ColdFusion: You have attempted to dereference a scalar variable of type class java.lang.String as a structure with members.

If you are receiving an Error with title "You have attempted to dereference a scalar variable of type class java.lang.String as a structure with members." then make sure that your struct variable is structure everywhere.

An easy way to test your variable's datatype is that you put #IsStruct(VariableName)# in few places above and below the error line to check if your variable is consistently a structure. It is possible that you have re-declared your variable somewhere else.

ColdFusion: Function to create HMAC-SHA1 encrypted string

<cffunction name="hmacEncrypt" returntype="binary" access="public" output="false">

<cfargument name="signKey" type="string" required="true" /> <cfargument name="signMessage" type="string" required="true" />

<cfset var jMsg = JavaCast("string",arguments.signMessage).getBytes("ASCII") /> <cfset var jKey = JavaCast("string",arguments.signKey).getBytes("ASCII") />

<cfset var key = createObject("java","javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec") /> <cfset var mac = createObject("java","javax.crypto.Mac") />

<cfset key = key.init(jKey,"HmacSHA1") />

<cfset mac = mac.getInstance(key.getAlgorithm()) /> <cfset mac.init(key) /> <cfset mac.update(jMsg) />

<cfreturn mac.doFinal() /> </cffunction>

ColdFusion: QueryString to Struct Converter

This function converts QueryString to Struct Data Type.

<cffunction name="QueryStringToStruct" output="false">
<cfargument name="QueryString" required="yes" type="string">
<cfset myStruct = StructNew()>
<cfloop list="#QueryString#" delimiters="&" index="i">
<cfset QueryStringParts = ListToArray(i, "=")>
<cfset structInsert(myStruct, Trim(QueryStringParts[1]),Trim(QueryStringParts[2]))>
</cfloop>
<cfreturn myStruct />
</cffunction>

FileZilla: Can't parse "FileZilla.xml", the file may be corrupt

When your computer turns off abnormally e.g power failure, and you were using FileZilla, most likely next time when you will run FileZilla you will get an error message that "Can't parse "FileZilla.xml", the file may be corrupt". Clicking OK button will run the FileZilla but this message will keep appearing every time you try execute FileZilla. You can easily fix this error by renaming or deleting "FileZilla.xml" file in C:\Program Files\FileZilla directory (Replace C:\ with your System Drive Letter).

Note: deleting FileZilla will also delete all the saved sites from Site Manager.

Blogger: Wider Rounder Template

The Rounder Template for Blogger is very elegant looking and easy to modify. But many peoples like me thinks that width of template is not enough. To help myself and others, I designed 4 rounder templates with different widths.

• template-745px(500px).xml - Actual Width 745px, Post Area: 500px
• template-845px(600px).xml- Actual Width 845px, Post Area: 600px
• template-945px(700px).xml - Actual Width 945px, Post Area: 700px
• template-980px(725px).xml - Actual Width 980px, Post Area: 725px

You can download all these templates from here. Images are also included if you want to host them on your own Server. Currently, all images are hosted at Google Pages.

Modified version of FreeSans Font

Recently I designed a custom font which is actually a modified version of FreeSans. In this font characters are appearing white out of black with some extra glyphs. Here is the sample of that font.
You can download this font from here. You are free to use and distribute but don't forget to acknowledge :-)

ColdFusion - Check version of CF

To check which version of ColdFusion you have, following code can be used. This code is highly helpful when you have limited access to Control Panel or your hosting company do not reveals the version details.

<cfscript>
versinfo = arraynew(1);
versinfo[1] = structnew();
versinfo[1].name = "the base version, with no updater";
versinfo[1].number = 48097;
versinfo[2] = structnew();
versinfo[2].name = "Updater 1";
versinfo[2].number = 52311;
versinfo[3] = structnew();
versinfo[3].name = "Updater 2";
versinfo[3].number = 55693;
versinfo[4] = structnew();
versinfo[4].name = "Updater 3";
versinfo[4].number = 58500;
curversion = listlast(Server.ColdFusion.ProductVersion);
</cfscript>

<cfoutput>
<p>This server is running <b>#Server.ColdFusion.ProductName#, #server.coldfusion.ProductLevel#</b> <br />
#Server.ColdFusion.ProductVersion#
<br/>
<cfif left(Server.ColdFusion.ProductVersion,5) is "6,0,0">
<p>Which means it?s running with
<cfif server.coldfusion.appserver is "j2ee" and curversion is 58096>
 Updater 3 on ColdFusion MX for J2EE.
<cfelse>
<cfloop from="1" to="#arraylen(versinfo)#" index="i">
<cfif curversion eq versinfo[i].number>
<b>#versinfo[i].name#</b>.
<cfbreak>
<cfelseif curversion lt versinfo[i].number>
<b>patches not yet up to the final release of
#versinfo[i].name#</b>
<cfbreak>
<cfelseif i is arraylen(versinfo)>
a version <b>greater than the final release of
#versinfo[arraylen(versinfo)].name#</b>.
This tool has not been updated yet to recognise that
version number.
</cfif>
</cfloop>
</cfif>
<cfelse>
</cfif>
</cfoutput>