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Author
Stephan H Wissel
The Mini is running Ubuntu 8.10 by now and does that quite well. Only Firefox somehow didn't load Java applets properly despite the fact that I had the latest and greatest JVM. 6.0_10-b33. Command line Java programs (like Websphere, Tomcat and some of the stuff for AD215) work plesantly fast. So something in the combination of Ubuntu, Java and Firefox doesn't seem to work. After a little research it turned out, that Sun has created a next generation plug-in that is supposed to address all the short comings in the Java plug-ins. There are a number of solutions out there, which didn't work for me. This worked:
How saving a few cent will loose you big bucks - HSBC Internet Banking Blues
Wed, Jul 1st 2009 8:55p Stephan H. Wissel I'm a customer of a number of banks. HSBC being one of them. I also hardly visit any bank branches. I do my business online. I like HSBC's site. It is easy to use and fully functional (Short of a glitch that doesn't allow to set a date for all type of transactions). In recent years all the banks have added additional security to their online login by requiring a security token besides your user name and password. This token is either generated by a little gadget or send via SMS to your mobile ph [read] Keywords: gadget
mobile
password
security
server
54
How to be happy in business
Mon, Jun 22nd 2009 7:00a Stephan H Wissel Bud Caddell likes bubbles just like me. He has a very compelling view How to be happy in business. It makes rounds and is available in German already. I love the graphic, I jusr didn't like the colors, so here you go:
(Click on the image for a highres version) [read] Keywords:
42
Thought for the day
Mon, Jun 22nd 2009 1:58a Stephan H Wissel When you look in the wrong direction, you don't see it coming! (Original picture here) [read] Keywords:
29
Genting Highlands Resort Reflections
Sat, Jun 20th 2009 5:01a Stephan H Wissel After exploring Kuantan and Sungei Lembing we continued our personal Discover Malaysia trip to Genting Highlands Theme Park. After having seen the orginal a number of times it was obvious where Genting's inspiration came from (Wasn't there something with "flattery"). They have to practice with their website however. With NoScript active you don't see a thing. The theme park is divided into an indoor and an outdoor area (tribute to the weather here) with the indoor area actually containing a numb [read] Keywords:
31
Gartenzwerge* Chinese Edition
Thu, Jun 18th 2009 6:57a Stephan H Wissel Germany is well know for its Garden Dwarft culture. Now I discovered, that the Chinese too have them!
There was more to see in that monastery garden. A collection of statues (I need to find out what they mean) that invite to contemplate.
* Garden Dwarfs. [read] Keywords: google
55
Got a torch light --- will explore
Thu, Jun 18th 2009 5:56a Stephan H Wissel Near Kuantan in Malaysia is an old mining town where Anthony's and Ernest's grandparents were born. The mines went out of business in the 1980ties, but the shafts are still there. Of course it is strictly forbidden and dangerous to explore them.
Of course if you translate "strictly forbidden and dangerous" into the languge of 2 nine year olds it awfully sounds like "fun an excitement". [read] Keywords:
Not your usual Starbucks
Sun, Jun 7th 2009 12:50p Stephan H Wissel Imitation is the strongest form of flattery. So a successful brand (or more accurate: excellent execution of a great idea: providing a 3rd place besides home) attracts imitators. Today at Xi'an's airport I was spotting a familiar sign, only on the second look it was quite different.
While SPR shamelessly borrowed typeface, colour, style ideas (lights, seating or counter) and charming girls in green, they added their own style. There is full service at your table and you get a wide selection o [read] Keywords:
29
XPages Workshops in XI'AN (today) and Hong Kong (29/30 June 2009)
Fri, Jun 5th 2009 11:54a Stephan H Wissel Today I completed a short introduction into XPages for a business partner in Xi'an. Initially the participants were a little stiff:
But with food and demo (click on the picture above) they warmed up to the new way of doing things. I'll spend the weekend in Xi'an visiting one of the five holy mountains of the Taoist: Mount Huashan. I'm curious how this will work out.
I'm pleased to announce, that I will conduct another XPages workshop, this time in Hong Kong. The class will be on the 29/30 J [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages google
wiki
83
Storing documents by lifecyle phases
Thu, Jun 4th 2009 9:49a Stephan H Wissel In a business partner meeting (always an excellent source for blog ideas) in Beijing an interesting question popped up: "How should I split a (Domino) database if it gets really huge". The usual approaches are to split them along location or department lines. However in the discussion an interesting alternative approach emerged:
Document go through 4 phases:
Draft: the document gets created but is not complete yet. Very often that state is neglected by Stalinist validation code.
Current: T [read] Keywords: document
domino
show-n-tell
workflow
application
database
dojo
81
Java ClassLoader fun with getResource()
Sun, May 24th 2009 11:53p Stephan H Wissel DXLMagic will have a Java UI. To be flexible I store my UI definitions inside the JAR file and load them at runtime. I learned a few lessons in the process:
When you use Class.getResource() inside a static method of a class you won't get access to any of the resources in the JAR. You need to have a normal instance of a class.
Instantiating an object inside a static method doesn't help either.
Class.getResources("*") doesn't return anything even if you have valid resources in the JAR. So wildcar [read] Keywords: eclipse
java
76
Solving (Math) Problems
Sun, May 24th 2009 11:53p Stephan H Wissel Over the weekend Anthony and I tried to figure out why his latest Math test results didn't match his grasp of Mathematics (nice way to say: he did badly and had a lot of "slips of the pen"). He loves to jump right into the calculation skipping the "Due diligence" part. So we came up with a mind map to outline the steps he needs to take. It turns out, that this map serves as a general guideline to problem solving (admitting high level). Here you go: [read] Keywords:
56
On the hunt for the perfect travel backback
Sun, May 24th 2009 1:57a Stephan H Wissel I travel a lot. When I travel there is mostly a flight and one or more overnight stays involved. So far I was using a Tumi backpack, which served me well. After 10 years of service it is showing its age and I'm looking to retire it. Turns out the hunt for a replacement is far more difficult than I expected. I'm looking for the ultimate backpack for the frequent traveller. I thought my criteria are not uncommon:
Robust and torture resistant: I carry heavy loads and long distances (mostly running [read] Keywords: google
ipod
laptop
macbook
python
181
Using the IBM OneUI in your XPages applications - now with CSS class picker
Thu, May 21st 2009 5:57a Stephan H Wissel In his outstanding XPages tutorial Declan Lynch used IBM's OneUI for designing the layout and colors. This is very smart since it releaves you from thinking about all this and allows you to focus on the functionality. If you haven't worked through that tutorial, go there now and have a look. One thing Declan had a hard time with is to figure out what exactly the CSS classes are that the OneUI makes available - He did a great job here - (and then what to use where) since the CSS style picker does [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
xpages applications
css
database
server
Help needed: copy Eclipse IResource from/to files using ANT
Wed, May 20th 2009 4:56a Stephan H Wissel In Eclipse 3.0 one big change was the transition from a physical file system to a virtual file system. Instead of Java File Eclipse is using IResource to access file systems. Of course using files still works. As far as I know the Eclipse ANT task is working on files not on IResources. I'm looking for a way to use Ant to copy from IResource to File and back. Could be a custom ANT task. If someone wants to write it (and contribute it back to the ANT contrib project) I'm willing to make a donation [read] Keywords: eclipse
java
39
XPages Workshop in Taipei
Tue, May 19th 2009 11:53p Stephan H Wissel The XPages workshop in Taipei is well under way. We have 32 participant at the IBM Education center happily coding away on Domino Designer 8.5. The joy of travel is to experience all the little cultural differences. Like the coffee bar:
Only one of the cans actually contains coffee. The other 3 (x2) cans offer you different sorts of tea freshly brewed. I like that much better than the tea bags you find in other locations. Maybe that's the reason why the class is so fully focused.
There wil [read] Keywords: designer
domino
ibm
xpages
41
全体德国人是恐怖分子 - All Germans are Terrorists
Tue, May 19th 2009 11:53a Stephan H Wissel There has never been an international planned terrorist attack in Germany (we had our share of domestic terrorism). But now it became clear that Germany is housing 90 million terrorists, at least when you gauge it by the level of observation these 90 million are subjected to. See for yourself:
Du bist Terrorist (You are a Terrorist) English subtitles from lexela on Vimeo. Via vowe [read] Keywords: application
server
59
I want one - 2009 Part 3
Tue, May 19th 2009 11:53a Stephan H Wissel This one:
Actually: I had one when I was wearing a younger man's cloth. With the driving style in Singapore I don't see me on a motorbike any time soon. [read] Keywords:
I want one
Mon, May 18th 2009 1:49p Stephan H Wissel The designers run wild now that foldable or even textile displays are a not so distant possibility. Yanko design has a really nice one. [read] Keywords: mobile
124
How CRAPpy is your Java code?
Wed, May 13th 2009 10:49p Stephan H Wissel I do a lot of code review lately. LotusScript, JavaScript, Java etc. When I encounter code that is difficult to understand I'm usually met with the defence "But it is working". Funnily it is self-defeating. I never do code review (short of the we-have-fixed-it-now-have-a-look types) of code that works well. Asking us to do code happens because there are problems (I really would love to do a the-proud-code-parents-want-to-show-off-their-really-pretty-baby review once in a while). The typical prob [read] Keywords: javascript
lotusscript
application
eclipse
java
profile
144
Example of a sidebar helper
Tue, May 5th 2009 4:58a Stephan H Wissel Once you work for/with an international community or organization time zone pain becomes immediately a pressing problem. In Firefox I use the FoxClocks plug-in. In Notes 8.x I just got a new alternative for the sidebar:
It is an IBM internal plug-in named "When-is-it-now" that not only shows you the current time at your selected locations, but also indicates with a traffic light how likely it is to reach someone based on business hours. Nice touch. The brain decodes a color signal so much fas [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
community
firefox
87
SmartDraw
Tue, May 5th 2009 3:03a Stephan H. Wissel I've been asked by various people what I use to create the diagrams and illustrations in my blog here. I am using SmartDraw. It makes it easy for people like me (who know what they want to show but lack graphical talent) to create stunning resonably good looking business graphics. Have a look at some samples, their tutorials or follow their blog. My only grieviance is, that they don't have a Mac or native Linux version (and it doesn't work with Wine either). The other graphical tools I use regul [read] Keywords: community
linux
mac
ubuntu
181
Notes pattern : Inversion of logging
Sun, May 3rd 2009 6:00a Stephan H Wissel A typical requirement in applications is to keep a log of changes. The simplest form is to keep fields with the author and date/time of the latest change (which has the distinct disadvantage not knowing what has been changed by whom). The next level would be to keep the list of all authors and change times (still leaving the question "what unanswered) followed by very sophisticated tools like Audit Manager or similar home grown solutions.
All these solutions have in common, that they "merely" r [read] Keywords: document
notes
show-n-tell
workflow
application
applications
email
openntf
86
Delivering Outstanding Presentations
Sat, May 2nd 2009 10:03a Stephan H Wissel (Technical) professionals are caught in an interesting dilemma. We are asked to contribute to events, customer meeting or internal presentations because we know a lot about a topic. We are supposed to transfer this wealth of knowledge to our customers, audience and participants. We love to show [off] our knowledge. In lucky places like Lotusphere this works well. For everywhere else however human attention span, especially in a crowd, is severely limited. Ten minutes is all you got. One-Zero min [read] Keywords: forms
lotus
lotusphere
symphony
google
131
Fixing a Notes database - Addressing Fragementation and a Linux edition
Sat, May 2nd 2009 12:53a Stephan H Wissel One popular entry in this blog is "Fixing a Notes database" Which provides a small MS-Windows command file to clean-up a notes database when your server or client isn't running. While it works very well, it has two caveats: For one on a MS-Windows system you might encounter severe fragmentation on your drive (thank NTFS for that), two it is MS-Windows only.
For the first problem you have three possible actions short of moving to an OS with less fragmentation problems for large files:
use Windo [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
show-n-tell
updall
consulting
database
google
linux
openntf
server
50
When customer service sucks - Star Alliance
Thu, Apr 30th 2009 5:50a Stephan H Wissel I travel a lot. I use a world class airline, but are still member of Miles and More (The Lufthansa program). No problem one would think, since they are both members of Star Alliance. The main reason I haven't switched is that I would loose my status and since IBMers fly coach couldn't seek refuge in the lounge. So far so good. Miles/Point crediting works reasonable well and booking a reward flight works if you can plan 6-9 month ahead. However when it comes to requesting an upgrade on a Star All [read] Keywords:
125
Domino Servers and Anti-Virus
Fri, Apr 24th 2009 5:50a Stephan H Wissel You have build your High performance Domino Server but it doesn't perform. Besides running a proper OS, you need to ensure the right anti-virus configuration. All big Anti-virus vendors have plug-ins that intercept documents before they saved into a database and checked for integrity. So you are save (as far as you can say that). However when using the scanners default configuration the NSF are scanned again when you want to access them. And this is a bad idea. Pointless and an I/O killer. So go [read] Keywords: domino
notes
ntf
show-n-tell
database
server
virus
67
How to explain "What is Server Virtualization"
Tue, Apr 21st 2009 11:55a Stephan H Wissel When explaining server virtualization to non technical people the easiest way to confuse them is to introduce the trade lingo: host, guest, hypervisor and so on. Discussing virtualization for a while I came up with a good analogy: "Server virtualization is like car sharing". If you commute to work in a car: have a look out of the window. How many cars, perfectly capable of carrying 4 or more people, just transport one person?
(Think server = car) The same is true for many servers. They run u [read] Keywords: administration
ibm
aix
application
database
oracle
server
virtualization
vmware
280
Building a high performance Domino Server
Tue, Apr 21st 2009 9:53a Stephan H Wissel Domino can take huge user populations. Do do this successful all elements of a Domino server have to be considered carefully. Following the old insight "It is always the cable" you need to pay attention to the hardware layout. While you perfectly well can install a Domino server on a low-end laptop or a VM Image, it wouldn't give you the peak performance you are looking for. You rather want something looking like this:
Let us look at the details:
Disk layout
Operating system and Application [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
application
applications
google
laptop
linux
network
server
vm
67
Professional Traveller
Sun, Apr 19th 2009 9:55p Stephan H Wissel I wake up. It is Shangri-La
Not that mystical place of my dreams
but a well run hotel. Carefully
maintained beauty, flawless service.
I'm connected, my social graph is with me,
posts, tweets and sweaks try to lull me
into the illusion of closeness.
Another day, professional excellence is expected.
The keyboard has a precise pressure point,
but I'm longing for a human touch.
I loath to join the club of lonely hearts
convening at the hotel bar every night.
Memories tell me t [read] Keywords:
107
Code Quality and Decomposition
Sun, Apr 19th 2009 5:54a Stephan H. Wissel I spend the past few weeks reviewing code in Lotus Notes applications. While the robustness of the platform amazed me, the code I saw didn't (short of that one form with 1932 fields and 212 @DBLookups).There seems to be a common lack of coding quality among corporate LotusScript developers. I hear "C'mon what is your problem? The code is working." I reminds me of the guy who jumped from the 88 story building stating "So far everything is fine" when falling past the 10th floor. Unfortunately very [read] Keywords: document
lotus
lotusscript
notes
applications
development
NoReader and NoAuthor Fields
Wed, Apr 15th 2009 10:52a Stephan H Wissel Access control in Lotus Notes and Domino is build around the concept of positive identification, meaning you specify who can read or edit by naming them explicitly or implicitely as members of a role or group. What you can't do is to say: Everybody except these people (or all members of group A but not when they are members of group B). We don't have PreventReader or PreventAuthor fields (which would come in handy from time to time). The only construct is the the -No Access- setting in the ACL w [read] Keywords: acl
agent
document
domino
forms
formula
lotus
notes
richtext
show-n-tell
applications
123
Reader Fields - extreme Edition
Wed, Apr 15th 2009 5:50a Stephan H Wissel Reader fields are "haunting" me. Recently I was asked to provide a solution for a requirement to add a very large number of entries to a reader field. A number that firmly exceeds the storage capability of a reader field (still 32k after all these years). My first instinct was to look for alternatives like using a few group names. However the alleged business case is the exclusion of a few people from a large group (somehow: the whole department can read a document except the person who has birt [read] Keywords: document
ibm
lotusscript
notes
show-n-tell
application
110
Lotus Domino and RFC
Mon, Apr 13th 2009 8:51a Stephan H Wissel In a recent request by a government customer we were asked about the compliance of Domino with various RFC. I've listed them here for reference:
#rfctable td {border-bottom : 1px dotted gray; border-right : 1px dotted gray} #rfctable th {color : red; background-color : #AAAAAA}
RFCDescriptionDominoRemarks
RFC 1123Requirements for Internet Hosts Application and Support (STD 3)Yes
RFC 1870SMTP Service Extension for Message Size Declaration (obsoletes: RFC 1653)Yes
RFC 2476Message Submission Obsol [read] Keywords: document
domino
lotus
show-n-tell
application
css
email
security
smtp
56
Before you blink the feature is there - add geo location infromation to your Ajax applications.
Sun, Apr 12th 2009 2:53p Stephan H. Wissel If you want to know where an IP address belongs to, you now can use a free service. As Volker lets us know, you could have the whole database at your (local) service. But why do all the heavy lifting if you just need an IP address from time to time? iplocationtools offers a simple REST API to query an IP address returning a XML or CVS result. The only thing missing was a JSON return value (and JSON *is* the flavor of the day isn't it?). So I asked nicely and about 7 hours later (given the differ [read] Keywords: ajax
applications
database
ideajam
ideajam.net
interface
php
xml
138
DXLMagic - using the DesignExtractor
Sat, Apr 11th 2009 4:51a Stephan H Wissel I'll show you to take full advantage of the DXLMagic Tools one post at a time. You have exported your database application using the DesignExporter. Now you can run reports, transform the XML, edit it etc. When you are planning to work on individual element using the full DXL is a bit cumbersome, especially when you plan to write back just some parts of it later on. To split your file into multiple files you use the DesignExtractor. It will extract parts of your DXL based on an XPath expression. [read] Keywords: agent
dxl
forms
ibm
scriptlibrary
application
archive
database
java
xml
122
Enemy of the
Fri, Apr 10th 2009 6:51a Stephan H Wissel As the saying goes the complexity of any system grows at the square of the components involved. We do live in a complex world, so you can shrug, surrender to the unavoidable and move on. Or you can take a closer look and discover differences in complexity. There is the complexity from the nature of the task at hand and there is the complexity we add in the way we approach the completion of the task. Order a meal in a restaurant can be straight forward or incredibly complex. You can call that "Es [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
show-n-tell
application
applications
db2
development
exchange
exchange
java
microsoft
mysql
server
sharepoint
sql
wiki
66
XPages Workshop Impressions from Bangkok
Fri, Apr 10th 2009 5:49a Stephan H Wissel The XPages workshop proved to be very popular. About 30 participants showed up to get their take on web2.0 development with Domino Designer 8.5. Impressions from earlier workshops got confirmed:
Everybody loves XPages
Developer with a background in web development grasp XPages faster than classical Notes developers
Exercise 17 is the most difficult one, but everybody can complete it
The XPages outline (in the default Domino Designer perspective on the lower left) is a huge time saver navigating [read] Keywords: designer
domino
ldd
lotus
notes
xpages development
laptop
skype
vista
web2.0
48
Lotus Top Gun Singapore, 11 -15 May, 2009
Tue, Apr 7th 2009 12:50a Stephan H. Wissel Want to get up to speed on the whole Lotus Software Portfolio? Attend a Lotus TopGun (sorry IBM business partners only). This intense, fast-paced class provides the very latest training on Lotus products and solutions, as well as direct access to some of the best sales leaders and offering managers in Lotus! We'll discuss solutions you can sell with Connections, Quickr, Sametime, Portal and Accelerators; the very latest information on Notes/Domino 8 solutions, as well as the latest news about [read] Keywords: connections
domino
foundations
ibm
lotus
notes
protector
quickr
sametime
websphere
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XPages Custom controls parameter definitions
Sun, Apr 5th 2009 6:00a Stephan H Wissel One of the very cool features in XPages is the ability to create your own custom controls. While on the first look one could say "well, they are just subforms with a new name" the second look shows bigger differences:
Custom controls can appear more than once on a page, subforms only once (yes there was the possibility to add a subform twice if it didn't contain any fields, but that was not intended)
Custom controls are self aware: they "know" what is inside and what is outside
Custom controls [read] Keywords: designer
domino
xpages application
java
xml
Interesting Challenge or lack of platform understanding?
Thu, Apr 2nd 2009 6:54a Stephan H. Wissel A developer approached me with an interesting question: "In a Domino web application I need to prevent the same user account being used simultaneously in different sessions". I found that question quite interesting and tried to make sense of it (which I couldn't, so I ask here): It sounds like a question straight out of the eighties: Users must only logon to the application once.Domino doesn't count user sessions, so licensing can't be an issue. If the web page has been transmitted no additional [read] Keywords: connections
domino
ibm
lotus
application
css
xml
What makes a good April fools story?
Wed, Apr 1st 2009 9:51p Stephan H. Wissel It is April fools day and we are waiting for the stories to come in. But what makes a good Aprils' fool? The story needs: Within the bounds of regular reporting: This is easy for general newspapers, a little more challenging for technical publications/technical blogsPlausible: A reader must think: yes that is possibleDisguised: Best mixed with facts, so facts and fiction melt togetherFalsifiable: With a little effort it should become obvious (most cases: nobody else reports it)I'm blogging for a [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
blogging
enterprise
exchange
exchange
java
microsoft
71
Upcoming XPages workshops in AP
Wed, Apr 1st 2009 2:51a Stephan H Wissel We have new dates for XPages workshops:
6/7 May 2009 - Singapore (Business Partner only, contact Beng Chong Lim to sign up)
Australia: Public classes
29/30 Apri 2009 - Melbourne
25/25 May 2009 - Sydney
Places are limited, so be quick. [read] Keywords: ibm
xpages
58
Manage your IBM servers - use the IBM Tools Center
Wed, Apr 1st 2009 1:51a Stephan H Wissel The IBM System x® ToolsCenter is collection server management tools to help manage your IBM System x and BladeServer environment. ToolsCenter makes managing your server environment less complicated, more productive and cost-effective.
You will find a lot of gems there: Server Guide, Bootable Media Creator, Scripting Toolkits and more. [read] Keywords: ibm
server
240
My new IBM role
Tue, Mar 31st 2009 1:53p Stephan H. Wissel Musical chairs is a favorite game in IBM. Typically there were enough chairs for everybody, but this year quite some were falling off. Luckily I found a seat to sit on. Effective today I'm leaving IBM's Techworks to head a new IBM R&D facility. As you know IBM is on a buying spree also in AP. We bought Outblaze last year. It wasn't the last acquisition in AP. IBM just acquired Bali Camp, an Indonesian ISV. Bali Camp will be IBM's center for eW2.0 application development. eW2.0 stands for eme [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
application
applications
development
web2.0
XPages workshop in Kuala Lumpur and Manila
Fri, Mar 27th 2009 2:56a Stephan H. Wissel Last week I conducted our famous XPages workshop in Kuala Lumpur and this week in Manila. I found a high number of encouraging pointers: participants generally love XPagesIn both classes more than half of the participants had no or less than 2 years experience with Lotus Notes and did quite wellOne customer shared: "We haven't developed new Domino applications for a few years now, but with XPages we will resume creating new applications for the Lotus Domino server"Developers with exposure to web [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
notes
xpages applications
development
google
server
106
Building extensible applications
Wed, Mar 25th 2009 4:56a Stephan H Wissel One challenge that all Notes developers, including the IBM template team, face is the customer's need or desire to customize given applications. Warren started to ask if that is a good thing. With a little planning you can design your applications so they can be easily customized without creating an upgrade nightmare (it still might be a bad dream). A very interesting example for such a "upgrade-save" extension is actually the Domino Directory (a.k.a the Name and Address book). It contains for p [read] Keywords: domino
forms
ibm
notes
script library
show-n-tell
template
application
applications
wiki
118
XPages and Validation
Wed, Mar 25th 2009 1:55a Stephan H Wissel In our XPages workshop we have a number of exercises that deal with validation. XPages allows you 4 different approaches when and how to validate (not counting the on-field-exit validation which is a very bad habit anyway - never validate on exit, just hint, that this will not submit):
When you look at applications you typically find validation code in the submit button or attached to the submit event (that would be the second from left). While that is wide spread it is not the best way to [read] Keywords: designer
domino
ibm
javascript
ldd
lotus
show-n-tell
xpages ajax
applications
archive
server
wiki
xslt
43
Tales of 2 cities
Sun, Mar 15th 2009 5:54p Stephan H. Wissel From the "the-world-is-still-not-flat-department": I just returned from Cambridge (MA) to Singapore. Cambridge is home both to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Both are without doubt world class, top standard educational institutes. On my way back home on SQ21 I read in Singapore's premier newspaper about an incident in the National University of Singapore (NUS). Students had a naked run (probably fueled by sufficient intake of socially accepted intoxicating subs [read] Keywords: firefox
google
ubuntu
115
IBM Lotus Domino 8.5 performance for IBM Lotus Notes users
Thu, Mar 12th 2009 10:55p Stephan H. Wissel The Notes 8.5 mail server benchmarks are out. From the article: "Increasing value to the customer is an ongoing theme for the IBM?? Lotus?? Domino?? server. The growing volume of information in today???s enterprise strains existing hardware infrastructures. Lotus Domino 8.5 contains features that help relieve the stress on the expensive processor and storage subsystems. This article shows the reductions in processor and disk utilization with Lotus Domino 8.5 and Lotus Notes?? clients."
I spoke [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
inotes
lotus
notes
enterprise
server
30
Khet - lasers and logic
Thu, Mar 5th 2009 5:53p Stephan H Wissel The gentlemen have a new favorite game: Khet. After 10 minutes you understand the rules, but it will take you years to master it. For a reason Mensa (The club of really smart people) loves it. In a nutshell: you have a laser beam that you can redirect by 90 degrees using a mirror play piece:
You either can move or turn one of your pieces per turn.
Once any beam hits a pharao the game is over and the owner of the remaining pharao has won. (Download the rules)
You can buy it from Khet or [read] Keywords:
84
Quickr, Domino.Doc and a Lotus Redbook
Thu, Mar 5th 2009 5:53p Stephan H Wissel I'm spending 2 weeks in Cambridge (MA) on the redbook "Self Assessment and Strategy Guide for Migrating from Domino Document Manager". We have a great team and good working progress. This afternoon we'll see the Quickr development team and have a discussion on how Quickr will accomodate the Dom.Doc crowd. For a full coverage of the residency and its questions head over to John's blog:
The IBM Document Management Story & the Domino.Doc Redbook
Poll for Business Partners - Why are you not doi [read] Keywords: document
document manager
domino
domino.doc
ibm
lotus
quickr
development
google
162
Reader fields (again)
Sat, Feb 28th 2009 2:57a Stephan H Wissel Reader Fields and how to handle them to balance security and performance is a never ending topic. Let us have a a closer look what actually happens. Let us assume we have a view with 500,000 document, where a particular user has access to 77 documents (which is not so uncommon in big organizations). In the first case the view is sorted by some criteria (case number, date or whatever) that scatters the 70 documents all over the database.
When the user e.g. opens that view from the web requesti [read] Keywords: document
domino
notes
show-n-tell
workflow
database
security
server
44
Customer Disservice
Fri, Feb 27th 2009 5:53p Stephan H Wissel What is the last thing you want to hear when calling the customer service? "Sorry sir, but I will not help you!". Happened to me just now, here is my story:
I pay big bucks to SingTel every month for Broadband, Phone and Blackberry service. Especially the data roaming service is a huge item on my phone bill. In their own words SingTel describe themselves as world class telecom company. Seems that self perception doesn't reach to their customer service hotline (and I'm not talking about their re [read] Keywords: roaming
blackberry
google
134
Investigate notes:// links.
Wed, Feb 25th 2009 3:56a Stephan H Wissel You are sending out emails that contain Notes links to other email systems. The router converts them to notes:// links (and with a little help even into good looking HTML mails). However when you click the document in your target database doesn't open, even if you have a Notes client installed. Now you need to investigate what is happening. These are the steps:
Open your windows registry using regedit
Look for HKEY_Classes_Root\Notes, which is the protocol handling definition for Lotus Notes. I [read] Keywords: document
lotus
notes
notes client
show-n-tell
application
database
desktop
email
java
server
222
Hidden IBM Software Gems
Mon, Feb 23rd 2009 5:56p Stephan H Wissel When looking into the software universe you usually find 2 kinds of software: standard software (like OpenOffice, SAP, Lotus Notes) and custom (or bespoke) software (which is build by an ISV or an inhouse team). On a closer look there is a third category. In IBM we call that a software asset. Such an asset solves a business problem in a repeatable way but hasn't enough breadth or depth to justify the process that turns it into a standard software. Typically software assets are used together with [read] Keywords: acl
admin
agent
ibm
lotus
notes
quickr
archive
consulting
database
linux
mac
openoffice
sap
server
111
Keeping track of events
Sun, Feb 22nd 2009 5:54p Stephan H Wissel Every large or small organization has events that everybody needs to be aware of - as needed. There are many solutions that offer corporate and team calendaring. They all have a drawback: you need buy them and you need to change the way you work (Some are smarter than others). Today I'd like to show you one option how to get a corporate calendar on a shoe string (You need your admin's help for that):
Create a new database on the server using mail[yourServerVersion].ntf as template
Set the defau [read] Keywords: admin
calendaring
domino
lotus
notes
ntf
R4
template
database
profile
server
32
A Visitor from Home
Sat, Feb 21st 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel This weekend the son of an old friend is visiting us. He came back from an ANZ trip and will explore South East Asia for a while. Since he has deep roots in the German coffee culture, he is wondering if he should visit Java or Vietnam first. So we created a little presentation and he will see important people on his trip. If you are looking for high quality coffee in Germany, look for this logo: [read] Keywords: java
28
Advertising with LinkStar?
Fri, Feb 20th 2009 5:58p Stephan H. Wissel This arrived in my inbox today:
Hi ,
I work for Linkstar Media, a leading broker of online advertising, dealing with many thousands of independent webmasters worldwide. We currently have a client in the Telecoms industry for whom we are looking to acquire advertising from quality websites.
We've had a look at Wissel.net and think that it would be a good match for our client, whose target demographic is similar to your own.
We would be interested in purchasing advertising in the form [read] Keywords: admin
47
Setting up DXLMagic to run from the command line
Thu, Feb 19th 2009 5:55p Stephan H. Wissel It is a little hidden in the slide deck. These are the steps for setting up the DXLMagic environment to be useable. You need to replace [AppDir] with the path to your Notes application (typically something like C:\Notes, C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus Notes, /applications/lotus/notes or /opt/ibm/lotus/notes, depending on your platform. You also will need to set [DataDir]: the place where your nsf live and [JarDir] where you copied the DXLMagic.jar file (can be in the Notes directory, up to you). So [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
lotusphere2009
notes
application
applications
java
linux
mac
66
Domino eMail for Android devices (and others)
Wed, Feb 18th 2009 1:57a Stephan H. Wissel On 16 February Seven announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the availability of their email solution for Android phones. From the press release:... Support for business email: provides mobile subscribers with seamless and secure access to Microsoft Exchange or IBM Lotus Domino corporate email, which represents 80% of the corporate email services in use without installing any software behind the firewall....
Seven already supports Brew, J2ME, Palm, Symbian and Windows Mobile. S [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
email
exchange
exchange
microsoft
mobile
74
Second Thoughts
Tue, Feb 17th 2009 5:54p Stephan H. Wissel I'm having second thoughts about saying nice things about Microsoft., when reading this. Lets hope, /. got it wrong and they didn't fall victim to DRM, but an overzealous (Beta any one?) protection of executable files.
Speak after me: DRM is bad for the customer. [read] Keywords: microsoft
116
DXLMagic 0.1 released
Tue, Feb 17th 2009 5:54p Stephan H. Wissel I finally made it. The DXLMagic 0.1 release is available on OpenNTF. It contains the database to generate the job files and the Java executables. I need to cleanup the XSLT stylesheets, they will follow soon. [read] Keywords: lotusphere2009
database
java
openntf
xslt
173
Domino Configuration Tuner
Mon, Feb 16th 2009 11:56p Stephan H. Wissel The Domino Server has hundreds of configuration parameter and you need to be a real expert to master them all. For less smart people like the rest of us, there is the Domino Configuration Tuner (DCT). DCT can analyze R7 and R8 servers:Domino Configuration Tuner is available to any customer free of charge. It works with Lotus Domino server 7.0 and later, and runs on the Lotus Notes client, standard or basic, version 8 and later. There are no required changes to a customer domain configuration in [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
ldd
lotus
notes
notes client
R6
R7
R8
show-n-tell
google
network
server
wiki
71
More on eMail Retention
Mon, Feb 16th 2009 11:56p Stephan H. Wissel eMail retention seems like a never ending story, even when thought leader kiss it good bye. Ferris reminds us, that we must not let the discussion/decision about the applicable retention policies stop us from archiving eMail at all: Defining retention rules is a continuous and complex process of prototyping and refinement. [...] If you wait until the rules are fully defined, you’ll never get started.. Of course lack of action sometime seems intentional [read] Keywords: policies
archiving
archive
email
google
70
An old dog peeing on the rug?
Sun, Feb 15th 2009 8:56p Stephan H. Wissel "Microsoft is like an old dog that even when beaten won't stop peeing on the rug." - That's not my opinion, but a statement made at Microsoft Watch. While initially I had a good laugh, I then felt that statement is a little over the top. I certainly don't like the way they do business, but I recognize them as a formidable technology force. I don't think Microsoft ever was very innovative, but they have an important skill, lacking in so many IT companies: picking up underdeveloped ideas and makin [read] Keywords: lotus
application
community
facebook
google
java
microsoft
108
Workflow and Document Access
Wed, Feb 11th 2009 9:57p Stephan H Wissel An interesting question arose in a discussion with a Korean customer this week. In that discussion I learned, that workflows are subject to a lot of cultural influences. Cultural influences come from the region as well as from the corporate culture. A typical requirement in workflow applications in AP: A user must not see other workflow documents (vs. the more European: doesn't want to/doesn't need to). A "must not" requirement mandates the use of reader fields (with all its performance ramifica [read] Keywords: acl
adminp
agent
document
formula
notes
show-n-tell
workflow
application
applications
database
76
Generating a dynamic questionaire
Wed, Feb 11th 2009 5:53p Stephan H Wissel A developer recently asked me how to generate dynamic questions. Dynamic as in: there is a general topic and then details. E.g.
Please state the number of building blocks per shapeShapeRedBlueYellow
Triangle564
[Button: add row]
The filled in cells would have entry fields (not just text). So how would one do that in Domino 7 or 8 (so no XPages)? It is actually not that hard. Use a form "ConfigureQuestion" to capture all the parameters. I would have a text-area for the question (call it question [read] Keywords: agent
domino
javascript
show-n-tell
xpages dojo
29
Dear SingTel, I love your MIO service and I really would like to use a SIP Phone!
Tue, Feb 10th 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel OK, that was maybe a bit exaggerated. Generally I'm OK with Singtel's broadband now (except the slowness in the evening, but that's a gateway issue). The MIO Voip/Surf package works well. What irks me: it comes with a 2Wire ADSL modem that I simply don't like. The configuration isn't intuitive, there's no support for DynDNS and I can't pick the firewall I like. But I'm tied to it. The 2Wire has the interface to connect the normal phone to Singtel's VoiP service. I'd rather use a SIP phone (or an [read] Keywords: interface
122
Interesting Development Tools to watch
Tue, Feb 10th 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel I come across a lot of tools I see potential in. These are my latest findings: Pivot Toolkit: A Rich Internet Application Toolkit. Interesting: uses XML for the UI definition that can be loaded at runtime. Could supercede Thinlets if it runs on mobile devices.JFreechart: Java Charts for everything. Works in Windows, Linux, Mac and in applets. And it works in Notes 8 clients as Julian has shown. Don't forget to buy the Developer Guide.XML Diff and Merge. I had a deep look at a lot of XML files la [read] Keywords: ibm
notes
application
development
java
linux
mac
mobile
xml
61
IBM Opposes the Buy American Provisions
Mon, Feb 9th 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel The "Buy American" provisions of the US stimulus package has caused quite a stir. The Economist likened them to the raise of long buried zombies. However there seems still the voice of reason available in all that madness. A broad coalition of US and multi-national organizations has formed expressing their concern to the president and the senate leaders. The list reads like the who is who in business: ABB, The ACE Group of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Aeroje [read] Keywords: ibm
microsoft
oracle
sap
217
How *NOT* to get a new job.
Sat, Feb 7th 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel In the current economic condition and with the impending implosion of Satyam the frequency of resumes ending up in my mailbox has sharply increased. Typically now I get requests from people between 5 and 15 years of experience, all with completed university degrees and all making the same basic mistake. Here a sample:
Hi
I am [Name removed to prevent embarrassment] with xx years of experience in IT Industry.
I request you to consider me as candidate for a suitable opening in your company [read] Keywords: ibm
notes
odf
email
openntf
skype
58
Windows 7(?) Street Test
Sat, Feb 7th 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel ZDNet Australia took the next great UI for a street test. Well I still like Gnome better. You like eye candy? Just look what Google thinks it is. [read] Keywords: google
soa
48
The Great Economic Crisis
Sat, Feb 7th 2009 3:56a Stephan H. Wissel "Dire warnings of impending economic doom started being heard above the euphoric shouts of the million who had recently vaulted into the middle and upper classes. Suggestions to balance budgets and limit credit at all levels of the economy were ignored. Instead, creative effort was expended to come up with one way after another of putting more spending power in the hands of a populace that had forgotten how to say 'wait', much less 'no' to itself. The global stock market began to sputter in Janu [read] Keywords:
128
The nifty-fifty unearthed
Sat, Feb 7th 2009 3:56a Stephan H. Wissel Catching up on my Blog reading I came across a post from Tony Austin ranting about rants about Notes 9.0. In that post is a gold nugget (cat's gold I suppose): a link where you can download the original nifty-fifty (for the uninitiated: the nifty-fifty were 50 sample applications Lotus published ca 1999 together with Notes R3/R4 in the early days of collaboration, where people would use groupware for a wide range of tasks and hadn't turned into eMail junkies). Looking at these applications I can [read] Keywords: collaboration
forms
formula
lotus
notes
notesdomino
R4
template
xpages application
applications
database
email
reservation
web2.0
30
What Kind of Kid Were You?
Fri, Feb 6th 2009 5:52p Stephan H. Wissel You Were an Inspired Kid
When you were a kid, you tended to see things from a unique, inventive perspective.
In class, you were either asking lots of questions or getting lost in a daydream.
You excelled at brainstorming. People were always amazed with what you came up with.
You didn't do as well with structured activities. Giving you freedom was the only way to make you shine.
What Kind of Kid Were You? [read] Keywords:
57
DogMind - Escaped from the Lab
Wed, Feb 4th 2009 5:55p Stephan H Wissel IBM internally runs a Technology Adoption Program (TAP for short). TAP follows the principle: "Let us throw it at the wall and see what sticks", means: it is our breeding ground for innovation. All internal software and all products go through TAP before they graduate into "released software" or "good to use for all". I think this is very smart. I like trying new stuff and balance between leading and bleeding edge. Others are less adventurous. TAP allows me to try things within the boundaries of [read] Keywords: connections
dogear
ibm
lotus
Protect your IBM Lotus Domino Server against brute force attacks on non HTTP ports
Mon, Feb 2nd 2009 6:53p Stephan H. Wissel Chris Brandlehner provides excellent advise how to harden a Domino server further against dictionary attacks. Of course you only need that if you allow non-Notes clients to authenticate via SMTP. If that's off (as in good Notes/iNotes only shops), you don't need to protect that vector. Anyhow the script is designed for Linux, I guess it works on AIX, Solaris and other Unix too. I wonder what you do on Windows. [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
inotes
lotus
notes
aix
linux
server
smtp
106
Global recession - where did all the money go?
Sun, Feb 1st 2009 10:55p Stephan H. Wissel The Guardian is running an excellent story to explain the Global Financial Crisis. In a nutshell: (Amount of Money) * (Velocity of transfer) = (Price of goods) * (Economic Output). The velocity of transfer is slowing down much faster than the amount of money can be increased. While $1.9 trillion stimulus looks big compared to the $3.9 trillion cash in circulation, it is merely a drop in the ocean of the 290 trillion "great asset bubble" (the whole global GDP was $55 trillion only). Go read the [read] Keywords:
65
The best way to fix software problems
Thu, Jan 29th 2009 5:53p Stephan H. Wissel The natural enemy of any software project is warped communication. To minimize damage all agile software development methods use short cycles and close interaction with the user. Over the year I learned (partly the hard way) that what users say hardly correlates with what user do. So the final verification usually happens during the User Acceptance Tests (UAT). The problem here: the project is mostly concluded when UAT commences and conflict between users and developers are guaranteed. I yet hav [read] Keywords: application
development
ideajam
ideajam.net
32
Social Software Adoption
Wed, Jan 28th 2009 9:55p Stephan H. Wissel US President Obama is credited for his effective use of social software. Edelman just published a paper titled "Social media lessons from the Obama campaign" as part of their insight series. From the description: "Barack Obama won the presidency in a landslide victory by converting everyday people into engaged and empowered volunteers, donors and advocates through social networks, e-mail advocacy, text messaging and online video. By combining social media and micro-targeting in the manner that i [read] Keywords: social software
Domino Designer Platform(s)
Tue, Jan 20th 2009 6:58p Stephan H. Wissel There's a big discussion about what platforms Domino Designer should run on. Currently it is Windows only. The contenders are Linux and OS/X. There's a catch: every new platform will slow development down in creating new functionality. I think with the current machine generation one platform will be enough: Linux. Make Designer a first class citizen on Linux and then package this into a VM that can play on any other platform. Since there isn't a license issue with Linux and we could strip down t [read] Keywords: designer
domino
lotusphere2009
development
linux
vm
vmware
59
iPhone love
Tue, Jan 20th 2009 5:56p Stephan H. Wissel Last April I ranted to a senior IBM exec about mobile devices and our strategy. While Lotus Traveler's SyncML is a great way to synchronize with a mobile device we only supported Windows Mobile then. My point of view was: "If the mountain (of mobile devices) doesn't come to the prophet, then the prophet needs to go to the mountain" a.k.a. support whatever sync protocol is supported by the mobile device. Now the results of my rant are coming in: We will support ActiveSync for mobile devices. So i [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
lotusphere2009
notes
traveler
iphone
mobile
BSP304 - IBM Lotus Notes and Me: Maximizing Personal Productivity with Lotus Notes
Mon, Jan 19th 2009 5:52p Stephan H. Wissel The session was run by Eric Mack and David Alan. David Alan sums it up:"In every email is a hidden berry, bear or snake", but it is not as evident as in nature and you need to think about it to figure it out. Enter the Knowledge Worker. While knowledge work requires collaboration the individual actions are very personal. Knowledge work is about value. The equation is simple: value = knowledge * methodology * technology. Knowledge is kept in personal knowledge management, the methodology is a mea [read] Keywords: collaboration
ibm
lotus
lotusphere2009
notes
blackberry
email
eMail Retention Policies
Thu, Jan 15th 2009 1:59a Stephan H. Wissel David Ferris, principal and founder of Ferris research sums up The State of Email Retention Schedules. It seems to me, that a lot of organisations follow the motto: Ignorance is bliss. However when looking closer it doesn't look like ignorance anymore, rather confusion on many forces/interests pulling into different directions:
IT management likes to keep retention periods short. Short periods require less storage, less computing power to search and analyze the stored data and offer less data ( [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
policies
consulting
email
social software
twitter
How much Microsoft Tax do you pay?
Tue, Jan 13th 2009 5:52p Stephan H. Wissel Joe Wilcox of Microsoft Watch wrote an interesting commentary about the "Microsoft Tax" enterprises pay. Microsoft currently is flaking against Apple alleging Apple customers pay an Apple tax (which I would agree, but it's not money but loss of control, but that's a story for another time. The components of the M$ tax are:
Client-Access Licenses (CAL)
Software Assurance
Versioning (Pulling out features into new products or enterprise editions)
MDOP and Windows Vista Enterprise
Head over and re [read] Keywords: ibm
apple
enterprise
microsoft
vista
AD215 - Teaser
Sun, Jan 11th 2009 8:59p Stephan H Wissel Running reports against DXL is one of my topics in the AD215 session (Thursday 8:30am, Dolphin Hemisphere III). You will see (and learn how to do) things like that:
See you there. [read] Keywords: designer
dxl
ibm
lotus
lotusphere2009
30
Ideas for a stimulus package (German edition)
Sat, Jan 10th 2009 5:52p Stephan H. Wissel All over the planet government are throwing (more or less) money into their economies to get them back on track. Throwing money is easy, everybody does it. In the US president elect Obama thinks a little ahead: he realizes that a working infrastructure is bitterly needed. After all rolling power outages are an indicator of a 3rd world country. Looking towards Germany that won't work. The infrastructure is pretty good and Germany surely won't need Japanese bridges going nowhere. Some more creativ [read] Keywords: wiki
136
Overheard at a developer discussion
Wed, Jan 7th 2009 3:59a Stephan H Wissel XPages feedback from an early adopter:"I'm now able to call our code from an XPage... and equivalent transactions that were taking a full second (or more) to complete in a Domino agent are now completing in 20 - 40 milliseconds. And we haven't even optimized it yet; that 50x performance boost is just from running it in XPages instead of in agents."
What do you want more? [read] Keywords: agent
domino
lotus
xpages
36
The story of stuff
Tue, Jan 6th 2009 12:59a Stephan H Wissel From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, a [read] Keywords: connections
application
21
Markup your E-Discovery
Tue, Jan 6th 2009 12:59a Stephan H Wissel Bob Spurzem of Ferris Research notifies us about a recent publication around E-Discovery. In his blog entry he points to the Electronic Discovery Refeence Model (EDRM) group that announced in December its XML standard for e-discovery of electronically stored information. EDRM tries to address the headache you have preparing for eDiscovery by the multitude of propriarty formats your information lives in. While a lot of EDRM vendors jumped on that, it will be seen if that format becomes a standard [read] Keywords: document
dxl
notes
odf
email
ooxml
php
xml
43
Markup your Strategy
Sun, Jan 4th 2009 8:59p Stephan H. Wissel No this is no advice for consultants how to bill their activities to customers (you know that "Share your knowledge and I tell you what you know" type of activities). This is about the wonderous world of XML Schema. While XPath (together with XSLT) separates men from boys, knowledge of the various available Schemata and their use separates the knowing from the clueless. There are Schemata (I'm using the proper plural, you might find others referring to them as Schemas) for almost everything. Of [read] Keywords: administration
odf
linking
office
ooxml
xml
xslt
120
Beef up your programming skills - Take a Stanford course - free
Fri, Jan 2nd 2009 11:59p Stephan H. Wissel After a number of years in the field we all think of ourselfs as "seasoned developers". A lot of us (like me) came from other professions into IT. I studied economics during national service (where I had to learn COBOL), went to law school and hold a certification as counsellor. I also went through IBM training in their internship program in the 1980ties (COBOL again, but also hardware, mainframe, midrange, PC and 1-2-3). Despite all experience it makes a lot of sense to connect back to the root [read] Keywords: ibm
application
eclipse
wiki
ubuntu
34
Change of Schedule
Thu, Jan 1st 2009 7:55p Stephan H. Wissel Today is the first day in Primary 3 for Anthony and Ernest. The past two years they had the luxury to have school in the afternoon. This has changed. They have to get up at 6am to be ready for the bus picking them up at 6:45 (SWMBO insists on sending them by bus, I would put them on their bikes). So from now on I'll get up at 6am too. I'll see how that will change my daily schedule. [read] Keywords:
XPages Workskops coming up.
Mon, Dec 22nd 2008 11:53p Stephan H Wissel Tim sums it up:
So it seems that word is spreading about this great XPages stuff, (so someone does read my blog) and I am being asked what the plans are to deliver it in other countries.
January is going to be planning month and Lotusphere 2009
So here is who to contact if you want to add you name to the list of people/countries that are interested.
to find out how to contact them you can use the WhoIs application.
Only Stephan and I know about this blog post so far so when you contact the o [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
lotusphere
xpages application
54
IdeaJam running within Lotus Connections 2.0
Mon, Dec 22nd 2008 11:53p Stephan H Wissel IBM's business partner Elgui Software has a great piece of web2.0 software called IdeaJam (build on Domino/XPages). IdeaJam allows the sharing of ideas, commenting and voting on all ideas. It is an application no IBM customer should miss. Bruce just pointed me to the latest feature: seamless integration into Lotus Connections.
From the IdeaJam product page: "IdeaJam is a place where people can post and share their ideas, and
gauge the marketability, popularity and viability with input from
othe [read] Keywords: connections
domino
ibm
lotus
notes
xpages application
ideajam
ideajam.net
integration
web2.0
86
Lotus Notes 8.5 requires the DCOM Server Process Launcher Service
Mon, Dec 22nd 2008 6:53p Stephan H Wissel I'm using Linux as my base operating system. Until Domino Designer is available on Linux I need to keep a Virtual Machine with XP around. I work with both VMWare and VirtualBox. One thing you automatically do with virtualized operating systems is to shut down what is not essential. In windows the services loaded by default can be cut back quite a bit. Of course you can overdo that. One lesson I learned the hard way: The Notes 8.5 client crashes fatally if the "DCOM Server Process Launcher" isn't [read] Keywords: designer
domino
lotus
notes
show-n-tell
linux
server
vmware
58
I want one - Part VI
Sun, Dec 21st 2008 7:56p Stephan H. Wissel This time strictly for the kids. I had my stab at Elektromann. And I still remember its slogan: "Alles baut Elektromann was man mit Strom betreiben kann!" [read] Keywords:
68
I want one - Part V
Fri, Dec 19th 2008 11:52p Stephan H. Wissel And I thought the only vehicles the Danish were good at were Viking battle ships.
For the record: I don't own a car. [read] Keywords:
127
Web Agents XPages style
Fri, Dec 19th 2008 7:52p Stephan H Wissel In Domino Agents are the Swiss Army Knife of development. They can be called from the client, triggered on schedule, automatically run on an event, be associated with a web action (Open, Close) or directly called from an URL using ?OpenAgent. The ?OpenAgent use of agents is subject of this blog entry. A agent triggered from an URL can use Print statements to output results back to the browser. When the first line of your print statements is "Content-Type:..." you also can serve XML or JSON or wh [read] Keywords: agent
document
domino
ldd
lotus
lotusscript
show-n-tell
xpages development
wiki
xml
178
The "real" impact of XPages
Wed, Dec 17th 2008 10:52p Stephan H Wissel Based on the IBM Dublin workshop Tim,Matt and myself created the materials for the famous XPages workshop that ran in Hursley and Bejing (and is planned for other locations early 2009). One comment by a participant summed up the impact of XPages on Notes (yes it's coming for the client) and Domino:
"I was afraid that my lack of experience with the Lotus environment would prove to be a burden during the session, but it has not. On the contrary it might even have been an advantage (emphasis mine) [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
javascript
lotus
notes
xpages
42
I want one - Part IV
Wed, Dec 17th 2008 5:52p Stephan H Wissel Just watching the ZEN like concentration of Anthony playing the guitar is worth it! [read] Keywords: wiki
41
Ubuntu 8.10, Sun Java 6 and Firefox 3.0.x
Wed, Dec 17th 2008 5:52p Stephan H Wissel The Mini is running Ubuntu 8.10 by now and does that quite well. Only Firefox somehow didn't load Java applets properly despite the fact that I had the latest and greatest JVM. 6.0_10-b33. Command line Java programs (like Websphere, Tomcat and some of the stuff for AD215) work plesantly fast. So something in the combination of Ubuntu, Java and Firefox doesn't seem to work. After a little research it turned out, that Sun has created a next generation plug-in that is supposed to address all the sh [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
bug
community
firefox
java
linux
websphere
ubuntu
Testing Notes Client applications
Tue, Dec 9th 2008 6:52p Stephan H Wissel My friend Lucius started his own software company Smart Toucan. His first product is Auto-User, a tool that can test Notes Classic client applications. You can use it for recording/replaying demos or to run automated software test. While IBM has a great product for web application testing (the Rational team will not talk to me anymore if I don't mention them here ), automated testing capabilities for the Notes classic client are painfully absent. Auto-User plugs this gap. The current Beta releas [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
R8
application
applications
35
Checkout Bluehouse
Tue, Dec 9th 2008 6:52p Stephan H Wissel Lotus Bluehouse is IBM's latest SaaS offering. It provides an open, secure, ad-free combination of popular functionalities of the Lotus portfolio:
Contacts: You can sync your contacts with your favorite PIM including Notes and SyncML based one. Of course updating addresses becomes easy once you are connected to a contact. With best regards from Lotus Connections Profiles.
Document sharing: Functionality like Quickr is available. Upload and share files including version control
Plan and execute [read] Keywords: bluehouse
connections
document
forms
ibm
lotus
notes
quickr
sametime
community
100
Estimating Notes projects
Mon, Dec 8th 2008 7:53p Stephan H Wissel Estimating software project cost and duration seems to have parallels with the local weather reports: You simply can't rely on them. Waterfall project approaches are partly to blame. Estimating the amount of work units for a requirement is another. How much work is "The system needs to be user friendly"? For the sake of this post lets us presume your have a magic box, typically labeled experience, either explicit or implicit, that gives you an insight how much code you need. Once you know how mu [read] Keywords: designer
domino
lotus
notes
database
development
eclipse
php
102
I want one
Sun, Dec 7th 2008 6:55p Stephan H. Wissel Even if it is the tacit admission, that I need to get back in shape [read] Keywords:
190
Notes Application Statistics
Fri, Dec 5th 2008 4:52a Stephan H Wissel I recently had the opportunity to look deep into the many thousand applications one of our customers has deployed. I found the following metrics:
A Notes database application has per average 18.8 forms and 37 views (including folders)
There are 8000 lines of code per application (@Formula, LotusScript, JavaScript, Java) and 10.5 agents
A form or subform has per average 10.7 fields and 8.8 actions or buttons. So if a form uses 3 subforms you would have 32.1 fields.
A view has per average 6.7 col [read] Keywords: forms
formula
javascript
lotus
lotusscript
notes
application
applications
database
java
86
Avoid Keyword Lookups in Read Mode
Wed, Dec 3rd 2008 3:51a Stephan H Wissel Keyword fields (known to the younger audience as: Radio buttons, checkboxes, combobox, dropdowns etc.) very often are populated by @Formulas. @DBColumn, @DBLookup and @GetProfileField are equally popluar. For best performance you should use @GetProfileField (if that is possible in your application context). Another way to speed things up: prevent the formulas from executing in Read Mode. If for example a formula to populate the options looks like this:
tmp := @DBLookup("Notes":"NoCache";"";"(Loo [read] Keywords: dblookup
formula
notes
show-n-tell
application
40
What type is that blog?
Sun, Nov 23rd 2008 7:56p Stephan H. Wissel The analysis indicates that the author of http://www.wissel.net is of the type: INTJ - The Scientists
The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it - often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be pshysically hesitant to try new things.
The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity [read] Keywords:
52
Capturing Software Requirements
Sun, Nov 23rd 2008 6:55p Stephan H. Wissel In an earlier post I was recommending Alistair Cockburn's book
Writing Effective Use Cases (Agile Software Development Series). Now a new project on OpenNTF headed by Dave Parillo is implementing Alistair's approach outlined in the book. It is an early release for now, nevertheless deserves attention and support. Go get it. [read] Keywords: domino
development
openntf
Practical Magic with DXL
Wed, Nov 19th 2008 7:55p Stephan H. Wissel My Best-Practice-Track submission for Lotusphere didn't make it. However my development topic did. So I'm speaking in Orlando.
AD215: "Lotus Domino XML (DXL) allows you to extract information from your Notes database. Come to this session to learn a number of tips and tricks on how to use information to make your applications more functional and maintainable. For example, unification of the design of your views, separation of LotusScript from forms, comprehensive documentation for your applicat [read] Keywords: domino
dxl
forms
ibm
lotus
lotusphere
lotusphere2009
lotusscript
notes
xpages applications
database
development
xml
69
Use Swimm Lanes to Document System Components
Tue, Nov 18th 2008 11:52p Stephan H. Wissel A common challenge in software development is to synchronize the different phases and stake holders in a development project. Business users care about the business functionality, infrastructure people about the system setup (servers, network, storage etc.), interaction designers about the UI, developers about code libraries and and and. Typically you have a different set of artifacts to document and cover the various aspects. While looking at the forest of information you might loose sight of t [read] Keywords: document
application
development
network
wiki
28
applicatio sine qua non*
Sun, Nov 16th 2008 7:52p Stephan H Wissel If you only have money for one intranet application running on your Domino server (besides the blog and discussion that came with the server and all the goodies from OpenNTF) it would be IdeaJam from elguji Software llc. My favorite other Notes application (which runs on the client) also uses IdeaJam to collect ideas. No idea what ideaJam is? Just watch the video:
Ready to learn more? Take the tour. IdeaJam (as the time of this writing) is available in French, English, English (GB), Spanish, F [read] Keywords: domino
lotus
notes
application
ideajam
ideajam.net
openntf
server
40 students in the class room
Wed, Nov 12th 2008 7:52p Stephan H Wissel The school year in Singapore is over. Anthony and Ernest are home until January. Their results were good, so they will go to the two top classes. Our school admits the top 80 students into two classes with a wider and deeper curriculum. So there will be forty students in a class. 40 is a good solid number. Jesus went to the dessert for 40 days, Ali Baba had to deal with 40 robbers and it is just two short of the answer to all question of the universe.
But 40 nine year old kids in one room deems [read] Keywords: google
php
wiki
71
Estimating efforts for web enablement
Mon, Nov 10th 2008 7:52p Stephan H Wissel A lot of organizations I talk to have a lot of Notes Client applications that they want to make accessible through browsers. Some want browser only, some want dual access. All wonder how to estimate the effort needed properly. As a rule of thumb one can say: number of artifacts times time per artifact times experience of the development team. This would make one equation with three unknowns, which can't be solved. I won't discuss the "time per artifact" in this post, since this is very dependent [read] Keywords: dxl
forms
formula
ldd
lotus
lotusscript
notes
notes client
show-n-tell
applications
database
development
java
55
Documenting Project Progress
Mon, Nov 10th 2008 7:52p Stephan H Wissel Software projects are not started and completed in a single day (well except certain voting applications for certain design partners), so you need to track progress. The typical way is to estimate the amount of work, set this at 100% and have a line (or bar) chart that shows the percentage of completion over time. You all have seen those diagrams. But they suck big time. Inevitably [read] Keywords: document
notes
applications
dojo
wiki
88
Domino Server and Domino System Template Versions
Fri, Nov 7th 2008 7:52p Stephan H Wissel Every Domino server version comes with its set of system templates provided by IBM, most notably pubnames.ntf and admin4.ntf (The full list of templates is in your Administrative help file). IBM's recommendation for server upgrades is to upgrade the administration server of the Domino directory first including the templates. I recently encountered a number of customers who have concerns upgrading the address book design when they have also older server versions in their network. While it is poss [read] Keywords: acl
admin
administration
adminp
domino
ibm
ldd
lotus
ntf
show-n-tell
template
network
server
133
The shadow of things to come
Sun, Nov 2nd 2008 7:51p Stephan H Wissel Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5 are closing in on their release date. There is a lot of buzz around XPages. But IBM doesn't stop here. Development for 8.5.1 is in full swing and planning for 9.0 has kicked off long ago. Of course (can you spell NDA) I can't tell what's happening next in the Domino space. But I can share a screenshot from my workstation (proudly running Ubuntu):
Nota bene: I do not work in development, I don't make statements what they do or will do. [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
xpages development
php
planetlotus
planetlotus.org
ubuntu
xPages architecture from a web perspective
Tue, Oct 21st 2008 8:55p Stephan H Wissel Yesterday I mused about how you can add a Domino 8.5 xPages server to an existing Domain without changing the existing infrastructure. Looking at the picture I realized, that while its function seems to be obvious, it actually might only be obvious to the initiated. So I went back to the drawing board. In a typical web application setting using other technologies (like JSP, ASP or PHP) you typically have a web server, an application server and a database server (they can and do sit quite often o [read] Keywords: domino
notes
xpages application
database
oracle
php
server
sql
127
Running xPages in a R7/R8.0 environment
Tue, Oct 21st 2008 6:51a Stephan H Wissel "R8.5 and xPages ante portas!" Not before long and R8.5 will be released and you can deploy the shiny new Domino web2.0 application that created so much buzz. However you can make a safe bet, that your infrastructure team will stop you short: "Not so fast young man, we are not ready". Luckily you don't need to wait for a wholesale upgrade of the entire Domino infrastructure. You just need to add one R8.5 server:
There are a few pointers you need to be aware of:
The R8.5 server must use the R [read] Keywords: domino
ods
R5
R6
R7
R8
show-n-tell
xpages application
database
network
php
planetlotus
planetlotus.org
server
web2.0
85
Access protected Notes documents - RDBMS style
Wed, Oct 15th 2008 8:52p Stephan H Wissel An interesting discussion happened today around Notes performance. In a rather large database (> 500k records) all documents are protected with Author and Reader fields. The access is rather narrow, so any user might see just about 1000 of the 500000 documents. Opening a view in the Notes client is rather slow and the old "rah. rah Notes is bad" song is performed. Notes performance is discussed in great length at other places, so this isn't what this post is about. I was wondering how one wou [read] Keywords: document
domino
ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
show-n-tell
database
sql
101
The multi-faced nature of the NSF
Tue, Oct 14th 2008 8:51p Stephan H Wissel I'm running the XPages enablement workshop in Beijing this week. Having to teach other about new functionality guarantees either dispair or insight. Today I had a rather insightful moment. Very often the NSF gets blasted for being a "flat-file-non-relational-whatever" file. When having a closer look at the format however you will realize, that it is a quite amazing part of technology:
Build to function as a "whatever-you-want-to-dump-into" data store
Build backward compatible. I still can open [read] Keywords: document
domino
notes
notes client
R8
xpages application
database
eclipse
server
50
1
Follow the Leader - Put Linux on your server!
Mon, Sep 29th 2008 10:51p Stephan H Wissel According to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer: "Forty percent of servers run Windows, 60 percent run Linux" (I presume he is talking about the x86 based servers, not the whole server market). So sticking to the popular strategy "Follow the leader" it is time to kick out that Windows servers. Of course together with IIS, since that is trailing Apache HTTP for quite some time now. While you are on it, check out IBM's Open Client and get your desktop some Suse, Redhat or Ubuntu. [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
desktop
linux
microsoft
redhat
server
wiki
ubuntu
45
Freddie, Fannie and an old blog entry.
Tue, Sep 16th 2008 12:55a Stephan H Wissel Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae have been nationalized, but in world. Seems like the financial crisis will stay with us for a while. Forclosures seem to become a hot US election topic. How many of them can be avoided if morgage payments get substantially lower. But how? Socialism anyone. If the government would own your house it could lower your payments. But wait... they do own it now and I might have been almost right, except it's not about additional consumptio [read] Keywords: mac
77
Fields in Forms Matrix
Mon, Sep 15th 2008 4:58a Stephan H Wissel When cleaning up existing applications it is good to have an overview what fields are used across forms. Unfortunately the synopsis isn't very helpful there. However with a few lines of LotusScript one can create a matrix that serves as an overview. It is a comparison by name only and doesn't tell you anything about computation mode or data-type. But it is a start. YMMV [read] Keywords: forms
lotusscript
show-n-tell
applications
58
Vote for my topic: Inherting Notes applications
Fri, Sep 12th 2008 2:03a Stephan H Wissel Notes applications often get transferred between generations of developers. The session sheds a light on practices what you can do on the receiving end of such a transfer. Armed with insight and tools you can get on top of any historic application understanding what it does and how to improve it. Topics covered: Gathering evidence, assessing complexity, planning improvements, quick wins with your users. [read] Keywords: javascript
lotusphere2009
notes
application
applications
ideajam
ideajam.net
58
Sametime offline chat and other server examples
Wed, Sep 10th 2008 1:58a Stephan H Wissel Sametime out of the box requires chat partners to be online to chat. Other than some of the public IM products you can't "leave a message". If you are interested in this functionality you have to roll your own. To do that you require the Sametime Community Server Toolkit and working knowledge of Java. A good starter is the Redbook Working with the Sametime Community Server Toolkit
which is valid since Sametime 3. Also a good read is the IBM Lotus Sametime Community Server Toolkit Tutorial that [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
sametime
community
java
server
66
Adding a Quickr place to your connectors through a link
Fri, Sep 5th 2008 4:52a Stephan H Wissel One huge enhancement from Quickplace to Quickr is the availability of the Quickr REST API and the Quickr connectors that take advantage of it. The connectors allow you to access files stored in Quickr using Explorer, MS Office, Lotus Symphony, Lotus Notes or Sametime. Before you can use a place you need to add it to the connector. While there is a simple GUI for that, it is inconvenient for new places. Luckily there is a simple way to get around it. I routinely add a link page to my Quickr place [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
quickplace
quickr
sametime
symphony
office
server
128
xPages Overview
Tue, Sep 2nd 2008 8:09p Stephan H Wissel Letting the xPages workshop sink in for a few days, I'm now preparing to spread the love. If you happen to be in Beijing in October 15-17 2008 you could join me for the first AP xPages workshop. It will be designed as a T3 (which stands for Train-The-Trainer), so you will not only learn what xPages is all about, but also how to spread the love. I think xPages will not only be a major overhaul how existing Notes shops develop web applications, but it also offers the unique opportunity for new dev [read] Keywords: domino
forms
javascript
notes
show-n-tell
xpages ajax
applications
database
java
security
server
190
Generate xPages from your views
Sun, Aug 31st 2008 8:12p Stephan H Wissel The Dublin workshop has concluded. Others
have reported and I start playing with automating upgrading your existing
applications to include xPages. In a nutshell: xPages allows scripting
your application end-to-end in JavaScript. JavaScript on the client and
the server and just a selection for you to decide what runs where. Of course
JavaScript is not a Domino server languages in older Notes versions, so
you need to do something about your @Formula and LotusScript. But that's
a topic for another [read] Keywords: domino
dxl
formula
javascript
lotusscript
notes
show-n-tell
template
xpages application
applications
java
server
xml
xslt
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Lotusphere 09 heating up.
Fri, Aug 29th 2008 4:52a Stephan H Wissel I'm sitting next to Tim Clark at the XPages workshop. He's working for the Business Partner Technical Enablement. At Lotusphere '09 his team will showcase Lotus technologies. He wants to know what you would like to see and opened a blog to gather feedback. Head over and give him a shout. [read] Keywords: lotus
lotusphere
lotusphere2009
xpages
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How much bandwidth does Sametime need?
Mon, Aug 25th 2008 9:09a Stephan H Wissel A question that pops up quite regularly is how much bandwidth does Sametime need. As a rule of thumb you can use this values:
A one to one text chat need about 0.2kBit/sec, yes that would be 200 baud. What worked in the 300Baud modem days with your favorite BBS hasn't changed: chat is cheap. Presence transfer consumes about the same (Your Netbios broadcasts probably slanders 10 times the bandwidth. If you transfer files or images (pasted into the chat) bandwidth consumption will peak as: get wh [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
sametime
show-n-tell
network
Bedtime stories
Thu, Aug 14th 2008 9:48a Stephan H. Wissel One of the parential duties I take quite serious is bed time story reading. Serious because it is so much fun. Unfortunately traveling all over Asia Pacific makes progress sometimes slow. We started with picture books, small stories that fit onto a few pages and on to whole books that took quite a while to digest. We digested a few classics like "fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm" and "The Thousand Nights and One Night" as well as some more special stuff. In no particular order this is what we r [read] Keywords:
Spreading the love
Fri, Aug 1st 2008 1:29a Stephan H. Wissel To often people still think Lotus = eMail. That is worse than thinking Lotus Notes is eMail. Yes there was a time when Lotus = Spreadsheet. So what to do about it? Well a picture is worth as thousand words, so everytime I open my laptop the picture becomes clear:
notessensei.com is an alias for this blog. Working on my Global Microbrand [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
email
laptop
102
Connecting Sametime to MSN
Tue, Jul 29th 2008 2:11a Stephan H Wissel Disclaimer: The following considerations are hypothetical and are nothing IBM does recommend, support or implement. This are purely my little musings how something eventually could be done if someone would really want to. It also is a technical musing only and anybody acting on these musing better study MSN's usage agreement and have a word with their lawyers.
So let us begin....
The Sametime gateway that connects a Sametime server to AIM, Yahoo or Google does currently not connect to MSN. T [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
sametime
show-n-tell
email
google
microsoft
server
wiki
43
Explaining the human condition to an eight year old
Fri, Jul 25th 2008 4:46a Stephan H Wissel Anthony told me: "Ernest has a girl friend now". Both have visited the Singapore Science Center multiple times to mavel at the sequence how new babies grow in a mother womb. So I felt it is time to sort a few things out with them along the lines: daddy explains how the world works. Before diving into the biological details (which I think would be a bit early) I felt explaining the confusion of feelings and finding a vocabulary would be important. I found a good starting point in the book Raising [read] Keywords:
37
Procrastinator Professional and (e)Productivity
Fri, Jun 27th 2008 1:09p Stephan H Wissel I confess: I'm a professional procrastinator! I'm full subscribed to JIT as an excuse to do things in the very last minute. Whereby "last minute" must be understood in a tropical sense: anything 5min before the deadline to a month after. Of course that is not very healthy and requires (self)correction. My therapy of choice is GTD. There are great places to get advice and insights, even in the real world.
I got myself a note taker and I'm ready to rumble. While David Allen offers white paper for [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
R6
R8
template
php
wiki
28
Bargaining Power
Fri, Jun 27th 2008 12:08p Stephan H Wissel My style to explore a city is to vaguely set a goal (e.g. a famous road or landmark), use public transport and let me drift through the city. So this evening I set my eye on 天安门广场. I didn't go to the Forbidden City, just stand outside, since they are closed after working hours (mental note: come back as tourist). I walked down Chan'an Avenue, well equipped with an umbrella taking in Beijing's vibes. I ended up at the Silk Street Pearl Market.
It is a six story building divided in endl [read] Keywords: pearl
wiki
208
Who uses Lotus Notes and Domino
Thu, Jun 26th 2008 6:44a Stephan H Wissel In case you missed it. Volker is sick of the various claims on market share Exchange/Outlooks vs. Notes/Domino. So he took matters in his own hands and created a Wiki page to harness collective knowledge to answer that question. Of course it is an apple vs. [fill-in-your-favorite-fruit] comparison and the list already shows that there are quite a number of shops that run both and/or run Exchange for messaging and have Notes applications. I still believe that Exchange is the accepted collateral d [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
apple
applications
email
exchange
exchange
outlook
wiki
71
Excel to Notes or Quickr?
Thu, Jun 26th 2008 6:44a Stephan H Wissel Question to the readers out there:
Has someone written a tool that allows to take a spreadsheet and turn it into a Quickr place or a Notes database. Of course that spreadsheet would contain a list. The tool would pick up the column headings turn them into field names and generate simple forms and views with the ability to do in-view-editing. I know a number of solutions that import/export spreadsheets but to my knowledge they all require existing forms and/or views. I admit I haven't done an in [read] Keywords: forms
lotus
notes
quickr
database
106
Securing your CxO's mail file
Mon, Jun 23rd 2008 12:22a Stephan H Wissel In a recent customer session
the question popped up: How can you really secure your inbox against unauthorized
access including access by nosy admins. The admin part can be particularity
hard since by definition administrators should have the ability to administrate
which can mean to access your file. In Domino you actually can lock down
the environment, even if you have to go quite a number of steps. It is
a typical case of "who controls the controller" This is my wash-list: [read] Keywords: admin
domino
show-n-tell
40
Off the grid
Sun, Jun 15th 2008 1:26p Stephan H Wissel Surprisingly they agreed. The Nintendo DS will stay home together with the laptop. While the hotel claims to have Internet access Ernest, Anthony, SWMBO and I decided it doesn't fit to bring high-tech to a jungle holiday. We will fly to Kota Kinabalu with Silk Air and continue our trip to Mulu on a Fokker 50. I'm looking forward to a lot of activities like: bat caves, canopy skywalks, long boar river cruise and plainly doing nothing. Ida likes to have proper accommodation and wasn't exited about [read] Keywords: laptop
26
500
Wed, Jun 11th 2008 8:46p Stephan H Wissel My first blog entry on 01 Jan 2003 was titled Predictions for 2003. I started blogging out of curiosity. Finding my place in the "Speakers Corner of the World" was an interesting journey. Over the last 5 years I added 500 entries to this blog. You are reading entry #500. The frequency of entries varied based on workload, mood or the fact that I had something or nothing to say.
I owe my customers a lot of the ideas I blogged about in the "Show-and-Tell" and "Lotus Notes" categories. Without thei [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
blogging
wiki
263
Domino does sync with the iPhone!
Wed, Jun 11th 2008 11:03a Stephan H Wissel The heat is on. So what are the options for Notes and Domino users?
Use Domino 8.0.2 (expected in August) and iNotes Ultra light. iNotes UL will support the iPhone. While it isn't Pushmail is is painless and doesn't leave stuff on the iPhone to be wiped
Wait for IBM to licence Active Sync. We currently predict that for the moment hell freezes over.
Find someone to implement Apples native protocols (we suspect they are http/webDAV/CalDAV)... which are not documented (are they?)
Use a robust sync [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
inotes
lotus
notes
iphone
php
server
Patent Trolls reach Singapore
Tue, May 27th 2008 2:45p Stephan H Wissel If I recall correctly HTML has been proposed and standardized 15 years ago. It includes the possibility to wrap a link around an image tag. Nevertheless a patent troll from Singapore managed to get the combination of image and link patented. And I though April fools was weeks ago. While I'm not a legal expert, I would say showing prior art shouldn't be a big problem. Nevertheless the internet sites are buzzing.
What could be the motives of such a patent claim? The old legal wisdom stands even i [read] Keywords: google
php
wiki
137
I want one!
Mon, May 26th 2008 11:28p Stephan H Wissel I have a weakness for beauty. And there are beautiful things around:
via Smashing [read] Keywords: php
23
Is anybody using .ws domains?
Mon, May 26th 2008 12:49p Stephan H Wissel Occasionally I follow spam links to see what they are pouching for. I skip the typical suggestions to increase size or performance of body parts or make a fortune in Nigeria. Lately I've seen quite some messages that suggested a new easy way to generate a lifelong income. Interested in the delusion I had a look. It turns out, that Global Domains International created a Pyramid selling scheme multi level marketing scheme to pouch 10$/month .ws web addresses with personal hosting.
I strongly disd [read] Keywords: connections
development
Knowledge Management and Social Software
Fri, May 16th 2008 1:06p Stephan H Wissel Last week I visited a banking customer in Malaysia. They transformed their banking from traditional western style banking to banking in compliance with Sharia law (commonly referred to as Islamic Banking). Transforming an entire bank is no easy feast, just google for "BPR and failure". The bank learned a great deal of lessons, which both form their heritage as well as serve as a template for others. Now the key people who were driving the transformation are nearing their retirement age and the l [read] Keywords: connections
ibm
lotus
quickr
template
application
blogging
google
office
social software
30
Culture Snippets.
Fri, May 16th 2008 12:43p Stephan H Wissel Living in a diverse region like Asia Pacific brings a lot of opportunity to interact with different cultures and views of the world. Having time to kill at the Mumbai airport waiting to back to Singapore I'd like to share a few observations:
When you meet people in Malaysia or Indonesia you shake hands with men always and with women if the start holding the hand out. After the handshake you put your hand to the heart to indicate that the greeting came from the heart where honesty is located. I [read] Keywords:
41
When service sucks but people go the extra mile
Fri, May 16th 2008 12:43p Stephan H Wissel I like flying Singapore Airlines. The planes are modern, the flights clean and on schedule, the staff takes care of one and the lounges provide shelter from the temptation of compulsive buying in duty free. While typically I fly economy class, I was in the air long enough to have gold status with the Start Alliance. For sentimental reasons (and since the Star Alliance members don't allow transferring miles from one to the other program) I'm a Lufthansa Miles and More member. It doesn't matter, G [read] Keywords:
63
Features and Requests (So you want to be a Domino developer - Part 1)
Sun, May 4th 2008 11:06a Stephan H Wissel My little graphic drew a bit of attention. Patrick seems to be particular interested in Project Management and Prototyping (which I labeled "Software Lifecyle" and "Features & Requests"). So I start off with Features & requests. I will focus on the initial gathering of features, not on the tracking and change management (that will be covered in "Software Lifecyle" at a later point in time. We all have seen this:
Since Notes and Domino is a rapid development environment asking the right [read] Keywords: domino
notes
development
ideajam
ideajam.net
116
The shape of things to come
Sat, May 3rd 2008 10:44p Stephan H Wissel Alan reported about it first.
Our Business Partner
Pentos AG is integrating Skype
into Sametime and Lotus Notes. What started as a "simple" plug-in
rapidly evolves into a fully integrated solution. Tim (the lead developer)
shared a preview of the next iteration of the plug-in with me. It shows
the Skype status wherever you have a Sametime enabled field. How kewl is
that. [read] Keywords: lotus
notes
sametime
integration
php
skype
20
Brunei ICT Career Day
Sat, May 3rd 2008 10:00p Stephan H Wissel I was presenting on "Workforce 2.0" at the Brunei ICT Career Day. The event was organized by new newly formed InfoCom Federation of Brunei (IFB), the IT vendors industry association. I know the 2.0 memme is a bit overstretched, so I decided to present my case with a little tongue in cheek. In a nutshell: well trained talent is more mobile than ever, so attracting and retaining them requires enterprises (the 2.0 versions of course) to adopt to the work and collaboration style favored by them. The [read] Keywords: collaboration
ibm
lotus
development
facebook
google
mobile
office
php
profile
sap
social software
twitter
169
So you want to be a Domino developer?
Tue, Apr 29th 2008 8:03a Stephan H Wissel The good news: most of the skills that will help you to excel in Domino are generic and can be applied to any development environment.
The bad news: there is a lot of stuff to learn. I'm compiling a roadmap for (Domino) Developers wannabees taking a little broader approach. This is my first draft:
In the coming days and weeks I will discuss/fill each of this circles with details and recommended readings/training material. Feedback is highly appreciated. [read] Keywords: domino
development
36
Shenzhen Impressions
Sat, Apr 26th 2008 6:24a Stephan H Wissel This week I had my second trip to China. Last time I went to Beijing in 2005 for an eGovernment conference. This time I was visiting customers in Shenzhen just across the border of Hong Kong. I spend a few days in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong Lotus team. Getting to Shenzhen from Hong Kong is easy. You get an MTR ticket (that's the local train/subway system) and it drops you directly at the border. Around noon there wasn't too much traffic and it took less then 30 minutes to clear the border.
Fi [read] Keywords: lotus
development
gadget
wiki
wireless
232
Notes and Domino's most wanted
Thu, Apr 17th 2008 11:23p Stephan H Wissel It is all out there. Sometimes it is hard to find. Support has compiled various lists with "most wanted documents":
Notes Client
Lotus Domino Server
Domino Web Access (DWA, also known as iNotes)
Notes & Domino FAQ
Notes & Domino Best Practices
Blackberry & Domino 8
AdminP FAQ
Sametime FAQ
Easy Sync Pro
Enjoy!
Bonus Track: The official history of Lotus Notes and the wiki version [read] Keywords: adminp
domino
dwa
ibm
inotes
lotus
notes
notes client
sametime
blackberry
server
wiki
60
Creating SQL Statements from form definitions
Sat, Apr 12th 2008 5:43p Stephan H Wissel I had an iteresting discussion with a customer this week. They use Domino and dotNet for their web applications. Their decission criteria when to use what: if the data of the application needs to be fed into their data warehouse at a later point of time, they use dotNet since storage there typically ends up in an RDBMS. The biggest problem they face, in their own voice: "Our users are pretty spoiled from Domino. They expect days as turnaround time for applications. Using dotNet it takes at least [read] Keywords: connect
designer
domino
dxl
notes
application
applications
sql
xslt
View Selection Formulas
Fri, Apr 4th 2008 12:39p Stephan H Wissel Application performance in Notes and Domino can greatly vary depending on the number of views and the view selection formulas you use. When inheriting databases applications for maintainance there is no real easy way to get an overview what view selection formulas have been used. So I did write myself a function that creates a document with such an overview table.See the function below. To test it I simply copy it into an agent and call it for the current database.
Of course you could think of [read] Keywords: agent
, document
, domino
, lotusscript
, notes
, ajax
, application
, applications
, database
28
On OOXML and ISO
Tue, Apr 1st 2008 7:01p Stephan H Wissel There is quite some turmoil around the OOXML voting as an ISO standard. To me it looks like the law of unintended consequences in full swing. I think the irregularities need to be sorted out and processes need cleanup (Do they?). The whole mess seems like a warped failure of communication between an Anglo-Saxon and Continental European view of the world (this probably will warrant a longer post somewhen else). In short: In an Anglo-Saxon view anything that is not specifically outlawed is OK to d [read] Keywords: odf
, google
, microsoft
, ooxml
Domino Design Code Injection - Part 2
Fri, Mar 21st 2008 12:08p Stephan H Wissel In Part 1 I introduced the approach to code injection and some sample LotusScript Code to pull a design element, transform it and push it back. Missing there was the function that actually implemented that method. I'm using a Java class to do that, which I wrap into LS2J. The LotusScript function looks like this:
.lotusscript { font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: black; }
.ls-comment { color: green; }
.ls-quote { color: gray; }
.ls-datatype { color: orange; }
.ls-operator { color: b [read] Keywords: document
, domino
, lotusscript
, java
53
Domino Design Code Injection
Thu, Mar 20th 2008 9:46p Stephan H Wissel In an earlier entry I discussed how to maintain custom system databases. It works well when you add design elements or change them wholesale. However it doesn't work very well when you tweak design elements. Something like: adding one action in a form or using a different subform for a specific task. Once an updated system template is available, you have to go back and recreate all your changes in your template.
This entry discusses how to automate these little fixes. There are a number of movi [read] Keywords: document
, domino
, dxl
, forms
, formula
, script library
, template
, database
, sql
, xml
, xslt
22
Countries (re)visited
Tue, Mar 18th 2008 10:43p Stephan H Wissel 4 years ago I counted the countries I've been to. The number hasn't increased much, I've just been more often there. The current map looks like this:
create your own visited country map 2% up in 4 years. [read] Keywords:
Reply-To-All Redux
Mon, Feb 4th 2008 7:10p Stephan H Wissel From the "Your-Notes-client-is-different-department".
When replying to an email Notes does
some address shuffling for you. As long as you have one sender and one
recipient, it is quite logical. The original sender become the recipient,
the recipient becomes the sender. Everybody in the cc list stays in the
cc list.
to
However that doesn't work anymore when
you had more than one recipient in the To field. The general rule (as I
once understood it) for when to place in To and when to pla [read] Keywords: notes
, email
44
Climate Change and the rule of reason
Sun, Feb 3rd 2008 10:22p Stephan H Wissel Interesting chain of arguments. I don't buy that batteling the global climate change will lead to depression, rather the opposite: I see advances in technology and accellerated growth in developed nations since less resources are needed to achive something. Have a look and see if you can find a flaw. [read] Keywords:
65
Vote for DXL!
Mon, Jan 28th 2008 9:48p Stephan H Wissel Rocky posted a great idea on IdeaJam: Make DXL complete and roundtrip save. I'm a big fan of DXL and really really want that feature. So go over to IdeaJam and cast your vote! [read] Keywords: dxl
, ideajam
73
The making of a download script
Mon, Jan 28th 2008 10:08a Stephan H Wissel Based on the feedback on my little
download script I'd like to share
how I created it.
Step 1: Have a look at the database
that hosts
the downloads:
Step 2: Pick a
view
Step 3: The same view as XML
and all of it. [read] Keywords: database
, xml
132
Lotussphere Presentation Batch Download
Mon, Jan 28th 2008 5:58a Stephan H Wissel Lotusphere 2008 online features 177
PDF files with the session presentations. You can download it in one go.
You need:
1) A valid username / password for LS08
online (so it is for attendees only)
2) WGet
to download http files in batch
3) This cmd
file
4) replace your username / password
in the cmd file.
Enjoy! [read] Keywords: lotusphere
, lotusphere2008
, password
15
What happens if your cellphone is on during a flight?
Fri, Jan 25th 2008 9:15p Stephan H Wissel Modern smart phones, Blackberries included have features that automatically switch on and off. So what might happen if one goes on a flight and doesn't disable the auto-on feature? Well first and foremost it is a safety violation, so we don't do such things. But if it would happen? Then you would pickup SMS from Telcos of countries you fly over. Countries like Ukraine, Belorus, Poland etc. So you get a free log at what time of the journey you reach what network. But as I said: we don't do such t [read] Keywords: network
29
From Individual Actions Lager Patterns Emerge
Mon, Jan 21st 2008 12:11p Stephan H Wissel "Emergence" is this
theme of this years Lotusphere. To underline this statement the Orlando
symphony orchestra was conducting at the beginning of the General Opening
Session. Their individual actions resulting in an well conducted pattern
of an excellent musical performance (at least judging with my limited understanding
of musical performances). I was attending the second run of the General
Opening Session starting at 11am Orlando time. The guest speaker was Bob
Costas. I have to admit I had
no [read] Keywords: collaboration
, lotusphere
, lotusphere2008
, symphony
39
Joy of travel
Sat, Jan 19th 2008 3:56p Stephan H Wissel The ground staff at Frankfurt Airport had a small shock ready for me: "Mr. Wissel you are on the US travel blacklist". How cool it that. I'm now officially dangerous. It turned out it wasn't the blackest of the black lists. The check-in staff had to subject me to a set of additional questions like: When where you in the US the last time? How long are you going to stay in the US? Where will you stay in the US? Why are you going there? Can I see your return ticket confirmation?
I asked myself how [read] Keywords: lotusphere2008
42
Off to the 'sphere
Thu, Jan 17th 2008 10:13a Stephan H Wissel The luggage is checked in, the sandwitch in the lounge eaten, the final boarding call made. I'm on my way. I'll stop over in Frankfurt to see my folks since I haven't been in Germany for almost two years. Total airtime until Orlando: 24h on three legs. [read] Keywords: lotusphere2008
18
MIO Box Upgrades
Fri, Jan 11th 2008 10:38p Stephan H Wissel I'm
a big fan of the MIO
box (and I'm not
alone). I cherish and preserve
it. I preserve it to an extend that I don't want to put the burden of serving
a WIFI signal to my home computers. It wouldn't do it reliably anyway and
would stop to run DHCP over the air sporadically or stop functioning until
rebooted. So an AirPort
moved it recently. My MIO box software version is 5.29.111.1. Its online
user interface tries to make it easy even if you don't understand networks
very well. It nicely shows a [read] Keywords: interface
, network
, wifi
27
Playing with BlogSphere Skins
Fri, Jan 11th 2008 10:38a Stephan H Wissel My current past work chill-out activity is to play with Skins for Blogsphere. Declan made BlogSphere 3 compatible with Movable Type Themes, so you have access to a great library of design. Probably after a few rounds I'll get tired of switching and settle on one. Until then don't worry if you see a page that doesn't look familiar. And yes: I'll let Declan have them for the next release. [read] Keywords: lotus
, notes
, blogSphere
14
Skills, Lake Wobegon and Dunning-Kruger
Tue, Jan 1st 2008 11:00a Stephan H. Wissel I do believe in skillfulness, I do believe in mastery. I admire true craftsmen and their work results. The constant strive for perfection amazes me. So naturally I tend to be puzzled meeting people who a comfortably ignorant. Catching up with reading during the year-end holiday made me discover the reasons behind that:
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" (Charles Darvin)
This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect (and/or Lage Wobegon effect). It more or less expla [read] Keywords:
42
JavaViews in your own applications
Mon, Dec 31st 2007 6:00p Stephan H. Wissel The R8 inbox, calendar and contacts
take full advantage of the new Java views. However support for your application
has been postponed to the NMFR*. Memento bene: "support for".
That doesn't mean that you can't do it. After all the mailbox is just a
Notes application. The biggest challenge: in the normal Designer there
seems to be no way to specify the additional properties for the Java views
like side preview or the business card view. Actually there is. In the
R8
reviewers guide on page 155 (t [read] Keywords: composite
, designer
, notes
, R8
, application
, applications
, java
, properties
11
Data Center with Divine Blessings
Sat, Dec 29th 2007 7:40a Stephan H. Wissel It is never a bad idea to make sure
data is save. So I added an X-Raid
system protected by an UPS to
my home data center. Just to make sure the protection is universal I added
an extra layer of guards to the setup. [read] Keywords:
12
Boxing Day - Chinese Edition
Tue, Dec 25th 2007 1:51p Stephan H Wissel Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you!
Our boxing day will start of as "Chinese Boxing" day, commonly also known as Wushu. About a year ago I signed Anthony and Ernest up for a Wushu class at our community center. When filling in the form Ernest challenged me: "Daddy what is it about that role model thing?". He got me there. So I asked the lady attending to us what the age limit for the lessons would be. "Seven and above" was her answer. I smiled: "OK, sign me up". She was puzzled [read] Keywords: community
15
Not your dad's gMail anymore...
Tue, Dec 18th 2007 9:48a Stephan H Wissel We all love gMail (more or less) almost as much as Domino (and there is a Sparkle in the near future). So how about this:
Thanks Bruce - and yes also available in English. [read] Keywords: domino
, lotus
, notes
20
NotesStream.write != NotesStream.WriteText
Mon, Dec 17th 2007 3:03p Stephan H Wissel Mental Note to self:
If you write something like: NotesStream.write(someStringInside) the compiler will not warn you, that you shall not provide String where Byte is needed. But the runtime will take care of you! It will terminate the execution of your subroutine (not the entire script, just the subroutine) without error message, because you shall not write String where Byte is needed and before you commit this blunder again the routine terminates. And don't get me started on Streams, Transfo [read] Keywords:
13
J2EE processing pattern
Sun, Dec 16th 2007 5:43a Stephan H Wissel Lance has a good
time in Singapore (OK, that thing
about running in the morning is on his "learning-the-hard-way"
list)
When discussing Project Blizz we realized,
that we needed to discuss execution sequences. While all the modern tools
(MyEclipseIDE,
RAD
etc.) provide drawing tools, they are not suitable in a discussion where
the flow changes rapidly. Nothing can beat a white board there, as long
as the team is in one place. Since Nithi had to return to India we had
to look for something else [read] Keywords: domino
, lotus
, notes
, mac
, websphere
10
Back online -- sort of
Wed, Dec 12th 2007 2:24a Stephan H Wissel The Blog upgrade went smooth. Replace the design, open the database, say yes to the "Upgrade to V3" question, copy the layouts and update the configuration. I only hit one problem: ADSL. Uploading is much slower that downloading, so all the update/upgrades are only trickling back to the server (I had about 200k hit documents still in the database). So it might be a while before I will look for a new layout. [read] Keywords: database
, server
10
Blog disruptions expected
Mon, Dec 10th 2007 10:54a Stephan H Wissel I'll be upgrading to Blogsphere V3. I push it to the test: just replace the design and see what is happening. Blog service might be disrupted.
stw [read] Keywords: blogSphere
10
Technology and Magic
Sun, Dec 9th 2007 6:03a Stephan H Wissel The 3rd of Clarke's laws states:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
(While Ponder Stibbons of DiskWorld fame muses "Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. ").
Catching up on my blog reading I found a sinister addenum to Occam's razor and its cousin Hanlon's razor( "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."):
"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice. "
( [read] Keywords:
wissel.net Browser Statistics
Fri, Dec 7th 2007 11:00a Stephan H Wissel To prove or disprove popularity statistics
have been a preferred medium of choice for millennia. Depending on the
samples you take you will get different results. Looking at world wide
market figures, Firefox gets
17.4%, 36%
or 12.72%.
The picture on this little blog is quite different:
Firefox share on page views rose in
the second half of this year from 36.70% to 44.36%. This is a 20.9% increase
in just 6 month. At the same time Internet Explorers share shrank from
57.97% to 50.63% whic [read] Keywords: firefox
, mobile
24
Link to me: Notes Document Links as URL, Notes Link and Attachments
Mon, Nov 26th 2007 11:00a Stephan H Wissel In the beginning the world was easy. You wanted to notify a user, just use @MailSend with [IncludeDocLink] and your email notification was done. It was obvious if your application was on a Notes client, your messaging application would be Notes as well.
Today the picture looks different. You might access your email through a portlet on the intranet or through a POP3 client. But you still want to be able to open that link in the Notes client right? I'm not aiming at web enablement here. What are [read] Keywords: document
, ibm
, notes
, notes client
, application
, email
, portlet
23
Give One Get One.
Mon, Nov 26th 2007 8:11a Stephan H Wissel I firmly believe that education is key to progress: Understanding yourself, understanding each other and understanding the world around you. The more you can replace superstition with knowledge, blind attempts with skills or xenophobia with appreciation the more you can reduce suffering on this planet. You know the saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for life".
Being a geek I was intrigued when Prof Negroponte announced his One Laptop Pe [read] Keywords: ibm
, laptop
