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Feb 12, 2013 - Speaking at BLUG 2013
Delighted to say that I am speaking at BLUG 2013. I will be presenting on one of my favourite subjects - building hybrid NSF / SQL applications with Java, XPages and the extension Library. It follows on from my last posting. I am hoping the work I do for this presentation will act as a springboard to start to produce the series of articles that I mentioned in my last blog. Will be great to attend my first BLUG - heard so much good stuff about it. Also looking forward catching up with all the usual suspects and meeting some new ones.... Great thing is - it coincides with a certain landmark birthday (the one that no-one must mention). That is a week later - good excuse to try out some of the much talked of local beers! Hope to see you there!....Learn More...

Nov 21, 2012 - XPages Case Study Application - Procurement Tracking - A Hybrid NSF / SQL Application
A while back I raised a point regarding application design for an XPages application that one of my customers were considering. This was a procurement / contract tracking application that was to track spend / values over a annual periods etc (Not really the sort of application that is best suited to the NSF structure). However, we were keen to build on existing XPages resources and RAD benefits such as 1. Security driven by Groups and the ACL 2. Use the One UI and the Extension Library as a starting point for UI design 3. Build and extend our own libraries of OSGI code that can be used for future applications 4. Being a large Notes user make use of current Domino Web Infrastructure 5. Make use of internal support resources available from a Domino Administration perspective 6. Build on internal Notes / Java skills that are available The list could go on...But one major headache remained - The "NSF" data structure - its not really built for this. From experience we should not....Learn More...

Aug 7, 2012 - Websphere portal 7.0 / RAD 8.0.4 and file uploads with <hx:fileUpload>
Been working on a rather interesting proof of concept application with Websphere Portal 7 and RAD 8.0. All going well connecting MS SQL Server 2008 via JPA and building JSF based portlets. Once major concern though is the use of the . At the moment something strange occurs if you simply add it to the page - no content in the portlet is displayed on the screen! Basic control - blank screen is rendered in all main browsers (IE, Firefox and Chrome). The error in Firefox is as followsthis.eventService is undefinedcom.ibm.pb is undefinedcom.ibm.data is undefinedcom.ibm.pb is undefineddojo.byId("ibm-menu-links") is nulluri="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/websphere/portal/v6.1/portlet-client-model"prefix="portlet-client-model"%I know there are some issues around 8.0.4 and fileUploads - this is fundamental though!! Code is attached in a text file below. Appreciate any comments or feedback if you have similar experience.....Learn More...

May 22, 2012 - Releational Database options for Reporting and Scaling / Performance with XPages and General Notes / Domino
At the moment considering options for XPages application architecture for a customer. Forming options based around the need for building reports (traditionally a poor area in Lotus Notes). Client is very keen on the use of relational database access for this so that they can easily write queries to give them the reports the need with SQL / stored procedures or use standard "Reporting Tools" to access the structured data. Based on this I was considering evaluating 1. DomSQL - built for this very purpose. Uses SQLLite to "duplicate" view data. Some initial things to consider are (a) Easy to setup - Install some OSGI plugins on the server for XPages and configure some XML settings (b) Synch happens with Notes / Non Notes without having to do anything (c) Performance - a concern. Dont think this is the sort of thing we can just start to "switch on" on a production server without serious consideration of traffic / transactions, databases / data volumes etc. 2. Build some scheduled / trigg....Learn More...

May 21, 2012 - getCurrentElement() null issue in Java UI Classes for Eclipse
Seems to be this behaviour is a "feature" of the product which may be fixed over time. A similar threads on DeveloperWorks forum (or Notes.net as I still like to call it..) Kevin Duan http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd8forum.nsf/5f27803bba85d8e285256bf10054620d/e0da559819b54d0b852579a20034ce5c?OpenDocument Also being hinted at in some other places that the view behaviour is unreliable at best. At the moment (until I can come up with a better idea) I am running some code as follows for this condition in the job thread if(elem==null){ return Status.CANCEL_STATUS; } .... .... .... return Status.OK_STATUS; I then check in my calling code to see what the jobs status was returning as follows if(job.getResult().equals(Status.CANCEL_STATUS)){ MessageDialog.openInformation(composite.getShell(),"Document Not Uploaded","Document NOT Uploaded. Instead of running this process from a view please retry again from an open document."); } This is f....Learn More...

May 21, 2012 - Plugin Development with Java UI Classes
Been working on an eclipse plugin which extends the right click menu. The idea is that it sends (creates) a bookmark type document in a central XPages "Knowledge base" database based upon the selected document. So the user right clicks to select a document and chooses the "Bookmark" option below Which provides this dialog The bookmark document contains simply 1. A subject describing the document 2. A Tag for the document (category) 3. A "Notes URL" link to take the user to the source document The idea is that people can then search the knowledge base using the tags etc and then open the source document for more info. So this works on the basis that the URL is built from the selected document (this is where the issue lies... It is running a piece of code that does NotesUIWorkspace ws = new NotesUIWorkspace(); NotesUIElement elem = ws.getCurrentElement(); Now - if I run the process direct from the Eclipse "Run Configuration" it works fine. If I build the plugin and then instal....Learn More...

May 4, 2012 - XPages DataModels and Exporting to Excel
Been doing a lot of work in XPages around Exporting - so naturally built a Java Class to run as a managed bean to do this. It extends the widely documented concept of SSJS Agents in that a button redirects to a page which renders the content as Excel or whatever. So I thought - let the Excel class have different methods to do different things such as Export a view, a document collection and even the data used in a repeat control (essentially what is on screen). Package it up as an OSGI plugin and it can work for any app - sounds great. However, the main problem that I am having with this centres around the repeat control export concept which is tied to a dataModel object. Consider the following piece of Java Code. public DataModel getRepeatModel(String repeatid) { this.repeat = (XspDataIterator) JSFUtil.findComponent(repeatid); this.datamodel = this.repeat.getDataModel(); System.out.println("Repeat rows is "+this.repeat.getRows....Learn More...

Apr 19, 2012 - Relational XPages access for Hybrid Application access
Reaching out to the community as I am looking to canvass opinion on the best options for a project I am considering. Preference of technology is XPages. This fits with my clients ambitions and skills although they have some experience in Spring MVC and Websphere Portal (options that I can help with too). Keen on the idea of a hybrid option with XPages. By that I mean NSF / Domino 1. Workflow support (using standard Java OSGI libraries we have developed) 2. Rapid Application Development 3. Flexible Data Storage for Forms type processes 4. Built in Domino Data / Security RDBMS 1. Best for storing transactional type data 2. Good for storing / working with data that relies on relationships 3. Good at handling large volumes of data To me a hybrid model with XPages makes sense.For this piece I see there being a few options 1. Use the new Extension Library tools made available via the extension library 2. Use JDBC to process the data (not great option - memory leaks, boilerplate code e....Learn More...

Apr 18, 2012 - Open Source / Free CMS and Commerce Engine
Firstly apologies for the silence - usual consultant thing of being very busy hence no time - that is no excuse though... Been doing a lot of varied work recently on top of the usual XPages stuff. WebSphere Portal, Spring / Hibernate, Spring MVC stuff. Hope to incorporate that into this blog soon. Anyway... Thought I would throw out a request to see if anyone could recommend or point towards a free open source CMS / shopping cart type application - preferably built on the Java platform (although open to ideas on that too). Really aimed at delivering a low cost solution that is easily "tweaked" for a small business selling medical products. Sorry have nothing more specific - all ideas welcome!....Learn More...

Jan 23, 2012 - LS12 Slides for SHOW111 - How YOU deliver mobile applications the easy way with XPages Web Apps
Again thanks to everyone who attended the session. Really pleased with the great feedback so far. The following link is link to the slides from the presentation. Will be developing and contributing the Blog Reader App to OpenNTF in the coming weeks so look out! Link to Presentation Link zip of associated files....Learn More...

Jan 23, 2012 - LS12 Slides for BP118 - Using Java to build applications fit for the enterprise
Guys thanks for the great feedback on my session - the following link contains the presentation files for your information. Will be upgrading and publishing the library files in this application onto OpenNTF in the coming weeks. I will also post the instructions on creating and working with OSGI libraries as discussed in my session. Link to Presentation....Learn More...

Jan 15, 2012 - Day 1 Lotusphere - Business Development Day
Long day yesterday travelling from Glasgow via Dublin to Orlando - pretty smooth to be honest. The "new" immigration process conducted in Dublin meant that when I landed it was straight through to pick up bags - almost like an internal flight! Anyway "settled in" yesterday evening well. Great evening (although jet lag took its toll) I attempted to soldier on through to around midnight. Looking forward to the announcements and sessions of the next few days. Will be doing last minute prep around my two sessions if you are interested in attending. Wed 10:30 - 12:15 SHOW111 - How you deliver Mobile Applications the easy way with XPages and Web apps. Will walk you through how to build both a 100% web app with the extension library and a hybrid app with PhoneGap. Thursday 8:30 - 9:30 BP118 - Using Java to build Applications Fit for the enterprise Will discuss and demonstrate how Java helps provide a scalable platform for developing your XPages applications.....Learn More...

Dec 14, 2011 - Resource Reservations advice - Wrestling with free time
Writing a booking front end using the extension library - the UI works really well and supports browser events for creation, deletion, moving etc. The issue is "wrestling with free time". Not a lot of good information out there in terms of setting the various field values. In essence I am mailing a document to the room that is setup in the database. I then use the events to save updates / delete to the booking as required. This works well other than..... The emails that are generated are not very configurable - infact the one on creation of the booking that is sent to the chair gives an error on opening the mail message - I think it is expecting to open a reservation in the actual mailfile instead of the resource reservation database. Might be easiest to switch the mailing aspect of this off (I still want it to be "reserved" by the free time engine). Been hunting around in the dark - anyone got any thoughts or advice?....Learn More...

Dec 6, 2011 - Speaking at LS12 - my first Lotusphere session
Delighted to say that I will be presenting two sessions at this years Lotusphere after having attended 3 others in "read only mode". Bit nervous but very excited. It follows several months working up to this point putting in sessions in European LUGs (Denmark and UK) and also other local events in the UK. Going to be a lot of work between now and the 20th but hopefully it will be rewarding for me and more importantly for those who attend! Flights need to be booked (probably Aer Lingus - do I ever learn anything from last year?), the ESTA (or whatever they are called - the forms that allow me into the country) need to be completed and a new pair of (industrial strength) drinking shoes need to be bought. The must be capable of propping me up at various bars for the whole week. Oh yeah - before I forget the subjects are 1. XPages and Java - focussed around why I have used it and how it really benefits me in doing my job for clients 2. XPages and Mobile Web Applications Themes that I....Learn More...

Oct 14, 2011 - Turbo Charging your Legacy Notes apps with XPages relational access
Now that we have our 8.5.3 environments ready thoughts turn to how do we use XPages to build better applications with the new tools available. I have been involved in a few situations lately where organisations are reviewing their application estate and asking how do we approach "modernising" them. The first cry from everyone is usually "XPages" but quite rightly IT departments are asking what is the best platform for THAT particular application in OUR organisation with OUR current skills. When reviewing the application estate the feedback has generally come back in the form of:- 1. Application works well - needs extending via a "web app" to browser or mobile. 2. Application needs to integrate into our Portal, Intranet, be made available on public Website etc. 3. Application functions badly due to the way it was deployed on the older Notes client All of the above can be addressed by putting together an XPages "front end" or as in case 3 by rewriting the application to work better....Learn More...

Oct 10, 2011 - Web Enabled Resource Reservations
Currently evaluating some options around providing a custom web interface for Resource Reservations for booking rooms. The requirement also needs to build in some custom workflow / approval processes to provide for overriding bookings. Ideally I am looking for a nice Web user interface that is 1. Nice (Web 2.0 - I hate that expression) modern web experience 2. Works well on mobile devices 3. Built on XPages Ideally I would like this to be based around dojo - although there is nothing I could find at this stage. I know there would not be too much effort to do this around jQuery as there are a plethora of nice looking calendar tools that use Web Services / XML / JSON or whatever for pushing data backwards and forwards. Paul Withers is also advised on some interesting stuff (from part of his stuff on the new XPages extension library book) from the extension library which takes the iNotes interface and makes it more available via xpages and web services. It has built in controls for even....Learn More...

Oct 7, 2011 - Simple Domino Internet Mail Monitoring
Trying to reach out for some help. Won't even try to pretend that I am an expert Domino Admin (last course I did was a system admin II back in roughly 1996/1997 - how far can things have changed anyway?). Cutting to the chase - I thought that this would be easy to do. Need to run adhoc queries on external internet emails sent such as. 1. How many mails were sent to domain @xyz.com 2. Which recpients in that domain 3. Which senders sent to that domain 4. How many mails were sent with the following subject line contents "Top Secret: xyz" 5. Again to who / by who Fairly basic parameters running around date window and from/to and subject. Now I know Domino is not great with high volumes of this kind of stuff and the initial look of the Tracking Request functionality does not really fit the bill (nor does the format of the data lend easy for exporting). It strikes me that this must be asked all the time and is either 1. Part of the core product that needs configuring properly 2. Done....Learn More...

Oct 3, 2011 - XWork application server
Thought I would write a few quick words as a consultant, developer and ISV using Domino / XPages and java / web technologies in general. Having sold applications for expenses / timesheets into organisations before I always viewed the market to be existing Domino customers - this opens things up somewhat moving forward. As mentioned before the "runs on lotus notes" badge that came with it has become an ever more difficult battle to fight. I am glad to say that now our applications run on a java web application server called "IBM XWork". This positions our solutions running on a tried and tested No SQL datastore with the abilities to work with relational data / other data sources too for integration purposes - a key feature of these solutions in the past (payroll integration etc). Keen to see where else this leads us with changes moving forward. With other competitive open source Java Server platforms such as Tomcat, Glassfish (and many others) there are still many choices for ISVs out....Learn More...

Sep 13, 2011 - XPages futures....relational access?
Stephan Wissel raises and excellent point in his blog on what he thinks are options for the future of Domino and XPages with the inclusion of an in built relational data store. For many years now the NSF has been an excellent data structure but has had its known achillies heel which often led to poor performing applications or applications that did not scale. This led to issues around complex architectures, archiving, poor reporting outputs. For years we have asked the question "Will this work in Domino? Or is a relational platform a better choice". Now with the advent of open source and free web application software it is more important that this issue is addressed.Paul Withers yesterday made some excellent points around the direction of "java" and what it means to the development community and the platform in terms of integration options and attracting new blood to the platform. Extending on this I see an opportunity for us to extend the offering that domino brings by including a dat....Learn More...

Jul 13, 2011 - XPages, XDesk, Java, Mobile, OSGI and a European Event
Been a bit quiet here on the blog due to pressures of work but I thought I would take the chance to put together a quick posting that may be of interest to those working in XPages, mobile or Java. Firstly I am delighted to announce that I will be speaking at DanNotes in Denmark on the 23rd and 24th November on XPages and mobile. Will be joining an excellent group of speakers in Niklas Heidloff and Ulrich Krause - it's quite far in the future but I have some good plans and projects to work with to build on my mobile presentations from earlier in the year. This will help drive some new articles in the coming month on XPages and mobile. Also been doing some work with Java / OSGI on XPages as part of some XPages mentoring I have been doing for a client here in the UK - really all about building an "XPages infrastructure" for building and supporting multiple applications on the XPages platform. As well as this I plan to release (finally) a new version of XDesk that has been optimised fo....Learn More...

Apr 11, 2011 - XPages Rest Services, JSON and Mobile Dojo for iPad / iPhone at Lotusphere comes to you
Its less than two days now and just about ready. Should be a good session. Will be covering Mobile development for Webkit browsers and will be showing 1. XDesk - how its being modified for iPad / iPhone with Mobile Dojo 2. How we use Rest services and Java to do searches, load data in XPages and post status updates within the Mobile Dojo framework within XDesk. 3. How the various components of Mobile Dojo work. 4. Demonstration of new features in later releases of Dojo. 5. How easy it is to develop, update and deploy to webkit devices (eg iPhone, iPad, Android, new BlackBerry devices including the playbook). At the end of this you will have examples to pull apart and customise for your own needs. This means you should be able to "Webkit" enable databases quickly and easily with these tools. Should be a good one - if you can make it register here. Looking forward to meeting up with some of the usual people. Will also be doing labs on this and general XPages sessions. Fee....Learn More...

Mar 21, 2011 - Short video introducing XDesk for XPages - free issue tracking app on OpenNTF
I am no Steven Spielberg or David Leedy... put together a short 2 minute video on my company youtube channel. Apologies for the quality on this in advance. At least it gives you some idea of what XDesk is and how it can help you. Will be progressing this application in the coming few weeks - so stay tuned!! Any questions on XDesk, mobilisation of applications using XPages or general XPages development please feel free to contact me through here.......Learn More...

Mar 21, 2011 - Presenting at Lotusphere comes to you UK on April 13th 2011
Looking forward to speaking at Lotusphere comes to you on April 13th 2011. There is a very exciting agenda with a good mix of business, strategy and technical content. I will be presenting a session o....Learn More...

Mar 16, 2011 - Eclipse RCP Development Resources
On my journeys I have found the following resources very useful - feel free to add more.. 1. Redwiki - http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/ddwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Redbooks%20Wiki%3A%20Cre....Learn More...

Mar 15, 2011 - Can your email client do this? and ... Building Eclipse RCP Preference Pages
Developed a few plugins now and find the functionality that this offers for customers using the eclipse platform very powerfull. Latest piece of interesting work has been on a tool that allows documen....Learn More...

Mar 14, 2011 - xDesk v1.1 release on OpentNTF
Just put a new version of xDesk onto OpenNTF. xDesk is a free issue tracking application running on xPages and now makes use of the OpenNTF mobile controls for iphone/ipad/ipod touch. Timing was pure....Learn More...

Mar 4, 2011 - Getting handle to XPages repeat control data in different places
Needed this kind of functionality in at least a couple of occasions now. You have a view and to that view you bind a repeat control. You then tie a search to the view so you can display searched resul....Learn More...

Mar 3, 2011 - XPages perspecitves on Designer
First up I would like to add that I apologise for being a dumb #### and not realising this before. In my XPages work I try to organise things better by using Java where appropriate. I find things are....Learn More...

Mar 1, 2011 - NotesIn9 video on Mobile Controls from OpenNTF
David Leedy has kindly asked me to talk about some of my experiences using the OpenNTF mobile controls for XPages. So I have put together a short video around the concept of 5 steps to mobilizing your....Learn More...

Feb 18, 2011 - New valuable resource for the XPages community goes live
This looks like a good initiative to keep the profile of XPages high - by having its own dedicated discussion forum. It is of course built on XPages technology and will be made available as a project....Learn More...

Discussing all things Web and Mobile

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Join us at Lotusphere 2011

XPages Local Government Project for Procurement Contract Management Completed

BSS Deliver Key Sessions on Mobile Development and Enterprise Java at Lotusphere 2012

xDesk is featured as project of the month on OpenNTF

Video of how to build Social Media Website using XPages on NotesIn9

New website launched based upon a custom CMS using xPages technology

Looking forward to Lotusphere 2011 - See you there!

Commissioned to work on an xPages Knowledge Management System