Code referenced in this article is also available from http://www.component-net.com/dp-extras/dp-200109.html.

Capturing folder/view names and information
In order for this process to work, it's necessary to have a complete list of folders and views along with many of their properties. That is the job of the GetFolders agent, which creates one document based on the (ViewInfo) form for each folder and view in the database.

Each (ViewInfo) document contains the following information:

• Name of the folder/view;
• Aliases (a multi-value field whose value is blank if there are no aliases);
• Is it a folder? ("Y" or "N");
• Is it a calendar-type view or folder? ("Y" or "N");
• Is it categorized? ("Y" or "N");
• Is it Hierarchical (i.e., does it show responses in a hierarchy)? ("Y" or "N");
• Is it private? ("Y" or "N");
• SpecialContent, the text that will go into the specific content area of the Web page (initially set as blank). This would be what goes into the area shown as item 2 of the sample figure above.

GetFolders, written in LotusScript, is scheduled to run once per day, but it may be manually triggered, if needed. Note that GetFolders will not capture any information about private or public views that are not available to the ID assigned to the agent (if scheduled) or to the ID of the person running the agent manually.

In order to reduce replication traffic, the GetFolders agent creates new (ViewInfo) documents only for new views and folders. Existing documents are modified as necessary, but only when there is a change in the view or folder it represents. GetFolders deletes the appropriate (ViewInfo) documents when the corresponding folders or views are deleted.

The code for GetFolders can be viewed at http://www.component-net.com/dp-extras/dp-200109.html.

Use of the GetFolders agent and the (ViewInfo) form are not limited to Yahoo-like navigation. Use them in a design whenever you need to collect information about the views and folders in a database.

Focusing in on the folders of interest
There will be more folders and views in the database than you will want to present to users. A hidden view called (FolderNavigation) allows you to select specific folders and views and to present them in the desired order--usually alphabetic. The selection formula for the (FolderNavigation) view limits it to documents created with the (ViewInfo) form. Additional criteria in the selection formula allow you to choose the folders and views that are meaningful. In the sample, the selection is limited to folders (i.e., no views) that are not private and for which the first character of the name is not "(". The complete selection formula is: