Lotuscript was the most obvious programming environment to use, but there's no native support for FTP in Lotuscript. Then it occurred to me: the FTP process that was used in the Rexx was an addin library, so maybe I could find an addin FTP library for Lotuscript and solve my problem. First stop: the Notes.Net sandbox (at http://www.notes.net), and a hit with NotesFTP. End of search.

That all got me thinking. This wasn't the first time I'd found a Lotuscript extension on Notes.Net, and it hasn't been the last. So the idea for this article was born, to tell DominoPower readers about the class libraries that I've found on Notes.Net and what I've done with them.

This article is not going to be a blow-by-blow programming account of using these libraries, rather it's more of an overview of them and what I've been able to do with them. You can find them easily on the Notes.Net Sandbox by entering a search for "class" and reviewing the results list. You should also be aware that most, if not all, only work on 32-bit Windows. All the libraries I've used from here have worked as described and, for the most part have been well documented, so they've been real easy to use. Thanks go to all the people who have spent time developing these libraries and providing them for use. Judging by comments left on Notes.Net, I'm not the only person who has found these useful.

Just before I look at some items in detail, I'd like to make a plea. These tools are provided by their authors on an as-is basis. They're most explicitly not supported on Notes.Net by their authors or by Notes.Net. You can use them free of charge, though often with the requirement that you recognize the author. This means that you should not, indeed must not, hassle these authors for support; they don't have time to do it, they aren't paid to do it, and hassling them will only mean that they stop providing these tools.

Here's what one author, Daniel Alvers, has to say about the topic. Listen to what Daniel says and please respect it.

I guess my only complaint, and something that has stopped me posting code anymore, are the number of people that write to me saying the code doesn't work in their environment and can I forward them code that does work. Even though I post disclaimers, people still don't seem to understand that any published code, not just mine, is done as a favor to others, to assist them in learning. I really don't know how people that release Freeware survive.