Object method access control

Generally, objects are not intended to create output other than returning actual variables. That is why the attributes output="false" have been added all over the CFC code. You will also notice that there is an attribute called access="public" in many of the methods. There are actually a number of settings for this. All of these indicate where the calling code must be for the method to run. Here is a list of the settings and definitions for each one:

• Public: This is the most common and default setting, if not declared. It means that any code on the server can call the object method and it will run.
• Private: In this case, the method may only be called from within the CFC. In practice, we would have taken our setAttribute() method and made it private. This method would normally be called only from within the actual CFC and never from outside the CFC.
• Package: This is the condition where code only in the same directory may call the method. The term package comes from the object-oriented world and it is an interesting way to protect code integrity.
• Remote: Here is one of the most powerful aspects of ColdFusion. This is actually what is called a web service. Just setting this exposes the object to the outside world. We will cover more about this later.