cfproperty

Description

Defines properties of a ColdFusion component (CFC). Used to create complex data types for web services. The attributes of this tag are exposed as component metadata and are subject to inheritance rules.

Syntax

<cfproperty 
   name="name" 
   type="type"
   required="boolean"
   default="default value"
   displayname="descriptive name"
   hint="extended description"
   >

History

ColdFusion MX: Added this tag.

Attributes

Attribute	Req/Opt	Default	Description
name	Required		A string; a property name. Must be a static value.
type	Optional	any	A string; identifies the property data type: any array binary boolean date guid: the argument must be a UUID or GUID of the form xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx where each x is a character representing a hexadecimal number (0-9A-F). numeric query string struct uuid: The argument must be a ColdFusion UUID of the form xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx where each x is a character representing a hexadecimal number (0-9A-F). variableName: a string formatted according to ColdFusion variable naming conventions. a component name: if the type attribute value is not one of the preceding items, ColdFusion treats it as the name of a ColdFusion component. When The function executes, it generates an error if the argument that is passed in is not a CFC with the specified name.
required	Optional	no	Whether the parameter is required: yes no
default	Optional		If no property value is set when the component is used for a web service, specifies a default value. If this attribute is present, the `required` attribute must be set to `"no"` or not specified.
displayname	Optional		A value to be displayed when using introspection to show information about the CFC. The value appears in parentheses following the property name.
hint	Optional		Text to be displayed when using introspection to show information about the CFC. This attribute can be useful for describing the purpose of the parameter.

Usage

You must position cfproperty tags at the beginning of a component, above executable code and function definitions.

If a component is not used as a web service, The cfproperty only provides metadata information when the component is viewed using introspection; for example, by opening the CFC file directly in the browser. It does not define variables or set values that you can then use in your component.

For web services that you create in ColdFusion, the cfproperty tag defines complex variables used by the web service.

Example

The following code defines a component in the file address.cfc that contains properties that represent a street address:

<cfcomponent>
   <cfproperty name="Number" type="numeric">
   <cfproperty name="Street" type="string">
   <cfproperty name="City" type="string">
   <cfproperty name="State" type="string">
   <cfproperty name="Country" type="string">
</cfcomponent>

This component represents a complex data type that can be used in a component that is exported as a web service, such as the following:

<cfcomponent>
   <cffunction name="echoAddress" returnType="address" access="remote">
         <cfargument name="input" type="address">
         <cfreturn arguments.input>
   </cffunction>
</cfcomponent>

Version 7

Comments

babas said on Sep 6, 2005 at 2:51 AM :

Shouldn't it be: <cfcomponent extends="address" in the second component?
In fact I never found clear explanation of the use of cfproperty... if someone can help.

webnina said on Jan 21, 2006 at 6:13 PM :

When type attribute in <cfargument> tag is not recognized type, the attribute is assumed to be the name of ColdFusion Component - this is quote from B.Forta book "Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion MX7 Application Development", page 796
So you describe your custom type using <cfproperty> tag(s) in separate component, name it YourCustomType.cfc and then refer to it in <cfargument> of different component as follows:
<cfargument name="YourName" type="YourCustomType" required="yes">

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