Composite applications and components can be run on either the rich client (IBM® Lotus® Notes® or Lotus Expeditor) or projected on a browser via WebSphere Portal. Composite application definitions can be read from either Lotus Notes/Domino or WebSphere Portal. NSF based composite application definitions are stored as design notes in NSFs and can even be read from local databases.

Composite applications deal with the following component types:

• NSF components - a NSF component is a Notes NSF
• Eclipse components - technically an Eclipse ViewPart. This includes all technologies that you can use in an ViewPart (for example, SWT, AWT, embedded browser etc.)
• Local portlet components: technically plugins with .WAR files in them
• Portlet components
• IBM® Lotus® Component Designer components
• WebSphere Portlet Factory components

Rich client component and application types

Component type\serverbackend	NSF-based application definitions	Portal application definitions
NSF component	Supported	Supported
Eclipse component	Supported	Supported
Local portlet component	Supported	Supported
Lotus Component Designer component	Not supported	Not supported
WebSphere Portlet Factory component	Not supported	Not supported

You can also run some component types on Lotus Expeditor. Eclipse components are already supported in Lotus Expeditor 6.1 and 6.1.1. In order to run NSF components on the rich client, however, you will always need Lotus Notes.

Web client component and application types

Component type\serverbackend	NSF-based application definitions	Portal application definitions
NSF component	Not supported	Supported via DAP (Domino Application Portlet
Eclipse component	Not supported	Supported via custom portlets (see next row)
Portlet component	Not supported	Supported
Lotus Component Designer component	Not supported	Supported
WebSphere Portlet Factory component	Not supported	Supported

You can embed NSF components in composite applications with DAP (Domino Application Portlet). In that case you get the original HTML rendering from the Domino server inside of a portlet. The DAP does not support the property broker at this point, however. You can put an NSF component on a page with other components but the components cannot interact.

Other alternatives to get the data from a NSF into a composite application is to use your own portlet, a Lotus Component Designer component or WebSphere Portlet Factory component. In these cases you get property broker support but have to reimplement the user interface and the business logic of your NSF application.

In order to use Eclipse components in Web-based composite applications you need a portlet. There is no native representation of an Eclipse component in the Web but the portlet is the Web counterpart.

The main thing to keep in mind is that composite applications can contain any combination or permutation of components from heterogeneous technologies.

The following are some other common terms that are used when discussing composite applications in Lotus Notes:

• Notes application - This was formerly called a "Notes database." An IBM® Lotus® Notes® application can have many views, framesets, etc.
• NSF component - A Notes database used in a composite application
• Component view for NSF components - Defines what is displayed in a palette in the Composite Application Editor. This is represented as one rectangle in the Editor user interface (for example, a Notes view, a Notes form )
• NSF-based application - An NSF file that stores one or multiple composite application XML files (ca.xml)

Composite applications created with NSF components

These composite applications are created from Notes NSF components created from one or more Notes applications. All IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) applications begin with a Domino database.

Note For the sake of clarity, a Notes application is built to run in the Notes client. A Domino application is one designed to run in a browser.

Notes databases are the containers for the application you are to include in your composite applications. Databases hold the data, logic, and design elements for your application. Your Notes application can be made up of one or more Notes databases.

You use Domino Designer to create the component(s) and to add properties and actions to the applications. You do all design work in Domino Designer. The following Notes design elements can be "surfaced' as components in composite applications:

• Pages
• Forms
• Views
• Folders
• Framesets
• Navigators

See Also

Composite application creation process
A closer look at component interaction

Glossary