Archive for March, 2022

Getting the Example App Up and Running

Wednesday, March 30th, 2022

Have you looked at the CFWheels Example App lately? If you’re wondering, wait, there is an example app?, you’re not alone. Tom has done a great job putting the CFWheels Example App together but historically getting it up and running was somewhat difficult. It requires a database to be setup, a datasource to be defined, and migrations to be run.

With the help of our new templating structure and some improvements to the CFWheels-CLI commands, getting the Example application is a piece of cake. All you need to do is issue three commands inside a CommandBox shell and the app magically opens up in your browser.

So lets get started:

wheels g app name=example datasourceName=exampleh2 template=cfwheels-template-example-app --setupH2
package install
server start

So what do those commands do for us. The first line is the longhand way to install a fresh CFWheels app using one of the published templates from Forgbox.io. This command gives the application a name, sets up a datasource, and configures it to use the built in H2 database in the Lucee CF Engine. (Are you wondering, wait, Lucee has a built in database engine?) The next line installs all our development and production dependencies into our application directory. Lastly we start the Lucee server and the application launches in our default browser.

You’ll initially see the installation verification screen.

Once you click on the Reload button, the application will reload and launch the Example App.

At this point you can login using one of the default user ID listed below.

user: admin@domain.com
user: editor@domain.com
user: user@domain.com
user: user2@domain.com
user: user3@domain.com (Pending Verification)

All of them have the password set to Password123!

I hope you enjoy playing with this Example App and it serves as a learning tool as it was intended. Please share your experience in the comments below.

EDIT: The Lucee server that starts up will have cfwheels set as its admin password.

Posted in Community | Comments Off on Getting the Example App Up and Running

TodoMVC Implementation with CFWheels and HTMX

Tuesday, March 29th, 2022

Recently I’ve been playing around with HTMX and really starting to love it. So what is HTMX? From their website:

htmx gives you access to  AJAX, CSS Transitions,  WebSockets and Server Sent Events directly in HTML, using attributes, so you can build modern user interfaces with the simplicity and power of hypertext

Introduction to htmx

And also:

Why should only <a> and <form> be able to make HTTP requests?
Why should only click & submit events trigger them?
Why should only GET & POST methods be available?
Why should you only be able to replace the entire screen?

By removing these arbitrary constraints, htmx completes HTML as a hypertext

Motivation behind htmx

So what does this all mean? Well, in its simplest form, it means being able to build modern web applications with the UX that users have come to expect, with the HTML, CSS, and the backend technology of your choice which in our case is CFML and CFWheels.

So I decide to see if I could build the TodoMVC project using no hand written JavaScript and only relying on HTML, CSS, and CFWheels. I downloaded the template project and took a look at the application specs to get an idea of what to implement.

Here is the video of the running app:

So if you want to run the app locally, you’ll need to have Commandbox installed and the CFWHeels CLI commands for CommandBox installed as well. With those two items taken care of, launch a CommandBox and issue the following commands.

wheels g app name=todo datasourceName=todo template=cfwheels-todomvc-htmx --setupH2
package install
server start

Let’s look at those lines and talk about what they do. The first line wheels g app will download the template app from Forgbox.io and create a CFWheels application and name it todo. It also create a H2 database and configures the datasource for you. The next line will install all the dependencies of our app. These include, a few CommandBox modules to make development easier, the CFWheels core framework directory and place it into the wheels folder, and install the H2 drivers into our Lucee server for out application. The last line will start our Lucee server. I’ve also added a setting to automatically run the Database migrations on application startup so the database schema is created.

You can checkout the code on GitHub. Let me know what you think.

EDIT: The Lucee server that starts up will have cfwheels set as its admin password.

Posted in Community, Tips & Tricks, Tutorials | 12 Comments »

Changing of the Guards at CFWheels

Tuesday, March 29th, 2022

Hello everyone,

I was waiting to have more of my thoughts and plans ironed out before posting this message, but due to the intense interest from the community I’ve decided to post what I have, however premature.

As many of you know we have had some changes in the CFWheels core team. Several of the core team members, have decided to reduce their level of administrative involvement in the project and have stepped down from the core team. I have volunteered to take the reins of the project and we are in the middle of passing the baton as it were.

So what does this mean for the CFWheels project? 

Well, the fact that there is a transition in place at all, means the project will continue to live on. The CFWheels project has been around since 2005 and during that time different individuals have held the reins and guided the project along. This time is no different. I hope to be as worthy of a steward as those that have come before me.

So what are my thoughts for the future of the project?

From an administrative perspective I want to see what structure to adopt. Whether it is the core team structure we have had in the past or perhaps a more advisory committee structure would be better. We need to take stock of all the code in flight at the moment and try to get a roadmap sketched out. Setting up a funding structure for the project vis-á-vis Patreon.com, IssueHunt.io, BountySource.com, or OpenCollective.com. And finally looking at the legal structure of the project and if there is a need to formalize that by creating a LLC or 501.C corporation. 

At this point I have more questions than answers but I welcome your feedback and look forward to your support. 

Posted in Community | 4 Comments »

Starting a New CFWheels Project with the CLI

Thursday, March 24th, 2022

If you’re not using CommandBox for your CFWheels development, you’re in for a treat. This is a quick post to show case how easy it is to start a new CFWheels project with the help of the the wheels command for CommandBox.

If you have CommandBox installed and have the cfwheels-cli module installed, then simply launch CommandBox by typing box and then issue the command wheels generate app myApp . This simple command will take care of the following:

  • Create a folder in the current working directory for the project and name if myApp
  • Copy the cfwheels-template-base package from ForgeBox and expand it in the root of the myApp folder
  • Copy the cfwheels-core package from ForgeBox and expand it into the wheels folder in the root of the myApp folder
  • This command also takes care of naming your app myApp or whatever name you pass in

You may be asking yourself, what are all these packages you’re talking about? Well, we are starting to use the package management system provided by ForgeBox and CommandBox to make distribution of sample apps easier as well as installing and updating projects based on CFWheels. More to come on these topics later but this is just to whet your appetite.

Tags: ,
Posted in CLI, Tips & Tricks, Tutorials | Comments Off on Starting a New CFWheels Project with the CLI