Web Trenches

One of my favorite new features of CF8 is the ability to create a JavaScript object from a CFC.  You can then use the object to make Ajax calls.  Here's a simple example that sends the results of checking an HTML check box into a CFC for processing...

 The CFM file:
<cfajaxproxy cfc="mycfc" jsclassname="jsobj" />
<script language="javascript">
        function checkmybox(cbox) {
            var ischecked = 1;
            // create the object
           var cfcAsAjax = new jsobj();
            if (!cbox.checked) {ischecked=0;}
            // Call the CFC function as a JavaScript function
            cfcAsAjax.setChecked(cbox.value,ischecked);
       }
</script>
 <input type="checkbox" value="1234" name="cbox1" onclick="checkmybox(this);"  /> Add 1234 to my table.<br/>
<input type="checkbox" value="5678" name="cbox2" onclick="checkmybox(this);"  /> Add 5678 to my table.

The CFC file (mycfc.cfc):
 <cfcomponent displayname="mycfc" hint="CFC for example Ajax app">
    <cffunction name="setChecked" access="remote">
        <cfargument name="boxvalue" />
        <cfargument name="ischecked" />
        <cfset var addrecord = '' />
        <cfset var deleterecord = '' />
        <cfif arguments.ischecked>
            <cfquery name="addrecord" datasource="#dsn#">
                INSERT INTO mytable(boxvaluefield)
                VALUES('#arguments.boxvalue#')
            </cfquery>
        <cfelse>
            <cfquery name="deleterecord" datasource="#dsn#">
                DELETE FROM mytable
                WHERE boxvaluefield = '#arguments.boxvalue#'
            </cfquery>
        </cfif>
    </cffunction>
</cfcomponent>

It's not an incredibly useful example as far as functionality goes, but it demonstrates how easy it is to create a JavaScript object from a CFC and use it for Ajax calls.  You could replace the check box event with any  JavaScript-triggered event.  This same functionality could be achieved using a CFINPUT and the "bind" attribute, but there are many cases where your form (or other object) is not a CF element (example, input instead of cfinput).