2. Terminology:

2.1.1 XML : XML(extensible Markup Language) is a computer language for describing information. It provides a standard approach for describing, capturing, processing and publishing information

2.1.2         DTD: Any language based on XML consists of a set of element types that have been given certain names and certain meanings. The set of element types serves to define types of documents and are referred as Document Type Definitions or DTDs.

2.1.3        Element is delimited by angle brackets, most elements identify the nature of the content they surround.

2.1.4        Attributes are name-value pairs that occur inside start-tags after the element name.

2.1.5        Entities are used to represent these special characters. Entities are also used to refer to often repeated or varying text and to include the content of external files. Every entity must have a unique name.

2.1.6        Element type declarations identify the names of elements and the nature of their                   content.

2.1.7        Attribute list declarations identify which elements may have attributes, what attributes they may have, what values the attributes may hold, and what value is the default. Each attribute in a declaration has three parts: a name, a type, and a default value. There are six possible attribute types: CDATA, ID, IDREF or IDREFS, ENTITY or ENTITIES, MTOKEN or NMTOKENS.

2.1.8        Entity declarations allow you to associate a name with some other fragment of content. That construct can be a chunk of regular text, a chunk of the document type declaration, or a reference to an external file containing either text or binary data. There are three kinds of entities: internal entities, external entities, and parameter entities.

2.1.9        Notation declarations identify specific types of external binary data. This information is passed to the processing application.

 

 

2.2     Coldfusion: Coldfusion is a Web application server. Coldfusion consists of several   components that create the powerful development and deployment environment for Web application. These components are: Coldfusion Markup Language, Coldfusion Application Server, Coldfusion Studio, and Coldfusion Administrator.

2.2.1        Coldfusion Template: A Coldfusion template file is a Web page that contains text        and code directing Coldfusion to perform an action or actions. Templates use the file extension .cfm.

2.2.2        Coldfusion tags: The ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) is a tag-base language. It consists of a set of tags you use in ColdFusion pages to interact with data sources, manipulate data, and display output. Using CFML tags is very simple; tag syntax is much like HTML element syntax.

2.2.2.1  CFAUTHENTICATE: Authenticates a user and sets the security context for an application.

2.2.2.2  CFFORM: Builds an input form and performs client-side input validation.

2.2.2.3  CFFILE: Performs typical file-handling tasks from within your ColdFusion application.

2.2.2.4  CFINCLUDE: Embeds references to ColdFusion pages.

2.2.2.5  CFQUERY: Passes SQL statements for any purpose to your data source.

2.2.2.6  CFOUTPUT: Displays output of database query or other operation.

2.2.2.7   CFSET: Defines a variable.

2.2.2.8  CFHTTP: Used to perform GET and POST to upload files or post a form, cookie, query, or CGI variable directly to a specified server.

2.2.2.9  CFHTTPPARAM: Used with CFHTTP to specify parameters necessary for a CFHTTP POST operation.

2.2.2.10                  CFTRY CFCATCH CFTHROW: Allows developers to catch and process exceptions in ColdFusion pages.

2.2.3        Custom Tags: A Coldfusion Custom Tag is a Coldfusion template. Custom Tags can do anything that regular Coldfusion templates can do because Custom Tags are Coldfusion templates themselves. But the code in a Custom Tag is hidden from the calling template, and vice versa. Custom Tags use Attributes ( as parameters to receive data from calling templates) and Caller Variables( to return value to calling templates) to interact with the rest of your application.

2.2.4        FORM: A form is a Web page designed to take input from the user. When you type a keyword into the text box on a search engine and hot “submit”, you’re using a form.

2.2.5        SQL:  Structured query language (SQL) is a universal set of commands that programs such as Coldfusion use to “communicate” with a database. Commands can include searching for and retrieving data, inputting data, creating and deleting table field and much more.