Hotfix released for CF2021 date-mask compatibility issue
Note: This blog post is from 2020. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily.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.Good news to share: if you're concerned about being impacted by a pressing compatibility issue in ColdFusion 2021 (regarding using "D" in a dateformat mask), Adobe released a fix for the problem last week. There are 3 simple steps to implementing that fix, one of which is a JVM arg change to that YOU MUST MAKE--even with the "fix" in place--if you want to revert the behavior.
Or you can change your CFML code to get around the problem, as I also discuss below.
[Update: As of Mar 2021, Adobe now offers this "hotfix" as of CF2021 Update 1. You still need to add the JVM arg discussed, if you want to do that:
-Dcoldfusion.datemask.useDasdayofmonth=true
Again, while no longer need to obtain and implement the hotfix jar file itself, the update does NOT change the DEFAULT behavior, which is why that JVM arg is still necessary. The rest of the information below applies.]
Read on for additional details.
a) a typical user of the cf admin would not readily know what and where these files are
b) so if they made a mistake that would keep cf from coming up, they'd not be able get to the admin to see/revert their mistake
c) also, the backup the admin makes is one that gets overridden by a subsequent update. By making their own backup, one would likely choose a different name that would not get lost by that automated backup
Still, I appreciate your checking in for more clarity. Hope that's helpful.
Fwiw, I also have a preso I migrating to cf2021, which would benefit folks moving to 2023 (or beyond) as well, at carehart.org/presentations.