Download - Lotus Domino Designer - - Language Guide

8/3/2019 Lotus Domino Designer - - Language Guide

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DISCLAIMER

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WITHOUT AN Y WARRANTY WH ATSOEVER AN D TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED,

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OTHERWISE RELATED TO, THIS DOCUMENTATION OR AN Y OTHER DOCUMENTATION.

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HAVE THE EFFECT OF, CREATING ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS FROM

LOTUS (OR ITS SUPPLIERS OR LICENSORS), OR ALTERING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

OF THE APPLICABLE LICENSE AGREEMENT GOVERNING THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

COPYRIGHTUnd er the copyright laws, neither the d ocumentation nor the software m ay be copied, photocopied,

reprod uced, translated, or reduced to an y electronic medium or machine-readable form, in wh ole or

in part, w ithout the pr ior written consent of Lotus Developm ent Corporation, except in the m anner

described in the d ocumentation or the app licable licensing agreement governing the u se of the software.

Copyright 1985 1999 Lotus Developm ent Corporat ion

55 Cambrid ge Parkway

Cambridge, MA 02142

All rights reserved . Printed in the United States.

LIST OF TRADEMARKS

Domino, cc:Mail, Notes, NotesBench, NotesFlow, and Notes/ FX are trad emarks and Freelance, Freelance

Grap hics, Lotus, Lotus Compon ents, Lotus N otes, LotusScript, Notes Mail, NotesSQL, NotesView, 1-2-3,

Organizer, SmartIcons, and SmartSuite are registered tradem arks of Lotus Developm ent Corp oration.

AS/ 400, OS/ 2 Warp, RS/ 6000, and PowerPC are tradem arks and AIX, IBM, OS/ 2, Presentation

Manager, and SNA are registered tradem arks of International Business Machines Corporation.

Tivoli/ Courier is a trad emark of Tivoli Systems Inc., a w holly ow ned subsidiary of International

Business Machines Corporation. All other tradem arks are th e prop erty of their respective own ers.


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Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi. . .

1 Introduction toDomino Designer . . . . . . . . . . . 1. . . .

Overview app lications and d atabases 1. . . .

Starting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. . . .

Exploring Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. . . .

Displaying, collecting, and storing

informa tion pages, forms,

documents, and fields . . . . . . . . . 6. . . .

Organizing your d ata views

and folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. . .

Creating nav igation outlines

and navigators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. . .

Stru ctu rin g you r d isp lay fr amesets . 12. . .

Add ing autom ation actions, hotspots,

and agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. . .

Getting d atabase information

design synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. . .

2 Creating an Application . . . 15. .

Domino databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. . .

Creating databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16. . .

Creating a d atabase from a tem plate . . . 16. . .

Cop ying an existing Dom ino database . 18. . .

Starting a database from scratch . . . . . . 20. . .

Tip s for d esigning Web ap plications . . . 21. . .

Domino Applets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22. . .

Changing database and design

properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. . .

Setting Use JavaScript w hen

generating pages for a d atabase . 23. . .

Setting d atabase lau nch p rop erties . . 25. . .

Settin gs for mu ltilin gu al app lica tion s 27. . .

HTML tag attribu tes for a

Domino server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28. . .

Hide-when options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29. . .

Enabling subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . 30. . .

Reducing database maintenan ce with

shared resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30. . .

Creating an image resource . . . . . . . . . . 31. . .

Designing an app lication for maximu m

accessibility for peop le

with disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35. . .

Previewing your design work . . . . . . . . 37. . .

3 Designing Outlines . . . . . . . 41. .

Outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41. . .

Creating an outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. . .

Embedding an outline . . . . . . . . . . . 45. . .

Outline, outline entry, and embedd ed

outline properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46. . .

Selected outline properties . . . . . . . . 46. . .

Selected outline entry properties . . . 46. . .

Selected embedded

outline properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . .

Using the outline applet . . . . . . . . . . . . 51. . .

Disp laying the ou tline in a Fram eset . . . 52. . .

4 Designing Pages . . . . . . . . . 53. .

Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53. . .

Creating a page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . .

Displaying a page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . .

Creating a home p age for

an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56. . .

Styling text for the Web . . . . . . . . . . 57. . .

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Creating computed text . . . . . . . . . . 58. . .

Changing all text styles . . . . . . . . . . . 58. . .

Creating and formatting

horizontal rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59. . .

Creating programmable tables . . . . . 60. . .

Creating sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61. . .

Creating links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62. . .

Adding graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64. . .

Add ing a background color

or graphic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68. . .

Creating an imagemap . . . . . . . . . . . 69. . .

Adding an applet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70. . .

Creating an attachment . . . . . . . . . . . 71. . .

Embedding elements . . . . . . . . . . . . 71. . .

Importing, p asting, or

entering HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73. . .

Launch prop erties for pages

or forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74. . .

Programming a page or form . . . . . . . . 75. . .

Add ing HTML head er information . 75. . .

Adding JavaScript

header information . . . . . . . . . . . 75. . .

5 Designing Forms . . . . . . . . . 79. .Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79. . .

Form Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. . .

Forms and documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81. . .

Creating a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84. . .

Tips for designing forms . . . . . . . . . . 85. . .

Naming forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86. . .

Making a form available to

Web browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88. . .

Selected form properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 90. . .

Creating a response hierarchy . . . . . 92. . .

Version tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93. . .

Customizing a forms w ind ow title . . . . 95. . .

Subforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97. . .

Layout regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99. . .

Aligning and r earranging elements

in a layout region . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100. .

Changing th e size and style of a

layout region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100. .

Ad d in g a grap hic to a layou t region . 101. .Embedded Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102. .

Ad ding a file upload control . . . . . . . 102. .

Adding a group scheduler . . . . . . . . 102. .

Profile forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106. .

Designing forms that p romp t users

for input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108. .

Designing a form that p resents a

dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108. .

Designing a form that prom pts usersfor information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109. .

Designing a form that lets users

make selections from a view . . . . 110. .

Designing a form for a Dom ino

billing application . . . . . . . . . . . . 111. .

Customizing Form p rocessed

confirmation for the Web . . . . . . . 112. .

Customizing search forms . . . . . . . . . . . 113. .

Tips for imp roving documentdisplay time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118. .

Testing a form before d ep loying it . . . . . 119. .

6 Designing Fields . . . . . . . . . 121.

Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121. .

Creating a shared field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122. .

Field names and labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124. .

Defining field types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125. .

Text and rich text fields . . . . . . . . . . 126. .Rich text fields on the Web . . . . . . . . 126. .

Number fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128. .

Date/ Time fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129. .

Form ulas for Date/ Tim e field s . . . . . 133. .

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Creating a grap hical display for

Date/ Time fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. .

Names fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136. .

Readers and Authors fields . . . . . . . 137. .

Creating fields to d isplay lists

of choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137. .Generating choices for lists . . . . . . . . 139. .

Creatin g alia ses for ch oices in a list . 140. .

Password fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142. .

Formula fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144. .

Editable and computed fields . . . . . . . . 146. .

Editable field formulas . . . . . . . . . . . 148. .

Selected Field Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 151. .

Hid ing fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. .

Creating a field in a layou t region . . . . . 155. .

Ad ding H TML attributes to a field . . . . 156. .

Storing HTML in a field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157. .

Creating field s that inherit valu es . . . . . 157. .

Creating a field that inherits an

entire document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. .

Inheriting information in a

response hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . 159. .

Stand ard field s used in tem plates . . . . . 160. .Predefined fields with

built-in functionality . . . . . . . . . . 160. .

Fields for version tracking . . . . . . . . . . . 162. .

Fields that prompt u sers to

select folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. .

7 Designing Framesets . . . . 165.

Overview of framesets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165. .

Creating a frameset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166. .

Provid ing content for a fram e . . . . . . . . 168. .

Setting the style for frames . . . . . . . . . . 170. .

Lau nch in g a d atabase in to a fram eset . . 171. .

Launching a document or p age into

a frameset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172. .

8 Designing Views . . . . . . . . . 173.

Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173. .

Standard views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174. .

Calendar views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176. .

Shared and private views . . . . . . . . . . . 178. .

Creating a view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179. .

Naming a view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181. .

Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184. .

Adding titles to columns . . . . . . . . . . 184. .

Adding categories to views . . . . . . . . 185. .

Categorizing in th e All by

Category view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186. .

Generating category names . . . . . . . 187. .

Programming which documentsd isplay in a view . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189. .

Table of document selection cond itions

for views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191. .

Add ing programming to colum ns . . . . . 194. .

Table of simp le fu nction s for colu mns . . 197. .

Displaying an icon in a column . . . . . . . 200. .

Sorting documents in views . . . . . . . . . 201. .

Overriding alph abetical sorting w ith a

hidden column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204. .

Customizing w hich column links to

Web documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205. .

Ad ding p ass-thru HTML to a colu mn . . 205. .

Using a colum n to sw itch to

another view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205. .

Generating colum n totals, averages,

and percents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206. .

Table of view , row , an d colu mn styles . 207. .

Using HTML formatting for viewsand columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210. .

Default views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210. .

Defining what u sers see wh en they

open views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210. .

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Formu las that look for values in

columns and views . . . . . . . . . . . 211. .

Indenting response documents . . . . . . . 213. .

Form ulas for response columns . . . . . . . 214. .

Displaying views in

Web applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215. .View applet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216. .

Creating an embedd ed view or

embedded folder pane . . . . . . . . . 218. .

Show single category in

embedded views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220. .

Setting line coun ts in

embedded views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221. .

Hiding a view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221. .

Identifying unread documents . . . . . . . 222. .Formatting date and

time columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223. .

Displaying numbers in colum ns . . . . . . 224. .

Refreshing view indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . 225. .

Designing folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227. .

Designing a form as a view or

navigator template . . . . . . . . . . . . 228. .

9 Designing Navigators . . . . . 229.

Navigators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229. .

Creating a navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230. .

Ad d in g grap hic objects to n avigators . . 231. .

Adding and enhancing graph ics

in a navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232. .

Add ing text to and highlighting a

navigator object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233. .

Ad ding hotspots to navigators . . . . . 234. .

Automating navigators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234. .N avigators, im agem ap s, an d ou tlin es . . 238. .

Displaying a navigator w hen u sers open

a database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239. .

Hiding navigators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239. .

Embedd ing navigators in a form,

subform, page, or document . . . . 240. .

Overriding an embedded navigator

with a navigator template . . . . . . 241. .

Importing a navigator into a form,

subform, page, or document . . . . 241. .

Testing navigators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242. .

10 Automationin Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245.

Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245. .

Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246. .

Hotspots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247. .

Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248. .

Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249. .Creating an unshared form action or

view action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253. .

Action bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257. .

Creatin g an d in sertin g sh ared a ction s . . 258. .

Creating a link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260. .

Creating a button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261. .

Creating a text pop-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262. .

Creating a formula pop-up . . . . . . . . . . 263. .

Creating an action hotspot . . . . . . . . . . . 265. .

Creating a program for an event . . . . . . 266. .

Building an agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267. .

Options for running agents . . . . . . . . . . 269. .

Selecting w here to ru n a

scheduled agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271. .

Examp les of agents to run before

Web users open or save

documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272. .

Setting up agent security . . . . . . . . . . . . 273. .

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Troubleshooting agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277. .

Sim ulating the ru nning of an agent . 278. .

Agent Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279. .

N otes server console com mand s . . . . 280. .

Agent Manager

debugging information . . . . . . . . 282. .

NotesLog Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283. .

AgentRunner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284. .

Simp le actions for

automation components . . . . . . . . 287. .

LotusScript for automation

components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291. .

Restricted LotusScript and Java

agent operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292. .

Form ulas for au tom ation com pon en ts . . 294. .

JavaScr ip t for au tomation comp on en ts . 295. .

Table of supp orted JavaScript objects

for automated components . . . . . 296. .

Importing Java programs . . . . . . . . . . . 299. .

Creating Java program s for agents . . . . 299. .

Actions and agents names . . . . . . . . . . . 300. .

Hiding automated components . . . . . . . 302. .

11 Including Java Appletsin Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 303.

Java applets overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303. .

Enabling Java applets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304. .

Importing an applet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305. .

Linking to an app let on the Web . . . . 306. .

Setting applet parameters . . . . . . . . . . . 307. .

Setting app let param eters, attributes,

and properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308. .

Setting HTML attributes . . . . . . . . . . 309. .

Settin g Altern ate HTML attribu tes . . 309. .

Setting properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310. .

Settin g u p sh ared ap plet resou rces . . 312. .

Selecting, running, deleting, and

copying applets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313. .

Refreshing an d exporting

applet files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314. .

Setting secu rity for ap plets . . . . . . . . 314. .

Saving applet data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317. .Tips and troubleshooting for

Java applets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320. .

12 Including OLE Objectsin Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 325.

Designing ap plications u sing OLE . . . . 325. .

Linking and embedding objects in forms 327. .

Add ing OLE custom controls to

a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328. .

Mod ifying a form to size an

embedded object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329. .

Mod ifying a form so that it sizes an

OLE cu stom con trol or JavaBean . 330. .

Modifying a form to run a custom

con trol or Jav aBean in Read mod e 331. .

Letting docum ents up date objects

created by forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331. .

Lau nching objects au tom atically . . . . . . 331. .

Designing a form th at launches anobject automatically . . . . . . . . . . . 333. .

Designing a form th at launches a

new object automatically . . . . . . . 334. .

Launching an object in-place or

out-of-place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335. .

Specifying the event th at causes an

object to autolaunch . . . . . . . . . . 336. .

Designing a form for d ocuments that

open as modal dialog boxes . . . . . 337. .

Designing a form to hide the

Notes document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337. .

Hiding an embed ded object in

a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339. .

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Publishing actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340. .

Exchanging data using Notes/ FX . . . . . 342. .

Prep arin g a form to exch an ge d ata . . . . 343. .

13 Restricting Access to

and Securing Parts ofan Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347.

Security in an application . . . . . . . . . . . 347. .

Controlling access to a database

during design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349. .

Enforcing encrypted Web transactions

using SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350. .

Restricting access to d ocum ents . . . . . . 351. .

Rest rict ing who can see a view or folder 351. .

Restricting who can up date thecontents of a folder . . . . . . . . . . . . 353. .

Restricting access to all docum ents

created from a form . . . . . . . . . . . 353. .

Restricting wh o can create or read all

documents from a form . . . . . . . . 354. .

Preventing printing, forwarding, and

copying of documents . . . . . . . . . 355. .

Using a Read ers field to restrict access

to specific documents . . . . . . . . . . 355. .

Using an Au thors field to restrict w hocan edit specific documents . . . . . 356. .

Restricting wh o can read or edit

specific documents . . . . . . . . . . . . 356. .

Tracking who ed its a document . . . . . . 359. .

Restricting authors from changing fields

in existing documents . . . . . . . . . 360. .

Creating pages, forms, outlines, views,

and agents for p ublic access . . . . . 360. .

Encrypting d ocuments inNotes applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 361. .

Encrypting documents . . . . . . . . . . . 363. .

Creating a secret

encryption key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364. .

Encrypting docum ents

automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365. .

Creating a field that gen erates a list

of secret encryption keys . . . . . . . 366. .

Restricting w ho can ed it a section . . . . . 368. .

Restricting w ho can access a section ofa document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369. .

Attaching electronic signatures to

docum ents and sections in

Notes applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 371. .

How Designer stores and verifies

electronic signatu res in

Notes applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 372. .

14 Completing anApplication and ManagingDesign Changes . . . . . . . . . . . 375.

Completing an application . . . . . . . . . . 375. .

Creating a d atabase icon for a

Notes application . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375. .

Prov id ing on line help for an app lica tion 377. .

Creating About an d Using

documents for a database . . . . . . . 377. .

Creating context-sensitive help for

an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379. .

Writing help for fields . . . . . . . . . . . 380. .

Creating and displaying more

detailed application help . . . . . . . 381. .

Specifying th e Web site home page in

the Server document . . . . . . . . . . 382. .

Restricting design changes . . . . . . . . . . 383. .

Checking the application design

before rollout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383. .

Checking form design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384. .

Checking field design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385. .

Checking view design . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386. .

Making a d esign copy of a

completed application . . . . . . . . . 388. .

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Pilot testing an application . . . . . . . . . . 389. .

Renaming a database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391. .

Renaming design elements . . . . . . . . 391. .

Design synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391. .

Upd ating documents after redesigning

a form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393. .

Ch eckin g field valu es in a d ocu men t . . . 394. .

Using agents to up date docum ents

affected by form changes . . . . . . . 395. .

Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397. .

Creating templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398. .

Creatin g a d esign library tem plate . . 401. .

Linking a d atabase to a tem plate . . . 402. .

Linking ind ividu al design elements

to a template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402. .

Making and d istributing

design changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403. .

Refreshing a design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404. .

Replacing a design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406. .

Design changes and replication . . . . . . . 407. .

Preventing design changes . . . . . . . . . . 408. .

Hiding the design of a database . . . . . . 409. .

Hiding design elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411. .

15 Creating aWorkflow Application . . . . . . . 413.

Workflow Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413. .

Planning workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414. .

Fea tu res that suppor t automatic mailing 415. .

Enabling u sers to view docum ents . . . . 416. .

Mailin g fea tu res and Web ap p lica tion s . 417. .

Field s that control m ailing op tions . . . . 417. .

Disp layin g th e MailSen d d ialog box . . . 421. .

Creating a database that

receives mailings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421. .

Using an agent to send

automatic replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422. .

Using an agent to m ail notices . . . . . 422. .

Using an agent to send

announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423. .

16 Connecting toEnterprise Data . . . . . . . . . . . . 425.

Accessing data in enterp rise

applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425. .

Using ODBC to access

relational databases . . . . . . . . . . . 428. .

Registering data sources

for ODBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429. .

Writing formu las and scripts to

access relational d atabases . . . . . . 430. .

17 Including Java Servletsin Web Applications . . . . . . . . 431.

Overview of Java servlets . . . . . . . . . . . 431. .

Comp aring agents, servlets, and

CGI programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432. .

Running servlets in Domino . . . . . . . . . 434. .

Appendix A DominoDesigner Templates . . . . . . . . 441.

Appendix B Importing toand Exporting from Views . . . 443.

Appendix C DevelopingApplications Using MAPI . . . . 455.

Appendix D Features toAvoid Using in WebApplications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.

Appendix E Programminga Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475.

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.

Contents ix


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Preface

This guide describes how to create all the design elements u sed in bu ildingDomino app lications, how to share information w ith other applications,

and how to customize applications.

This guide is intended for developers w ho are creating app lications with

Domino Designer.

Structure of this guide

This guide consists of 17 chapters and 5 append ixes:

Chap ter 1, Introdu ction to Domino Designer, provides an overview of the

Designer user interface and a br ief introduction to key product featur es anddesign elements.

Chap ter 2, Creating an Ap plication, prov ides an overview of creating

app lications along with some design considerations.

Chap ter 3, Designing Outlines, shows you how to create and format an

outline, and how to embed an ou tline on a form or p age to use as a

navigational structure for your application.

Chap ter 4, Designing Pages, describes designing p ages for Web and

Notes applications.

Chap ter 5, Designing Forms, describes designing forms and includ es

information on d esigning some special types of forms.

Chap ter 6, Designing Fields, describes how to create fields to collect an d

store specific types of information.

Chap ter 7, Designing Framesets, introd uces frames and framesets, which

can ad d structure to your ap plication.

Chap ter 8, Designing Views, describes how to design views, which help

users find the d ocum ents they want and also serve as sum maries of the

database contents.Chap ter 9, Designing Navigators, explains how to create graphical

navigators that help u sers find d ocum ents and use the database.

Chap ter 10, Automat ion in App lications, explains how to ad d au tomat ion

features to an application to make it easier to perform tasks in the

background.

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Chap ter 11, Includ ing Java Ap plets in App lications, describes adding

Java applets to forms, documen ts, and pages.

Chap ter 12, Includ ing OLE Objects in App lications, illustra tes ways to

design ap plications that u se OLE technology to integrate data from other

applications.

Chap ter 13, Restricting Access to and Securing Parts of an App lication,briefly describes Designer features for limiting access to parts of an

application.

Chap ter 14, Comp leting an Ap plication and Managing Design Changes,

describes how to docum ent an application and how to test it before

dep loyment, as well as how to make, control, and distribute design changes

to app lications that are already in use.

Chap ter 15, Creating a Workflow Ap plication, describes how to create a

workflow ap plication by using au tomatic mailing features.

Chap ter 16, Connecting to Enterp rise Data, briefly describes tools andtechniques for connecting a Designer app lication to enterp rise data.

Chap ter 17, Includ ing Java Servlets in Web App lications, describes

creating and ru nning Java servlets on a Domino Web server.

App end ix A, Domino Designer Templates, lists the temp lates available

with Domino Designer that are specifically intend ed for u se by application

developers.

App end ix B, Importing to and Expor ting from Views, provid es tips and

restrictions on moving data to and from v iews.

App end ix C, Developing App lications Using MAPI, prov ides

information on the available support for accessing N otes mail files.

App end ix D, Features to Avoid Using in a Web Ap plications, identifies

features that are not app licable to Web browsers or are not yet sup ported

for them.

App end ix E, Program ming a Web Site, contains information abou t using

Domino URL command s for programm ing related to Web app lications,

such as formu las, Java, JavaScript, Perl and CGI script ing, and Visual Basic

script.

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Structure of Notes and Domino documentation

Documentation for Notes and Domino is prov ided on line in three

databases available from the Help menu :

Notes 5 Client Help

Domino 5 Administration Help

Domino 5 Designer Help

In add ition, the Administration and Designer documentation is available as

pr inted books. In N otes, select File - Other Help to see a tab le of all the

available documentation. You can order books from the Lotus Web site at:

ww w.lotus.com/ store.

Documentation for the Notes Client

In add ition to the online Help, the pr inted bookNotes Step by S tep provides

a tutor ial for beginning N otes users.

Documentation for Domino Administration

The following table shows the printed books that compr ise the Domino

Administration documentation set. The information in these books is also

found in the Domino 5 Adm inistration Help online database.

Moving to Notes and

Domino Release 5

Describes how to up grade existing Domino

servers and Notes clients to Release 5. Also

describes how to move u sers to Domino from

other messaging systems.

Configuring the DominoNetwork

Explains how to configure a sp ecific networkto work w ith Domino. Also illustrates how to

run Notes using mu ltiple network protocols

and individua l protocols, such as AppleTalk,

Banyan VINES, NetBIOS, Novell SPX

(NetWare), and TCP/ IP.

Administering the Domino

System, Volumes 1 and 2

Describes how to set up and manage servers,

users, server connections, mail, replication,

secur ity, calend ars and schedu ling, Web

servers, NN TP services, billing, and system

monitoring. Describes how to troubleshootsystem problems.

Administering Domino

Clusters

Describes how to set up , manage, and

troubleshoot Domino clusters.

Preface xiii


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Managing Domino

Databases

Provides information on managing databases,

including p utting d atabases into prod uction,

setting up access control lists and replication,

and maintaining d atabases.

Documentation for Domino DesignerThe following table shows the printed books that comprise the Domino

Designer d ocumentation set. The information in these books is also found in

the Domino 5 Designer H elp online database.

Application Development

with Domino Designer

Explains how to create all the d esign elements

used in building Domino applications, how to

share information with other app lications, and

how to custom ize applications.

Domino Designer

Programming GuideVolume 1: Formula

Language

Introduces programming in Domino Designer

and describes the formula language, the@functions, and the @comm ands.

Domino Designer

Programming Guide

Volume 2: LotusScript

Classes

Provides reference information on the

LotusScript classes, which provid e access to

databases and other Domino structures.

Domino Designer

Programming Guide

Volume 3: Java Classes

Provides reference information on the Java

classes, wh ich p rovide access to da tabases and

other Domino structures.

LotusScript Language

Guide

Describes the basic building blocks of

LotusScript, how to use the language to create

applications, an overview of the LotusScript

programming language, and a comprehensive

list of language elements.

Domino Enterprise

Integration Guide

Provides information on how to set up Domino

Connectors, how to u tilize Domino Enterprise

Conn ection Services (DECS) to access enterp rise

data in real-time, and reference material for

programming w ith the LotusScript Extension

for Domino Connectors.

Managing Domino

Databases

Provides information on managing databases,

including p utting d atabases into production,

setting up access control lists and replication,

and maintaining d atabases.

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Step by Step

Setting up a Domino Server

Moving to Notes and Domino Release 5

Configuring the Domino Network

Administering Domino Clusters

Administering the Domino System, Volume 1

Administering the Domino System, Volume 2

Application Development with Domino Designer

Domino Designer Templates Guide

Domino Designer Programming Guide, Volume 1: Formula Language

Domino Designer Programming Guide, Volume 2: LotusScript Classes

Domino Designer Programming Guide, Volume 3: Java Classes

LotusScript Language Guide

Domino Enterprise Integration Guide

Managing Domino

Databases

Administration

HelpRelease Notes

Designer

Help

not available in print

Domino Objects

Posters

Notes

Help*

*

*

**

** print only

Preface xv


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Chapter 1Introduction to Domino Designer

Welcome to Domino Designer. Designer is an integrated app lication

development environment wh ich lets developers and Web site designers

create, manage, and dep loy secure, interactive app lications for the Domino

Server.

To see whats new in Release 5, look for this icon. If you are new to

Designer or just getting to kn ow Release 5, this brief tour w ill introdu ce

you to some of the features in Release 5.

Overview applications and databases

Applications

Domino app lications let peop le share, collect, track, and organize

information, using Lotus N otes or the Web. Domino applications can

cover a wide range of business solutions, includ ing:

Workflow Applications that rou te information.

Tracking Ap plications that mon itor p rocesses, projects, performance,

or tasks.

Collaboration Applications that create a forum for discussion an d

collaboration.

Data Integration Applications that integrate with relational

databases and transactional systems.

Personalization Applications that p roduce dynamic content based

on, for example, user name, user p rofile, access rights, or time of day.

Globalization Ap plications that use Dom ino Global Workbench to

produ ce global sites.

Every Domino app lication starts with a Domino d atabase. All Dominoapp lications contain one or more Domino databases.

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Databases

A da tabase is the container for the data, logic, and design elements in you r

app lication. Design elements are bu ilding blocks you use to create your

app lication. Design elements include:

Pages

Forms

Outlines

Navigators

Views

Folders

Framesets

Shared Resources

Agents

Creating a database

There are three ways to create a database:

Using a template.

The fastest way to create a database is to use one of the Domino

temp lates included w ith Designer R5. Designer includes templates for

creating a variety of app lications. App lications created u sing one of the

Designer templates can be used as is or customized.

To decide if there is a template that is right for you , see the Table of

Domino Designer templates.

Copying an existing d atabase.

If you have access to a database that alread y has all the elements you

are looking for, you can copy the design and create a new d atabase with

the same features. Once you have created the database, you can

customize it to meet your companys needs.

Starting from scratch.

If the database you need is unique, the best method for you is to start

from scratch. When you create a database from scratch, you start w ith a

blank or emp ty da tabase and create all of the design elements.In order to begin creating you r app lication, you need to start Designer.

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Starting Designer

There are two w ays to start Designer after starting the N otes client:

From the Designer Icon

From a database in the Notes client

To start Designer from the Notes client Designer icon

1. Start the N otes client.

2. Click the Designer icon on the bookmark bar on the left of the

bookmark pane.

After you start Designer you can open an existing d atabase or start a new

one. Once you open a d atabase, either a new or existing one, you w ill be in

the Designer Workspace.

If you a lready have a database to work w ith, you can start Designer directly

from that database.

To start Designer from an open database in the Notes client

You m ust have designer or m anager access to the database in the ACL.

1. Open the d atabase.

2. Choose View - Design.

or

1. Right-click the database icon on the bookm ark bar.

2. Choose Open in Designer.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Domino Designer 3


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Exploring Designer

Building a great ap plication requ ires the right tools. You can think of

Designer as you r workshop it contains all the tools you need to build

a great app lication. Before you get started building , well explore the

work area.

Item Purpose

Menu bar Presents context-sensitive m enu s of Designer com mand s.

Preview buttons Launches the browser of your choice to preview your work.

Tabbed windows Navigates among the open windows on your workspace.

Design action buttons Perform actions such as creating elements, saving, closing.

Properties box button Opens the properties box for the active design element.

Design pan e Con tain s th e Design bookm arks icon s an d th e Design list.

Design bookmarks Opens lists of bookmarked applications.

Design list Takes you to Work p ane of a d esign elem ent or resou rce.

Work p an e Lists everyth in g in th e d atabase for th e cu rren tly selected

design element in top level view. Once an element is

opened , becomes the Work area for that element.

Menu bar

Design bookmarks

Design list

Design pane

Previewbuttons

Propertiesbox

button

Work pane

Design actionbuttons

Tabbedwindows



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When you open a design element such as a p age or form, you will be in the

work area for that design element. In ad dition to items in the Designer

Workspace, the Programmers pane ap pears.

Item Purpose

Reference tab The Reference tab of the Info List replaces the R4.x LotusScript

browser w indow and is langu age-sensitive. The contents of the

Reference tab change dep end ing on the language selected. Ifyou are ed iting in the Formula language, the window contains

@Comm and s, @Functions an d fields. If you are ed iting in

LotusScript, the w indow conta ins LotusScript information. If you

are ed iting in JaveScript, the wind ow contains information abou t

the Docum ent Object Mod el. If you a re editing in Java, the

wind ow contains Java-related information.

Objects tab The Objects tab of the Info List lets you navigate between objects

and events in the Programmers pane. To work on an object,

select it to expand its list of proper ties and events. If you select a

prop erty or event, the script area of the Programm ers pane

changes to show the code that d escribes it. Events and prop ertiesthat are already p rogrammed appear in a darker color.

Script area Enter formulas in the Script area. Formulas can be writ ten in

Formu la langu age, LotusScript, JavaScript, or Simp le Actions.

Objects tab

Script area

Referencetab



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Properties boxes

Properties boxes are tools for working the var ious p ieces of your

app lication. With them you can select or mod ify settings for the element

you are w orking w ith. Properties boxes have tabbed p anes, and each pane

gives you access to different attributes or op tions. In m ost wind ows, right-

clicking w ill open u p the Prop erties box for that d esign element. You can

also choose Design - Properties from the menu.

Properties boxes are context-sensitive so you can leave them op en on your

workspace and they w ill change to reflect the element that you are working

with. Collapse a Prop erties box by dou ble-clicking the top of the box. When

collapsed, som e of the properties boxes become context-sensitive tool bars.

Displaying, collecting, and storing information pages, forms,documents, and fields

How you d isplay, collect, and store information is an important p art of any

app lication. The design elements you u se to accomplish these tasks are

pages, forms and documents, and fields.

Pages

A page is a database design element tha t displays information. Pages are a

familiar Web concept. Almost every Web site has a home p age a page



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that contains information abou t the comp any, graph ics that enhance the

page, and links that take you to other p laces within the site or elsewhere

on the Web.

Pages can be used anytime you are displaying information to the user.

Pages can contain:

Text

Tables

Graphics

Applets

Embedd ed objects such as navigators

Links

Pages often w ork in conjun ction w ith framesets to d isplay graphics, site

navigation, or applets.

For more information on p ages, see Designing Pages.

Forms and DocumentsForms, like pages, display information. Everything th at can be don e with

a page can be d one with a form. What sets forms ap art from pages is that



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forms can be used to collect information. A form p rovides the structur e for

creating and displaying documen ts. Documents are the elemen ts that store

data in the database.

When you create a form in Designer, you can choose to have a user open

the form in the Notes client from the Create menu . On the Web, you

provide the user a button or action that op ens the form. When the u ser fills

out the information and saves it, the information is saved as a document.

When a u ser opens the document, the document uses the form as a temp late

to provide the structure for displaying the d ata.

For more information on forms and docum ents, see Designing Forms.



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Fields

Fields are the element that collect d ata. You can create fields on ly on forms.

Each field on a form stores a single type of informat ion. A fields data typ e

defines the kind of information a field accepts.

You can create fields in the following data typ es:

Text

Date/ Time

Number

Dialog List

CheckboxRadio button

Rich Text

Authors

Names

Readers

Password

Formula

You d ecide if a field is editable that is, populated by user inpu t orcalculated that is, based on formu las. You can also program fields to

retrieve data from other Domino app lications or from external sources. You

can even create shared fields, wh ich can be used in many forms w ithin the

same d atabase. The information collected in fields is stored in documents.

For more information, see Designing Fields.



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Organizing your data views and folders

Views and folders organize the documents in your database.

Views

A view is a sorted or categorized list of documents. Views are the en try

point to the d ata stored in a d atabase. Every database mu st have at least

one view, although most d atabases have more than one view. Views select

the documents they d isplay programatically. You can create a view th at

shows all of the documents in your d atabase or only some of the

docum ents, based on a formu la. Views can sort the documents they display

by a field on the form, such as d ate, category, or au thor. You can create

views that are h idden from u sers but organize your d ata so that other

app lications can retrieve the information from the docum ents. Views can

have multiple columns that d isplay any of the information contained in the

document.

For more information, see Designing Views.

Folders

A folder is a container that stores docum ents. Folders have the same design

elements as views, and you design folders in mu ch the same way as a view.

The difference between folders and views is that a view always has a

docum ent selection formu la that collects and d isplays documen ts

automatically. A folder remains emp ty until users or programs add

documents to the folder.

For more information on folders, see Notes 5 Client H elp.

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Creating navigation outlines and navigators

Every app lication need s to include a way to navigate from one place to

another. When you create a database from scratch, Designer provides a

defau lt navigation structure called the Folder p ane or Navigation pane. The

Folder pane displays all the shared views and folders in the database. The

Folder pan e displays on the left pane of the Notes client and on the top leftof a browser wind ow. You can choose to use this navigation structure or

design a d ifferent one.

Outlines

You can create an ou tline to custom ize the Folder pan e of an app lication.

An ou tline is the skeleton of your app lication: each ou tline entry represents

a key piece of the application. An ou tline can includ e background graphics,

custom icons, links, or actions. When the outline is embed ded on a p age or

form, users can click on the ou tline entries, which w ill take them where you

want them to go. The process of creating a navigation structure w ith anoutline involves three steps:

Create a new or d efau lt outline and create an ou tline entry for each

piece of the application you w ant to include in the navigation structure

or site map .

Embed your ou tline on a form or p age.

Format the d isplay of the embed ded ou tline. You can includ e the page

or form that the outline is embedded on in a frameset if you choose.

You can also use an ou tline to plan your app lication before you create any

design elements.

For more information, see Designing Outlines.



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Navigators

Nav igators are graph ical roadm aps that d irect users to specific par ts of a

da tabase. They let users find docum ents or take actions without having to

open v iews. Navigators are like imagemaps. You can create hotspots on a

graphic that take the u sers to links within or ou tside of your app lication.

You can embed navigators on forms or pages. Navigators can take the place

of the folder pane or w ork in conjun ction w ith it.

For more information on n avigators, see Designing N avigators.

Structuring your display framesets

For an ap plication interface to be intu itive and efficient, it mu st make good

use of the u sers screen. One w ay for a designer to accomp lish th is is to use

a frameset. A frameset is a collection of frames. A fram e is one section, or

pan e, of the larger frameset and is ind ependen tly scrollable. By usingframesets, designers can create links and relationships between frames.

Framesets provide the ability to leave one page d isplayed as users scroll

or link to other p ages or databases. There is no HTML required to design

a frameset.

Designer lets you:

Create an effective mu lti-paned user interface for your app lications

Control frame attributes su ch as size, scrolling, bord er colors and

width , and frame spacing



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Determine frame source content at ru ntime

Create programmable links that are maintained automatically

Set a frameset to launch autom atically when a da tabase, form, or

page opens

For more information on framesets, see Designing Framesets.

Adding automation actions, hotspots, and agents

Add ing automation to an app lication can speed up repetitive tasks, route

documents, upd ate information, perform calculations, run programs, and

check for errors.

You ad d automated components to the design elements in a Domino

app lication such as a d atabase, a view, a form, or a docum ent.

ActionsActions autom ate tasks such as mimicking the Notes menu s or tasks

defined by formu las or a LotusScript p rogram . Users click a button ,

hotspot, or pick from the Action menu to execute the action. In particular,

use actions to simu late Notes menu items for web browser users.

Hotspots

A hotspot is text or a p icture that a u ser can click to perform an action, run a

formula or script, or follow a link. The hotspot can be a link to another w eb

site, da tabase, or element in a database; a bu tton; a pop -up; or an action.

Agents

Agents are programs that perform a series of autom ated tasks accord ing to

a set schedule or at the request of a user. An agent consists of three

components: wh en it acts (the trigger), wh at documents it acts on (the

search), and what it does (the action). Use agents to set up user-activated

tasks, or background tasks, in any par t of a Domino ap plication. Agents can

be simple, such as moving d ocuments to a folder, or comp lex, using Java

programs to run mu ltiple automated tasks at schedu led times. Agents are

stored with d atabases, but you can use them to run au tomated tasks for

views, documents, fields, and da tabases.

For more information, see Adding Autom ation to Applications.



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Getting database information design synopsis

The design synopsis lets you generate a detailed rep ort on a par ticular

da tabase. The design synopsis includes general information on the database

such as size or access control lists as well as specific information about the

design elements includ ed in your database.

For more information, see Design synopsis.

Its time to build!

This comp letes the Designer tour. Its time for you to go exploring on yourown . If you havent don e so already, and you d like more help getting to

know you r way around the Designer tools, you can go through the

Designer Gu ided Tour . Choose Help - Guided Tour to start it. Remember

what you bu ild with your tools can be as simple or as comp lex as you want.

The Designer tools are at your disposal.



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Chapter 2Creating an Application

This chapter p rovides an overv iew of creating applications and includ es

design considerations and general information.

Domino databases

All Domino applications begin w ith a Domino database. Domino databases

are the containers for your app lication. Databases hold th e data, logic, and

design elements for your app lication. Your Domino ap plication can be

mad e up of one or more Domino databases.

With Designer, you create one app lication to use on both your intranet and

the Internet. The structure of a database is the same wh ether for the Notes

client or a Web browser. What m akes a database a Web database is the

viewing mechanism: users view it through a Web browser instead of theNotes client. You d o all design w ork in Designer and use the same design

elemen ts forms, fields, views, outlines to d isplay and organize the

content.

Data

Documents

Fields

Design Elements:

Pages, Forms, Views ...

Field Type:

Rich Text

Field Name:

Body

Data:

'Dear John ...'

DATABASE

DOCUMENT

FIELD

}

}}

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Creating databases

There are three ways to create a new d atabase:

Using a template

Copying an existing database

Starting from scratch

Creating a database from a template

Designer comes w ith a collection of templates that you can use to create

app lications qu ickly. A template is a file that contains th e structure for the

da tabase that is, pages, forms, and v iews but does not contain

docum ents. For example, to design a d iscussion d atabase, use the

Discussion tem plate (DISCSW50.NTF), which contains forms that track

discussion thread s in a hierarchy, as well as views that d isplay the entriesby d ate, author, or category. Designer templates have .ntf as their file

extension.

See Domino Designer Templates for a complete list of Designer

Templates.

Customizing a TemplateYou can u se a temp late as is or customize it for your organ ization. The

templates that ship w ith Designer can be u sed as m aster temp lates. What

makes a temp late a master template is that changes mad e to a master

temp late can be passed a long to all databases created from that temp late.Inheriting design changes from a master temp late can be initiated by the

end user or by the Domino server, which run s a nightly Design task. You

can disable this feature wh en you create your database by deselecting

Inherit design from temp late. For more information on customizing a

temp late, see Comp leting an ap plication and m anaging d esign changes.

To create a new database from a templateAfter creating a database from a temp late, you may want to m ake changes

to the database. Keep in mind th at if you h ave selected Inherit design from

temp late, changes you make to a database can be overwritten nightly by

the Domino server design task or by refreshing the design of the database.If you p lan to make design changes to the database and wan t to avoid the

possibility of writing over design changes, deselect the d atabase prop erty

Inherit design from temp late or protect individu al design elements.



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1. Choose File - Database - New . In the server field d o one of the

following:

Leave Local selected to store the new d atabase on you r hard d isk.

Select or enter a server nam e to store the new d atabase on a server.

This allows multiple people to work on the database design.

2. In the Title field , enter a title for the n ew da tabase. The Title can have amaximu m of 32 characters.

Note As you typ e a title, Designer add s a name to the File Nam e field .You can accept this database file nam e or change it. Database file names

can be up to 8 characters and end with the file extension .nsf. If you

plan to u se the database you are creating as a template for other

databases, use the file extension .ntf.

3. Select a temp late from the list. To display additional temp lates, do one

following:

Click Show advanced tem plates and select a temp late from the list.

Click Temp late Server to u se templates that reside on a server.

4. (Optional) Click Encryption, select Locally encrypt this database

using:, select an encryption type, and click OK. For information on

encrypting a database, see Notes and Domino encryption in

Managing Domino Databases.

5. (Optional) If you are creating a database that w ill be on a Domino

Release 4.x server, click Size limit an d select a size (in gigabytes), and

click OK.

6. (Optional) Click the Advanced tab and select the options that you want

app lied to you r database. Click OK.

For a description of the advanced op tions, seeManaging Domino Databases.

7. Click OK.

8. (Optional) Choose File - Database - Proper ties, click the Design tab , and

deselect Inherit design from template. This will prevent th e new

database from inheriting design changes from the master template

whose design the database is based on.

Chapter 2: Creating an Application 17


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Copying an existing Domino database

If you have found an ap plication that contains all or most of the

functionality you are looking for, you can copy the d esign of the d atabase

and use it as the basis for a new ap plication. Before you copy the d esign of a

da tabase, check its Database Properties. If No d esign information is

available is show n on the Database Properties box, the designer hashidd en the d esign of the database, and you w ill never be able to mod ify the

design of the new d atabase.

If you copy th e design of an existing database, keep in mind th at the

settings for the full-text index are copied as part of the d esign. When you

complete the new ap plication, be sure to ask the database manager to create

a new full-text index. For information on creating a full-text index for a

da tabase copy, see Setting up and man aging full text indexes inManaging

Domino Databases.

You can u se the new d atabase as is, or you can mod ify it. Once you modifya database that you copied , protect your customized views, forms,

subforms, nav igators, shared fields, or agents. For more information on

protecting design elements, see Preventing design changes.

To create a new database by copying an existing database

1. Open the d atabase you w ant to copy.

2. Choose File - Database - New Copy.

3. In the server field do one of the following:

Leave Local selected to store the new da tabase on you r workstation

hard disk.

Select or enter a server nam e to store the new d atabase on a server.

This allows multiple people to work on the d atabase design.

4. (Optional) In the Title field, enter a title for the new database. The Title

can have a maximum of 32 characters.

Note When you copy a database, Designer autom atically give the newdatabase the same title and file name as the originally database. You

can accept the da tabase title and file name or change it. Database

filenames can be up to 8 characters and end with the file extension .nsf.

If you p lan to use the database you are creating as a temp late, use thefile extension .ntf rath er than .nsf.



encrypting a da tabase, see Notes and Domino encryp tion in




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Release 4.x server, click Size limit an d select a size (in gigabytes), and

click OK.

7. Select Database d esign on ly so that the d atabases docum ents will not

be copied to your new d atabase.

8. Deselect Access Control List so that the original databases accesscontrol list will not be copied to you r new da tabase.

9. Click OK.

10. (Optional) Choose File - Database - Properties, click the Design tab, and

deselect Inherit design from template. This will prevent th e new

database from inheriting design changes from the temp late wh ose

design the database is based on.

To copy an individual design element

In add ition to copying the entire design of a database, you can copy

ind ividua l design elements. If there is a form, view, or other design elementyou w ould like in you r da tabase, copy it from th e original database or

template and paste it into your d atabase.

1. Open the database or template containing the d esign element you w ant

to copy.

2. From the Work pane, select the element or elements that you want to

copy, such as a form or a view, and choose Edit - Copy.

To select multiple elements, hold d own the CTRL key while you are

selecting the elements you want to copy.

3. Open the database where you wan t to paste the element or elements.

4. In the Design pane, click the type of element you are pasting, such as

forms or v iews, and choose Edit - Paste.

If your database inherits its design from a template, protect views, forms,

subforms, navigators, shared fields, or agents that you copy into your

database.

To protect an individual design element1. Select each design element in the Work p ane.

2. Choose Design - Design Prop erties.

3. On the Design tab select Prohibit design refresh or rep lace to modify.



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Starting a database from scratch

If you need a unique app lication, start from scratch. To do this, begin by

creating a blank d atabase. A blank d atabase contains no design elements

such as pages or forms. Blank databases have one d efau lt view. You m ust

create all of the elements you need for the application. You begin by

creating a d atabase based on the -Blank- template.

To create a new database from scratchTo design a database from scratch, you mu st first create an emp ty database.

Then design the forms, fields, views, and other d esign elements you will

need for the app lication.

1. Choose File - Database - New.

2. In the Server field d o one of the following:

Leave Local selected to store the new da tabase on you r workstation

hard disk.Select or enter a server nam e to store the new d atabase on a server.

This allows multiple people to work on the d atabase design.

3. In the Title field , enter a title for the n ew database. The title can have a

maximu m of 32 characters.

Note As you typ e a title, Designer add s a name to the File Nam e field .You can accept this database file nam e or change it. Database file names

can be up to 8 characters and end with the file extension .nsf. If you

plan to u se the database you are creating as a template, use the file

extension .ntf rather than .nsf.



encrypting a da tabase, see Notes and Domino encryp tion in



Release 4.x server, click Size limit and select a size (in gigabytes), and

click OK.

6. Select -Blank- as th e template.

7. Click OK.



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Tips for designing Web applications

When you design a d atabase that is intended to be viewed on the Web, keep

in mind that databases viewed from a Web browser may look somewh at

d ifferent than they d o when viewed from th e Notes client. Each browser

rend ers design elements w ith slight d ifferences. Be sure to p review you r

database through each browser that will access it so that you can makeadjustm ents to you r d esign. Also, for d atabases that will be accessed

throu gh Web brow sers, it is best to:

Make sure the database is in the Domino Data d irectory or a

subd irectory of the Data directory.

Add form actions such as Create, Edit, and Save. For more information,

see Actions.

Hid e features that arent sup por ted on the Web. See Features to Avoid

Using in Web Ap plications for a detailed list.

Select the d atabase p roperty Web access: Use JavaScript whengenerating pages to allow you to use additional @comman ds and

create mu ltiple form bu ttons.

Change from the Lotus color palette to a Web color palette to provide

greater color fidelity on th e Web. To change pa lettes, choose File -

Preferences - User Preferences. Check Use Web Palette on the

Advanced options list of the Basics page.

Set views, ou tline controls, action bars, and rich text fields to be

displayed as app lets when viewed with a brow ser. For more

information, see the topic Domino Ap plets.

Check the Access Control List (ACL) setting to make sure it allows

app ropriate access for Web u sers. For more information, see Setting up

the ACL for a Web d atabase. inManaging Domino Databases.



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Domino Applets

When u sers run a Domino ap plication from a Web browser, some Domino

design elements are more effectively presented to Web users u sing Java

instead of HTML. Domino p rovides Java ap plets for these design elements

so that the inter face for Web users is closer to the inter face for Notes client

users. You can easily enable the Java ap plets wh en you create the designelement.

When you consider w hether to u se the Java applets or HTML, keep these

points in mind:

The app lets provide a m ore interactive interface.

The Domino app lets will requ ire down load time to the Web user.

The applets use the Java Develop ers Kit (JDK), Release 1.0.2 to support

Web users w ith any java-enabled Web browsers. The only fonts

sup por ted are typically Courier, Helvetica, and Times.

For a comp lete description of how the applets work, see the description for

each design element :

Outline ap plet

The ou tline applet lets Web users work with ou tlines embedd ed in a

page or form.

View applet

The view ap plet lets Web users use many of the Domino view features,

includ ing colum n resizing, multiple docum ent selection, and section

collapse/ expand without page regeneration.Action bar applet

The Action bar app let lets users scroll and easily view and select

sub-actions.

Editor applet

The editor ap plet lets Web users change the font, color, size, and style

for text in rich text fields.



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Changing database and design properties

The Properties boxes for a database and its design elements includ e styles,

options, and other settings that affect how the database looks to users. To

change these properties, you need Designer access or higher in the database

access control list.

To change a databases properties1. Open or select the database.

2. Choose File - Database - Proper ties.

3. Change the p roperties on any of the tabbed pages.

To change a design elements properties1. Open the d atabase.

2. In the Design pane, click the type of design element you re working on.

3. Open or select the design element from th e Work pane.

4. Choose Design - Properties to open the Properties

box for the selected design element.

5. Change the p roperties on any of the tabbed pages.

Setting Use JavaScript when generating pages for a database

If your application w ill be accessed on the Web, youll want to select the

database property Web access: Use JavaScript w hen generating pages so

you can u se add itional @command s and create mu ltiple form buttons. If

you ar e upgrad ing from Release 4.5, consider the up grad e issues before

deciding, because the p roperty can cause unexpected behavior in existingactions, buttons, and hotspots.

The Use JavaScript w hen generating pages option is on the Database

Basics tab of the Database Prop erties box. To open the Database Properties

box, open or select the d atabase and choose File - Database - Database

Properties.



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Ramifications for Use JavaScript when generating pages for adatabase

Be aw are th at selecting the Web access: Use JavaScript wh en generating

pages affects formu las and actions, buttons, and hotspots through out the

application.

If you select Use JavaScript If you dont select Use JavaScript

Documents and navigators display faster

because hotspot formu las are not

evaluated until users click each hotspot.

Docum ents and navigators display more

slowly because the hotspot formu las are

all evaluated at the d isplay time.

Domino d oesnt generate a Subm it

button automatically. Create a Submit

button, hotspot, or action w hose formula

includes these comm and s:

@Com mand([FileSave]);

@Command ([FileCloseWindow ])

You can hav e mu ltiple buttons on a form.

If there are n o buttons, Domino

automatically generates a Subm it button

at the bottom of the form. Domino only

recognizes one button on a form. If there

are mu ltiple buttons on the form,

Domino recognizes only the first button

and converts it to a Submit buttonautomatically.

The following comman ds are sup ported

on the Web:

@Command ([FileCloseWindow ]),

@Com mand([FileSave]), and

@Command ([ViewRefreshFields])

The following comm and s are not

supported on the Web:

@Comm and ([FileCloseWind ow]),

@Command([FileSave]), and

@Command ([ViewRefreshFields])

Domino checks the formulas before

displaying pages. Actions that contain

un sup por ted @command s or @functions

will not be displayed on the Web.

Upgrade issues for Use JavaScript when generating pages for aWeb database

Elements w ith unsupp orted formulas that Domino h id au tomatically in

Release 4.5 may now disp lay if you select the Use JavaScript property .

With the property selected, Domino d oesnt check any hotspot or bu tton

formulas before using JavaScript to generate the page. Web users see all

buttons, actions, and hotspots even those that contain @command s and

@functions that arent supp orted for Web applications.

Revise any formulas that relied on hotspot formulas being evaluated at

disp lay time. Make sure these formu las evaluate correctly after the u ser

clicks the hotspot, not before.



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Replace Release 4.5 attachment fields with Embedded Element - File

Upload Controls if you set the Use JavaScript property . The Use

JavaScript setting d isables @Command([EditInsertFileAttachmen t])

hotspots used to create attachment fields in Release 4.5, because the hotsp ot

is not evaluated w hen the p age is displayed.

The Use JavaScript p roperty can cause unexpected results because the

URL generation in Release 5.0 is different than it was in Release 4.6.

Check any formulas that rely on accessing a Query_String or Path_Info URL

fragment. The URLs will frequ ently be d ifferent . For example, POST URLs

that includ ed ?CreateDocum ent and ?SaveDocument are no longer

generated in Release 5.0. The new POST URL is a variat ion of ?OpenForm

or ?EditDocum ent.

Setting database launch properties

You can set database properties that control what a user sees when th e

database opens. For example, you might w ant all users to start from anapp lication h ome page or a registration p age. Or you might display a main

navigator that leads users to different p ieces of the app lication. You can

specify one option for an app lication when it runs on a workstation and

another option for the application w hen it run s on the Web.

When the database opens on the Notes client, you can display:

The database as the u ser last viewed it

The About This Database docum ent for the database

A frameset you specify

A navigator you sp ecify

A navigator you specify in its own window

The first attachment in the About This Database document

The first doclink in the Abou t This Database document

When the d atabase opens on a Web browser, you can display:

Use the Notes launch op tion

The About This Docum ent docum ent

A frameset you specify

A page you specify

A navigator in its own w indow

The first doclink in the Abou t This Database document

A d oclink you specify

The first docum ent in a view



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To set the database launch property

1. Select or open the database and choose File - Database - Properties.

2. Click the Launch tab.

3. Do one or both of the following:

Choose what to d isplay for a Notes client

Choose what to display for a Web browser

4. (Optional) Choose whether to d isplay the About This Database

document w hen the database opens for the first time and / or when the

About This Database document is mod ified.

Setting the database property to launch the first link in the Abou t This

Database docum ent gives users access to information in an other ap plication

from a Designer ap plication. For examp le, to collect spreadsheet da ta for

use in the application, launch a link to a spread sheet app lication so users

immed iately see the spreadsheet when they open the d atabase. Data

entered in the spreadsheet can be used to pop ulate fields in the app lication.To view the About This Database document, users choose Help - About

This Database or close the link or attachment.

If you choose to launch a p age, you w ill need to specify the p age. Designer

gives you a d rop-down list of the pages that are available to choose from.

If you choose to launch a doclink:

1. Copy the doclink on to the clipboard.

2. Open the Database Properties box.

3. On the Launch tab choose - On Web open launch designated d oclink.

4. Click Paste d oclink.

To launch a Page from the Notes client1. On the Launch tab of the Database Prop erties box, choose On Database

Open - Open d esignated N avigator.

2. Select Type of Navigator: Page.

3. Enter or select the n ame of the Page.



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Displaying a document preview automaticallyYou can au tomatically display a preview p ane that show s the contents of

the highlighted d ocum ent in a d atabase view before the user opens the

document. This gives users a sense of wh at is in a database withou t having

to open and close each d ocum ent. If you d o not d isplay the preview pane

autom atically, users choose View - Docum ent Preview to access it.

1. Select or open the d atabase you are designing and choose File -

Database - Properties.

2. Click the Launch tab.

3. Click the Preview Pane Default bu tton.

4. Choose a location where the document preview pane will d isplay.

5. Check Maximize document preview on database open to

automatically d isplay the preview p ane.

Settings for multilingual applications

If you are creating an ap plication that w ill have d ifferent langu age versions,

you can select Multilingu al Database on the Design tab of the Database

Properties box. Once you have enabled th e database as a mu ltilingu al

database you can select the default language and region. This prop erty

works in conjun ction w ith the language preference setting on users

browsers. For example, if you have three versions of your d atabase, one in

English, one in French, and one in Spanish, and the users browser or Notes

client preference is set to Spanish as th e defau lt language, the Domino

server will serve up the Spanish version of the hom e page. This prop erty is

also available for individua l design elements and w orks in the same way .

Domino Global Workbench

Domino Designer ships with th e Domino Global Workbench, a fully

integrated translation tool specifically designed to facilitate the translation

of Designer ap plications into a variety of langu ages.

If you decide to u se Domino Global WorkBench, a number of design-stage

tasks will make the localization process simpler. For examp le, you should

use aliases for the names of design elements w herever you can. Use a

system of stand ard prefixes for the aliases so that they can easily be

identified as text to exclud e from tran slation.

To launch Dom ino Global Workbench, click the Domino Global Workbench

icon.

For more information see Preparing Source Databases in Domino Global

WorkBench Help.



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HTML tag attributes for a Domino server

The HTML tab appears on m any p roperties boxes. If you a re designing an

app lication tha t will be used on the Web and a re using H TML 4.0, the

HTML tab on th e Database Properties box lets you access core attribu tes,

such as Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), easily. Domino incorporates the values

of these attributes to the H TML that it creates at runtime. When you are

using the H TML tag attributes, remember:

The HTML must be ASCII characters.

Do not include qu otation marks when you enter the attributes in the

various boxes, except for the Oth er box.

Other needs quotation marks, as shown in the examp le below.

HTML tag attributes

ID: used to reference an object using JavaScript. For examp le, the object

could be

ID = ZipCode

Class: used to specify a CSS class for an object. For example, if the

objects nam e is ZipCode, the class could be N umeric.CSS styles are

defined in the HTML Head Content event for a form or p age.

Style: used to ap ply a specific CSS styles to an object. For examp le, if the

objects nam e is ZipCode, the class is Numeric, the style could be

font-size:10pt, or if you have more then one value, separate them with a

semi-colon, for exam ple, font-size:10pt; color:blue.

Title: used to p romp t the u ser to enter a value for the object. For

examp le, if the objects nam e is ZipCode, the class is Numeric, the styleis Bold, the title could be Enter your Zip Cod e. The title displays

differently on d ifferent browsers.

Other: used for ad ditional HTML tag attributes and m ust be w ritten as

pu re HTML code. For example, instead of writing ZipCod e in the

Nam e/ ID box, you have to w rite ID=ZipCode.



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Hide-when options

Designer lets you hide many of the design elements and components of an

app lication. If hide options are available, the hide when tab ap pears on

the p roperties box for that element. To set hide-when options, select the

element you wan t to hide and open the p roperties box for that element.

1. Click the Hide tab.2. For basic options, select all situations in the Hide paragraph w hen

document is: section in which the components d ont need to be seen by

users.

3. For programmer op tions, select Hide paragraph if formula is true

and write a formula in the design p ane to describe the situa tions in

wh ich u sers dont need to see the layout region.

You can hide elements, includ ing its text, graphics, and fields, in any of

these situations.

When u sers read, hide information that is useful only when u sers createor edit documents.

When u sers ed it, pr int, and copy, hide information tha t is useful when

users read documents.

If an element is hidden

when:

Then:

Previewed for

reading

The hidd en information isnt visible w hen users read

documents in the document preview pane.

Previewed for

editing

The hidd en information isnt visible when users w ork

on docum ents in Edit mode in the documen t previewpane.

Opened for reading The hidden information isnt visible when users open

docum ents in Read mod e. A layout region that cant be

read cant be p rinted either.

Opened for editing The hidden information isnt visible when users work

on docum ents in Edit mode.

Printed The hidden information isnt visible on printed

documents.

Copied to the

clipboard

The hidd en information isnt visible w hen information

is copied to and pasted from the Clipboard . Thissetting doesnt affect documents copied at the view

level.

Hide paragraph if

formula is true

A formula d etermines

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