> Over at least the last year or so, I have seen more and > more CF code samples where people choose to use XML-type > syntax when coding CFML. My is: Why? > > For those who might not know what I'm talking about, here's > a trivial example: > > <cfset variables.myVar = "test" /> > <cfset variables.myOtherVar = "other test" /> > > On the one hand, since CFML looks so much like HTML's > tag-based syntax, I'm guessing people do it for consistency > to comply with XHTML standards. On the other hand, since > CFML is parsed before HTML is sent back to the browser, > why even do this?
Consistency is good even when it's not necessary. There's no functional reason for doing this, for most people who do, but if you are writing XHTML-compliant HTML, you're less likely to screw that up if you get into the habit of following XML syntax rules whenever possible, for example within your server-side code. Also, I imagine that you could potentially benefit from doing this in a more concrete way. For example, you could write a code validation tool much more easily if all your code followed general XML syntax, because you wouldn't have to write a parser. I don't know anyone doing this yet, but it's bound to happen sooner or later if it hasn't already. > Further, in certain instances (i.e., custom tags), does > the trailing slash cause the tag to be executed twice? For > example, would the following syntax cause myCT to be run > twice? > > <cf_myCT /> > > Am I wrong about the duplicate execution of certain tags? Is > it only custom tags? Yes, having the closing slash is functionally equivalent to having a closing tag, and in either case the custom tag will run twice. The custom tag can easily be written to only perform its task during the initial execution, using the ThisTag.ExecutionMode variable, and in general, this is a good thing to do if you're writing a custom tag that should only be executed once. As for other tags, I really don't know what happens, to be perfectly honest. Most CFML tags are designed to have closing tags anyway. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ voice: (202) 797-5496 fax: (202) 797-5444 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
