Search DominoPower's 10,675 Lotus-related article archive 
Home
EasyPrint
News details Click here for the RSS feed's XML code. This is not a browser URL.
Articles-only Click here for the RSS feed's XML code. This is not a browser URL.
Twitter Feed Click here for the Twitter feed.
HANDS-ON NOTES DEVELOPMENT
Using one template for three different uses
By Chris Brown a.k.a. GreenJellybean

Have you ever wanted to create one template that can support multiple renditions of itself? An example could be a customized Discussion Forum Template that can be used by more than one group. This article explains how to do just that.

Let's say that you're tasked to create a customized Discussion Template for the Quality Assurance Group, with some extra features and a common look and feel. Within the Quality Assurance Group, there are three subgroups: Software, Hardware, and Data Quality Assurance. Each subgroup wants a few fields customized for their particular group, but the overall design of each discussion database should be the same. Your first instinct may be to create a template for each group, so that they each get their customized fields -- but that means maintaining three templates that are basically the same. If you make a design change to one, then all three need to be updated! The design of these templates can quickly get out of sync. A better solution, given this scenario, would be to have one common template for this group.

Naming convention
The first step in this direction is to consider your audience and naming conventions. You know that you'll have to support three separate groups within QA, so you'll need to set up a naming convention so that the application will know which group this database is built for. Let's use "QA" for Quality Assurance and "Disc" for Discussion.

That should cover the topmost level. For each of the subgroups within QA, let's just use the first letter of the group: "S" for Software QA, "H" for Hardware QA, and "D" for Data QA. Given that, when you create new databases off of your customized discussion template, you'll need to follow this naming convention (you'll see why when we look at the code in the next section).

Table A shows how your databases should be named:

Group Database name
Software QA QADiscS.nsf
Hardware QA QADiscH.nsf
Data QA QADiscD.nsf

Let's look at the code
Now let's look at how to set up customized fields based upon the group name. Let's say that each group has its own main contact phone number that needs to be displayed by default on the forms. In the Contact_Phone_Number field, you'll have the following code:


1  ·  2  ·  Next »
Other articles you might like
Home > Lotus Technologies > Notes (78 articles)
   When the debugger won't debug hidden code that isn't hidden
   What to do if the LotusScript debugger won't single-step over code
   Troubleshooting an OpenSuse Notes install
Home > Lotus Technologies > LotusScript (64 articles)
   When the debugger won't debug hidden code that isn't hidden
   What to do if the LotusScript debugger won't single-step over code
   Little known traps about Lotus Notes fields
Home > Lotus Technologies > Application Development (47 articles)
   How hide-whens in Rich Text can ruin your whole day (and what to do about it)
   Little known traps about Lotus Notes fields
   Integrating a Notes Connector database with Google Enterprise Search
Get Weekly Email Updates
Subscribe to our regular weekly email newsletter. It's packed with tips, reviews, deep analysis, and the latest news.
 
Recent DominoPower Articles
What to look for in a Domino-based document management solution
Understanding Domino.doc end-of-life options
When the debugger won't debug hidden code that isn't hidden
What to do if the LotusScript debugger won't single-step over code
Top 10 ways to launch and build a Lotus consulting practice (with a little help from the Beatles)
Troubleshooting an OpenSuse Notes install
Incident report: denial of service attack against ConnectedPhotographer.com
Latest Lotus Headlines
SnTT - Enabling ALL the bells and whistles!
Tivoli Data protection causes Domino to crash
Fun when running DB2 CLP scripts
Introducing Flippr, the easy way to admin Quickr
DXL and fake security
Using search forms in IBM Workplace Collaborative Learning 2.7
Schmidt, Freed, and Gering on the OVF Toolkit
>> Read all the news
More from the ZATZ journals
Computing Unplugged: Eight steps to successful and reliable home backups
David Gewirtz Online: CNN commentary and analysis
OutlookPower: Can Outlook run when it's not running (and other mysteries)?
-- Advertisement --

AUTOMATE LOTUS NOTES USER ID MANAGEMENT
ID Manager 4.5 from HELP Software provides a new level of automaton for managing Lotus Notes IDs. ID Manager lets Lotus Notes administrators get out of the business of creating and managing user IDs. Use our ROI calculator to see how quickly ID Manager will pay for itself.

Learn more about HELP Software products
-- Advertisement --

Sophisticated Meets Simple For Document Management
Share. Control. Manage.
Documents, emails, and content in the context of how work is done. Native to Lotus Domino. The User Experience unseen for Lotus Domino. Do more with less. Really.

See the possibilities Docova unleashes for Lotus Domino.
ZATZ Home  ·  News  ·  Back Issues  ·  Credits/Trademarks ·  Link To Us