Formul8 is an Eclipse based Lotus Notes 8 / Expeditor sidebar plug-in that allows you to quickly execute formulas written in the Lotus Notes Formula Language against the documents selected in any Lotus Notes view.
This tool solves a common problem faced by developers and administrators, who often find themselves creating temporary agents or custom toolbar icons in order to test a formula or to make bulk data changes across a set of documents. These "temporary" elements are invariably not deleted after they have been used, leaving clutter within a database or on the desktop.
Formul8 Features
- Quick and easy access from the Lotus Notes 8 sidebar
- Test a formula in the context of a document before committing changes
- Save and load commonly used formulas
- No need for any special database access privileges that would normally be required to create a shared or private agent
- Works on multiple selected documents (unlike toolbar icons)
Usage
Enter a formula using valid @Functions and syntax into the formula pane. Click the refresh icon above the results pane to have the formula compute using the context of the document that is currently selected within the Notes client. By changing the currently selected document, the formula will automatically compute and display the result for the new document selection.
Click the 'Apply' button to save any changes made by the formula to the selected documents. A status message will appear indicating the number of documents modified.
Your formula must always evaluate to a result, so if it is only manipulating document items using FIELD := assignments or @SetField, simply end the formula to evaluate to an empty string or another arbitrary value.
Use the toolbar or menu options to save a commonly used formula or to open one that was previously saved. The content of the formula pane will always retain its state between Notes sessions.
License
Formul8 is completely free and open source. It is distributed under version 3 of the GNU General Public License. Go to the project page on Google Code to download the source code.
Installation
Formul8 requires Lotus Notes 8.x running in its standard Eclipse configuration. There are several plug-in installation methods available
depending upon the version of your Notes client and how it is managed and configured by your administrator.
Refer to the specific IBM documentation for more information.
Via 'My Widgets':
- Select the menu option File > Preferences > Widgets. Make sure 'Show Widget Toolbar and the My Widgets Sidebar panel' is checked
- Drag the following link to your My Widgets sidebar panel to commence the installation process: extension.xml
- Agree to the terms in the license agreement, click Next then Finish to begin installation
- When installation is complete you will be prompted to restart your Notes client
- After the restart, Formul8 will appear in your Lotus Notes sidebar
If you have never installed plug-ins before, your Notes client may be configured by default to prevent the installation of Eclipse plug-ins. Locate and open the following file:
Windows: {notes install dir}\framework\rcp\plugin_customization.ini
Linux: /opt/ibm/lotus/notes/framework/rcp/plugin_customization.ini
Mac OS X: /Applications/Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/rcp/plugin_customization.ini
Add the line com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true if it is not already present, then restart the client.
- Select File - Application - Install
- Select 'Search for new features to install' and click Next
- Click 'Add Remote Location...' and enter the following:
- Name: Formul8 Update Site
- URL: http://www.jeffgilfelt.com/eclipseplugins/
- Click OK, then Finish to connect to the Update Site
- Expand the site tree, and select Notes 8.x Plug-ins > Formul8 for IBM Lotus Notes 8 ..., then click Next
- Agree to the terms in the license agreement, click Next then Finish to begin installation
- When installation is complete you will be prompted to restart your Notes client
- After the restart, Formul8 will appear in your Lotus Notes sidebar
Manual Installation:
You may download the following update site archive to install the plug-in from within your corporate network or via your own internal update site:
updatesite.zip
Resources
- IBM Lotus Notes
- Eclipse
- IBM Lotus Expeditor Toolkit
- Jigloo SWT GUI Builder
- IBM developerWorks
- IBM Composite Applications Wiki
Other Tools
Other tools I have created that relate to Eclipse, Notes and Domino:
- Secret Agent for IBM Lotus Notes 8
- SideLog for IBM Lotus Notes 8
- Domino Developer Plugin for Aptana Studio
- iUIView - Domino view rendering for Safari on iPhone
Contact
I can be reached via email at jgilfelt [at] gmail [dot] com