What is ColdFusion?Cold Fusion is a Web application development tool for people who want to use the Web to create dynamic-page applications and interactive Web sites on corporate intranets and the Internet. Cold Fusion gives developers a way to quickly build powerful Web applications which integrate with key server technologies such as relational databases and SMTP e-mail.
Do I need any special tools to use ColdFusion?
No. Since Cold Fusion integrates its special coding with normal HTML codes, any standard web authoring tool that allows editing of HTML can be used. However, if you plan to do heavy development work with Cold Fusion, we reccomend that you purchase a copy of Cold Fusion Studio to do all your development locally, and only copy the finished product to our servers.
No. However, see previous question.
What version of Cold Fusion do you support?
All our servers currently use version 4.5.1 We are committed to always providing the latest production version of Cold Fusion on our servers.
Do you support CFX tags? CFFile tags?
Yes, we support both CFX tags and CFFile tags. If there is a tag you would like us add, contact coldfusion@xhost.co.uk. We will examine each tag for stability before using on our servers and we do reserve the right to not load any tags we feel may compromise the stability of our systems.
We also allow CFFILE. However, we need all our users to let us know if they will be using this facility.
What databases can I use with Cold Fusion?
You can use any ODBC-compliant database such as FoxPro, Access, Paradox, or Microsoft SQL Server if requested (additional setup and monthly charges are involved). Please contact coldfusion@xhost.co.uk for help in setting up your databases.
When I need to update my database can I just FTP over the old one?
No. Because of the way Cold Fusion accesses ODBC databases, you will often be unable to copy over a database. More importantly, your database is 'live,' meaning there is a constant possibility someone will try to access your database while you are copying over your new database. This can often lead to a corrupted database.
To get around these issues, we ask all customers to copy any new databases to the server under a different name than the active database. Once copied, they should either email support@xhost.co.uk . We will usually make the change within 30 minutes after receiving the request during normal support hours.
Can I use Cold Fusion with Active Server Pages? Is one technology better than the other?
You can use both in your website, although not easily on the same page. Although ASP is powerful, we recommend clients use Cold Fusion as it is a more mature and stable product. However, there are things which Cold Fusion can not do that ASP can. If you wish to discuss your needs and what may be the best method of implementing your particular Internet application, contact support@xhost.co.uk.
Where can I learn more about Cold Fusion?
Check out our Tutorials, Manuals and Links pages.