How to create a Window with custom header style in ColdFusion

Introduction

In Adobe ColdFusion, creating a window with a customized header is a powerful way to enhance the visual appeal and user interface of a web application. The <cfwindow> tag in ColdFusion makes it easy to display a popup window on a web page without needing extensive JavaScript or external libraries. In this example, we’ll walk through how to apply a unique style to the header of a ColdFusion window using the headerstyle attribute of the <cfwindow> tag. This attribute allows developers to modify font size, color, background color, and other CSS properties of the window header.

This guide will break down each part of the example code to help you understand the purpose and usage of each attribute in the <cfwindow> tag. We’ll cover configuring the window’s size, position, and appearance, as well as how to display an image within it. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to implement your own custom-styled ColdFusion window.

Setting Up the Window Structure

The <cfwindow> tag is the primary element used here to define a popup window. In this example, we create a window named "ButterflyTreeWindow" that is initialized to display immediately upon page load by setting initshow="true". This ensures the window is visible when the page loads, making it useful for displaying welcome messages, notifications, or highlighted content like images or videos. Additionally, the window is given a title of "Butterfly Tree Image," which appears in the header bar of the popup.

Defining Window Position and Size

The window's size is controlled through the height and width attributes, set here to 450 and 550 pixels, respectively. These values are carefully chosen to fit the included image. You can adjust them to fit other content types as needed. The x and y attributes specify the window’s location on the page in pixels, with x="25" and y="100", meaning it will open 25 pixels from the left and 100 pixels from the top of the page. This control over positioning can be essential for optimizing the display across different screen resolutions and devices.

Configuring Resizability and Dragging

In this example, the resizable attribute is set to "false," which disables the user’s ability to resize the window. This is useful when you want to maintain a consistent display for specific content dimensions. Likewise, the draggable attribute is set to "false," preventing the user from moving the window. Together, these settings make the window static, ensuring that the user sees the content exactly as intended without altering the size or position.

Customizing the Header Style

The standout feature in this example is the headerstyle attribute, which is used to apply custom CSS styling to the header of the <cfwindow>. The specified style includes several properties:

  • background-color:RosyBrown; - Sets the header’s background color to a warm RosyBrown shade.
  • font-size:large; - Makes the header font larger for better readability.
  • font-style:italic; - Adds an italic style, enhancing the aesthetic appeal.
  • font-weight:normal; - Ensures the font weight remains at the default level, giving a balanced look.
  • color:Snow; - Changes the text color to Snow, a shade of white that contrasts nicely with the background.

This header style creates a unique, visually pleasing appearance that can help reinforce branding or style continuity within an application. You can adjust these values as needed to match your design requirements.

Displaying Content in the Window

Inside the <cfwindow>, an image tag is used to display a butterfly-themed image sourced from the "Images" folder. This image, "Butterfly12.jpg", has a specified height of 391 pixels and width of 524 pixels. The image’s dimensions are set to match the window size, ensuring it fills the window area without unnecessary space or overflow. This approach is effective for creating attention-grabbing windows that highlight images, infographics, or other visual content.

Conclusion

This example showcases how to create a ColdFusion window with a customized header style, offering control over size, position, and display behavior. By modifying the headerstyle attribute, developers can apply CSS styling directly to the window header, achieving a unique and polished look that integrates seamlessly with the rest of the application. The example also demonstrates how to use the <cfwindow> tag to present images or other content in a controlled popup window, ideal for enhancing user interaction and delivering specialized content.

By following this guide, you should be able to implement similar windows in your own ColdFusion applications, tailoring the attributes to meet specific design and functionality requirements.


cfwindowheaderstyle.cfm

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>cfwindow tag: how to create window with custom header style in coldfusion</title>
</head>

<body>
<h2 style="color:SlateGray; font-style:italic">cfwindow tag example: Window Header Style</h2>
<hr width="600" align="left" color="CadetBlue" />
<br />

<cfwindow 
 name="ButterflyTreeWindow" 
    title="Butterfly Tree Image" 
    initshow="true" 
    resizable="false"
    center="false"
    height="450" 
    width="550"
    x="25"
    y="100"
    draggable="false"
    headerstyle="background-color:RosyBrown; font-size:large; font-style:italic; font-weight:normal; color:Snow"
    >
 <img src="Images/Butterfly12.jpg" height="391" width="524"/>
</cfwindow>

</body>
</html>

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