McGarelGramming

A new field in Notes 8 saved me much development time.

The issue: The day after Notes 8 was installed on our server, I finished a small intranet database which I'll call "DbX." DbX copied the look and feel from the main intranet database by referencing its style sheet. All was well when I compared the two databases in FireFox, but I saw major font differences in I.E.

The solution: After much searching and verifying that the styles matched everywhere, I finally noticed the cause. In DbX, Domino was generating the usual doctype of HTML 4.01 Transitional for the $$ViewTemplates. In contrast, the main database used WebQueryOpen agents to display views. A doctype of XHTML 1.0 Transitional was hard-coded in the agent. I mentioned this situation to my co-worker, Declan, and he suggested the $$HTMLFrontMatter field. I added the field, entered the XHTML doctype information above and my font issues were gone.

I better get going on my Notes 8 reading.

Before I post anything else, I should probably provide a little background:

• I have been a Notes/Domino developer since 1999, starting with Notes 4.5. It was a case of love at first sight.
• Like many other N/D developers, I come from a non-programming background. My degree is in broadcast communications.
  
• I live and work in the Chicago, Illinois area.
  
• I have the good fortune to work at the same company with both John Roling and Declan Lynch.
• I first started reading Lotus blogs right before Lotusphere 2006. Doing so re-invigorated my enthusiasm for the future of Notes.
  

I couldn't make it to Lotusphere this year and therefore missed the Jamfest. In that spirit of fun, though, here's . . .

Server Agent Man
(sung to the tune of "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers)

There's a man who writes agents with fervor
And all the code he writes runs on the server
With every function he calls
The agent queue might stall
Odds are you'll be outsourced again tomorrow

(Chorus)
Server agent man, server agent man
They've given you an ID -- don't save under your name

Beware of simple fixes that you find
A simple fix can hide some buggy lines
Be careful what you say
As you declare the array
Odds are you'll be outsourced again tomorrow

(Chorus)

[guitar solo I'm not good enough to play]

(Chorus)

Archiving the mailboxes every work day
Logging document changes triggered by QuerySave
You've let a deadline slip
While searching the blogs for tips
Odds are you'll be outsourced again tomorrow

(Chorus)

Server a-a-a agent man