Programming instructions

Completing the Trip Maintenance application 135
Reviewing the code
The following table describes the SQL INSERT and cfquery code used to add data:
For more information about adding data to a database using SQL and
cfquery, see
Developing ColdFusion MX Applications with CFML. For more information about SQL,
consult any SQL primer.
Adding data using the simpler, cfinsert approach
For those who would prefer not to have to remember SQL syntax to add information to
SQL databases, ColdFusion simplifies the coding for inserting SQL rows through the use
of the
cfinsert tag. As you might expect, the cfinsert tag has datasource and
tablename attributes to specify where the data is inserted. The tag also has a
formfields attribute to identify which fields to insert. Formfields is a
comma-separated list of form fields to insert. If this attribute is not specified, all fields in
the form are included in the operation. The following example uses the
cfinsert with
these attributes:
<cfinsert datasource="CompassTravel" tablename="Trips"
formfields="tripName, eventType, tripDescription, tripLocation, departureDate,
returnDate, price, tripLeader, photo, baseCost, numberPeople,
depositRequired">
Code Explanation
<cfquery name="AddTrip"
datasource="CompassTravel">
Using the datasource attribute, cfquery connects
to the data source CompassTravel and returns a
result set identified by the name attribute.
INSERT INTO Trips (TripName,
EventType, tripDescription,
tripLocation, departureDate,
returnDate, price,
tripLeader,photo,
baseCost, numberPeople,
depositRequired)
VALUES ( '#Form.TripName#',
#Form.EventType#,
'#Form.tripDescription#',
'#Form.tripLocation#',
'#Form.departureDate#',
'#Form.returnDate#', #Form.price#,
'#Form.tripLeader#',
'#Form.photo#',
#Form.baseCost#,
Form.numberPeople#,
'#Form.depositRequired#)
The SQL INSERT statement identifies that the data
are to be inserted into the Trips table. The table
column names are cited in a comma separated list
surrounded by parenthesis (TripName,
EventType....) after the table name Trips.
The VALUES keyword indicates the list of values
that are inserted into the columns in the same order
as the columns are specified earlier in the
statement.
The values refer to form variables passed from the
data entry form to the action page. The variables are
surrounded by pound signs; for example,
#Form.baseCost#. Additionally, note that if the
column data type is a string data type, then the
values are surrounded by single quotation marks;
for example: '#Form.TripName#'.