One of (the many) reasons IE sucks is that it doesn't have an equivalent to Firebug*. Until that glorious day arrives when it does, those calls can render the JS non-functioning. If you have ever seen "console is not defined" you're getting warmer. So to 'neutralize' these calls in any other browser not cool enough to have Firebug all you need is these 3 lines. Don't worry, it shouldn't affect Firefox w/ Firebug installed.

if( typeof(console) == "undefined"){
    console = new Object();
    console.debug = function(str){ alert(str); }
}

* Note: Before anyone yells that there is Firebug Lite, I know that. It still doesn't rule nearly as much. Get Firebug Lite here **

** Note, you don't have to use alert(), actually I implore you not to (it's really annoying)

This one is hardcoded to swap the subdomain to "dev".

Subdomain Bookmarklet

Here is one that prompts for the subdomain

Subdomain Bookmarklet

Quick Description
The iterator provides a single way to loop over a collection of elements without having to worry which type of collection (list, struct, array, query) it is. The interface for an iterator is quite simple with the main methods being hasNext() and next(). hasNext() returns true or false depending on if there are additional elements, while next() returns the next elements.

Speaking of collections, there is a collection class included with the source files. Using a class to contain the collection is preferable because it abstracts the data storage method for groups of objects, which lets us use the iterator class seamlessly. I find being ignorant of the underlying data type gives much more flexibility. I plan on going to more detail with the AbstractCollection and the implementation more in a future post.

Most of the code is taken from Brendan O'Hara's article, with the largest exception being the addAll() method in my PersonCollection.cfc. So again, many thanks to him for his wonderful post on CFDJ.

Included Examples:

• AbstractIterator.cfc
  • Abstract class (with CF8 this could be replaced with <cfinterface>)
• ArrayIterator.cfc
  • Class to handle iterating over Arrays
• PersonCollection.cfc
  • Maintains a collection of Persons
• Person.cfc
  • Basic class
• Test.cfm
  • Instantiates and displays output for all these CFCs

Links:
Iterator Source Files

Brendan O'Hara's Iterator Article

Also, I use the term "class" for "component" and "method" for "function". So without further ado,  my first article on implementing design patterns in Coldfusion.

Decorator Pattern

A decorator more or less wraps a base class and well...decorates it. This can be useful when you have a scenario that would need a lot of classes to cover all of the possible combinations of objects.

My Implementation

I followed the example by Hal Helms as far as the class organization is concerned.  Some of the decorators are me being funny (piglatin and mirror), but I can see some value in the TableDecorator, JsonDecorator and XmlDecorator.

Let me explain each file a bit more.

• Test.cfm
  • Instantiates the components and outputs results
• Person.cfc
  • Base class (whose methods will be overridden by the decorators)
• PersonDecorator.cfc
  • Base decorator class (all decorators for Person will inherit from this class)
• PersonJsonDecorator.cfc
  • Creates a JSON representation of a Person.
• PersonXmlDecorator.cfc
  • Creates a XML representation of a Person by wrapping the elements with nodes that represent each element
• PersonTableDecorator.cfc
  • Creates a table representation of a Person by wrapping elements with <td>'s and the entire Person with <tr>

Links

Source Files

Wikipedia's Page on Decorators

Hal Helm's Decorator Article

To see it in action go here

I have done some sample logos but I can't seem to find a color scheme that I like. I wanted a basic layout (with some kind of graphics) to be done by Wednesday...yes...the Wednesday that happened yesterday. The more I think about it the more I think I might just whip up a nice textual site and come back with the graphics.

I also plan on looking into (and writing on) automating a process I've been having to wake up and do every other week at 5am. Basically compressing TISAM files on the system we use at work.

Until later

-J

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I plan on focusing on this site and using the blog as a way to write about work and personal projects. This is why I have started here first. See you soon.