The R5 version of the server will also continue the recent trend of supporting more simultaneous users on a single server. How many more users? Internally, Lotus has tried to achieve a goal of doubling the server load. If you've only been able to host 300 or 400 users on an NT server in the past, that server could now reasonably be expected to support up to 750 users. This will allow organizations that deploy Domino to have fewer servers to manage.

The server itself continues to be a polyglot of protocols and information types. The server can now be administered from its own console, via a Web browser, from the Domino administrator and finally by the Microsoft Management Console or MMC (not bad when you consider that the MMC hasn't officially shipped yet). Platform support for the server remains undiminished with versions for Windows NT, OS/2, HP-UX, AS/400, S/390 and also announced at Lotusphere: LINUX!. Look for more articles on the improved Domino server here inDominoPower in the coming months.

Domino Designer
As impressive as all of the improvements to the client and server are, they pale in comparison to the level of changes that have been made to the Domino Designer, shown in Figure C.

FIGURE C


The new Domino Designer has many new features to make applications more powerful. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Now a separate executable, the Domino Designer is closing the gap when compared with traditional Web application development tools. In order to develop Notes applications that well in both the Notes client and in a traditional Web browser, there are many new design objects that are editable in the Domino designer.

In the next few sections, I'll discuss some of the most notable additions to the Domino Designer IDE.

Outlines
Outline are the skeleton of your application, each entry in an outline represents a key piece of the application. When the outline is embedded on a page or form, users can click on the outline entries to take them where you want them to go.

Framesets
A frameset is a collection of multiple frames. A frame is one section, or pane, of the larger frameset window and is independently scrollable. By using framesets, designers can create links and relationships between frames. Framesets provide the ability to leave one page displayed as users scroll or link to other pages or databases.

Pages
Pages are just that -- individual pages of a Web application or Notes database that structure and display information. Pages can contain HTML, static text, applets, images, or links.

Resources
Lotus/Iris has done much in the new designer to increase the re-usability of design elements -- chiefly through the use of resources. Now located in the resources of a database design are Script Libraries, subforms, shared fields, Actions (!!!), the database icon and the help documents for a database. The R5 version of the Domino Designer has two new types of resources: Images and Applets.

Images
Finally! A globally accessible storage mechanism available within the Notes and Domino design environments for graphical images. Once imported from the file system, images can be used in actions buttons, on forms, in pages or in navigators. Because they only exist in one location and are referenced from that location, images can be changed throughout an application by changing the Image resource. Imagine changing your company's logo in every application by just updating a single database and you can appreciate the importance of this new innovation.