Integrating CFML with ASP.NET

1
Integrating CFML with ASP.NET

• Vince Bonfanti
• President
• New Atlanta Communications, LLC

2
Introduction

• Vince Bonfanti
• President and co-founder of New Atlanta
• ServletExec, Java Servlet/JSP engine (1997)
• JTurbo, JDBC driver for MS SQL Server (1998)
• BlueDragon, CFML/JSP server (2002)
• Soon to be .NET-based
• vince_at_newatlanta.com
• Mention CFUN on subject or message body

3
Topics

• What is the .NET Framework?
• compare/contrast to Java
• What is ASP.NET?
• What is BlueDragon for .NET?
• How do we integrate CFML pages into ASP.NET web
  applications?
• Why deploy CFML on .NET servers?

4
.NET Framework Overview

• The new way to program on Windows, replacing
  C/C and Visual Basic
• Installed as a standard component of Windows 2003
  Server, can be installed on Window NT/2000/XP
• Primarily useful for server-based applications,
  can also be used for client (desktop)

5
.NET Framework Goals

• Object-oriented, type-safe, garbage-collected,
  secure, etc.
• Increases programmer productivity and improves
  application reliability, especially for complex
  server-based enterprise applications
• Similar goals as Java (without write-once-run-anyw
  here)
• Similar methods to achieve those goals

6
.NET Framework Components

• Common Language Runtime (CLR)
• like Java Virtual Machine (VM)
• Microsoft Intermediate Language (IL)
• like Java byte code
• .dll (assemblies) or .exe versus .class or .jar
• .NET Framework Class Libraries (FCL)
• like Java class libraries
• Multiple programming languages
• C, Visual Basic.NET, Managed C, J

7
.NET versus Java
Java
byte code (VM)
IL (CLR)
Windows

• single platform
• single vendor
• higher platform integration
• lower complexity
• lower cost

• multi-platform, multi-vendor
• lower platform integration
• higher complexity, higher cost

8
ASP.NET Overview

• The way to write web applications and web
  services in .NET
• Can use any .NET programming language
• Only runs on Microsoft IIS web server
• Pages are compiled (like JSP)
• Unique concepts
• Event-driven versus top-to-bottom execution
• Code-behind files to separate logic from UI
• Controls are the key component technology

9
ASP.NET Web Applications

• An IIS web site or virtual directory
• .aspx web pages or .asmx web services
• Optional components
• One global.asax file (like Application.cfm)
• One or more web.config configuration files
• Inherits from machine.config
• User controls in .ascx files
• A /bin directory for assemblies (also GAC)
• HttpHandlers and HttpModules
• Web content files (.htm, .css, .gif, etc.)

10
ASP.NET Demo

• Simple web page (hello.aspx)
• Simple web server (hello.asmx)
• Control and event handling (declarative.aspx)
• Control and event handling (codebehind.aspx,
  codebehind.vb)

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hello.aspx

• lt_at_ Page Language"vb" gt
• lthtmlgt
• ltheadgt
• lttitlegtSimple ASP.NET Pagelt/titlegt
• ltscript runat"server"gt
• Sub SayHello()
• Response.Write( "Hello, World!" )
• End Sub
• lt/scriptgt
• lt/headgt
• ltbodygt
• lt SayHello gt
• lt/bodygt
• lt/htmlgt

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hello.asmx

• lt_at_ WebService Language"vb" Class"Hello" gt
• Imports System
• Imports System.Web.Services
• Public Class Hello Inherits WebService
• ltWebMethod()gt Public Function SayHello() As
  String
• Return( "Hello, World!" )
• End Function
• End Class

13
declarative.aspx

• lt_at_ Page Language"vb" gt
• lthtmlgt
• ltheadgt
• lttitlegtASP.NET Declarative Examplelt/titlegt
• ltscript runat"server"gt
• Sub Page_Load( Sender As Object, e As EventArgs
  )
• Message.Text "Hello, World!"
• End Sub
• lt/scriptgt
• lt/headgt
• ltbodygt
• ltform runat"server"gt
• ltaspLabel id"Message" runat"server"/gt
• lt/formgt
• lt/bodygt
• lt/htmlgt

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codebehind.aspx

• lt_at_ Page Language"vb"
• Src"codebehind.vb"
• Inherits"example.CodeBehind" gt
• lthtmlgt
• ltheadgt
• lttitlegtASP.NET CodeBehind Examplelt/titlegt
• lt/headgt
• ltbodygt
• ltform runat"server"gt
• ltaspLabel id"Message" runat"server"/gt
• lt/formgt
• lt/bodygt
• lt/htmlgt

15
codebehind.vb

• Imports System
• Imports System.Web
• Imports System.Web.UI
• Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls
• Namespace example
• Public Class CodeBehind Inherits Page
• Protected Message As Label
• Protected Sub Page_Load( Sender As
  Object, e As EventArgs )
• Message.Text "Hello, World!"
• End Sub
• End Class
• End Namespace

16
web.config

• Used to configure ASP.NET applications
• Application initialization parameters
• Authentication and authorization
• Compilation defaults
• Session data storage
• Debug and trace settings
• Can be multiple web.config files
• One per directory, inherit from parents
• All inherit from machine.config

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web.config

• lt?xml version"1.0" encoding"utf-8" ?gt
• ltconfigurationgt
• ltsystem.webgt
• ltcompilation defaultLanguage"vb"
  debug"false"/gt
• ltsessionState
• mode"InProc
• stateConnectionString"tcpip127.0.0.1
  42424"
• sqlConnectionString"data
  source127.0.0.1user idsapassword"
• cookieless"false"
• timeout"20"
• /gt
• lthttpHandlersgt
• ltadd verb"" path".cfm"
• type"com.newatlanta.bluedr
  agon.HttpHandler,BlueDragon"/gt
• lt/httpHandlersgt
• lt/system.webgt
• lt/configurationgt

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HttpHandler

• Custom (user-defined) components (.NET objects)
  that process HTTP requests
• Can be written in any .NET language
• Requests are mapped to HttpHandlers via
  directives in web.config
• .aspx pages are compiled to HttpHandlers
• HttpHandlers are like Java servlets
• JSP pages are compiled to Java servlets

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HttpHandler Example

• using System.Web
• namespace Example
• public class HelloHttpHandler IHttpHandler
• public void ProcessRequest( HttpContext context
  )
• context.Response.Write( Hello, World!
  )

20
BlueDragon for .NET

• BlueDragon.NET is a CFML runtime that is
  implemented as an HttpHandler
• The BlueDragon.dll assembly can be placed either
  in the ASP.NET application /bin directory, or the
  GAC
• Configured via web.config or machine.config to
  route .cfm page requests to BlueDragon.dll

21
Integrating CFML into ASP.NET

• Use BlueDragon.NET to deploy CFML pages in
  ASP.NET web applications, side-by-side with .aspx
  pages and .asmx web services
• Share Application, Session, and Request scope
  variables
• Use CFOBJECT to access .NET objects
• Use ASP.NET controls in CFML pages
• Write CFX tags in any .NET language

22
BlueDragon.NET Demo

• BlueDragon.NET configuration
• Hello.cfm
• BlueDragon admin console
• ASP.NET calendar control

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Why CFML on .NET?

• Performance
• .NET CLR versus Java VM
• ADO.NET versus JDBC
• Scalability take advantage of Windows 2003
  Server clustering
• Native Windows platform integration
• Fast, reliable COM integration
• Migration to ASP.NET
• Another platform alternative for ISVs