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Define server variables



You define server variables as sources of dynamic content for use within a web application. Server variables vary from document type to document type and include form variables, URL variables, session variables, and application variables.

Server variables can be accessed by all clients that access the server, and by any applications running on the server. The variables persist until the server is stopped.

Define ColdFusion server variables

  1. Open the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings). In the Server Variable dialog box, enter the name of the server variable, and click OK.
  2. Click the Plus (+) button and select the server variable from the pop‑up menu.
  3. Enter the name of the variable, and click OK. The ColdFusion server variable appears in the Bindings panel.

The following table lists the built‑in ColdFusion server variables:

Variable

Description

Server.ColdFusion.ProductName

ColdFusion product name.

Server.ColdFusion.ProductVersion

ColdFusion version number.

Server.ColdFusion.ProductLevel

ColdFusion edition (Enterprise, Professional).

Server.ColdFusion.SerialNumber

Serial number of currently installed version of ColdFusion.

Server.OS.Name

Name of operating system running on the server (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Linux).

Server.OS.AdditionalInformation

Additional information about installed operating system (service packs, updates).

Server.OS.Version

Version of installed operating system.

Server.OS.BuildNumber

Build number of installed operating system.

Define a ColdFusion local variable

Local variables are variables created with the CFSET or CFPARAM tag within a ColdFusion page. The defined local variable appears in the Bindings panel.

 In the Local Variable dialog box, enter the name of the local variable and click OK.

Define ASP server variables

You can define the following ASP server variables as sources of dynamic content: Request.Cookie, Request.QueryString, Request.Form, Request.ServerVariables, and Request.ClientCertificates.

  1. Open the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings).
  2. Click the Plus (+) button, and select Request Variable from the pop‑up menu.
  3. In the Request Variable dialog box, select one of the following request collections from the Type pop‑up menu:
    The QueryString collection
    Retrieves information appended to the sending page’s URL, such as when the page has an HTML form using the GET method. The query string consists of one or more name-value pairs (for example, last=Smith, first=Winston) appended to the URL with a question mark (?). If the query string has more than one name-value pair, they are combined with ampersands (&).

    The Form collection
    Retrieves form information included in the body of the HTTP request by an HTML form using the POST method.

    The ServerVariables collection
    Retrieves the values of predefined environment variables. The collection has a long list of variables, including CONTENT_LENGTH (the length of content submitted in the HTTP request, which you can use to see if a form is empty), and HTTP_USER_AGENT (provides information about the user’s browser).

    For example, Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT") contains information about the submitting browser, such as Mozilla/4.07 [en] (WinNT; I), which denotes a Netscape Navigator 4.07 browser.

    For a complete list of ASP server environment variables, see the online documentation installed with Microsoft Personal Web Server (PWS) or Internet Information Server (IIS).

    The Cookies collection
    Retrieves the values of the cookies sent in an HTTP request. For example, suppose the page reads a cookie called "readMe" on the user’s system. On the server, the values of the cookie are stored in the variable Request.Cookies("readMe").

    The ClientCertificate collection
    Retrieves the certification fields from the HTTP request sent by the browser. The certification fields are specified in the X.509 standard.

  4. Specify the variable in the collection that you want to access, and click OK.

    For example, if you want to access the information in the Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT") variable, enter the argument HTTP_USER_AGENT. If you want to access the information in the Request.Form("lastname") variable, enter the argument lastname.

    The request variable appears in the Bindings panel.

Define PHP server variables

Define server variables as a source of dynamic content for PHP pages. The PHP server variables appear in the Bindings panel.

  1. Open the Bindings panel (Window > Bindings).
  2. Click the Plus (+) button, and select the variable from the pop‑up menu.
  3. In the Request Variable dialog box, enter the name of the variable (for example, REQUEST_METHOD), and click OK.

    For more information, search for the keyword $_SERVER in the PHP documentation.

Define a ColdFusion client variable

Define a ColdFusion client variable as a source of dynamic content for the page. The newly defined ColdFusion client variables appear in the Bindings panel.

 In the Client Variable dialog box, enter the name of the variable, and click OK.

For example, to access the information in the Client.LastVisit ColdFusion variable, enter LastVisit.

Client variables are variables created in the code to associate data with a specific client. Client variables maintain the application’s state as the user moves from page to page within the application, as well as from session to session.

Client variables can be user-defined or built‑in. The following table lists the built‑in ColdFusion client variables:

Variable

Description

Client.CFID

An incremental ID for each client that connects to the server.

Client.CFTOKEN

A randomly generated number used to uniquely identify a particular client.

Client.URLToken

A combination of CFID and CFTOKEN to be passed between templates when cookies are not used.

Client.LastVisit

Records the timestamp of the last visit made by a client.

Client.HitCount

The number of page requests tied to a single client (tracked using CFID and CFTOKEN).

Client.TimeCreated

Records the timestamp when CFID and CFTOKEN were first created for a particular client.

Define a ColdFusion cookie variable

Cookie variables are created in the code, and access information contained in cookies passed to the server by a browser. The defined cookie variable appears in the Bindings panel.

 In the Cookie Variable dialog box, enter the name of the cookie variable, and click OK.

Define a ColdFusion CGI variable

The defined CGI variable appears in the Bindings panel.

 In the CGI Variable dialog box, enter the name of the variable, and click OK.

For example, if you want to access the information in the CGI.HTTP_REFERER variable, enter HTTP_REFERER.

The following table lists the most common ColdFusion CGI variables that are created on the server:

Variable

Description

SERVER_SOFTWARE

The name and version of the information server software answering the request (and running the gateway). Format: name/version.

SERVER_NAME

The server's hostname, DNS alias, or IP address as it appears in self-referencing URLs.

GATEWAY_INTERFACE

The revision of the CGI specification to which this server complies. Format: CGI/revision.

SERVER_PROTOCOL

The name and revision of the information protocol this request came in with. Format: protocol/revision.

SERVER_PORT

The port number to which the request was sent.

REQUEST_METHOD

The method with which the request was made. For HTTP, this is Get, Head, Post, and so on.

PATH_INFO

The extra path information, as given by the client. Scripts can be accessed by their virtual pathname, followed by extra information at the end of this path. The extra information is sent as PATH_INFO.

PATH_TRANSLATED

The server provides a translated version of PATH_INFO, which takes the path and does any virtual-to-physical mapping to it.

SCRIPT_NAME

A virtual path to the script being executed; used for self-referencing URLs.

QUERY_STRING

The query information that follows the question mark (?) in the URL that referenced this script.

REMOTE_HOST

The hostname making the request. If the server does not have this information, it sets REMOTE_ADDR and does not set REMOTE_HOST.

REMOTE_ADDR

The IP address of the remote host making the request.

AUTH_TYPE

If the server supports user authentication, and the script is protected, this is the protocol-specific authentication method used to validate the user.

REMOTE_USER AUTH_USER

If the server supports user authentication, and the script is protected, this is the user name they have authenticated as. (Also available as AUTH_USER.)

REMOTE_IDENT

If the HTTP server supports RFC 931 identification, this variable is set to the remote user name retrieved from the server. Use this variable for logging only.

CONTENT_TYPE

For queries that have attached information, such as HTTP POST and PUT, this is the content type of the data.

CONTENT_LENGTH

The length of the content as given by the client.

The following table lists the most common CGI variables created by the browser and passed to the server:

Variable

Description

HTTP_REFERER

The referring document. This is the document that linked to or submitted form data.

HTTP_USER_AGENT

The browser the client is currently using to send the request. Format: software/version library/version.

HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE

The last time the page was modified. This variable is sent at the discretion of the browser, usually in response to the server having sent the LAST_MODIFIED HTTP header. It can be used to take advantage of browser-side caching.