This chapter gives you a basic introduction to Notes terminology and shows you how to get around in Notes, but is not a complete introduction to the Notes interface. Other parts of the interface relevant to administrators are explored throughout the
book. This chapter:
By the end of this chapter, an experienced computer user should be able to find where things are.
Notes includes a database engine, user-interface builder, Notes systems-management facilities, and both a server and client interface. It's inevitable that a product this large will spawn a great deal of jargon. Much of this jargon resembles concepts
borrowed from other products, but with some subtle distinctions. If you want to participate in discussion groups, or even just understand the rest of this book, you must comprehend these terms:
A database is the basic repository of information in Notes. Notes applications often use several databases in Notes rather than one large database. Administrators must make sure that they know which databases collectively form an application.
Each Notes database appears as a separate icon on your Notes desktop. Identical copies of databases are called replicas. A typical Notes server contains anywhere from ten to several thousand individual Notes databases.
Each Notes database is made up of a collection of documents. A Notes document is a general-purpose object that can be used to store information in any desired format. Documents can store bitmaps, text, files, OLE objects, voice annotations, and
so on. Documents are also used to store an application's design. A single Notes database contains any number of different document types. There is no restriction enforced by Notes on the internal structure of documents stored within a single database. This
ability to mix and match document types within a single database is what gives Notes a great deal of its flexibility. You can even add fields to or delete fields from documents after they have been created.
Forms are what you use to create and view documents. A form is a programmable window into a document. It specifies the format of the fields on the screen. Fields can be directly contained in a document or calculated on the fly. A form can be used
to filter out fields that should not be displayed.
A form can also contain application code. This feature allows a form to display the result of calculations and database queries, as well as the raw data stored in a document. A form need not display all the data stored within a document. For example, a
form may display only five of the ten fields stored within a document. A form also gives you the capacity to display different fields at different times. Forms are the basic building block of a Notes user interface. Figure 2.1 shows the form used to view a
person record in the Name and Address Book.
Figure 2.1.
The form used to view a person document in the Notes Public Address Book.
Views are a collection of documents. Views, like forms, are a user-interface feature. Each view contains a selection formula, which is a logical formula that determines which of the documents in a database will be displayed in a view. A
view can categorize and sort the documents in a database so that they are easy to find. A typical Notes database can contain anywhere from a half dozen to thirty or more individual views. Some views are used to present information to the user; other views
are hidden from the user. Hidden views are used to speed database lookups. Figure 2.2 shows a view from the Public Address Book.
Figure 2.2.
A view is a categorized/sorted collection of documents.
The Notes workspace is analogous to a desktop for an operating system. Whereas an operating system desktop gives you access to the programs and files on your computer, the Notes workspace gives you access to the databases on your Notes network.
Figure 2.3 shows the Notes workspace.
Figure 2.3.
The Notes workspace.
Replication is the process of updating replica copies of databases. Replicas are identical copies of databases that reside on different servers or on client workstations. Databases that are replicas of each other share a common replica ID number.
Replicas need not have the same Notes file name. The Replicator server task (a task is a program that runs under control of the Notes server) is responsible for copying additions, deletions, and changes from one replica database to another. The Replicator
is a CPU-intensive server task and monitoring and scheduling replication is a critical part of an administrator's job.
If you've been using Notes Release 3, the new Release 4 interface may take a few minutes to get used to. If you've never used Notes before, you may want to get some basic training at some point. This section is just the briefest possible introduction to
the Notes interface and how to manipulate databases. Other parts of the interface useful to administrators are explored throughout this book.
The Notes workspace is the first thing you see when you start the Notes climb. The workspace contains a menu bar, tool bar, and several tabbed pages. Tabs allow you to group databases by whatever categories make sense in your organization. In Notes
Release 4, you can add or remove tabs in the workspace. The only exception is the Replicator Tab, which is always on the far right.
Tasks that you can accomplish directly at the workspace include
The information about your workspace is stored in the DESKTOP.DSK file. Every time you add or delete a database or tab, Notes updates your DESKTOP.DSK file.
To add names to the tabs already on your workspace, follow these steps:
Figure 2.4.
The Workspace Properties dialog box.
To add a new tab to your workspace, follow these steps:
To delete a workspace page, follow these steps:
You can remove any page except for the Replicator page.
Notes Release 4 stacks the icons of replica databases. As an administrator you sometimes will want direct access to all replica databases on the network. To unstack replica icons, toggle the View, Stack Replications menu to enable/disable this feature.
The Notes workspace isn't of much use until you add database icons. To add a database icon to the workspace, follow these steps:
Figure 2.5.
Adding a database icon to a workspace.
The Replicator page on the workspace enables clients to configure their replication with servers, specifying a schedule as well as the specific databases to be replicated. The Replicator page must be configured for each location that the client has
configured. Network-based clients will have only a single location and therefore only a single set of Replicator page settings. Mobile clients will have multiple locations configured and will need to configure the Replicator page for each location. The
Notes interface automatically displays the Replicator settings for the current location. The Replicator page displays a list of servers and replicas; all replicas that have been created on the client machine are listed on each Replicator page. Figure 2.6
shows a typical Replicator page for a remote location.
Figure 2.6.
A Replicator page for a remote location.
You can tell that this Replicator page is for a remote location by the telephone icon next to the server name near the top of the Replicator page.
Configuring replication with the Replicator page is very straightforward. You simply place a check next to each database you want to replicate. For complete details on using the Replicator page, see Chapter 20, "Supporting Dial-Up Users."
Each Notes database contains data, application code, and at least two Help files. One of these Help documents, the About document, is displayed automatically the first time a database is opened. (This can be changed, but it is the default.) Figure 2.7
shows the default About document for the Statistics Reporting Database (an important administrative database covered in Chapter 14, "Administrative Databases").
Figure 2.7.
The About document should provide a basic overview of the database.
What you see when you close an About document is determined by the database designer. A typical database displays a navigator and a view. Figure 2.8 shows the display for the Public Address Book. The left pane displays all the non-hidden views in the
database. The right pane shows a categorized listing of the documents in the view currently selected.
Figure 2.8.
The default interface for Notes databases is a navigator and view pane.
You can open an individual document by double-clicking it in the view pane. The database designer also may have added programs that can be executed. These will be listed on the Actions menu.
Administrators need to be familiar with the Database Properties dialog box (see Figure 2.9). You can display the Database Properties dialog box in several ways:
Figure 2.9.
All administrators should be familiar with the Database Properties dialog box.
The Database Properties dialog box is the central administrative point for viewing and configuring database settings. The tabs that concern an administrator are the Basics tab, the Information tab, and the Full Text tab. (Each of these tabs is covered
later in the book.)
One other dialog box that all administrators should know is the User Preferences dialog box. The User Preferences dialog box controls:
Figure 2.10 displays the Basics panel of the User Preferences dialog box.
Figure 2.10.
All administrators should be familiar with the User Preferences dialog box.
Each of these panels is discussed in detail later in this book.
As an administrator, you will become very familiar with the server console and server administration panel. They are the primary interface to the Notes server. Chapter 13, "Administrative Tools," covers each of these in detail, as well as
other administrative tools.
Release 3 users will be lost for about 10 minutes when they first sit down in front of a Release 4 workstation. All the Release 3 menus exist somewhere in the Release 4 structure; Lotus has included a Release 3 Menu Finder that is useful in finding some
of the more esoteric features. You can access the Release 3 Menu Finder through the Help menu.
Notes has an integrative set of features spanning a wide range of functionality, including
Each of these areas will have some specific terminology with which a Notes administrator should be familiar. Databases and documents are the primary building blocks for the database engine. Forms, views, and the workspace are the primary user-interface
tools. Replication is an important task that a server administrator has to worry about. This cursory overview of the Notes interface is far from complete. The average administrator who understands the basic terminology introduced in this chapter and spends
a little time playing with the interface will quickly be able to find the correct menus to accomplish the tasks that are an everyday part of his job.