Lotus also previewed new Web RAD (Rapid Application Development) features designed to help developers build collaborative applications for the J2EE architecture without additional Java programming.

The new development tools will include:

• Custom JSP (Java Server Pages) tags: use Domino 6 custom JSP tags to access existing Domino data in WebSphere Studio;

• Reuseable forms, views, and agents: view existing Lotus Notes databases deployed on the Domino server and reuse their forms, views, and agents in new J2EE applications;

• Eclipse Open Source platform: built on the Eclipse open source platform and shares a common look and feel of other WebSphere toolkits;

• Web RAD features: IBM has leveraged its industry expertise to build standards-based features that enable Web developers and non-Java programmers to more quickly develop and deploy J2EE Web applications.

The Lotus Domino Toolkit for WebSphere Studio will be included free in a future version of Domino Designer 6. A beta version of the toolkit is available for download at http://www.lotus.com/ldd/beta. The final code is scheduled to be available with Lotus Domino Designer in Q2 2003. Pricing and availability for the new Web RAD features will be announced later.

New capabilities in WebSphere Portal
IBM has added new capabilities to its WebSphere Portal software (at http://www.ibm.com/websphere), designed to enable you to more easily find, communicate, and work with colleagues. The capabilities use IBM Lotus software to extend WebSphere Portal's existing collaborative functions. You can interact with things like multiple collaboration applications, corporate white pages, organizational charts, instant messages, team workplaces, and virtual meetings.

IBM is calling these pre-configured capabilities "Collaboration Center." The idea is that they will help companies support their global workforce by allowing employees to integrate assets across offices, regions, and lines of businesses. One benefit IBM mentioned is that you'll be able to dynamically search for and find colleagues in an organizational directory from anywhere in the portal and instantly make contact.

The Collaboration Center capabilities will be fully integrated in WebSphere Portal Extend and WebSphere Portal Experience, and they will include the following new portlets:

• People Finder: an online corporate white pages and organizational navigation tool designed to enable you to view fellow employees' contact information and title within the context of an organization's structure;

• My Lotus Team Workplaces (QuickPlace): create, search, and manage multiple Team Workplaces that a user belongs to in a single view;

• Lotus Web Conferencing (Sametime): allows you to create, view, and participate in online meetings with which you're associated.

The Collaboration Center lets the individual portlets share information, and it provides a sample user interface that pre-configures each portlet and page. All three portlets feature built-in Lotus Instant Messaging (Sametime) capabilities, so you can click on a name to determine whether the employee you're trying to locate is online and potentially ready to collaborate.