> : I wouldn't recommend using .udf as a file extension -- folks here > : have used > : inc ( which is a windows networking file extension iirc ) and .zml ( > : zoned-in markup language ) and it causes problems... I certianly > advocate > : descriptive file and directory names, but I'd go for something like:
> I agree with the descriptine file names, etc., but what's wrong with > naming > it *.udf? > I've not run into any problems so far, but is there something out there > lurking, waiting to get me? I don't know if I'd say it's anything sinister. :P But that there is a potential for using different file extensions for CF modules to become mildly ( or sometimes greatly ) problematic. One example, as I said, is that the folks here were using .inc ( meaning "include" ) -- but a ".inc" file wasn't a "web-file" in ColdFusion studio, so it didn't show up in the default filter and wound up getting overlooked later in a couple multi-file searches for something we were thinking about changing ( and did with the result that the .inc files got missed and resultant bugs ensued, which did get fixed, but it would have been nice to have it done right the first time )... It turned out that .inc is also a windows networking file extension, which prevented me from associating the file extension with [#MyEditor#]. The .zml files are annoying because of them again, not being default "web documents" in the CF Studio filters, ( which becomes more important with each new developer added to your project, so it's less an issue with small projects that never get passed off to another developer or company ), and in the case of that particular project there's no clear understanding of why zml was used ( accept that the original developer thought it was "cool" ) and now the application is a horrendous hodgepodge of .cfm and .zml files that's never been cleaned up and so there's a lot of moving back and forth in the file system, trying to figure out what extension was used on a given file. So, to make the long story short ( too late ), avoiding deviations from .cfm can also help to prevent some confusion in the future. As an asside -- I remember using a structure like <cfoutput><cfinclude template="something.html"></cfoutput> in CF 4.5 some time ago where variables in the included file if it had a .txt or .html extension, would evaluate variables in the file even though it wasn't a .cfm and there weren't any <cfoutput> tags in it -- if the included file is a .cfm file, however, it requires <cfoutput> tags to evaluate those variables ... So the way file extensions work with cfinclude tags and how that can subtley alter the way the server interprets the file and the syntax ( or the required syntax ) involved in a given situation makes me somewhat leary about using alternate file extensions as well. S. Isaac Dealey Certified Advanced ColdFusion 5 Developer www.turnkey.to 954-776-0046 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_talk FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm
