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A
Anonymous
December 23, 2008
Question

Shock and Awe

  • December 23, 2008
  • 3 replies
  • 996 views
Hey Guys.
I am in an interesting position. My boss is on the fence for buying CF server to write some applications we need. I have been trying to get him to look at it, and now I have my chance. I downloaded the developer edition, and I am recoding an application we have currently in CF. However, I want it to be bigger, and better, and really impress him. It's a simple application, something thats lets users schedule times when they want to take a test at our facility. It keeps track of how many have registered, and reports back to us. I want to add all the bells and whistles that CF has to offer so that it makes so much of an impact he has no choice but to buy the full server. So far I am using:
-Skinned Flash forms for all data entry
-A professionally made CSS template
-Google Apps API to build maps and such on the fly

What are some other visually impressive features CF has offer to help me make an impression. List any ideas you might have. Thanks!
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    3 replies

    A
    Anonymous
    December 23, 2008
    Pull some data from your database. Use CFCHART to present the data. Have a link to download the data and charts in a PDF using CFDOCUMENT tag. Or even have a link to download the data as an XML file. Both are quite easy to do with CF.

    If you're using CF8, try looking at AJAX features etc.

    All this being said, it's just tits and no brains. I don't really use this stuff (probably cos I'm not even a CF professional, haha). But it's all eye candy. And if that's what he likes it should be killer. Also look at the cfgrid stuff and cfwindow.

    Enjoy.
    A
    Anonymous
    December 23, 2008
    Hey hey, now those are some cool ideas. Generate graphs and save them to a document. Also, I found out you can generate spreadsheets from CF, which is awesome. I forgot all about CFWindow, that can do some pretty neat looking stuff if I remember right. Good thoughts guys, keep em coming!
    A
    Anonymous
    December 23, 2008
    You might look at Charlie Arehart's website. His "Resource Lists" section make has some good info and links on topics like creating and using Excel files in CF and Apache Derby, the database that is included with CF8.
    http://www.carehart.org/
    Later on I'll be posting the test version of the site on a publicly accessible server. If you guys want you are welcome to log on, and play around with it. The data doesn't go anywhere, or do anything so it's a totally open sandbox. Let me know if you have any ideas, or suggestions. I'll post the url once I get this sucker hosted.
    J
    JR__Bob__Dobbs-qSBHQ2
    Inspiring
    December 23, 2008
    My boss likes how easy it is to create PDFs. If you business folks love PDFs you should take a look at the CFDOCUMENT feature.

    http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/help.html?content=Tags_d-e_05.html#3765835
    A
    Anonymous
    December 23, 2008
    Hmm office people generally do love PDF's (for some reason I'll never understand, whoever thought of storing text as a picture should be shot).

    Trying to think what I would want to put in a PDF. Perhaps a scheduling confirmation letter?
    J
    JR__Bob__Dobbs-qSBHQ2
    Inspiring
    December 23, 2008
    quote:
    Originally posted by: kenji776
    Hmm office people generally do love PDF's (for some reason I'll never understand, whoever thought of storing text as a picture should be shot).

    Trying to think what I would want to put in a PDF. Perhaps a scheduling confirmation letter?


    You might pull some data from your scheduling database and demonstrate that the PDF being generated on the fly will always use the latest data from your database.
    D
    Dan_Bracuk
    Inspiring
    December 23, 2008
    I'd take a different approach. I'd duplicate the existing app and show him how much less code it took. Otherwise you are guessing at what impresses him.

    For example, I don't like flash forms. What would happen if I were your boss and you used that to impress me?
    A
    Anonymous
    December 23, 2008
    Dan,
    Good thought. I am taking every step to ensure that my code is minimal, easy to follow, and centralized when possible. I am taking advantage of components and functions alot, lots of good error handling, so structurally the app is pretty good. I don't know if I can do a straight up volume compare, because I will be adding some new features as well (ability to cancel reservations, manage your account, see what you've signed up for in the past, etc). So overall my app will probably be a little larger, but much more feature rich.

    Just for laughs, I'll tell ya a little about the system I'm replacing. He (my boss) needed something cheaply and quickly, and he knew some PHP programmers from Mexico. Well one of the dudes who wrote it was a super novice, and made a lot of mistakes. I don't even know PHP that well, but after working on the app for a few days I could tell it was badly messed up. Lots of the variables and functions are in Spanish, there are no centralized functions or reusable code, no standard naming conventions, not even a stylesheet or standard design for each page. No error handling, no data sanitation before database entry or query, passing huge amounts of data through URL pages, no management features, etc. It's just a wreck. I don't know how it even works. So really anything should blow this other app out of the water, just need to make it impressive enough to make the switch.
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