Lisa Bos wrote:
Have read a lot comparing CF to Cocoon, but I have a different need:
I have a client who is using Cold Fusion. Client wants to start using
XML + RDBMS for content management. Wants to continue using CF for Web.
We have no control over this decision. Their content today doesn't
change frequently. Overnight updates are fine for most data-driven pages
for now. (In other words, performance isn't yet a big deal for them.)
Some text content would need to be updated more quickly. BTW - They do
publish rather large, structured docs to their site, which is the
primary justification for the use of XML.
I feel your pain. I hate CF for it's inelegance, nad have been the source
of most of the comparisons.
My broad question is: What's the best way to manage the delivery of XML
content to Cold Fusion (in combo with data from Oracle)? Need to
generate CF and plain HTML pages (we are talking simplistic use of CF
here). Definitely want to use XSLT, but its the larger management issue
that concerns me.
If your team is amenable to overnight updates, you would have to use
Cocoon at the command line. You can use a cron job to invoke it, but
basically, that is what you would have to do.
CF would access the static files.
To allay management's fears, if you have *any* spare time, write up the
stylesheets to display the XML just like the current site. Set up a Tomcat
server on your local machine, and give a demonstration. If your management
is technically inclined (as mine is), show how much more elegant the code
looks compared to CF.
Here is the real kicker: compare the install times of a CF based application
and a Cocoon based application on comparable hardware! ColdFusion forces you
to enable options on your server that make it vulnerable to certain attacks.
Most Servlet Containers like Tomcat and Resin do not force you into the same
position. Furthermore, in a DMZ, all communications accross boxes must be
encrypted. In CF you are limited to an easily crackable 56 bit encryption,
while most J2EE solutions give you 128 bit or better encryption.
Just a few points that will help convincing management.
More specifically for this list: Is Cocoon a reasonable choice for this
application (knowing ahead of time that this might be a somewhat goofy,
redundant approach)?
It depends on the long term goal of the project. If your bosses are more
like the Pointy Haired Boss in Dilbert, then just stick with CF, because
you can't convince them.
If your boss is concerned with security, ease of installation, and cross
platform stability, you have no choice but to use something based in Java--
so why not Cocoon? Trust me, I went through a nightmare install of CF on
a hardened Solaris box. It took roughly six months--and once the thing was
finally working, the project was dropped.
That is _bad_ for business.
One goal is to choose an approach that will make it easy for CF to go
away at the right time, and that is straightforward in its handling of
XML/XSLT/etc. Might still be a limited number of CF pages that pull data
directly from database, but those could be transitioned over time as the
client is convinced.
Thanks,
Lisa
--
They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- Benjamin Franklin
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