AJAX and Coldfusion Presentation and Overview

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AJAX and ColdfusionPresentation and Overview

• Rick Root
• Sr. IT Analyst, Alumni Development Systems
• Duke University

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Introduction

• AJAX Defined
• Asynchronous Javascript and XML
• The new hot technology
• Build Rich Internet Applications with no client
  software required

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Benefits of AJAX

• Wide browser support
• Independent of server-side programming languages
• Increased usability
• Decreased bandwidth usage

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Browser Support

• Internet Explorer 5.0 / Windows Only
• Gecko-based browsers (Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape
  7.1, etc)
• Safari 1.2
• Konqueror 3.2
• Opera 8.0

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Server Options

• PHP
• Coldfusion / Bluedragon
• ASP / ASP.NET
• JSP
• Java Servlets
• etc

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Usability

• Using AJAX can enhance the usability of your web
  application
• NCAA Pool Example http//www.checkbookopen.com/f
  orums/ncaapool.cfm

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Bandwidth Concerns

• Server calls return only data not HTML.
• Javascript draws HTML content
• Development Calendar Example (to be converted to
  AJAX)
• http//www.it.dev.duke.edu/go/calendar

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AJAX Concerns

• Back Button Issues
• Bookmarking
• Accessibility
• IE 6.0 and below requires ActiveX to be enabled
  (resolved in IE 7.0)

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AJAX Examples

• http//maps.google.com

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Coldfusion AJAX Options

• CFAJAX - http//www.indiankey.com/cfajax/
• ajaxCFC - http//www.robgonda.com/blog/projects/aj
  axcfc/

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Requirements for Development with Coldfusion

• CFAJAX requires Coldfusion 6.0 (any platform)
  and can be made to work with Bluedragon 6.1 with
  some tweaks.
• ajaxCFC requires coldfusion 6.1 (any platform)
  or Bluedragon 6.1 (any platform)

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Basic Steps when using CFAJAX

• HTML page contains javascript and includes
  numerous script files that you dont need to even
  look at.
• You write two simple javascript functions one
  to call the server side function, passing in the
  appropriate arguments, and one to accept the
  result and modify the HTML on the current page
  with the data.
• Write a coldfusion function on the server to do
  server side stuff.
• Thats it!

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Get to the Source!http//www.opensourcecf.com/aja
xexample/