How do I use a variable within paragraphFormat?

Report · Jan 09, 2014

I would like to insert the firstname of a client within paragrapgFormat(). ie: paragraphFormat(Hi #firstname#, your info......) When I output this the firstname just shows as #firstname#. Is there a way to get his to work?

Report · Jan 09, 2014

When variables are not processed, chances are you do not have them within a <cfoutput> tag.

<cfoutput>#paragraphFormat( 'Hi ' & firstName & ', your info...' )#</cfoutput>

What we're doing here is concatenating between literal text, like "Hi" and variables that need to be processed (when inside a ColdFusion Built-In Function like ParagraphFormat, you do not need to # the variable name).

Report · Jan 10, 2014

Aegis says it all. You could make your code cleaner, hence more maintainable, with a construction like this:

<cfoutput>#paragraphFormat(message)#</cfoutput>

Report · Jan 10, 2014

Still not working. Below is my code:

SELECT userID, Fname, LName, Email, company, phone

FROM users

where UserID = 1

</CFQUERY>

select messID, name, message

from messages

where messID = 1

</cfquery>

<html>

<head>

<title>Untitled</title>

</head>

<body>

#paragraphFormat(message)#

</cfoutput>

</td></tr>

</table>

This is the saved message:

"Hi" & FirstName & ",

We are writing to you to inform you that we received your request to schedule the...

What am I doing wrong?

Report · Jan 10, 2014

The first instance of 'FirstName' is a variable name. Whereas the last instance is a substring within the string defined by getInfo.message. I am assuming that the message you have saved in the database is:

"Hi" & FirstName & ",

We are writing to you to inform you that we received your request to schedule the...

You could modify the code as follows. Give the queries separate names, say, getUser and getMessage. Omit the columns userID and messID from the respective queries. This is because the where-clauses already specify the values.

What you could then do is replace the substring " & FirstName & " in getMessage.message with the variable getUser.FName. The result would be something like

SELECT fNname, lName, email, company, phone

FROM users

where userID = 1

</CFQUERY>

select name, message

from messages

where messID = 1

</cfquery>

#paragraphFormat(msg)#

</cfoutput>

</td></tr>

</table>

Having said that, there are still 2 things I fail to understand. Firstly, why loop across the query when there is just one row? Secondly, why do you save a static message in the database when you could just save it in the CFML code as a string variable?

Report · Jan 10, 2014

Thanks BKBK,

This code is from a registration form that sends a confirmation email out the registrant. The content is kept in a database so changes can be made by the adminstrator, so they don't have to mess with code. When they register, their name is added to the email. I would like to send the course title and start time for the course as well. From the looks of it, I am better off outputting the individual details before the content .

Report · Jan 10, 2014

I understand. You could store the message, "We are writing to you to inform you that we received your request to schedule the...", in the database. Then add the dynamic part Hi. [first name] by means of code.

Report · Jan 12, 2014

Got it to work. After viewing your code, I had an epiphany on how replaceNoCase() works. Can I add multiple replaceNoCase() into my message? I would like to be able to replace courseTitle and Start Date as well.

Thanks.

Report · Jan 12, 2014

Glad to hear you got it to work. Of course, you can replace substrings recursively, like this

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How do I use a variable within paragraphFormat?

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