David and I just finished a big Plum project that required a number of rapid changes, and the whole CF_2CFMODULE conversion got in the way of source control more than once, so we've come up with what we think is a great idea to solve this problem once and for all. We'd like to get your feedback on it.
You'll install an autostarting Windows service named "Plum Service" on your development workstation, then edit an XML configuration file that specifies pairs of Origination and Destination directories, which can be anywhere on your network that you can access. You refresh the service after configuration is done, and the service then "watches" each Origination directory for new and changed .cfm files. Once a .cfm file is added or changed, it runs that file through the CF_2CFMODULE process and places the converted copy (CFMODULE calls instead of CF_ calls) into the destination directory. This way you can setup both a development site and a staging site, the two are always in synch with one another, and you can immediately go from testing the development site to testing the staging site with a quick edit of the URL in your browser. The Plum Service will not copy your site's Environment.cfm file, so everything that is converted will slipstream into its environment. You'll be able to re-synch directories through the command line with a -resynch flag in case you turn off the service temporarily and make changes to the contents of either directory. This new approach will be entirely transparent to the development process, and will no longer interfere with source control in any way. You'll never have to add the converted version to source control - just the original CF_ version you work with. Now for the real kicker... *We're going to eventually add LoRCAT to the Plum Service*, so that you can also transparently LoRCAT your files after they are CFMODULEd. You'll be able to set a flag in your XML configuration file that says whether you're LoRCATting in Analysis Mode or Production Mode. This will make both load analysis and pre-processed whitespace removal automatic and transparent, resulting in your deployment of a truly high performance code base. So from now on your Plum applications will run more efficiently because you' ll see exactly where load is concentrated, then when analysis is done and you're in production mode, your Plum application will run as fast as possible because you won't have so much as one extra whitespace character throughout your entire code base. We're still going to charge for the LoRCAT part, but I'd like to get your feedback on that as well. We're currently selling the LoRCAT standalone utility for $495.00, so in your opinion how much should we charge to add it to the Plum Services? What do you think about these ideas overall? Respectfully, Adam Phillip Churvis Member of Team Macromedia http://www.ProductivityEnhancement.com Download Plum and other cool development tools, and get advanced intensive Master-level training: * C# & ASP.NET for ColdFusion Developers * ColdFusion MX Master Class * Advanced Development with CFMX and SQL Server 2000 ********************************************************************** You can subscribe to and unsubscribe from lists, and you can change your subscriptions between normal and digest modes here: http://www.productivityenhancement.com/support/DiscussionListsForm.cfm **********************************************************************
