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dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:45:00 +0000

cool!

Columnvaluesindex : is that an undocumented NotesViewColumn property?

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:49:00 +0000

I was doing some simple LotusScript developing with my shiny band-new 8.5.1 Lotus Designer:
exporting data from a Notes view to an Excel document, using COM objects (sorry, no Symphony exporting yet...).

All was fine on my pc, until I made a test on a different client Notes running version 8:
that client did not exported any data because of just one error in a script line... But what was the error?!

Turns out that I used a NotesViewColumn property that was not evailable on R8: Columnvaluesindex

Taking a look into R8.5 release Designer help I could not find any info about it...
No info googling the web...

So it turns out that I used a property that is not yet documented but is available through the Designer editor Content Assist ;-) , i.e. what you see when you push the dot key after the object name ( e.g. NotesViewColumn.) and you get all properties and methods of that object.

As far as I know, NotesViewColumn.Columnvaluesindex property is similar to NotesViewColumn.position property: "position" returns an integer number starting from 1 , whilst "Columnvaluesindex" return a long number starting from 0.

I fixed my code simply using the "position" property and subtracting 1 to its return value ;-)

Lotus Traveler 8.5.1 and iPhone: meetings limitation...

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:24:00 +0000

I'm currently testing my shiny new iPhone 3GS and Lotus Traveler 8.5.1 push mail: I'm really impressed by the Apple device, really great!

Lotus Traveler was easy to setup and all was fine... so far.

I just got disappointed by some Traveler current version limitations: I can't accepted any invitation sent by my colleagues, or arrange meetings inviting other people!

I took a look to the Traveler 8.5.1 Infocenter, getting the confirmation to my fears:

For this release, Lotus Notes Traveler does not support the processing of meeting notices by an attendee on an Apple device.

If a user receives a meeting notice such as a calendar invitation in their Inbox on the Apple device, the mail message shows who the invitation is from and the meeting subject, but no action such as accepting or declining the invitation is available.
The body of the meeting notice contains this message: "This document is a meeting notice and requires the use of a Lotus Notes or iNotes® client to view the content."

This restriction will be removed in a future update of the Lotus Notes Traveler server.

That is frankly disappointing....

Take a look to Infocenter page:

Symphony Automation via LotusScript

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:24:00 +0000

After reading this post from Daniele I found the following interesting article on DeveloperWorks on the same subject:

Integrating IBM Lotus Notes with IBM Lotus Symphony using LotusScript and the Lotus Symphony Toolkit

Nice birth video

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Yesterday me and Elly attended a pre birth course: this time the subject was labor and all phases.
Later, on YouTube I found the following nice video:

Starting the 8.5.1 download....

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:08:00 +0000

Domino Designer new idea worth promoting

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Searching... I found an upset Notes user

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:47:00 +0000

We all agree that Notes is really a power collaboration platform, too powerful sometimes ;-)

Just recently I was stopped by a guy shoutings who was complaining about Notes, while using his poweful laptop:
"Notes sucks! It's so big and slow, it can't even make a simple search!".

First off, that guy is not stupid, it's kind of a pc geek (Linux area) moving to the Notes mail client, so I was amazed about those rough words:
"What's up? any problems? ;-) "

He replied:
"I was trying to find a message inside my mailbox, but I could not! Just a simple word and I could not find a message. Look, I decided to install Thunderbird mail client and attach it to Domino via IMAP: I found that import message in a few seconds....".

Actually Thunderbird was quick to show the relevant search results: Notes did not show any results, just apparently the same document view...

I decided to take a look inside the client Preferences to find some weird setting, but nothing....

Than I decided to take a closer look inside the "More" option of the view search bar:
after a while, I realized that the user changed a search option I NEVER used in 12 years experience:
the "Sort results by" option.

For some unknow reason, the user changed the "relevance" option to the "show all documents (sortable)" option.

The lesson re-learned today:
dont's show too many options to the user, he will not understand all options, he will play with them, he will complain about the all product. Keep it simple.

Domino Designer on Eclipse: something ELSE

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Luckily I decided to apply for 8.5.1 beta!

Most of all, I like the new LotusScript editor, finally an up-to-date editor:

code assistant (control-space): suggesting class methods, library inclusion, etc.
comment / code templates
classes supports
go to definition (F3) feature:
eg. you over db.title, presses F3 and you are moved db declaration (dim db as NotesDatabase)
editing a LS library when editing a LS agent using that library
code indenting
error reporting
help tips when hovering on code
more...

Ok, that's not rocket science, other editors do the same job:
it's still a beta, but I really appreciate the job done so far the IBM team. Congrats.

Trivia
What I really don't like is the name: DDE = Domino Designer on Eclipse.
For me DDE name is related to the really old technology by Microsoft (before OLE).

I like the name suggested by Peter Presnell: ELSE (Eclipse LotusScript Editor), in my own small way I will use it as a tag for my next posts. Do the same! ;-)

P.S.
if you are a 8.5.1 managed beta user and you are also a LS developer, don't forget to install the patch published here by David Taieb (requires username/password) to fix some bugs found on code drop 8 LS editor.

P.S. Update: please, move the old .jar file to a different dir, before copying the new .jar patch!

From David:

"One important thing you shouldn't do: do not rename the old jar and leave it in the same directory.
That's a common mistake that some people do, even though the old plugin doesn't have the jar extension anymore, Eclipse will still find it and load it. Please move the old jar in an entire new directory"

BM Lotus Notes/Domino and Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.1 is prerelease software and there are no guarantees from IBM that the functionality presented will be in the final shipping product.

Interesting Quickr-like service

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:25:00 +0000

Its name is onehub and it's technically interesting: cute interface, QuickHubs, widgets, FTP interface, etc.

(via StumbleUpon)

Amarcord packing week-end

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:49:00 +0000

I spend all my week-end just packing... and not yet finished... Why?

The house were we live is really small, it was perfect for a single, but not anymore for my wife and also the incoming son (my son is due around 9th November).

Me and Elly decided not to move to another house yet (handy location, right rent, nice neighborhood) , so we are finding some extra room for our growing family.

We started to pack things that we will not use for some time:

books (I saved some computer science ones...)
DVD: over 300 ones!

I don't feel big regrets for my books, but watching my beloved DVD packed inside anonymous boxes... it was pure suffering!

Gosh, many cartoons, drama, action, TV series, historical movies, NG documentaries... all my last height years stuffed in some anonymous boxes in my warehouse.

Maybe some of you had my same experience when your partner decided to move in your flat and you had to move your beloved stuff (LP records, comics, books...) to a different place ;-)

Going from single mode to family mode...

Friday worst case ever!

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Friday afternoon I received a very worried phone call by a friend.

Domino was working fine, the problem was about a 3rd party Domino task: this commercial product (competitor of IBM LEI) takes care about syncing data between Domino and a remote relational database server, mapping data tables to Notes documents.

Suddenly the 3rd party task was not working anymore, neither pulling data nor writing a log document! I made several tests and later I asked help to the product tech support.

After some unsuccesful tests, the tech support agreed to connect to the Domino server via TeamViewer (great product!): the problem was not found yet!

We decided to uninstall the 3rd party software and install it from scratch: finally it worked.

But we were not satisfied by that "solution": how come the software just stopped working?!
Was it because of Windows Update? Or about some kind of Domino issues?
I was scared that it would happen again.

After some further investigation (in the meantime data was starting to sync...) I found the the cause of the problem...

The antivirus file real-time scanner (eTrust) , running on the Domino server, simply thought that a small .dll file, inside the Domino program path, was just infected by virus, so it tried to cure it and later it moved it to the quarantine area.

That .dll was not part of Domino standard installation, it was part of 3rd party Domino task.

Some thoughts:

so stupid, I should first check the antivirus quarantine area :-(
is it really necessary to have an antivirus file real-time scanner on a Domino server?
why not just exclude the Domino program path from the scanning? ;-)
why the 3rd party task did not make any sw component inventory and write a decent log entry for any missing .dll ? At least, tech support was really great, willing to help...

Do you have any tips? What is your favourite antivirus? LEI or 3rd party solution for high speed relational db server-Domino data exchange ?

Reading private RSS feeds provided by Domino

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Some days ago I suggested a friend to provide an RSS feed for a Domino web application he wrote.

Unfortunately the web application was only available to authenticated users and, guess what, the Domino web authentication was set to session-based one ("form authentication"), NOT Basic HTTP authentication (ie pop-up window asking for credentials).

By the way, some RSS readers can deal with private RSS feeds, but AFAIK only Basic HTTP authentication is supported:

Thunderbird mail client (desktop)
Netvibes service (web-based)
Google Reader (my reader) does not support any authenticatication, although there's a an online proxy (http://freemyfeed.com/) to feed Google Reader with privates RSS data: do you trust it? Don't know, I guess I would run my own RSS proxy...

Anyhow, how can we deal with private / authenticated RSS feed provided by Lotus Domino application?

I found out two different ways (I'm open to any other tips):

switch to the built-in RSS reader provided inside Notes 8.x (right sidebar)
just for RSS feeds, configure Domino to use Basic HTTP authentication:
for everything else, Domino will still use session-based authentication

Method 1:
I seldomly use the built-in Notes reader, but I just found out that it can deal with private RSS feeds, both when Domino server is setup with Basic or session-based authentication.

I just created an "HTTP account" inside my local address book (names.nsf->Advanced) with hostname, username and password that later will be used by the Domino RSS reader.

When adding the private RSS feed to the built-in Reader, the credentials are automatically used.

Cool, that was new to me.

Method 2
Instruct Domino server to use BASIC HTTP authentication ONLY for the matter of RSS, and continue using session-based authentication for anythig else. (some) RSS readers can deal with Basic authentication, not Domino sessions...

How to do that? Simple, I read it on DominoBlog post ! ;-)
Here's an excerpt:
"Occasionally, it may be necessary to override single sign-on (SSO) for RSS feed readers, as the readers cannot use session authentication forms. Do this by creating a new Web site rule and, on the Basics tab:

Set the Type of Rule to “Override Session Authentication with basic authentication.” (new in 7.0.2 ).
Specify the incoming URL pattern for the RSS Generator database.
(Optional) On the Lotus Domino Web Engine tab of the current Web site document, select Yes or No for ‘When overriding session authentication, generate session cookie."

I did the ovverride just for my RSS feed URL (I had to switch my Domino web configuration to an "Internet Site"):
it works, now I can access my company feeds by any RSS readers that features Http authentication.

Happy Domino RSS ;-)

Notes 8.5 : bug about attachments from Internet

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:15:00 +0000

A friend of mine told me that she could not save and delete attachments inside memos received from Internet, right-clicking on attachments icons, as she usually did before I installed Notes 8.5 .

Oh well, maybe because she uses Notes 8.5 for MAC? ;-)
Or because there's some Notes policy applied to her Notes account?

No, that's a problem for all Notes 8.5 clients, as stated by this technote...

Unfortunately the recent Fix Pack 1 doesn't solve the problem.

Sunday afternoon at Ferrari Gallery (museum at Maranello, Modena)

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:48:00 +0000

That annoys me too...

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:50:00 +0000

So true, I agree with all 10 things ;-)
see: Top 10 Things That Annoy Programmers

I like David's XPage screencasts

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:04:00 +0000

David Leedy is doing a great job with his screencast series about XPages:

simple
effective
coincise (less than 10 minutes)
cute intro animation

Is he using some Mac software? ;-)

Take a look to his latest work:

Collaboration: let's learn from the monkeys

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:16:00 +0000

Blackberry Mail(a): nomen omen?

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Recent news.

L'Aquila (Abruzzo region, Italy): many people still live in tents after the earthquake (remember the recent G8 Meeting?).

A 14 years old little girl, living in a tent with her family, received the Catholic corfirmation ("cresima") : her family collected money for a special gift, a pink Blackberry.

But someone stole her precious device, the only mean for her to connect to Internet! Many cries from the poor little girl.

Luckily a retired man from another town in Abruzzo, Sulmona (famous town for the production of sugar wedding candies) , decided to give to the little girl a brand-new Blackberry gift.

The name of the little girl is Maila: yes, Maila ... ;-)

I guess Blackberry company missed a chance to receive free advertisement just giving away a free Blackberry phone to the little Maila ;-)

Web article on Repubblica (Italian): "Little miracles" in tent city...

Google is migrating Notes mail

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:50:00 +0000

Switching to Google Apps from Lotus Notes just got easier

So funny. Are we really so bad?

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:29:00 +0000

128 years since Pinocchio novel was first published...

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:04:00 +0000

... and Google pays homage to Pinocchio novel customizing its homepage, but for Italian googlers only. But what is more universal than Pinocchio novel?!

For those people who think that the puppet is a Disney creation, Pinocchio novel was written by an Italian writer, Carlo Collodi.

If you come to Italy on holiday, please visit Collodi, a small town in Tuscany where you enter a nice Pinocchio theme park (pictures taken in 2007):

The real "I am a MAC, I am a PC", plus... naughty Steve picture!

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:38:00 +0000

via gizmodo.com

Finally a good news: welcome baby!

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:33:00 +0000

Our baby, our first son (20th week) is a baby boy!

It's time to find a name for the baby, a name easy to pronounce both in Italian and Indonesian/English.

Any suggestion? ;-)

IE8 Developer Tools: finally!

dif1754@gmail.com (Cristian D'Aloisio) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:47:00 +0000

Just watched an intro video about new Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools:
IE8: Dev Tools

Plus an interesting article:
Developer Tools in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

Many thanks to Firebug add-on for setting the standard for web debugging tools.