Outputting query data

After you define a query on a page, you can use the cfoutput tag with the query attribute to output data from the record set to a page. When you use the query attribute, keep the following in mind:

ColdFusion loops through all the code contained within the cfoutput block, once for each row in the record set returned from the database.

You must reference specific column names within the cfoutput block to output the data to the page.

You can place text, CFML tags, and HTML tags inside or surrounding the cfoutput block to format the data on the page.

Although you do not have to specify the query name when you refer to a query column, you should use the query name as a prefix for best practices reasons. For example, if you specify the Emplist query in your cfoutput tag, you can refer to the Firstname column in the Emplist query as Firstname. However, using the query name as a prefix-Emplist.Firstname- is preferred, and is in the following procedure.

The cfoutput tag accepts a variety of optional attributes but, ordinarily, you use the query attribute to define the name of an existing query.

To output query data on your page:

Edit emplist.cfm so that it appears as follows:

<html>
<head>
<title>Employee List</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Employee List</h1>
<cfquery name="EmpList" datasource="CompanyInfo">
  SELECT FirstName, LastName, Salary, Contract
  FROM Employee
</cfquery>
<cfoutput query="EmpList">
#EmpList.FirstName#, #EmpList.LastName#, #EmpList.Salary#, #EmpList.Contract#<br>
</cfoutput>
</body>
</html>

Save the file and view it in your web browser:

Query output from the cfoutput tag in a browser.

A list of employees appears in the browser, with each line displaying one row of data.

Note: You might need to refresh your browser to see your changes.

You created a ColdFusion application page that retrieves and displays data from a database. At present, the output is raw and needs formatting. For more information, see "Retrieving and Formatting Data".

Reviewing the code

The results of the query appear on the page. The following table describes the highlighted code and its function:


Code	Description
<cfoutput query="EmpList">	Displays information retrieved in the EmpList query.
#EmpList.FirstName#, #EmpList.LastName#, #EmpList.Salary#, #EmpList.Contract#	Displays the value of the `FirstName`, `LastName`, `Salary`, and `Contract` fields of each record, separated by commas and spaces.
<br>	Inserts a line break (go to the next line) after each record.
</cfoutput>	Ends the `cfoutput` block.

Query output notes and considerations

When outputting query results, keep the following guidelines in mind:

A cfquery must precede the cfoutput that references its results. Both must be on the same page (unless you use the cfinclude tag; for more information, see "Including pages with the cfinclude tag," in Chapter 8).

It is a good idea to place queries at the top of the page, to simplify testing and debugging. However, some queries might not execute if certain conditions are not met.

To output data from all the records of a query, specify the query name by using the query attribute in the cfoutput tag.

Columns must exist and be retrieved to the application to output their values.

Inside a cfoutput block that uses a cfquery attribute, you can prefix the query variables with the name of the query; for example, Emplist.FirstName.

As with other attributes, surround the query attribute value with double quotes (").

As with any variables that you reference for output, surround column names with pound signs (#) to tell ColdFusion to output the column's current values.

Add a <br> tag to the end of the variable references so that ColdFusion starts a new line for each row that the query returns.

Developing ColdFusion MX Applications with CFML
Accessing and Retrieving Data

Outputting query data

To output query data on your page:

Reviewing the code

Query output notes and considerations

Comments