Data Sources; How Coldfusion Server Works - MACROMEDIA COLDFUSION 4.5-DEVELOPING WEB Develop Manual

Chapter 1: Introduction to ColdFusion

Data sources

ColdFusion applications may interact with any database that supports the ODBC
standard. However, ColdFusion is not limited to ODBC data sources. You can also
retrieve data using OLE-DB, native database drivers, or directory servers that support
the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Data can also be retrieved from
mail servers that support the Post Office Protocol (POP), and which is indexed in Verity
collections.

How ColdFusion Server Works

Regardless of which ColdFusion Server you have installed, ColdFusion application
pages are processed on the server at runtime, each time they are requested by a
browser.
A page request happens when you click on a Web site link to open a Web page in your
browser. When you request a ColdFusion application page, ColdFusion server
processes the request, retrieves any data if necessary, routes the data through the Web
server, back to your browser.
In more detail, here's what happens when a Coldfusion page is opened:
1. The client requests a page that contains CFML tags.
2. The Web server passes files to ColdFusion Server if a page request contains a
ColdFusion file extension.
3. ColdFusion Server scans the page and processes all CFML tags.
4. ColdFusion Server then returns only HTML and other client-side technologies to
the Web server.
5. The Web server passes the page back to the browser
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