Lotus^® Notes^® Developer’s Toolbox will help you streamline and improve every phase of Notes development. Leading IBM Lotus Notes developer Mark Elliott systematically identifies solutions for the key challenges Notes developers face, offering powerful advice drawn from his extensive enterprise experience. This book presents best practices and step-by-step case studies for building the five most common types of Notes applications: collaboration, calendar, workflow, reference library, and Web site.

This book is for Notes developers at all levels of experience, using recent versions from V5.0 through V7.0, and beyond. Like all IBM developerWorks^® Series books, it is fully integrated with comprehensive Web resources, including working examples of each project, enhanced versions that go beyond the book, sample graphics, and tools for addressing real-world business scenarios. Coverage includes

·         Getting started with Domino Designer^®, and using the design elements it provides

·         Developing Notes databases, step-by-step: considerations, code instructions, design tips, and project plans

·         Mastering and customizing Lotus Formula and LotusScript

·         Customizing forms, views, agent behavior, application interfaces, and more

·         Building calendar applications with simple and complex recurrent events

·         Developing applications that distribute information via email, response documents, and other methods

·         Creating reference library applications, and generating Excel^® spreadsheets for analysis

·         Constructing sophisticated workflow and Web-based Notes applications

·         Securing, deploying, and maintaining Notes applications, and managing their data

·         Enhancing database functionality: more than 95 ready-to-use code modules and customizations

·         Exclusive Web resources available only to book registrants

The IBM Press developerWorks^® Series is a unique undertaking in which print books and the Web are mutually supportive. The publications in this series are complemented by resources on the developerWorks Web site on ibm.com. Icons throughout the book alert the reader to these valuable resources.

About The Author

Mark Elliott has been employed by the IBM Corporation since the early 1990s as a software engineer and project manager. As a Lotus^® Notes^® professional, he has been designing, developing, and implementing commercial Notes and Domino applications for industry clients such as IBM, Eastman Kodak, Qualex, Invensys, and Vanity Fair. Prior to joining IBM, he worked as an Application Programmer for the U.S. Department of Defense and as a Quality Assurance Software Engineer for the McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) Corporation.

Mark is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he received an interdisciplinary bachelor of arts degree in computer science. He also has a Master’s Certificate from George Washington University in Project Management. Mark has been certified as a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

In addition to application development and project management, Mark has authored and been issued numerous patents for the IBM corporation. One of those patents pertains to distribution of Lotus Domino connection documents across multiple network domains.

 

Customer Reviews & Comments
It's not often that I get the chance to review a book that directly focuses on my chosen technology niche... IBM Lotus Notes/Domino. Needless to say, when Mark Elliott's new book Lotus Notes Developer's Toolkit - Tips for Rapid and Successful Deployment came out, it moved to the top of my review pile. I'm happy to report that this book is a worthy addition to the Notes development books on the market, and fills a number of roles. Contents: An Introduction to the Lotus Domino Tool Suite, Getting Started with Designer, Navigating the Domino Designer Workspace. Domino Design Elements, An Introduction to Formula Language, An Introduction to LotusScript, Fundamentals of a Notes Application, Calendar Applications, Collaborative Applications, Reference Library Applications, Workflow Applications, Web Applications, Design Enhancements Using LotusScript, Design Enhancements Using Formula Language, View Enhancements, Sample Agents, Miscellaneous Enhancements and Tips for Domino Databases, Data Management, Security, Application Deployment and Maintenance, Troubleshooting, Appendix A - Online Project Files and Sample Applications, Appendix B - IBM Lotus Notes and Domino - What's Next? One of the most difficult things to do in my opinion is to get someone started in Notes development. It's easy enough to produce powerful applications with very little effort, but it's hard to try and get someone's head around all the concepts such as forms, views, agent, and so forth. The first part of Elliott's book (through chapter 7) is tailor-made for getting someone started with Notes development. He shows the reader how all the elements fit together in the process of building an application, as well as how Domino Designer functions to put these things together. For those who have been building Notes applications for awhile, there won't be anything new here, but don't despair... Your turn is coming up. Chapters 8 and beyond is where the book starts to become valuable for the developer who already knows how to build a Notes application, as well as for the up and coming Notes developer. Elliott takes five basic categories of applications (calendar, collaborative, reference library, workflow, and web) and actually walks the reader through a project that builds one of those apps. Most books currently on the shelves don't try to have you build anything. Generally it's "go look at some of the existing templates", and we all know that you can get lost in some of those. While these projects will be most valuable for those learning the art of Notes development, it's worth reading over the material just to see if you've gotten into any development "ruts" or patterns that might be best replaced by more updated methods. It's embarrassing when the new developer asks why you're still doing something the old R4 way... Chapters 13 to the end of the book will be where most of us (the developers who have been doing this for awhile) will spend the bulk of our time. There are a number of tips, tricks, and code samples that do a variety of things, and the odds are high that a number of them will spark your interest. For instance, one tip in the LotusScript design enhancements chapter shows how to add both a View icon and a Mood Stamp to an agent-generated email. This tip talks about two fields that are not well-documented (_ViewIcon and $Moods), and you can take the sample agent and apply it to your own application. A seemingly minor thing, but I've had users ask for stranger items. There's even an agent that exports to Excel. If that's something you've been meaning to try, here's your chance. And if you've been doing this type of routine for awhile, perhaps his examples will help you make your code more efficient. It's always good to learn as much as you can from others. I was also quite impressed by the way that the book ties in to the DeveloperWorks site. Each chapter ends with appropriate links back to online material and relevant articles that serve to enhance the chapter material. If you've not gotten into the habit of checking out DeveloperWorks on a regular basis, this will be a good introduction for you, and you'll benefit from the time spent there. All things considered, I think this book achieved a difficult objective. It attempted to offer something to both the beginning and intermediate Notes developer without alienating either end of that spectrum. It did that quite well. The Notes gurus probably know 95% of this information, but for those of us slogging away in the trenches, this book will either get you started with a powerful tool or expand the existing skills that you've already built up over time. Definitely a book worth getting... Comment | Permalink | (Report this)