Need quick overview

Need quick overview - HELP!!!

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JordanKaufman - 29 Mar 2006 23:47 GMT

Sorry for the tediousness of the question but I haven't programmed at all in 5
years and I just got a job where I need to get a web presence and a company
database up and running in 6 weeks (Easy as cake 5 years ago, pulling my hair
out now).

I KNOW I need the CF Server, I need to get dreamweever to develop, I need to
set up a relational database and then set it up as a datasource so I can access
it with SQL scripts. WHAT AM I FORGETTING ABOUT? Coding is no problem I just
need to remember what all the parts are and whats involved in setting up the
environment.

All I have are comma deliminated files and a computer (although they have SQL
Server but I never used it before) so I am starting from scratch... PLEASE HELP.

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philh - 30 Mar 2006 02:34 GMT

1. Spend a week with the database administrator. Learn as much as you
possibly can about the SQL installation: architecture, security model and
access policies/methods, database schema, etc.
Convince the DBA to write a DTS package that uploads your comma-delimited
files to the SQL database. Ask about the network infrastructure and the
considerations for connecting to the SQL server from the production Web box.

2. Armed with the DB knowledge, go about your local CF installation and make
a connection to the data server.

3. Write a simple script that queries the DB and displays the results.

4. Repeat 3, increasing in complexity until you're comfortable with the data
piece.

5. Set up your dev environment to mirror production as closely as possible,
including a dev instance of SQL. They have that, don't they?

5. Maintain close and frequent contact with the people who drive what the
company site should look, feel, and perform like (man, that's a great sentence).

6. Take baby steps. The best advice I got from my first CF instructor was,
"Code a little; test a little."

7. Make use of these Forums, the CF board and Tek-Tips.com, and a number of
other resources mentioned elsewhere.

Good luck!

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JordanKaufman - 30 Mar 2006 03:27 GMT

First THANK YOU!!!!

I have just a few questions about a few things (I will go by your numberings)

2) When you say "make a connection with the data server" do you mean simply to
make a new Datasource in CF out of the new DB I just created to hold the
comma-delimited? (And I assume then that SQL Server is ODBC compliant, but is
there someone in the network that it has to be "registered" as an ODBC database
besides when you set up the datasource in dreamweaver?)

5) what do you mean by a "dev instance of SQL"? They have MS SQL Server and I
assume you mean I should have an install of that on my dev box so I dont mess
with their DB while I'm working out the kinks... is that right?

And my last question is after I have all the DB stuff sorted, AND I have all
the CF pages and SQL scripts working, how do I make it visible to the outside
world? In other words do I need to configure a Web Server or does CF act as its
own webserver or what?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! I am used to having the system set up and
just programming everything from there but I'm doing it all from scratch.
THANKS AGAIN kind sir!

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philh - 30 Mar 2006 14:03 GMT

OK.

2) Create a new datasource in CF to connect to the SQL Server. SQL is most
definitely ODBC compliant. (Aside: there's a better method to connect, called
OLEDB, but CFMX can't make that type of connection.)

5) You can install MSDE or SQL Express on your dev box. It's free and will
behave pretty much the way you need to mimic the production instance. I take
it you're consulting and not connected to the company's network?

You most definitely need a qualified Web server. CF is an application that
processes ColdFusion templates. Doesn't this company have a Web server or a
hosting service?

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Webmaster Forum / ColdFusion / Getting Started / March 2006

Need quick overview - HELP!!!