JMP201 Introduction to IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino Integration with Desktop Applications

JMP201: Introduction to IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino Integration with Desktop Applications

John D. Head

Alex Kassabov

Otherwise known as the … “Kum-bah-ya” session

Before we begin

Please turn off/set to vibrate/mute all Cell Phones Pagers Computers Please remember to fill out your evaluations

Agenda

Who we are?

Integration Background

Integration from the Notes client

Integration from other applications

Integration from a web browser

Reporting Options

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

We are sharing 22 samples and 3 free take-homes … in 120 minutes … get ready!

Who are we?

John D. Head

Framework Manager at PSC Group, LLC

Involved in Lotus technology since 1993

Speaker

Over 25 sessions at Lotusphere since 1996

Speaker at View & Advisor conferences

Author

Advisor Magazine and other publications on Office and SmartSuite integration with Notes

LotusUserGroup.org contributing Author and Forum moderator

www.johndavidhead.com

Who are we?

Alex Kassabov

Delivery Manager at PSC Group, LLC

Involved in Lotus technology since 1995

Notes R3 – got dragged there kicking and screaming

Speaker

Lotusphere sessions on Desktop Integration

Collaboration Summit

PSC Group, LLC

IBM Premium Business Partner for 17+ Years

Microsoft Gold Partner

Notes 8 and NMFR 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 - Sametime (www.adamgartenberg.com)‏

Jeff Eisen – Hannover (www.jeffeisen.com)‏

Domino Server Team (www.dominoblog.com)‏

Lotus Connections Team

(synch.rono.us)

Chris Pepin – IBM CTO’s Office (www.chrispepin.com)

The Demo Databases

Presentation example database

Single database with all examples

You can configure it for your Notes client

Example numbers in the presentation match those in the database

Lotusphere 2008 session database

From Genii Software

Updated version inside the demo database

Personal name and address book

My demos work with the standard Notes 6, 7, and 8 templates

Let’s take a little poll …

Who is using …

Office 97 and earlier

Office 2000

Office XP

Office 2003

Office 2007

OpenOffice / StarOffice

Lotus Symphony

Other

Agenda

Who we are?

Reporting Options

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

Integration History

1994

DDE with Ami Pro

1996

Notes R4

OLE

LotusScript

VBA

1997

SmartSuite with LotusScript (Word Pro)

1998

Notes R5 with COM support

2001

Notes Domino 6

2004

Notes Domino 6.5 with LS2J and DXL

2005

Notes Domino 7 with Web services

2007

2007 Office System

Lotus Notes/Domino 8

Lotus Symphony

2008

Visual Studio 2008

Notes/Domino NMFR

The Good News

We entered the “Industrial Revolution” period of the Integration Era

In the “Medieval Times”

DDE with Ami Pro

NotesSQL was used to get even the most basic of data

OLE embedding

Notes F/X

The Good News (continued)

The Renaissance brought us new tools

OLE automation

COM automation

And much more

The Revolution brings us major changes

A true competitor to Office

Visual Studio.NET 2008 and VSTO 3.0

Code begins to move from inside a document to complete applications

Definitions for Notes Programmers

Let’s go over a few words you need to know

COM

OLE

What is COM?

Component Object Model

Microsoft standard

Defines the guidelines for objects

Objects must tell all other programs what is supported

Properties

Methods

Objects

Consistent, programmatic access to functionality

What is OLE?

Object Linking and Embedding

Another Microsoft standard

Allows one application document to include a portion of another application

A Word document with an Excel spreadsheet inside

OLE/1 — attachments

OLE/2 — linking or embedding

OLE/1 — File Attachments

Advantages:

Functionality clearly divided between applications

No memory issues

Much smaller size footprint

Enables template usage

OLE/1 — File Attachments (cont)

Disadvantages:

Requires more planning

More effort for basic functionality

Attachment does not know about the Notes object

Must manually connect and update

Notes 6 added the ability to round-trip edit attachments

OLE/2 — Linking and Embedding

Advantages:

Integrated — single interface when using embedded objects (when used in-line)

Document containing objects is “aware” of the embedded object

Less work to get object open for the user

OLE/2 — Linking and Embedding (cont.)

Disadvantages:

OLE embedded objects are:

Much bigger … 10 to 15 times

Difficult for users when the object is more than one page

OLE embedding was not reliable before Office XP with Windows XP

File menu of container application is never updated

#1 issue … no clean way to export data from embedded objects

“ Locked” data is bad

Agenda

Who we are?

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

Integration from the Notes Client

Integrating Microsoft Word

Integrating Lotus Symphony Documents

Working With Attachments

Mail Merge

Integrating Microsoft Excel

Integrating Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets

Integrating Microsoft PowerPoint

Integrating Lotus Symphony Presentations

Integrating Microsoft Project

Integration from Notes

From Notes, you will write code to manipulate the application

In most cases, you will be converting Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code to LotusScript

The VBA code will be written so it saves in Notes as LotusScript

Once you get the knack of converting the code, you can focus on the process vs. the code

Creating a Word Document — “Hello World” Demo — Example 1 Launch Microsoft Word and enter some text

Creating a Word Document

Create an instance of the application object

All applications that support COM have object names

To find the object name:

Review the application documentation

Look it up in the Windows registry

Never use version-specific application object names

Good: Word.application

Bad: Word.application.11

When the application upgrades, you must modify your code

Variant Application Object Name LotusScript Method Set hwd = CreateObject("Word.Application")

Creating a Word Document (cont.)

You must follow the application’s object model:

Word.application

Documents

Document

Paragraph

Bookmark

CustomDocumentProperties

If accessing the current open document, use:

Application.ActiveDocument

Application.ActiveWorkbook

Application.ActivePresentation

etc.

All applications have an object map in help

The Easiest Way to Start

Microsoft Office provides us with a recorder

Records all keyboard actions

Mouse actions are sometimes recorded, so avoid when possible

Generates VBA code for you

Easy way to learn how something is done

Table is created

Page settings are set

etc.

Recording Actions in Microsoft Word Demo — Example 2 Use the Microsoft Word macro recorder to write VBA for us

What’s up with the Recorded Syntax?

This is the recorded syntax:

Saving LotusScript with wdToggle and wdAlignParagraphCenter fails!

Need to replace VBA constants with raw values

Write a macro

Msgbox [constantname]

Or …

Selection.TypeText Text:="this is new text" Selection.TypeParagraph Selection.TypeParagraph Selection.Font.Bold = wdToggle Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter Selection.TypeText Text:="this is more text"

Use the Microsoft Constants Database

Provides a listing of all Microsoft Office variables and their converted constants

Extraction of constants by John Collidge

Database built by Tom Duff

Now an OpenNTF.org project

Supports Microsoft Office 2000, XP, 2003, and 2007

More features planned!

Domino COM Basics

Working with the Domino Objects is almost the same as writing code in Notes!

Only supports back-end objects

No NotesUIDocument, NotesUIView, NotesUIWorkspace, etc.

COM support was added in Notes 5.0.2b

Updated in 6.5.1 to support 6.X

ND7 COM support out of the box

COM interface is the same as LotusScript, with some minor exceptions

Registering the Notes COM Objects

Sometimes Notes does not register itself properly with the Windows registry

From the Windows run line:

Regsvr32 “c:program fileslotus otes lsxbe.dll”

From a Notes agent:

Shell(|regsvr32 “c:program fileslotus otes lsxbe.dll”|)

Domino COM Basics

Before you start writing VBA code, you must load the Domino COM objects

In MS Office  Tools  References

Domino COM Basics (cont.)

The COM objects must be able to find the Notes.ini

Looks in:

Notes program directory

Path

KeyFileName in Notes.ini is used to determine what ID to use for authentication

Multiple installed versions of Notes are a problem

Uses the last installed version

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.nsfShellOpenCommand

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT otes.exeShellOpenCommand

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARELotusNotes

Make Your End Users Happy!

Prevent password prompts by …

Notes 5.X Notes 6 and 7

Domino COM Basics

Must use “NotesSession.Initialize("" ) ” to establish connection between application and Notes

Can not use extended syntax (i.e., dot notation) to reference items in a document

NO

NotesDocument.Form(0)

YES

NotesDocument.GetItemValue(“Form”)(0)

Can not use “New” to create Domino objects

Exception is NotesSession

NO

Dim db as New NotesDatabase(server, dbpath)

YES

Dim db as NotesDatabase

Set db = NotesSession.GetDatabase(server, path)

No such thing as a “current” environment or object

No CurrentDatabase, DocumentContext, etc.

If a property returns an array of objects, you must assign the property to a variable first

NO

Dim view as NotesView

Set view = NotesDatabase.Views(0)

YES

Dim views as Variant, view as NotesView

views = NotesDatabase.Views

Set view = views(0)

VB doesn’t use Forall…EndAll

Uses For Each…Next, instead

VB doesn’t support Today keyword

VB doesn’t support using pipes ( | ) and braces ( {} ) for string delimiting

Refer to ND Designer Help for more information

Word Template — Data from Notes Demo — Example 3 Create a new document Prompt user Place data into document

Managing the Template

How did I get that template in my new dialog?

Template installation tool

Each template is a document

Supports all Office 2000 through 2007 applications

Can also be used as a programmatic template tool

Located on OpenNTF.org and on the conference CD

Attachments

How the user interacts directly with the attachment may be the make or break part of your application

Store the attachment in a rich text field

Programmatically detach and save the attachment

Prevents user error

Take advantage of the ND6 and ND7 in place editing functionality

Working with the Attachment

This code is used to detach an attachment

Set attachmentfield = document.getfirstitem(fieldname)

If attachmentfield.embeddedobjects(0) Is Nothing Then

Msgbox “No embedded objects were found on the document”, 16, “Attachment Demo”

Exit Function

End If

If attachmentfield.EmbeddedObjects(0).Type <> EMBED_ATTACHMENT Then

Msgbox “No attachments were found on the document”, 16, “Attachment Demo”

Exit Function

End If

Forall o In attachmentfield.EmbeddedObjects

filename = o.source

End Forall

Set Object = document.GetAttachment(filename)

Call Object.ExtractFile (filepath + filename)

Get the rich text field Extract the attachment Get the object based on the filename Get the filename of the attachment in the field Check for an attachment Check for an object

Saving the Attachment

Once the code is complete, save the attachment back to the Notes document

This will prevent user mistakes

Dim newrichtextfield As notesrichtextitem Dim newobject As notesembeddedobject newdoc.removeitem ("Attachment") Set newrichtextfield = newdoc.CreateRichTextItem("Attachment") Set newobject = newrichtextfield.EmbedObject(EMBED_ATTACHMENT, "", filepath + filename)

Attachment Demo Demo — Example 4 User form that works with attachments

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

OpenOffice.org? StarOffice? Lotus Symphony?

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, Beta 2 in December 2007

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 the code we walked through, this is the result

Now let’s try it for real

Notes to Writer Demo — Example 5 “ Hello World” from Notes to Writer

Merging Mail from Notes

Most requested Notes-to-Office Integration functionality

Users have no idea how to get data from Notes into Word

Lotus has not provided this functionality … yet

Quick win for you — take this code back and add it to your boss’s personal name and address book and be the HERO!

Mail Merge in Different Versions of Word

Mail merge is version-specific

One version for Word 2000 and before

One version for Word XP

One version for Word 2003

Minor change on closing documents in 2003

New version for Word 2007

Use the Mail Merge Wizard to Your Advantage

The Mail Merge Wizard has six steps

1. Select document type

2. Select starting document

3. Select recipients

4. Write your letter

5. Preview your letters

6. Complete the merge

You can control which:

Wizard steps display

Step to start on

Mail Merge from Address Book Demo — Example 6 Generate a mail merge from the personal name and address book

Mail Merge with OpenOffice.org Writer

Just like the other applications, mail merge has its own URL

Set objMailMerge = objServiceManager.createInstance ("com.sun.star.text.MailMerge")

Mail merge has seven arguments

DocumentURL

DataSourceName

CommandType

Command

OutputType

OutputURL

FileNamePrefix

Mail Merge with OpenOffice.org Writer (cont.)

Set the seven arguments

Set args(1) = OOoNamedValue("DocumentURL", url)

Set args(0) = OOoNamedValue("DataSourceName", "mrgdata")

Set args(2) = OOoNamedValue("CommandType", 0)

Set args(3) = OOoNamedValue("Command", "mrgdata")

Set args(4) = OOoNamedValue("OutputType", 2)

Output has two options

1 = Send to printer

2 = Save to file

Set args(5) = OOoNamedValue("OutputURL", savelocation)

Set args(6) = OOoNamedValue("FileNamePrefix", "mailmergeoutput1")

Mail Merge with OpenOffice.org Writer (cont.)

Finally, call the Execute method to complete the mail merge

objMailMerge.Execute args()

Mail Merge and Notes Demo — Example 7 Creating a mail merge letter from the Notes personal name and address book

Integration with Microsoft Excel

Working with Excel is very different from Word

The objects we use are different

In Excel, we tend to move more data from Notes to the application

Lots of rows in Excel vs. filling in bookmarks in Word

Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Text Position/Cursor Cell Paragraph Range Page Worksheet Document Workbook

The Beginning with Excel

To start, use a different object

Set hwd = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

Next, create a new workbook

hwd.Workbooks.Add

And it’s time to add data

Working with Cells and Ranges

We can work with cells or ranges

For operating on a specific cell … hwd.cells(1,1).value=“Name”

hwd.cells(1,2).value=“Category”

For operating on multiple cells … use a range xlRange="$A$1:$C$1“

With hwd

.Range(xlRange).Font.Bold = True ' set row to bold

.Range(xlRange).Borders.LineStyle=1' set border

.Range(xlRange).Borders.Weight=1 ' set weight of border

End With

Dealing with the Default Row and Column Size

Excel does not autosize columns and rows

Do it within your code hwd.Range(xlRange).EntireColumn.AutoFit or hwd.Range(xlRange).EntireRow.AutoFit

Creating a Chart

xlRange="$A$1:$C$10"

hwd.Charts.Add

hwd.ActiveChart.ChartType = 51

hwd.ActiveChart.SetSourceData hwd.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:C10"), 2

hwd.ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Name = "=""Notes Chart"""

hwd.ActiveChart.Location 2, "Sheet1“

With hwd.ActiveChart

.HasTitle = True

.ChartTitle.Characters.Text = "Notes to Excel Demo“

.Axes(1,1).HasTitle = True

.Axes(1,1).AxisTitle.Characters.Text = "X Axis“

.Axes(2,1).HasTitle = True

.Axes(2,1).AxisTitle.Characters.Text = "Y Axis“

.ApplyDataLabels 2, True

.HasDataTable = False

End With

hwd.ActiveSheet.Shapes("Chart 1").ScaleHeight 1.46, 0,0

Add the chart from the above range Create the chart on the current sheet Resize the chart to a specific height

Working with Microsoft Excel Demo — Example 8 Create a spreadsheet from Notes data and generate a chart

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?

Notes with Calc Demo — Example 9 “ Hello World” with Notes and Calc 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!

PowerPoint is closer to Word than Excel

Integration with Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Word Microsoft PowerPoint Text Position/Cursor Text Position/Cursor Paragraph Text Block Page Slide Document Presentation

The Beginning with PowerPoint

To start, use the PowerPoint object

Set hwd = CreateObject(″PowerPoint.Application")

Next, create a new presentation

hwd.Presentation.Add 1, 1

Working with PowerPoint Shapes

Every slide has shapes

Title text box

Bullet text box

etc.

Each shape has a name

Finding the name is typically “hunt and peck”

I always use the macro function to determine the shape name

You can also write a macro

Working with Shapes

You have to navigate to enter text in PowerPoint

Shape

TextFrame

Characters

Selection

hwd.ActiveWindow.Selection.SlideRange.Shapes("Rectangle 2").Select hwd.ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.TextFrame.TextRange.Select hwd.ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.TextFrame.TextRange.Characters(1,0).Select With hwd.ActiveWindow.Selection.TextRange .Text = sessiontitle End With

Working with PowerPoint Demo — Example 10 Create a presentation using contacts or sessions

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

Impress and Notes Demo — Example 11 “ Hello World” with Notes and Impress

Integration with Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project’s COM API is the “hardest” of all the Office applications

Syntax is very different

There is no mapping between the other applications and Project

Beginning with Project

To start, use the Project object

Set hwd = CreateObject(″msproject.Application")

Next, create a new Project file

Call msproject.filenew(False, "", False, False)

Adding Notes Data to Project

To start, add data to specific rows in Project

You must also specify the field

Call msproject.settaskfield("Name", doc.subject(0), False, True, 1)

Once you have filled all the fields for the row, select the row to move the cursor

Call msproject.selectrow(projidcount, False, 1)

Microsoft Project Demo — Example 12 Create an MS Project plan using tasks or sessions

Agenda

Who we are?

Reporting Options

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

What We’ll Cover …

Microsoft Word and Web services

Microsoft Excel and XML

Microsoft InfoPath and Web services

.NET and Lotus Notes/Domino

Visual Studio tools for Office

Moving to the Other Side

This part covers the more advanced subjects

Such as automating Lotus Notes from Microsoft Office and other technologies

We will use COM, XML, Web services, and .NET technologies

As the title suggests, this part is more technical We are about to pick up the pace

Automation from the Microsoft Side

Many integration scenarios require that user interaction start, or solely be, from an application other than Notes

Many times we will not have the Notes client installed

We will not be writing LotusScript

We may call LotusScript through the Notes COM interface

We need to take advantage of “new” technologies

XML

Web services

.NET

Managed code

About Web Services

Self-contained application published and invoked from the Web

Based on XML

Uses WSDL and SOAP

Designed for machine-to-machine interaction

Advantages:

Connects various applications running on different platforms

Uses open standards and protocols

Uses HTTP, bypassing firewall and other security measures

Disadvantages:

Poor performance as opposed to Distributed COM (DCOM)

Requires an internet connection for both the client and the server

First Things First

First, you need to build a Web service

It can be written using LotusScript, Java, or importing WSDL

It is very similar to an agent

To be able to write a Web service, you must know how to write a class

If you are working with Notes 6.5 or before, you can build an agent and “fake” it into being a Web service

Web Service Classes

Example of a simple LotusScript custom class:

Class GetPersonInfo

Sub New

End Sub

Public Function GetEmailAddress(personname As String) As String

End Function

Public Function GetPhoneNumber(personname As String) As String

End Function

End Class

Just like an agent, except the New function

Acts just like the agent Initialize

Lotus Developer Sessions Web Service

Calling a Web Service from Microsoft Word

To call a Web service from Word (or other Office application), use the following code:

SWSDL = "http://www.johndavidhead.com/ls08sessions.nsf/SessionInfo?wsdl"

Set Client = CreateObject("MSSOAP.SoapClient")

Call Client.mssoapinit(sWSDL)

GetSessionList = Client.ListAllSessions

This code uses the SOAPClient control that is part of Windows and Internet Explorer

SOAP is a way to package and interact with a Web service

More Detailed Web Services with Word

Now, we want to take something the user selected and get more info about it

This is a second method in the Web service:

Public Function GetSessionFieldValue(sessionid, fieldName) As String

sWSDL = "http://www.johndavidhead.com/advisorsession042006.nsf/SessionInfo?wsdl"

Set Client = CreateObject("MSSOAP.SoapClient")

Call Client.mssoapinit(sWSDL)

GetSessionFieldValue = Client.GetSessionInfo(sessionid, fieldName)

End Function

Sessionid and fieldName are values we pass into the Web service

The return value comes back as string

Word 2007 and Web Services

Word template that prompts the user

Prompted information is from a Notes database

Instead of using COM, data is obtained via Web services

Code written inside the Visual Basic for Applications Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

Demo — Example 13 Word template that reads a Notes database via a Web service

Office and XML Details

Office 2003 added XML support

Word and Excel

Export-like Save option

Excel can import data from an XML file

Import XML schema

Transform XML with XML style sheets

Office and XML Details (cont.)

Office 2007 uses XML as the default new file format

Microsoft is working to make the new XML file format an ISO standard

Called Open XML

Office 2003 can open these new formats with an update you can download from Microsoft

Manipulating the Open XML file directly is the lowest level of automating Office

Developers have been requesting this functionality for years

Extreme level of difficulty

Heavily documented

Real-world samples lacking

Working with Open XML

The Office 2007 file formats are compressed directories

Think a “zip” file

You can view the directory by renaming the file extension to .zip

The easier way to view the file in native XML is through Package Explorer

Developed by Wouter Van Vugt

Download from Codeplex

www.codeplex.com/PackageExplorer

Editing Open XML with Package Explorer

Browse and edit Office Open XML packages

Edit XML parts in an XML-aware editor

Validate parts with the ECMA (standards board) final schemas

Edit Dublin Core properties directly in a property grid

Improved usability (dirty bit management)

Docking UI

Working with Domino Data as XML

Use the core Domino classes

LotusScript and Java

Domino XML (DXL)

Cheat 

Add passthru HTML to a form

Build your own agent to output XML

A Domino Agent That Creates XML

Dim s As New NotesSession

Dim db As NotesDatabase

Dim doc As NotesDocument

Dim view As NotesView

Set db = s.currentDatabase

Set view = db.GetView( "XML" )

Set doc = view.GetFirstDocument

Print "Content-type: text/xml“

Print "<BOOKCATALOG>“

While Not ( doc Is Nothing )

Print "<BOOK>"

Print "<bookTitle>"+doc.bookTitle(0)+"</bookTitle>“

Print "<bookAuthor>"+doc.bookAuthor(0)+"</bookAuthor>"

Print "<bookPrice>"+doc.bookDiscountPrice(0)+"</bookPrice>"

Print "<bookCategory>"+doc.bookCategory(0)+"</bookCategory>"

Print "</BOOK>"

Set doc = view.GetNextDocument( doc )

Wend

Print "</BOOKCATALOG>"

How Domino Data Looks as XML

Using XML with Excel

Read XML from a Notes database

XML generated via an agent in Notes database

Chart the data using Excel charting tools

Works with Domino 5.X, 6.X, 6.5.X, 7, and 8

For this example, we will not write any code!

Microsoft Excel and XML Demo — Example 14 Importing Domino data into a spreadsheet using XML

.NET and Lotus Notes/Domino

The .NET CLR acts like a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for running code

CLR = Common Language Runtime

It provides a single point for:

Security

Access/registration of objects

Management

Logging

.NET added “managed code”

Code that is managed, runs

Code that is not managed is stopped

Managed Code

.NET managed code must be signed

Visual Studio .NET can sign the code

Certificates much like the VBA code signatures

You can get one from VeriSign and other companies

Free if it’s for internal use only

Purchasable if you want to sign code and ship it

Managed Code and Domino

Why does a Domino developer care?

By default, COM is considered unmanaged and unsigned to the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR)

Managed code also prevents .NET components from being called by COM

You can create COM Callable Wrappers (CCW) in Visual Studio .NET

Generating COM Callable Wrappers

Steps to build a .NET component so that it can be used from COM:

Sign the assembly with a strong name

Build the .NET assembly (component)

Register the .NET component as a COM object

Optional:

Add attributes to the .NET code that give more control of the COM interface that is generated

Visual Studio .NET

Introduced in 2002

Provides the default Microsoft Development Environment

Design goal is to be the only IDE for Microsoft software

Supports multiple languages

VB .NET

C#

etc.

Supports WinForms

Uses .NET security

Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005

Add-in for Visual Studio .NET

Adds support for:

Word

Excel

InfoPath

Outlook

Can develop in:

Visual Basic

C#

Word 2003 with VSTO

Same demo as the Word 2007 Web services demo

Built in VS .NET using VSTO 2005

Uses the Word template that comes with Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)

The Web service is created using the VS .NET Web Service Connector tool

Microsoft Word and VSTO 2005 Demo — Example 15 Creating a new Word document that prompts the user and fills out Domino data via a Web service

Visual Studio .NET 2005

Supported applications and templates

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition Runtime

Supports Office 2007

Free download from Microsoft Developer Network

Only supports add-ins

No document or template Templates

More applications supported

Stopgap support for Office 2007 until VS .NET 2008

Visual Studio .NET 2005 Second Edition Templates

For Office 2007, here are the supported Add-ins:

VS .NET 2005 SE and Domino Data

Session evaluation sample used in the Word and Web services and VS .NET 2005 demos

Rebuilt for Word 2007

Uses a side panel add-in to prompt the user to select some data

VSTO 2005 SE and Microsoft Word and Domino Web Service Demo — Example 16 Creating a new Word document that prompts the user and fills out Domino data via a Web service

2007 Microsoft Office System Logical Architecture

Visual Studio.NET 2008 and VSTO 3.0

VSTO is no longer a separate download

Support for Office 2003 and 2007

Ribbon Designer

Template Options mimic other VS.NET projects

VSTO 3.0 Project Types

VSTO 3.0 and Microsoft Word and Domino Web Service Demo — Example 17 Creating a new Word document that prompts the user and fills out Domino data via a Web service

Office 2007 Server-Side Options

Microsoft SharePoint Services 3.0

Microsoft SharePoint 2007

Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0

Microsoft Excel Services

Microsoft Office Groove

Agenda

Who we are?

Reporting Options

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

Ways to Add Domino Functionality to ASP.NET

Using Notes/Domino’s COM interface

Using Domino Web services

Using Domino Web agents and XML

NOTE: Selecting the right option is dependent on the Domino Server version and the developer’s skill

Domino COM in ASP

From within Visual Studio .NET, using the ASP.NET template

Add the Domino COM reference like we have done in Office and VSTO

Build the ASP.NET page

Building the ASP.NET Page

Add the standard fields and labels to the ASP page

The COM code is behind the button

Calling Domino via COM in ASP.NET

Below is the code behind that button:

Protected Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Dim s As New Domino.NotesSession Dim dbdir As Domino.NotesDbDirectory Dim db As Domino.NotesDatabase Try s.Initialize() ‘ you can also use s.Initialize("password") dbdir = s.GetDbDirectory("") db = dbdir.OpenDatabase(TextBox1.Text) Label1.Text = db.Title Label2.Text = db.FileName Label3.Text = db.FilePath Label4.Text = db.ReplicaID Label5.Text = db.Size Label6.Text = db.Created Label7.Text = db.LastModified Catch ex As Exception Label1.Text = ("An Error Happend " & ex.Message & “ “ & ex.Source) Finally System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(s) End Try End Sub

ASP.NET Calling Domino via COM Demo — Example 18 Creating an ASP.NET Web page that calls Domino via COM

ASP.NET Calling a Domino Web Service

We can call the same Domino Web service we have used before

ASP.NET will import the Web service

Code behind the button will be virtually the same as when ASP.NET called Domino via COM

ASP.NET Calling Domino via a Web Service Demo — Example 19 Creating an ASP.NET Web page that calls Domino via a Web service

ASP.NET Can Also Work with Domino XML

ASP.NET can display Domino data in a great grid control

Steps to make this happen:

Drag a GridView data control onto your page

An XMLDataSource object is automatically added

The XMLDataSource is associated with the GridView control

Set the DataFile property of the XMLDataSource to the XML agent

Domino Data in a Grid on an ASP.NET Web Page

This is what the data will look like in the grid control:

Displaying Domino XML in an ASP.NET Web Page Grid Demo — Example 20 Creating an ASP.NET Web page that uses the grid control to display Domino XML

Agenda

Who we are?

Reporting Options

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

Reporting Options

Use Excel/Calc

Use BIRT

Use a third-party tool

BIRT

Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools

“ BIRT is an open source Eclipse-based reporting system that integrates with your Java/J2EE application to produce compelling reports.”

Required Java skills

Requires Notes 8 Standard Client

Current Version is 2.2 (2.2.1)

Download from http://www.eclipse.org/birt/phoenix/

Using BIRT for Notes Application Reporting Demo — Example 21 Using BIRT to add Reporting functionality

Five Third Party Tools Available

Crystal Reports

IntelliPRINT Analytics/Reporting

SWING

SQL Reporting tools via DB2NSF

Integra4Notes/Integra Quick Reports

Integra4Notes and Integra Quick Reports

Integra4Notes

A Notes application that allows importing and exporting of data between Lotus Notes and Word, Excel, PDF files, and XML files

A powerful tool for the Notes developers

Integra Quick Reports

Ad hoc reporting for end users to Microsoft Excel

Mail merge and labels to Microsoft Word

From any Lotus Notes database

Integra4Notes Key Features and Benefits

More advanced capabilities

Event-driven script, for example

Access multiple databases and sources

Oracle, SAP, mySQL, etc.

Non-intrusive — no designer changes

Zero footprint — no EXE, no DLLs, etc.

Distribute via email, save to Notes document, send doclinks, send to printer, fax, etc.

Notes client, browser, and scheduled

Export and import

Generate PDFs

4.5 ships with print driver – no extra cost

Third-Party Application Demonstration Demo — Example 22 Integra4Notes and Integra Quick Report samples

Integra for Notes Personal Edition

Provides the user with integration for their Contacts to do the following:

Mail Merge

Labels

Mass Email

Export to Excel

Ad-hoc export to Excel with Pivot Tables and Charting

Supports Notes 6.5, 7, and 8.0.0

Supports Office 97 thru 2007

FREE!!!!!!!

www.integra4notes.com/personal BOOTH 710

Agenda

Who we are?

Reporting Options

Looking forward

Wrap-up and Q&A

2008 and Beyond

We finally have great tools

VS.NET 2008

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

Sessions you should see this week

IBM Lotus Notes 8 and IBM Lotus Expeditor Customization for LotusScript Developers

John Head & Alex Kassabov

Swan Pelican - Tuesday 10:00am - 11:00am

Integration of IBM Lotus Notes 8 with IBM Lotus Symphony and OpenOffice.org

John Head

Swan Osprey - Tuesday 1:30pm - 2:30pm

Reports, Charts, and Graphs in IBM Lotus Notes

Julian Robichaux & Rob McDonagh

Swan 5-6 - Wednesday 3:00pm - 4:00pm

A Jug of Wine, a Spreadsheet, and Thee

Ben Langhinrichs

Swan 7-10 - Thursday 10:00am - 11:00am

Resources

LDD Discussions (Notes.Net) http://www-130.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus

OpenOffice.org http://www.openoffice.org

OpenOffice Developers Guide http://api.openoffice.org/DevelopersGuide/DevelopersGuide.html

Programming OpenOffice with Visual Basic http://www.kalitech.fr/clients/doc/VB_APIOOo_en.html

John Head’s blog http://www.johndavidhead.com

Slides and content available from http://www.johndavidhead.com http://www.psclistens.com

Resources (cont.)

Microsoft Office developer’s Web site

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/default.aspx

Microsoft Developer Network

http://msdn.microsoft.com

Microsoft Office blog listing

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905342.aspx

OpenNTF.org — the open source Web site for Notes

www.openntf.org

Integra4Notes Web site

www.integra4notes.com

PSC’s Reporting and Office Integration page

www.psclistens.com/enTouchCMS/app/viewCategory? catgId=66

Thank You! Questions & Answers We will be in the speaker room after the session Please remember to fill out your evaluation. [email_address] [email_address] www.johndavidhead.com www.psclistens.com