s a JSON-powered webservice, so I used ColdFusion support for JSON to simply get at this data. From there, I can use a feature of ColdFusion Builder called “callbacks” to write the translated code back to the editor window. Specifically, I used the “inserttext” callback, which allows me to insert text at a specific line of code. I can use this to carefully place the translated text.

Possible use cases:

  • Translating HTML content to multiple languages
  • Translating code comments to your native language
  • Creating language packs for your applications

Sound cool? Check it out on Riaforge: Google Language Tools Extension.

ColdFusion Builder and Flash Builder Integration eSeminar

I’ll be doing an eSeminar, tomorrow, Thursday, November 5th at 2pm EST /11am PST.

The topic will be using ColdFusion Builder and Flash Builder together. Flash Builder obviously is the best tool for building RIAs with Flex. However Flash Builder added a lot of extra functionality. On top of that ColdFusion Builder adds even more.

This session will explore these integration points, and show you just how fast you can build your applications.

To register and get all of the info you need to participate go to our Online Events site.

New ColdFusion 9 Videos at Adobe TV

They just added a few new tutorials I did at Adobe TV.

Displaying Flash Video Files in ColdFusion 9:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/displaying-flash-video-files-in-coldfusion-9/

Extending ColdFusion Builder:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/extending-coldfusion-builder/

PDF Content Manipulation with ColdFusion 9:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/pdf-file-content-manipulation-with-coldfusion-9

ColdFusion 9 Released

It makes me very happy to join with everyone else here at Adobe in announcing ColdFusion 9 is now available.

It’s been about 2 years in the making. Having seen it from the other side, I am in awe of the hard work and dedication the development team puts in. They put in crazy hours, and put out a product that is unbelievable. Here’s what they added:

  • ORM
  • Advanced Caching
  • SharePoint Integration
  • Office Integration
    • Word
    • PowerPoint
    • Excel
  • Java Portal Integration
  • Major reworking of Components
    • Performance Boost
    • Automatic Getters and Setters
    • Local Scope
  • Cfscript Enhancement
  • CFML Enhancements
  • New Search Engine
  • ColdFusion as a Service
  • Supercharged Flash Remoting

Oh yeah, and while they did that, they also created ColdFusion Builder a 1.0 product. Which reminds me, ColdFusion Builder Public Beta 2 is now out too.

On top of our developers, the beta testers have been amazing. Perhaps that was why our developers worked so hard, but they need to be acknowledged. The beta testers were banging away on Centaur pretty much from day one 24 hours a day. Their input heavily shaped the final outcome. It could not be done without them.

ColdFusion 9 is impressive, and it’s out. I’m excited. Our customers are excited. Our community is excited. Our developers are exhausted, but excited.

Now get out there and start using it, and don’t be quiet about it.

 

ColdFusion Builder Extension Test Creator

When I build or debug ColdFusion Builder Extensions I typically do the following:

  • Alter the extension code to write IDE post contents to file
  • Call extension in IDE
  • Alter the extension code to read IDE post contents from file
  • Debug through the browser

I found my self frustrated with this workflow. Instead, what if I created an extension that could capture the IDE content and write it to the disk for me?

That’s what I did.

I still have to adjust my extensions to read in the file, but I can make that conditional:

So now much less work for me, and if you’re interested, much less work for you. The extension is now up on RIAForge.com: ColdFusion Builder Extension Test Creator.

TR ORM Generator Code for ColdFusion Builder

I’ve been demoing an extension I made for generating ORM code CFCs, views, controllers and services. It stopped working with the public beta of ColdFusion. I’ve updated it to work with the public beta. I’ve tweaked it in a few other places, but it’s by no means completely tested. But if you like it and have ideas, I’m open to allowing other authors in. (We’ll just have to change the name of the tool. )

Please note, this is not an official Adobe product. It’s just code that I’ve been using that I’m willing to share. There is an ORM generator included with ColdFusion Builder; this is just another alternative.

Terry Ryan ORM Jumpstart at RIAForge