The One Thing You Need To Succeed

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The One Thing You NeedTo Succeed

• Jeff Petersjeff_at_grokfusebox.com

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NOT the One Thing
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This Session

• Some Cases
• Some Comparisons
• Some History
• The One Thing

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Case 1

• List Box Based on a Query

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Case 1
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Case 1
ltcfform name"myForm" action"" method"Post"gt
ltcfselect name"Dealer"
query"qryGetCarDealers"
display"Dealer" value"Location"
required"Yes" message"Select a
Dealer"gt lt/cfselectgtltbrgt ltinput
type"Submit"gt lt/cfformgt
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Case 1

• Client wants All as the first option
• How can we do this?
• Discuss

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Case 1Possible Solution A

• Add record for All to the database

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Case 1Possible Solution AProblems

• False Data in the Table
• Ex Count of dealers would be wrong
• New Sort Column to Force All to Top
• Kludge

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Case 1 Solution A Cause

• Developer Learned CFML Only
• Didn't Understand Request/Response Cycle CFAS'
  Role

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Case 1Possible Solution B

• Don't use ltcfselectgt

ltcfform name"myForm" action"" method"Post"gt
ltselect name"Dealer"gt ltoptiongtAlllt/optiongt
ltcfoutput query"qryGetCarDealers"gt ltoption
value"qryGetCarDealers.Location"gt
qryGetCarDealers.Dealer lt/optiongt
lt/cfoutputgt lt/selectgtltbrgt ltinput
type"Submit"gt lt/cfformgt
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Case 2

• Find the part of a string before an underscore

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Case 2How Can We Do This?

• Discuss

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Case 2Possible Solution A
ltcfset myVar '341414_2_000'gtltcfoutputgt
left(myVar,findOneOf('_',myVar,1)-1) lt/cfoutputgt
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Case 2Possible Solution B
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Case 2Possible Solution C
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Case 2Possible Solution D
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Case 3The Famous Double Droplist

• Droplist 1 holds Departments.
• Droplist 2 holds Employees.
• When user selects a Department, Droplist 2 is
  populated.

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Case 3
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Case 3Possible Solution A

• Round-Trip to Database
• Problems
• Response/network lag
• Tracking variables page-to-page
• And maybe back again
• Seems kludgy

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Case 3Possible Solution B

• Nate Weiss' Excellent TwoSelectsRelated Custom
  Tag

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Case 3Possible Solution C

• Do-It-Yourself Javascript
• But I'm not that good at Javascript!
• Hmmm...

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Comparisons

• What do the Cases have in common?
• Discuss

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Some History
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5 Years Ago (1999)
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5 Years Ago (1999)

• Allaire IPO
• ColdFusion 4.0 Beat ASP 2.0 for NetworkWorld's
  Blue Ribbon
• MS Releases Service Pack 5 for NT4
• Dow at 10,831 (Apr 27)
• Netscape 4.51
• Internet Explorer 5

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10 Years Ago (1994)
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10 Years Ago (1994)

• Allaire Founded
• ColdFusion 1.0 Still 1 Year Away
• Canter Siegel Send First Spam
• MS W4WG 3.11 DOJ sues MS
• Dow at 3,700 (June)
• Netscape Navigator 1.0
• Internet Explorer Isn't Yet

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15 Years Ago (1989)
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15 Years Ago (1989)

• Internet was Gov, Mil, Edu Only
• MS-DOS 4.01 MS Windows/286 2.11(The world plays
  Reversi)
• Dow at 2,490 (June)
• COBOL, Ada, C
• Microsoft buys 20 Santa Cruz Operation (Not
  Caldera/SCO Group)
• 80486 Introduced

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20 Years Ago (1984)
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20 Years Ago (1984)

• MS-DOS 3.0 (HD floppies 32MB HDs)
• Dow at 1,120 (June)
• Apple Introduces Macintosh during Super Bowl
  (1984 ad)
• IBM Introduces PC/AT (80286)
• WordPerfect Lotus 1-2-3 Rule

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What's The Point?

• succeed v. intr. To come next in time or
  succession follow after another replace another
  
• (First definition in The American Heritage
  Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
  Edition)
• Second definition is To accomplish something
  desired or intended

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Moreover

• Webster's leaves the popular definition to
  accomplish what is attempted or intended, until
  fourth.

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To Succeed is To Replace Another

• Technology
• Concept
• Program
• Developer?

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So What's Next?

• Two Possibilities
• Learn Something because
• Job requires it
• Something interests you
• Invent Something because
• Job requires it
• Something interests you

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The One Thing

• Learning and Invention both require

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The One Thing

• Learning and Invention both require

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What Should I Learn?

• Languages?
• More CF
• PHP, Lasso
• Java, C, Ruby
• Platforms?
• Linux
• OS X
• Frameworks?
• Fusebox
• Mach-II
• Struts

• Methodologies?
• FLiP
• Extreme Programming
• Traditional SDLC
• Business Models?
• E-commerce
• Vertical channeling
• JIT
• Fields?
• Law
• Medicine

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What Should I Invent?
In short, a better mousetrap. Invention is
the biggest risk there is, because nobody but you
knows how valuable the thing is until you can
prove it. - ?
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Thanks for Listening
www.GrokFusebox.com