Facebook apps with a ColdFusion backend

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Facebook apps with a ColdFusion backend

• Simon Free
• _at_simonfree

www.cfunited.com
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What to expect

1. Why would you make a Facebook application?
2. The differences between a platform and an API
3. The registration process
4. Your first roadblock
5. A look at FBML
6. Digging into the API
7. CF is your glue
8. The new, dreaded, Extended Privacy
9. Useful resources

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Why would you make a Facebook application?

1. Viral Marketing
2. Drive traffic
3. Add features to your current site

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The differences between an API and a Platform
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The workings of a Facebook App
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The setup process - Step 1

1. Name your application

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The setup process - Step 2

1. Make note of your API Key and Secret Key

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The setup process - Step 3

1. Set up your url and canvas information

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The setup process - Step 4

1. Select required sandbox mode and provide apple ID
   if necessary

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The setup process - Review
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Your first roadblock

1. Validation is carried out on form fields that
   have specific names (pre cf9)

ltcfscriptgt if(structKeyExists(form,"fb_sig"))
form.fb_sig_local form.fb_sig form.fb_sig
'' lt/cfscriptgt
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A look at FBML

1. Tag system that handles output of data
2. Tags display data just as the web site does
3. Tags are mostly used for UI and layout
4. Conditional logic tags do exist

Example Tags ltfbaction href"action.cfm"gtClick
Me!lt/fbactiongt ltfbprofile-pic uid"12345"
linked"true" /gt ltfbuser uid"12345" /gt
ltfbcaptcha /gt
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Lets look at some code!
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Digging into the API

1. RESTful-ish API
2. Dot delimited methods
3. Methods grouped in actions
4. Returns XML, JSON or Facebook PHP Client
5. Access to fql (similar to SQL)
6. API Key, Call ID, MD5 Hash of Secret Key and
   Version needed for every request

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Lets look at some code!
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CF is your glue

1. Use API to get Data
2. Parse and loop over data with CF
3. Output using FBL
4. Store data associated with uid with CF and SQL

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Lets look at some code!
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The new, dreaded, Extended Privacy

• Users can now choose to hide
• Picture
• Name
• Profile

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Useful Resources

• Facebook developers Wiki
• http//wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Main
  _Page
• Facebook Get Started Section
• http//developers.facebook.com/get_started.php
• Facebook Developers Tools
• http//developers.facebook.com/tools.php

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Thats all folks!
Questions / Comments? Simon_at_simonfree.com Slides
will be available at http//www.simonfree.com/pre
sentations/ Follow me on twitter http//www.twit
ter.com/simonfree
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