User Guide

36 Chapter 2: ColdFusion Tags
cfabort
Description
Stops the processing of a ColdFusion page at the tag location. ColdFusion returns everything that
was processed before the tag. The tag is often used with conditional logic to stop processing a
page when a condition occurs.
Category
Flow-control tags
Syntax
<cfabort
showError = "error_message">
See also
cfbreak
, cfexecute, cfexit, cfif, cflocation, cfloop, cfswitch, cfthrow, cftry; “cfabort
and cfexit” in Chapter 2, “Elements of CFML,” in ColdFusion MX Developer’s Guide
Attributes
Usage
When you use the cfabort and cferror tags together, the cfabort tag halts processing
immediately; the
cferror tag redirects output to a specified page.
If this tag does not contain a
showError attribute value, processing stops when the tag is reached
and ColdFusion returns the page contents up to the line that contains the
cfabort tag.
When you use this tag with the
showError attribute, but do not define an error page using
cferror, page processing stops when the cfabort tag is reached. The message in showError
displays to the client.
When you use this tag with the
showError attribute and an error page using cferror,
ColdFusion redirects output to the error page specified in the
cferror tag.
Example
This example shows the use of cfabort to stop processing. In the second example, where cfabort
is used, the result never displays.
<h3>Example A: Let the instruction complete itself</h3>
<!--- first, set a variable --->
<cfset myVariable = 3>
<!--- now, perform a loop that increments this value --->
<cfloop from = "1" to = "4" index = "Counter">
<cfset myVariable = myVariable + 1>
</cfloop>
<cfoutput>
Attribute Req/Opt Default Description
showError Optional Error to display, in a standard ColdFusion error page, when tag
executes.
CHAPTER 2
ColdFusion Tags