> "This is the kind of thing that Netscape was trying to do
> with LiveConnect. However, as we know the W3C didn't think
> much of this as a standard so it didn't go anywhere. You could
> do some pretty cool things with it though." - from Lanney Udey
> - Apparantly at least one other person thought this would
> be a good idea.
>
> Could it not be accomplished via an ActiveX control? Could
> the <cfscript> features not be extended to make the bridge
> between the client and the server? Sort of a client-side
> process of CF that can communicate with the server side? I
> realize that the CF gets processed on the server while the JS
> gets processed on the client, but why couldn't CF be extended
> to communicate across the two?
Although I agree that Philip's answer was a bit snide, he's on the money
otherwise.
LiveConnect wasn't exactly what you're looking for - it simply used
JavaScript on the client to talk to other things, like Java, also on the
client. Those other things could then communicate back to the server in ways
other than HTTP requests and responses.
If you want to use an ActiveX or Java program to communicate back with the
server, that's fine. Again, though, it doesn't have ANYTHING to do with CF -
if you use your client program to communicate via HTTP, you can call CF
pages, but there's nothing special you'd then do within those CF pages that
you can't already do. If you use your client program to communicate some
other way, then CF wouldn't be an appropriate tool to use for that portion
of your application's functionality.
Being a good CF developer requires knowing the limitations of CF - what it
can do, and what is better done using other tools. If you want to build an
application that goes beyond the boundaries imposed by the HTTP protocol,
you don't want to use CF for that. True real-time chat applications are a
good example of this. Chat doesn't fit that well in the HTTP
request-response model (although you can "fake it" using frequent
client-driven page requests). Consequently, things like custom Java
client-server apps - where you're not limited by HTTP request-response - are
better suited to use for chat applications.
Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software
http://www.figleaf.com/
voice: (202) 797-5496
fax: (202) 797-5444
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