avoid using a page ACL on servers that use Directory Assistance
Fri, Jan 27th 2012 1:26a Tim Tripcony XPages support definition of a page-specific ACL, allowing you to refine permissions for specific portions of an application, as described in this article. As Paul mentions in the comments, you can also set an ACL on a specific panel component; this allows you to define entirely different permissions for distinct portions of the same page. For example, if you were to create an "in-view editing" interface using a repeat control, you would typically create a panel inside the repeat, with a panel [read] Keywords: acl
domino
ibm
xpages application
interface
security
server
my Skype account has been compromised
Tue, Jan 17th 2012 11:31a Tim Tripcony I got home from Lotusphere last night, and could no longer log in to Skype. My password has apparently been changed. Except that I haven't recently changed the password (which, admittedly, is probably why the account was compromised), so someone else must have changed it. I followed Skype's password reset procedure, twice, and both times after receiving an email containing a reset token, and immediately attempting to use said token, was told the token was invalid.
Skype provides no way to [read] Keywords: lotusphere
email
microsoft
password
security
skype
172
liveblogging the OGS
Mon, Jan 16th 2012 6:17a Tim Tripcony OK GO opens the the OGS with a 3 song set, including "All is Not Lost"... can't help hoping the audience is listening to that one.
Alistair calls attention to the 800 students GBS brought today.
Michael J. Fox takes the stage as guest speaker.
By the way, this live blog experience brought to you by Verizon 3G Mobile Hotspot... since the Lotusphere WiFi is, once again, completely useless. [read] Keywords: lotusphere
mobile
wifi
getting nitpicky
Wed, Jan 11th 2012 10:18a Tim Tripcony I saw a post this morning stating that the Federal Reserve is migrating to Exchange. Perhaps it's because I've been sick the past few days, but I found myself getting annoyed by some of the terminology used in the post. I left a long, rambling comment to that effect, but have since decided to duplicate the content of that comment here, as it's something I feel strongly about, even when I'm not sick. Enjoy:
Sorry for the nitpick, because a lot of people make this mistake, but it doesn't [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
application
applications
desktop
email
exchange
exchange
microsoft
outlook
server
sharepoint
107
my abbreviated Lotusphere schedule
Thu, Jan 5th 2012 4:59p Tim Tripcony For various reasons, this year I will only be at Lotusphere for about 24 hours. I'm still looking forward to seeing everyone, so if you want to find me, I can already tell you where I'll be:
When
Where
Sunday
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Welcome Reception (a.k.a. Beach Party)
9:00 PM - TBD
Kimonos
Monday
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Opening General Session, front row (or thereabouts)
10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Solutions showcase, Pedestal 423 [read] Keywords: ibm
lotusphere
lotususergroup.org
85
I need your help
Tue, Dec 27th 2011 11:20p Tim Tripcony A very dear friend of mine is going through a difficult time right now. Her brother is gravely ill, and she could use your help:
Our sister and their mom are both servers in the restaurant business. Thankfully, both of their employers have given them the time off they need without their jobs being in jeopardy. However, there is no paid time off and no vacation time in the restaurant business. While they have always been able to just make ends meet, I am concerned about them not bein [read] Keywords:
71
an open letter to Senator Saxby Chambliss
Sun, Dec 18th 2011 5:30a Tim Tripcony Dear Mr. Tripcony:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, passed by the Senate on December 1, 2011, that included several provisions relating to the authority of the United States to detain certain individuals associated with al Qaeda, the Taliban and 9/11 conspirators.
It is well-founded in our history that the United States has the authority to hold enemy combatants until the end of hostilities in order to prevent their return [read] Keywords: email
30
harnessing the XPages Extensibility API is now even easier
Wed, Nov 30th 2011 10:30p Tim Tripcony In our day job. Nathan, Keith and I (among others) use the XPages Extensibility API constantly. In fact, I suppose one could argue that it's pretty much all we do all day. But we're not using all of it every day, and like any technique that's only sporadically used, it's easy to forget the exact syntax for implementing and registering, for example, your own custom PhaseListener. As a result, each time we have a need to use a portion of the API that we haven't for a while, we often find ours [read] Keywords: ldd
lotus
ntf
xpages application
openntf
25
the physics of Peter Pan
Thu, Nov 17th 2011 11:50p Tim Tripcony It's an incredibly clear night here, so a while ago I was out looking at the stars. For some reason, a phrase from Peter Pan came to mind: "second star to the right, and straight on till morning". I'd never really thought that through before, but it would seem to imply the following:
Neverland is located on a planet in that star's solar system.
Peter Pan is, therefore, an alien.
Not only is he able to fly, but he has the ability to open inter-atmospheric wormholes. This is how he and [read] Keywords:
Dojo makes it simple to parse the query string
Fri, Sep 2nd 2011 11:10a Tim Tripcony It's easy to determine the value of a query string parameter server-side (via both SSJS and EL) in an XPage thanks to the intrinsic global variable "param". You might, for example, bind the filterCategory attribute of a view panel's data source to "#{param.category}", or refer to "param.q" in a SSJS expression that determines the value of a repeat control on a search results page. Wouldn't it be great if it were that simple in regular old client JavaScript? Dojo to the rescue:
var [read] Keywords: domino
xpages application
dojo
javascript
server
21
tips for maximizing XPage performance
Wed, Aug 31st 2011 12:00a Tim Tripcony I just responded to a question in the XPages forum regarding how to maximize the performance of an XPage application... specifically, maximizing speed, not necessarily scalability. My response, which includes tips on server configuration as well as development techniques, ended up far lengthier than I'd planned, but I think it's a fairly thorough guide to pushing performance to the limits. If you can think of any additional tips I forgot (or disagree with any of my recommendations), please add [read] Keywords: ldd
lotus
xpages application
development
server
getting even with admins
Tue, Aug 16th 2011 3:50p Tim Tripcony An R&D discussion I just had with a few colleagues reminded me of a fond memory from a long time ago. 10 years ago, in fact, if memory serves. An admin I worked with at the time thought it would be funny to remotely set all the warning thresholds on my laptop so low that I could barely do anything at all without Windows whining that I was running low on virtual memory. So I made a slight modification to the Memo form of his mail file: I hardcoded the QueryClose event to always return false. [read] Keywords: admin
notes
laptop
erosion of language
Sun, Aug 14th 2011 3:10a Tim Tripcony I recently read a hilarious comic: Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. It got me thinking about how technology accelerates the erosion of language.
In general, I try not to be elitist, but I confess that, for much of my life, I've been a bit of a spelling snob. Admittedly, for me it's still contextual: I never judge someone's intelligence on the basis of their spelling in SMS or IM, but if a resume or other professional documentation is rife with misspellings, it can give me a negati [read] Keywords: facebook
google
networking
twitter
honored and humbled
Fri, Jun 24th 2011 1:07a Tim Tripcony Yesterday I was notified that I have been named as one of 50 IBM Champions for IBM Collaboration Solutions, a.k.a. Lotus. Looking at that list, it feels rather surreal to be included among them. The closest estimate I've heard for how many Lotus professionals exist worldwide is 100,000... if that figure is accurate, these individuals represent one half of one tenth of one percent of all those who "do what we do"... and I just can't wrap my head around that number. So I want to thank IBM for [read] Keywords: collaboration
ibm
lotus
notes
ntf
community
10
Craig Ferguson is a genius
Fri, Jun 10th 2011 8:43a Tim Tripcony I'm not much for the late night talk shows, so I've never actually seen Craig Ferguson's show (though I have seen the occasional clip from it on YouTube and elsewhere). Last night I Netflixed a standup routine of his. This is the hardest I have laughed in quite some time.
One moment that was comparatively serious included what I felt was good advice; when in doubt about whether to express one's opinion, the following three questions provide an excellent guide:
Does this need to be said [read] Keywords: blogging
twitter
15
XPages Guru Webinar on June 1
Tue, May 17th 2011 12:02a Tim Tripcony I was honored to be asked by IBM to participate in an upcoming "XPages Guru Webinar" on June 1 from 11 AM - 12 PM Eastern:
Agenda:
What is XPages? - Matt White
Case Studies - Discussion database, XTalk, etc. - Bruce Elgort
Benefits of XPages - Matt White
Why should I transition? - Tim Tripcony
Roadmap to XPages (How do I get from here to there?) - Chris Toohey
What resources are out there? - David Leedy
Q & A
This webinar won't be deep-dive training... by the end of the hour, [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
xpages database
development
21
what the heck is a bean?
Wed, May 4th 2011 11:04p Tim Tripcony If you're learning about XPage development, particularly if you're pushing past "drag and drop" development, it's likely that you've encountered the term "bean". If so, it's also likely that you've seen this term in the context of a larger concept: "managed beans". For the purposes of this post, let's ignore the "managed" portion for now and just focus on what it means for a Java class to be considered a "bean".
Given the coffee motif of the Java language, the term "bean" i [read] Keywords: lotusscript
xpages database
development
java
javascript
properties
server
wiki
17
mouthful
Tue, May 3rd 2011 7:50a Tim Tripcony I'm not typically aware, while reading, that when I read I "hear" the words I'm reading in my head... I seem to process text visually by thinking about how each word sounds. It's been that way for as long as I can remember, and I simply assume that's how everyone reads. So it seems I only notice this when my eyes have to process quite a mouthful, so to speak.
That experience occurred most recently just a few moments ago, and as a result I present the following table for your perusal:
[read] Keywords: collaboration
ibm
lotus
apple
google
microsoft
15
speaking at ATLUG and UKLUG
Thu, Apr 28th 2011 10:50p Tim Tripcony On May 19th I will be speaking at the next quarterly ATLUG meeting in downtown Atlanta. The following week, I will be speaking at UKLUG. At both events, I will be presenting the same session I recently presented at BLUG, although there will be at least a couple new slides added to the deck. The content of this session has been well received so far, so I'm hopeful that attendees at both of these events will find the information to be similarly useful. And, of course, I'm looking forward to seei [read] Keywords:
19
Taking Themes to the Next Level
Fri, Apr 1st 2011 6:00p Tim Tripcony Earlier today (Eastern Time) - or yesterday (local time) - I presented at BLUG a session titled "Taking Themes to the Next Level: Getting more out of XPages... the easy way". As promised, the slides from that session are now available for download. Unlike most sessions I have presented, there were no live demos... all information presented is available in the slide deck. However, several of the key screenshots in the slides were taken from the interface and code of the most recent release of t [read] Keywords: collaboration
domino
ibm
notes
xpages community
database
interface
openntf
17
XPages vs. Flex - a point by point comparison
Thu, Mar 24th 2011 11:40p Tim Tripcony Now this is what I like to see... none of this "Exchange is better than Notes" silliness, where people too lazy to get their terminology straight insist on comparing an email server to a custom application client platform. Granted, Jake admits there's really no point in using the benchmark he originally proposes... though there seems to be little question that the overall tone of the post is intended to leave the viewer questioning whether Domino truly is superior as a RAD platform to ASP.NET [read] Keywords: domino
notes
xpages application
applications
development
eclipse
email
exchange
exchange
server
xml
50
Quick Java tip: import static
Fri, Mar 11th 2011 1:30p Tim Tripcony My newest favorite syntactical sugar in Java (courtesy of Nathan) is "import static". In Java, the import statement is almost always used to make the current class aware of classes that exist in a different package. So it's very similar to the "Use" statement in LotusScript, which makes the current context aware of classes and top-level procedures defined in a separate script library. If, however, you add the static keyword to an import statement, it allows you to specify one or all static [read] Keywords: ibm
lotusscript
ntf
script library
xpages application
java
openntf
13
I will be speaking at BLUG
Mon, Feb 21st 2011 10:20p Tim Tripcony I was notified on Saturday that my abstract was accepted, so I will be presenting the following session at BLUG on April 1:
Taking Themes to the Next Level
Most XPage developers who have already started working with themes understand that they offer a simple way to ensure inclusion of stylesheets and client-side JavaScript libraries, as well as automatic addition of style classes to components that match certain criteria. But themes are so much more powerful than that. This session will [read] Keywords: xpages applications
development
javascript
DIY
Sun, Feb 6th 2011 3:20a Tim Tripcony In lieu of a review of Lotusphere 2011, which would likely just repeat much of what many of you have already seen elsewhere, I'd like to explain an upcoming shift in the focus of this blog. While for years I've tried to stay true to the site's title - "Tip of the Iceberg" - by posting primarily a quick look at concepts that I feel have the potential to have a huge impact, rather than attempting to exhaustively illuminate the entirety of each, of late I have observed that the bulk of my post [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
lotusphere
notes
notes client
xpages application
blogger
blogSphere
community
consulting
development
eclipse
microsoft
office
openntf
wiki
21
drink up, dreamers, you're running dry
Sun, Jan 23rd 2011 2:47p Tim Tripcony I chatted, at great length, with one of my closest friends last night - one who (like most of my friends) I only get to see in person at Lotus-related events - and have barely slept since. That conversation crystallized for me just how excited I am that Lotusphere is almost here. Up until now, I've been so focused on code that it's distracted me from my own anticipatory squee, but now that squee is in full effect.
GBS, of course, has several reasons for which we are rightly collectively exc [read] Keywords: collaboration
domino
ibm
lotus
lotusphere
16
quick tip: configuring Designer to treat xsp-config files as XML
Sun, Jan 23rd 2011 3:40a Tim Tripcony In my aforementioned upcoming Lotusphere session with Maureen, "Hacking Designer (Gently)", we'll be demonstrating a few examples of how you can write Eclipse plugins to tweak (or even fundamentally alter) the way that Domino Designer behaves in order to more closely match your specific, individual needs and desires as you develop and maintain Notes and Domino applications. In other words, if you have pet peeves with certain aspects of Designer, in many cases, you can do something about it. W [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotusphere
notes
applications
eclipse
xml
13
quick tip: cleaning up the Source tab of all XPages and Custom Controls at once
Sat, Jan 15th 2011 2:30a Tim Tripcony When I'm coding an XPage, I live in the Source tab... especially now that, as of 8.5.2, I can drag new components directly into the XML instead of having to choose between typing everything manually and bouncing back and forth between tabs each time I want to add a new component. One pet peeve I have, however, is when I open a design element and find that the XML isn't formatted: no line breaks between tags, inconsistent white space surrounding attributes, etc. I know, that's a fairly petty t [read] Keywords: nsd
xpages application
xml
6
what do you want to learn about hacking Domino Designer?
Wed, Dec 29th 2010 6:50p Tim Tripcony As Maureen and I put the finishing touches on our slides, now is your chance to influence the content thereof. Peruse the abstract and let us know if there are any specifics you'd like us to cover.
By the way, if you are planning to attend, you should attend Mikkel's sessions as well: Jumpstart Your "Jedi Plug-in Development Skills" with the Masters and How the Jedis Do Plug-in Development (NOTE: if you're not planning to come to our session, go to Mikkel's sessions anyway). I wouldn't [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
development
12
upcoming book review: Learning Ext JS 3.2
Mon, Dec 20th 2010 3:10p Tim Tripcony I have been asked by Packt Publishing to review the following book:
Build desktop-style web interfaces for your data driven web applications using Packt's new Ext JS book
Learning Ext JS 3.2 is a new book from Packt that helps web application developers to integrate their existing data and web services with data-driven web applications using the Ext JS framework. This interactive tutorial helps users enhance their JavaScript skills by using Ext's DOM and AJAX helpers, and extending Ext J [read] Keywords: lotusphere
ajax
application
applications
desktop
dhtml
javascript
server
widget
widgets
4
I will be speaking at Lotusphere 2011
Fri, Dec 3rd 2010 11:56a Tim Tripcony I received confirmation yesterday that I will be co-presenting a session at Lotusphere with Maureen Leland:
Hacking Domino Designer (Gently)
Have you ever wished that you could make Domino Designer work exactly the way you want it to? Because Designer is now based on the Eclipse framework, you can! Join a well-known Designer developer and a well-known Designer hacker to discover how to create the Designer of your dreams today. In this session, you will learn how to interact with the Ecli [read] Keywords: domino
lotusphere
eclipse
26
extending XspInputText to add placeholder support
Wed, Nov 24th 2010 12:55a Tim Tripcony Last week, Jake called attention to the usability flaw in web forms that specify a default value for fields but clear that value on focus without checking first to see if the field's value has since been changed from the default. He included a code example demonstrating a way to perform such a check, ensuring that a user's input will not be programmatically deleted if they later return to the same field.
A couple readers proposed an alternate approach: using the "placeholder" attribute as [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
notes
notes client
xpages application
java
openntf
properties
xml
22
a potential evolution in XPages: custom expression language resolvers
Tue, Nov 9th 2010 10:40a Tim Tripcony There's a fascinating discussion currently taking place over on Bob Balfe's blog: "Would Domino benefit from an embedded PHP stack?" In the comments, several folks have sounded off about various approaches to making this happen, including the use of DSAPI. But perhaps it's simpler than that: strictly speaking, PHP is just a scripting language. Most PHP pages are static markup interspersed with scripted content... much like an XPage. Dan Sickles (perhaps unknowingly) touched on something t [read] Keywords: domino
xpages applications
java
javascript
python
wiki
xml
multiple image upload control for XPages
Wed, Nov 3rd 2010 4:00a Tim Tripcony For just a bit of fun, I've been playing tonight with creating a multiple image upload control for XPages. It's pure HTML5 and JavaScript... no Flash.
What I think makes the approach I took interesting is that it treats the thumbnail of each image you're uploading as the progress indicator of the upload completion: it immediately appends an image tag to the page, with its URL set to the data URI for the file to be uploaded, but sets the opacity of the image to 0. It then splits the Base64 [read] Keywords: xpages dojo
firefox
javascript
openntf
inheritance library for client- and server-side JavaScript
Mon, Oct 18th 2010 12:25a Tim Tripcony A topic that periodically resurfaces surrounding XPage development is the notion of creating "classes" in JavaScript. There are several schools of thought - not just in our own community, but across the entire web development spectrum - regarding how best to handle inheritance in JavaScript, because the language itself is not classical... it is prototypal. In nearly every other language, we define a class and then create objects that are instances of that class. With JavaScript, however, ther [read] Keywords: domino
xpages application
community
development
firefox
java
javascript
properties
server
gentle reminder
Sat, Oct 9th 2010 4:26p Tim Tripcony it's not how you start
it's how you finish
it's not where you're from
it's where you're at
...
i'ts not where you are
it's where you're going
it's not about the things you've done
it's what you're doing now... what are you doing now?
More... [read] Keywords:
3
well, it's about friggin' time
Wed, Oct 6th 2010 12:31p Tim Tripcony Based on some obscure hint I saw on the Twitter and various other conversations going on in Yellowland, it would appear that GROUP Experts has hired another "expert". Apparently he's quite good. Of course, not everybody can play at our level, so he'd better be able to keep up.
In all seriousness, I am fully stoked that Chris Toohey is finally going to be my coworker... over the years, I've heard occasional rumors that he might be joining us, but this time it's real. Despite having o [read] Keywords: domino
twitter
alternate URL for my blog: xmage.gbs.com
Tue, Aug 24th 2010 10:30p Tim Tripcony Like Nathan, I am now rocking a shiny new dedicated GROUP Live instance, so going forward, you can get to this blog via xmage.gbs.com. The blog database on that server is just a replica of the one that was already on Frodo, so for the foreseeable future, you'll still be able to get here via TimTripcony.com - no need to update your feed readers, bookmarks, tattoos, etc., but the xmage server is generally going to be faster and comparatively impervious to Canton's frequent thunderstorms, so you [read] Keywords: ntf
database
server
