ColdFusion: Small tip for using java objects

While searching the documentation the other day, I came across this small item that falls under the "I cannot believe I never knew that" category.

ColdFusion can automatically invoke getPropertyName() and setPropertyName(value) methods if a Java class conforms to the JavaBeans pattern. As a result, you can set or get the property by referencing it directly, without having to explicitly invoke a method.

In other words, in some cases you can just use myObject.propertyName instead of myObject.getPropertyName() or myObject.setPropertyName(). I do not know that I will use it just yet. But it is good to know, and might come in handy down the road ;)


Example using java.net.URL

   <cfset urlString = "http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif"> 
   <cfset imageURL = createObject("java", "java.net.URL").init(urlString)>
   <cfset img = createObject("java", "javax.imageio.ImageIO").read(imageURL)>
   <cfdump var="#imageURL#" label="Methods of java.net.URL class"><br>

   <b>Using Methods: getPropertyName</b><hr>
   <cfoutput>
      imageURL.getHost()  = #imageURL.getHost()#<br>
      imageURL.getPath()  = #imageURL.getPath()#<br> 
      imageURL.getPort()  = #imageURL.getPort()#<br> 
      imageURL.getProtocol()  = #imageURL.getProtocol()#<br> 
      imageURL.getFile()  = #imageURL.getFile()#<br> 
   </cfoutput>
   <br><br>
 
   <b>Using Properties: PropertyName</b><hr>
   <cfoutput>
      imageURL.Host  = #imageURL.Host#<br>
      imageURL.Path  = #imageURL.Path#<br>
      imageURL.Port  = #imageURL.Port#<br>
      imageURL.Protocol  = #imageURL.Protocol#<br> 
      imageURL.File  = #imageURL.File#<br>
   </cfoutput>