Creating a database from a template

Domino® Designer comes with a collection of templates that you can use to create applications. You can recognize these templates by their NTF extensions. A template is a file that contains the structure for the database -- that is, pages, forms, and views -- but does not contain documents. For example, to design a discussion database, use the Discussion template (Discussion8.NTF), which contains forms that track discussion threads in a hierarchy, as well as views that display the entries by date, author, or category. Designer templates have NTF as their file extension.

See Domino® Designer Templates for a list of common Designer templates.

See the composite application toolkit documentation for more information on using the composite application templates supplied in the toolkit.

Customizing a template

The templates that ship with Designer are master templates by default. This means that changes made to a master template are passed along to all databases created from that template. Inheriting design changes from a master template can be initiated by the end user or by the Domino® server, which runs a nightly Designer task. You can disable this feature by deselecting "Inherit design from master template" on the Design tab of the Database Properties box.

To create a new database from a template

After creating a database from a template, you may want to make changes to the database. Keep in mind that if you have selected "Inherit design from master template," changes you make to a database can be overwritten nightly by the Domino® server Designer task or by refreshing the design of the database. If you plan to make design changes to the database and want to avoid the possibility of writing over design changes, deselect the database property "Inherit design from template".

  1. Choose File - Application - New. In the Server field do one of the following:
    • Keep Local selected to store the new database on your hard disk.
    • Select or enter a server name to store the new database on a server. This allows multiple people to work on the database design.
  2. In the Title field, enter a title for the new database, using a maximum of 96 characters.
    Note: As you type, Designer adds the title to the File Name field. You can accept this database file name or change it, as follows:
    • File names can be any number of characters long (within the limits of your operating system).
    • File names must end with the NSF file extension.
    • If you plan to use the database you are creating as a template, use the NTF file extension instead of NSF.
  3. Select a template from the list. To display additional templates, click "Show advanced templates" and select a template from the list.
  4. (Optional) Click Encryption. Select "Locally encrypt this database using," select an encryption type, and then click OK.
  5. (Optional) Click Advanced and select the options that you want applied to your database.
  6. Click OK.
  7. (Optional) Choose File - Application - Properties, click the Design tab and deselect "Inherit design from master template." This prevents the new database from inheriting design changes from the master template whose design the database is based on.