FuseBuilder Help - Overview

At its very simplest use, FuseBuilder is a wireframe tool with a difference: all of the pages or functions defined in a FuseBuilder wireframe are actually the building blocks of a completed Fusebox application. Indeed, if you wanted to do the bulk of the work manually, you could create a wireframe in FuseBuilder and go straight to the framework generation, and it would create all the folders and the minimum code required to generate a working but non-functional framework.

FuseBuilder can do much more than that, however. In order of suggested usage, you can use FuseBuilder to:

• create a wireframe skeleton of the project, including the circuit and fuseaction names for each function, and the type of fuse (qry_ dsp_ act_ etc);
• add circuit settings and circuit xfas (which get written into the circuit's fbx_Settings file) and any per-fuseaction settings (which get written into that fuseaction's block in fbx_Switch or circuit.xml.cfm);
• add flow logic to fuseactions such as conditional processes and relocations;
• define the Responsibility, Notes, IO Ins and IO Outs of any fuses' Fusedocs, including child elements in arrays, structures and recordsets;
• define the database tables and columns that the project will require - the database's "create table" sql can be generated for MySQL, MS Access or MS SQL Server, with others available by writing extensions;
• (optional) create a layout template for use when presenting the project wireframe, to give a closer approximation to the final look-and-feel of the project;
• (optional) use FuseForms to define the html of any form inputs used in your display fuses to turn your wireframe into a sort of "pre-prototype", and use FuseQueries to create the SQL in any query fuses;
• generate your framework and write the files to disk - current generators include Fusebox 3 for ColdFusion and PHP, and Fusebox 4 for ColdFusion 5 and ColdFusion MX, with more available by writing extensions;
• assign developers to fuses and track/update their completion within FuseBuilder;
• do anything not listed here, by creating plugins;

Getting Started

1. Download the FuseBuilder zipfile by clicking on the "Downloads" link in the website's sidebar. If it's not visible, you need to log in as a member. If you aren't a member yet, sign up using the link provided and log in with the password that's emailed to you.
2. Unzip the file into the webroot of your server. All the files are contained in a folder called "fusebuilder", so they can safely be unzipped into the webroot and won't overwrite anything.
3. Run index.cfm in your web browser. You must use "http://" in the url, not "file:///". You will be prompted for a username and password to log in; because no users exist when FuseBuilder is first installed you can use any username and password you want, and that user will be created as an administrator.
4. After logging in you will automatically be sent to the FuseBuilder configuration screen, where you can confirm and customize the environment settings and any other settings you want. Submit the form to set your preferences, or click on any of the links in the sidebar if all the information is correct.
5. That's it! Your version of FuseBuilder is operational.
6. About the User Interface:
   The FuseBuilder interface can be customized per user in two areas. You can add any page to your "Bookmarks" by clicking on the "Add Bookmark" link, and you can maintain them by clicking on the "My Bookmarks" link. Non-guests can also add new links to their sidebar by clicking on "My Sidebar". These customizations are stored per-user.