How to Handle Critical Presentation Evals
Fri, May 17th 2013 6:15a Russell Maher Unfortunately, sessions are either "good" or they're not and you may not have any control over that. (What do you mean? I do the writing, the demoing and the speaking...I control everything.) Au contraire mon ami. You are not in control of who shows up to listen. Different people are going to react differently to your presentation and sometimes absolutely nothing you could have done would have made your presentation "good" for some of those people. David Leedy sent me this quote yesterday [read] Keywords:
62
"Advice on Session Speaking" or "Want To Speak At Connect 2014?"
Thu, May 16th 2013 9:15a Russell Maher Since 1986-2006 and 2009-2012 as a music teacher, choir and chorus director, certified instructor and seminar speaker I have been talking in front of people a lot for a long time. A lot. Often daily but always multiple times a month. That's a lot of time to get comfortable doing it. Here's the problem: I am not a natural limelight seeker. I am not naturally witty or funny. I am not particularly glib, never was overly easy on the eyes and, despite what I said before, I don't consider m [read] Keywords: dblookup
82
"Writing A Good Session Abstract" or "Want To Speak At Connect 2014?"
Tue, May 14th 2013 6:18a Russell Maher ICON UK and MWLUG are accepting session abstracts. Local user groups (DCLUG, NELUG, ATLUG) are always on the prowl for presenters so you are going to have to do a little abstract writing if you want to do some speakin'. Yesterday I said I would tell you how to write a good session abstract. Alas...writing session abstracts is one area where, being honest with myself, I am not the equal of others. In fact, I am the Susan Lucci of Lotusphere. Sort of. Worse actually. You see, unlike Ms. Lu [read] Keywords: lotus
lotusphere
wiki
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"I'm Just As Smart As You" or "Want To Speak At Connect 2014?"
Mon, May 13th 2013 10:14a Russell Maher I am just as smart as you. Yup. Unless you're that rare individual that is just "wow" (I met one just last week at IAmLUG), pretty much I believe that anything you can do, say or know... I can do, say or know equally well. (With technology anyway...I believe my hopes for an Olympic medal in downhill skiing are pretty much quashed at this point.) (WHAT THE ...! Is Russ for real here?) Here's the thing: I also believe that you are just as smart as anyone else. (WHERE IS THIS GOING?) [read] Keywords: ibm
lotusphere
Source Control: The Good Stuff - Part 9: Our Mercurial Source Control Strategy
Fri, May 3rd 2013 6:18a Russell Maher Welcome to Part 9: Our Mercurial Source Control Strategy! The final installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. Well it all comes down to this: How are you going to use Source Control? If you've gone through the earlier videos on Mercurial Source Control within Domino Designer, you've seen how to perform all of the essential steps to get going and seen all of the essential tasks you would need to effectively use source control for your XPage applications. Now it's time to take a look [read] Keywords: domino
applications
security
78
Source Control: The Good Stuff - Part 8: Using Revert and Changing Repo NSF Files
Thu, May 2nd 2013 6:18a Russell Maher Welcome to Part 8: Using Revert and Changing Repo NSF Files! The eighth installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. In this penultimate episode, I show you how to use Revert to "undo" design changes and then show how to switch your repository between different NSFs or create a new NSF from your source control repository. The final two essential concepts to learn before developing your own source control strategy/process. Tomorrow: Part 9: A Mercurial Source Control Strategy [read] Keywords:
61
Source Control: The Good Stuff - Part 7: Pulling Changesets from a Remote Repository
Wed, May 1st 2013 4:18p Russell Maher Welcome to Part 7: Pulling Changesets from a Remote Repository! The seventh installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. Guess what? Chances are you're not going to be the only person using your Mercurial source control repository. When other people push their changesets to the remote repo, you're gonna' want their code so you need to Pull. Here's how to do that. Tomorrow: Part 8: Using Revert and Changing Repo NSF Files [read] Keywords:
57
Source Control: The Good Stuff - Part 6: Using Source Control Tags
Tue, Apr 30th 2013 7:24a Russell Maher Welcome to Part 6: Using Source Control Tags! The sixth installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. Now that you know how to create and use multiple branches within your source control repo, you might want to embrace Tagging to keep track of important releases within your code stream. Let's see how to use Tags! Tomorrow: Part 7: Pulling Changesets from a Remote Repository [read] Keywords:
69
Source Control: The Good Stuff Part 5: Mercurial Branching and Merging
Mon, Apr 29th 2013 6:17a Russell Maher Welcome to Part 5: Mercurial Branching and Merging! The fifth installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. In Part 4, I introduced the basic concepts of using source control branches. In this video I show you how to actually apply those concepts within Domino Designer 9 using Mercurial. We set up multiple branches, merge changesets between branches and show how to resolve merge conflicts. Tomorrow: Part 6: Using Source Control Tags [read] Keywords: domino
85
Source Control: The Good Stuff Part 3: Connecting To A Remote Mercurial Repository
Thu, Apr 25th 2013 6:18a Russell Maher Welcome to Part 3: Connecting To A Remote Mercurial Repository! The third installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. We've installed Mercurial, we can commit our changes and switch to different revisions via the repository history. All good. Except if your hard drive fails right now. Probably a good time to push your local repository to a remote repository. Not only for safekeeping/backup but maybe you want to share your project with other people on your team (or virtual team) who ar [read] Keywords:
113
Source Control: The Good Stuff Part 4: Introduction to Source Control Branching
Wed, Apr 24th 2013 12:21p Russell Maher Welcome to Part 4: Introduction to Source Control Branching! The fourth installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. This video as an introduction to the using branches within your source control repository. I think all of the videos are pretty worthwhile and I hope they help others with source control in Domino Designer but this video and the next video are the two things I really wished I had had available when I really got serious about source control. I know people have done demos and [read] Keywords: domino
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Source Control: The Good Stuff Part 2: Basic Repo Usage: Committing and History
Wed, Apr 24th 2013 10:18a Russell Maher Welcome to Part 2: Basic Repo Usage: Committing and History! The second installment of Source Control: The Good Stuff. After installing Mercurial source control in Domino Designer 9 (as demonstrated in Part 1), you'll actually want to start using your new local repository. This video demonstrates the basic process of making design changes and committing those changes into your Mercurial repo. After that we take a look at how to use the history stored within your repo so you can "go back in [read] Keywords: domino
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Source Control: The Good Stuff Part 1: Installing Mercurial Source Control in Domino Designer 9
Tue, Apr 23rd 2013 10:22a Russell Maher Part 1: Installing Mercurial Source Control in Domino Designer 9 To use source control you have to install and configure source control. Makes sense, right? This video shows you how to install Mercurial source control start to finish in Domino Designer 9. Tomorrow... Part 2: Basic Repo Usage: Committing and History [read] Keywords: domino
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Source Control: The Good Stuff
Tue, Apr 23rd 2013 10:22a Russell Maher Today I am launching a series of posts and videos to guide Domino Developers through using Mercurial Source Control in Domino Designer 9 starting with installation and ending with using source control across multiple databases and server environments. My goal is to get you to where I've gotten to with source control...but faster. I've dabbled with source control off and on for a couple of years but it wasn't until this year that I realized how beneficial it would be for what I do now. Earl [read] Keywords: domino
notes
xpages community
server
307
How Did I Miss That For So Long...And How Do I Make Our UI Better?
Mon, Apr 22nd 2013 10:18a Russell Maher Not sure if I've ever blogged this before but basically my professional life has not really required me to become knowledgeable about the Notes Client experience. I've used it for email since forever, of course, but never really had the need to fully utilize many of the features that people who are in an organization that uses Notes would normally just know. Since my job now includes a lot more communication and sales activity, I have a need to use some of the mo' bettah' stuff in Notes Ma [read] Keywords: notes
notes client
email
outlook
144
Got XPage Questions? I have 30 minutes for you next week.
Fri, Apr 19th 2013 9:16a Russell Maher Need some XPage questions answered? Maybe I can help. Last month I had a really positive experience when an individual contacted me with some questions, asked if I was available to do mentoring, I told him I wasn't but I would do a Skype/G+ Hangout/GoToMeeting with him for 30 minutes or so to answer any questions he may have about his XPage project. We both felt it was productive. Here's the deal: On Tuesday, April 23, and Thursday, April 25, I am available to do a 30 minute or so Skype/G+ [read] Keywords: xpages email
skype
226
Are you going to IamLUG? Register Right Now!
Thu, Mar 28th 2013 11:14a Russell Maher Are you going to IamLUG? Come! Register right now! It is in St. Louis (which is an awesome Midwestern city) and it runs May 6 & 7. That's a Monday and Tuesday people! Who can't get out of the office for a Monday and Tuesday?? This will be my first time attending and I am very excited because I've always heard great things about it. In case you had not noticed, the LUGs are the thing these days. They have the 1996 Lotusphere feel to them which is awesome! They are focused on techno [read] Keywords: ibm
lotusphere
applications
community
office
111
Cubs Tickets Calendar Posted
Thu, Mar 21st 2013 7:18a Russell Maher As I mentioned before I bought Chicago Cubs Season Tickets and have many games to sell. People are starting to buy the tickets so I have created a calendar that I will update as other games are purchased. If you're interested in seeing which games are available just go to http://rgmconsulting.com/cubs and you will see the latest calendar with the prices. Prices are better than I blogged before since some games are pretty cheap. Below are views from the seats. Check the calendar and contac [read] Keywords:
227
About Last Night...
Wed, Mar 20th 2013 1:17p Russell Maher ...well actually last Friday night. I don't normally post things here of a personal nature because, well, I simply know too much. (Yes that's a joke for those who don't really know me.) Red Green said it best: Red Green: Pretty soon, you're going to find yourself going on and on about every topic under the sun, and you're going to wonder, "Why am I suddenly the Encyclopedia Britannica in shorts and a T-shirt? And why this urge to tell anyone with ears?" Well, you're a middle-aged man [read] Keywords: wiki
163
Fix IE8 onchange event
Wed, Mar 13th 2013 6:12a Russell Maher Yeah...IE8...Just doesn't want to recognize onchange on a radio or checkbox until the field loses focus. Bad. Very bad. Found some code here and adapted it to into my XPage using a class selector for jQuery and it works like a champ. Though this might be helpful to someone else. if ($.browser.msie && $.browser.version==8) { $(function() { $('.answer2Class').click(function() { this.blur(); this.focus(); }); }); } [read] Keywords: apple
375
Editing XPage Rich Text on iPads
Fri, Mar 8th 2013 6:11a Russell Maher I was reviewing some IBM Connect slides while on vacation a couple weeks ago (how sick is that?) and came across an answer to a question many have been asking regarding the CKEditor functionality in IBM Notes and Domino 9 Social Edition. The answer is that the CKEditor is/has been upgraded but it still is not going to work on iOS devices. (This may have changed since January.) Yeah. That's a challenge. In our XPage application, not supporting iPad rich text editing is just not an option. [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
notes
rich text
richtext
xpages application
dojo
widget
291
Relocated Third-Party JAR files - Saved 348MB
Thu, Mar 7th 2013 6:12a Russell Maher So...last August I am in Italy "living the dream" (a.k.a working while on vacation) and I am trying to replicate some application changes to our production server over a pretty slow wireless connection. Didn't matter whether I was on my TIM SIM Card with the MiFi or using the WiFi provided by the villa (I love saying that!)...replicating the production application was so bad that some of the application was corrupted and I needed to act quickly to fix it. Not a good thing at all. Nerve wra [read] Keywords: domino
application
java
network
server
wifi
wireless
309
Example: The right code is the code that works right
Wed, Mar 6th 2013 6:11a Russell Maher "The right code is the code that works right." That's what I said yesterday and I wanted to give an example of how I applied this in my own code just last week. I was coding yet another dynamic table for an XPage application. This new use case produces a very different user experience plus I was trying to find a path to significantly reduce the effort required to produce customer deliverables going forward. The situation called for automatic numbering of rows. The tables and rows are all [read] Keywords: application
java
properties
328
The right code is the code that works right
Tue, Mar 5th 2013 6:11a Russell Maher "The right code is the code that works right." Pretty much that's how I see code. All code. If you're on my team and you come to me and start explaining how you coded this or that assignment, I'll listen politely for a very short time and then I'll want to know if it works. For the user. If your code doesn't work for the user, I am not interested in how you did it. That might sound harsh to some but, for me, the purpose of all code is to produce something. If it doesn't produce, t [read] Keywords: dblookup
archive
java
planetlotus
288
Go straight to the top!
Mon, Mar 4th 2013 8:10a Russell Maher Our XPages application provides a dynamically generated list of fields that are swapped out as the user navigates and/or saves their data. We discovered that doing a partial refresh did not automatically move the user to the top of the next "page" so with a little Googling I found this bit of JavaScript that resolved the problem in short order. Here is the code and the event handler we are using to do this: window.scrollTo(0,0) window.scrollTo(0,0)]]> [read] Keywords: xpages apple
application
javascript
418
IBM Connect 2013: Coolest "Tchotchke" Ever
Thu, Feb 7th 2013 8:11a Russell Maher During the awesomely fun Great Geek Challenge (http://www.greatgeekchallenge.com/) I was fortunate enough to win this awesome prize during an individual round. After attending fifteen Lotuspheres and one IBM Connect, this is by far the coolest thing I have ever brought back (#2 would be those yellow boxing gloves and #3 would be the software CDs we used to get back in the 90's). Those guys over at the London Developer Co-Op (http://londc.com/) do great survival kit! (I hear they're not too [read] Keywords: ibm
287
IBM Connect 2013: Good News and Good Advice
Wed, Feb 6th 2013 6:10a Russell Maher Got to see Mikael Orn and Philipe Riand's IBM Connect 2013 INV110 - App Dev Strategy: Coding Social Business Applications a couple of days ago. You can watch the full video below. It is really an excellent watch. I wanted to focus on two things though for XPage developers. First, the Good News. XPages is integral to the Social Business Toolkit SDK. It's in there. It's part of the future. In the words of Phillipe Riande the SDK is "...fully integrated with XPages..." Take a look at t [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
xpages applications
dojo
openntf
348
My IBM Connect2013 Slides and Code
Mon, Jan 28th 2013 10:15a Russell Maher Thanks to everyone who attended one of my sessions yesterday here in Orlando at IBM Connect! Also Big Thanks to all of you who were kind enough to personally let me know you liked the session. For all to have and use here are links to my presentation and the code from the session. Enjoy! http://rgmconsulting.com/TheSlides http://rgmconsulting.com/TheCode [read] Keywords: ibm
217
Before IBM Connect: 5 Days 5 Tips! Tip #5 - Your Managed Property Needs a Settler, no, uh, a Setter!
Fri, Jan 25th 2013 6:14a Russell Maher Yep! I am speaking at IBM Connect 2013! In celebration I am posting 5 Tips in 5 Days and today is... Tip #5 Once you figure out that you will be embracing the Managed Bean Lifestyle you're gonna' want to start sharing data between your managed beans and one way to do that is through managed properties. You can check out NotesIn9.com for one of my videos on sharing data between managed beans or come to my IBM Connect Master Class this Sunday to see the basics but the tip here is that you wi [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages properties
276
Before IBM Connect: 5 Days 5 Tips! Tip #4 - Make Designer Write Your Code For You!
Thu, Jan 24th 2013 6:14a Russell Maher Yep! I am speaking at IBM Connect 2013! In celebration I am posting 5 Tips in 5 Days and today is... Tip #4 Learn the Eclipse/DDE Template mechanism and you will be able to write more code and more comments faster. Just type the template then press CTRL + Space! Bam! Code! You can use pre-built templates and you can even add your own. I am a terrible typist and I find it much easier to type pp than to type out the so I made a template for that. (Pathetic for a coder I know!) Any way... [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages application
blogger
eclipse
google
267
Before IBM Connect: 5 Days 5 Tips! Tip #3 - Get three, count 'em, three different session objects!
Wed, Jan 23rd 2013 6:14a Russell Maher Yep! I am speaking at IBM Connect 2013! In celebration I am posting 5 Tips in 5 Days and today is... Tip #3 "Can you get a sessionAsSigner or sessionAsSignerWithFullAccess from a managed bean?" "Yes" I have been asked this question many times during presentations on XPages and managed beans. Here's the code to do it. Get the code and an example XPage here. The picture below gives a little structural detail/explanation. Enjoy! P.S. - Remember that with great power comes great r [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages
258
Before IBM Connect: 5 Days 5 Tips! Tip #2 - The 5 Eclipse Power Keyboard Shortcuts To Know
Tue, Jan 22nd 2013 6:15a Russell Maher Yep! I am speaking at IBM Connect 2013! In celebration I am posting 5 Tips in 5 Days and today is... Tip #2 You want to become an XPages Managed Bean Monster Coder? There are tons of shortcuts in Eclipse/IBM Domino Designer that can speed you up! Should you learn them all? Absolutely! Get memorizing! Right away! Hurry! Go! Run! Whaaaat??? Nah... Just learn these five Eclipse shortcuts and you'll be on your way to becoming a Managed Bean Master. Actually learn them and use them. [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
xpages eclipse
java
257
My IBM Connect 2013 Master Class: XPages & Managed Beans
Mon, Jan 21st 2013 6:22a Russell Maher This Sunday I am delivering a session in Orlando at IBMConnect 2013! Master Class: Managed Beans and XPages: Your Time Is Now 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Dolphin Southern Hemisphere I 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM, Swan Mockingbird 1 & 2 (Repeat) If you want to learn how to put managed beans to use in a real life application, this session is for you. I'll talk about the basics (for both Java and managed beans) and then we're diving head first into a complex XPages application that relies almost entirely on [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages application
java
284
Before IBM Connect: 5 Days 5 Tips! Tip #1 - New Notes 9 Boolean Display Type
Mon, Jan 21st 2013 6:22a Russell Maher Yep! I am speaking at IBM Connect 2013! In celebration I am posting 5 Tips in 5 Days and today is... Tip #1 In the Notes 9 Public Beta there is a new Boolean Display Type (converter) for Radio Button Groups. The field will only accept actual true/false values. Here's how you use it when you want to bind it to a managed bean. And here's the markup! The trick is to know to use Expression Language (EL) to express the choice values as true/false (examine the itemValue attributes below). [read] Keywords: ibm
notes
xpages
200
Want Chicago Cubs Tickets? I Got Some For Sale!
Thu, Jan 17th 2013 1:14p Russell Maher Last weekend I bought two season tickets to the Chicago Cubs for 2013. Yeah, yeah I know all about the Cubs and what a crap team they are but I bought them because here in Chicago it is very often impossible to get a decent seat at a decent price when you want to go (even when they suck which is usually the case) and we basically view going to a baseball game as a social event anyway. We'll root for the Cubbies for sure but if they lose...well it was a nice time out and we got to drink some be [read] Keywords:
473
My New Gig
Wed, Jan 16th 2013 9:13a Russell Maher As I previously blogged, I am Done Consulting after the end of a long stint as an independent consultant. What I did not say then is that the end of the last gig could not come at a more perfect time for me and I had more than a little impact on its timing. Back in 2010 I started a company... In 2010 I started a new company. Application development started in 2011 and the first customer signed on that Fall. 2012 was a stellar year as we added more customers, improved our platform, honed ou [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotusphere
notes
xpages application
consulting
development
java
643
Done Consulting
Wed, Jan 2nd 2013 5:15a Russell Maher New Years Eve 2012. 11:41 PM - Russ signs off the Motorola Mobility network for the last time. That means I am done consulting. It does not mean I am done with Domino. More on that in a later post. For sixteen years I was the sole Notes/Domino guy supporting the Motorola Law Department (or some version of Motorola...they've gone through a lot of changes). I did everything. Administration, training, development. It was a fantastic experience. Not only did I have a free hand as far as Domino [read] Keywords: administration
domino
notes
applications
consulting
development
google
network
469
Merry Christmas and Peace to All
Mon, Dec 24th 2012 9:13a Russell Maher This year has been pivotal for so many people in so many ways and, for most of us I think, not in positive ways. As Christmas Eve approaches and Christmas Day arrives, I wish each of you a joyous time with your family and friends and I pray that you experience the inner peace known by the hundreds of millions who believe that Jesus is Lord. Merry Christmas to each of you. Russ [read] Keywords:
380
Truly honored to be named an IBM Champion for 2013!
Tue, Dec 11th 2012 11:18a Russell Maher This morning I was humbled to see my name appear on the list of 2013 IBM Champions announced by Joyce Davis. I wanted to say thanks to those who nominated me and thanks to those who felt I was worthy of the honor. There are a lot of really smart, helpful and gracious people on that list and I feel a little awestruck when I see my name there along with icons of the community. Big congratulations to all of the 2013 IBM Champions! Read the full 2013 IBM Champion Announcement here. [read] Keywords: connections
ibm
blogger
community
508
OMG He did it again!
Mon, Dec 10th 2012 3:16p Russell Maher David Leedy actually put another video of mine on NotesIn9.com. Clearly this guy is off of his rocker giving me a platform but, hey, hopefully this nifty jQuery technique will help or inspire others! Thanks David for NotesIn9.com! You can see the vid here: http://notesin9.com/index.php/2012/12/10/notesin9-097-using-jquery-in-xpages-to-connect-controls/ [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
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On NotesIn9: Sharing Data Between Managed Beans
Tue, Nov 6th 2012 8:13a Russell Maher Once Upon a Time... I told David Leedy I would provide some content for NotesIn9. In this case Once Upon a Time = Lotusphere...2010... Well now I have finally made good on my offer and I will once again be able to look Mr. Leedy in the eye when I talk to him! If you are going to use Managed Beans in your XPage applications you will eventually want to share data between those beans. This three-part series shows you exactly how to do that. The videos are on NotesIn9.com Check ' em out. O [read] Keywords: lotusphere
xpages applications
blogger
223
If needed: Force Users to Enter Dates Your Way
Thu, Oct 25th 2012 8:10a Russell Maher Wow! So much to write and so little time! Between the documentation, the policies, the XPages Bootcamp, Beacon Award submission, Lotusphere, uh, IBM Connect Abstracts (Yes, I will once again be playing the abstract lottery game even though I am the Susan Lucci of Lotusphere speaking), contracts, meetings, report creation, a video series on managed beans and the odd social nuclear blast...it's amazing I have any time to code at all. But I do code and I also have a pile of draft blog tips to s [read] Keywords: ibm
lotusphere
policies
xpages blogger
dojo
properties
198
Remember: JavaScript does math, too
Wed, Oct 17th 2012 6:12a Russell Maher Just a quick JavaScript reminder. If you add two numbers in a row and then add some text you get something entirely different than if you combine number, text, number, text. Example: Variable values: sectionIndex=2 qIndex=3 Option 1 sectionIndex + qIndex + "SomeText" = 5SomeText Option 2 sectionIndex + "" + qIndex + "SomeText" = 23SomeText Fortunately it didn't take long to, ahem, "remember" this once I started looking. [read] Keywords: blogger
javascript
227
Check Your SSL
Tue, Oct 16th 2012 6:11a Russell Maher As luck would have it, I happen to have a blog post almost ready to go on SSL so now seems like a good time to post it. First, you should be aware that if you are using an SSL key smaller than 1024 bytes, you may find people are not going to be able to access your site using Internet Explorer. While some may consider this a blessing, it isn't for everyone. See the IBM Note here Second, what I really wanted to post about is a nifty little tool to test the SSL on your site. It provides good [read] Keywords: ibm
blogger
security
210
Congrats to the new OpenNTF Board!
Tue, Oct 9th 2012 9:10a Russell Maher Congratulations to all of the OpenNTF Board Members - new and old. I remember when OpenNTF was first announced. I honestly didn't give it much of a chance. Happily I was wrong. OpenNTF is an amazingly successful and valuable resource. Thanks to all who contribute, manage and provide it for all of us! http://www.openntf.org/blogs/openntf.nsf/d6plinks/BELT-8YVW43 [read] Keywords: blogger
openntf
302
Use "secret" XPages for controlling scoped variables
Thu, Sep 20th 2012 6:12a Russell Maher I run an XPages application used by multiple companies. Some menu choices are only visible to system administrators and we often log in as those administrators to perform configuration and testing. The problem is that sometimes we need to turn on/off other secret switches to help us with deeper application testing such as enabling/disabling debugging or showing/hiding menus that we only want to display when we are logged in and doing testing as a company administrator. These menus are not vis [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages apple
application
blogger
javascript
xml
227
About last week...MWLUG was great
Wed, Aug 22nd 2012 6:12a Russell Maher Just wanted to say I really had a great time last week at MWLUG. I am not sure who all was involved in getting the entire thing all set up but I am sure it was many people and I am sure it took quite a bit of time and effort so...THANK YOU! Richard Moy was front and center so he obviously had a big hand in everything. Jeff Tujetsch from Sherpa Software did a great job pitching Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh...yeah, you should go sometime. I had not been there in at least 25 years and that city is b [read] Keywords: admin
xpages blogger
community
148
MWLUG 2012 Intro to Managed Beans Presentation
Tue, Aug 21st 2012 6:11a Russell Maher Thanks to everyone who attended my MWLUG presentation last week on Intro to Managed Bean for XPagers.! David Leedy and Jeremy Hodge both gave excellent presentations that included information on Java and using beans so I appreciated all those who attended mine as well. Actually all three of our presentations tackle this topic in slightly different ways. More perspective is always good. Here are the files. Happy coding! MWLUG 2012 Intro to Managed Beans for XPagers Presentation MWLUG 2012 [read] Keywords: blogger
java
167
Navigation Rules: Need to go somewhere?
Wed, Aug 8th 2012 6:16a Russell Maher The JSF Navigation rules functionality embedded within XPages is not terribly useful for most applications but I am working on an application where I feel they are just the ticket. Navigation rules are used to externalize the target page of a particular action. An example would be that you always want the client to go to the "Thank You" page after saving a document. Chances are you have been using navigation rules already even if you did not know it. For instance, when you indicate what sh [read] Keywords: xpages apple
application
applications
blogger
development
email
java
password
server
xml
120
When validation fails, give 'em some space
Tue, Aug 7th 2012 6:16a Russell Maher In my current project I was tidying up validation message controls and decided to us Ye Olde facesContext to help me out. The issue is that in this application every single custom control that displays data is dynamically bound to its data source. In addition, there are editing, print-to-pdf, print-base, print-final and, at last, print-to-diff versions of each of these controls. Well...the only time I really need to display the error controls was in the editing-versions of these controls but [read] Keywords: ibm
apple
application
blogger
javascript
openntf
server
xml
184
Remember you can use XPage ACL Entries to control page access
Mon, Aug 6th 2012 6:15a Russell Maher I've been pretty busy lately trying to meet deadlines but while I am creating a local replica I wanted to remind folks that, just like other applications, XPage applications have certain "screens" that should be restricted only to certain users. Typically these pages are used for system configuration or administration functions. One way to prevent unauthorized access to the XYZ Administrators-Only XPage is simply not to show links to that page to the "wrong" users. Simple enough to do us [read] Keywords: acl
administration
xpages applications
blogger
database
properties
security
138
I guess we're doing OK
Sun, Aug 5th 2012 10:15a Russell Maher We bought our home from millionnaires in 2005. I didn't realize they were millionnaires until the sale closing and that's when it hit me: Uh, Russ, you and the Mrs. are not millionnaires so WTF are you doing here? I signed anyway. Of course we had done all of the math before we bought the house (the millionaires "moved on up" the biggest piece of property in town) and we are working professionals here in Chicagoland but I have always harbored a secret doubt that people might think that ou [read] Keywords: blogger
119
Want to learn Connections? Enter the latest OpenNTF contest! See how...
Tue, Jul 31st 2012 1:15p Russell Maher Wanted to get your hands dirty with IBM Connections but didn't have an environment to play with or have the time to install it or have access to the software? Here is a real opportunity for you: Try building something on Connections for the latest OpenNTF sponsored by hedersoft! "Yeah right!" you say? Well Niklas Heidloff has provided a complete Connections and Domino environment within the IBM SmartCloud that you can use to develop your contest entry! You just need to contact him to get [read] Keywords: connections
domino
ibm
xpages applications
blogger
community
openntf
126
Mountain Lion dictation helpful with XPages project
Thu, Jul 26th 2012 9:18a Russell Maher Very very cool! The Apple dictation in Mountain Lion works in the XPages CKeditor. This is great news it makes things a lot faster for me on my current project. I have been doing a lot of rich text editing from the web and the dictation makes this a lot easier. I am still getting the hang of it though and I'm trying different combinations of words. It seems to work okay with my speech which makes me feel good since I'm a speaker. http://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/features.html#dictation [read] Keywords: rich text
xpages apple
blogger
105
MWLUG! Here I come! What about you?
Tue, Jul 24th 2012 6:18a Russell Maher I have been so very busy lately that I just blew right by it when one of my XPage sessions was accepted for MWLUG, August 15-17, in Pittsburgh, PA. First...Thanks MWLUG for picking my session: Intro to Managed Beans for XPagers Second...there are lots of cool speakers and sessions! Pretty pumped to learn some new stuff. Finally...how about it? See you at MWLUG? [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
119
Yes! Android Chrome now supports XPages AJAX and SSL
Tue, Jul 17th 2012 1:10p Russell Maher My Nexus 7 tablet arrived yesterday morning and within 10 minutes I was testing my most important XPages application on it. My app uses managed beans to provide all logical functionality, there are a lot of AJAX requests and everything is done over SSL. Last December I was very disappointed to discover that Android Chrome 4.0.x simply did not support SSL and AJAX together and neither did the Chrome Beta. Well...Ta da! The Nexus 7 Chrome works great so I just went and updated Chrome on my Asu [read] Keywords: rich text
xpages ajax
application
blogger
110
I'll say it again: Consider using jQuery to speed up your development
Mon, Jun 18th 2012 6:14a Russell Maher Last week Dr. Marky Roden gave some excellent insights on using jQuery with XPages on the Taking Notes podcast. I really believe that anyone who is doggedly devoted to doing everything in Dojo just because "that's what comes with XPages" is missing out on some serious developer productivity improvement and cool UI enhancement opportunities. Marky has been doing a great job espousing and teaching jQuery at Xomino.com but this podcast is a great discussion that really answers a lot of questio [read] Keywords: notes
xpages blogger
development
dojo
podcast
taking notes
120
Which topics some XPagers were most interested in yesterday
Tue, Jun 5th 2012 9:11a Russell Maher Yesterday I posted several presentations about XPages that I delivered at AdminDev2012 a few weeks ago. Paul Calhoun and I do a pretty fair amount of speaking on XPages via The View XPage seminars. Although I have not taught a "classroom" course (unless you consider sometimes up to 65 people in a room a classroom) in years, I have never lost the teaching bug and Paul Calhoun is, of course, the technical mastermind workhorse writer/instructor behind most of the Java and XPages courses over at [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
bug
java
102
Extending Your XPages Applications with Java
Mon, Jun 4th 2012 6:11a Russell Maher Here are my XPages Java presentation and files from AdminDev2012 May 15-17, 2012, in Washington, D.C. Extending Your XPages Applications with Java Learn how to use Core Java, external JAR files, and custom Java classes with XPages Learn how to use the new Java design element Create PDF and Excel files using Java Understand the code steps needed to call Web services from XPagesPresentation Demo Files [read] Keywords: xpages applications
blogger
java
141
Building an XPages Dynamic Table with Managed Beans
Mon, Jun 4th 2012 6:11a Russell Maher Here are my XPages Java presentation and files from AdminDev2012 May 15-17, 2012, in Washington, D.C. Expert Advice to Build an XPages Dynamic Table Using Managed Beans Understand the requirements for programming a dynamic table Learn how to create a managed bean Understand the architecture of the dynamic table beanLearn how to use the dynamic table control Presentation OpenNTF.org XBean Table Project [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
java
openntf
93
XPages JumpStart Presentation
Mon, Jun 4th 2012 6:11a Russell Maher Here are my XPages JumpStart presentation and files from AdminDev2012 May 15-17, 2012, in Washington, D.C. A Practical Roadmap to Develop World-Class XPages Applications By creating a single application — start to finish — we will discuss: The concepts undergirding XPagesFundamentals and optimization of Domino Designer in Eclipse (DDE)Creating XPages that create, edit, and read application data Using @Functions, Client-Side JavaScript, and Server-Side JavaScript to automate XPages Apply [read] Keywords: domino
xpages application
applications
blogger
css
eclipse
javascript
server
75
Leveraging JavaScript Toolkits Presentation
Mon, Jun 4th 2012 6:11a Russell Maher Here are my XPages JavaScript Toolkits presentation and files from AdminDev2012 May 15-17, 2012, in Washington, D.C. Leveraging JavaScript Toolkits to Reduce Your XPages Development Time Understand your JavaScript options Understand the differences between Dojo and jQuery, and how to use both toolkits Create a Dojo Data Grid Use jQuery Plug-Ins Presentation Demo Files [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
development
dojo
javascript
If you see this error...stop coding.
Wed, May 9th 2012 6:10a Russell Maher I usually only post when I have something near Solutionville but today is different. Today is "I have suffered and nobody else should have to" day. If you see this error, stop coding immediately and figure out a different way to do what you want because the IBMJSSE2 Security Provider is not going to work for you. If you never see this error, consider yourself very fortunate. [read] Keywords: blogger
security
79
Create A Canonical Name In A Single Bound! Uh, Character
Mon, Mar 5th 2012 5:17a Russell Maher Been meaning to post this for a while although it is not really related to XPages. I just like it and I doubt many people realize you can do this. It is, as they say, an oldie but a goodie! When you enter a user name followed by a trailing slash, Notes will append your personal canonical name elements automatically. Quick and easy! Nice for folks with longer organizational naming structures. [read] Keywords: admin
notes
xpages blogger
68
On The Menu: Your Custom Perspectives
Fri, Mar 2nd 2012 6:13a Russell Maher I typically use one or two of my own customized Eclipse Perspectives when using Domino Designer. It is easy enough to modify the current perspective and then use the Window - Save Perspective As... menu to save a personalized perspective. What is a little irritating though is having to go through the "Open Perspective - Other" menu to locate the custom perspective I want to use. I prefer to have my perspective right in the menu. The choices on the "Open Perspective" menu are controlle [read] Keywords: domino
xpages blogger
development
eclipse
java
107
SourceRepo.com + Redmine = My DDE Source Control (for now)
Thu, Mar 1st 2012 2:10p Russell Maher After a lot of effort, I am giving SourceRepo.com and Redmine an extended audition for Domino Designer Source control. Since watching Declan Lunch's Lotusphere presentation on Source Control I have installed and used both Mercurial and SVN inside DDE in various combinations with Codesion, Codebasehq, SourceRepo, BitBucket and finally back to SourceRepo. In the end I decided I liked the look of Mercurial branching and the superior functionality of Redmine and I was only able to find that combin [read] Keywords: agent
domino
lotusphere
notes
xpages blogger
eclipse
workspace
87
Persist Passwords If You Prefer
Thu, Feb 9th 2012 7:11a Russell Maher I have been working this week on a user registration screen. Seems simple enough but I needed two server-side validations when the user submits the XPage and then I discovered that the standard XPage password field controls empty their values if the XPage fails validation. By changing the "redisplay" property to true, if the XPage fails validation for any field, the previously entered password values persist in the fields. Forcing users to reenter the password post-validation-failure was un [read] Keywords: application
blogger
password
security
server
83
Don't Overcommit Your Source!
Thu, Feb 2nd 2012 1:11p Russell Maher So I played with Source Control a little bit right after Lotusphere following an excellent presentation given by Declan Scolia-Lynch on source control and then again after reviewing David Leedy's excellent NotesIn9 episode on implementing source control just to make sure I had the hang of it before using it on some of my prized code. Certain I was not going to lose anything to the "magic" of Eclipse, I began the process to source control my pride and joy application. Got it all set up. Wen [read] Keywords: lotusphere
xpages application
blogger
database
eclipse
105
Isolate the problem
Wed, Jan 25th 2012 5:12a Russell Maher Here's a news flash: Some things in XPages don't work the way you want them to or the way you thought they were going to work or the way IBM said they were going to work. That's not meant to be a knock of any kind. XPages are an awesome execution of extending JSF and coupling it into a very robust environment but the fact is there are a lot of moving parts and it is complex. The folks at IBM spend their time trying to reduce the complexity of the tool itself and that is hard work so if th [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages blogger
bug
development
78
Lotusphere 2012 was great!
Mon, Jan 23rd 2012 6:10a Russell Maher Great technology, great sessions, great social. Read on... Great Technology For the first time since Lotusphere 1998, IBM presented technology that companies will view as something they need to remain competitive, technology that can truly help individuals be more productive today (vs. 10 years ago) and technology that only IBM seems poised to be able to provide. That's exciting! Embedded experience has legs. Is it Domino/Notes? Yes and no which means Win/Win. Domino has a long future ahead [read] Keywords: connections
domino
ibm
lotusphere
notes
xpages application
blogger
79
An XPages Solution
Tue, Dec 20th 2011 2:12p Russell Maher (previously posted pre-XPageTips.com on Google+) I had to solve a pretty unique problem in an XPage app and I am posting my solution to it. While I certainly do not think my solution is the only one or the best one, hopefully it will help someone else solve a similar problem, learn something about XPages and/or generate discussion on alternative solutions. Learning XPages...it's a journey! NOTES: More information that might make the solution more understandable. 1) In this environme [read] Keywords: domino
notes
xpages blogger
google
84
Make the Help help you
Fri, Dec 16th 2011 6:12a Russell Maher As an XPager, when I search the help I am normally only interested in search results that relate to XPages (versus, say, LotusScript). You can create your own search scopes within the Eclipse help system so I have created a search scope called "XPages" which only contains specific sections of the help. When I search, I only get hits from the limited set of topics in my XPages scope. Makes things a lot faster. [read] Keywords: lotusscript
xpages blogger
eclipse
89
Here's the problem...and the fix
Thu, Dec 15th 2011 6:11a Russell Maher Last week I am fixin' to deliver my Advanced XPages Bootcamp session on Java and managed beans when what to my bloodshot eyes should appear but an Eclipse/Java/Project/Build error ne'er seen by me (or Paul Calhoun) before that I could not figure out how to fix in ten minutes. That's not good. Being typical Domino-folk, the participants were very understanding as I then fumbled with my code during the presentation (you forget how much prep goes into creating demo code until you try to type i [read] Keywords: domino
xpages blogger
eclipse
java
190
My First XSnippet: Display Client-Side Alert for Server-Side Validation Failure
Wed, Dec 14th 2011 6:11a Russell Maher First, if you have not discovered XSnippets at OpenNTF.org, go there! No wait! Go after reading the rest of this post! Second, for some of my apps I prefer server-side validation but I still need to put something right in front of the user's nose in case the form does not validate so I like a client-side JavaScript alert. Problem is connecting it nicely with the server-side validation failures. Bam! The new 8.5.3 view.postScript() method totally fits the bill. Click here to get the code! [read] Keywords: blogger
javascript
openntf
server
My "mad networking skills" saved the day. You might need yours, too, so be prepared.
Thu, Dec 8th 2011 2:12p Russell Maher Thanks to my "mad networking skills" I was able to avoid a cable internet connection disaster this morning. Last Thursday I jumped at the chance to upgrade my internet connection from 15mbps to 50mbps. Friday the new cable modem was installed. Saturday morning I realized it was acting as a router and had totally disabled my ability to run my site, receive email or replicate databases because my actual router (a SonicWall TZ 210 which I love by the way) needed the public IP address provided [read] Keywords: blogger
email
networking
server
Congratulations to all Lotusphere speakers and especially to the first timers!
Tue, Dec 6th 2011 11:12a Russell Maher A big congratulations so all those whose abstracts were accepted for Lotusphere. I especially want to congratulate anyone who is speaking at Lotusphere for the first time. I am truly thrilled to see that the trend of broadening the speaker pool which was highlighted at the end of Lotusphere 2011 appears to be continuing for Lotusphere 2012. With all that is going in our bailiwick, this Lotusphere looks to be another good one. See you there! [read] Keywords: lotusphere
blogger
79
When things go wrong, check the source
Mon, Dec 5th 2011 8:13p Russell Maher Domino Designer does not always update the source code nor does it always make it obvious that an error exists within your XPage code. This nasty little issue, although infrequent, can result in a great deal of time wasted when you are making changes and wondering why your XPage is not working the way you think it should. If you are not a "source coder" (most of us aren't), make it a habit to check the source right away if things are going unexpectedly awry. [read] Keywords: domino
xpages blogger
90
Make a form. Save yourself some time.
Thu, Dec 1st 2011 5:12a Russell Maher Do you need a form for an XPage? No. Can it makes things easier/faster for you? Yes. Here's how. I create simple unformatted forms for my documents because I often have the fields for a document spread across multiple custom controls. When I want to place the fields from the form into separate custom controls, I make Designer do the work for me. I add the form as a data source to the custom control, drag the fields in that I need, then remove the data source from the custom control. If I [read] Keywords: application
applications
blogger
95
Make a <span> become a <div> using the tagName property!
Tue, Nov 29th 2011 7:12a Russell Maher XPages generate specific HTML tags for controls. Consider the Computed Field control...by the time it reaches the client it becomes a element. You can override the default HTML tag name via the tagName property on many controls. Maybe you want your Computed Field to be a or an instead of a . Maybe you want to use some of the new HTML5 tags. This little property does the trick! [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
280
Pass data from page to page on the "requestScope"
Wed, Nov 23rd 2011 6:12a Russell Maher My approach to development can best be described as "results-driven". I like theoretical techniques, I like knowing why things work the way they work and I always like to hear about other (and perhaps better) ways to accomplish what I have done but absolutely first and foremost for me when I am developing is "getting it done" and "making it always work". Consequently my code is often pretty brute force. Case in point...the documentation says I should be able to pass a requestScope value [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
development
91
Use Firebug to expand that Stuck Stack Trace
Mon, Nov 21st 2011 6:26p Russell Maher I am pretty sure I am the only one who gets XPage errors (feels like it some days) but just in case I am not... Sometimes the "twistie" that shows the XPage Stack Trace is collapsed and will not respond to a click. What to do? Use Firebug of course! Use Firebug (or Chrome of course) to change the DOM so you can see your stack trace and be on your way to error-free XPage code! [read] Keywords: xpages blogger
329
Running SSJS from CSJS: Sometimes its the only way!
Wed, Nov 16th 2011 12:42a Russell Maher Last weekend I was working on some code and needed to pass two values to a client-side JavaScript function. No problem except that one of the values for the function was going to be the ID of an XPage component. Since XPage ids are generated dynamically, I used the nifty getClientId() SSJS function to get the ID of the component but I ran that function in the Client-Side JavaScript to be run when a button was clicked. Using SSJS in CSJS is very handy and sometimes the only way to do what you [read] Keywords: blogger
javascript
94
Instantly create a new style sheet right when you need one...when you're stylin'
Wed, Nov 9th 2011 8:51p Russell Maher I can apply formatting to individual XPage elements with the best of them but...once all that formattin' gets into a rhythm I go back and migrate all the styles into style sheets. ("Hey look! I keep formatting these things the same way so I must be happy with that look.") If you have formatted an element, then the Style property drawer will display an Export... button. That is an awesome tool by itself but it also allows you to create a style sheet right when you need one. I don't use thi [read] Keywords: blogger
101
Speed up your development with code comment shortcuts
Mon, Nov 7th 2011 10:17a Russell Maher One of the best things Domino Designer gets from being in Eclipse are the shortcuts for commenting code. They really make it easy to do testing and/or save code "for later". CODE COMMENT SHORTCUTS CTRL + SHIFT + C Comments/Uncomments a line of code CTRL + SHIFT + / and CTRL + SHIFT + Comments/Uncomments a block of code Works in: XPage source, Theme editor, Java editor, JavaScript and Java Script Library (In libraries multiple lines must be selected for block commenting.) Does n [read] Keywords: domino
script library
apple
blogger
css
development
eclipse
java
javascript
73
1-2-3: Quickly add null value choices to combo boxes
Fri, Nov 4th 2011 6:00a Russell Maher Many times I need a combo box or radio button group that filters something (view control or repeat control etc.) and the choices for the user need to be... All North America Latin America The problem is if they choose "All", I really just want a null string returned (since "All" is not a continent) so this is what I need the values to be... "" North America Latin America Domino Designer does not make it easy to add a choice that has a value of "" so I trick Designer into doing the [read] Keywords: domino
apple
blogger
271
The XPage CKEditor: Know Your Options
Wed, Nov 2nd 2011 8:21a Russell Maher Sometimes only a Rich Text field will do and if you are using a Rich Text field in the UI, it is good to know a few options: toolbarType, height and width. A current project requires users to create HTML content. I have found the Rich Text /CKEditor control to be ideal for this except for one problem: You cannot get to the source of the content using the standard button sets. Several different toolbars are available on the Rich Text control: Slim, Medium, Large and Full. The Full toolbar p [read] Keywords: rich text
xpages blogger
dojo
Be careful with empty CKEditor rich text fields
Fri, Oct 28th 2011 9:51p Russell Maher The CKEditor is very handy in XPages since it saves the content as MIME which can be processed as such in other places in your application. However you should be aware of how it operates so you can code around its behavior. In 8.5.3 the CKEditor for rich text controls has been updated. 1. If you never enter any information into the field, then the field is a text field even if the document has been saved. 2. If you enter a single space and save the document, then the field is a MIME object an [read] Keywords: rich text
xpages apple
application
blogger
60
Use F2 To Add An Alias
Fri, Oct 28th 2011 4:11p Russell Maher Sometimes in the heat of the application design battle I just add a view or agent or XPage without thinking about the name I am assigning or thinking about giving the element an alias. Then during the polishing phase I return to reorganize elements and assign aliases. Ta Da! Now when you use the F2 shortcut to rename a design element in 8.5.3 you can also update the alias value (if the design element supports it). If you select more than one design element, you will get prompted to change th [read] Keywords: agent
application
blogger
