1. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox 4 Michael Smith, TeraTech, Inc. michael@teratech.com http://www.teratech.com 301-881-1440 x110 Copyright TeraTech 2003

2. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Overview  What is Fusebox  What is Fusebox 4?  How Fusebox works  Circuit syntax  Fuseactions  Layouts and Content variables  Extending Fusebox 4 with plugins

3. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Speaker Information Who am I?  Michael Smith  President of TeraTech, Inc Rockville MD >http://www.teratech.com/ >ttWebReportServer, CFXGraphicserver  MDCFUG, CFUN-03, Fusebox Conf  Articles in CFDJ, Fusion Authority  Winner CFDJ award Best CF Consulting

4. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc More About Me  22 years programming  7 years with ColdFusion  4 years with Fusebox  Also work with SQL, JavaScript, HTML, VB, Oracle, Access  Teach one-on-one and custom classes  On site and custom development  Fusebox and Process Methodology

5. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc What is Fusebox?  Way to organize code and files  A methodology for programming  A core file that supports the above  A non-profit organization (fusebox.org) that coordinates the above

6. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Benefits of Standardization  Better team communication  Cheaper maintenance  Can pick up others code faster  Fewer bugs due to different styles  Can think about the fun stuff instead of code structure

7. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Why Fusebox?  Fusebox began and continues to be guided by a developer community concerned with making their projects more successful, their clients happier, and their own work less frustrating and more rewarding.

8. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc What makes Fusebox 3  Routes via index.cfm?fuseaction=c.fa  Separate HTML, SQL, CF in fuses  Central switch for control  Nested Circuits  Nested Layouts  Compound Fuseactions  Exit Fuseactions (XFA’s)  XML Fusedocs

9. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox Project Life Cycle  Wireframe  HTML Prototype  Prototype + Devnotes  Final Code + Devnotes  Sign off

10. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox 3 Core Concepts  Fusebox 3 core concepts >all actions of the software occur as a response to a request made of the fusebox >code is encapsulated in circuits >circuits are made to be as independent of each other as possible (new requests return to the fusebox rather than being routed directly to another circuit) >fuses are based on "pipes and filters" where the output of one file becomes the input of the other, allowing for ease of reuse

11. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc New capabilities in Fusebox 4  Fusebox 4 makes development even easier >XML configuration files provide language independence >multiple fuseactions in a single HTTP request allows for more flexible design patterns such as MVC >pre-parsing of files means better performance >layout files lose their minority status—simply another fuse >the tag can now be used >plugins let developers modify functionality without editing the core files >content component variables allow developer to break page into multiple component blocks

12. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc What about CFCs?  Nothing in Fusebox 4 prohibits the use of CFCs, but they are not required  Fusebox MX addresses the issue of object oriented programming with CFCs

13. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox terminology : fuseaction  A fuseaction is the request made of a Fusebox application >

14. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Compound Fuseactions  A request made of the server to perform some action is known as a fuseaction.  Fuseactions are made up of the circuit name, a dot separator, and the actual request. >Cart.addItem >Users.login >Scheduler.requestMeeting >Noun.verb

15. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox terminology : circuit  A circuit is a logical grouping of related fuseactions >www.teratech.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Training.details >www.teratech.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Training.register >www.teratech.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Training.confirm

16. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox terminology : fuse  A fuse is an individual code file used either singly or in combination with other fuses to carry out a fuseaction FB4 FB3

17. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc The Fuse Rules  Length Challenged  Reuseable  Standard Prefix: qry_, dsp_, act_  Prefix Rebels  HTML, SQL or CF only  Contains Fusedocs  Clueless – blackbox – no includes  Check inputs  Good Name – no abv  Name recordset after fuse name qry_FuseName

18. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox processing  Index.cfm calls FB core file with circuit and fuseaction from URL or Form variables.  FB core parses circuit names from fusebox.xml.cfm  FB core parses correct circuit.xml.cfm and fuseaction from circuit.xml.cfm >Select fuses or fuseactions to execute from circuit.xml >Repeat for rest of Fuse Queue >Save to compiled CFM >Run the CFM  At certain point in core processing plugins may be added

19. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc A sample page viewed by a user…

20. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc …is seen as a collection of requests made of the Fusebox application… Company.getCurrentStockPrice Employment.newestJobs Training.upcomingEvents Benefits.notes

21. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox 4 demonstration  The code used in this demonstration is available at beta.fusebox.org

22. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc New features  Plugins let you change how FB core behaves  Better for MVC – run fuse built in  Compiled – faster  FBX config files now in XML format

23. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox.xml.cfm  This XML file configures your Fusebox application  Circuit definitions and locations and parents  Global fuseactions  Plugin phases  In app root directory  Replaces fbx_circuits.cfm  Uses.cfm file extension to prevent hackers from browsing and to allow editing in CF Studio (VTML helpers available)

24. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Defining Circuits  FB3  FB4

25. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Fusebox Parameters

26. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc More parameters

27. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Global fuseactions  Can run fuseactions at the beginning or end of every page request   Used for header and footers

28. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Plugins  Let you change what happens in the core without having to edit its code >preProcess: called once, at the beginning of the request processing >preFuseaction: called once per fuseaction, prior to the invocation of any fuseaction >postFuseaction: called once per fuseaction, after the invocation of any fuseaction >fuseactionException: called once per fuseaction, if any exception was thrown during that fuseaction >postProcess: called once, at the end of the request processing >processError: called once, if any error was thrown during the request processing

29. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Circuit.xml.cfm  Replaces fbx_switch.cfm and fbx_layout.cfm  Contains fuseactions and fuses to call  May also contain logic  Content Variables  Uses XML FB language format similar to CFML without the CF on the front of each tag  Parsed by FB4 compiler into CFML.

30. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Circuit syntax  Including a fuse:  Calling another fuseaction:

31. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc In FB 3 that would have been:  Including a fuse:  Calling another fuseaction:

32. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc XFAs  Exit FuseActions are variables to avoid hardcoding exit points in your code  In the circuit.xml.cfm you can use

33. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Content Component Variables  Create by “do action”ing a fuseaction  Result is streamed into the variable for later output  Uses CFSAVECONTENT tag  Output variables in layout file – good for portal applications.  Note: fusebox.layout variable is no longer automatically created

34. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Layout Example  Layouts are no longer special cases, but just regular fuses.

35. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Final thoughts  Why use Fusebox? >easier to develop applications >easier to maintain existing code >aids in code repurposing >standard for web application development >supports teams of diverse talents and skills >provides a standardized documentation >exceptionally helpful community of developers >cross-language >helps ordinary developers achieve extraordinary results

36. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Why not?  Why not use Fusebox? >you're being paid by your competitor to sabotage your company's development efforts >framework? you don't need no stinkin' framework >you have a strong masochistic streak that enjoys the pain of your current software development process >you made a decision against Fusebox early on and haven't bothered to reevaluate it >call you crazy, but you just like to code by the seat of your pants!

37. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc How about a Fusebox book?  Discovering Fusebox 4 by John Quarto- vonTivadar with Sandra Clark, Brian Leroux and Perry Woodin  Consise coverage of Fusebox 4 framework  www.techspedition.com www.techspedition.com  Out by September 4

38. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc How to get Fusebox 4  Currently FB 4 in beta  Free download from beta.fusebox.org  Requires ColdFusion MX  CF 5 version in the works (uses XML parsing add on).

39. ©2003 TeraTech, Inc Questions michael@teratech.com