Ilug 2008 - Lotus Symphony and You - How to stop giving Microsoft your money

Lotus Symphony and You How to stop giving Microsoft your money!

Before we begin …
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50 Minutes of John talking about …
Lotus Symphony
The Executive Perspective
The User Perspective
The Developer Perspective

Who is John
Director of Enterprise Collaboration at PSC Group, LLC
Working with Lotus technology since 1993
Speaker at Lotusphere, Lotus Developer, and ILUG
Specializing in Integration of Lotus Notes & Domino with Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, & Lotus Symphony

PSC Group, LLC
IBM Premium Business Partner for 18+ Years
Microsoft Gold Partner
Notes 8 and 8.5 Design Partner
Host of IdeaJam.net
Former Host of OpenNTF.org
Winner of 2007 Lotus Award!
Host of the following blogs:
Ed Brill’s (www.edbrill.com)‏
Alan Lepofsky’s Notes Tip’s (www.alanlepofsky.net)‏
Alan Gartenberg – DB2 (www.adamgartenberg.com)‏
Jeff Eisen – Hannover (www.jeffeisen.com)‏
Domino Server Team (www.dominoblog.com)‏
Lotus Connections Team
(synch.rono.us)
Lotus Sametime Team
(www.thesametimeblog.com)
IBM Mashup Team
(www.mix-and-mash.com)
Chris Pepin (www.chrispepin.com)

Let’s take a poll
Who is using …
Office 97 and earlier
Office 2000
Office XP
Office 2003
Office 2007
OpenOffice / StarOffice
Lotus Symphony
Other

OpenOffice.org — The History
StarDivision StarOffice written in the mid 80s
Bought by Sun Microsystems in 1999, StarOffice released in August 1999
Source code released October 2000
OpenOffice.org 1.0 released May 2002, 2.0 in October 2005
OpenDocument format becomes international standard ISO/IEC 26300 November 2006
IBM Lotus Workplace Productivity Editors released 2005
Based on OpenOffice.org 1.1
OpenOffice.org 2.2 released March 2007
Notes 8 to include IBM Productivity Tools, based on OpenOffice.org 1.1X
Lotus Symphony Beta 1 released in October 2007
Lotus Symphony 1.0 May 2008

What is OpenOffice.org?
Free office suite
Description from their Web site
“ OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute. To help build the community, join us.”
Their mission statement
“ To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format.”

What is OpenOffice.org? (cont.)
Getting past the marketing message
OpenOffice.org is an alternative to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and it is free
Provides the following applications:
Writer — document editor
Impress — presentation program
Math — math function creator
Draw — vector drawing tool
Calc — spreadsheet
Base — database

Why Should I Care About OpenOffice.org?
Only office suite that supports Open Document Format (ODF) 100%
A free alternative to Microsoft Office
Runs on three platforms
Windows
Mac
Linux
Saves to PDF natively
OpenOffice.org is the basis of the IBM Productivity Tools included with IBM Lotus Notes 8

The Notes 8 Productivity Editors
How do they relate to OpenOffice.org?
They are based on OpenOffice.org 1.1
IBM has made changes since the code branch
Do they support ODF?
Yes, as well as Microsoft Office 97 through 2003
Do they have an API?
Yes, an HTML-like document API
Supported in Eclipse.org development and composite applications
What about LotusScript?
No support for LotusScript or OLE/COM in 8.0.0
8.0.1 adds basic OLE/COM support

What is Lotus Symphony?
IBM branded the Notes 8 Productivity Tools as Lotus Symphony
Stand-alone Release
Beta 1 was released in Oct 07
IBM is on a 8 week release cycle with Symphony
Notes 8.0.1 has Symphony Beta 4
Notes 8.5 Beta 1 has Symphony 1.0

Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective
For the past 10 years, Office has been the monopoly
Users are changing the way they work
Speed and mobility vs feautures
Lightweight applications
On-line editing
Mobile editing

Microsoft Office is cheap!
This is the #1 misconception in our industry
Microsoft is more expensive than Lotus …
“ Prove It”
OK …

The Microsoft Desktop vs. Lotus Collaboration Suite Cost Note: All MS prices are approximate Open Price License prices in US$ Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

But that isn’t the real cost
In 2007, Microsoft broke the Core CALS for many of the servers
Standard and Enterprise
Many features now require an Enterprise CAL

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

Microsoft Sharepoint Server 2007 Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

The Microsoft Desktop vs. Lotus Collaboration Suite with Enterprise CALS Note: All MS prices are approximate Open Price License prices in US$ Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

Do you want Support?
Now we have to add Software Assurance
Upgrade Assurance
Did you buy Windows SA in 2003?
You didn’t get Windows Vista until 2006/07
You wasted money!

The Microsoft Desktop vs. Lotus Collaboration Suite with Enterprise CALS and SA Note: All MS prices are approximate Open Price License prices in US$ Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

But wait … we have the OS
You get your Operating System with your machines
Windows OEM
Linux
Mac OS
Your numbers are bloated!
Ok … let’s fix that

The Microsoft Desktop vs. Lotus Collaboration Suite Cost with Enterprise CALS and SA Note: All MS prices are approximate Open Price License prices in US$ Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

What are you really paying?
These are all Open Licensing or SRP pricing
You won’t pay those prices
Even with license agreement savings, you will pay 50% to 70% more for Microsoft

So what am I paying for? Lotus Symphony – The Executive Perspective

What about support?
Support Option 1
Symphony Embedded Version
Passport Advantage support
Included with purchase of other products
Notes 8
Foundations
No additional charge
Support Option 2
Standalone Symphony Free Support
Web based moderated forum support
Forums monitored by IBM and the community
Hints and Tips
Developer support forum
Support Option 3
Symphony Standalone Fee Based Support Offering
Passport Advantage support – Passport Advantage or Express Contract required
$25,000 for up to 20,000 users – Limited to 20 technical contacts
Worldwide 24x7 Unlimited Incidents

Resources Project Liberate
SW License Optimization Can:
Understand how to demonstrate the alternatives to Microsoft EA bundle so your customers could reduce their budget and be able to invest in mission critical projects.
Explain Microsoft interdependencies strategy and how customers can be tied without being able to negotiate.
Show customers the Real Cost of Microsoft’s collaboration strategy based on lessons learned from hundreds of customers engagements.
[email_address]
www.ibm.com/software/info/liberate
Executive Briefings
2 Day on-site briefings
Covers the Lotus Symphony story for
Executives
Administrators
Developers
Includes a Microsoft Office assessment and strategy white paper
Contact [email_address] for more info

Lotus Symphony – The User Perspective
Why would a user want to use something other than Office?
Why are they using Google Docs?

Identifying Users
Casual- Task Users
Common uses of documents, spreadsheets & presentations
Mostly viewing and light editing
Filling out templates (status reports, etc.)
Use out of box with little to no customization
Example: Customer service, and other supporting functions
Start now!

Identifying Users
Medium – Power Users
More robust needs for documents, spreadsheets & presentations
Stronger interoperability requirements as need to collaborate with Office users
Example: Sales, marketing,
Move over time

Identifying Users
Power & Macro Users
Heavy Excel users
Third-party application integration
Heavy reliance on macros
Example: Finance department
Not a target in 2008

Lotus Symphony Features
Three applications
Lotus Symphony Documents
Lotus Symphony Presentations
Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets
Robust and complete feature set
Designed for the majority of end users
Intuitive interface, easy to learn
Multiple file formats supported

Lotus Symphony File Formats
Additional supported formats
Export documents, spreadsheets and presentations to Adobe PDF
Import Lotus SmartSuite documents, spreadsheets, and presentations

Lotus Symphony Documents
Create, edit, & share complex word processing documents
Robust feature set including:
Formatting options for text, page, paragraph
Headers, footers, footnotes, indexes, table of contents
Drawing tools
Pre-defined document styles
Pre-defined fields (i.e., dates, page numbering)

Lotus Symphony Presentations
Create, edit, and share complex presentations
Robust feature set including:
Pre-defined presentation templates
Slide show mode with animations and page transitions
Speaker presentation timing and rehearsal modes
Speaker notes
Flexible navigation views – page by page, text outline, page thumbnail, and speaker note views

Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets
Create, edit, and share complex spreadsheets
Robust feature set includes:
Supports conventional row and column format for spreadsheets
Spreadsheet sizes up to 256 columns and 65,536 rows
Supports up to 256 sheets per spreadsheet
Large library of pre-defined calculation functions

Lotus Symphony Deployment
Included with Lotus Notes
8.0.0 = Productivity Editors
8.0.1 = Lotus Symphony Beta 4
8.0.2 = Lotus Symphony 1.0
8.5 Beta 1
8.5.0 = Lotus Symphony 1.1
Included with Lotus Foundations
Stand-alone

Can we update the embedded tools ourselves?
NO
Not Yet
Grrrrrrrr
Coming soon?

Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective
Symphony has multiple methods for customization
UNO API
Symphony Plug-ins
Composite Applications

Introduction to OpenOffice.org Development
Designed on an interface-based component model called Universal Network Objects (UNO)
UNO definition
UNO offers interoperability between different programming languages, different object models, different machine architectures, and different processes; either in a local network or even via the Internet
UNO components can be implemented in, and accessed from, any programming language for which a UNO language binding exists

Does this work with Lotus Symphony
All of the demos will be done using Lotus Symphony
You will need Notes 8.0.1 or higher
IBM has exposed the Lotus Symphony objects to the registry to allow COM to work
If you want run the demos in 8.0.0, they will invoke OpenOffice.org
There is a way to hack 8.0.0 to work, but it is not supported

What is the ServiceManager?
ServiceManager is similar to the NotesSession class
It is a factory class that gets you to other places
Set SM=CreateObject("com.sun.star.ServiceManager")
Think of the ServiceManager as a back-end class, and we want the front end (like NotesUIWorkspace)
Set Desktop=SM.createInstance("com.sun.star.frame.Desktop")

What Did That Do?
Calling the ServiceManager created an OpenOffice.org window, but we need to do more …

Let’s Start Writer — Word Processing Application
So far we have an OpenOffice.Org window, but it doesn’t know what application it will be — we have to tell it
Dim args()
Set WriterApplication=Desktop.loadComponentFromURL ("private:factory/swriter","_blank",0,args)
Args is a variant array
We don’t want to pass any parameters, but it must be an array
The “s” in “swriter” stands for “Star”
Now we have a word processor up and running

The Picture So Far
Now we have an application open
Time to do something!

Let’s Add Some Text
First, we need to get a handle to the text part of the document
Set WriterText=WriterApplication.getText()
Next, we need a cursor position where we can insert the text
Set Cursor=WriterText.createTextCursor()
Finally, we can make the traditional greeting
Call WriterText.insertString(Cursor,"Hello World!",False)

Hello World!
After executing all of that code, this is the result
Now let’s try it for real

Notes to Writer/Lotus Symphony Documents Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective Demo — Example 1 “ Hello World” from Notes to Writer/ Lotus Symphony Documents

Let’s Start Calc — Spreadsheet Application
Calc uses a different URL to define the application
Set CalcApplication = Desktop.loadComponentFromURL_("private:factory/scalc","_blank",0,args)
The command above creates the workbook
Next, we need to get the first sheet
Set Worksheet=CalcApplication.Sheets.getByName("Sheet1")

Let’s Start Calc — Spreadsheet Application (cont.)
Finally, we access the cell into which we want to enter text
Set cell=Worksheet.getCellByPosition(3,6)
We have set the string in a cell, but which cell is it?

Calc/Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets “Hello World” Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective Demo — Example 2 “ Hello World” with Notes and Calc/ Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets Where will the text go?

Notes with Calc — D7!
Why did the text go into cell D7?
Didn’t we write to cell (3,6)?

Rows and Columns Are Numbered from Zero
Just like arrays in Notes, the index starts at 0!

Introduction to Impress
Impress and Draw are almost the same application
Pages contain shapes
Shapes can contain text
Text is handled just as it is in Writer

Let’s Start Impress — Presentation Application
To create the instance of Impress, call its URL
Set ImpressApplication=Desktop.loadComponentFromURL_ ("private:factory/simpress","_blank",0,args)
Next, call the getDrawPages function to create the default presentation
Set Presentation=ImpressApplication.getDrawPages()
To get the first slide, use the getByIndex method
Set Slide=Presentation.getByIndex(0)

Let’s Start Impress — Presentation Application (cont.)
Each layout type has its own number
To create a title page, enter the following:
Slide.layout=1
Finally, we need to get the title and handle it like it’s a Writer text object
Set title=Slide.getbyindex(0)
Set TitleText=title.getText()
Set Cursor=TitleText.createTextCursor()
Call TitleText.insertString(Cursor,"Hello World!",False)

Impress and Notes — The Result Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective

Impress/Lotus Symphony Presentations “Hello World” Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective Demo — Example 3 “ Hello World” with Notes and Impress/ Lotus Symphony Presentations

Using OpenOffice.org/Lotus Symphony Within Your Applications
Add value by:
Writer — printing
Calc — number crunching and charting
Impress — presentations
One of the great value adds you get is PDF generation
Instead of “exporting” to ODF, you select PDF

Exporting to PDF
Creating a PDF from any OpenOffice.org application is very easy
args1.Name = "URL"
args1.Value = "file:///"+strOutputFN
args2.Name = "FilterName"
args2.Value = "writer_pdf_Export"
Set argsFinal(0)=args1
Set argsFinal(1)=args2
Kill strKillFN
Call objDocument.storeToURL("file:///"+strOutputFN,argsFinal)
A PDF of the same name as the file will be saved

OpenOffice.org Integration in a Real-World Application Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective Demo — Example 4 An invoicing application that uses OpenOffice.org

Using the Lotus Symphony Toolkit
Documentation and samples for integrating the Lotus Symphony with Notes 8 Standard
Lotus Symphony Developers API 8.0 Windows.exe
Download this from Lotus Symphony website
Targeted at people who know:
Java
HTML internals
ODF
Most of the time you will use this from a Composite Application (CA)

Productivity Tools Architecture Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective

Lotus Symphony Toolkit
Developer Guide
Overview, development environment setup, development process, API introduction, Sample code
How to customize Symphony and make use of UNO API
Samples
Customize Symphony menu, toolbar, side shelf
API usage (Java, UNO)
API reference
Javadoc

Lotus Symphony with Eclipse.org Plug-ins
Enable deploying Eclipse plug-ins to Symphony
API for accessing Symphony controls and document content
Enable UI extensions
Menu (add-ins)
Toolbar (set of buttons)
Stack in side shelf
Another window
Examples
AutoRecognizer
Translator
Backend integration
Customized editor

Possible Future for Developers
Content model for easy control and content manipulation
As editor component in Expeditor solutions
Composite application on Symphony
Need stand alone composite application editor
Interoperability with OpenOffice.org programmability
OpenOffice.org 2.x
UNO API and StarBasic
Interoperability with MS Office programmability
VBA interpreter
Enable plug-ins for Symphony in Notes
Symphony in a browser
DOM model for accessing content via JavaScript

Third-Party Application Support
Product vs. Custom Development
Both have their place
Integra for Notes Symphony Edition
Supports Lotus Symphony and the Notes Productivity Editors
Requires 8.0.1
Lotus Spreadsheets support today
www.integra4notes.com Lotus Symphony – The Developer Perspective

Lotus Symphony Programmability Summary Expeditor/Portal Eclipse, Java, Expeditor Notes/Java Skills needed for developers Service Symphony Web Site Service Support Expeditor Toolkit Symphony Toolkit Toolkit for Productivity Tools Domino Desinger Development Tools Editors/DB2e/Encryption... Editors, Web Browser Editors/Mail/Calendar/... Local services Lotus Expeditor Server Websphere Portal No Domino Server Support/Managed No No Yes Lotuscript Support Yes (via Portal) Yes Yes (in nsf) Composite Application Yes Yes Yes Eclipse Plug-in Symphony in Expeditor (future) Symphony 1.0 Symphony in Notes 8.0(.1)

Lotus Symphony Roadmap 2008
Expanded OS platform support
Ubuntu Linux
Mac OS X (beta)
New functions
Mail/Merge
Support for Office 2007 file format (read only)
Improved pivot table capabilities
Macro enablement
Continued Focus Items
Usability
Developer 3rd party application support
Performance
2009
GA Mac OS X support
Full Office 2007 file format support
New plug-ins
Lotus Connections
More enhancements
Major enhancements to Data Pilots (Pivot Charts)
Lots of changes for developers
More details at Lotusphere 2009

Wrap Up
Lotus Symphony will continue to mature
Notes 8.0.2 will have an updated version
Notes 8.5 will have an updated version
Will we be able to upgrade Symphony in Notes ourselves?
We have multiple options
Office, Symphony, OpenOffice.org, etc.
The battle is just begun
ODF vs. Office XML (OOXML)
Competition will be good for us … if we can deal with all the changes

Questions? John Head [email_address] www.johndavidhead.com Twitter: johnhead

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Ilug 2008 - Lotus Symphony and You - How to stop giving Microsoft your money

by John Head on Jun 06, 2008

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Ilug 2008 - Lotus Symphony and You - How to stop giving Microsoft your money — Presentation Transcript