The THIS scope in the Application.cfc contains several built-in variables that allow you to set the properties of the application; the name, session management etc. With the release ColdFusion 8 comes the introduction of application-based pathing in the form of the THIS.mappings and THIS.customTagPaths variables.

The THIS.mappings variable can specify a structure that contains ColdFusion mappings. These settings take precedence over the mappings defined by ColdFusion Administrator Server Settings > Mappings page for the current application. Each structure element consists of the logical path as the key and the absolute path as the value. To use this variable, you must set the Enable Per Application Settings option on the ColdFusion Administrator Server Settings > Settings page.

For example:

<cfset THIS.mappings['/com'] = "C:\Inetpub\com" />

This is syntactically equivalent to using the structInsert() function:

<cfset structInsert(THIS.mappings, '/com', 'C:\Inetpub\com') />

The THIS.customTagPaths variable can specify a list that contains ColdFusion custom tag paths. These settings take precedence over the custom tag paths defined by the ColdFusion Administrator Server Settings > Mappings page for the current application. To use this variable, you must set the Enable Per Application Settings option on the ColdFusion Administrator Server Settings > Settings page.

For example:

<cfset THIS.customTagPaths = "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myAppOne\customTags" />

Since we can specify a list, this is also valid:

<cfset THIS.customTagPaths = "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myAppOne\customTags,C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myAppTwo\customTags" />

Alternatively, we could represent the list as:

<cfset THIS.customTagPaths = "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myAppOne\customTags" />
<cfset THIS.customTagPaths = listAppend(THIS.customTagPaths, "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\myAppTwo\customTags" />

For a long time, ColdFusion developers have needed the ability to define application-level settings actually in the application itself. These two new application-based pathing variables bring the ColdFusion developer a step closer to being able to produce out-of-the-box applications that can install in shared environments with little fuss and, more importantly, without the need to access the ColdFusion Adminsitrator to create the necessary mappings and custom tag paths.

Pre-requisites:

1. Follow my instructions on installing Apache on Windows Vista
2. And then follow my instructions on installing PHP on Windows Vista

Installing PHP with Apache on Windows Vista is a relatively simple task until you try an configure the settings in php.ini. Problems can occur and stem from the fact that when you install PHP and edit the php.ini file, you need to not only be logged in as Administrator, but run the installer and Notepad text editor as Administrator. The php.ini file also needs to be located in the Windows directory.

Below is an outline of the steps to get your PHP installation running and configured correctly.

1. Run Notepad as Administrator. Go to All Programs > Accessories Right-click “Notepad” and select “Run as Administrator”. Open the php.ini file, in my case:

   C:\PHP5\php.ini

2. Edit the php.ini file as necessary, e.g.:

   extension_dir = "C:\PHP5\ext"
   upload_max_filesize = 16M
   upload_tmp_dir = "C:\PHP5\upload"
   session.save_path = "C:\PHP5\session"

3. Enable the extensions you need by deleting the semi-colon at the beginning of the line. For example, you will commonly need the following MySQL extensions:

   extension = php_mysql.dll
   extension = php_mysqli.dll

4. Save the edited php.ini file into your Windows directory. This is very important as Vista will not read the changes but will refer to the default settings.
5. Check that the PHP directory has been added to your computers “Environment Variables”. Click Start, right-click on Computer, select Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables. Click on PATH and select Edit. If the PHP path is there, in my case “C:\PHP5\”, all is well, otherwise add the PHP path.
   • System Properties:

     

   • Environmental Variables

     

   • Edit Environmental Variable - PATH

     

6. Open your Apache configuration file (httpd.conf). Ensure the following lines are present (at the bottom of the file):

   LoadModule php5_module "C:\PHP5\php5apache2_2.dll"
   AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
   AcceptPathInfo on
   PHPIniDir "C:\Windows"

   If there are additional LoadModule lines, remove them, leaving only the one that relates to your version of Apache.

7. Find the DirectoryIndex in the Apache config and append index.php, e.g.:

   <ifmodule dir_module>
   	DirectoryIndex index.html index.php
   </ifmodule>

8. Restart the Apache service.
9. Create a index.php file in your webroot and add the following lines:

   < ?php phpinfo(); ?>

10. Navigate to the file (e.g. http://localhost/index.php) and you will be presented with all the PHP and server settings. You’re now good to go.