How OpenNTF Open Source Solutions Can Save You Time, Money And Your Hair

Detroit Notes Professionals

Learn How OpenNTF Open Source Solutions Can Save You Time, Money and Your Hair

Bruce ElgortOpenNTF Co-Founder

Wednesday, December 9, 2009


Good morning...





and I am here to show



how OpenNTF



open source solutions



can save you






Yes that’s my head!









born in New York





July 1963





so that makes me



less than 44



greater than 21



and not





at least not yet



Co-Founder





enjoy the presentation


Agenda

What is OpenNTF?Why Use Open Source Software?OpenNTF Site OverviewQuick run thru of some OpenNTF Applications

OpenLog domBulletin DominoWiki !!Help!!

Starting Your Own Project


Agenda continued

Wrap-upQuestions and AnswersShirt giveaways


Some things you won’t learn about today...

What all the different open source licenses meanHow to make other people write code for youHow to stop paying for all your softwareHow to re-grow hair you've already lostHow to spot weld



OpenNTF mission



a framework



for the community



to develop open source



applications for



IBM Lotus Notes and Domino



which can be



freely distributed


OpenNTF Mission


OpenNTF Mission

“Our mission is to provide a framework for the community to develop open source applications for IBM Lotus Notes and

Domino which can be freely distributed.”


Partial List of OpenNTF Applications


Partial List of OpenNTF Applications

• OpenNTF Mail• DominoWiki• BB Log Analyzer• domBulletin• Blogsphere• kSpam• Real Workflow• User Admin. Utility• EU Power Tools• !!Help!!• The Automated Admin• Active Site• DXLPeek• Surely Template

• Stubby• Trigger Happy• Domino Outline 2 Ajax

Transformer• iWatch• OpenLog• Quick Elementer• MailScan• MailAnalysis• Web or Notes Survey Reports• ACLHelp• LDD Monkey• Domgle and many more…


Other OpenNTF Resources


Other OpenNTF Resources

Code BinApplication CatalogWikiFAQOpenNTF BlogThe Taking Notes Podcast


A Bit of History…


A Bit of History…

Started in December 2001Nathan T. Freeman (NTF) made a post on Notes.net

floating the idea of an IBM Lotus Notes and Domino open source community

Notes.net (LDD) members responded and developers from around the world help put together a server and a simple web site.

NotesOSS.org was born…



OpenNTF History

Yes I said “NotesOSS.org” and not OpenNTF.We started out as NotesoSS.org and a few months

later changed our name to OpenNTF.org for various reasons

For the first 9 months the site remained pretty quiet“Build it and they shall come” - NOT!This gave us time to build the support infrastructureA few early endeavors

Lookout Express - Microsoft Outlook Express template for IBM Lotus Notes

Project Crimson – Remember Garnet?


OpenNTF History Continued…

OpenNTF needed a “killer application” to help put OpenNTF on the radar screens of the Notes/Domino community.

What is the one application that almost all Notes/Domino developers used that could benefit from some enhancements and some new features….



Notes Mail, of course


OpenNTF Mail

Eleven Developers from around the world added a dozen new features to the Notes Mail Template two weeks after Notes 6.0 was launched.

Added Reply and Forward indicators Added a Follow-Up feature Added “Quick Stuff” Resend Memo action Show message headers Find Memo action Send/Receive action OpenNTF Preference Pane And many more…


OpenNTF Mail Was a Smash Hit!

The community loved itThe press loved itThousands of downloads in the first few weeks after

it’s releaseThis application put OpenNTF on the map and

continues to be one the sites most popular applications.



Do you use it?


Home Page and basic site content (domCMS)Project Management System (PMT)

Used by Project “Chefs” to manage their open source projects Code Releases Bug Tracking Feature Requests Project discussion RSS enabled

Main Bar (domBulletin) Discussion forums

RSS enabled

The OpenNTF Site


The OpenNTF Site continued…

Code Bin 1000+ Code snippets RSS enabled

Application Catalog Cumulative collection (Projects and other shareware, freeware and

open source apps)

Other Fun Stuff OpenNTF blog (Blogsphere)

RSS Enabled Taking Notes podcasts

RSS Enabled Available on iTunes



53


53


Some OpenNTF Factoids

Over 34,000 registered usersOver 10,000 downloads every monthOver 2,100 visitors each dayServer hosted by The PSC GroupWebsphere Portal hosted by Prominic


Some OpenNTF Factoids

2,482 5,047

16,188

24,702

34,000

2002 2003 20042005

2006

Over 34,000 registered usersOver 10,000 downloads every monthOver 2,100 visitors each dayServer hosted by The PSC GroupWebsphere Portal hosted by Prominic


The OpenNTF Operations Crew


The OpenNTF Operations Crew


What is Open Source Software?

Open source software is software for which the underlying programming code is available to the users so that they may read it, make changes to it and build new versions of the software incorporating their changes.

Free programs created through the collaborative efforts of programmers from around the world


Why Use Open Source Software?

Reduce the cost of software developmentReduce the cost of software maintenanceAll this is accomplished by distributing it among many

collaboratorsIf you don’t like something you can change it!So open source means free?

No – you still may require training and support but, the cost is still less than using proprietary software.

Flexible licensing OpenSource.org – http://www.OpenSource.org Many licenses to choose from – All with their own caveats


Why doesn’t everybody use open source?

Valid Concerns Support Accountability

Supporters Assert… Open source software is more reliable Problems can be found and fixed quicker



Let’s see how



OpenNTF





can save you





Let’s start with one for the developers…


…there will be a compliance audit in 4 weeks


File | Database | New

OpenLog


What is OpenLog?

How many of you can say they know about all the errors occurring in your applications?

So what exactly is OpenLog… Common error and event logging framework One database to log all of your IBM Lotus Notes and Domino

application errors Works great for server agents as well as for Notes client UI

applications. Has been modified by Matt White to log JavaScript errors

and events


Setting up OpenLog

Download the database from the OpenNTF siteSign the databaseChange the ACL

Depositor – Write Public Documents

Point logDbname in the OpenLogFunctions script library to the location of your OpenLog database



Server Agents


Server Agents

User Forms


Server Agents

User Forms

Error Type


Add the Script Libraries to your app….

OpenLogFunctions (LotusScript library)OpenLogClass (the Java library)


Add the Script Libraries to your app….

OpenLogFunctions (LotusScript library)OpenLogClass (the Java library)

Remember to click yes


Modifying Your Code to Work with OpenLog

Add this line to the [Options] section of your code: Use "OpenLogFunctions“Now add the following line before the error block

resumes or terminates: Call LogError


Now wasn’t that easy?


Let’s error


A Simple Example


A Simple Example


A Simple Example



Looking at the Error Generated by the Button


Looking at the Error Generated by the ButtonEvent, Type, Time, Severity



User, Access, Version




Error details




Error details

Server, DB, Agent, Method




Error details

Server, DB, Agent, MethodNotification




Error details

Server, DB, Agent, MethodNotification

View/Form


Looking at the Error Generated by the Agent



Domino Server



Domino Server

Agent








Server


Server

Database


Server

Database

Agent


Server

Database

Agent

Function


Server

Database

Agent

Function

Error Text


Server

Database

Agent

Function

Error Text

Event Type


Server

Database

Agent

Function

Error Text

Event Type

Severity


Notifications


Notifications

Send To


Notifications

Send To

Subject


Notifications

Send To

Subject

Body Text Header


Notifications

Send To

Subject

Body Text Header

Event Details


Notifications

Send To

Subject

Body Text Header

Event Details

Doclink


Why be so negative…


OpenLog can do more…


Tell us more Bruce...

You can use another handy function called LogEvent to log anything you like!

No more writing to the log.nsf database!

LogEvent takes one parameter: msg - string

LogEventEx adds two more parameters: Severity - string doc – NotesDocument


Developers Have Integrated OpenLog Into Their Bug Tracking Systems


Developers Have Integrated OpenLog Into Their Bug Tracking Systems



Job well done Julian




Let’s see how



OpenNTF






can save you





Your boss said she needs a discussion forum


…for a trade show next month



domBulletin


What is domBulletin?

State of the art discussion forumSimilar to phpBBNotes client and browserHighly configurableCurrently at Version 1.2


Did You Know…

domBulletin has been used by the Lotusphere On-Line system for the last three years?

Used by many Lotus Business Partners as their product support forum

Used to host the OpenNTF Main Bar discussion forum





Notes client


Notes client

Web browser


Getting started with domBulletin

Download the template from the OpenNTF siteSign itConfigure

ACL Roles Database setup

Read the Help > Using This Database


domBulletin Configuration

Forum categoriesSkinsAuthentication / SecurityMailUser ProfilesIBM Lotus Sametime integrationAdvanced Options



Categories


Categories

Flexible


Skin-able


Skin-able

Customize using CSS


Skin-able

Customize using CSS

Add HTML




Messenger clients



Visitors can leave comments for administrator


Visitors can leave comments for administrator

And they can also be reminded…




Allow Anonymous Access



Self Registration



Self Registration

Forbidden User Names



Self Registration


Forbidden Words



Self Registration


Forbidden Words

Smiley’s, UBB, File Size






Users can choose a skin



Select a language



Select a language

Select a display mode


domBulletin Version 1.2

New Features: Polls RSS (category, topic and entire board) Signature blocks



Job well done Michael




Let’s see how



OpenNTF






can save you





HR said they need a Wiki...


…by tomorrow



DominoWiki


What is a Wiki?

“the simplest online database that could possibly work”

Ward Cunningham


Popular Wiki Sites

WikiPedia – http://www.wikipedia.orgKatrinaHelp – http://www.katrinahelp.infoOpenNTF WikiFAQ – http://wikifaq.openntf.orgVoweWiki – http://wiki.vowe.org


133


Getting started with DominoWiki

Download the template from the OpenNTF site Sign it Configure

ACL Roles Database setup




Configuration Select your style (4 CSS color schemes to choose

from) Enter the URL for the wiki Site name Blurb for RSS feed Protocol (http or https) Domain name Language (ISO format) Contact email Copyright message Generator message





Type content here


Type content here

Assign categories


Type content here

Assign categories

Attach a file



Username gets stored in a cookie


Wiki Markup

Click on the Style Tips graphic to make style tips drawer pop up

DominoWiki uses a wiki markup syntax to: Headings Bold Italic CamelCase Words External URL’s Link to a wiki page File attachments





The content just added



New category



New category

Search


DominoWiki 1.1

Coming in the next week or so

Big new features Diff engine with the ability to “promote” an older version Multilingual web UI option

Big-ish new features Correct MIME type sent to clients via new resource documents framework Customizable header for all pages

More... Some requested views Simplified config document More options added to wiki markup including simple tables and more HTML

entities (q, cite and sup) Bug fixes, CSS updates and JS updates

145



Job well done Ben




Let’s see how



OpenNTF






can save you





The IT Department said they need a help desk


…next week



!!Help!!


What is !!Help!!

Complete help desk ticket tracking system

Assign / Follow up Tickets

Submit tickets via mail (no need to change the mail template)

Automated machine inventory (using QuickCall form)

Use templates and placeholders for notifications

Unlimited ticket escalation

Configurations docs for almost every feature

Multilingual (no additional tools needed)

Web services enabled (you may have seen this at RIM booth in the Product Showcase)

Integrated with the OpenNTF OpenLog application


Getting Started with !!Help!!

Download the template from the OpenNTF site

Version 1.5

Sign the database

Change the ACL

Assign Database Roles Admin Edit All Read All Support

Select your language – German or English

Configure keywords / Language translation documents



Tickets by User, Date and Number



Active Tickets by User, Date, Supporter,

Application and Number





New ToDo’s by Supporter, Date

and Number





New ToDo’s by Supporter, Date

and Number

Unread Mail by Tickets and ToDo’s



Actions taken


Actions taken

Misc. info.


Actions taken

Misc. info.

System info.


Actions taken

Misc. info.

System info.

ToDo’s



And coming soon…



Job well done Ulrich and Thomas



Now What Would You Do If…

You found a bug in one of these applicationsYou had a great idea for new cool featureYou wanted to collaborate with other Lotus geeks

using the applications


You Would…

Head on over to the OpenNTF siteFind the project you wantedLoginPost a bugPost a feature requestPost and/or reply to a discussion topicOr even volunteer to help with the project



Starting Your Own Project

Register on the OpenNTF site

Post your project idea in the OpenNTF Main Bar and see what other people think. You don’t have to do this but it is a good idea.

Select from the site menu “Projects > Create Project”.

Fill out the form and and click submit Project Name Brief Description Names of others who may assist you with the project (for security) Detailed Project Description Application Category Target IBM Lotus Notes/Domino release

Now you can post releases, fix bugs , post documentation and enjoy the benefits of being an OpenNTF Project Chef!

And maybe have your application featured in this presentation next year




We are almost done...











born in New York





July 1963





who is



less than 44



greater than 21



and not





has shown you



how OpenNTF






can save you





Contact

Bruce Elgort

Blog – http://www.bruceelgort.comPodcasts – http://takingnotes.openntf.orgEmail – [email protected]

Phone - 360.772.1865


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

References

Ben Poole – http://www.benpoole.comJulian Robichaux – http://www.nsftools.comMichael Bourak – http://www.hinkyminky.netUlrich Krause – http://www.eknori.de



Thank you


Technology

How OpenNTF Open Source Solutions Can Save You Time, Money And Your Hair