User Guide

56 Chapter 5: Lesson 1: Preparing to Build the Sample Application
For more information about the tutorial file structure and the location of the getting_started
subdirectories, see “Verifying the tutorial file structure” on page 38.
Requirements
To use this tutorial, you must have the following components installed:
• ColdFusion MX For information on how to install ColdFusion MX, see Installing and Using
ColdFusion MX.
• Database Management System A database management system can be installed on the
same computer as ColdFusion MX or on a separate computer. For the purpose of this tutorial,
a Microsoft Access database file for MS Windows users and a PointBase database file for UNIX
users have been provided. For information about how to configure the Compass Travel data
source, see “Configuring Your Development Environment” on page 37. For additional
information about configuring a data source, see Installing and Using ColdFusion MX.
• Web browser You can use Internet Explorer (4.0 or later) or Netscape Navigator (6.0 or
later).
• Text editor or IDE (Interactive Development Environment) Macromedia recommends that
you use Dreamweaver MX. However, you can use HomeSite+, ColdFusion Studio, any text
editor, or IDE. In the exercises in this tutorial, the term editor means Dreamweaver MX,
HomeSite+, ColdFusion Studio, or any text editor or IDE of your choice.
Note: The default file extension used for ColdFusion application pages is .cfm.