What is the /root.cfm file for and why am I getting an error?

[cfcoder]

I think the /root.cfm file came with the CFWheels installation. I'm trying to rewire an existing project to accommodate a different architecture and ran into an error right off the bat.

My routes.cfm in config is very simple.

mapper()
	// .resources(name="dashboard", only="index,edit,update")
	.get(name="Dashboard", pattern="dashboard/index", to="dashboard##index")
	// .wildcard()

	// The root route below is the one that will be called on your application's home page (e.g. http://127.0.0.1/).
	// You can, for example, change "wheels##wheels" to "home##index" to call the "index" action on the "home" controller instead.
	.root(to="dashboard##index", method="get")
.end();

My controller Dashboard.cfc only contains an index function that does nothing (for now, just want to load the index.cfm page)
and the /views/Dashboard/index.cfm is as it used to be.

I believe it's complaining that the local scope is undefined. Is this suggesting I need a session or application set up first? I'm missing something fundamental here:

[cfcoder]

I tried removing the changes made which didn't help until I rebooted the application server. For now it's cleared the error from occurring. But there was something about trying to route past the login for the application and going straight to the landing page (dashboard.index) that got me into that mode. I'd still like to know why that happened.