[thelist] CF: Determining which DB used.

[Raymond Camden]

> you might be able to query information from the server or cgi 
> scopes about the machine the code is running on and run 
> different queries based on this information.  try looking at 
> server.OS.name, server.OS.version, and cgi.server_software.  
> btw, anybody know why server and variables scopes aren't structures?

Security reasons. That's the official reason. Well, for Server.
Personally, I don't agree that it's a good idea, but, what do you do. If
you want to use the Server scope for your app, I suggest doing
Server.App instead of just Server, that way you can examine the
structure w/ StructKeyList, etc.

> my suggestion would be to create those global variables you 
> mention -- one for datasource, one for dbtype, and maybe 
> another for dbserver.  then, whenever you run a query, check 
> the dbserver variable and run a query designed for the 
> currently connected database.

This is a good idea, especially if you plan on going back and forth, and
again, if you keep your queries in custom tags, it gets even easier.

> something else to keep in mind -- always use a global 
> variable for your local file path root.  windows uses a drive 
> as the ultimate root while unix uses a slash.  being able to 
> change this in one location is crucial to portability.  you 
> might also want to do this for your relative mappings as 
> well, if you use them, since you might not be able to setup 
> the same mapping in the new location.
> 

A personal suggestion for this: 

I've done the same type thing you describe above, but I find that it
runs into problems when you update your server. Imagine this. At your
dev server, you have set the web root to d:\web. Your live server uses
e:\web. Before uploading, you 'fix' the var, upload, then correct it
back on your home system. Obviously, not a good idea.

So, first, look for ways around it. You can, for example, use
ExpandPath(".") to get the current directory you are in. 

Another option: You can separate your vars and system level stuff into
two files. So, file one has a set of variables that always apply. Ie,
Application.BGCOLOR = "green". File 2 has stuff like Application.Root =
"c:\web". So, when you deploy from Dev to Live, you can upload
everything but file 2. I've also used .ini files to store this kind of
information.

Just random ideas.

=======================================================================
Raymond Camden, Principal Spectra Compliance Engineer for Macromedia

Email    : jedimaster at macromedia.com
Yahoo IM : morpheus

"My ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is." - Yoda