Don't understand cffunction and cfcomponent

Question

I am trying to alter Forta's ajax related select tutorial to fit my needs.  I am having trouble understanding the details of this .cfc though.
<cfcomponent output="false">
    <!--- Get array of media types --->
    <cffunction name="get_states" access="remote" returnType="array">
        <cfset data="">
        <cfset result=ArrayNew(2)>
        <cfset i=0>
        <!--- Get data --->
        <cfquery name="data" datasource="mydsn">
        SELECT id,states
        FROM state
        </cfquery>
        <!--- Convert results to array --->
        <cfloop index="i" from="1" to="#data.RecordCount#">
            <cfset result[i][1]=data.id[i]>
            <cfset result[i][2]=data.state[i]>
        </cfloop>
        <cfreturn result>
    </cffunction>
    <!--- Get art by media type --->
    <cffunction name="get_waters" access="remote" returnType="array">
        <cfargument name="location" type="string" required="true" default="">
        <!--- Define variables --->
        <cfset var data="">
        <cfset var result=ArrayNew(2)>
        <cfset var i=0>
        <!--- Get data --->
        <cfquery name="data" datasource="mydsn">
        SELECT id,name
        FROM waters
        WHERE bow_state = '#arguments.location#'
        </cfquery>
        <!--- Convert results to array --->
        <cfloop index="i" from="1" to="#data.RecordCount#">
            <cfset result[i][1]=data.id[i]>
            <cfset result[i][2]=data.name[i]>
        </cfloop>
        <!--- And return it --->
        <cfreturn result>
    </cffunction>
</cfcomponent>
When I put '#arguments.id#' into the second query, I get results.  However, I'd like to query by the name instead, so I am trying location.  I don't fully understand so I am hacking around with this a bit but I'd like to 1 - get results by name instead of id and 2 - understand the arguments variable so I really know what is going on.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Sorry, didn't see this before I posted.
But I think my suggestion was in keeping with the example.  If you need to select on "state", then make the "state" column of your first query to be the first value in the array that you return:
<!--- Get data --->
<cfquery name="data" datasource="mydsn">
     SELECT id,states
     FROM state
</cfquery>
<!--- Convert results to array --->
<cfloop index="i" from="1" to="#data.RecordCount#">
     <cfset result[i][1]=data.state[i]>
     <cfset result[i][2]=data.state[i]>
</cfloop>
This will make your select look something like this in the rendered HTML:
<select id="states" name="whatever...">
     <option value="Alabama">Alabama</option>
     <option value="Alaska">Alaska</option>
</select>
So then, on your second, dependent select, you'd specify the binding like so (just like you did, really):
<cfselect name="waters" bind="cfc:_ffc_cfc_select_jump.get_waters({states})" bindonload="false"></cfselect>
However, now, because the value of the "states" select options are state names, rather than ids, you should now be able to use the argument in your query based on state names:
<!--- Get art by media type --->
<cffunction name="get_waters" access="remote" returnType="array">
     <cfargument name="location" type="string" required="true" default="">
     <!--- Define variables --->
     <cfset var data="">
     <cfset var result=ArrayNew(2)>
     <cfset var i=0>
     <!--- Get data --->
     <cfquery name="data" datasource="mydsn">
        SELECT id,name
        FROM waters
        WHERE bow_state = <cfqueryparam value="#arguments.location#" cfsqltype="varchar" /> <!---Be sure to queryparam!!!--->
     </cfquery>
     <!--- Convert results to array --->
     <cfloop index="i" from="1" to="#data.RecordCount#">
          <cfset result[i][1]=data.id[i]>
          <cfset result[i][2]=data.name[i]>
     </cfloop>
     <!--- And return it --->
     <cfreturn result>
</cffunction>