Overview -- applications and databases

A major new enhancement in Notes® 8 is the support for composite applications, a key element within service oriented architecture (SOA) and contextual collaboration strategy. Using HCL Domino® Designer, developers can extend Notes® applications to be Notes® components in composite applications. A composite application can include any combination of Notes® components or Eclipse components. The ability to combine multiple technologies into a single application provides significant business value: It enables companies to protect and extend their existing assets with increasing degrees of flexibility, and to respond quickly and cost effectively to their emerging business requirements, with applications that are significantly easier to assemble than alternative application development environments.

There are also new capabilities:

  • Vertical document preview panes
  • Email threading
  • Additional daily and weekly calendar groupings
  • Contact cards

Applications

Domino® applications enable people to share, collect, track, and organize information, using Notes® or the Web. Using Domino® Designer, developers can create applications to meet a variety of business needs, including:

  • Workflow applications that route information.
  • Tracking applications that monitor processes, projects, performance, or tasks.
  • Collaboration applications that create a forum for discussion and collaboration.
  • Data integration applications that work with relational databases and transactional systems.
  • Dynamic applications that produce content based on, for example, user name, user profile, access rights, or time of day.
  • Localization and Management applications that use Domino® Global WorkBench to translate Domino® databases and Web sites.

Additionally, Domino® Designer can create Notes® components to be used in a larger composite application.

Databases

All Notes® applications contain one or more databases. You create a database to use as the container for the data, logic, and design elements in your application. Design elements include: