Learn everything about IBM iNotes Customization

IBM iNotes and SmartCloud Notes Web
Customization
Eric Spencer, IBM Software Engineer, iNotes Development

IBM SBT Webinar 10/23/13

Next Webinars

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Tentatively November 6th: App Dev Update in IBM Domino 9.0.1
Recordings: YouTube.com/ibmsbt

© 2013 IBM Corporation

Disclaimers
IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or
withdrawal without notice at IBM’s sole discretion.
Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product
direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.
The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment,
promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about
potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development,
release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for our products remains
at our sole discretion.
Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in
a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will
experience will vary depending upon many factors, including considerations such as the
amount of multiprogramming in the user’s job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage
configuration, and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an
individual user will achieve results similar to those stated here.

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Agenda
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How customizable is IBM iNotes?
Basic customizations
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demo
Skins and skin components
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demo
IBM iNotes page generation
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demo

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Summary
Q&A


How customizable is iNotes?
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Can customize almost anything
Different from Traditional Domino® Web Applications
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Design elements are separate
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Uses WebHybrid processing
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Uses tag-based textual markup similar to JSP
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Doesn’t utilize many agents
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Uses limited set of Domino Web Commands and some special URL
arguments
Requires Web development skills such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS


Template and Forms File

References
mail85.ntf
iNotesForms85.nsf
Inherits

Most Design:
HTML, CSS,
JavaScript, Images
View Design
Data

Domino server

mailJUser.nsf

Browser

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Ways to Customize IBM iNotes
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Enable/disable certain Functional Areas

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Policies

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Special Forms (Custom_*) provided for basic customizations
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Modify action bar menu items
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Modify existing view columns
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Add masthead
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Modify banner logo
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Add fonts to rich text editor

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Modify forms

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Edit skins and stylesheets
Add widgets in sidebar panel


Enable or disable components or functional areas
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Policies
INI setting: iNotes_WA_Areas
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will still work but policy takes precedence
URL arguments
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&PresetFields
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Example: http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Calendar/?
OpenDocument&PresetFields=
h_SkinTypeOverride;h_Blank,s_CalView;2,s_CalDate;20090301
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See Deployment Guide for more information
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&Layout
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Example: http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Contacts/?
OpenDocument&layout=BN!H*MS!H*OF!H*LO!H*SW!H*LP!C
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See wiki article for more details


iNotes Admin Policy Support
iNotes MailSettings
• User UI mode
• Functional areas
• Functional area at login
• Maximum attachment size
• Mail threads
• Remote image display
• Browser cache management
• Logout scrubbing
• Allowing attachments
• Instant messaging features
• Default spell check dictionary
• iNotes ActiveX
• Enabling feeds
• Widget enablement (pre 9.0)
• Lotus Quickr integration
• Calendar subscriptions
• Offline settings
• Refresh inbox automatically
• Enable unread count
• Auto update unread count
• Enable scroll hints
• Disable warning on opening attachments
• Filter out images from emails
• Proxy servlet name/URL pairs
• Show preferences
• Allow archiving on the server
• Allow local archiving
 Initial sidebar display state
 iNotes Display Language
 ST Proxy Enablement
 Extension Forms File

iNotes Mail Settings (cont.)
• *IBM Docs Integration
• *IBM Connections Files integration

Shared Mail Settings
• Mail basics
• Follow up
• Attention indicators
• Message recall
• Calendar basics
• Calendar display
• Notices
• Scheduling
• Automatic processing
• Rooms and resources
• Mail and Calendar
• Disclaimer text
• Disclaimer position
• Soft Delete Time

Shared Desktop Settings
• Right double-click to close
• Mark documents read on preview
• Save sent mail
• Sign sent mail
• Encrypt sent mail
• Mail notification
• Internet mail format
• Prefix each line with a char
• Wrap lines at a certain length
• *Widgets

Security Settings
• Password Quality
• Certificate Expiration
• Notes ID Vault
• iNotes Proxies
• Password Expiration

Archive Settings
• Server-based archiving
• Prohibit archiving
• Prohibit private archiving criteria

*Newer settings with 9.0 Social Edition

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Can't set policies in SCN
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Some settings are available in SCN Administration Account Settings
Under System Settings – IBM SmartCloud Notes


New architecture in 8.5
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Full mode uses the “lite” architecture that was introduced in 8.0.1

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Tabbed UI

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Uses widgets

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Some forms still use the “classic” architecture
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Full mode Calendar*, Contact, To Do, Notebook entry forms
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Lite mode Calendar and Contact entry forms
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Home page
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Preferences
Forms, etc. that are new for the “lite” architecture have “_Lite” in the
name

* Calendar forms converted to new architecture in 9.0 Social Edition

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Extension Forms File
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Created from template

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If the file exists on the server, customizations will be used

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Customization subforms are in this file

Customizations are not overwritten by updated Domino version


Extension forms file in IBM SmartCloud Notes
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Requires brief contract with ISSC
Must use Extension Forms file template downloaded from the service
Some restrictions on customizations


Extension Forms File

mail85.ntf
iNotesForms85.nsf

Forms85_x.ntf

Domino server
mailJUser.nsf

iNotesForms85_x.nsf

Browser

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Custom_JS_Lite subform
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JavaScript form to centralize most customizations

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Script file which is available on all new architecture forms and views

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Contains customization functions

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Also a location to store your own script

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Is cached on server with rest of static common user script
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Add stuff to l_SessionInfo/f_SessionInfo/s_SessionInfo form if you need
per user or per mail file formula computations (special subform added in
8.5.3)


Some functions in Custom_JS_Lite Form
Callbacks and Functions
Custom_Scene_Actions_Lite
Custom_Scene_PostLoad_Lite

Invoked after each widget is initialized

Custom_Scene_PreSubmit_Lite

Invoked prior to submitting an action to the
server

API_TimeZones_Lite

Add additional time zones

API_SetPortalMailViewColumns_Lite

Set which columns get displayed for the Mail
portlet.

API_
GetWhoAndAltWhoColNamesForView_
Lite

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Add, remove or change actions

Set which columns get displayed when alternate
name is enabled


More functions in Custom_JS_Lite
Helpers
API_GetSelectedDocs_Lite

Returns array of strings representing UNIDs

API_IsView_Lite

Returns true if view page

API_GetMailfilePath_Lite

Returns URL path up to and including “.nsf”

Custom_ActionsHelper_Lite subform
addActionsLite
removeActionsLite

Remove menus or submenus from action bar

repositionActionsLite

Changes position of menus or submenus

checkActionIDs

Display menu IDs

checkActionPositions

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Add new menus or submenus to action bar

Display menu position numbers - “classic” forms


Additional customization forms and subforms
Custom_Welcome

Add additional web sites for Web page panel choices

Custom_JS_Edit

Add new fonts in the rich text editor

Custom_Masthead

Add a masthead at the top of the page

Custom_CSS

Add additional CSS styles

Custom_Banner_Lite

Modify the displayed banner

Custom_Page_Dictionary
Custom_xxx_Dictionary

Custom_About

Display forms file version and a user-specified file version number
in iNotes console

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New in 8.5.1

Add code to lazy load table
Add code to be run on logout

Add items to session info object

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Classic_Custom_SessionInfo

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Custom_SessionInfo

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Inclusion of new NotesFields and NotesVars

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Custom_LazyLoad_Subforms
Custom_Logout

NotesVars available for use in Custom_CSS

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New in 8.5.2

Add items to session info for classic forms

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New in 8.5.3

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New in 9.0

checkActionIDs and checkPositions functions
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Call these functions to display IDs or position numbers of action bar
menu items.
checkActionIDs( s_MenuID ) - new architecture views and forms
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Displays the menu ID in the hover text of “MENU ID” item
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Displays the menu item ID in the hover text

checkActionPositions(s_TopBranchId) - “classic” forms
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Displays the position number next to the menu item.


How do you edit IBM iNotes markup?
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Forms and Subforms
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Domino Designer
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Forms85_x.nsf or Forms85.nsf
Images
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Domino Designer within ResourcesFiles
Skin elements
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Domino Designer within ResourcesFiles
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l_ShimmerSkin-xxx for Lite mode
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f_ShimmerSkin-xxx for Full mode
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h_ShimmerSkin-xxx for:
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“classic” forms
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8.0.x Full mode
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7.x and earlier releases


Demo

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Referring to new resources
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Added to the Extension Forms file
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Add the file to ResourcesFiles
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src="/iNotes/Forms85_x.nsf/LotusSoftware.png"
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background-image:url(@{s_EFF}/act-hyper-hover-images.gif?
OpenFileResource&MX);
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s_FF = Forms file
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s_EFF = Extension Forms file
File on Domino server
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Put file into <Domino data directory>dominohtml
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src="/file.html"
On another server
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src=”http://www.server.com/file.gif'


Migrating customizations from 8.5.x to 9.0 Social Edition
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Rename Forms85_x.nsf to Forms9_x.nsf
Run agent to change value of $FormsTemplateFile field in icon note to:
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"iNotes/Forms9.nsf"


Skin groups and types
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Skin Type (Skin)
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Member of a skin group set
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Contains HTML markup to emit within the page body to govern overall
page layout
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Special Skin type: h_Stylesheet (CSS file)
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Contains CSS definitions
Skin Group
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A set of skins sharing the same stylesheets
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Primary skin group is f_ShimmerSkin
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Two less significant skin groups: h_ShimmerSkin_UB (unsupported
browser), h_ShimmerSkin_ACC (accessibility…not used)
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Prior to 8.5.1 there was a separate skin group for each browser type
Example: f_ShimmerSkin-h_ListFolder

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Which skin is used?
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Skin type h_ListFolder is used for all views
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unless h_SkinTypeOverride is set – by URL arg or NotesVar
h_MailPage is used for new architecture document forms
“classic” forms have 2 vars defined on the page to identify skin:
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h_CurrentSkinName var identifies skin group
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h_CurrentSkinType var identifies skin type:
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h_MailPage: Mail Message, Contact, Notebook Page
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h_ApptPage: Meeting, Appointment, To Do


Stylesheets
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h_StylesheetView
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Used for views
h_StylesheetDocuments
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Used for documents – mail and meeting notice in Lite mode only
h_StylesheetOverride
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Used for “classic” forms
h_Stylesheet
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Used for things not specific to view or documents
h_StyleSheetPortal
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Used for IBM WebSphere® Portal
Example: f_ShimmerSkin-h_StyleSheetDocuments

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Skin components - h_ListFolder
Custom_Banner_
Lite

ShimmerSwitcher_
SkinComponent_Lite

ShimmerMainTabs_
SkinComponent_Lite

SceneLabel_
SkinComponent_Lite

Modepanel_
SkinComponent_Lite

Search_
SkinComponent_Lite

ServerTitleAndMailQuota_

SkinComponent_Lite

PageContent_
SkinComponent_Lite

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Sample skin HTML segment
<div id="e-maintabs-container" class="s-toppanel">
<InsertNotesSubForm name="ShimmerMainTabs_SkinComponent_Lite">
</div>
<div class="s-toppanel" style="height:1.5em;">
<InsertNotesSubForm name="Modepanel_SkinComponent_Lite">
</div>

Skin components
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Skin components are in subforms
Other elements you will see:
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com_ibm_dwa_ui_widget_class
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widget definition
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<v:fill> (IE) or <canvas> (Mozilla) tags
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gradient fills


Customizing ultra-light mode
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Styles:
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m_StyleSheet_xxx
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iphone.css and standard.css – for 8.5 and earlier

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Layout and code are combined in m_xxx forms and subforms

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Does not use skins
Images are in mxxx files in ResourcesFiles


Demo

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More on skin customization
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Gradient fills
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Specified in dwa.properties
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See wiki article for more details
Consolidated icons
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One image file that contains many icons
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Icons are selected by x, y coordinates in the styles
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Files: basicicons.gif, commonactionicons.gif,
commonactionicons.gif,mailoutlineicons.gif, viewactionicons.gif


IBM iNotes Web page construction
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All Forms/Subforms use pass-thru HTML
Special tags are interpreted by server to:
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Insert skin
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Insert skin components
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Insert subforms
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Evaluate computed blocks (@formulas)
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Determine persisted and computed-only items
Full mode is now using Lite mode architecture
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Use combination of skin components (loaded by server) and widgets
(client)
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More AJAX (lazy loading, etc.)


iNotes code/forms
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Loaded by InsertNotesSubForm
Browser specific:
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xxxCode – IE
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xxxCode_Gecko – Mozilla
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xxxCode_Safari – Safari

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f_xx – used by Full mode only

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l_xx – used by Lite and Full mode

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INI setting iNotes_WA_Debug_SubForms=1 – subform names are
displayed on the server console as they are loaded


Special server-side tags
Insert content from other design elements
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<QuickPlaceSkinComponent Name=xxx>
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Inserts contents of subform named xxx_SkinComponent
<InsertNotesSubForm Name=SubFormName>
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Name may be a computed value
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<InsertNotesSubForm Name=@{...}>
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Conditional insertions by using @If and specifying empty string
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optional="yes" for optional subforms


Insert content from other design elements
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<NotesField Name=ItemName>
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Define persisted field
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Type=Text|TextList|RichText|Mime|Number|NumberList| Time|TimeList
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InitialValue=
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Evaluated if item doesn’t exist within document
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Value=
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Evaluated as page is generated and as page is saved
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Example:
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<NotesField Name=Subject>
<NotesVar Name=ItemName>
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Define a computed for display only item
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Same element attributes as Notes field
<NotesDictionary>…</NotesDictionary>
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Block which may contain NotesVar and NotesField tags
All support an includeif={@formula} attribute for conditional inclusion

Conditionally include content
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<NotesFragment includeif={test}>
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Includes the content if test is true
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<NotesFragment includeif={s_Gecko="1"}>
background-color: blue;
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</NotesFragment>
<NotesFragmentSwitch>
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Simulates the if ... elseif ... else ... pattern:
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<NotesFragmentSwitch>
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<NotesFragment includeif={s_Gecko="1" | s_Safari="1"}>
top:1px;
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</NotesFragment>
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<NotesFragment>
top: 0px;
width: 0px;
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</NotesFragment>
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</NotesFragmentSwitch>

Demo

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Miscellaneous
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String resources in separate file
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File: dwa_xx.properties
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In ResourcesFiles
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Easier to add / modify strings
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Customizers can add new languages
Log messages to the iNotes console
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Example: AAA.EVI.sr(level, “”,"message”);
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level:
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0 = error
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1 = warning
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2 = info
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3 = detail


QueryOpen/QuerySave agents

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IBM iNotes doesn’t use these within core application

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Add iNotes_WA_QueryAgents=1 to NOTES.INI to enable this functionality

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Two NotesVars are used to invoke agents
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$$QueryOpenAgent
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$$QuerySaveAgent
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Example:
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<NotesVar NAME={$$QuerySaveAgent}
INITIALVALUE={“YourAgent”}>
Please refer to the Manipulating Data in Domino Web Access
developerWorks article for a working example of QueryOpen and
QuerySave agents
Starting in 8.5.2, agents can be in Extension Forms File


Debugging tools
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Firefox
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Firebug
IE
Developer Toolbar (in IE9 and later: F12)
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Visual Studio
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Safari
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Develop menu
Chrome
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Developer tools


Obfuscated code
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ObfuscationList.txt

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In ResourcesFiles

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Unobfuscators available:
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http://openntf.org/p/Firebug%20JavaScript%20Mirror%20Tool%20Addon
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http://openntf.org/p/Unobfuscator


Updates in 8.5.2
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Design elements in Extension Forms File do not inherit design changes
New subforms:
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Custom_xxx_Dictionary
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Custom_LazyLoad_Subforms
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Custom_Logout
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Custom_About
Agents can be stored in Extension Forms File


Updates in 8.5.3
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Policy to set Extension Forms File

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Custom_SessionInfo

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Can now update menu items

iNotes_WA_RunQOAgentsForNewLiteForm


Updates in 9.0 Social Edition
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Classic_Custom_SessionInfo

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Adding Custom_Masthead will cause 9.0 masthead to be hidden

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Standard 9.0 masthead can be modified using
Custom_Scene_Actions_Lite


Summary
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45

Some ways to make basic customizations are provided
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Policies
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Using Custom_* forms and subforms
Look of IBM iNotes pages can be customized by editing skins, skin
components, and stylesheets
For more complex customizations, you need to understand how IBM
iNotes pages are generated
Useful tools for examining page layout and debugging JavaScript are
available


IBM iNotes Customization Resources
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Notes and Domino wiki
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http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/dominowiki.nsf
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Community Articles, Lotus iNotes, Lotus iNotes Customization
Wiki article
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http://www10.lotus.com/ldd/dominowiki.nsf/dx/The_basics_of_iNotes_customizat
ion
Notes / Domino 8.5 forum on developerWorks
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http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd85forum.nsf
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Product area: iNotes, Technical Area: Customization
Notes / Domino 9.0 Social Edition Forum
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http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/ndseforum.nsf
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Category: iNotes


Resources and Questions
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Home page: http://ibmdw.net/social
SDK: http://ibmsbt.openntf.org
GitHub: https://github.com/OpenNTF/SocialSDK
StackOverflow: #ibmsbt
Twitter: @ibmsbt
YouTube: http://youtube.com/ibmsbt
Playground: http://bit.ly/sbtplayground


Acknowledgements and Disclaimers
Availability: References in this presentation to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all
countries in which IBM operates.
The workshops, sessions and materials have been prepared by IBM or the session speakers and reflect their own views. They are
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sales, revenue growth or other results.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2013. All rights reserved.
– U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with
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Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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