Spectra Tips and Tricks

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Spectra Tips and Tricks

• Tips for Spectra First Contact
• Coding Tips
• QA

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Spectra Pre-Requisites

• Structures Everythings a structure
• Custom Tags
• Passing data in/out
• Modular code
• Conceptual understanding of WDDX
• Request Scope (thread safe)

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Request Scope
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What is Spectra?

• Content Object Database (CODB) An object-based
  data storage built in relational tables.
• Tags to interact with CODB
• 200 Tags in about 20 groupings
• Webtop A fancy Spectra application
• Admin interface
• User interface

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Three Parts of Spectra
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ContentObject Database
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Spectra the same but different

• DB Design and Spectra Object Design are similar
  enough to be familiar but different enough to be
  potentially confusing
• Gains
• Fast for getting complete objects
• Linking data with methods
• Losses
• Flexible relational access

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Spectra vs ColdFusion

• Spectra IS ColdFusion
• ALL of ColdFusion functionality is available
  within Spectra applications
• CF Tags
• Functions
• Database connections

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Spectra All or Nothing?

• Spectra is not right for all applications
• Highly relational data should not be moved into
  Spectra Content Object database
• Spectra is not right for all parts of an
  application.
• Spectra and ColdFusion together
• HR.com Resource Center

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Spectra More Planning

• Spectra apps require more up front planning than
  straight CF apps because
• Spectra apps are (usually) bigger
• Spectra apps live in an existing set of services

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Chicken and the Egg

• To competently plan a Spectra app, you need to
  have built a Spectra app
• Two solutions
• Find someone who has been through it to help get
  up to speed
• Iterate over the design and construction of your
  first Spectra application

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Security is a problem

• Allow time to configure and test (2 - 3 weeks)
• Dont turn on security caching in development
• Use a workaround instead
• Spectra 2 will likely address this issue

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Minimize CFLocking (CF Tip)

• Server, application and session scope variables
  need to be locked (read and write)
• Use the new duplicate() function
• ltcflock name"AppName" typereadonly"gt
• ltcfset request.app duplicate(application)gt
• lt/cflockgt

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Use the Application Scope

• Put needed items in Application Scope (and
  transfer to Request scope) such as
• Lookup values
• User-defined TypeIDs
• Property names
• Application-specific translation data
• HR.com HRID and nodeIDs

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Plan MetaData Carefully

• Spectra 1.01 provides minimal tools for changing
  Metadata once used
• Use possible alternatives to Metadata carefully
  as Metadata will be important for future
  Personalization upgrades

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SQL Searching Strategies

• cfa_contentObjectFind is slow for SQL lookups
  with medium size datasets
• Uniquely name all SQL searchable properties
• Use a Custom Tag to directly search Properties
  table
• Spectra 2 MAY address this

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Searching
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Spectra Debug Tag

• ltcfset request.cfa.mode.debug truegtltcfif
  request.cfa.mode.debuggt ltcfa_tagDebugBegingtlt/cf
  ifgtltcfif request.cfa.mode.debuggt
  ltcfa_tagDebugEndgtlt/cfifgt
• ltcfa_tagDebugOutputgt

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Debug Output

• Number of iterationscfa_contentobject
  2cfa_contentobjectget 2 cfa_contentobjectgetmul
  tiple 1 cfa_contentobjectinvokemethod 2
  cfa_objecttypeget 2
• Tag tree
• cfa_contentobject / time 250 ms / vars
  labels'Blackman, Samuel G.' oids'3E8004F7-5DA0-
  11D4-94FE00D0B7752E0A'
• cfa_contentobjectinvokemethod / time 234 ms
• cfa_contentobjectget / time 15 ms
• cfa_objecttypeget / time 15 ms
• cfa_contentobjectgetmultiple / time 47 ms

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Wrap Up

• Spectra is a ColdFusion Application that is great
  for Content Management and related services
• Use it as one of several available tools
• Plan for the time to get through the initial
  learning curve

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FREE . . . . . FREE . . . . . FREE

• Spectra Consultation- By phone- In your office
• www.wwstudios.com