Michael Smith

The Verity text search engine is one of ColdFusion's great features although it is often totally ignored by developers. This article tells you how to use ColdFusion code to add the power of an internet-style Verity search engine to the front door of your Web application and covers all the Verity search engine basics with a focus on indexing SQL queries. If you are also interested in using Verity to search documents or other text such as CFHTTP result sets, you will find that the same principles apply. Verity: What it is Verity is a free add-on to the ColdFusion Server Pro and Enterprise versions. It provides a full-text search service that can be directed at Web pages, documents, and database queries. It can also incorporate your own custom textual searches, such as those against CFHTTP result sets. The award-winning Verity search engine was created by the Verity Corp... (more)

CFContent With Images

Many of us have used the CFCONTENT tag that comes with ColdFusion to serve up files to browsers, but very few ColdFusion developers are aware that the CFCONTENT tag can be used in conjunction with the HTML tag to serve up graphics, such as JPEGs and GIFs. In this case, the why of doing this is perhaps just as interesting as the how. It turns out that using this technique is perfect for use with creating an advertising banner server, controlling access to graphic files, or - on the more sinister side - creating "Web bugs." If you don't recall, a Web bug is a graphic (usually... (more)

Upsize from MSAccess To SQL Server

If you're using ColdFusion with Access today, then it's likely you'll be using it with SQL Server tomorrow. Luckily, Microsoft has provided some tools that make upgrading to SQL Server a relatively easy process. You'll be surprised to learn how simple it is to upgrade and how easy it is to work with. This article covers the basics of using these tools and helps you plan an easy database upgrade. You'll learn when and how to upgrade, and how to work with the Microsoft Access 2000 "front end" to SQL Server to make your transition as painless as possible. Knowing When to Upgrade T... (more)

Top 10 Web Security Tips

All data-driven Web sites are potentially vulnerable to hackers, whether they are written in ColdFusion or another language. Fortunately, a few simple steps can make your site much more secure. 1. Have an Error Handler By default ColdFusion displays a detailed error message when there is a problem in your code. Yes, I know - your code has no bugs in it - but what if a hacker deliberately creates an error by manipulating URL parameters or faking out a form submit? If they can make an error and view the error message, they may see your data source and table names, which could help t... (more)

Upsize from MSAccess to SQL Server

In March (CFDJ, Vol.3, issue 5) we covered reasons to upsize your Access database to SQL Server and the tools you'll use to do it. Here we explain in detail how to copy data to SQL Server and troubleshoot your upsizing project. The IMPORT AND EXPORT data wizard (aka the DTS Wizard - Data Transformation Services) certainly helps get you going with building tables in SQL Server. It takes an Access database (as well as many other database types) to import its table structures and data to a Microsoft SQL Server. Since it uses a wizard format, it's simple to use as long as you know wha... (more)