The Lotus Development Corporation groupware solution is composed of Lotus Domino Server 4.5 and Lotus Notes 4.5 Client. Lotus, which reinvented its Notes server as Domino (a combination Notes server and Web server) built Notes around a foundation consisting of a robust, cross-platform database engine, and provides the most comprehensive product in the market, integrating virtually every feature associated with groupware into a single package. Notes is a groupware system that incorporates directory services, messaging, news and conferencing, calendaring and group scheduling, workflow, a distributed database, and web access in one cohesive package with a single programming model. Although Lotus groupware products are highly customizable, they are not noted for their ease of use. Nonetheless, its position as market leader is safe for now as the competition, at this point, tends to be either short on functionality, difficult to manage as a common platform, or both. Historically Lotus has focused its marketing efforts on large corporations with established IS departments that can manage Notes' complexity. However, with help from the Business Partner Program, which offers services and support for Lotus products, Lotus has now started to target small and medium-size businesses that may have previously rejected the solution as too complicated.
The latest release of Lotus Notes retains the core strengths of the proprietary Notes system--including applications development, replication, and security--and adds Internet collaboration and publishing to its persona. Lotus has spliced some degree of support for Internet protocols into its proprietary system and now exhibits a growing degree of interoperability with Internet protocols. Lotus Domino gives users application services and a Web server in one integrated package. The Lotus solution includes a server, a client, and three Web browsers. Lotus attempts to use its Internet development environment to bring groupware applications to the browser. Their strategy is simple: Domino turns Notes servers into web servers, so you have a highly programmable web server, accessible from any web client. In addition. Domino converts almost any database and application into HTML on the fly. Any Notes database is viewable with a Web browser. The interoperability with Internet protocols isn't seamless -- some documents and forms created within Notes can't be viewed with a web browser. Lotus hasn't quite achieved 100 percent fidelity between its Notes client and Web renderings--sometimes the HTML requires some tweaking--but the results are generally impressive and especially valuable for companies planning to extend existing Notes applications or information to the Web. Domino lets users with browsers access Notes databases and do just about anything they can do with a Notes client. Users can access the system from the desktop, the World Wide Web, or a remote location and still take advantage of the same features from all paths. This is a big step in the direction of easy, low cost scalability (though Domino is not there quite yet).
As seen above, Lotus has embraced the Internet in a big way. Domino is still centered around features found in its native Notes client. When in a pure Notes environment, you get offline Web browsing, Web page caching (either locally or at the server), content filtering and rating, Internet usage monitoring, proxy service and background agents to notify you of Web content changes. Domino's greatest strengths are in its ability to deliver and manage Web content for internal consumption.
The Domino server can be partitioned, allowing a single host computer to be used for multiple Notes servers, each with separate security. This is useful for centralizing servers, and for segregating internal and Internet servers. Server clustering reduces downtime and disruptions.
Notes' discussion protocol provides a terrific way to leverage knowledge by allowing anyone to ask for information from everyone in the organization. The full-text indexing capability lets users do simple keyword searches so everyone can find information easily by typing in a few associated terms.
For access from the Web, Lotus adds a Common Gateway Interface (CGI)-enabled HTTP server with a full-text search engine. The Lotus Notes database- the .NSF file-is the central element of Domino. Lotus has mapped Notes database functions into a set of URL-based functions. For example, to open the database
PERSONNEL.NSF on a Notes server named HumanResources, you supply the URL HumanResources/PERSONNEL.NSF?OpenDatabase to the browser. In response, Notes returns the views that are defined for that database. With Notes, users can search across different types of data, replicate data for use offline, and create agents that will automate activities.
Lotus also provides you with the Personal Web Navigator for searching the Web and storing favorite sites in a common database. We found this to be handy when several people were doing research on the Web from different locations, because it's easy to keep track of the sites co-workers have already visited.
The Lotus solution lets you control user's Web access, provided they surf using the Personal Web Navigator. You can selectively give users access to and from the Web and monitor the sites they visit. Even if you're not concerned about your employees playing on the Web, you might want to avoid bogging down the connection at crucial times.
Users are largely shielded from the Domino URL syntax. If HTTP users are allowed-and if they are authenticated through a password assigned in the server's name and address book-to browse the server's databases, a database list is automatically provided when users simply enter the server's URL in the browser. From there, individual databases display their available views by default, or a customized "About" document if one has been developed.
There is great ease in creating a link to the Web. By simply typing the URL, Notes recognizes and underlines the site as a link. URLs can be launched from within messages, from a menu item, or from the Personal Web Navigator. You can also embed a live Web page into a message, and the page will maintain its links.
Lotus has integrated the calendar and scheduling features from Lotus Organizer into the application, which is a great improvement for end-users. The scheduling feature lets you find free time for meetings and other resources, such as conference rooms or equipment. When you request a meeting, an e-mail is sent to those users who are invited, and they can choose to accept, decline, delegate, or suggest an alternate time. If you have something already scheduled for the suggested time frame, the application sends a warning that you have a conflict and asks for a confirmation. The calendar and scheduling code is available to developers so they can add this feature into other Notes applications.
Domino applications work best when designers customize views with graphics, navigators and other elements. If these have not been created, Domino provides a simple navigation bar in the database view that offers minimal functions, such as Previous /Next, Expand/Collapse and Search. Web database views specifically require developers to add actions for creating and editing documents (the functions normally provided via menus in the full Notes client)
Missing from browser access are the strong authentication and digital signature capabilities that the full Notes client provides. Authentication can be provided by a built-in Certificate Authority (CA). Alternatively, you can use a separate internal or external CA. Once certificates have been distributed and validated, Domino can use client certificates with SSL for encrypted transactions.
All databases must be kept locally on the server for Web access where the Web server is running, even though they can easily be replicated from another location using Notes' excellent replication services. Domino Web Server also supports directory mapping, URL mapping and URL redirection, much like many conventional Web servers.
Notes can exchange data with relational databases and transaction systems with LotusScript extensions for ODBC, MQSeries, and others, and includes features that permit read and write access via the Structured Query Language (SQL) to other databases. A workflow engine distributes, routes, and tracks documents.
Getting your system up and running quickly is important, but a major benefit of groupware platforms is the ability to develop customized applications. Domino continues to excel in this area. Domino is strong as a development environment, offering a range of interface and language choices. In addition to CGI, Perl Scripts, Java, JavaScript or VB Script, application programmers can use some of Notes' native functions and commands, or they can launch agents that run LotusScript on the server. LotusScript is typically the cornerstone of Notes development, using a BASIC-like language with some object-oriented principles. For developers targeting Web users, Domino provides custom variables and forms specifically for browser access. You can add native HTML if you prefer. Domino can deliver ActiveX, Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and OLE Controls (OCX) objects to a browser, bringing Windows platform-specific applications to the desktop. Notes and Domino support an application development environment that includes server and client APIs for C, C++, LotusScript, and Visual Basic. Lotus is working feverishly to integrate Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX. Currently available are Lotus Components, a set of business applets (enhanced ActiveX controls) designed to facilitate everyday tasks.
Remote Access.While on the road, you can replicate and synchronize information from multiple servers; see views, folders, and document relationships; and preview multiple documents on the same screen.
Hierarchical Folders. Let you create personal folders to store documents and messages and Notes agents automatically organize information for you.
Enhanced Linking. Let you create links to Notes databases, documents, OLE-compliant applications, and web pages.
Navigators. A graphical way to find documents or take actions without having to maneuver through multiple views or find menu commands.
Hotspots. Let users click on graphical or text Hotspots to go to a related Notes document, view, or database.
Permanent Pen. Designate your own personal signature (font size and color) for editing Notes documents.
Object Store. Documents in a Domino database can contain any number of objects and data types, and Java, and ActiveX applets; a built-in, full-text search engine makes it possible to index and search documents.
Directory. A single directory manages all resource directory information for server and network configuration, application management, and security; includes user account synchronization between NT and Domino.
Replication. Bidirectional replication automatically distributes and synchronizes information and applications across geographically dispersed sites.
Multi-level security. Access Control List (ACL) provides configurable security.
Cross-platform support. Notes and Domino supports most popular networks, operating systems and desktop applications, relational databases, mail systems, and messaging APIs.
Domino supports SMTP/MIME, x.400, and cc:Mail messaging environments, and provides a single back end supporting a variety of mail clients, including POP3, MAPI, and Notes. Domino also supports SSL, HTTP, HTML, SMTP, and MIME protocols.
Administrators will be happy to know that Domino now integrates with Windows NT and provides the same capabilities in 16 and 32-bit environments. You can administer the software from a server, a workstation, a remote client, or even a Web browser. The solution is highly customizable, and it includes sample template databases and forms that you can modify. However, there are few wizards to make developing applications easier. And there are no convenient options for importing NetWare users.
The multiprocessor version of Domino supports between 500 and 1,000 users and runs on Windows NT, Windows 95, NetWare, OS/2, and Unix. Domino supports Secure Sockets Layer, Messaging API, POP3, HTTP, HTML, SMTP, and MIME.
The Notes client ships with the Personal Web Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, and Netscape Navigator 3.0. It also comes with templates that serve as a framework for building Notes applications, but you can do further customization using LotusScript. Lotus recommends that you have at least a 486 processor on the desktop with 30MB of RAM and 40MB of disk space. The client runs on Windows 3.x, Win95, NT, MacOS, OS/2, and Unix.
The next releases of the Notes client will feature an enhanced and simpler user interface that Lotus hopes will reduce the learning curve. They will also support Internet Inter-ORB Protocol, and Internet Calendaring Access Protocol and will let you create a "portfolio" of Domino databases, across which you can execute a full-text search. You will be able to use Word or WordPro as your message editor instead of the Notes editor.
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