Web Services are defined with WSDL, an XML format that clients need in order to introspect services (to learn about them). ColdFusion automatically generates WSDL for any component on demand. The URL for the WSDL is the URL to the CFC file with a query string of "wsdl" (so, the URL with ?wsdl...
ColdFusion makes creating Web Services incredibly easy. In fact, any ColdFusion Component method may be exposed as a Web Service by simply adding ACCESS="remote" to the definition. (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)
Specific methods (functions) within ColdFusion Components may be secured so that their access requires prior authentication. Each in a component takes an optional ROLES attribute which defines one or more roles (in a comma delimited list) that may access the function. If ROLES are defined than...
Within a ColdFusion component methods can call other methods. But there is no need to use to do this. Rather, just call the methods as if they were ColdFusion function (which they actually are). (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)
ColdFusion Components contain one or more method (functions). Methods are usually exposed to the application invoking the component, but they need not be. Methods can be flagged so that they are used internally within your own component code but not exposed externally. To flag a method as private...
ColdFusion Components (or CFC's) are reusable ColdFusion objects, delivering some of the power of objects while retaining the simplicity of CFML. Use CFC's to black-box data manipulation and business processing. (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)
XPath is a mechanism used to search and extract data from XML documents. XPath searches are specified as expressions (in much the same way as RegEx expressions are used to search for text in strings). Use the XMLSearch() function to perform XPath searches. (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)
Use XMLTransform() to apply XSLT to an XML document. XMLTransform() returns the XML content with the specified XSLT applied to it ready for you to display or use as needed. (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)
In addition to being able to use Custom Tags, ColdFusion MX can also use JSP tags and tag libraries. To use JSP tags import them using the new tag. (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)
Web services, created in any language and on any platform, can be consumed by ColdFusion. To consume a Web service simply provide the URL to the service's WSDL to the tag. (Applies to: ColdFusion MX)