ND8.5 – Enable Import for Lotus 1-2-3 files

After upgrading to Notes 8.5 some users are missing the option to import Lotus 1-2-3 files into a notes view.

import1

The option is available in 8.0.2 but no longer in Notes 8.5. I did a little research and found the following. Obviously the installation / upgrade has changed the VIEWIMP variables in the client’s notes.ini.

VIEWIMP1=Structured Text,0,_ISTR,,.CGN,.LTR,.STR,._UNKNOWN,,,1,
VIEWIMP2=Tabular Text,0,_ITAB,,.PRN,.RPT,.TAB,.TXT,.TSV,,1,
VIEWIMP3=vCard,0,_IVCRD,,.VCF,,1,
VIEWIMP4=Calendar File (.ics),0,_IICAL,,.ICS,,1,
VIEWIMP5=Comma Separated Value,0,_ICSV,,.CSV,,1,

There is no VIEWIMPn= for Lotus 1-2-3 files.

OK, magic happens here. I simply copied the missing line from a Notes 8.0.2 installation.

VIEWIMP6=Lotus 1-2-3,0,_IWKSV,,.123,.WK1,.WK3,.WK4,.WKS,.WR1,.WRK,,4,

and restarted the client. And … tadaaaaaaa …

import2

Is it a bug or a feature?? I have opened a PMR. Unfortunately, IBM is still in the process of gathering information about my environment instead of simply reproduce the issue …


The great code / application giveaway

Right after IBM has released the first version of a xPages based wiki on OpenNTF, elguji, the makers of IdeaJam and LinkJam released TaskJam. TaskJam is a free, simple to use IBM Lotus Domino XPages task tracking web application.

Want to configure your Domino server? Use DCT. The Domino Configuration Tuner (DCT) provides easy-to-use self-service configuration analysis for more robust installations and better performance of Domino servers.

How much space could you save when you enable DAOS on your servers?  Download the Lotus Domino Attachment and Object Service Estimator (DAOS Estimator), a tool for planning the roll-out of DAOS on the Domino 8.5 server.

daosest


New XPages based Wiki template

As a first deliverable of the new collaboration between IBM and OpenNTF, IBM will provide a new wiki template on OpenNTF. The wiki template shows how the new application development feature XPages in Lotus Domino 8.5 can be used. The template should be made available under the Apache License v2.

The collaboration was announced by Kevin Cavanaugh, Vice President, Messaging and Collaboration, IBM at the Opening General Session at Lotusphere 2009.

Read more details in Niklas Heidloff’s blog

UPDATE: The database is now available on OpenNTF.

xwiki


BUG: Compress Design – Use With Caution

I a recent post I wrote that under some circumstances a database compact on a Domino 8.5 server can corrupt java applets in the database design.

Today, IBM support confirmed this as a bug:

Hello,

I was able to reproduce the issue you reported following your steps to
recreate.
This seems like a bug alright. I am going to create a new Software Problem
Report on this issue which will be brought to the attention of Level 3.

Notes 8.5 and Traveler 8.5 Multilingual

Lotus Notes Standard and Basic Client 8.5 and Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5 are available on Passport Advantage in the following languages:

Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese Brazilian, Spanish

You cannot find these downloads? Well, you have to open the IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5 Multiplatform Japanese eAssembly(CR89HJA) category 🙂


Traveler 8.5: “Wipe device” – Follow Up

I a recent post I wrote about the “wipe device” feature that is new with Traveler 8.5 and does not work on my Nokia E61i.
I created a PMR to clarify, if the “wipe device” feature is available for Nokia S60 devices als well.

Today IBM came up with the following answer:

This error message is as designed. The Traveler 8.5 client for Nokia
S60 does not support the device wipe feature or the device security 
policy feature. Performing the wipe will block the device from syncing
with the server until a "Clear wipe" is performed.

and a second one:

Hello Ulrich

Following on from our phone conversation today I have created an 
enhancement request SPR # PPOR7NCEFE  requesting that this future be 
added to future releases. ...

Name Lookup

Traveler 8.5 come with some new features. One feature that is still missing is the name lookup. It was supposed to be in Traveler 8.5 but isn’t.

Found this information on Bastian Wieczorek’s blog

The name lookup feature of Lotus Notes® Traveler allows mobile users to search for and find information about users in the Domino® directory, or remote directories if directory assistance is configured. The name lookup feature can be accessed by selecting Lookup Name on the tools menu of the Lotus Notes Traveler client. By default, name lookup returns the first 25 results for a given query and returns names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses. You do have the option to customize the name lookup feature to best fit your needs.

isn´t included in the 8.5 Release. It is planed to add it in a later release.


Noteshound 8.0.0 is out

This is the first NotesHound version ever that is completely DXL-free.
Two new applications have been added to the package, bringing the total number of applications in the set to seventeen.

New applications in Noteshound 8.0.0 are:

Refresh/Replace Design
Allows you to refresh or replace the design of one or more databases/templates.

Keyword Cleaner
Allows you to manipulate content of keyword fields in documents and help reduce the size of these fields to avoid the 64 KB limit.

For more information goto www.noteshound.com


Compress Design – Use With Caution

Starting with ODS 48, Notes / Domino supports design and document compression, which can save you plenty of disk space. Today I had to learn that it is not always recommended to use these features.

Earlier this morning I received a service desk call from our front desk. The front desk staff are using a Notes database to manage our car pool. The database is a simple 1 form 5 views database that sits on our server for almost 7 years now.

For a better overview of booked cars I had build in a java applet from jnotes.de. You can simply change the booking period by rezising the bar in the grid or drag and drop an existing booking for one car to another.

kfz

So far, so good.

The front desk guy complained in his service desk call that the applet did not display any longer.

This behaviour was reproducable in Notes 7.0.3 and in 8.0.2 and 8.5 as well. Finally I found the reason.

After Domino 8.5 was released, I upgraded our production servers. In addition, I used a load compact -c  -n -v to upgrade to ODS51 and enable document- and design compression not only on mailfiles but on several directories as well, including the one that contains our car pool database.

I found out that the design compression corrupts the applet. After removing the flag from the database’s properties and replacing the applet, the database works again.

Update:

I did some testing; here are the results.

The original database has ODS43, no LZ1, No design- or datacompression enabled

I created a new copy (TEST1) on the server, ODS changed to ODS51   — Applet status: OK

I enabled data- and designcompression plus LZ1 and created a new copy ( TEST2) on the server. ODS changed to ODS51, Applet status: OK

On the server I triggered load compact -B TEST2; Applet status: OK

On the server I triggered load compact -c -ZU -n -v TEST1; Applet status: *#@@*BANG!!

UPDATE (14.01.2009)

Reproducable on 8.0.2


Traveler 8.5 – “Wipe device” not available?

I’ve installed Traveler 8.5 and wanted to use the “wipe device” action. All I get is this message

wipe2

I looked into the code of the “Wipe device” shared action in LotusTraveler.nsf. In line 103 I found this code:

If (Isempty(wipeSupported) Or "1" <> wipeSupported(0)) Then
confirmMsg = Strleft(NOWIPETEXT, "%0") + deviceName(0) + Strright(NOWIPETEXT, "%0")

Then I looked into the wipeSupported field of  the “Device” form.

wipe3

With a Default value of “0” the code to wipe the device is never executed.  So I tried to wipe the device by sending the signal via the server console:

tell traveler security addFlags wipeDevice IMEI:3518xxxxxxxxxxx CN=Ulrich Krause/O=singultus

The command is executed without errors and after the next sync, the device is no longer allowed to access the server. But the client and all data are still available

Seems that the function is not yet implemented properly. Or did I miss something??


Domino 8.5 and Compact

After upgrading 2 production servers to Domino 8.5 yesterday, I found this entry on the console when running a compact -c on the users mail mailfiles.

increasedby

I have seen this on several databases, but the amount of KB (  ~ + 11MB ) surprised me. Can someone explain this behaviour, pls?

All databases had ODS48 format with LZ1 compression and design and document compression enabled.