What is the onTap Framework?
The onTap framework is an Open Source Framework for quickly developing powerful web applications using Adobe's ColdFusion application server. The framework itself bears a marked resemblance to the recently buzzy Ruby on Rails. Compare the last half of the Power onTap presentation with the 15 minute introduction to Ruby on Rails and take special note of the repeated use of the phrase "all the things I'm not doing". Hey. so need tell all about convert psd to html you may choose
What makes the onTap Framework different from other frameworks?
Did we mention all the things you won't need to do with it?
Some key features include:
- SQL Abstraction Layer: allows complex database interaction using database agnostic syntax for major databases - currently supports MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL Server and MS Access.
- Asynchronous JavaScript and DHTML: while the built-in features are not technically AJAX because they don't use the non-standard XmlHttpRequest object, they provide all of the functionality of AJAX plus built-in features which allow segments of DHTML to be generated on the server and injected into an already loaded page with minimal effort.
- i18n / Internationalization: the core framework includes many built-in tools for quickly developing multilingual applications.
- RuleManager facade: an extensible built-in system for managing and storing complex, user-defined business and personalization rules in XML packets. The RuleManager facade includes both an internal API for use by other components of an application and multilingual displays for end users.
- Modular Presentation: yes, other frameworks have their own tools for creating modular presentation, however no other framework currently available for ColdFusion is as feature-rich or extensible with regard to the view as the onTap framework's XHTML libraries. XHTML tools also provide quick and painless access to many complex DHTML features such as tabbed interfaces and trees.
- Form Management Tools: a subset of the modular presentation libraries, the form management tools provide elegant form management and validation (both client and server validation) which can even be manually applied or automated from your database meta-data (column data type, nullability, character length, etc).
- Application Branding: excellent features for use by ASP's or similar applications which need to provide variations in both display and functionality for different clients.
- Intelligent Low-Impact Plugins and Customizations: the unique structure of the onTap framework controller allows for the installation and removal of plugins via browser-based installers. The same structure also allows the low-impact introduction of modifications without editing any of an application's existing code and thereby drastically reducing the work involved in upgrading to newer versions of modified applications.
There's No Forum on This Site?
We hope to reinstall the forum soon. In the meantime, there is an email list for the framework on the House of Fusion site, graciously hosted by Mike and Judith Dinowitz.
This Site Isn't Very Impressive.
You're right. This site has been created quickly to provide information about the framework on a new server. Problems with the previous server (we suspect hardware related) forced us to move the site quickly in preparation of the Fusebox / Frameworks 2005 conference and none of the database components such as the forum have been installed on the new server.
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Can I Get Version Information for Framework Projects?
A public Subversion server has been installed on the new server for just this purpose. Details are available on the downloads page.
Under What License is the onTap Framework Made Available?
The onTap framework is released under an OpenBSD style license.
I've Heard That the onTap Framework Has a Steep Learning Curve
Every technology has an associated learning curve (some more steep than others), and as the author of any technical work it's difficult to know what will be intuitive and what will be challenging for another person. From the beginning the emphasis with the onTap framework documentation has been to provide information which is as thorough as possible. As a result smaller tutorials had been omitted in favor of much larger, much more detailed documents.
In response to developers' difficulties learning the framework we've since added a "Quick Start" guide to the documentation which is included with the core components.
The recent addition of an XHTML parsing engine also makes the modular presentation tools much easier to use as is demonstrated in the latter half of the Power onTap presentation.
I Looked at the Framework Before and Found It Difficult To Use.
See Above.
What Does the onTap Framework Require?
ColdFusion 6.1 or later and the ability to create Java objects with the CreateObject function (disabled by some hosting providers).
Are there plans to support BlueDragon?
There have been for a very long time although to date this has not been possible. If you are interested in BlueDragon compatibility, feel free to lend a hand.
UPDATE 12/19/05: We've heard from New Atlanta directly that Vince Bonfanti has taken a personal interest in helping to make the framework compatible with BlueDragon (or vice versa). Although there are no promises being made by either ourselves or New Atlanta, we are encouraged by the news.