PHP Programmer needs CF Help!

[raymond3rd]

I'm a PHP programmer that has found himself in the unenviable position of needing to port a ColdFusion web site to PHP and I have no ColdFusion experience at all. My company has agreed to redesign a client's web site for him, which was done by another developer with whom our client now has open hostilities with. I have access to the web site, and ColdFusion files, but I don't have any idea what database the web site is running on (though I have determined that it's being accessed via ODBC so I suspect MS Access), much less what the database layout is like. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to learn the language before I can begin working on the new web site.

While I'm not seeking a full tutorial or hand-holding through deciphering this web site, I could use some guidance on a few issues.

First of all, is there a ColdFusion command similar to PHP's var_dump or print_r functions which will output a variable's value, and in the case of an array, class, or database record, would show the field names in addition to values?

Second, is there a way for me to definitely identify the database? If so, then I might be able to figure out appropriate SQL syntax to identify tables and/or other databases that are in use within the web site.

Third, is there a book or e-book that would help me as a PHP programmer to come to understand ColdFusion better? I don't forsee using ColdFusion on a regular basis, but if I can understand it better, I might ease my task.

[paross1 · Accepted solution]

Do you have access to the ColdFusion administrator for the site, where you can enable debugging for your IP address, and also determine the data source information? If not, then it is going to be tough going.

The <cfdump> tag is good for displaying the output of a query or variable, but you would have to insert this tag into your ColdFusion templates, and if this is a live "production" site, that isn't such a good idea.

Phil

[raymond3rd]

Unfortunately, our client isn't technically inclined, and hasn't been able to provide us with anything more than ftp access to the server, so the site administrator is out of the question. Could the administrator control be buried in a subdirectory within the main site? Such as within /admin/ or something? (There isn't an /admin/ directory, but I might be able to browse through the directory tree looking for some telltale files if I know what to look for.)

Thanks for the information regarding cfdump; I probably won't tamper with the original CF files, but create temporary scripts that can reveal the table fields, and later can generate a dump of the individual tables. Right now, though, I'll have to rely on the existing CF scripts to tell me what tables are present and how they're used.

Another question, while I'm thinking about it. Some of the .cfm files appear to be in a binary format. Is that common and/or is it possible to decode those files?

Thank you again,
Raymond

[paross1]

Something like http://YourSite/CFIDE/Administrator/index.cfm but good luck with that.

[paross1]

One thing that may be helpful, since your "company has agreed to redesign a client's web site", would be if you could gain access to the original requirements documents and/or business rules that the client (hopefully) provided to the other developer, which might assist you with reverse engineering the site, or as a worst case scenario, redesign it from scratch on PHP.

Phil

[Newsgroup_User]

PS: ColdFusion Administrator is not a sysadmin or anything like that -
it is a CF Server Administration Interface :)


Azadi Saryev
Sabai-dee.com
http://www.sabai-dee.com/

[raymond3rd]

From what our client told us, he (as a small business owner) told the previous developer some of the basics of what he wanted, and the guy did it in two weeks without much other input. I don't think there were design documents involved. Nonetheless, I have to thank you for your assistance because poking around looking for the CF administrator files (which don't seem to be present), I stumbled across an MS Access database file that had been in use today, and managed to open a copy of it locally, so I can now see the database structure and even data. Sure, there are tables and fields for which I have no understanding, but it's better than a complete blank.

Thanks again for your help paross1!