ColdFusion 5 UltraDev 4 Studio

By Dale Farris, Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
March 2002

Program Overview

The merger of Macromedia with Allaire unites under one company the two market leaders in dynamic Web application development, UltraDev, the market-leading visual Web authoring environment, and ColdFusion Studio, the dominant hand-coding Web application development environment. While working on ColdFusion Web applications, many developers use these programs concurrently, and now these two powerhouse programs are available in one package.

Each program offers complementary strengths to the other. With core coding features like the Editor, Debugger, and Query Builder, the ColdFusion Studio coder paradigm makes Web application development more productive. The visual approach of UltraDev makes it easy to quickly prototype complex pages, create reusable libraries of server-side scripts, and view live server-side data in the workspace. Macromedia releases these two components to suit the different needs of different developers, and as well, in response to constant user feedback regarding how to improve these programs.

The improvements and new features in ColdFusion Studio 5 are focused on the hand-coder. By bundling it with UltraDev 4, Macromedia provides a ColdFusion development environment that enables coders to work in the most productive way. Some developers find it easier to do some tasks by hand, while others prefer a more visual tool, and both options are available in this important suite of programs.

ColdFusion Studio 5 has been improved to increase developer productivity through full support of new and updated ColdFusion Server 5 tags across all core editor features. A new custom tag wizard simplifies the creation of new tags, and new folder deployment settings simplify project deployment for users. A visual query builder enables users to create complex database queries through a drag-and-drop environment, and the interactive debugger isolates and helps correct code errors. The product is also tightly integrated with Macromedia Fireworks, allowing users to launch Fireworks from within ColdFusion Studio and effortlessly roundtrip graphics between both products.

New Features

New ColdFusion Server 5 tags -- ColdFusion developers can maintain productivity when working with new and updated ColdFusion Server 5 tags. All core editor features such as Tag Editors, Tag Insight, and Tag Inspector now have full, integrated support for new tags—such as CFGRAPH and CFLOG—and updated tags such as CFINSERT and CFQUERY. There is also a new toolbar for CFGRAPH, with one button for each of the graph types.

ColdFusion Custom Tags -- Maximize productivity and code reuse across the team and within the ColdFusion community using Custom Tags. Utilize the new Custom Tag Wizard to more easily write custom tags, and to specify required attributes and default attribute values. Tag Insight and Tag Inspector will then assist you in creating and editing these custom tags.

XHTML Support -- XHTML Support, based on the W3C specifications for XHTML 1.0, allows developers to build pages with the latest web technologies, and the extensibility of XHTML gives them the flexibility to incorporate new ideas for Web communication and presentation as they emerge.

Secondary Files tab -- The new Secondary Files tab allows developers to browse local and remote files simultaneously and to drag and drop files between the two Files tabs, giving them greater efficiency in accessing and incorporating documents and images.

Folder Deployment -- New Folder Deployment settings allow developers to determine the deployment method for individual folders and files within a project. These new settings make deployment much more accessible to the novice user while maintaining the sophistication of the feature for the high-end user.

Macromedia Fireworks Integration -- Improve your workflow across applications through tighter integration with Macromedia Fireworks. Launch Fireworks to edit graphics by selecting the image in the Editor, Files pane, or Thumbnail Viewer.

Auto Backup -- Auto Backup gives developers the assurance that their hard work will always be preserved. Auto Backup is a new user-configurable option to auto-save files at a certain time interval and to recover and restore files that have been backed up.

Full-Size Help Browser -- Save time looking for correct tag syntax with the integrated Tag Help. You can now access help from within the Editor (press F1 while highlighting a tag) via a full-sized browser dedicated to displaying tag help.

Double Byte Character Support -- Build web sites for the whole world to access. Developers now have the added flexibility to create pages with characters that require double-byte support, including Japanese and Korean.

Secure FTP -- Get advanced security when transferring files to your server via FTP. You can now FTP files to a secure server using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) with 40-bit encryption.

Features in ColdFusion Studio 5

Tag Editors
Tag Insight and Tag Completion
Tag Inspector and Tag Tree
ColdFusion Server 5 Support
Interactive Debugger
Visual Database Tools
XHTML 1.0 Support
Code Snippets
Project Management and FTP
Secondary Files Tab
Find & Replace
Multi-Language Validation
Code Formatting
Create Custom Tags
Scripts to Automate Tasks
Extensible User Interface
Keyboard Shortcuts
Folder Deployment
Auto Backup
Scriptable Deployment
Configuration Wizard
”Cockpit” View
Configurable Workspace
Color Coding
Fireworks Integration
Code Navigation
Full-Size Help Browser
Clean Code
Integrated File Pane
Integrated Browser
Double Byte Character Support
Edit Include File

Features in UltraDev 4

Live Data
Data Bindings Inspector
Multi-Server Design Environment
Remote Database Connectivity
User Authentication Server Behaviors
Master Detail, Database Editing, Recordset Navigation and Recordset Status Live Objects
Dynamic Data Formatting
Server Behavior Library
Layout View
Flash Text and Flash Buttons
History Palette
Roundtrip Graphics Editing
Dream Templates
Roundtrip HTML and Server Markup
Integrated Text Editor
Live Syntax Coloring
Split View
Visual SourceSafe Integration
WebDAV Integration
Support for Non-HTML Files Including application.cfm and global.asa
SQL Query Editor
Clean Code
Quick Tag Editor
Code Navigation
Integrated BBEdit (eval) or HomeSite Bundle
Server Behavior Builder
Support for Industry-Standard Application Servers
JavaBean Support
Recordable Server Behaviors
Asset Management
Customizable Live Data
Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts
Configurable Site Window
Macromedia Exchange
Extension Manager
Integration with Leading Web Software

Price

$599 single license
$299 upgrade
$149 student academic price (for qualified customers)

Minimum System Configuration Requirements

Pentium processor (P-II or higher recommended)
Windows 98, ME, NT 4, 2000 Pro, XP
128MB RAM
200MB free hard disk space
IE 4.5 or higher
256-color monitor capable of 800 x 600 screen resolution
ColdFusion Server 5 (for debugging, database access, deployment)
CD ROM drive

Included with the program is ColdFusion Studio 5 and Dreamweaver UltraDev 4.

Targeted Customers

ColdFusion 5 UltraDev 4 Studio is the leading development tool for customers building dynamic web applications for the ColdFusion Server. ColdFusion Server is geared toward the Mass Enterprise, which in information technology departments is situated in medium to large size organizations. These organizations are found in all major vertical markets spanning the business, government, and education sectors. Very few organizations will find ColdFusion to be too complex or too costly to adopt for at least some of their application development projects.

ColdFusion targets two primary categories of users. Both of these groups would be users of ColdFusion 5 UltraDev 4 Studio, including Web Application Builders, and Web Application Developers.

Web Application Builders have usually had little formal system development training, work on 1-person development teams, and use Windows and Access in a 1-server development environment.

Web Application Developers usually have 5-10 years of web development experience, work on 3-10 person development teams, and use Windows/Linux and SQL Server in a 2 to 5 server development environment.

Eventually, students learning Web site development and page coding will want to migrate to the use of these essentials tools used by most larger companies. However, I would suggest that students first get very comfortable with the basic fundamentals of HTML coding before beginning to work with the more complex features and the power of this suite of applications.

While the user interface is certainly well designed, the program is definitely not for novices in Web site development. Also, this program is important enough in the Web application business that it is common to find training programs available around the country that present hands-on technical assistance and training in the use of this program. In many universities and colleges, the program has also been selected for official class work, or even a series of courses, to better prepare graduates for the world of work where this program will be used.

For any professional heavily involved in the Web application process for their company, this powerful suite of programs is a definite must to be added to their growing collection of tools essential for their work.

About Macromedia

Macromedia is a leading software company that empowers web professionals to create relevant, compelling user experiences through an open, integrated web development platform. With integrated, market-leading products spanning servers, authoring environments and media players, Macromedia enables web professionals to efficiently and cost-effectively design and develop dynamic web content and applications that can be delivered to multiple platforms and devices.

Macromedia Dream Products (including Macromedia Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver UltraDev, Fireworks, HomeSite, and the ColdFusion and JRun Studios) are market-leading web authoring solutions used by a community of more than one million developers. HomeSite provides an efficient and streamlined approach to hand-coding web pages and is a perfect complement to Macromedia Dreamweaver and Dreamweaver UltraDev, which empower designers and developers to build web content and applications through visual layout and design. Whether developers want to hand-code or visually design their web content, Macromedia provides the premier solutions for professional web developers.

Macromedia Rich-Media Products (including Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Flash Player, Director and Macromedia Shockwave Player, FreeHand, and Authorware) are the leading solutions for developing and displaying rich, immersive web content. With more than 96 percent of web desktops able to immediately view Macromedia Flash content, Macromedia Flash Player enables nearly every web user to view high-impact, interactive content, while the Macromedia Shockwave Player enhances the user experience of a majority of web users with magnetic rich-media and 3D content.

Macromedia Server Products (including ColdFusion and JRun) empower developers to rapidly deliver applications that enable communication, collaboration and commerce, and automate business processes. ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) is the standard for efficient and approachable development, and JRun delivers scalable Java applications in an open J2EE environment. Macromedia Sitespring is a new web-based application for managing the website production process, enabling professional web teams to be more productive and more profitable in the creation of websites.

And you thought Macromedia only produced the Flash and Shockwave Players?

Contact Information

Suzy Ramirez
JoAnn Peach
Macromedia, Inc.
600 Townsend Street, #310 W
San Francisco, California 94103
sramirez@macromedia.com
jpeach@macromedia.com
415-252-2000
FAX 415-626-0554
http://www.macromedia.com

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.