Problems with CF Builder + RDS + Windows XP.

Hi Bill, yes, I can offer such help. In fact, I've long thought about offering a low-cost, fixed-fee option to solve any single problem.

Your request here, and another earlier today, have prompted me to go ahead and set that up. It's now enabled as a new engagement type at my http://www.carehart.org/consulting/ page (where I also discuss how I offer this as remote consulting, via Adobe Connect, which I usually perform in providing CF server troubleshooting.)

I help people solve problems with CFBuilder all the time (here and in other mailing lists), and I speak and write about using it extensively.

Still, some problems are just difficult to solve in email (plus there's no guarantee of one getting a reply from anyone, including myself, here). So I'd long considered offering a service to fill that gap. The two notes today prompted me to proceed with it.

You'll see it on the page as a "CFBuilder fixed-fee/single problem" option, for a flat $US75. That's for help in getting any one thing to work in CFBuilder, such as getting debugging to work, getting RDS to work, getting code insight to work, getting the ctrl+hover hyperlinking to work, solving slow performance problems, and so on.

Now, if someone gets their hackles up at the thought that they should have to pay for getting a problem solved with CFB, well, of course, you don't have to pay. That's why these forums are here. But as Bill says below, sometimes people are just willing to pay to solve a problem, and again some problems are just hard to do without being able to see what's going on and more easily explain how things need to be configured.

If paid support is not a solution for some readers, that's understandable. (I addressed this a little more in a lighthearted mention of the new option in my reply to the other forum thread here earlier today: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3056104#3056104).

My hope would be that, with my experience solving problems, we should be able to solve most of them quickly, which is good for both of us. I'm willing to take that risk and keep it a fixed fee (compared to my normal hourly rate of $US175 for CF server troubleshooting).

Of course, the fixed fee means there's no prorating of it if solved quickly. Think of it like a plumber, who has a fixed price for a service call, even if just to plug a single leak. You're not paying for the time to plug the leak (nor even to drive over), but for the value of stopping the leak, the plumber's knowledge of how and where to solve the problem, and his setting up a business to be there when you need him.

Conversely, though, there are sure to be some problems where I just can't solve them, even after a couple of hours (they may even be bugs in CFBuilder). In that case, to protect both of us, I offer the option to refund your money after those 2 hours (unless you feel there was still value in other aspects or information shared during the call).

Hope that's helpful, to Bill and to others. Feel free to mention it to others who may appreciate this when struggle at length with some CFBuilder problem.

/charlie