ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard



The ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard creates ColdFusion and Flex files for a create, read, update, delete (CRUD) application. You specify the master, detail, and master/detail pages to include in the application, and the relationship between the application’s pages. The wizard lets you use Visual Query Builder to generate the SQL statements. For more information about using Visual Query Builder, see Using Visual Query Builder.

Designing your application

Before starting the ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard, you should determine which pages to include in your application, including the following:

  • Whether each page is a master, detail, or master/detail page

  • The fields to display in each page

  • The fields that connect one page to another

In the following example, you create an application for an art gallery. The first page lists all the artists that your gallery represents. When a user selects an artist, a page that lists all the works by that artist appears. When the user then selects a work of art, a page that contains details about that piece of art appears. In this example, your application contains the following pages:

  • A master page that lists the artists

  • A master/detail page in which the master page lists the works of art by the artist selected on the List of Artists master page, and a detail page that contains details about the artwork selected on the Artwork master page.

You may find it helpful to draw a diagram of the tables and fields that you want to include in your application, including which ones to display in your application, as the following image shows:

View full size graphic

Start the ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard

  1. Configure your RDS servers. For more information, see Configuring RDS.

  2. In Eclipse or Flash Builder, select File > New > Other.

  3. Under ColdFusion Wizards, select ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard, and then click Next.

  4. After reading the introductory text, click Next.

  5. To load the settings from an application you previously created using the ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard, select the configuration file, and then click Load ColdFusion/Flex Application Wizard Settings.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Select the RDS server on which you want the application to reside.

  8. Specify the data source to use. The data source is configured in the ColdFusion Administrator.

    Although you specify one default data source at this point, you can access data from other data sources in your application.

  9. Click Next.

Specifying form layout

The Form Layout dialog box lets you specify the pages to use in your application. You can create master, detail, or master/detail pages. In your application, you can link master, detail, and master/detail pages as follows:

Page type

Can link to

master

master

master/detail

detail

master and detail

master and master/detail

master/detail

master

master/detail

Create a page

  1. Click the plus sign (+).

  2. In the Name text box, enter the name for the page.

  3. Select the page type (master, detail, or master/detail).

  4. Click Edit Master Page, Edit Detail page, or Edit Master Section, depending on the type of form you are creating.

    The Visual Query Builder starts.

  5. Use Visual Query Builder to specify the data source, tables, and fields to include in the form, and then click Save to save the query. For more information about using Visual Query Builder, see Using Visual Query Builder.

  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for each form in your application.

  7. Use the right and left arrows to specify the relationship of the forms in your application. For example, detail forms should appear indented, directly under the related master form in the Navigation Tree panel. You drag and drop items to move them in the tree structure.

  8. Click Next.

    The Project information page appears.

  9. Specify the following:

    • The context root, if applicable

    • Whether to include a login page in the application

    • The location of the services-config.xml configuration file that the project should use

    • The web root URL

    • Whether to use an existing or new Flash Builder or Eclipse project

    • The project name and the location of the project if it is new

  10. Click Finish.

The ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard creates the ColdFusion and Flex files that comprise your application. You can test the application by clicking the Run Main button in Flash Builder or Eclipse, or by browsing to the main application page, which is located at http://<server_name>:<port_number>/<project_name>/bin/main.html. You can also manually modify the application files as appropriate for your needs.

Tips for creating applications with the ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard

Although the ColdFusion/Flex Application wizard greatly simplifies creating CRUD applications, keep in mind the following information to ensure that you create the application that you designed.

  • To adjust UI elements, open the MXML file in Flash Builder or Eclipse design mode.

  • When you create a project that has the same name as a project you previously created, the wizard creates a backup folder that contains the files from the project you previously created.

  • If you create a master page and a detail page for a table in which there is no primary key defined, the wizard selects the first field in the database as the key value to represent the row.

  • In master pages, link a field to the Parameters box to add type validation to the query by using the cfqueryparam tag. Doing this is optional.

  • You must select a primary key column in the master form; the wizard chooses the key by default. If you create a master page and do not link it to the id property, you cannot add it to the site tree under another master page.

  • Deselect the Display column for fields that your application uses that you do not want to appear in your application.

  • Specify the sort order for the field by which to sort data in the page, and specify any other conditions as appropriate.

  • Change the labels for fields by clicking the field name in the Label column, and then entering a new field name.

  • In a detail page, create a combo box that is populated by dynamic data. To do this, change the value in the Input Control column for the field to use to populate the combo box to be ComboBox, click the Input Lookup Query (sub-select) column in that field, and then use the Visual Query Builder to specify the data to use.

  • When you create a detail page, display of the primary key is disabled automatically.

  • When you create a detail page, input controls are assigned by default. You can change them from the default values, which appear as follows:

    • Boolean and bit values appear as a check box.

    • Memo and CLOB values appear as a text area.

    • Everything else appears as a text input control.