Chapter31.Event Gateways

Chapter 31. Event Gateways

IN THIS CHAPTER

What Is an Event Gateway? 899

Creating a Simple Gateway Application 902

Creating an Initiator Application using the ColdFusion Gateway 907

Debugging CFML Applications for Event Gateways 909

Creating Your Own Custom Gateways 910

A POP3 Custom Gateway 915

ColdFusion MX 7 has some exciting new functionality but the most important and revolutionary of these new features, hands down, is the event gateway. Event gateways are to application server environments what the CFQUERY tag was to database interaction. As you will see, the event gateway technology transforms ColdFusion MX 7 (CFMX7) from just another Web application server to an enterprise services platform, allowing CFMX7 applications to work with just about any other application and/or platform over any well-defined protocol including SMS, RMI, MQ, JSM, AMS, TCP, and UDP. If you have ever worked with message-oriented middleware, much of the paradigm behind event gateways will be obvious to you. On the other hand, if you've not, the ColdFusion event gateway operates like MOM.

Event gateways also allow ColdFusion applications to perform in new and nontrivial ways. You, the developer, can move away from an HTTP-based request/response development approach to event-based frameworks that respond to events created by such things as a folder change or a phone call.

Before you begin this chapter, take a breath and clear your mind. Try to forget what you know about traditional Web development. Read this chapter with an open mind, knowing that there is no possible way a single chapter can cover everything that event gateways can do. The only limit now to ColdFusion MX 7 is your imagination. Okay, let's begin.