The Online ColdFusion Meetup Group had two presentations yesterday and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend both. The first one was from John Farrar about his COOP framework and the second was from Luis Majano about his ColdBox framework. I haven't used either of these, but I have been interested in both for some time.
I frequently have to build forms to add and edit data. After a few years of programming, this became a source of come tedium for me. I would build two forms almost exactly alike (one to add and one to edit). If the form needed to change, I would have to make the change twice. I would also have to write any validation twice for each form - once for the friendly client-side JavaScript validation and again for the serious server-side validation.
All told, this represented a fair bit of tedium in my work life. I decided that there had to be a better way. I looked at solutions that existed already in the ColdFusion universe, but I couldn't find anything that I liked. Then I came across some custom tags for forms that I client of mine built. Although his implementation didn't work as I wanted, I knew that he was on the right path.
Before I can effectively cover anything else in cf_sebForm, I have to cover how to get data to the fields. Fortunately, this by itself will make cf_sebForm somewhat useful.
In working with a subcontractor, I realized that I have done a poor job so far in providing a simple example of getting and filtering records with DataMgr. DataMgr makes this task very easy, but it does require a little explanation.
The cf_sebForm tag set creates accessible forms that provide both client and server side validation. They can interact with CFCs without breaking encapsulation. The forms are skinnable and completely customizable. It also facilitates using the same code as both an add and an edit form.
I have been using my sebtags custom tag set (or parts thereof) for the last three or four years and they are now finally ready for beta.
I am back from the Bahamas and having said I would report back on the adventure that was chosen for me, I will do so here. As it happens, breakfast was the best part of the day, so I will work backward to there.
