Getting started with Adobe ColdFusion Builder extension for Visual Studio Code

Introduction

Coding can feel tedious when dealing with complex codes, language overload, syntax errors, and so on.

The all-new Adobe ColdFusion Builder extension for VS Code helps developers to edit and validate code, manage files and projects, and debug and scan for security vulnerabilities. 

Download now and get easy access to data sources on your server with tools that let you run queries without installing an external client.

Why do I need this extension?

Integrate the Adobe ColdFusion Builder Extension on your VS Code to: 

• Automate repetitive tasks and navigate code for a smoother and faster process.
• Enjoy built-in support for IntelliSense code completion, better semantic code understanding, and code refactoring.
• Identify security vulnerabilities and maintain the integrity of your code.
• Manage your work with extensions, remote project support, integrated server management, a log viewer, and more.
• Customize every feature to your liking by creating shortcuts, easily formatting and reusing code, and using powerful extensions to better your best.

Code assist

Accelerate your application development with intelligent code assist for CFML, CFScript, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. 

Security code analyzer

Use the security code analyzer to scan existing application code to automatically detect vulnerabilities and potential security breaches. Identify the exact vulnerable code, type of vulnerability and severity level and mitigate the vulnerability with the suggestion provided.

Debugger

Reduce testing time and hard-to-fix bugs with integrated debugging to control the execution of the code and observe the proceedings. Launch and step through applications directly within Visual Studio for analysis of the code.

Workspace viewer- Project Manager

Projects contain resources such as ColdFusion components, interfaces, and CFML pages that you can use to develop ColdFusion applications. 

You must create a workspace before creating a project if there is no workspace opened. If the workspace is already created and opened, the project will be tagged under that.

The workspace stores your projects and other metadata. The preferred workspace location is the ColdFusion document root.

RDS support and file viewer

Manage access to files and databases on a server hosting ColdFusion. The RDS File View displays the files and directories on both remote and local servers. The RDS Data View displays the data sources configured in a remote server. 

When you add a ColdFusion server instance in ColdFusion Builder, it automatically becomes available in RDS File View and RDS Data View.

Code Profiler

Identify performance bottlenecks, memory issues, and so on, with the help of Performance Monitoring Toolset, and import the data in Visual Studio.

Service browser

Quickly access web services exposed by the ColdFusion server from Visual Studio.

Code refactoring

Code refactoring is the process of improving the source code of a program without changing the overall result. Generally, code refactoring improves code readability and maintainability. 

The extension supports various refactoring techniques like renaming, searching, and previewing of CFCs, CFMs, and UDFs at the project and workspace levels.

System requirements

• Windows: Windows 10, Windows 11.
• macOS: macOS 11, macOS 12.
• Java 11 as the recommended JDK. For download and install instructions, see Download Java.
• Version 1.68 of VS Code or above. Download VS Code from Microsoft Visual Studio Code.

Install the extension

1. On the Extensions search bar, search for the Adobe ColdFusion Builder extension for Visual Studio Code. 
2. On the extension details page, click Install.

Alternatively, from the command palette, type CTRL+SHIFT+P (Windows) or CMD+SHIFT+P (macOS), search Install Extension, click the option and then install the extension.

Set JAVA_HOME

Windows

1. Download and install Java.
2. In the Edit Environment Variables dialog, set JAVA_HOME to an appropriate location. Click OK.
3. Add %JAVA_HOME%\bin to path. 
4. Restart VS Code.
5. Verify Java version in VS Code terminal- java -version.

macOS

Note: macOS 10.15 Catalina and above uses zsh shell. All older macs before macOS 10.15 use bash shell. Type echo $SHELL to find the shell.

zsh shell

1. Download and install Java. Ensure that you download the correct version, which depends on whether your system supports M1 architecture.
2. Create zsh environment file, if not already created- touch ~/.zshenv.
3. Locate the Java binaries- /usr/libexec/java_home. The following path appears, /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-18.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home.
4. Copy and paste the Java binary path to the zshenv file. Type open ~/.zshenv.
5. In the environment editor, type export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-18.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home.
6. Save and exit the editor.
7. Apply the change into the current shell- source ~/.zshenv.
8. Check if the environment variable is set properly- echo $JAVA_HOME.

bash shell

1. Create bash profile- touch ~/.bash_profile.
2. Open the bash script editor – open ~./bash_profile.
3. Add JAVA_HOME- export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-18.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home
4. Save and exit.
5. Apply the change into the current shell- source ~/.bash_profile
6. Check if the environment variable is set properly- echo $JAVA_HOME.

Add a ColdFusion server

To add a ColdFusion server, follow the steps below:

1. In the CF Servers pod, click + (Add Server).
2. Enter the following details. Some are mandatory. For more information, see Add a ColdFusion server.

Project Manager

In the Project Manager section, you can create a workspace that will contain your project files. A workspace is like a file system. The workspace contains the resources (files and folders) that are a part of your application projects. 

For more information, see Project Manager.

Add a ColdFusion project 

To add a ColdFusion project, follow the steps below: 

Create a CFM file

Add a ColdFusion project

To add a ColdFusion project, follow the steps below:

The project now appears in the pod.

Create a CFM file

To create a CFM file, follow the steps below: