Wanna a new feature/fix in CF? Report it on the CFWISH form...just don't search for it by that name
Note: This blog post is from 2008. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.Update:
Since writing this blog entry in 2008, Adobe has now opened up access to bug tracking for both CF and CFBuilder. So rather than use the old "wish form" below (which still works but does not give you a tracking number), use instead:CF Bug Tracker (or also at adobe.com/go/cf_bugs)
Besides giving you a tracking number, you can also search these bug bases, as well as vote and comment on bugs offered by others. Finally, if Adobe addresses your bug, you'll be notified by email of that.
Many may know that Adobe has long offered a Feature Request/Bug Report Form form (which came really from Macromedia, and perhaps even Allaire), but for those who don't, I wanted to mention it here, for a couple of reasons.
First, we're on the cusp of a new release (Centaur/CF9), so now's the time to get your ideas in. :-) Second, if you need to find it, you may struggle if you search for it as "cfwish". More on that in a moment.
Of course, another way to get involved in the next release is to apply for the prerelease program (which has its own different bug/feature reporting form). More on that program in a moment, too. And I'll note that while this is a page for reporting features/bugs on all Adobe products (not just CF), it's also not a true bug tracking system (more on that in a moment, too).
Hoping this makes it easier for people to find
First, as for this public form, even those who do know about it may find it hard to find (via searching) when they need it (if they've not bookmarked it).
Part of the problem comes from the fact that the URL for this form includes wishform, and some may then connect that in their mind (as I did) with the term "cfwish". Sadly, a Google search for that won't find a link to the form above; instead it will find references to pages mentioning email addresses that used to be used in the past to submit such requests: [email protected] and [email protected]. Those, of course, are no longer useful.
But even a search for "coldfusion feature request" didn't find a link to the form within the first 30 Google results (though a search for "coldfusion bug report" found it first). Until Adobe might put wording on that form to make it be found for these keywords, I'm hoping that perhaps this entry may be picked up to more readily to help people find the form. :-) Of course, you can find links to it from the Adobe site, too.
Hope for an Updated Bug Tracker
Some might say I was remiss in pointing people to that form without recognizing that it's not perfect. There's no real tracking of items: you don't get any sort of tracking number (I'm referring to the public form above, not the beta form), and there's no way to list all items you've submitted. Of course, you also don't get to see the items others have submitted, nor can you vote on them, etc.
The subject of an updated bug tracker has been discussed many times, such as here, and as mentioned in a comment there, Adobe has said that one is coming. Some have noted that Adobe already has a better bug tracking system, at http://bugs.adobe.com/, and it would seem that could be easily opened for CF, but so far, no go.
Consider also registering for the Centaur beta
Of course, if you really want to get involved in forming the next release of CF (Centaur/CF9), note that applications for the prerelease program are now being taken. Again, prerelease programs have yet another feature/request form, as well as discussion forums. That's about all I can say, and I'm hoping no one will mind me saying even that. "What's the first rule about betas? You don't talk about participation in betas."
One last point: I should note that there has for several years been yet another CF bug reporting alternative: http://cfbughunt.org/. Unfortunately, at least as of this writing, it does not seem to have been updated for quite a while.
For more content like this from Charlie Arehart:Need more help with problems?
- Signup to get his blog posts by email:
- Follow his blog RSS feed
- View the rest of his blog posts
- View his blog posts on the Adobe CF portal
- If you may prefer direct help, rather than digging around here/elsewhere or via comments, he can help via his online consulting services
- See that page for more on how he can help a) over the web, safely and securely, b) usually very quickly, c) teaching you along the way, and d) with satisfaction guaranteed
answer = getStuff()[ 5 ].foo
instead of...
answer = getStuff()
answer = answer[ 5 ].foo
But if folks may want to drop a note here as a comment saying "I just filed this", that's cool, since there's no place for us otherwise to see what items people have filed. Just be sure to file them. We can't expect that anyone from Adobe will read this.