James, that's a surprisingly complex question. It depends on what features you mean to leverage. Most of what the cfbuilder extension adds requires a) that the cfm/cfc file you open must be in a cf builder-defined project, b) and that project must be connected to a cf "server" also as defined in CFB. Then as Dave notes, c) that server needs cf's rds feature to be enabled and the connection to that properly configured.
Now, a cf instance (whether it's running in docker or not) can at least be added as a "server" in CFB, and if rds is setup and configured, you could then see the files and databases/data sources within it via the panels offered for that.
But if you want to do more, like have cfb find and show cfcs in that "server"--or do step debugging of code against it, that's when things get more challenging.
For those things, you'll be told in error messages you need to have properly mapped the project to the root of the server or to have added a linked folder. And that gets more difficult here, because when defining a "server" in CFB, the second tab asks if it's local or remote and by default it chooses local. Technically, for cfb running on a machine with docker, the cf image would be a "remote" rather than a local server (because the cfb on your "host" is not running WITHIN the cf image, running as a container, or "guest" one might say.)
And to configure such a remote server, you'll see it asks you to identify the rmi port for the cf instance--which the cf images don't expose by default.
Then there's no mechanism to point to the code within the cf container to "open" that, so you'd need to map your host version of the files (such as what you copy into the image in a dockerfile or point to as a volume mount) to their equivalent location within the image (server).
I started to dig into all this after I replied to Dave's other comment here about trying to use the silent installer properties as env vars for the images (which as I noted doesn't work). I hit these same snags so had to stop. I will try again soon and will follow up, whether here or in a blog post I point to.
Before concluding, I'll note that some of these are the same challenges that the original cf builder had when running CF remotely from your local machine. And while the old cfb docs covered that, the new ones do not (that I have seen), so getting all these things right will be a challenge for many - - just like it was for many folks with the old cfb.
**soapbox**
And sadly, such complications will lead some to abandon their attempts, as there are just too many moving parts. It was true then and it's still true now, depending on what features you try to use, and what is your environment. Sadly there are MANY variations.
And I tried for decades (literally, starting in 2008) to lead people to that promised land of getting these more advanced aspects of CFB working for them (see presentations, articles, blog posts and even book chapters I've done on builder over the years at carehart.org). But too many people balked at the eclipse-based characteristics of that older CFB, so it really never took off.
With vscode, a whole new generation will at least be open to the possibility of considering it...but they too are tripping over these sort of matters, even to setup a local machine.
They'll see some showing off the cool things it can do, but those showing it generally won't explain how they set it up to work. Or they used a most basic setup which had little challenges, though they don't even explain away those.
And as some people stumble, others will use their experience to poopoo Adobe or the extension or ACF in general, which will only further discourage some who see it not taking off.
Sadly, I fear we're in for a rough ride early on, as the community (and Adobe) learn/relearn how to guide people to that promised land of getting cfb to work in the many, many different ways people will want it to work.
Heck, some get tripped up with just the fundamental points I started with above about projects (and workspaces) and servers and rds...while still others won't even get there because they can't get past the new cfb's requirement to have Java installed in a way it wants, to even start.
Expect frustration to rule for months if not years, I fear. Hopefully Adobe or the community will respond with more and better resources and guidance, and people WILL make it through the rough patch and it will be what it should be for the cf developer community.
As for me, I'll help, but as you can see here, the answers aren't simple. So I'll offer them, but I suspect most won't have the stomach to wade through the many things that generally need to be considered to get to the right answer. It will just take time for the volume of help (in various places and forms) to grow to a point to reach a larger audience. I just fear that will take a long time, which might thwart/stunt wide acceptance of the great values in the tool.
As before, some will get it and love it, some will leverage just a fraction of its capabilities, others will stumble along and may give up, while still others will give up on their first try.
**/soapbox
Like I said, James, yours is a far more complicated question than it may seem. I hope I offered at the top something to help you.
And while you could follow up here, the blog comment threading is not great. Your question does also have very specific aspects that some will not care to have to wade through. It would probably be best for you to open a new post on the cf community forums instead. If you do, please come back and point people to that here, so they can follow the discussion if interested.
And apologies to those who think this reply (or at least the soapbox part) should have been a blog post I wrote and pointed to. I was tempted to consider that once done here, but I've already spent a lot of time writing this and need to get to work for a client. So for James' sake I wanted to go ahead and share it for at least the docker specifics, and I hope the soapbox points may benefit others reading along.
James, if you get it going, let us know. I'll do the same, as I dig in more. If I do it as a blog post or forum thread z I'll come back and point to it in a reply here.
/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart.org)
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