Today I needed to find the latest update to CFMX7. So naturally I went to macromedia.com, downloads, updates. Oddly enough, the only thing there was the ColdFusion MX 6.1 Updater. I then clicked on "Downloads" and went to ColdFusion MX 7 / Update. But once again I couldn't find anything.
At this point I'm thinking I must be crazy. I know there were updates to CFMX7 - including a big roll up updater. Turns out I was using the wrong word. The only thing released for CFMX7 are hot fixes.
Now, I know there is a reason behind using "Updater" and "Hot Fixes", I'm just not sure what that reason is - but shouldn't this be easier? Is thw idea that MACR doesn't think the hot fix should always be installed? If so - that does make sense I guess - but looking at the items in the cumulative hot fix 2, they seem like things that should be installed by everyone. Also, at first glance, when going to the first link above, it seems as if CFMX7 has had no updates. I'm thinking something there should mention the hot fixes.
Anyway - it's probably just me - so in case others have trouble thinking the "right way" like I do (grin), remember to check the Hot Fixes along with the updaters.
Archived Comments
It's not just you...
This is a good example of things being WAY harder than they need to be on that site.
Hello, Macromedia..?
Bueller..?
Anyone..?
Release Terminology Guidelines
http://www.macromedia.com/s...
Good link null. I still think there should be something more obvious from the main updates link though.
I've emailed Macromedia countless times since CF5 about that. To make hot fixes easier to find for people looking for patches, or atleast make them more obvious.
I agree with jedimaster! Nobody seems to understand the way MM thinks about hotfixes and updaters. And I think there is more behind that than we, mortals, know, i.e, there is a market related issue on it as well.
Your points are well taken. For the Updater for CFMX 7 that we are currently working on, I added a link to the hot fix page in the "Resources" page of the administrator. But of course you will need to go to the updates page to get this update. :-)
Don't get me started on why Allaire/Macromedia stopped releasing updates with version numbers that change in logical ways. See the link above for how we work.
I did manage to change the definition of the third number in the server.productVersion variable to be "service pack", so the updater will be easy to identify (7,0,1,<buildnumber>).
Tom, I know it isn't your area (the public web site), but can you suggest, if you agree of course, that http://www.macromedia.com/d..., which is the first link I think people will hit, have some kind of text mentioning the hot fixes? At least until the real updater is released. Again - I worry people will think nothing has been released for CFMX7 (and I may be just worrying too much - or I may have been too lazy at first. ;)
Ray, I bookmarked this URL a long time ago and it's all I use now because I got a bit frustrated myself:
http://www.macromedia.com/g...
Funny enough, I never got frustrated by the terminology difference (to me, Updater is to Microsoft Service Pack, which suggests it's a cumulative rollup to get everybody to a base version) so much as the search on the site. For example, I just went to MM.com and typed in 'coldfusion mx hotfixes' and only 1 record was returned and it wasn't even close to what I wanted (it was the LiveDocs page for Verity Collections in MX 6.1)!!
Anyway, like I said, the link I pasted in sits nicely in my bookmarks to I can avoid the need to search.
Let's just hope that Macromedia implements a cfmxUpdate.macromedia.com site that provides an rss feed of available updates and hotfixes, where a plugin in the CFIDE/Administrator reads the feed and checks against the current version fixes/updates installed.
Shouldn't be too hard, and it's something that really doesn't have to wait for the next version since the administrator supports customization.
Oh to be able to click a button "Check for Updates"
In case anybody missed it, there is a ColdFusion Notifications RSS feed that you could play around with to try and implement this yourself.
http://www.macromedia.com/g...
Thanks for the heads up. An additional "ColdFusion MX Hotfixes" link has been added to the COldFusion Updater page and the CF5 hot fix link has been fixed.
No problem. You will see that I blogged about this as well (doing my best to take credit for it - ahem).