Webmaster Forum / ColdFusion / Getting Started / November 2006

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We are a printing company (ink on paper) and have a customer that wants
to send us ColdFusion files to use to produce a printed catalog. We
don't have ColdFusion so I have a few questions.

This is really weird.  CFML is an application/programming language.
This would be very much like a customer sending you a C++ or JAVA file
and asking you to print it??????

 1. Is a ColdFusion file just an HTML web page that I can open in any
Browser and print or does ColdFusion have its own native file format
like InDesign or Quark does so I would need to get ColdFusion use these
files?

NO!  As mentioned ColdFusion is a programming language that generates
output.  The latest version can now generate HTML, PDF and Flashpaper
outputs natively.  Others with some experience.  But for this to happen
the CFML file(s) would need to be run by a ColdFusion application server
installed on a web server.

 2. Does ColdFusion actually have a print command that will output
something that looks like a page or does it just print html or java
code, etc.

The CFML files are just code file that would be a mix of CFML, HTML,
JavaScript.  These files could be accessing database, JAVA, Web
Services, Web Pages, and many other external resources.

 3. Can it output a PDF? Can it embed the fonts?

Yes, CFML can be used to create a PDF.  I'm not sure about the fonts.

 4. Could the customer output a PDF easily and send us that?

Maybe

 5. Whatever else I should have asked but didn't?

Do you really want to do business with a client this clueless?  Sorry.

But really this sounds like a very non-nonsensical request.  I suspect
what they really want is for you to create a print catalog for them from
their website.  But sending you the CFML files that create that website
is not going to do you much good, unless you want to completely recreate
there web sever hosting systems.

 Thanks

HTH

Ian

Cold Fusion files are files that contain programmming code.  They run on a
server and:
- send html to the client's browser.
 - sends, pdf or flashpaper to the client's browser
- sends word, excel, etc to the client's browser
- sends mail
 - and so on and so forth

You can use cfdocument to produce a pdf.  The user will have to do his own
printing.

You may or may not be able to use cfexecute to print to a printer installed on
your server.  I have been unsuccessful in my recent attempts.