• Interview for Leveraging the Fusebox 4 XML Vocabularies

Michael Smith: Today I'm talking to Jeff Peters about his presentation, "Leveraging the Fusebox 4 XML Vocabularies". XML seems to be all the rage these days. What are you going to have to say about it, Jeff?

Jeff Peters: This session is targeted specifically at the Fusebox 4.1 configuration files: fusebox.xml and circuit.xml. It will focus on using CFML- based tools to tap into the information encoded in these files.

MS: Sounds interesting. Are you going to talk about XSLT and things like that?

JP: Yes. We'll look at an overview of the information contained in the Fusebox XML files, then we'll talk about using CFML's XML capabilities to build simple but powerful tools for taking advantage of that information.

MS: BTW what does XSLT stand for?

JP: XSLT stands for Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation. In plain English it is a language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents. XSLT is designed for use as part of XSL, which is a stylesheet language for XML. In addition to XSLT, XSL includes an XML vocabulary for specifying formatting.

MS: I noticed John Paul Ashenfelter is also doing a session on XML configuration files. Which one should I go to?

JP: While I don't know John Paul's content, the description of his session indicates that he'll take a general look at XML across the wide variety of frameworks that use it, and present some tools from outside the Fusebox community for working with XML. My session is aimed specifically at Fusebox. Both sessions will have some cool tools you can take home, so I don't think they're really overlapping a great deal. I certainly hope to catch John Paul's session myself.

MS: Very good. I guess XML is a big enough subject for more than one session.

JP: Now there's an understatement if ever I heard one.

MS: Is there anything people need to know before attending your session?

JP: Not really. We'll be talking a little about how XML works, then looking at the Fusebox configuration files, then checking out a couple of tools for working with them. No doctoral degrees required (though if you have one, you're welcome to bring it).

MS: So this will give people details on the fusebox.xml and circuit.xml files?

JP: Yes I will review the structure of both files and explain how to use them for configuration information and the structure of your application. I will also talk about some best practices on when to put logic into the XML vs putting it into CFML code.

MS: Great. Sounds like a very informative session - see you at the conference.