Design synopsis

About this task

The Design Synopsis dialog box lets you generate a detailed report on a particular database. The report lets you:

  • Gather information on a database
  • Select the design elements you want in your report
  • Filter the contents of the report so that you do not automatically get a lengthy report
  • Display the report on the screen or have it written to a specified database

To create a design synopsis

Procedure

  1. Open the database for which you want a report.
  2. Choose File - Application - Design Synopsis or select Synopsis in the Applications Navigator. The Design Synopsis dialog box.

  3. Click the Design Elements tab and do the following:
    • Select design elements one at a time from the list. If you want every element of every design to appear, select All from the list.
    • Choose the specific elements that appear for each of the design elements. For example, if you selected Forms in the list, all the forms in the database are listed. Select the ones you want in your report. For example, if you have created a hide-when formula on a page and want to see the hide-when formula in the design synopsis, select that page in the list.
    • The Add button lets you add specific elements one at a time to your report. The "Add All" button adds all the elements of a particular design element (for example, all the forms). If you want to add every element of every design element, choose All from the design list and then click "Add All."
  4. Click the Database Information tab. Then, check the appropriate boxes to include information in your report on the following topics:
    • General information -- gives information such as the database title, location, and categories.
    • Space usage -- calculates information such as the file size, number of documents, and space used by the database.
    • Replication -- gives information on the replication settings for the database.
    • Access list -- generates a list of users, groups, and servers in the ACL and specifies assigned access levels and access roles for each.
  5. Click the Content tab. Then do the following:
    • Check the details you want on each design element. For example, for Forms, you can check Alias and "Last Modification." Those details appear for each selected form in the database.
    • Check the appropriate boxes so that your report includes information on subcomponents (such as formulas), LotusScript® code, Java™ code, HTML code, or JavaScript™ code.

    To generate customized reports, use the DXL Transformer utility. It applies XSL stylesheets to the DXL representation of one or more design elements.This means that raw XML-based datawhich describes a form can be converted into a rich HTML document, allowing full control over content and format.

  6. Click the Output tab. Then do the following:
    • Choose blank lines or page breaks as report separators.
    • Check the Write Output to Database box if you want to write the report to a database. If you check this box, a new dialog box appears letting you specify the database where you want the output written.
  7. Click OK to generate the report.

Results

Unless you chose to have the report written to a database, the generated report is displayed in a new window. You can print it or save it in a file.

Note: If the design synopsis is long, you may get the error "Too many paragraphs" and the synopsis will not display. In that case, break the synopsis into multiple pieces. For example, select all the agents and script libraries for one synopsis, and everything else for a second synopsis. Alternatively, consider using the DXL Transformer utility mentioned previously, which has no limit on the size of its output. There is also a known limitation on the maximum size of a LotusScript® module that can be displayed. The DXL Transformer does not have this limitation.