[thelist] ColdFusion 4 -> 6 migration tips?

[Jeff Howden]

Paul,

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> From: Paul Cowan
> 
> I've got a colleague who wants to change web hosts for
> their (very high-traffic) web site, which is in CF4.
> However, CF4 seems to be (I've never used CF) a
> technology that seems to pre-date the use of flint
> tools, as every CF person I talk to just shakes their
> head when I ask them how likely it is the code will
> "just run" on a CFMX 6 server.
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I've been using CF since version 3, if that tells you anything.  In fact, we
still have one server running a single site on CF4.5.  The site is old
enough that *if* it gets any attention with regard to the version it's
running on, the attention will be in the form of a rewrite, not a migration.
That being said, I've some experience with the 4 -> 5, 4 -> 6, and 5 -> 6
migrations.

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> Does anyone have any tips/input on this? I've found some 
> reference on the Macromedia site to a tool that helps the 
> upgrade path from 5 to 6 by analysing code and suggesting 
> what changes need to be made, etc. Is an upgrade from
> 4 -> 5 the best idea, then 5 -> 6? Or are the
> differences insignificant enough that we'll be able to
> improvise as we go?
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Interestingly, the sort of issues you'd encounter going from 4 -> 5 would be
almost exactly the same issues you'll encounter going from 4 -> 6.

Probably the biggest migration obstacle you'll have is if the codebase
running on v4 uses a lot of unscoped variables, especially when the variable
being used is "url", "form", or some other, now reserved, scope name.

Beyond that, I can't think of any significant migration issues I've
experiened.

If you have more questions and/or would like some assistance, feel free to
contact me offlist.

Good luck,

 [>] Jeff Howden
     jeff at jeffhowden.com
     http://jeffhowden.com/