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Latest 7 Posts
learn the Java Collections Framework
Thu, May 24th 2012 61
the most useful content in the Lotus application development wiki
Tue, May 22nd 2012 193
5 years
Mon, May 21st 2012 133
quick tip: conditional event handlers
Sat, Apr 28th 2012 249
LotusLearns wants you to think my content is theirs
Fri, Apr 20th 2012 264
why extensive use of Themes speeds up XPage execution
Sun, Apr 15th 2012 564
when to create reusable controls
Fri, Apr 13th 2012 356
Top 10
call for contributors
Tue, Feb 7th 2012 689
getting nitpicky
Wed, Jan 11th 2012 600
why extensive use of Themes speeds up XPage execution
Sun, Apr 15th 2012 564
Needle in the Stack Part 1: why Java is faster than SSJS
Mon, Mar 26th 2012 501
the XPages Extension Library book is almost here
Mon, Mar 19th 2012 399
Usul no longer needs the weirding module
Thu, Jan 12th 2012 367
the highlight of my Lotusphere 2012 experience
Sun, Feb 5th 2012 364
when to create reusable controls
Fri, Apr 13th 2012 356
my Skype account has been compromised
Tue, Jan 17th 2012 347
avoid using a page ACL on servers that use Directory Assistance
Fri, Jan 27th 2012 329


Tim Tripcony
Blog Title Tip of the Iceberg
Blog Description TimTripcony.com
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Twitter URLhttp://www.twitter.com/timtripcony
Landed Here Dec 16, 2007
Location Canton
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Total Hits 11,633. myPL RSS Selections: 111


Recent Blog Posts
61


learn the Java Collections Framework
Thu, May 24th 2012 12:40a   Tim Tripcony
If you're a Domino developer, you're likely already developing XPage applications or headed in that direction. And if you're already developing with XPages, you're likely at least curious about Java, if not already familiar with at least a few concepts of the language. I'm asked with increasing frequency, "how should I start learning Java?" That's not a surprising question, given both the complexity of the language and the sheer amount of information available; it's comparatively eas [read] Keywords: domino lotusscript notes xpages applications community development java oracle
193


the most useful content in the Lotus application development wiki
Tue, May 22nd 2012 1:21p   Tim Tripcony
The Lotus Notes and Domino Application Development wiki is by now chock full of useful content. But one page in particular stands out to me as being possibly the most enlightening of all: the XPages configuration file format article. I reference this article constantly. It documents nearly everything that can be defined in a .xsp-config file. In a control library, these are the files that define what controls the library contributes, but in some cases, also defines validators, converters, data s [read] Keywords: domino ldd lotus notes xpages application development wiki
133


5 years
Mon, May 21st 2012 9:37a   Tim Tripcony
Five years ago today I started a new job at some tiny little consulting company called Lotus 911. Since that time, my specific role and job duties have periodically shifted, that tiny little company was acquired by what is now the largest Lotus-centric IBM Business Partner on the planet, and the platform itself has evolved in ways I never would have anticipated, but the initial impression I had in the very first hour all those years ago remains to this day: I love my job, and I'm honored that t [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus notes xpages consulting development
249


quick tip: conditional event handlers
Sat, Apr 28th 2012 7:20p   Tim Tripcony
I was recently asked by a colleague whether a partial refresh event can be canceled during its execution - if, in other words, the code first checks whether the rest of the code is necessary or useful, and that check returns false, can the code then somehow prevent the refresh from occurring? I told him that I didn't believe this was possible. The reason for my answer was that, because the standard event handlers in XPages use Dojo's XHR (XMLHttpRequest), what triggers the event in the firs [read] Keywords: domino xpages ajax applications dojo javascript network server
264


LotusLearns wants you to think my content is theirs
Fri, Apr 20th 2012 3:28p   Tim Tripcony
It was brought to my attention today that LotusLearns.com has been aggregating all sorts of Lotus-related content (including some of mine) without obvious attribution. Check out Nathan's post for more information. If information that I share is useful to others, then I'm always happy to see it reach a wider audience. But our community has a pretty good track record of giving credit where credit's due, and it concerns me that LotusLearns is representing so much content as their own. For [read] Keywords: lotus ntf xpages community linking planetlotus planetlotus.org
564


why extensive use of Themes speeds up XPage execution
Sun, Apr 15th 2012 11:11p   Tim Tripcony
I've mentioned before in my presentations on Themes in XPages that deferring as much component property evaluation to Themes as possible actually makes XPage execution more efficient. But I've recently had a reason to investigate more thoroughly the reason for that result, so I wanted to share my findings. I've been able to identify two completely separate reasons for this increased efficiency (although there certainly could be more): Themes are not evaluated until the "render response" p [read] Keywords: domino ibm xpages interface java oracle properties




356


when to create reusable controls
Fri, Apr 13th 2012 5:30a   Tim Tripcony
Most of us understand why our code should be reusable, even if it isn't: keeping duplication of effort to a minimum, such as the capacity to apply a fix or enhancement once and gain distributed benefit. In terms of XPage controls, there is also a lot of information available about how to structure code to make it reusable. For instance, I recently submitted two guest tutorials to Notes in 9: an example of how to implement an in-view-edit Custom Control, and a demonstration of converting a Custo [read] Keywords: domino notes xpages application applications development interface
501


Needle in the Stack Part 1: why Java is faster than SSJS
Mon, Mar 26th 2012 1:39a   Tim Tripcony
More and more XPage developers are turning to stackoverflow to seek community assistance with questions they have about developing XPage applications. This ongoing series will provide additional commentary and insights into the answers I have provided on the site that members of the community have found to be useful. Part 1: Why Java is faster than SSJS David Leedy asked, "Is there a performance hit in SSJS when using @Functions?" If I want to parse a text field in SSJS there are 2 main [read] Keywords: domino ibm notes notes client xpages application applications community database eclipse firefox java javascript network oracle properties wiki xml
399


the XPages Extension Library book is almost here
Mon, Mar 19th 2012 1:45a   Tim Tripcony
After more than a year of discussing, planning, writing, editing, reviewing, and mailing paperwork around the globe, it's almost here: the definitive guide to the XPages Extension Library is scheduled for publication effective May 9. The official authors are Paul Hannan from IBM, Declan, Jeremy, Paul Withers, and myself, but we had help from quite a few others in the Domino community, including several IBMers, such as Niklas Heidloff... in my opinion, the content he provided that demonstrate [read] Keywords: domino ibm xpages applications community facebook integration
252


upcoming X Series webinar: Climbing the Beanstalk
Sun, Mar 4th 2012 10:40p   Tim Tripcony
This Wednesday, from 11 AM - 12 PM EST, I will be hosting the latest "X Series" webinar sponsored by GBS and TLCC: Climbing the Beanstalk: a Gentle Transition from LotusScript to Java beans XPages bring powerful new capabilities to the IBM Lotus Domino platform, but the development model is quite different from what most Domino developers are accustomed to. This webinar will take you on a gentle but rapid journey from the familiar territory of procedural LotusScript, through a common-sens [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus lotusphere lotusscript notes xpages application applications development interface java office
289


determining the theme ID for any component
Wed, Feb 29th 2012 12:53a   Tim Tripcony
In XPages, themes target components by ID. Not by the value of the id attribute, but instead by two values specific to themes: themeId and styleKitFamily. All components that can be targeted with a control rule in a theme support "getter" methods for these two properties: var component = getComponent("someComponentId"); var specificId = component.getThemeId(); var defaultId = component.getStyleKitFamily(); The themeId property, therefore, is the theme ID that is specific to a [read] Keywords: domino ibm xpages database openntf properties server
322


XPages Portable Command Guide is a book every Domino administrator should read
Sun, Feb 26th 2012 11:15p   Tim Tripcony
Yes, you read that right: every Domino administrator should read the new XPages Portable Command Guide. Developers should too, but from what I've read so far, I feel it's more crucial that admins pick up a copy of this book. Let's assume that you're a diligent administrator. You've known for maybe a decade now (or more) how best to configure an end user's Notes client installation. You can set up an efficient replication and mail routing topology in your sleep. You've even kept curre [read] Keywords: admin domino lotusscript notes notes client traveler xpages application applications eclipse email java javascript properties security server
309


forcing component serialization in JSON-RPC methods
Fri, Feb 24th 2012 4:21a   Tim Tripcony
I'm a big fan of the JSON-RPC (a.k.a. "Remote Services") component from the XPages Extension Library. If you've ever asked, "how can I call server side JavaScript directly from client side JavaScript?", this component is the answer to that question. Not only does it make it incredibly easy to define a remote API for your client side JavaScript to interact with, it's also wicked fast. One reason it's so efficient, however, is that it skips the standard view serialization. Remember, w [read] Keywords: domino xpages application email javascript properties server
308


quick tip: stripping HTML tags from string content in XPages
Thu, Feb 23rd 2012 11:20a   Tim Tripcony
I was asked today how to remove HTML tags from a String in SSJS. My recommendation was to use the ACF API that is built in to XPages. Editable input controls, such as inputText, inputTextarea, and inputRichText, support properties of htmlFilter and htmlFilterIn. These properties allow you to select a content filter option to automatically clean the submitted value. As far as I can tell, the only option that actually does anything useful is "striptags", which does exactly that: it just rem [read] Keywords: ibm xpages properties
689


call for contributors
Tue, Feb 7th 2012 1:08a   Tim Tripcony
I've been playing with something off and on since Friday that I think has some serious potential. Rather than silo the idea, I've decided to show you what I've come up with so far and ask if any of you want to lend a hand. First, let me tease you with a couple screenshots. Nothing terribly exciting so far, I suppose. How about something a tiny bit fancier? Okay, I guess that's a little more interesting. It's starting to look like a real XPage now. But [read] Keywords: application applications eclipse mac wiki xml
364


the highlight of my Lotusphere 2012 experience
Sun, Feb 5th 2012 6:01p   Tim Tripcony
This year was my fifth opportunity to attend Lotusphere. It was unusual in that I was only able to be onsite for about 24 hours. But in some ways it was the most enjoyable Lotusphere I've yet attended. As mentioned by many others, this year's OGS was very solid. Good pace, good demos, great opening band... good energy overall, and a fairly clear overall message. I found it striking that, although there was nothing particularly revolutionary revealed this year, the feedback I've seen (bot [read] Keywords: collaboration ibm lotusphere facebook
329


avoid using a page ACL on servers that use Directory Assistance
Fri, Jan 27th 2012 1:26a   Tim Tripcony
XPages support definition of a page-specific ACL, allowing you to refine permissions for specific portions of an application, as described in this article. As Paul mentions in the comments, you can also set an ACL on a specific panel component; this allows you to define entirely different permissions for distinct portions of the same page. For example, if you were to create an "in-view editing" interface using a repeat control, you would typically create a panel inside the repeat, with a panel [read] Keywords: acl domino ibm xpages application interface security server
241


user adoption is a cultural phenomenon
Mon, Jan 23rd 2012 1:31a   Tim Tripcony
This post is the result of a dual inspiration: ISW's fascinating new offering, Kudos Badges for IBM Connections, and Lisa Duke's excellent article on the Social Business Insights Blog, "User Adoption - The Final Frontier of Social Business". If you'd like background on where I'm coming from, check out both before proceeding. Lately all the talk is about "social" (which I'd like to remind my readers is an adjective, not a noun... unless you're referring to a specific gathering or p [read] Keywords: collaboration connections domino ibm lotusphere xpages applications email facebook google myspace openntf security social software twitter
347


my Skype account has been compromised
Tue, Jan 17th 2012 11:31a   Tim Tripcony
I got home from Lotusphere last night, and could no longer log in to Skype. My password has apparently been changed. Except that I haven't recently changed the password (which, admittedly, is probably why the account was compromised), so someone else must have changed it. I followed Skype's password reset procedure, twice, and both times after receiving an email containing a reset token, and immediately attempting to use said token, was told the token was invalid. Skype provides no way to [read] Keywords: lotusphere email microsoft password security skype
238


liveblogging the OGS
Mon, Jan 16th 2012 6:17a   Tim Tripcony
OK GO opens the the OGS with a 3 song set, including "All is Not Lost"... can't help hoping the audience is listening to that one. Alistair calls attention to the 800 students GBS brought today. Michael J. Fox takes the stage as guest speaker. By the way, this live blog experience brought to you by Verizon 3G Mobile Hotspot... since the Lotusphere WiFi is, once again, completely useless. [read] Keywords: lotusphere mobile wifi
367


Usul no longer needs the weirding module
Thu, Jan 12th 2012 11:18p   Tim Tripcony
A common misconception, due primarily to the content of this blog and my occasional public speaking, is that I write XPage applications for a living. But that's just my hobby. My day job is writing extension library controls for others to use in their XPage applications. And for me to use in my hobby apps too, I suppose. As such, my Package Explorer might look subtlely different from yours: Because the differences are likely subtle, let me call attention to just a few: Only [read] Keywords: domino expeditor ibm notes xpages apple application applications community development eclipse java mac macbook microsoft openntf profile vm
600


getting nitpicky
Wed, Jan 11th 2012 10:18a   Tim Tripcony
I saw a post this morning stating that the Federal Reserve is migrating to Exchange. Perhaps it's because I've been sick the past few days, but I found myself getting annoyed by some of the terminology used in the post. I left a long, rambling comment to that effect, but have since decided to duplicate the content of that comment here, as it's something I feel strongly about, even when I'm not sick. Enjoy: Sorry for the nitpick, because a lot of people make this mistake, but it doesn't [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus notes notes client application applications desktop email exchange exchange microsoft outlook server sharepoint
173


my abbreviated Lotusphere schedule
Thu, Jan 5th 2012 4:59p   Tim Tripcony
For various reasons, this year I will only be at Lotusphere for about 24 hours. I'm still looking forward to seeing everyone, so if you want to find me, I can already tell you where I'll be: When Where Sunday 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Welcome Reception (a.k.a. Beach Party) 9:00 PM - TBD Kimonos Monday 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Opening General Session, front row (or thereabouts) 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Solutions showcase, Pedestal 423 [read] Keywords: ibm lotusphere lotususergroup.org
153


I need your help
Tue, Dec 27th 2011 11:20p   Tim Tripcony
A very dear friend of mine is going through a difficult time right now. Her brother is gravely ill, and she could use your help: Our sister and their mom are both servers in the restaurant business.  Thankfully, both of their employers have given them the time off they need without their jobs being in jeopardy.  However, there is no paid time off and no vacation time in the restaurant business.  While they have always been able to just make ends meet, I am concerned about them not bein [read] Keywords:
118


an open letter to Senator Saxby Chambliss
Sun, Dec 18th 2011 5:30a   Tim Tripcony
Dear Mr. Tripcony: Thank you for contacting me regarding the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, passed by the Senate on December 1, 2011, that included several provisions relating to the authority of the United States to detain certain individuals associated with al Qaeda, the Taliban and 9/11 conspirators. It is well-founded in our history that the United States has the authority to hold enemy combatants until the end of hostilities in order to prevent their return [read] Keywords: email
114


harnessing the XPages Extensibility API is now even easier
Wed, Nov 30th 2011 10:30p   Tim Tripcony
In our day job. Nathan, Keith and I (among others) use the XPages Extensibility API constantly. In fact, I suppose one could argue that it's pretty much all we do all day. But we're not using all of it every day, and like any technique that's only sporadically used, it's easy to forget the exact syntax for implementing and registering, for example, your own custom PhaseListener. As a result, each time we have a need to use a portion of the API that we haven't for a while, we often find ours [read] Keywords: ldd lotus ntf xpages application openntf
82


the physics of Peter Pan
Thu, Nov 17th 2011 11:50p   Tim Tripcony
It's an incredibly clear night here, so a while ago I was out looking at the stars. For some reason, a phrase from Peter Pan came to mind: "second star to the right, and straight on till morning". I'd never really thought that through before, but it would seem to imply the following: Neverland is located on a planet in that star's solar system. Peter Pan is, therefore, an alien. Not only is he able to fly, but he has the ability to open inter-atmospheric wormholes. This is how he and [read] Keywords:
102


the implications of MIME-based Java serialization for application search
Wed, Nov 16th 2011 1:53a   Tim Tripcony
Monday's post prompted some fascinating feedback and discussion. Predictably, one of the questions raised was, "but what about search?" The quick answer is, instead of settling for the "one size fits all" approach of using Domino's full text indexer, this presents an opportunity to tailor a search methodology specific to each application, providing fine-grained control over determination of relevance... instead of just an "educated guess". As just one example of how this can be extr [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus lotusphere R7 rich text xpages application applications community database development exchange exchange interface java oracle properties security wiki
152


NSF field size limits no longer matter
Mon, Nov 14th 2011 3:49a   Tim Tripcony
Portions of Domino are cutting edge. Other portions remain (circa) 1987 technology. As such, despite the long-proven benefits of NSF as compared to its less flexible relational counterparts, an oft-bemoaned characteristic of NSF is the limitation it continues to enforce upon various types of fields: Individual "summary" fields can only store up to 15 KB of data. If you want to include the contents of a field in a view, it must be a summary field. By default, all fields except rich text [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotusscript rich text xpages application applications database facebook interface java properties security server xml
80


my blog is boring
Thu, Oct 27th 2011 11:19p   Tim Tripcony
It's considered bad form to apologize for not posting more frequently, so this isn't an apology... just a temporarily accurate observation. Over the past two months I've accumulated quite a few draft posts in my head, but have not had time to produce the thorough dissertation I feel each deserves. Lest I literally run out of memory, consider the following a heap dump. Did you know that the term "activity stream" isn't just an IBM thing? Obviously, the visual concept isn't peculiar [read] Keywords: connections domino ibm lotus lotusphere mashup rich text sametime xpages application applications db2 development eclipse facebook google integration microsoft myspace openntf skype
160


Dojo makes it simple to parse the query string
Fri, Sep 2nd 2011 11:10a   Tim Tripcony
It's easy to determine the value of a query string parameter server-side (via both SSJS and EL) in an XPage thanks to the intrinsic global variable "param". You might, for example, bind the filterCategory attribute of a view panel's data source to "#{param.category}", or refer to "param.q" in a SSJS expression that determines the value of a repeat control on a search results page. Wouldn't it be great if it were that simple in regular old client JavaScript? Dojo to the rescue: var [read] Keywords: domino xpages application dojo javascript server
86


tips for maximizing XPage performance
Wed, Aug 31st 2011 12:00a   Tim Tripcony
I just responded to a question in the XPages forum regarding how to maximize the performance of an XPage application... specifically, maximizing speed, not necessarily scalability. My response, which includes tips on server configuration as well as development techniques, ended up far lengthier than I'd planned, but I think it's a fairly thorough guide to pushing performance to the limits. If you can think of any additional tips I forgot (or disagree with any of my recommendations), please add [read] Keywords: ldd lotus xpages application development server
99


this object has been temporarily removed
Wed, Aug 17th 2011 11:22a   Tim Tripcony
I'm thinking this would make a fun 404 page. [read] Keywords: google
88


getting even with admins
Tue, Aug 16th 2011 3:50p   Tim Tripcony
An R&D discussion I just had with a few colleagues reminded me of a fond memory from a long time ago. 10 years ago, in fact, if memory serves. An admin I worked with at the time thought it would be funny to remotely set all the warning thresholds on my laptop so low that I could barely do anything at all without Windows whining that I was running low on virtual memory. So I made a slight modification to the Memo form of his mail file: I hardcoded the QueryClose event to always return false. [read] Keywords: admin notes laptop
107


seizing control of your form tags in XPages
Sun, Aug 14th 2011 10:13p   Tim Tripcony
My colleague, Chris Toohey (or, as I sometimes refer to him, "Winnie the Tooh") has already demonstrated how we can strip the markup generated by an XPage down to the bare minimum. Of particular interest for this article is the "createForm" attribute of the tag, which, when set to false, tells Domino not to auto-generate a form tag that surrounds the content of the page. As noted in the comment thread of the aforementioned article, stripping the generated markup has many valid uses, bu [read] Keywords: domino notes xpages application community development dojo interface java javascript network openntf properties server xml
66


erosion of language
Sun, Aug 14th 2011 3:10a   Tim Tripcony
I recently read a hilarious comic: Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. It got me thinking about how technology accelerates the erosion of language. In general, I try not to be elitist, but I confess that, for much of my life, I've been a bit of a spelling snob. Admittedly, for me it's still contextual: I never judge someone's intelligence on the basis of their spelling in SMS or IM, but if a resume or other professional documentation is rife with misspellings, it can give me a negati [read] Keywords: facebook google networking twitter
50


David Hasselhoff yells at a parrot
Tue, Aug 9th 2011 9:58a   Tim Tripcony
[read] Keywords:
53


honored and humbled
Fri, Jun 24th 2011 1:07a   Tim Tripcony
Yesterday I was notified that I have been named as one of 50 IBM Champions for IBM Collaboration Solutions, a.k.a. Lotus. Looking at that list, it feels rather surreal to be included among them. The closest estimate I've heard for how many Lotus professionals exist worldwide is 100,000... if that figure is accurate, these individuals represent one half of one tenth of one percent of all those who "do what we do"... and I just can't wrap my head around that number. So I want to thank IBM for [read] Keywords: collaboration ibm lotus notes ntf community
35


Craig Ferguson is a genius
Fri, Jun 10th 2011 8:43a   Tim Tripcony
I'm not much for the late night talk shows, so I've never actually seen Craig Ferguson's show (though I have seen the occasional clip from it on YouTube and elsewhere). Last night I Netflixed a standup routine of his. This is the hardest I have laughed in quite some time. One moment that was comparatively serious included what I felt was good advice; when in doubt about whether to express one's opinion, the following three questions provide an excellent guide: Does this need to be said [read] Keywords: blogging twitter
49


XPages Guru Webinar on June 1
Tue, May 17th 2011 12:02a   Tim Tripcony
I was honored to be asked by IBM to participate in an upcoming "XPages Guru Webinar" on June 1 from 11 AM - 12 PM Eastern: Agenda: What is XPages? - Matt White Case Studies - Discussion database, XTalk, etc. - Bruce Elgort Benefits of XPages - Matt White Why should I transition? - Tim Tripcony Roadmap to XPages (How do I get from here to there?) - Chris Toohey What resources are out there? - David Leedy Q & A This webinar won't be deep-dive training... by the end of the hour, [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus xpages database development
80


what the heck is a bean?
Wed, May 4th 2011 11:04p   Tim Tripcony
If you're learning about XPage development, particularly if you're pushing past "drag and drop" development, it's likely that you've encountered the term "bean". If so, it's also likely that you've seen this term in the context of a larger concept: "managed beans". For the purposes of this post, let's ignore the "managed" portion for now and just focus on what it means for a Java class to be considered a "bean". Given the coffee motif of the Java language, the term "bean" i [read] Keywords: lotusscript xpages database development java javascript properties server wiki
63


mouthful
Tue, May 3rd 2011 7:50a   Tim Tripcony
I'm not typically aware, while reading, that when I read I "hear" the words I'm reading in my head... I seem to process text visually by thinking about how each word sounds. It's been that way for as long as I can remember, and I simply assume that's how everyone reads. So it seems I only notice this when my eyes have to process quite a mouthful, so to speak. That experience occurred most recently just a few moments ago, and as a result I present the following table for your perusal: [read] Keywords: collaboration ibm lotus apple google microsoft
55


speaking at ATLUG and UKLUG
Thu, Apr 28th 2011 10:50p   Tim Tripcony
On May 19th I will be speaking at the next quarterly ATLUG meeting in downtown Atlanta. The following week, I will be speaking at UKLUG. At both events, I will be presenting the same session I recently presented at BLUG, although there will be at least a couple new slides added to the deck. The content of this session has been well received so far, so I'm hopeful that attendees at both of these events will find the information to be similarly useful. And, of course, I'm looking forward to seei [read] Keywords:
78


Taking Themes to the Next Level
Fri, Apr 1st 2011 6:00p   Tim Tripcony
Earlier today (Eastern Time) - or yesterday (local time) - I presented at BLUG a session titled "Taking Themes to the Next Level: Getting more out of XPages... the easy way". As promised, the slides from that session are now available for download. Unlike most sessions I have presented, there were no live demos... all information presented is available in the slide deck. However, several of the key screenshots in the slides were taken from the interface and code of the most recent release of t [read] Keywords: collaboration domino ibm notes xpages community database interface openntf
79


XPages vs. Flex - a point by point comparison
Thu, Mar 24th 2011 11:40p   Tim Tripcony
Now this is what I like to see... none of this "Exchange is better than Notes" silliness, where people too lazy to get their terminology straight insist on comparing an email server to a custom application client platform. Granted, Jake admits there's really no point in using the benchmark he originally proposes... though there seems to be little question that the overall tone of the post is intended to leave the viewer questioning whether Domino truly is superior as a RAD platform to ASP.NET [read] Keywords: domino notes xpages application applications development eclipse email exchange exchange server xml
134


Quick Java tip: import static
Fri, Mar 11th 2011 1:30p   Tim Tripcony
My newest favorite syntactical sugar in Java (courtesy of Nathan) is "import static". In Java, the import statement is almost always used to make the current class aware of classes that exist in a different package. So it's very similar to the "Use" statement in LotusScript, which makes the current context aware of classes and top-level procedures defined in a separate script library. If, however, you add the static keyword to an import statement, it allows you to specify one or all static [read] Keywords: ibm lotusscript ntf script library xpages application java openntf
63


I will be speaking at BLUG
Mon, Feb 21st 2011 10:20p   Tim Tripcony
I was notified on Saturday that my abstract was accepted, so I will be presenting the following session at BLUG on April 1: Taking Themes to the Next Level Most XPage developers who have already started working with themes understand that they offer a simple way to ensure inclusion of stylesheets and client-side JavaScript libraries, as well as automatic addition of style classes to components that match certain criteria. But themes are so much more powerful than that. This session will [read] Keywords: xpages applications development javascript
89


a few reasons why the new XPages forum has value
Mon, Feb 21st 2011 1:45a   Tim Tripcony
By now, you've likely heard about the new XPages forum recently added to developerWorks. Given that a generic forum for all things Notes/Domino 8+ already exists, and has for years, one might well question why a separate forum dedicated solely to XPages is worthwhile, or even appropriate. I'd like to offer a brief list of reasons why I feel this new forum is valuable. It offers an improved signal-to-noise ratio. A recurring topic regarding PlanetLotus (raised as recently as a few hours ag [read] Keywords: domino ibm ldd lotus notes xpages application community development interface openntf planetlotus planetlotus.org
84


DIY
Sun, Feb 6th 2011 3:20a   Tim Tripcony
In lieu of a review of Lotusphere 2011, which would likely just repeat much of what many of you have already seen elsewhere, I'd like to explain an upcoming shift in the focus of this blog. While for years I've tried to stay true to the site's title - "Tip of the Iceberg" - by posting primarily a quick look at concepts that I feel have the potential to have a huge impact, rather than attempting to exhaustively illuminate the entirety of each, of late I have observed that the bulk of my post [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus lotusphere notes notes client xpages application blogger blogSphere community consulting development eclipse microsoft office openntf wiki
52


drink up, dreamers, you're running dry
Sun, Jan 23rd 2011 2:47p   Tim Tripcony
I chatted, at great length, with one of my closest friends last night - one who (like most of my friends) I only get to see in person at Lotus-related events - and have barely slept since. That conversation crystallized for me just how excited I am that Lotusphere is almost here. Up until now, I've been so focused on code that it's distracted me from my own anticipatory squee, but now that squee is in full effect. GBS, of course, has several reasons for which we are rightly collectively exc [read] Keywords: collaboration domino ibm lotus lotusphere
64


quick tip: configuring Designer to treat xsp-config files as XML
Sun, Jan 23rd 2011 3:40a   Tim Tripcony
In my aforementioned upcoming Lotusphere session with Maureen, "Hacking Designer (Gently)", we'll be demonstrating a few examples of how you can write Eclipse plugins to tweak (or even fundamentally alter) the way that Domino Designer behaves in order to more closely match your specific, individual needs and desires as you develop and maintain Notes and Domino applications. In other words, if you have pet peeves with certain aspects of Designer, in many cases, you can do something about it. W [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotusphere notes applications eclipse xml
45


quick tip: cleaning up the Source tab of all XPages and Custom Controls at once
Sat, Jan 15th 2011 2:30a   Tim Tripcony
When I'm coding an XPage, I live in the Source tab... especially now that, as of 8.5.2, I can drag new components directly into the XML instead of having to choose between typing everything manually and bouncing back and forth between tabs each time I want to add a new component. One pet peeve I have, however, is when I open a design element and find that the XML isn't formatted: no line breaks between tags, inconsistent white space surrounding attributes, etc. I know, that's a fairly petty t [read] Keywords: nsd xpages application xml
31


what do you want to learn about hacking Domino Designer?
Wed, Dec 29th 2010 6:50p   Tim Tripcony
As Maureen and I put the finishing touches on our slides, now is your chance to influence the content thereof. Peruse the abstract and let us know if there are any specifics you'd like us to cover. By the way, if you are planning to attend, you should attend Mikkel's sessions as well: Jumpstart Your "Jedi Plug-in Development Skills" with the Masters and How the Jedis Do Plug-in Development (NOTE: if you're not planning to come to our session, go to Mikkel's sessions anyway). I wouldn't [read] Keywords: domino ibm lotus development
67


upcoming book review: Learning Ext JS 3.2
Mon, Dec 20th 2010 3:10p   Tim Tripcony
I have been asked by Packt Publishing to review the following book: Build desktop-style web interfaces for your data driven web applications using Packt's new Ext JS book Learning Ext JS 3.2 is a new book from Packt that helps web application developers to integrate their existing data and web services with data-driven web applications using the Ext JS framework. This interactive tutorial helps users enhance their JavaScript skills by using Ext's DOM and AJAX helpers, and extending Ext J [read] Keywords: lotusphere ajax application applications desktop dhtml javascript server widget widgets
29


I will be speaking at Lotusphere 2011
Fri, Dec 3rd 2010 11:56a   Tim Tripcony
I received confirmation yesterday that I will be co-presenting a session at Lotusphere with Maureen Leland: Hacking Domino Designer (Gently) Have you ever wished that you could make Domino Designer work exactly the way you want it to? Because Designer is now based on the Eclipse framework, you can! Join a well-known Designer developer and a well-known Designer hacker to discover how to create the Designer of your dreams today. In this session, you will learn how to interact with the Ecli [read] Keywords: domino lotusphere eclipse
100


extending XspInputText to add placeholder support
Wed, Nov 24th 2010 12:55a   Tim Tripcony
Last week, Jake called attention to the usability flaw in web forms that specify a default value for fields but clear that value on focus without checking first to see if the field's value has since been changed from the default. He included a code example demonstrating a way to perform such a check, ensuring that a user's input will not be programmatically deleted if they later return to the same field. A couple readers proposed an alternate approach: using the "placeholder" attribute as [read] Keywords: ibm lotus notes notes client xpages application java openntf properties xml
104


a potential evolution in XPages: custom expression language resolvers
Tue, Nov 9th 2010 10:40a   Tim Tripcony
There's a fascinating discussion currently taking place over on Bob Balfe's blog: "Would Domino benefit from an embedded PHP stack?" In the comments, several folks have sounded off about various approaches to making this happen, including the use of DSAPI. But perhaps it's simpler than that: strictly speaking, PHP is just a scripting language. Most PHP pages are static markup interspersed with scripted content... much like an XPage. Dan Sickles (perhaps unknowingly) touched on something t [read] Keywords: domino xpages applications java javascript python wiki xml
262


your argument is invalid: server-side validation is easy in XPages
Sun, Nov 7th 2010 12:26a   Tim Tripcony
It's common knowledge that input validation is pretty weak in traditional Domino form development. This changed completely with XPages. A common contemporary pattern for input validation in web applications is to display a message near the incorrectly populated field indicating what is expected of the user. For example, a blog visitor might see something similar to the following when attempting to post a comment: The above example demonstrates three distinct types of input validations: [read] Keywords: domino xpages application applications css development email javascript password properties security server xml
117


multiple image upload control for XPages
Wed, Nov 3rd 2010 4:00a   Tim Tripcony
For just a bit of fun, I've been playing tonight with creating a multiple image upload control for XPages. It's pure HTML5 and JavaScript... no Flash. What I think makes the approach I took interesting is that it treats the thumbnail of each image you're uploading as the progress indicator of the upload completion: it immediately appends an image tag to the page, with its URL set to the data URI for the file to be uploaded, but sets the opacity of the image to 0. It then splits the Base64 [read] Keywords: xpages dojo firefox javascript openntf
53


alternate caption
Fri, Oct 22nd 2010 4:30p   Tim Tripcony
"$$NavigatorTemplateDefault" via thereifixedit [read] Keywords:
98


inheritance library for client- and server-side JavaScript
Mon, Oct 18th 2010 12:25a   Tim Tripcony
A topic that periodically resurfaces surrounding XPage development is the notion of creating "classes" in JavaScript. There are several schools of thought - not just in our own community, but across the entire web development spectrum - regarding how best to handle inheritance in JavaScript, because the language itself is not classical... it is prototypal. In nearly every other language, we define a class and then create objects that are instances of that class. With JavaScript, however, ther [read] Keywords: domino xpages application community development firefox java javascript properties server
41


upon request, dPloy has been released to OpenNTF
Sat, Oct 9th 2010 11:04p   Tim Tripcony
Back in August, Kathy Brown hosted a webcast on deployment management processes and tools for Domino. I forget how it came up, but I offered to modernize, and post to OpenNTF, a utility I wrote about four years ago called dPloy. It's this handy little app I wrote about 4 years ago that provides 1-click deployment - and 1-click rollback - of Domino applications, as well as centralized documentation about who was responsible for each release, project requirements, etc. The only trouble is... I [read] Keywords: domino notes notes client xpages apple application applications archive community development interface java openntf planetlotus planetlotus.org properties
60


gentle reminder
Sat, Oct 9th 2010 4:26p   Tim Tripcony
it's not how you start it's how you finish it's not where you're from it's where you're at ... i'ts not where you are it's where you're going it's not about the things you've done it's what you're doing now... what are you doing now? More... [read] Keywords:
29


well, it's about friggin' time
Wed, Oct 6th 2010 12:31p   Tim Tripcony
Based on some obscure hint I saw on the Twitter and various other conversations going on in Yellowland, it would appear that GROUP Experts has hired another "expert". Apparently he's quite good. Of course, not everybody can play at our level, so he'd better be able to keep up. In all seriousness, I am fully stoked that Chris Toohey is finally going to be my coworker... over the years, I've heard occasional rumors that he might be joining us, but this time it's real. Despite having o [read] Keywords: domino twitter
19


Rolling your own authentication for REST API's, part 5 - the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper
Fri, Sep 17th 2010 12:32a   Tim Tripcony
[read] Keywords: domino xpages application css database google java password
128


Installing XPage Extension controls in a specific NSF
Fri, Sep 17th 2010 12:30a   Tim Tripcony
By now, many (if not all) of you have heard about, and, perhaps, even already installed and begun playing with, the recently released XPages Extension Library. There are a plethora of reasons to be excited about this project, but most can be folded into two categories of awesome: New controls for you to use and love Let's face it: the majority of XPage developers will never write their own controls. Their employer subscribes to the "do more with less" philosophy, so they're behind schedule [read] Keywords: admin domino dwa expeditor ibm inotes lotus notes xpages apple application css dojo eclipse java javascript linking planetlotus planetlotus.org properties server twitter wiki workspace xml
31


reflections on IamLUG and MWLUG
Thu, Aug 26th 2010 10:00a   Tim Tripcony
Now that my busiest month since Lotusphere is drawing to a close, I wanted to share just a few of my thoughts about two recent conferences I had the pleasure to attend: IamLUG and MWLUG. Both of these conferences were extremely well organized. Although each was only two days (not counting peripheral elements, such as the welcome reception at MWLUG and the follow-on day at IamLUG), these weren't user group meetings... they were definitely conferences. As I mentioned in person to some of the [read] Keywords: collaboration domino ibm lotus lotusphere lotusscript notes ntf xpages applications bleedyellow bleedyellow.com community wireless
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alternate URL for my blog: xmage.gbs.com
Tue, Aug 24th 2010 10:30p   Tim Tripcony
Like Nathan, I am now rocking a shiny new dedicated GROUP Live instance, so going forward, you can get to this blog via xmage.gbs.com. The blog database on that server is just a replica of the one that was already on Frodo, so for the foreseeable future, you'll still be able to get here via TimTripcony.com - no need to update your feed readers, bookmarks, tattoos, etc., but the xmage server is generally going to be faster and comparatively impervious to Canton's frequent thunderstorms, so you [read] Keywords: ntf database server




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