Builder internal browser questions/issues

[doncx]

Dang -

This thing is complicated!  When it comes to config, I'm hanging by a thread.  The docs seem to explain things in the same terms as they are labeled on the screens, not really explaining what those terms mean.

I have been using Eclipse/CFEclipse for several years and am now trying the builder beta3.  Builder is on computer A and ColdFusion, IIS, DB, and code is on computer B.  They are right next to each other and directories are mapped in Windows, but Builder is set up for 'remote' server.  Generally, its working and I'm very happy with many of its features.

Three questions:

1.  Is there a way to have the internal browser visible AND the source code visible, as it is in CFEclipse?

2.  I am accustomed to having a location bar on the internal browser.  This can be very helpful when I want to send URL parameters to a script for testing.  But CFB doesn't seem to have a location bar.  Is there a way to expose it?

3.  Some of my scripts create popups i.e. window.open(...), but these appear in the base internal browser window and then don't properly close and return to/refresh the parent (because they replaced it in the base window).  Why is this?  Is there a way to get child windows to open as child windows?

My thanks for your replies.

- Don

[Adam Cameron.]

I can't answer your question, as I don't use the internal browser in CFB, but noticed you said this:

The docs seem to explain things in the same terms as they are labeled on the screens, not really explaining what those terms mean.

I could not agree more.  It's as if the CFB documentation team don't understand what the point of documentation is.  There's no point in simply parrotting what's already on the screen in front of the person.  This is not helpful: it's just frustrating.  The docs should be explaining a given feature.  Not just describing what one can already see.  I can only hope that almost all of the docs available so far is just placeholder material, not the actual documentation.  CFB is still beta, after all.

--

Adam

[doncx]

Hey Adam!

If you are using an external browser, can you tell me (high level) how you set that up? Does it worth with the debugger?

Thanks,

Don

[Adam Cameron.]

I open Firefox and browse to the URL I want to see.  There's no trick to it 😉

--

Adam

[doncx]

Right. I get that.

My hope is to take advantage of the debugger and a truly unified IDE. Without it, I might as well be using CFEclipse, of which I've grown quite fond.

In fact, CFB seems to have a slower editor and a number of other slight detracting qualities.

I'm looking for a reason to love it, so I'll keep plugging away for now.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Don

[Adam Cameron.]

I can't remember the specific steps I used to set up debugging to run

through an external browser, but I'm pretty sure I just followed the

docs. I cannot remember having any hassles with it, which suggests to

me it "just worked". I need to reconfigure one of my PCs, so I'll run

through it again to see if I need to do anything other than follow

instructions, and report back.

To be frank: I don't see any reason to move from CFE to CFB as CFB

currently stands. I had to swap back to CFE for a few days a week or

so ago, and I found it a smoother, faster experience than CFB.

I mean CFB is OK, but it's too slow and doesn't bring enough to the

party to warrant moving from IMO. Esp as other options

like CFE are free.

--

Adam

[Guest]

Hi Don,

This one is for your original Question of setting up an external Browser:

If you want to use the external browser for preview you can do,

Run As-> CF Application

This will open the file in the system's default browser externally.
If you wish to specify an external browser and not use the default one then you can set it at

Project Right Click-> Properties-> ColdFusion Server Settings.

Here you can specify the location of the external browser.

In case you are using MAC, the above project level setting will not work and hence you can set it in the Preferences.

Preferences-> General->Web Browser

In case you want to debug your file, you need not open it in external browser explicitly. If you hit the debug button in the top toolbar or if you Right-Click on the File and say Debug As ->ColdFusion Application then the Builder implicitly opens the file in the External Browser.
For more info on using the Debugger check this:
http://blogs.adobe.com/cfbuilder/2009/07/debugging_in_cfbuilder.html

Thanks!

Bhakti

[doncx]

Thanks for the tips, Bhakti.

[doncx]

Bhakti gave a good response to my query and I'll try that out.

Your message caused me to check in on the cfeclipse.org site and notice that there's still signs of life. That's good news, as we should always have alternatives. I never tried to get debugging going in cfeclipse, and perhaps I'll give it a try now so that I can get a good apples-to-apples comparison with CFB.

I wish the CFB dev team only the best. I hope they will give good focus to performance and usability and avoid the pitfalls of feature bloat. It seems at risk right now.

Heck, even eclipse/cfeclipse is pretty heavyweight. I still use Homesite+ on my laptops and home computer where the whole project paradigm can get in the way more than help.

But as I say, I wish CFB well and will stay abreast of its development.

Thanks for your replies.

[Guest]

Thanks Don.

Please keep the inputs coming as it helps us make the product better.

-Bhakti