Beyond what's already been said, I would say that CFC's are also a reasonable way to encapsulate GUI functionality that's not already built in to HTML like tabsets, related select boxes, etc... There are of course custom tags that do the same thing, but imo don't have the same flexibility. The onTap framework also includes a good deal of this sort of thing, although they're not actually using CFC's, just consistently formatted structures and a slew of functions in 3 separate libraries. I obviously don't think CFC's are absolutely necessary for a good implementation of these sorts of things -- the libraries were originally designed for compatibility with CF5 although more recent versions include an XML syntax which makes them easier to grasp for programmers who are accustomed to templated display, and obviously since it uses XML extensively this requires CFMX to drive it.
The framework includes a fair amount of extra CFC features, most notably pathing and dynamic-inheritance features which make it possible to set a single variable within the application and have _all_ CFC's in the application use the specified variable as the root path for their discovery (and all inheritance then also uses these paths, which is not natively available with CF), which helps to resolve issues related to CFC's having been all written to work under a specific directory, as was the case with early versions of Mach-II where initially the framework had to be directly under the web root or it had to have a "mach-ii" mapping specifically in order to function, preventing multiple instances of the framework on a single CF Server instance. Iirc they've changed this now, although I can't speak to the method. In general I think the display layer in applications gets a bad rap. Many of the programmers I've met seem to consider it like a second-class citizen or a "red-headed step-child" as the saying goes. They abhore the idea of working on anything that deals with the display for more than a moment because I guess that smacks of actually caring what users think and many of us have a strange notion that users are stupid people who should be seen and not heard. But I digress... I think display is at _least_ as important as the model of an application because it's all the client ever sees in most cases and in general our most effective tool for communciating with our clients, for dazzling them and for impressing on them the value of our work, which ultimately is what helps us get paid and more importantly get repeat business that pays. To that end, if a component is useful for encapsulating and reusing business-logic, then I would say that a component might be equally useful for encapsulating and reusing display-logic. YMMV This article might give you some ideas about how you might want to use CFC's for encapsulating display: http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=48229&DE=1 and for those who haven't seen it, here's a recent introductory presentation to the onTap framework: http://www.fusiontap.com/demo/powerontap.htm Not it's permanent home -- I'm accumulating feedback to improve the presentation and will be placing it in the articles section of the framework site once I've tidied it up some. :) s. isaac dealey 954.522.6080 new epoch : isn't it time for a change? add features without fixtures with the onTap open source framework http://macromedia.breezecentral.com/p49777853/ http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=48229&DE=1 http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=44477&DE=1 http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=45569&DE=1 http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=48229&DE=1 http://www.fusiontap.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:197366 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
