APPLICATION DESIGN
Assigning a programmatic name for a column
The Name field displays a default name assigned to the column for referring to the column in a script or formula. You can edit this name to make it more descriptive. Take care editing a name assigned to a column if you have already created formulas using the programmatic name -- changing the name breaks all formulas that use the name.
You will need the programmatic name for the column to program the InViewEdit event that allows users to edit documents from the view. For more information on this feature, see "Allowing users to edit or create documents from a view."
Using the programmatic name assigned to columns by simple functions If you first define a column using a simple function, then you create another column that depends on the value of the first, you must edit the programmatic name of the first column to something other than a dollar symbol ($) and a number. If you put $1 in a formula, it is evaluated to = the quantity/value of 1. If you put "$1" in the formula, it is treated as a string rather than a variable, field or column name.
For example, if the first column in the view is the author (simple function), with a programmatic name of $1 and you want the second column to display something based on the value in column 1, you can change the programmatic name of column 1 from $1 to $one and then refer to the new programmatic name in the formula for column 2. For example: @if($one = "Mary Stone/Acme";"READ THIS"; "ignore this")
The following column names assigned by simple functions are restricted -- that is, you cannot use their programmatic name in a formula: # in View column, Collapse/Expand, # Responses, or # Response levels.
Using a hide-when formula in a column
Use a hide-when formula to hide a column based on conditions in place when the view first displays. For example, to hide a column from a particular user, click the Advanced tab on the Column Properties box, check "Hide column if formula is true," and enter formula:
@If(@Name([CN];@Username) = "John Smith")
Note that because the formula evaluates when the view first displays, a hide-when formula that matches a certain condition will fail if the condition is met subsequent to opening the view.
Caution Hide-when formulas are not a security measure. Users can still get information by viewing the document properties. Use this feature as a method for controlling the display of information in a view.
Note Because the ability to selectively hide a column based on a formula is new in IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) Designer 6, columns hidden in this way will display in earlier releases of the IBM® Lotus® Notes® client unless you also check the option "Hide in Notes R5 or before."
Hiding a column from R5 clients When you check "Hide column" in Lotus Domino Designer 6 or later, the column will also be hidden when the application is accessed by an R5 client. If you check "Hide column if formula is true" in Designer 6 or later, the column will be visible when accessed by an R5 client because R5 did not have the ability to selectively hide columns. If you are using the option to "Hide column if formula is true," check the option "Hide in Notes R5 or before."
To fill available space with columns
In Release 7 and earlier, the full width of a view could be filled with columns by selecting the view style option, "Extend last column to window width." Notes 8 offers additional customization, allowing you to specify which column is extended to use the available window width. The column selection is not position dependent. If the column order is later revised, the selected column will remain selected.
Note If both the view-level and column-level window width options are set, the view-level option has precedence, and the last column will be extended to window width.
To extend a column to window width
1. Click the column that you want extended.
2. Open the Column Properties box and click the Advanced tab.
3. Select "Extend to use available window width".
To display column values as links in Web applications
To open a document from a view, Web users click a column that links to the document. By default, IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) uses the leftmost column in a view as the linking column, but you can change this default by designing another linking column. After you set up customized linking, you cannot revert to Domino's default behavior -- you must continue to designate at least one linking column in that view.
1. Click the column(s) you want to display as linking columns.
3. Select "For Web Access: Show values in this column as links."
To adjust columns for vertical layouts
Notes 8 standard configuration offers the ability to display a view in a vertical (narrow) layout for the Personal Information Management (PIM) composite applications Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. In a vertical layout, the columns are adjusted to fit within the layout without scrolling. Columns can be displayed on two lines, with each column in the view designated as always being on the top row or potentially wrapped to the second row, or hidden in vertical layouts. A sequence number allows the designer to control the order in which columns are wrapped to the second row. The second row can also be indented, by designating a column on the top row under which the second row will be left justified.
Note See "Additional design element options for composite applications" for information on adjusting your Notes settings to display these options.
To display a column on the top row
1. Click the column(s) that you want displayed on the top row.
3. Under "If view is narrow" select "Keep on top".
To wrap a column onto the second row
1. Click the column(s) that you want displayed on the second row, if wrapping is required.
3. Under "If view is narrow" select "Wrap to second row".
4. Enter an integer from 1 to 100 in the Sequence number field.
1. Click the column(s) that you want hidden.
3. Under "If view is narrow" select "Hide this column".
To indent the second row in a narrow layout
1. Click the column under which you want the second row to be left justified.
3. Select "Justify second row under this column".
Notes 8 standard configuration offers the ability to display a view in a tiled layout for the Personal Information Management (PIM) composite applications Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. In a tiled layout, the information about each document that would normally appear as a line in the view is displayed as an individual tile within the screen space allocated for the view. For example, a view containing rows of contact information could be displayed as a series of business cards. The Tile ordering is horizontal then vertical, and only scrolls vertically. The tiles are all the same size. Each tile contains a top, header section, and a bottom, attributes section.
To display columns in the top section of a tile
1. Click the column(s) that you want displayed in the top section.
3. Under "For Tile Viewer" select "Display on top".
4. Enter an integer from 1 to 100 in the Line number field. Column names and values will be displayed in numerical order according to line number.
To display columns in the bottom section of a tile
1. Click the column(s) that you want displayed in the bottom section.
3. Under "For Tile Viewer" select "Display on bottom".
To hide a column in a tiled layout
3. Under "For Tile Viewer" select "Hide this column".
To specify composite application properties used for communication between application components
The Composite Settings section of the Advanced tab of the Column properties lets you map properties to data available in specific columns.
With the support of composite applications, you can choose a property to be associated with a column and its data by selecting the name of that defined property. In composite applications, Web Services Description Language (WSDL) files (XML files) containing properties, actions, namespaces, and data types are used by components for component interaction in a composite application. A property name is the unique identifier stored as WSDL content in the application WSDL file. It is used as a programmatic identifier.
A property is a typed exchangeable data item which components can produce. All the components in a Composite Application share a single property broker which passes messages between the components. Notes applications can publish and consume properties. Publishing involves sending a value to the property broker, for it to pass on to other components. Consuming a property means receiving information that another component published, and doing something with that information. Properties can be published at any time by LotusScript code, or automatically when a view row is selected by associating a column with a publishable property; when the row selection changes, the data from that column is published.
Refer to the "Working with the Properties design element in Domino Designer" topic in the "Composite Applications - Design and Management" section of this documentation for more detailed information. For general information on how properties and actions work in composite applications, refer to the topic "A closer look at component interaction" in the "Composite Applications - Design and Management" section.
Properties that are published by a component are called output properties. Properties that are consumed by a component are called input properties. An output property of one component can be an input property to other components.
The list of input and output properties available for a component is stored in the composite properties design element. You can create composite properties design elements by importing a WSDL file containing an XML description of the properties. For more information about creating and editing these design elements, see Building Notes Components.
The Composite Settings section of the column properties advanced tab displays a drop-down list of all output properties defined in any of the composite properties design elements in this application. Input properties are not listed, because they cannot be published.
To specify a property to be associated with a particular column:
1. Click the column that you want to specify the property for.
3. In the "Composite Settings" section, select the desired property from the drop-down list.
See Also