Trent’s Blog

For those of you not aware of what aedCFC is, it is a collection of cfc’s which dynamically build end user ready add/edit/delete, ideal for administration areas to websites. You’re asking yourself, “Well a bunch of frameworks build crud for me, why should I bother with this?”. The answer is simple, crud applications are for the developer, aedCFC is for the client. Also this isn’t a content management system, but a tool to very quickly build a very customized cms, specific to your needs, not some blogger’s needs

It’s been quite some time since the last aedCFC update, and quite frankly it is in desparate need of a major overhaul. Well thats exactly what its getting! With more of a MVC approach it will become more versatile and extendable. The new version will improve 10 fold, as now you will be able to easily add custom views, use specific image manipulation libraries(image.cfc, imagemagick, and cf8’s cfimage will be available by default), and several new options. All this is still possible by means of a simple xml model to build the aed. Stay tuned for the upcoming release!

It’s taken a while but in less than a year aedCFC has reached the 1,000 downloads milestone! Much thanks has to go to RiaForge.org for even providing such a useful resource for ColdFusion. While an intermediate upgrade went out last week, the next major upgrade is version 3, which will be one for the ages. After our first aedUG meeting last week, we hope this release will be next and will improve flexibility about 10 fold as well as some changes for CF8. This definitely has been one of the most practical projects I’ve ever worked on.

I’ve been working for a while on the aedCFC with the optional tree view.  This uses an old database technique described on sitepoint.com .. however the tree.cfc I created was very basic as in only adding, deleting, and printing nodes which sortof holds back the possibility to making this a real fun, dynamic cfc with drag and drop for tree nodes(soon to come to the aedCFC).  Finally I have added more to this tree functionality by successfully creating a function to move nodes(including child nodes) in the tree.cfc.  I dont have any documentation just yet,.. but you can see its pretty straight forward to use.  In the download there is an index.cfm  which is  a  small form controller for the treecfc.  All of the sql is basic so it is pretty likely it will work on most db’s(tested on mysql and mssql).  DB table fields are specified in the comments.  Maybe I will get some time to whip up some docs on this little tool.
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Finally many of the features we have been working towards made it in the aedCFC. Our long time debated XML config file finally made it in as an option(mainly for backwards compatibility). The biggest downfall to the config before was the function calls with many parameters. I’ve read a few other postings on the great XML config debate and I come to the conclusion that the aed wasnt in the situation where XML would kill it. The XML may slow it down a little,.. but is it enough to really matter?

Ok, so I am happy with the popularity? of the aedCFC we’ve posted on riaforge.org. I am also happy with the progress we’ve made with it over the past few months. Mr. Belcher and I both agree that we need to change the config file some to make the configuration a more clearcut process. I would say faster.. but it only takes about 3-4 minutes to set up a new add/edit/delete with aedCFC. An xml config??
Probably the most remarkable improvement in my opinion is the addition of the ‘tree’ view to allow add/edit/delete of hierarchial structure( menus, subcategories, etc..). Shad has an example on his site. Thoughts?..Anyone?