About ColdFusion Documentation  
 
 

The documentation set is designed to provide support for all components of the ColdFusion development system. Both the print and online versions are organized to allow you to quickly locate the information you need.

 
 
  Documentation set  
 
 

The documentation set contains:

Getting Started with ColdFusion -- Covers system installation and basic configuration, describes the components of the ColdFusion development system, and introduces the ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML).

Administering ColdFusion Server -- Describes configuration options for maximizing performance, managing data sources, setting security levels, and a range of development and site management tasks.

Developing Web Applications with ColdFusion -- Presents the fundamentals of ColdFusion application development and deployment, including data sources, user interfaces, and Web technologies. The development tools in ColdFusion Studio are covered in detail.

Advanced ColdFusion Development -- Gives an overview of CFML elements such as functions, expressions, arrays, scripting, and XML data exchange. Also discusses custom tags, CF API tags, integrating object technologies, and site management.

CFML Language Reference -- Provides the complete syntax, with example code, of all CFML elements.

Quick Reference Card -- An online (Acrobat) guide to CFML.

 
 
  Documentation distribution  
 
 

The ColdFusion CD-ROM contains the complete document set. The setup program installs the document set by default.

The print manuals are available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format from the dochome.htm page in the /cfdocs directory of your Web root. If the files are not available locally, you get them from our Web site at http://www.allaire.com/products/COLDFUSION/Documentation.cfm.

You can also access the documentation in HTML from both of these locations.

 
 
  Reading online documentation  
 
 

You can open the online documents in a number of ways:

  • From your browser, click the ColdFusion Documentation link on the Welcome to ColdFusion page. Each page contains links to other documents and a search window.
  • In ColdFusion Studio, click the Help tab in the Resources area to open the help tree. You can expand the list to select topics by title.
 
 
  Using Online Help In ColdFusion Studio  
 
 

Studio's innovative online documentation system provides a variety of help options:

  • Help References -- The complete documentation set is available in HTML
  • Dialog Help -- Inline help for all HTML and CFML tags in the Tag Chooser and tag editors
  • Tag Tips -- Display pop-up help for tag syntax
  • Tag Insight -- Opens a selectable list of attributes for the current tag

To set Tag Tip and Tag Insight options, go to the Tag Help tab in Options (F8).

The default display of the online documentation is in the internal browser.

 
 
  To change the help display:  
 
  1. Click the External Browser button on the main toolbar to open the current document in the default external browser. If multiple browsers are detected on the system during setup, a drop-down list of available browsers is generated automatically.
  2. Click the Toggle Resources button on the main toolbar (F9) to toggle the display of the Resources area.
 
 
  Searching Help References  
 

Full-text search is available for the entire Help References set.

 
 
  To use full-text search for Help References:  
 
  1. Click the Help Search button on the Help toolbar to open the search dialog.
  2. Type in the search text and click a search criterion button. Search text is saved in the drop-down list for future use.
  3. Set the scope of the search by selecting All References or use CTRL + mouse click to choose individual references. You can search down to the page level.
  4. Click Search. The results display in the Resources area. Double-click on a result reference to open the document.
  5. Click the Help References button to return to document tree.
  6. Click the Results button to return to the last search results.
 
 
  Tip:  
 

You can extend the online documentation in Studio by adding your own HTML files. Just copy a folder to the Help directory under the ColdFusion Studio directory. Press F5 to refresh the Help reference list. You can now browse and search these files in the Help References.

 
 
  Documentation conventions  
 
 

When reading, please be aware of these formatting cues:

  • Code samples, filenames, and URLs are set in a distinct font.
  • Notes and tips are identified by bold type in the margin.
  • Bulleted lists present options and features.
  • Numbered steps indicate procedures.
  • Toolbutton icons are generally shown with procedure steps.
  • Menu levels are separated by the greater than (>) sign.
  • Text for you to type in is set in italics.


 
 
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