Lesson 1: Preparing to Build the Sample Application

This tutorial guides you through the process of building a simple Macromedia ColdFusion web application. By the end of the tutorial, you will be familiar with how to use Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 to query and update a database, validate data, generate a report, and require user authentication.

The application that you will build in this tutorial is for a fictitious travel company called Compass Travel. Compass Travel markets a wide range of adventure trips to the public through its website. Trip coordinators at Compass Travel are responsible for maintaining the trip information. The sample tutorial application assists the trip coordinators in maintaining trip information in the Compass Travel database.

ColdFusion development is the emphasis of the tutorial; therefore, you will not need to design or build the Compass Travel database. It is important, however, for you to be familiar with the layout of the database. Additionally, you must understand the functional requirements that will help determine the application design. This lesson provides an overview of these application design steps, while the remainder of this manual guides you through the lessons on constructing the sample application.