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cfset

Last updated on May 30, 2024 | Also applies to ColdFusion

CFML Reference User Guide
ColdFusion functions
ColdFusion Tags
1. ColdFusion tag summary
2. ColdFusion tags by category
  1. Application framework tags
    1. cfapplication
    2. cfassociate
    3. cferror
    4. cfimport
    5. cfinterface
    6. cflock
    7. cfscript
    8. cfthread
  2. Communications tags
  3. Database manipulation tags
  4. Data output tags
    1. cfchart
    2. cfchartdata
    3. cfchartseries
    4. cfcol
    5. cfcontent
    6. cfdocument
    7. cfdocumentitem
    8. cfdocumentsection
    9. cfflush
    10. cfheader
    11. cflog
    12. cfoutput
    13. cfpresentation
    14. cfpresentationslide
    15. cfpresenter
    16. cfprocessingdirective
    17. cfprint
    18. cfreport
    19. cfreportparam
    20. cfsilent
    21. cftable
  5. Debugging tags
    1. cfdump
    2. cftimer
    3. cftrace
  6. Exception handling tags
    1. cfcatch
    2. cferror
    3. cffinally
    4. cfrethrow
    5. cfthrow
    6. cftry
  7. Extensibility tags
    1. cfchart
    2. cfchartdata
    3. cfchartseries
    4. cfcollection
    5. cfcomponent
    6. cfexecute
    7. cfftp
    8. function
    9. cfindex
    10. cfinterface
    11. cfinvoke
    12. cfinvokeargument
    13. cfobject
    14. cfproperty
    15. cfreport
    16. cfreportparam
    17. cfreturn
    18. cfsearch
    19. cfsharepoint
    20. cfspreadsheet
    21. cfwddx
    22. cfxml
  8. File management tags
    1. cfdirectory
    2. cffile
    3. cffileupload
    4. cfftp
    5. cfzip
    6. cfzipparam
  9. Flow-control tags
    1. cfabort
    2. cfbreak
    3. cfcase
    4. cfcontinue
    5. cfdefaultcase
    6. cfelse
    7. cfelseif
    8. cfexecute
    9. cfexit
    10. cfif
    11. cfinclude
    12. cflocation
    13. cfloop
    14. cfrethrow
    15. cfswitch
    16. cfthrow
    17. cftry
  10. Forms tags
    1. cfapplet
    2. cfcalendar
    3. cffileupload
    4. cfform
    5. cfformgroup
    6. cfformitem
    7. cfgrid
    8. cfgridcolumn
    9. cfgridrow
    10. cfgridupdate
    11. cfinput
    12. cfpdf
    13. cfpdfform
    14. cfpdfformparam
    15. cfpdfparam
    16. cfpdfsubform
    17. cfselect
    18. cfslider
    19. cftextarea
    20. cftree
    21. cftreeitem
  11. Internet Protocol tags
    1. cfajaximport
    2. cfajaxproxy
    3. cfftp
    4. cffeed
    5. cfimap
    6. cfhttp
    7. cfhttpparam
    8. cfldap
    9. cfmail
    10. cfmailparam
    11. cfmailpart
    12. cfpop
    13. cfsprydataset
  12. Page processing tags
    1. cfcache
    2. cfcontent
    3. cfflush
    4. cfheader
    5. cfhtmlhead
    6. cfinclude
    7. cfprocessingdirective
    8. cfsetting
    9. cfsilent
  13. Security tags
  14. Variable manipulation tags
    1. cfcookie
    2. cfdump
    3. cfparam
    4. cfregistry
    5. cfsavecontent
    6. cfschedule
    7. cfset
    8. cfsetting
  15. Other tags
    1. cfimage
    2. cflog
    3. cfregistry
3. Tags a-b
4. Tags c
  1. cfcache
  2. cfcalendar
  3. cfcase
  4. cfcatch
  5. cfchart
  6. cfchartdata
  7. cfchartseries
  8. cfclient
  9. cfclientsettings
  10. cfcol
  11. cfcollection
  12. cfcomponent
  13. cfcontent
  14. cfcontinue
  15. cfcookie
  16. Tags d-e
5. Tags f
6. Tags g-h
  1. cfgraph
  2. cfgraphdata
  3. cfgrid
  4. cfgridcolumn
  5. cfgridrow
  6. cfgridupdate
  7. cfheader
  8. cfhtmlhead
  9. cfhtmltopdf
  10. cfhtmltopdfitem
  11. cfhttp
  12. cfhttpparam
7. Tags i
  1. cfif
  2. cfimage
  3. cfimap
  4. cfimapfilter
  5. cfimpersonate
  6. cfimport
  7. cfinclude
  8. cfindex
  9. cfinput
  10. cfinsert
  11. cfinterface
  12. cfinvoke
  13. cfinvokeargument
8. Tags j-l
9. Tags m-o
10. Tags p-q
  1. cfparam
  2. cfpdf
  3. cfpdfform
  4. cfpdfformparam
  5. cfpdfparam
  6. cfpdfsubform
  7. cfpod
  8. cfpop
  9. cfpresentation
  10. cfpresentationslide
  11. cfpresenter
  12. cfprint
  13. cfprocessingdirective
  14. cfprocparam
  15. cfprocresult
  16. cfprogressbar
  17. cfproperty
  18. cfquery
  19. cfqueryparam
11. Tags r-s
  1. cfregistry
  2. cfreport
  3. cfreportparam
  4. cfrethrow
  5. cfreturn
  6. cfsavecontent
  7. cfschedule
  8. cfscript
  9. cfsearch
  10. cfselect
  11. cfservlet
  12. cfservletparam
  13. cfset
  14. cfsetting
  15. cfsharepoint
  16. cfsilent
  17. cfslider
  18. cfspreadsheet
  19. cfsprydataset
  20. cfstoredproc
  21. cfswitch
12. Tags t
  1. cftable
  2. cftextarea
  3. cftextinput
  4. cfthread
  5. cfthrow
  6. cftimer
  7. cftooltip
  8. cftrace
  9. cftransaction
  10. cftree
  11. cftreeitem
  12. cftry
13. Tags u-z
  1. cfupdate
  2. cfwddx
  3. cfwebsocket
  4. cfwindow
  5. cfxml
  6. cfzip
  7. cfzipparam
CFML Reference
1. Reserved words and variables
2. Ajax JavaScript functions
3. ColdFusion ActionScript functions
4. ColdFusion mobile functions
5. Application.cfc reference
6. Script functions implemented as CFCs
7. ColdFusion Flash Form style reference
8. ColdFusion event gateway reference
9. ColdFusion C++ CFX Reference
10. ColdFusion Java CFX reference
11. WDDX JavaScript Objects
Cloud services

Description

Sets a value in ColdFusion. Used to create a variable, if it does not exist, and assign it a value. Also used to call functions.

Syntax

<cfset var variable_name = expression>

Attributes

Attribute	Req/Opt	Default	Description
variable_name	Required		A variable.
var	Optional		A keyword. Does not take a value. Identifies the variable as being local to a function. The variable only exists for the time of the current invocation of the function.

Usage

You use the cfset tag in several ways in your applications.

Calling functions

When you use the cfset tag to call a function, you do not have to assign the function return value to a variable if the function does not return a value or you do not have to use the value returned by the function. For example, the following line is a valid ColdFusion cfset tag for deleting the MyVariable variable from the Application scope:

<cfset StructDelete(Application, "MyVariable")>

Arrays

The following example assigns a new array to the variable months:

<cfset months = ArrayNew(1)>

This example creates a variable Array_Length that resolves to the length of the Scores array:

<cfset Array_Length = ArrayLen(Scores)>

This example assigns, to index position two in the array months, the value February:

<cfset months[2] = "February">

Dynamic variable names

In this example, the variable name is itself a variable:

<cfset myvariable = "current_value"> 
<cfset "#myvariable#" = 5>

Function local variables

The var keyword specifies that the variable being defined is only available inside the body of a function that you define by using the cffunction tag. The variable value that is set in one invocation of the function is not available in any other invocation of the function. The var keyword is the equivalent of the var statement in CFScript. The following rules apply to the var keyword:

Any cfset tag that uses the var keyword must be inside the body of a cffunction tag. If you use the var keyword in a cfset tag outside a cffunction tag body, ColdFusion displays an error message.
Place all cfset tags that use the var keyword at the beginning of the cffunction tag body, before any other ColdFusion tags.
The following example shows how to use the new keyword:

<cffunction name="myFunct"> 
<cfset var myVar = "This is a test"> 
<cfreturn myVar & " Message."> 
</cffunction> 
<cfoutput>#myFunct()#</cfoutput>

In this example, the variable myVar exists only when the function myFunct executes, and it is not available elsewhere on the ColdFusion page.

COM objects

In this example, a COM object is created. A cfset tag defines a value for each method or property in the COM object interface. The last cfset creates a variable to store the return value from the COM object's SendMail method.

<cfobject action = "Create" 
name = "Mailer" 
class = "SMTPsvg.Mailer"> 

<cfset MAILER.FromName = form.fromname> 
<cfset MAILER.RemoteHost = RemoteHost> 
<cfset MAILER.FromAddress = form.fromemail> 
<cfset MAILER.AddRecipient("form.fromname", "form.fromemail")> 
<cfset MAILER.Subject = "Testing cfobject"> 
<cfset MAILER.BodyText = "form.msgbody"> 
<cfset Mailer.SMTPLog = "logfile"> 
<cfset success = MAILER.SendMail()> 
<cfoutput> #success# </cfoutput>

Example

<!--- This example shows how to use cfset. ---> 
<cfquery name = "GetMessages" dataSource = "cfdocexamples"> 
SELECT * 
FROM Messages 
</cfquery> 

<h3>cfset Example</h3> 
<p>cfset sets and reassigns values to local or global variables within a page. 

<cfset NumRecords = GetMessages.recordCount> 
<p>For example, the variable NumRecords has been declared on this 
page to hold the number of records returned from query 
(<cfoutput>#NumRecords#</cfoutput>). 

<p>In addition, cfset can be used to pass variables from other pages, 
such as this example, which takes the url parameter Test from this 
link: <a href = "cfset.cfm?test = <cfoutput> 
#URLEncodedFormat("hey, you, get off of my cloud")# </cfoutput> 
">click here</A>) to display a message: 
<p> 
<cfif IsDefined ("url.test") is "True"> 
<cfoutput><b><I>#url.test#</i></b></cfoutput> 
<cfelse> 
<h3>The variable url.test has not been passed from another page.</h3> 
</cfif> 

<p>cfset can also be used to collect environmental variables, such as the 
time, the IP address of the user, or another function or expression. 

<cfset the_date = #DateFormat(Now())# & " " & #TimeFormat(Now())#> 
<cfset user_ip = CGI.REMOTE_ADDR> 
<cfset complex_expr = (23 MOD 12) * 3> 
<cfset str_example = Reverse(Left(GetMessages.body, 35))> 

<cfoutput> 
<ul> 
<li>The date: #the_date# 
<li>User IP Address: #user_ip# 
<li>Complex Expression ((23 MOD 12) * 3): #complex_expr# 
<li>String Manipulation (the first 35 characters of 
the body of the first message in our query) 
<br><b>Reversed</b>: #str_example# 
<br><b>Normal</b>: #Reverse(str_example)# 
</ul> 
</cfoutput>

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