I didn't say it was pretty :-)
At 09:21 AM 8/29/00 -0400, Jamie Keane wrote:
>God that's kludgy, but if it works it works, eh? Still, I wish Allaire
>would put a more "standardised" and documented syntax, so I wouldn't have to
>scratch my head as much. :)
>
>--
>Jamie Keane
>Programmer
>SolutionMasters, Inc.
>9111 Monroe Rd., Suite 100
>Charlotte, NC 28270
>www.solutionmasters.com
>704.563.5559 x 228 Voice
>704.849.9291 Fax
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Peter Theobald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Monday, August 28, 2000 5:53 PM
>Subject: Re: What I want in CF (was: Learning ASP)
>
>
>>Cold Fusion is weak in these areas, but really you can do all these things
>(or "emulate" them :-) ) using existing features.
>>(forgive my syntax - I'm writing this quickly)
>>
>>Pick a standard variable name, like ReturnValue and only use it for
>returning a value from a custom tag:
>> caller.ReturnValue = xxx
>>
>>Or use the tag's name as a structure:
>> If NOT IsDefine("MyTagName") {
>> MyTagName = StructNew()
>> }
>> MyTagName.Return = "some data"
>>
>>
>>Static variables: How static do you want them? :-) Cold Fusion has extra
>"scopes" that wouldn't make sense in a standard programming language like
>C++ where the application all runs at once. In Cold Fusion you might want
>static variables that retain their value (1) for the entire Application, (2)
>for the page request (there are more you could define if you tried hard).
>>Pick a standard word, for example "static" and keep them under Application
>and Request. Use a hash of the module name:
>>
>>In Application.cfm:
>> If NOT IsDefined('Request.Static')
>> Request.Static = StructNew()
>>
>>In module: MyTagName:
>> Request.Static["MyTagName"] = StructNew()
>> Request.MyTagName.ThisStaticVar = "some data";
>>
>>This is now a static variable that will retain it's value for the duration
>of this page request through all files and multiple calls to this tag. It is
>only "private" within the tag because you make it so with the naming
>convention. The same thing can be done under the Application scope (scopes
>are structures).
>>
>>Now the *REAL* problem with Cold Fusion is there is no ability to define a
>macro, function, or subroutine to "hide" these details so these kinds of
>things are very wordy which encourages mistakes when you have to specify
>them a hundred times.
>>
>>At 02:49 PM 8/28/00 -0400, Jamie Keane wrote:
>>>My biggest complaint with the language is the lack of user-defined
>>>functions. I know that custom tags are sorta a work-around, but sometimes
>a
>>>function just needs to return a value, not just assign a value back to the
>>>calling template. Also, there's no way (that I know of at least) to pass
>>>values by reference, or declare static variables within the scope of a
>>>custom tag. While PHP doesn't have the simplicity that CF has in terms of
>>>database twiddling, and its error handling leaves a bit to be desired, it
>>>does have support for user-defined functions that may contain variable
>>>references and static variables, and that helps me out a lot.
>>>
>>>--
>>>Jamie Keane
>>>Programmer
>>>SolutionMasters, Inc.
>>>9111 Monroe Rd., Suite 100
>>>Charlotte, NC 28270
>>>www.solutionmasters.com
>>>704.563.5559 x 228 Voice
>>>704.849.9291 Fax
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Gregory Harris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>>Date: Monday, August 28, 2000 2:30 PM
>>>Subject: Re: What I want in CF (was: Learning ASP)
>>>
>>>
>>>Ok, my wish list now:
>>>
>>>1) How about a way to determine whether a dimension exists in an array,
>for
>>>instance this works:
>>>
>>>ArrayLen(ThisArray)
>>>
>>>But if ThisArray were a 2 dimensional array and I needed to figure out the
>>>length of something in dimension 2, using this
>>>
>>>ArrayLen(ThisArray[DimensionOne]) breaks the page
>>>
>>>Rather than having to go thru the excess overhead of trying to use a
>>>counter, maybe extending Arraylen could help this? Or how about a
>>>ArrayDimensionExists() function?
>>>
>>>2) Extending CFHTTP (I think this is a BIG one)
>>>
>>>3) Making Structures Multi-Dimensional, or is it possible to do structures
>>>like:
>>>
>>>Stuff.Things.MoreThings = ThisVariable
>>>
>>>This has never worked with me, the best I could do would be Stuff.Things
>>>
>>>I'm sure there are more headaches I've run into, but these are right off
>the
>>>top of my head. What else can everyone think of?
>>>
>>>Gregory Harris
>>>Los Angeles Information Technology Agency (ITA)
>>>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>
>>>
>>>>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/28 11:11 AM >>>
>>>>>> Dave Watts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>>>I agree that the interfaces for SMTP, POP, HTTP, etc. need a lot of work.
>As
>>>for other stuff, I'm kind of curious. What basic functionality would you
>>>like to see? I can't really think of all that much that I'd like to see
>>>added.
>>><<<
>>>
>>>Personally, I've got a laundry list. :) However, off the top of my head,
>>>in no particular order (I mentioned most of these at The Con last year,
>and
>>>will do so again if I go this year):
>>>
>>>1. Extend the CFX API to make it more useful. There are some things (like
>>>working with arrays, as Jeremy mentioned) that don't work or are hellishly
>>>hard to workaround. Some of us (very few, I know) *like* to work in C++
>and
>>>*like* to optimize our stuff by putting it in machine code.
>>>
>>>2. Fix the encryption. It's really *really* broken.
>>>
>>>3. (or, in deference to or addition to #2) Support for "compiling"
>>>templates. We know that they already do this in memory (something akin to
>a
>>>p-code or bytecode type thing), but what I'd like to see is the ability to
>>>take that compiled chunk of memory and save it to a file. Python has
>this,
>>>as does Perl (in a limited sense). This would do two things for me: (a)
>It
>>>would mean that even though people could still "decompile" it, they'd
>still
>>>have to figure out var names, etc. (b) It would save the overhead of
>>>parsing the file every time.
>>>
>>>4. Better regular expression engine. (Especially non-greedy matching.)
>>>
>>>5. Better locking system. (This is a whine.) It's all fine and good to
>put
>>>the burden of the locking on the programmer (who has to go absolutely
>crazy
>>>on the CFLOCKs in a production system), but I'd really like to see
>something
>>>a bit better. I dunno how, but I know they have some pretty smart people
>>>who can surprise us.
>>>
>>>6. Binary data support for variables. (Unicode?) Right now I can't
>>>(reliably) mess around with binary files. :(
>>>
>>>7. Fix CFHTTP! Please! In the current implementation so much is broken
>>>it's not even funny!
>>>a. Not thread-safe (gah!)
>>>b. Can't use CFHTTPPARAM (and therefore cookies) without the POST method.
>>>(lame)
>>>c. Can't select encoding type (multipart/form-data doesn't work
>>>everywhere) - at least make it smart enough so that if no files are
>attached
>>>it doesn't use multipart! (exceedingly lame)
>>>d. The hack for port is *stupid*. If I want to access an arbitrary URL
>that
>>>could be on any port, I have to manually parse out the port number from
>the
>>>URL and put it in the PORT attribute and at the same time take it out of
>the
>>>URL string (it barfs otherwise!). (mired in a sweaty mass of lameness)
>>>
>>>8. Fix PreserveSingleQuotes() - Right now it doesn't act like a real
>>>function. I can't do other things in it. That is,
>>>PreserveSingleQuotes(ListChangeDelims(list,"','")) is broken. (This is my
>>>most common use for it.)
>>>
>>>9. Fix the standard structures (Form, Client, etc) to actually work like
>>>structures, so that I can enumerate them, delete from them, etc. Having
>to
>>>GetClientVariables() or get Form.FieldNames is just annoying (and doesn't
>>>let my code be nice and transparent.) Did they fix thix in 4.5? I think
>>>they are getting closer, but I think it is still broken?
>>>
>>>
>>>Hmmm ... I'm trying to think of all the things I constantly have to hack
>>>arround ...
>>>
>>>. Passing arrays (even scalars) by reference instead of value.
>>>
>>>. Accessing structure members in the order they were added, instead of
>>>having to hack around it with a parallel list/array. (However, I know how
>>>hashes work, so this probably wouldn't be worth it.)
>>>
>>>. ListSort(list[,type[,order]]) - Hacked around with arrays
>>>
>>>. ListEliminateDuplicates(list) - Hacked around with structures (and
>arrays
>>>if you need to preserve order)
>>>
>>>. ListSlice(list,start,length) && ArraySlice(array,start,length) - or,
>>>better yet, ListSlice(list,start,length,newlist), so that I can
>dynamically
>>>replace the middle of a list (newlist doesn't have to be as long as
>length,
>>>tho)
>>>
>>>. QuerySetRow(query,"valuelist"[,row]) or QuerySetRow(query,array[,row])
>>>(preferred)
>>>
>>>. QueryDeleteRow(query,row)
>>>
>>>. QuerySort(query,column[,type[,order]])
>>>
>>>. StructMerge(struct1,struct2) - Iterates over struct2 assigning its keys
>to
>>>struct1 (overwriting if necessary)
>>>
>>>
>>>I think that's it for now ... like I said, that's just off the top of my
>>>head. Anyone else?
>>>
>>>-Rick
>>>
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>>
>>
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Peter Theobald, Chief Technology Officer
>>LiquidStreaming http://www.liquidstreaming.com
>>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Phone 1.212.545.1232 Fax 1.212.679.8032
>>
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LiquidStreaming http://www.liquidstreaming.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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