Transfer "It's Alive"

Today I grabbed a block of time and decided to install Transfer as the first piece of the process. It just struck me as the most logical way to get a hold of this process is to work from the ground up. Since Transfer is the "lowest" piece, taking directly to the DB it made sense to me to start there.

I was impressed with how easy it was to get working. I went to the Install instructions page and did what it said.

1 & 2. I downloaded the file, unzipped it into the root of my web directory. Then I stopped as I don't have a project I wanted to convert to Transfer today. So instead, I went to the examples page and downloaded the tBlog application.

tBlog
Step 1, I unpacked it into the root of my web directory also.
Step 2, I used MySQL-Front and opened my MySQL database locally and created a schema for it named tBlog.
Step 3. ColdFusion Admin, created the datasource name as tBlog also.
Step 4. Browsed to it. . . Grind, grind, grind, and Voila! a page appears saying it is running. Just that easy, Total time, maybe 15 minutes. I am impressed.

So I decide to scroll down and peruse the debug output. Holy Clap! Did this thing grind through the pages, CFCs, tags and just plain code!! I don't think I have ever seen so many calls to get a page that was so simple created. But, I guess that is the price for such convenience.

Good news is, it works just as advertised! Next I guess I will have to create a testing app to get started configuring my own interactions with Transfer!

Crazy Idea?
I was examining the transfer.xml file and getting used to what, how, where things go and a thought struck me. Mark Mandel ponder this. . . If the transfer.xml file held just a little more information such as field lengths, index, null allowed, default value, etc. why couldn't transfer have a built-in database create routine also?

I could define my data tables and fields just once in the XML file and not have to manually create each table to match! You wouldn't have needed the SQL build files in the install either. Am I way off here? Am I missing something basic? Is there a reason this won't work?

Tools in the box

I was sitting here, Diet Dr. Pepper at my side as usual(I think I personally have paid for one of their bottling plants), deciding on what my first step should be.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, it struck me...  I have also been underwhelmed in the past, so if I have been "over" and "under" whelmed, can I say that I have ever been just whelmed?  

OK, onward.  I decided that it may be a good first step to let you know something about my environment for reference.  So here is a list of some of the tools.

• ColdFusion 8 (of course)
• Cfeclipse for editing
• MySQL Workbench for database design / management
• Subversion / Tortoise for version control
• SQL-Front for data handling directly
• WS_FTP (an oldie, but still good enough for me)
• Beyond Compare for file comparisons / uploads / synchs
• IIS, IE, Chrome and FireFox for testing

So far, these have done the trick.  But, I am lacking a good structured test methodology so I am keeping my ears and eyes open for one to use.
My physical platform:

* Home built PC
* Intel Quad Core 2.83 GHz / Vista

* 4Gb RAM

* Dual 25" monitors

* and 2,500 MP3s for support

I like to keep it fairly simple.  But, if you have any suggestions for additions, send a comment!

What is the next "tool" to add?  I'm thinking the best place to start is by installing Transfer and experimenting.  Wish me luck...  I'll keep you posted on the struggles.

Brute Force

Hi, thanks for stopping by.

You're probably asking yourself "What does this guy have to say I want to hear?"  The answer...  Maybe nothing.  Or maybe, like me, you are doing application development and you keep searching for help, answers, or simply a glimpse into "How the heck do I do ______?"

I have relied on site documentation (usually way lacking), guesswork or searching the net for a clue on how to do what I want to get done.  Many good blogs have given me ideas, clues, or great insights into what I needed to get done.  But, too often, I come up short and just have to get through it by trial and error.  

As you may have guessed from the title, I am a ColdFusion developer.  I have been developing on and off in ColdFusion since version 1.1.  But, somewhere around version 5, or 6 I drifted away.  Now, here I am back again and playing "catch up" with the new ways; OOP, CFCs, Frameworks, Ajax, ORM, CRUD, IoC, etc.  

The one thing I have struggled with in wading through all of these is the common thread that almost all of the doc's, posts, forums and other resources assume that you have a basic background knowledge in the area of the very thing you are trying to learn!  Well, I for one usually don't!  Hence the "Brute Force" part of the title.

So I decided to use my own blog to try to share with others out there who may be struggling like I am.  I am going to document my path to better understanding and hopefully, competence, and eventually expertise with yet more of these current methodologies.

If you have some interest along these lines, drop a comment and let me know.  If you have any suggestions those will be greatly and gratefully accepted also.

So, where am I going to start?  Right smack dab in the middle of a big one!  In the past, the applications I created were done long enough ago that all there was to use generally was your own organization and methodologies.  But when CFCs came along and the Bean, DAO, Gateway concept got into my head, I knew I had to move forward.  

I now find myself at the beginning of the development cycle for a large application completely from scratch.  I get to decide everything; the methodology, the structure, the whole thing.  I have been researching for weeks trying to decide exactly ehat "tools" I want to add to my kit and use for this project.  After much self-debate (and very few obvious winners), I have decided on:

• Transfer talking to a MySQL database
• ColdSpring to handle my CFC dependencies and configuration
• ColdBox framework for my code structure

Since I have never used any of these, my learning curve is looking more like a "learning mountain".   So as I start to chew my way through these I plan to post here about my challenges, and hopefully some insights that may help someone else just a little along the way.

So check back and follow along if any of these are on your plate also.