SOSensible Blog

Beyond the CFConversation Podcast

2008-10-21T00:00:00-06:00

If you are tunning into the Frameworks podcasts you will hear lots of interesting perspective on frameworks. If you are smart you will figure out that the one size fits all mentiality is not one of understanding. Choosing a framework that works for everyone is like choosing a vehicle that works for everyone. Imagine if everyone had to drive a truck or everyone had to drive a sub-compact car! One more thought would be should we all have hammers or should we all have nail guns? Obviously we need different tools for different jobs.

So first you may want to check out the podcasts. One was released last week end and one will be released next week end. ( http://www.cfconversations.com/ )

Next you may want to read about things happening outside of the CF realm. One good example is an article on SitePoint about a new application installer by Microsoft. This new solution lets you install open source applications on your web site. Hmmm... seems like the marketing department at even Microsoft has figured out the way to reach the public is to sell them on being able to install applications on the web site in an easy fashion. Yes, technical structure is a good benefit to any web site. Yet inside our community it seems (as you will hear on the podcasts) that a number of the vendors focus on being a 'control based framework'. Can anyone tell me if you would like to try to sell the management of your company on why a controller based framework offers more benefit than a solution that installs your choice of applications in an automated fashion? Yes, I know we coders are generally geeks but business doesn't make money because we are technically superior alone!

Now with that said let me say there are times where I will understand others may not want to use SOS as the solution of choice. We focus on the problem from more of a business centric view and then we also look at technical considerations. In about a week the beta 2 release of SOS will be uploaded for the public or developers that is to play with for a short season. We are getting very close to a full release of the product.

SOS Overview

Business Centric
Application Installer
Shared Authentication
Robust API
Supports coding in multiple methodologies
ADS (Approchable, DRY as in don't repeat yourself, and Sustainable) Standards
Active Schema
... more to follow
- documentation
- screen cast tutorials
- business overview (so the boss will understand)
- etc.

Now if anyone needs some consulting assistance just let us know and we will see what we can do to help you out.

SOS Beta Free Support

2008-10-13T00:00:00-06:00

If you would be interested in free support during the SOS beta fill out this survey. (This is a great opportunity to learn and get some one on one.)

SOS v5 goes into beta

2008-09-11T00:00:00-06:00

This is beta 1 of a complete 100% rewrite of SOS. We have made things simpler... but that doesn't mean you will just download it and get it. We are going to be doing some online presentations and with that you will get it so easy it will blow your mind how much ColdFusion can do for us. Pardon me those who are the ultra OO guys, but though we use objects in SOS for the benefits there is a way to program ColdFusion without trying to imitate Java. (ducking the flames that will follow that comment.)

Stay tuned and we will be putting streaming videos online. You will find links either here or on http://sos.riaforge.com where our project AND the download are waiting for you. The QnA for the beta will be on the blog on that site so be sure to keep up to date there.

Stallion (SOS v5)

2008-02-11T00:00:00-06:00

Well,

Stallion is in pre-beta stage. Anyone interested in gettng in on the project is welcome to enlist!

GOALS and CHANGES for version 5 (and what remains)

Support LightWire
Refactored to external Libraries (and enhanced)
- COOP
  - preDOM object interaction
  - ICE Libraries
  - Works as a app methodology
  - Seperates Processing from Mark-up
  - URL processor
- CFish
  - enhanced content handling
  - Search Engine Optimization Interface
  - Web Site Optimization Features
  - Presentation Handling (beyond CSS)
Installer
Multiple (plug-in) methodologies (one per application bundle)
API
Application Reuse without Rewrite
Shared Authentication

We would enjoy the collaboration and input of others on this update to support the newer web technologies.

News Summary

2007-11-09T00:00:00-06:00

OK we have lots of great articles in the works... and we are back from our excursion to refactor SOS.

General News...

Flex Builder standard (without charting) is now 249 instead of 499!
DOJO is going version 1.0
COOP is on the verge of the official 1.0 release.
SOS is being rewritten with several things refactored out... and will have the same features, but in modular fashion.
We are about 1/2 way through creating our ColdFusion Bootcamp book.
We are started in refactoring out our Skinning to CFish (called Cuttle Fish)
We are going to refactor out our routing technology as a library also
... and much more to come!

COOP public debut

2007-05-28T00:00:00-06:00

Well, here it is on YouTube... check it out!

sosXML.cfc goes live!

2007-04-29T00:00:00-06:00

If you are tired of trying to figure out how to do things with XML objects or your just tired of looking in the docs... we hope this will help!

* attributesCount()
* attributesDelete()
* attributesExist()
* attributeSet()
* attributeGet()
* attributeParam()
* attributesGetStruct()
* attributesList()
* childAdd()
* childrenCount()
* childrenDelete()
* childrenExist()
* childrenGet()
* elementGetName()
* elementGetRoot()
* elementGetText()
* elementHasText()
* elementSetText()

If you don't want them all, use what you do. If you just want to know how to do some of these things... here is a class in a "class". :)

Get it at RIAForge. (Posted project just before this blog post, so you should be able to get it now.)

John Farrar

COOP Version 0.2 Approaches

2007-04-09T00:00:00-06:00

Well, version 0.1 isn't a public beta for COOP. Yet, version 0.2 will be. The pupose for this beta will be the following...

Introduce the public to the next cool Framework (not a methodology... rather this runs in multiple methodologies)
Have people try it out.
See if it runs in other methodologies.
(Work on our AJAX implementation in the background)

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sosForms

2007-02-08T00:00:00-06:00

Well, what would a full featured framework be without a built in validation library? Of course the validation library should be built so it doesn't have conflicts with prototype/jQuery and the like. For some reason many of the libraries out there on the way to making them as small as possible have used features that make them conflict with other libraries. I love some of the menu libraries on the market for instance, but they have issues with prototype! (No, we don't have a market ready menu yet... heh.)

So, here are the good features you will find in sosForms.

Works with prototype and jQuery out of the box
Extensible in very simple friendly fashion
Very simple to use (for the developer)
Uses either inline elements (suggest you use label elements) or if they don't exist it smartly shows pop-up alert box with messages
we are working on completing version 2 which will support formatting of fields also!

So... that will serve to express what makes SOS different from other CF Frameworks. We think that some of these things can be part of the framework. They must be optional for the application developers to use to go with the thinking we have. Yet, it is so nice when they are available! We will be posting this and the base of SOS within a week. Keep your eye's open!