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DEVELOPING COLDFUSION 9 APPLICATIONS
Developing CFML Applications
Elements of a ColdFusion application
Before you develop a ColdFusion application, determine how to structure the application and how to handle
application-wide needs and issues. In particular, consider all of the following:
• The overall application framework
• Reusable application elements
• Shared variables
• Application events and the Application.cfc file
• Application-level settings and functions
• Application security and user identification
The application framework
The application framework is the overall structure of the application and how your directory structure and application
pages reflect that structure. Use a single application framework to structure multiple ColdFusion applications into a
single website or Internet application. You can structure a ColdFusion application by using many methodologies. For
example, the Fusebox application development methodology is one popular framework for developing ColdFusion
web applications. (For more information on Fusebox, see www.fusebox.org.)
Information on how to use or develop a specific application framework is not provided. However, there is information
about the tools that ColdFusion provides for building your framework, including the Application.cfc file, how an
application's directory structure affects the application, and how you map the directory structure. For more
information on mapping the application framework, see
Note: For one example of an application framework, see "ColdFusion Methodologies for Content Management,"
available at www.adobe.com/go/learn_cfu_content_mgmt_en.
Reusable application elements
ColdFusion provides a variety of reusable elements that you use to provide commonly used functionality and extend
CFML. These elements include the following:
• User-defined functions (UDFs)
• CFML custom tags
• ColdFusion components (CFCs)
• CFX (ColdFusion Extension) tags
• Pages that you include using the
For an overview of these elements, and information about how to choose among them, see
Elements" on page 146.
Shared variables
The following ColdFusion variable scopes maintain data that lasts beyond the scope of the current HTTP request:
Variable scope
Variables available
Server
To all applications on a server and all clients
"Structuring an
tag
cfinclude
Last updated 8/5/2010
application" on page 239.
"Creating ColdFusion
236
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