# Architecture How the rebuilt board at `app/Forum/` is put together. For *why* it works the way it does — what the legacy board got wrong and what was rescued — read [`HISTORY.md`](HISTORY.md). --- ## One engine, two boards `hef.cfm` served two products through an `hTbl` switch, and so does this: | `src` | Tables | What it is | |---|---|---| | `hef` | `hef`, `hef2`, `hef_old`, `hef2_old`, `hef_s` | The **Forum** — open discussion | | `he` | `he`, `he2`, `he_old`, `he2_old`, `he_s` | The **Help Center** — a ticket desk | Both are selected with `?b=hef` / `?b=he`. Every page works on either board; only the chrome and a few Help-Center-only pages (`tickets`, `queue`) differ. `Base.board()` is the validator — it rejects anything not in `SRC_OK` before it can reach a table name. It is called `board()` and **not** `src()` because an argument named `src` would shadow a method of the same name (see [`CONVENTIONS.md`](CONVENTIONS.md)). `request.forumBoard` is set once by the router, and `Base.link()` appends `b=` automatically — so once you are in the Help Center every link stays there without each call site remembering. --- ## Request flow ``` index.cfm (front controller) │ ├─ bootstrap ......... ../s_loadvar.cfm if the application scope is cold ├─ F = new components.People() one object, the whole chain ├─ board ............. ?b= / form.b / legacy ?f=he* → SRC ├─ route ............. ?p=, plus legacy ?hi= / ?ch= compatibility ├─ POST action? ...... do it, stow a flash, redirect (POST-Redirect-GET) ├─ cfsavecontent ..... views/.cfm └─ render ............ chrome (top bar, sidebar, rail, footer) around it ``` **Writes always redirect.** The legacy board re-rendered the list inline after a write, so a browser refresh re-posted and the back button showed a stale page. **Route parameters read `form` first, then `url`.** Actions POST their target as a hidden field; reading `url` alone made `id` 0 on every POST and broke reply, edit, pin, lock, move, archive, report and subscribe simultaneously. --- ## Why server-rendered The design mockup (`app/New_Forum/`) built its chrome in JavaScript because it had to work from `file://`. This has a server, so all of it is HTML. That is not just tidiness. A forum is a body of text people find through search engines and link to each other; chrome and content that only exist after a script runs are not reliably indexable, not linkable, and gone entirely if the script fails. `assets/js/forum.js` is **enhancement only** — delete it and the board still renders, navigates, posts and moderates. --- ## Component chain A single inheritance chain, so a view instantiates **one** object and gets everything: ``` People → Mod → Posts → Board → Text → Base ``` | Component | Owns | |---|---| | `Base` | viewer identity (`me()`), **all permissions**, query runner, section map, formatting, `link()` | | `Text` | storage form in (`store`), sanitised HTML out (`render`), `safeStyle`, `toEditable`, excerpts | | `Board` | index, section listings, threads, replies, search, tickets, read state, view counts | | `Posts` | create, reply, edit, remove, CSRF, flood control, subscriptions, notifications | | `Mod` | pin, lock, move, archive, restore, mark-answer, reports, modlog | | `People` | member directory, profiles, **staff directory**, notifications, PM bridge | Subclasses can call the private helpers above them — `visibleTypeList()`, `visibilitySQL()`, `shapeThread()`, `threadCols()` all live on `Board` and are used by `Posts` and `People`. **Do not re-implement them locally.** `People` once carried its own copies and they drifted: neither knew that types 200+ are public, so profiles silently hid an author's Announcement posts. --- ## No `Application.cfc` in this directory Deliberate. `app/Forum/` inherits `app/Application.cfc` and therefore the live player session (`session.userid`, `session.username`, `session.adminflag`) set by `p_login.cfm`. Adding one — the way `app/Admin/` does — would give the forum its own empty session scope and log every player out at the door. Consequences to remember: - `onRequestStart` sets `enablecfoutputonly = true`; the router turns it off with `` so views can be written as ordinary HTML with targeted `` blocks. - `url.f` is intercepted by `Application.cfc` to include `Modules/Controllers/.cfc` when such a file exists. The forum routes on `p`, so there is no collision — but do not add a page named after a controller. --- ## Data model Nothing is imported or mirrored. Every query reads the legacy tables in place, so what the forum shows is what the database holds and `hef.cfm` keeps working against the same rows. ``` hef id, nshort(30), nlong, usernic(20), userid, datetime, lastuserid, lastusernic, lastpost, type, apost, auserid, ausernic, atime, closeflag, publicflag, paidflag hef2 id, belongto, nlong, usernic(20), userid, datetime hef_s id, nic -- a row's PRESENCE means "pinned" he_type id, short, name, detail, publicflag, access, orderby, emailflag ``` Everything the new board adds lands in a side table keyed by `(src, thread_id)` — see [`DATA-MODEL.md`](DATA-MODEL.md). ### Live and archive are one listing The legacy board treated `_old` as a *mode* you switched into (`session.hearchive`), so archived threads were invisible unless you found the dropdown. Here they are UNIONed with an `archived` marker, because "closed in 2011" is a property of a thread, not a different website. **The dedup is load-bearing.** Closing a thread copies it to `_old` *and* deletes the live row; "tag as answered" copies **without** deleting. So 2,400 `hef2` rows and 73 `he` rows sit in both tables, and a naive `UNION ALL` lists them twice. Every union filters the archive branch with `NOT EXISTS`. --- ## Related - [`ACCESS-CONTROL.md`](ACCESS-CONTROL.md) — the three-permission model. Read this before touching anything that decides who sees what. - [`DATA-MODEL.md`](DATA-MODEL.md) — the `forum_*` tables and what each is for. - [`CONVENTIONS.md`](CONVENTIONS.md) — CFML/SQL rules and the traps already hit. - [`DEVELOPMENT.md`](DEVELOPMENT.md) — running it, testing it, migrations. - [`HISTORY.md`](HISTORY.md) — what the legacy board was and what changed. - [`../Skills/`](../Skills/) — task playbooks.