OpenNTF Presentation Saves Time and Money with Free Open Source Solutions

Detroit Notes Professionals

Learn How OpenNTF Open
Source Solutions Can Save You
Time, Money and Your Hair
Bruce Elgort
OpenNTF 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 Overview
 Quick run thru of some OpenNTF Applications
 OpenLog
 domBulletin
 DominoWiki
 !!Help!!

 Starting Your Own Project


Agenda continued

 Wrap-up
 Questions and Answers
 Shirt giveaways


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

 What all the different open source licenses mean
 How to make other people write code for you
 How to stop paying for all your software
 How to re-grow hair you've already lost
 How 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 • Stubby
• DominoWiki • Trigger Happy
• BB Log Analyzer • Domino Outline 2 Ajax
• domBulletin Transformer
• Blogsphere • iWatch
• kSpam • OpenLog
• Real Workflow • Quick Elementer
• User Admin. Utility • MailScan
• EU Power Tools • MailAnalysis
• !!Help!! • Web or Notes Survey Reports
• The Automated Admin • ACLHelp
• Active Site • LDD Monkey
• DXLPeek • Domgle
• Surely Template
and many more…


Other OpenNTF Resources


Other OpenNTF Resources

 Code Bin
 Application Catalog
 WikiFAQ
 OpenNTF Blog
 The Taking Notes Podcast


A Bit of History…


A Bit of History…

 Started in December 2001
 Nathan 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 infrastructure
 A 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 it
 The press loved it
 Thousands of downloads in the first few weeks after
it’s release
 This application put OpenNTF on the map and
continues to be one the sites most popular
applications.


Do you use it?


The OpenNTF Site

 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 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


Some OpenNTF Factoids

 Over 34,000 registered users
 Over 10,000 downloads every month
 Over 2,100 visitors each day
 Server hosted by The PSC Group
 Websphere Portal hosted by Prominic


Some OpenNTF Factoids

 Over 34,000 registered users
 Over 10,000 downloads every month
 Over 2,100 visitors each day
 Server hosted by The PSC Group
 Websphere Portal hosted by Prominic
34,000

24,702
16,188

2,482 5,047
2002 2003 2004
2005
2006


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 development
 Reduce the cost of software maintenance
 All this is accomplished by distributing it among many
collaborators
 If 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


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 site
 Sign the database
 Change 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


Error
Server Agents Type

User
Forms


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


Looking at the Error Generated by the Button


Event, Type, Time, Severity



User, Access, Version




Error details




Error details

Server, DB,
Agent, Method




Error details

Server, DB,
Notification Agent, Method



View/Form

Error details

Server, DB,
Notification Agent, Method


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


Job well done Julian


Your boss said she needs a discussion forum


…for a trade show next month


domBulletin


What is domBulletin?

 State of the art discussion forum
 Similar to phpBB
 Notes client and browser
 Highly configurable
 Currently 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 site
 Sign it
 Configure
 ACL
 Roles
 Database setup

 Read the Help > Using This Database


domBulletin Configuration

 Forum categories
 Skins
 Authentication / Security
 Mail
 User Profiles
 IBM Lotus Sametime integration
 Advanced Options


Categories


Categories

Flexible


Skin-able


Skin-able

Customize
using CSS


Skin-able

Add HTML
Customize
using CSS


Messenger
clients


Visitors can leave
comments for
administrator


Visitors can leave
comments for
administrator

And they can also
be reminded…


Allow Anonymous
Access


Allow Anonymous
Access

Self Registration


Allow Anonymous
Access

Self Registration

Forbidden User
Names


Allow Anonymous
Access

Self Registration

Forbidden User
Names

Forbidden
Words


Allow Anonymous
Access

Self Registration

Forbidden User
Names

Forbidden
Words

Smiley’s, UBB,
File Size


Users can choose a
skin


Users can choose a
skin

Select a language


Users can choose a
skin

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


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.org
 KatrinaHelp – http://www.katrinahelp.info
 OpenNTF WikiFAQ – http://wikifaq.openntf.org
 VoweWiki – http://wiki.vowe.org


133


Getting started with DominoWiki

 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


The content just
added

New category


The content just
added

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


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!!

 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


Tickets by User,
Date and Number

Active Tickets by
User, Date,
Supporter,
Application and
Number


Tickets by User,
Date and Number

Active Tickets by
User, Date,
Supporter,
Application and
Number

New ToDo’s by
Supporter, Date
and Number


Tickets by User,
Date and Number

Active Tickets by
User, Date,
Supporter,
Application and
Number

New ToDo’s by
Supporter, Date
and Number

Unread Mail by
Tickets and ToDo’s


Actions taken


Misc. info.

Actions taken


System info.

Misc. info.

Actions taken


ToDo’s

System info.

Misc. info.

Actions taken


And coming soon…


Job well done Ulrich and Thomas


Now What Would You Do If…

 You found a bug in one of these applications
 You had a great idea for new cool feature
 You wanted to collaborate with other Lotus geeks
using the applications


You Would…

 Head on over to the OpenNTF site
 Find the project you wanted
 Login
 Post a bug
 Post a feature request
 Post and/or reply to a discussion topic
 Or 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...


who is


has shown you


Contact

 Bruce Elgort

Blog – http://www.bruceelgort.com
Podcasts – http://takingnotes.openntf.org
Email – bruce.elgort@gmail.com
 Phone - 360.772.1865


References

 Ben Poole – http://www.benpoole.com
 Julian Robichaux – http://www.nsftools.com
 Michael Bourak – http://www.hinkyminky.net
 Ulrich Krause – http://www.eknori.de


Thank you


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