Specifications

16 Migrating ColdFusion 5 Applications
Database operations
ColdFusion MX uses JDBC drivers to interact with databases; for example, to query,
write, and update a database. (JDBC is an Application Programming Interface (API) for
Java programs to access data.) To connect to Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data
sources, you can use the bundled Merant Type 4 database drivers or the SQL Link Type 3
database drivers. ColdFusion MX no longer uses the JDBC-ODBC bridge driver.
This section describes the known incompatibilities between the ODBC features of
ColdFusion 5 and the JDBC features of ColdFusion MX, in addition to those that are
documented in “CFML tags and attributes” on page 7 and “CFML functions and
variables” on page 13 (for example,
cfquery, cfcatch, and cfreport).
For more information about the Merant JDBC drivers included with ColdFusion MX,
see http://www.merant.com.
Connecting to a data source with ODBC Socket
In ColdFusion 5, an ODBC Data Source Name (DSN) entry that was created with the
ODBC Data Source Administrator would automatically show up in the list of data
sources in the ColdFusion Administrator. It does not in ColdFusion MX; you must
manually add the ODBC DSN entry.
To manually add the ODBC DSN entry:
1 In the ColdFusion Administrator, select Data & Services > Data Sources.
2 In the Add New Data Source Name box, do the following:
a In the Data Source Name text box, enter the data source name.
You can use the same name as the ODBC DSN entry.
b In the Driver drop-down list box, select ODBC Socket.
c Click Add.
3 In the ODBC DSN drop-down list box, select the ODBC DSN name.
4 Click Submit.
For more information about data source management, see Administering ColdFusion MX.
Session management
ColdFusion MX now uses J2EE sessions as its default session management technique.
For more information about using persistent data and locking, see Developing ColdFusion
MX Applications with CFML.