ColdFusion Builder Resources

Introduction

Adobe® ColdFusion® Builder™ is an integrated development environment (IDE) for developing applications using ColdFusion.

There are various resources to help you get started and become proficient in using ColdFusion Builder. Depending on your background and what you want to accomplish with ColdFusion Builder, take a few minutes to read through the appropriate documentation resources.

New to ColdFusion

It is most useful if you have basic ColdFusion experience before you start using ColdFusion Builder. You can start by viewing the Getting Started experience, which is available from the ColdFusion Administrator.

Experienced ColdFusion developers

ColdFusion Builder is built on Eclipse™(an open source IDE), so you must know specific terms and concepts to effectively use it. If you are, however, familiar with working in an Eclipse-based environment, you will find that ColdFusion Builder uses similar workbench conventions.

For more information, see ColdFusion Builder Workbench Basics.
If you have developed code using a text editor in the past, you will find that ColdFusion Builder provides enhanced functionality that makes developing code much easier. For more information, see About ColdFusion Builder.
For a quick overview of the features that are available with ColdFusion Builder, see Getting started with ColdFusion Builder.
To successfully develop ColdFusion applications using ColdFusion Builder, use CFML Reference and ColdFusion Developer Guide. The CFML Reference contains detailed information on the CFML language elements and is available from the ColdFusion Builder Help system. For more information, see Display CFML Reference Help.
For information about the complete documentation available for ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder, see ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder documentation.

ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder documentation

All ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder documentation is available online in HTML and Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

Go to the ColdFusion Help and Support pages at www.adobe.com/go/learn_cfu_support_en to view the online documentation. In addition to viewing the online documentation, you can also add and view comments to the documentation.

Adobe ColdFusion documentation

The ColdFusion documentation set includes the following titles:

Manual	Description
Installing Adobe® ColdFusion® 9	Describes system installation and basic configuration for Windows, Macintosh, Solaris, Linux, and AIX.
Adobe ColdFusion® 9 Administrator's Guide	Describes how to perform ColdFusion administration tasks such as managing server settings, configuring datasources and web servers, managing security, and deploying ColdFusion applications. This book also provides information about caching, setting up CFX tags, and monitoring server activity using the ColdFusion Server Monitor.
Developing Adobe® ColdFusion® 9 Applications	Describes how to develop your dynamic web applications. This book provides detailed information about using the CFML programming language and ColdFusion features, such as ColdFusion Web Services, ColdFusion Portlets, ColdFusion ORM, Ajax support, Flex and AIR integration, and integration with other products and technologies such as Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and SharePoint.
Adobe® ColdFusion® 9 CFML Reference	Provides descriptions, syntax, usage, and code examples for all ColdFusion tags, functions, and variables.

Adobe ColdFusion Builder documentation

The ColdFusion Builder documentation set includes the following titles:

Manual	Description
Installing Adobe® ColdFusion® Builder	Describes ColdFusion Builder installation, as a standalone installation or as a set of plug-ins within an existing Eclipse workbench, for Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Using ColdFusion® Builder	Describes how to use ColdFusion Builder as an integrated development environment (IDE) for developing applications using ColdFusion.

Using the ColdFusion Builder Help system

ColdFusion Builder provides an online Help system that contains detailed information on the tasks that you can perform with ColdFusion Builder. The ColdFusion Builder Help system also contains the ColdFusion 9 documentation, including the CFML Reference.

Set Help Preferences

You can set Help preferences to control how Help is displayed.

In ColdFusion Builder, select Window > Preferences.
In the Preferences dialog box, you see a tree-view structure on the left side. Select Help.
Set the following options, as required.

Use External Browser

Lets you display help in a web browser of your choice. By default, the embedded browser of the IDE displays Help. Select the Use External Browser check box and then select the Web Browser link to select your web browser.
Open Window Context Help

Determines how to display context-sensitive Help links for an open window. By default, context-sensitive Help links are displayed in the Dynamic Help view which, when opened, is docked into the current perspective like all other views. To display context-sensitive Help links in an infopop (similar to a tooltip), select the In An Infopop option.
Open Dialog Context Help

Determines how to display context-sensitive Help links for an open dialog box. By default, Help is displayed in the dialog box. To display context-sensitive Help links in an infopop (similar to a tooltip), select the In An Infopop option.
Open Help View Documents

Determines where to display documents that are opened from links in Dynamic Help. By default, the In-place option is selected, and Help documents open in the Dynamic Help view window. To open Help documents in the ColdFusion Builder IDE editing area, select the In-place option.

Open ColdFusion Builder Help system

You can view the in-product help as you work in ColdFusion Builder.

Select Help > Help Contents.

Use dynamic Help

Dynamic Help is docked to the current perspective and displays topics related to the currently selected CFML tag or function.

Select Help > Dynamic Help.

Use context-sensitive Help

As you work in ColdFusion Builder, you can display context-sensitive Help for specific user interface elements of the workbench and language-reference help for code elements.

Select a view, dialog box, or any other user interface element in the workbench.
Press F1 (Windows) or Command+Shift+/ (Mac OS) to show the associated dynamic Help.

You can change the default keyboard shortcut binding by selecting Window > Preferences > General > Keys, and changing the associated binding for the Dynamic Help command. For more information on changing keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard shortcuts.

Display CFML Reference Help

The CFML Reference is integrated into the CFML editor, letting you quickly review the reference Help for a CFML tag or function.

To open the Help topic for a CFML tag or function, do the following:
1. In the CFML editor, select a CFML tag element or function by highlighting or placing the pointer within the tag or function element.
2. Press F1 (Windows)or Command+Shift+/ (Mac OS). A link to the Help page for the selected tag is displayed in the docked Help window.
  
  Note: In Mac OS, when you press Command+Shift+/ to view Help for a CFML tag or function, generic editor Help appears in the docked Help window. To see the tag or function-specific Help, click the selected tag or function in the CFML Editor.
3. Select the Help page link to view Help for the selected tag or function.

To open the CFML Reference in the Help viewer, do the following:

Select Help > Help Contents.
In the ColdFusion Builder Help system, select Adobe ColdFusion 9 documentation from the Contents pane.
Select CFML Reference, and navigate to the Help topic for the required tag or function.

ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder learning resources

The following additional online resources are available for learning ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder:

Resource	Link
ColdFusion Help and Support	www.adobe.com/go/learn_cfu_support_en
ColdFusion Developer Center	www.adobe.com/go/learn_cfu_cfdevcenter_en
Adobe ColdFusion online forums	www.adobe.com/go/learn_cfu_forums_en