Hi Chris, We put variables 'global' variables in either the request or application scope so they are available to all CF code scopes be it a single CF template or a CFC. We also put all variable declarations of this type in a single file that is included by the application.cfm or a central controller file for our application. This tends to keep the application.cfm much cleaner.
We also have different settings for these variables based on the tier the application is running on. For example, in our dev tier we will output error emails to just the developers working on the application, but in production error emails also go to our systems support team. I hope you find these useful, Tom -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christopher Jordan Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 11:09 AM To: Dallas/Fort Worth ColdFusion User Group Mailing List Subject: [DFW CFUG] CFCs: Passed in variables not inherited? Hi folks, I've got a CFC that I call 'Base'. It contains some general functions that might be useful no matter what other CFC I might be in, and so most (if not all) of my CFCs extend Base. I work with another programmer on this particular project who likes to put just about *EVERYTHING* into Application.cfm (we're using CFMX6.1). For example: <!--- Default date/time masks ---> <CFSet SQLDateMask = "yyyy/mm/dd"> <CFSet DateMask1 = "mm/dd/yyyy"> <CFSet DateMask2 = "d mmm, yyyy"> <CFSet DateMask3 = "mmm d, yyyy"> <CFSet DateMask4 = "dddd mmm d, yyyy"> <CFSet DateMask5 = "dddd mmmm d, yyyy"> <CFSet TimeMask1 = "h:mm:ss tt"> <CFSet TimeMask2 = "HH:mm:ss"> <CFSet TimeMask3 = "h:mm tt"> <CFSet TimeMask4 = "hh:mm:ss tt"> <!--- Set the common date variables. ---> <CFSet Today = Now()> <CFSet Yesterday = DateAdd("d",-1,Today)> <CFSet Tomorrow = DateAdd("d",1,Today)> <CFSet FirstDayThisWeek = Today - DayOfWeek(Today) + 1> ... etc., etc. That's all well and good. So, I've spent the last year or so trying to coax him into using CFCs. His first complaint was that he didn't have access to all of the nice variables that he's so used to having. (*sigh*) So for the better part of a year or so our solution was to have code like this in the constructor area of our Base cfc: <CFParam Name="Session.Username" Default=""><!--- Ensure that the Username exists. ---> <CFParam Name="Variables.ThisUsername" Default="#Session.Username#"><!--- Ensure that the Username exists. ---> <CFIf FileExists(ExpandPath("/Include/#Application.ApplicationName#SystemVaria bles.cfm"))> <CFInclude Template="/Include/#Application.ApplicationName#SystemVariables.cfm"> <CFElseIf Not ListFindNoCase("EmployeeNomination,SCInvoiceAdministration,RecruitReport ", Application.ApplicationName)> <CFSet TemplateRootPath = ""> <CFSet ThisPath = Trim(CGI.Path_Info)> <CFLoop index="i" from="1" to="#ListLen(Trim(CGI.Path_Info),"/") - 1#"> <CFSet ThisPathPart = ListFirst(ThisPath,"/")> <CFSet TemplateRootPath = ListAppend(TemplateRootPath,ThisPathPart,"/")> <CFSet ThisPath = ListRest(ThisPath,"/")> </CFLoop> <CFSet TemplateRootPath = "/" & TemplateRootPath> <CFIf FileExists(ExpandPath(TemplateRootPath & "/Application.cfm"))> <CFInclude Template="#TemplateRootPath#/Application.cfm"> </CFIf> </CFIf> ... All of this just to ensure that all of the nice variables that we've created on the .cfm side of things will be available to all of our CFCs (or at least to all of those that extend Base). Okay, well, I'm not entirely keen on this way of doing things. I don't know, it seems kludgey to me. So, I got the idea (maybe even from someone on this list, I can't remember) that instead of including the stuff like that we should just pass the contents of the variables scope into base when it's instantiated: <CFIf NOT StructKeyExists(Session, "Base")> <CFSet Session.Base = CreateObject("component", "Include.CFC.Base").init(variables="#variables#")> </CFIf> ... inside Base, the init function would look like this: <cffunction name="init" returntype="any"> <cfscript> // put the passed in variables into the local variables scope. var myKey = ""; if(StructKeyExists(arguments, "variables")){ for(myKey in arguments.variables){ "variables.#myKey#" = arguments.variables[myKey]; } } return this; </cfscript> </cffunction> I tried this in another of my CFCs (which did not extend Base) and it was successful... until I needed a function that was in base... then it seemed pointless, because I just ended up extending Base anyway. The problem now (sorry for such a long post), is that when passing in the contents of the variables scope like this, it works great for that CFC, but other CFCs that extend it don't inherit those variables. ... and I just had a moment of clarity... just as I was writing that... it's because when I instantiate Base and put it in the Session scope that's one instance. But when I instantiate some other component which extends Base, it gets it's own instance of Base (so to speak)... one that has not had the variables passed into it. *sigh* Okay, so this post took a bit of a turn (sorry), but now I'm wondering, is there a better way to accomplish what we're doing? Should we really be doing this in the first place? Thanks, Chris -- http://www.cjordan.us _______________________________________________ Reply to DFWCFUG: [email protected] Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists1.safesecureweb.com/mailman/listinfo/list List Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/list%40list.dfwcfug.org/ http://www.mail-archive.com/list%40dfwcfug.org/ DFWCFUG Sponsors: www.instantspot.com/ www.teksystems.com/ _______________________________________________ Reply to DFWCFUG: [email protected] Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists1.safesecureweb.com/mailman/listinfo/list List Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/list%40list.dfwcfug.org/ http://www.mail-archive.com/list%40dfwcfug.org/ DFWCFUG Sponsors: www.instantspot.com/ www.teksystems.com/
