Presenting DataMgr to ColdFusion Meetup

Last night I was able to present to the Online ColdFusion Meetup Group (if you haven't already, you should really check it out). I was a bit nervous, but I think it went pretty well overall.

I was presenting on DataMgr - a non-ORM data access layer (I always have a rough time giving a simple answer to "What is DataMgr?").

Some prominent ColdFusion programmers attended, which was a bit intimidating. I am curious now to see what people think of it now that they have seen it.

Certainly, anyone already using an ORM will be happy with that approach. For anyone who doesn't want to use an ORM (or who would like to create their own) hopefully DataMgr will be a good option. 

I did forget to cover a few things that I meant to mention, but I suppose that is to be expected. Among them:

• You could create an ORM on top of DataMgr (one has been created already - more on that in a future entry).
• DataMgr uses cfqueryparam extensively. All data (except booleans and dates) passed in use cfqueryparam.
  
• DataMgr is open source and free for any use.
• DataMgr doesn't create any files or components.
• You can use XML to define tables or you can let DataMgr introspect your database instead (or do both in combination).

Here are some links from the presentation:

• Demonstration Site: Shows some of the DataMgr functionality and the associated ColdFusion code.
• DataMgr page: Links to blog entry, tutorials, documentation.
• DataMgr on RIAForge: Download DataMgr or report an issue (bug/enhancement request).
• Component Doc: Slightly formatted version of the auto-docs from the CFC.
• CodeCop: A code checking application that also serves as an example implementation of DataMgr.

Thanks to Charlie and Ray for allowing me to speak to the group. It was a lot of fun!

Reviews:

• Joshua Cyr
  
• Phil Duba