Well, it is almost a week since my announcement of ColdBox and here are the updates on my progress.

• The dashboard is complete with the framework auto-update feature included
• i18N support via resource bundles is complete, you can now internationalize your applications via the config.xml and one simple getresource method. It takes more time to create the resource bundles than to actually enable multi-language support.
• Samples gallery application finished in both English and Spanish
• Quick Start Guide almost finished.

What is keeping me back from opening the source is the Quick Start Guide. I want to be able to provide some decent and abundant documentation, so from now on, that is the only task I am doing. This guide will give you an overview of the framework, how to use it, why use it, why not to use it, and more.

Now to the Dashboard preview. Below you can see some thumbnails of the sections of the Dashboard and brief descriptions:

The ColdBox Dashboard is a companion application that comes bundled with the main ColdBox system folder. It is a totally optional part of the framework, you can remove it and later on moved back in if needed. The purpose of the Dashboard is to auto-update the framework via an installer I created, without modifying or doing anything but pressing a button. It is also a sample application that you can learn from. I also plan to internationalize it into Spanish for the Latin Community, I am Latin by the way. It also contains a Backups Panel done in Flash forms, where you can view and download any backed up config.xml files, auto-backup the ColdBox system folder into a zip file, auto-backup your entire application into a zip file, download the zip files, and more.

Home:
From here you can look at your framework information and actually go to the distribution site via web services and check for an update.

Update Available:
If an update is available you will get the following screen, where you can choose to download the update or do an auto-update installation.

Config Editor:
From here you can modify the parent or main application holding the ColdBox system. Once submitted, a backup of the original config file is saved.

Backups Panel:
The dashboard also has a backups directory that holds previously edited config files, you can backup your coldbox system folder, you can backup your application and download the backups in zip format.

ColdBox API:
ColdBox includes a cfcViewer plugin developed by Oscar Arevalo that will self document the cfc's. Here is where you can see the actual documentation of your running framework, real time.

Config.xml Guide:
A simple guide of how to create you config.xml file.

Framework Settings Guide:
A simple guide to the internal structure of the framework.

Change Password:
An interface to change your dashboard's password.

Well I hope you enjoy this preview. I am working hard at work, so my free time is not that much, but I will try to get a working release ready for next week. I will try to post more information as I create it.

 

Thanks