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HCL Domino Designer Basic User Guide and Reference
This guide provides information on using HCL Domino Designer and programming language reference information.
Application Design
Welcome to the Application Design section of Domino® Designer Help.
Planning an application
Before you begin any design work, create a plan for how users will access and use your application. At the minimum, your application plan should address these questions:
Planning a traditional Notes® and Web application
If you are planning an application that users will access via a Notes® client or via a Web browser, you will need to do some design work to tailor your application for each platform. For example, a navigation structure that is suited for a Notes client application may not be the best choice for a Web application. When you design an application for both Notes and Web, about 85% of your design will be suitable for both clients, and the remaining 15% will require some modification. Here are some issues to consider when planning an application for Notes and Web users:

HCL Domino Designer Basic User Guide and Reference
This guide provides information on using HCL Domino Designer and programming language reference information.
- What's new in Domino Designer 12?
  The following features are new for developers in HCL Domino® Designer 12.
- Accessibility and keyboard shortcuts
  Accessibility features assist users who have a disability, such as restricted mobility or limited vision, to use information technology content successfully.
- Application Design
  Welcome to the Application Design section of Domino® Designer Help.
  - Introduction to Domino® Designer
    Welcome to Domino® Designer. Domino Designer is an integrated application development environment that lets developers and Web site designers create, manage, and deploy secure, interactive applications.
  - Planning an application
    Before you begin any design work, create a plan for how users will access and use your application. At the minimum, your application plan should address these questions:
    - Planning a traditional Notes® application
      If your application is only intended for use by Notes® clients, use the standard design elements provided by Domino® Designer. When programming, consider using the Notes formula language and LotusScript®, both of which were designed for use with the Notes client.
    - Planning a traditional Notes® and Web application
      If you are planning an application that users will access via a Notes® client or via a Web browser, you will need to do some design work to tailor your application for each platform. For example, a navigation structure that is suited for a Notes client application may not be the best choice for a Web application. When you design an application for both Notes and Web, about 85% of your design will be suitable for both clients, and the remaining 15% will require some modification. Here are some issues to consider when planning an application for Notes and Web users:
      - Tips for designing Notes® and Web applications
        The following are some areas to consider when planning an application for both Notes® and Web clients.
    - Planning for integration with WebSphere® and DB2®
      You can use Domino® Designer to build applications that exploit the collaborative features of the Domino server as well as the transactional power of the WebSphere® server and the data storage capacity of a DB2® database, resulting in end-to-end business solutions for applications such as supply chain management, sales force automations, or customer relationship management.
    - Planning a traditional Web application
      Perhaps your widest range of design options is available when designing an application that will only be accessed via a Web browser. You can build a Web application using the full range of Domino® Designer features and tools, or you can build an application using the latest Web technologies. This range of tools and features, coupled with all of the benefits of a Domino application -- such as the security model and replication -- give you the most control over the design and delivery of an application.
    - Planning a composite application
      A major new enhancement in Notes® Release 8 is the support for composite applications, a key element within service oriented architecture (SOA) and contextual collaboration strategy. Using Domino® Designer, developers can extend Notes applications to be Notes components in composite applications. A composite application can include any combination of Notes components and Eclipse components. The ability to combine multiple technologies into a single application provides significant business value: It enables companies to protect and extend their existing assets with increasing degrees of flexibility, and to respond quickly and cost effectively to their emerging business requirements, with applications that are significantly easier to assemble than alternative application development environments.
    - Planning an application for mobile users
      You may want an application you design for Notes® or Web users to be available to mobile users. You can easily tailor an existing application for mobile users by excluding certain design elements from a mobile application to streamline it for better performance. For example, you may to exclude a large, complex view or a graphical navigator from the design elements that get served to mobile users to avoid performance problems.
    - Hide-when options for all applications
    - HTML tag attributes for a Domino® server
      The HTML tab appears on many properties boxes. If you are designing a Web application and are using HTML 4.0, the HTML tab lets you apply core attributes that are common to a number of objects, such as Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), easily. Domino® incorporates the values of these attributes in the HTML that it creates at runtime. When you are using the HTML tag attributes, remember:
    - Domino® applets
    - Designing an application for maximum accessibility
      When designing an application, there are things you can do to make your application accessible to people with physical disabilities. To meet federal accessibility guidelines, your application must be:
    - Creating multilingual applications
    - Table of Notes® and Domino® known limits
      The following table summarizes the known maximum limits of various Notes® and Domino® features.
  - Creating an application
    All Domino® applications begin with a Domino database. Domino databases are the containers for your application. Databases hold the data, logic, and design elements for your application. Your Domino application can be made up of one or more Domino databases.
  - Designing pages
    Pages and forms are similar in certain ways. A page is a database design element that displays information. Pages can be used anywhere in your application that you have text, graphics, or an embedded control, such as an outline, to present to the user. A page or form can contain the following:
  - Designing forms
    Forms, like pages, display information. Everything that can be done with a page can be done with a form. What sets forms apart from pages is that forms can be used to collect information. A form provides the structure for creating and displaying documents, and documents are the design elements that store data in the database. When a user fills out the information in a form and saves it, the information is saved as a document. When a user opens the document, the document uses the form as a template to provide the structure for displaying the data.
  - Designing fields
    A field is the part of an application that collects data. You create fields on forms, subforms, or in layout regions. Each field stores a single type of information. A field's field type defines the kind of information a field accepts, such as text, numbers, dates, or names. When a user, either in a Notes® client or a Web browser, creates a form, fills out the information in the fields, and saves the form, the data in the fields is stored in an individual document. The contents of the fields can then be displayed in documents and views or can be retrieved for use in formulas. A field can be used on a single form, or you can create shared fields for use in multiple forms in a database.
  - Designing framesets
    A frameset is a collection of frames and can add structure to your Web site or Notes® database. A frame is one section, or pane, of the larger frameset window and is independently scrollable.
  - Designing views
  - Designing navigation for an application
    You can use the following navigational tools in your application:
  - Adding automation to applications
    Automation in an application speeds up repetitive tasks, handles workflow, updates information, performs calculations, runs programs, and checks for errors.
  - Developing applications using third-party tools and WebDAV
    As you are developing an application, you may want to supplement the tools provided with Domino® Designer with tools of your own choosing. For example, you may have a favorite graphics editor you use to design images for your application, or you may have a favorite HTML editor that you want to use to design pages. You launch and use third-party tools from within Designer.
  - Connecting to enterprise data
    Incorporating back-end data into everyday business processes maximizes the value of a Domino® Designer application. Designer includes a range of technologies for the security and control of business processes, forms routing, and approvals management. With enterprise integration technologies, you can incorporate traditionally difficult-to-reach data into your business applications.
  - Including Java™ applets in applications
    Applets are self-contained Java™ programs that can run in your Domino® application. Java applets are often used to add animation to Web applications. Although Java applets are mostly used for Web applications, you can also include them in the following elements of a Domino application:
  - Including Java™ servlets in Web applications
    A servlet is a Java™ program that is run by the Domino® Web server in response to a browser request. Servlets provide a convenient way to add powerful functionality to your Web application. In some ways, servlets act like CGI programs, but they are more tightly integrated with the server and can take advantage of special Java classes. For example, a servlet may connect to a relational database or enterprise system and get data in response to a Web browser request.
  - Including XML in Designer applications
    Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a standard for creating markup languages that describe the structure and meaning of data in a document. XML separates the content of a document from its presentation and provides a common format for transferring data across the World Wide Web (WWW) or company intranet. The result is a technology that makes data available regardless of the proprietary systems involved.
  - Including OLE objects in applications
    Using Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and OLE tools lets you extend the capability of Domino® Designer. OLE technology lets you integrate data from other applications, such as spreadsheets, graphics tools, and other data sources, into your application.
  - Creating a workflow application
    Workflow applications let you automate tasks. These tasks most often involve automatically sending mail messages or automatically routing documents, such as tracking orders and project plans to be reviewed. All projects need one or more people to complete a series of tasks and can benefit from workflow applications because they guide the project through these tasks automatically. Workflow applications reduce overhead and errors, speed processes, and track the status of a project. For example, a workflow application might automatically send a document in a publishing company from writer to editor to proofreader to production. At each stage, an individual is responsible for specific tasks related to that document. Once the task is complete, the workflow application ensures that the individuals responsible for the next task are notified and receive the data they need to execute their part of the project.
  - Domino® Designer templates
    The templates described in the following table are available with Domino® Designer and are specifically intended for use by application developers.
  - Importing to and exporting from views
  - Developing applications using MAPI
    Domino® Designer Release 6 and later supports the messaging application program interface (MAPI), which allows mail integration between Domino and a MAPI-compliant messaging application, such as Microsoft™ Outlook, Microsoft Office applications, or user-written C++ programs.
  - Features to avoid using in Web applications
    Developers creating applications specifically for the Web, or for the dual purpose of serving Notes® and Web clients, should review the following tables for features that are not supported on the Web.
  - URL commands for Web applications
    You have a variety of options for programming a Web site. You can directly manipulate objects such as documents or views in an application using Domino® URL commands. Adding Domino URL commands as HTML in forms gives users shortcuts for navigating databases and performing other tasks quickly.
- Application Management
  Welcome to the Application Management section of Domino® Designer Help.
- Domino® Query Language
  Domino® Query Language (DQL) is a facility running on a Domino server that provides a terse, shorthand syntax for finding documents. It supports a wide variety and complexity of search terms. It leverages existing design elements, avoiding the need to write detailed code to access them. DQL consolidates all methods in Domino for searching document contents.
- Composite Applications - Design and Management
  Composite applications are a key element in a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and contextual collaboration strategy. The ability to create and edit composite applications lets you easily integrate different types of components and technologies.
- DB2® Access views
  Domino® Designer includes two types of design elements to assist you in managing data contained in DB2® enabled Notes® databases:
- Programming Overview and User Interface
  This section contains general guidelines and examples that show where to use Java, LotusScript, and the formula language.
- Formula Language
  This section documents the formula language.
- LotusScript® Language
  Welcome to the LotusScript® Language section of Domino® Designer Help.
- LotusScript/COM/OLE Classes
- Java/CORBA Classes
  This section documents the Java/CORBA classes.
- Connectors
  Connectors provide native access to a wide variety of DBMS products, ODBC, the platform File system, Enterprise Resource Planning systems, and Transaction Processing systems.
- Javadoc™ for Domino® Designer related APIs
  As part of providing additional Java™ reference documentation, Domino® Designer ships with a help plugin that contains Javadoc™ for additional Domino Designer related APIs.

Planning a traditional Notes® and Web application

If you are planning an application that users will access via a Notes® client or via a Web browser, you will need to do some design work to tailor your application for each platform. For example, a navigation structure that is suited for a Notes® client application may not be the best choice for a Web application. When you design an application for both Notes® and Web, about 85% of your design will be suitable for both clients, and the remaining 15% will require some modification. Here are some issues to consider when planning an application for Notes® and Web users:

Understanding the differences

The division of labor in a Notes® application -- what the Domino® server does and what the Notes® client does -- is very different from the architecture of a browser-based application. This is because the capabilities of a Notes® client are very different from a Web browser, and the protocols the browser and server use to communicate are very different as well.

Domino® uses Sun Microsystems Java™ and JavaScript™ to translate Notes® client functionality to the browser with fuller fidelity, so that Web users can interact with action bars, rich text, views, and other Notes® features in familiar ways. But there is no Web functionality equivalent to the Notes® Document Object Model (DOM) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol. A Notes® client can send instructions to the server to perform a task and receive back results that are refreshed within the current open form or document. This kind of interaction is nonexistent between a browser and server. All a browser can do is send a request to a server, and all a server can do is send a complete page to a browser.

Limitations of the Web browser and the browser/server architecture are the basis for most of the problems you must solve as you consider how to serve one application to Notes® client and Web browser users.