Understanding the ColdFusion Architecture


ColdFusion has three basic components: the server, the administrator interface, and ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML). The server is the central element because without the capability to serve pages, the other two elements are useless.

The ColdFusion server runs side by side with a web server. As the web server displays pages, the ColdFusion server watches for ColdFusion pages (pages with the .cfm extension). ColdFusion pages contain a mixture of standard HTML and CFML. If the web server receives a request for a page with a .cfm extension, it hands that request off to the ColdFusion server. The ColdFusion server then retrieves the appropriate page, processes it (a process known as preprocessing), retrieves any data that it requests from a database, and then turns all the resulting data into pure HTML. It then hands that HTML back to the web server and the web server sends the data to the client for display in the client's browser (see Figure 17.1.).

Figure 17.1. The ColdFusion server preprocesses any CFM pages and then sends the resulting HTML back to the web server.


During the preprocessing task, the ColdFusion server can do several things beyond just processing HTML, including

  • Database operations, such as retrieving, inserting, updating, and deleting data in databases stored on the server.

  • File operations, such as reading, writing, and appending to text files.

  • Server-to-server communications, in which the ColdFusion server exchanges data with other servers, including other ColdFusion servers, servers running Flash Remoting software, and directory servers that use Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

  • Page processing such as text formatting, search and replace, and building tables, forms, and charts.

  • Messaging with protocols such as SMS and Instant Messaging.



Special Edition Using Macromedia Studio 8
Special Edition Using Macromedia Studio 8
ISBN: 0789733854
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 337

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net