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Anyone who has been working with Notes for awhile can tell you what a 'run once' agent is. And a newbie can't. And here's the weird part - the reason the new kids don't know what a run once agent is, would be a surprise to the old timers. That's because run once agents disappeared in ND6 and us old guys forget that (because we don't think about it, not because we are forgetful). Although in typical Lotus fashion, the run once flag is still used - but now it means that the target documents of the agent are 'none', which of course makes it perfectly clear for all of us. ;)

And the real reason I bring this up is that I was trying to get a handle on all the agents on my server, and not just the scheduled ones. I found a wide variety of issues with a lot of agents, Things like nonexistent servers to run on, agent signers not authorized to run restricted agents or is it unrestricted? Which agents are more powerful? That's right, the unrestricted agent can do anything. It's not that the restricted agent can do restricted things.

So, my question for you is how do you keep track of the things that are messing with your data?

Posted by John Kingsley At 02:48:30 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Over the years I’ve come to expect that there is always a backlog of IT projects just waiting to get done. So I started thinking about how demand prioritization takes place within your organizations when it hit me. Is there a backlog of Lotus Notes-based IT projects within your company? If there is, what is driving demand? Or do you find you are in the business of Demand Creation? Why do you have to sell your customers on new applications?

For current applications, does the broader subject of IT Governance (compliance, government regulation, etc.) rule the day? Is it simply one of many projects in need of prioritization? Or is IT Governance an issue at all?

Also, be sure to respond to the poll on Demand for Lotus Notes applications.

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 10:58:06 AM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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I read an article in TechRepublic this morning reporting on the “top four: trends in IT" from Interop Las Vegas 2008. Other than being a little surprised about the focus (still!) on reducing costs and little mention of security or compliance, the top four trends were not too surprising.

Top Four Trends:

• Holistic manageability
• Supporting decentralized workforce
• Data center consolidation and centralization
• Green IT and “greenwashing”

I’ll let you read the article to understand what the author meant by each of these topics. But looking at the list, I can easily see where Teamstudio products and services help to address these trends albeit for the Lotus Notes environment. That is with the exception of Green IT. I could use a little help on this one.

What can Teamstudio do to help you with your Green IT initiatives? One of the services we provide--and one of our most in-demand--is Asset Analysis for Server Consolidation. We will ensure that your used application stays out of the landfill! Seriously, fewer servers means lower energy cost, but our role is indirect at best. Are there other things we do or can do to help you with your “green” initiatives?

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 02:35:40 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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And I have the code to do it too!

One agent that will eat all available memory and crash the server.

Back in my early days of Lotuscript coding I wrote an agent to read and update documents in a lot of db’s on the server. Being the good, know-it-all developer whose code always works, I tested it real thoroughly (Two small db’s on my test server).

Off I went, full of confidence in my work, and scheduled the agent to run during work hours. Well, needless to say, I got lots of calls stating the server was down. Since it was a memory error, I didn’t even suspect it was my code. “Must be a windows issue,” I thought. After scheduling the agent again, and getting a second round of calls, I thought to myself, maybe it is my agent. So I disabled it and did some troubleshooting. I was looping and opening many instances of each document without closing the previous, as well as setting a bunch of other stuff.

So do you have rogue agents in you Domino environment?

If so how do you manage them?

Oh, and no I will not post my code it is too embarrassing

Posted by John Coolidge At 02:22:46 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

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I was enjoying a radio program on the way into work this morning called Art of the Song. The general format of the show includes an interview with a musical guest discussing the creative process, tips for songwriters, and a brief discussion about some aspect of creativity such as “creativity for life”, creative archetypes and so on.

Naturally, this got me thinking about IT governance and compliance issues as they relate to application development for Lotus Notes. Okay, maybe that’s not a logical leap for everyone, but it’s where I ended up anyway.

I was wondering how much compliance or IT governance inhibits your ability to be creative in your approach to application development. Perhaps it has no impact at all. I don’t know? And if it does hinder your creativity, is really a bad thing?

If poor programming practices are defended as creative practices, then compliance/IT governance is probably a good thing. If compliance/IT governance means there is one and only one solution to the business problems you are trying to address, then it’s probably a bad thing. Maybe having NO impact on application development is the best thing.

Just idle thoughts during my morning commute.

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 01:55:14 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

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I am amazed at the number of people I talk to that use 'print screen' as a method for controlling their source code. The rationale is, apparently, that if the modified date for a design element is the same in this printout from last month as the printout I did today, the design must not have been changed. But does that printout tell you when someone restored that version from a backup? What happened in between? And if the date has changed, can the printout tell you why it changed? Now, I truly believe that not all applications need to be tracked, but for those that do, how can manual processes be acceptable? There are so many shortcomings with screen prints that people shouldn't even bother.

Posted by John Kingsley At 12:00:00 AM Location Beverly, MA | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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IBM and Redbooks have created the Lotus Domino Web Application Development Wiki. According to the Preface on the site "The topics vary widely and range from key recommendations for updating existing Web applications and best practices for refining the look and feel of Domino applications for the Web, to common tips and techniques." Sounds like an excellent resource to us.

Teamstudio's Webcast "Web-enabling Lotus Notes Applications" is happening as I write and we will link to it as soon as it is up.

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 04:03:50 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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I walked into the lobby and saw a pencil laying on the table. I picked it up to see what kind it was, and just then some guy comes in and says 'I see you have a coding pencil--you must be the Notes developer the agency sent over." And that's how it all started.

No? Okay, seriously. I have an engineering degree and an MBA. I have been involved in high tech for a long time, in roles including development and tech support. In the early 90's one of the people in my group brought this guy in to show us this cool new tool called Lotus Notes. I was hooked on the rapid application development aspects right from the start. About the same time, circumstances allowed me to get laid off by my employer, only to start working for them as a contractor the following week, doing Notes development. And I haven't looked back since.

I have developed applications at large companies, and at small companies for large companies. I have presented sessions on server sizing at Lotus Symposiums, and I have sat in many sessions over at the Yacht and Beach Club, cheering along with the rest as new features were shown. And when I was looking for a new challenge, the recruiter told me about a company in Beverly looking for a sales support manager. I said that must be Teamstudio. I started here a little over a year ago, and don't tell anyone where you heard this, but I'd pay them to let me do what I do here. I am just so glad to continue to be involved in Lotus Notes, and to be able to talk to the wide variety of people I run across. Lotus Notes is used in so many different companies, that I continue to be amazed at what people do with Notes. And the technology keeps changing, so there is always something new to learn--and to share with other people. I get to wear many hats over here, and hopefully you will see me wearing one of them someday.

In the mean time, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Posted by John Kingsley At 02:09:17 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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The How I got started in Lotus Notes thread is weaving its way around the Lotus blog community.

Ed Brill, Duffbert, Volker Weber, and Phil Randolph all weigh in.

How did you get your start in Lotus Notes?

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 03:10:35 PM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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It’s good to know that according to CIO Insight annual survey, CIOs have “enormous influence” over decisions about IT spending, vendor selection and decisions regarding business process improvement. After all, it is their job! At the same time, it’s a bit disappointing to read that only about half of CIOs have “considerable influence” over important business decisions such as which companies to acquire and which markets to enter. (It kind of reminds me of the old joke, Question: How many people work at IBM? Answer: Oh, about half of them.) Seriously, this survey contains a lot of interesting data. Check it out if you have a chance.

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 10:56:59 AM Location Beverly, MA USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)