TechNote (Archived)

Option to save Java source files no longer available in ColdFusion MX 6.1

Macromedia ColdFusion MX provides an option to save Java source files generated from CFML templates. Although this option still appears to be available in ColdFusion MX 6.1, it is no longer possible to save Java source files.

In ColdFusion MX, it was possible to save Java source files for the Java class files that ColdFusion MX generated from CFML templates. This option was configurable by editingcf_root/wwwroot/WEB-INF/web.xml. You'll typically see this section around line 24:

 <context-param><param-name>coldfusion.compiler.saveJava</param-name><param-value>true</param-value><description> Set this to "true" to produce java files for debugging</description></context-param>

Although you can still find this option in ColdFusion MX 6.1, it will no longer save Java source files, even when it is set to true.

The underlying reason this feature is no longer available is that ColdFusion MX 6.1 translates CFML templates directly to Java bytecode rather than first generating Java class files, then compiling them at runtime. The creation of Java source files is bypassed. The benefit of this new process is dramatically faster performance of CFML templates the first time they are executed (known as "first-request response time"). For a more detailed explanation of the new compiler as well as more information on performance enhancements in ColdFusion MX 6.1, please see the article Performance Under the Covers in ColdFusion MX 6.1 in the ColdFusion Developer Center.