Blackstone
What does it mean for Fusebox?
Sean A Corfield
Director, Architecture
Macromedia, Inc.
Agenda
What Is Blackstone?
Blackstone Major Features
Blackstone Timeline
Feature Walkthrough & Demos
Questions & Answers
What is Blackstone?
The next major version of ColdFusion MX
Make new users far more successful
Provide existing users with features and functionality they can immediately use
Help developers (our users) make their users happier
Improve reliability and deployment options
Blackstone Major Features
For New Users
Dreamweaver Integration / Wizards
For Application Developers
Data Entry
The Printed Word
Reporting
For Administrators
Multi-Instance Management
Sourceless Deployment
Java Application Deployment
Blackstone Timeline
Beta Happening Right Now!
www.macromedia.com/go/beta
Public Release
"Early 2005"
Feature Walkthrough Caveat!
What I'm about to show you is beta software
Just because you see it here does not mean it will be in the final product (but it almost certainly will be!)
You can't have a copy of this presentation or the code - and you can't record/video this talk
Feature Walkthrough
Sample Application:
Fusebox 4 Blog
Originally written by Sandy Clark as a training app
Rewritten by Brian Kotek to use MVC
Chosen because:
Simple enough for a demo
Complex enough to be realistic
Uses a database
Feature Walkthrough I
Do you develop applications that you sell?
Do you want to distribute applications without source code?
What about databases?
Do you want an application to be able to configure itself to work with a client's database . . . Automatically?
>>> DEMO 1
Feature Walkthrough II
You've seen:
Sourceless Deployment
Java Application Deployment
Data Entry: Flash Forms
CF Admin API
The Printed Word: PDF & FlashPaper Generation
Feature Walkthrough III
Do your applications allow users to enter data?
Do your applications display data that users have entered?
Do you write a lot of validation code?
Do you write code to 'sanitize' user input?
Would you like it to happen automatically?
>>> DEMO 2
Feature Walkthrough IV
You've seen:
Data Entry: XForms (XML Forms)
Cross-Site Scripting Protection
Feature Walkthrough V
Do you get support calls when you're away from your computer?
Would you like to be able to interact with your server or your applications via your cellphone?
>>> DEMO 3
Feature Walkthrough VI
You've seen:
Event Gateway
SMS Messaging
Other Features Useful For Fusebox 4
I don't have suitable demos for these but . . .
XML Validation (against DTD or XSD)
Flash Format <CFTREE>
Both of these can help produce better Fusebox 4 tools!
Resources
Sign up for the beta:
www.macromedia.com/go/beta
Blackstone information
www.macromedia.com/go/blackstone
Questions & Answers?
Sean A Corfield
scorfield@macromedia.com