{"id":2803,"date":"2025-02-24T12:16:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T17:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csimmons.dev\/blog\/?p=2803"},"modified":"2025-08-07T23:36:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T03:36:28","slug":"cleaner-code-with-cfml-formatter-vscode-extension-cfformat-commandbox-module","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csimmons.dev\/blog\/2025\/02\/cleaner-code-with-cfml-formatter-vscode-extension-cfformat-commandbox-module\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleaner code with CFML Formatter (VSCode extension) + cfformat (CommandBox module)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t work on a lot of non-CFML development but I had a couple of PHP projects and a JavaScript project I was working on last month. In an effort to tidy up my code in those projects I started using Prettier<\/a>. I even wrote a post on Prettier<\/a> and how I would be including it in future projects. Well, this weekend I was working on a CFML project and came across Mark Drew’s incredible CFML formatter<\/strong> extension for Visual Studio Code. Per the documentation:<\/p>\n

CFML formatter is a Visual Studio Code extension that provides formatting for CFML files using Lucee Server and CFFormat<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CFML formatter<\/a> and cfformat<\/a> are two great tools you can use to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Set and implement coding standards for yourself and\/or your team.<\/li>\n
  2. Format code in real time as you work in Visual Studio Code.<\/li>\n
  3. Scan, review, and even format code issues manually or in an automated manner by watching directories.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Installation<\/h2>\n

    CFML formatter<\/h3>\n

    Install the CFML formatter<\/strong> VSCode extension from the Extensions view in Visual Studio Code.<\/p>\n

    cfformat<\/h3>\n

    Install the cfformat<\/strong> CommandBox module by launching CommandBox and running the following command.<\/p>\n

    box install commandbox-cfformat<\/code><\/p>\n

    A few things you can do with CFML formatter<\/h2>\n

    Format code on save<\/h3>\n

    This will format your code using CFML formatter<\/strong> every time you save a file in Visual Studio Code (you can define the rules using a .cfformat.json<\/strong> file which you can also share with your team!).<\/p>\n

    To configure Format code on save<\/strong>:<\/p>\n