Installing ColdLight

You will need to first install the Flexmark java parser and Jsoup where your app can access them. Recommended versions are jsoup-1.22.1.jar and flexmark-all-0.64.0-lib.jar.

A sample installation would be to create a environment variable called server.system.environment.javalib which is the location of these files. The full path is required as a parameter when loading the libraries.

At this time we’re not using the new Maven dependecies in Lucee, we’ve experienced issues on start up when using this. Nor can we rely on using the Java class path. Flexmark and many other Java libraries embed Jsoup and it’s often an incompatible version.

Whether you decide to use ColdLight or not, these Java libraries are two of the best for CFML developers and time spent installing them won’t be wasted.

Installing Flexmark

Flexmark can be downloaded from Maven. Select version 0.64.0 (important - later versions may not work) and then on the details page ensure you select “View all” in the Files section. Download the -lib.jar file.

You can then test it loads:

markdownParser = createObject("java", "com.vladsch.flexmark.parser.Parser",pathtojar);

Installing JSOUP

JSOUP is also on Maven, or the jar can be downloaded from the Jsoup website website. From Maven, only the main JAR file is needed.

Once downloaded, it can be tested:

jSoupClass = createObject( "java", "org.jsoup.Jsoup", pathtojar );

Installing the helper components

ColdLight uses the following components to run. These are wrappers for JSoup and Flexmark, and the Mustache library for templates.

Install these into either into your webroot, or a folder you have added to the component path. If you don’t want them in the webroot, the next easiest (and best) way is to create a common folder, e.g. “shared”, and add the path to the componentpaths in your application.cfc :

this.componentpaths["shared"]="fullpath_to_folder";

You can also configure these in the administrator.

Once installed, you can test them by creating a new object, e.g.

coldsoup = new coldsoup.coldSoup(jarpath);

Where coldSoup.cfc is in a directory coldsoup in your libraries folder. A typical set up for a project might look like this:

|
|--javalibs
|     |---jsoup-1.22.1.jar
|     |---flexmark-all-0.64.0-lib.jar
|--libraries
|     |---coldsoup
|     |      |--- coldsoup.cfc
|     |---markdown
|     |      |--- Flexmark.cfc
|     |---mustache
|     |      |--- mustache.cfc
|--www
    |---application.cfc

ColdSoup

A simple wrapper for JSoup, provides convenient methods for parsing and also caching of whitelists etc.

File: coldsoup/coldSoup.cfc
Repo: ColdSoup

Markdown

Markdown parsing component with a few additional methods for handling “meta” data (details of headings etc).

File: markdown/Flexmark.cfc
Repo: Markdown

Mustache

A CFML Mustache library. Note the original author has archived the repository and I maintain a forked version.

File: mustache/mustache.cfc
Repo: Mustache

Testing and Exploring the Helper Components

The components have test and sample folders that can be run in a web context. If you put your shared component folder outside the webroot, you can set up a mapping and a virtual directory to preview them.

For ColdSoup, see the examples at:

/coldsoup/samples/index.cfm

For markdown, there is a /markdown/testing/flexmark_test.cfm page that can demonstrates simple usage of the tag.

For Mustache, see /tests/tests_simple.cfm.

ColdLight Publications