Author Archive

Custom web forms – Part 3: User input form

In parts 1 and 2, we looked at exporting forms to DXL and then importing them back. In this short article,we will look at a simple form that will allow users to assemble their own web form.

Microsoft Expressions SuperView beta

Ok. So this post is totally out of line. Be sure that it wouldn’t found it’s space up here if it wasn’t for it’s all around usability. Microsoft Expressions SuperView help you see how your website would behave in different browsers. You can read Expressions SuperView blog for further details or download and try it […]

Banner animator v1.1

In order to display multiple banners in single spot (and to keep web site from becoming tacky), you will need some sort of client side script that will display first one banner, then the second one etc. This is called banner animator (or even ad animator). In this case, the functionality is written in JavaScript, […]

Custom web forms – Part 2: Importing Form from DXL

In the second part of Custom web forms series I will try to cover import of simple form to Notes database from DXL file. If you wonder how to export a form to DXL, please check Part 1: Exporting Form into DXL.

Custom web forms – Part 1: Exporting Form into DXL

The one thing that in my opinion always lacked in Lotus Notes was the ability for users without designer access (and much knowledge of HTML) to build their own custom forms. One might argue that it is not that big of a deal and that it would take an experienced developer approximately one hour to […]

Design patterns – Part 8: State pattern

State pattern is probably most used in review cycles. The definition says: State pattern allows an object to appear as it can change its class by altering its behaviour and state. What are you talking about? Well, imagine you are in need to build a bug tracking database.  Bug reports in basics have four states. […]

Rules of engagement

There are two rules I always respect and usually follow: If a code compiles and seems to work in first try, there is something terribly wrong with it. Never, ever, under no circumstances, move anything in production on Friday. I urge you not to break one of these rules, no matter how confident you feel […]

Custom user sidebars in web applications

When I was assigned to rebuild company’s web site for the second time in 7 or 8 years, I have decided that it is probably the time to implement some modularity to the database. First in line were sidebars. Why? Well, despite “awesome” notes rich text to HTML rendering, web content was always contained in […]

Calling Java classes from LotusScript

Have you ever wondered how you could call already written and quite useful Java classes in your LotusScript code? To me, this moment was, when I was trying to implement other department’s code into my own. Unfortunately I wasn’t skilled enough in ways of object development, LS2J  and googling back then to actually figure out […]

Design patterns – Part 7: Template method pattern

In this article, I would like to present you a design pattern that is not so common, but for sure, I wish, that in the past I would have used it. It would certainly make my life much easier. So, what is this Template method pattern all about? The Template Method Pattern defines the skeleton […]