Old Blog Post

Right now I am finishing my last few things at work, and in about 30 minutes I will be heading to the DFW International Airport and begin a 2 week vacation together with my son.We will first go to London, where I hope to see one of my childhood friends. We have been friends since first grade. ThenSaturday evening I am flying to Stockholm, Sweden to spend almost 2 weeks with my sister, as well ass meeting up with some old friends and family.My son is excited about seeing a new country and city,but he is most excited about seeing his aunt in Sweden again. This will be his 4th trip to Sweden, and he also got to visit Germany during one of those trips (in 2007). Sweden and much of Europe have been having some hot weather lately, but it looks like it is cooling down to a very comfortable temperature. Forecast for the next 5 days in Ft Worth, TX: The same time period in Stockholm, Sweden:Because of my vacation being right before IamLUG, I will not be able to go this year.  

A couple of posts by Peter Presenell and Dan Lowdenmade me think. Am I a real Notes/Domino developer/programmer? At least my business card says so. I think I am. But what makes me a "real" Notes programmer? First of all, I make a difference between a programmer and a developer. My definition of a programmer is someone that pretty much just produce code, but is not that involved in the actual design of the application. A developer is more involved in actually designing the application, not just writing the code.But for this discussion, I will use the term programmer, as I will focus on the programming part I do not thinkthe languages one uses is what makes you a real programmer or not. I think it is in your mind and approach to programming. A real programmer "thinks code" all the time. Not just at work.A real programmer is a problem solver. He/she can't resist trying to solve a problem when presented with one, may it be computer related or not.A real programmer constantly try to improve himself and his applications, going back to fix old code to work better/faster, make the user interface better and more efficient, etc.A real programmer understands the need of user/customer and can come up with solutions for them.A real programmer have a set of functions in his "toolbox" that can be used in different applications, saving developmenttime.A real programmer can learn new languages and tools when needed. Knowledge about the syntax of a languages does not make you a good programmer, knowledge about how to write efficient and useful code makes you a good programmer.I don't program in Java. I don't work with Xpages (yet). When I got my first full-time position as a Notes developer in Boston, my boss-to-be called one of my references and askedif I knew Lotusscript, and how good. My reference, a friend where I had mainly been helping himwith development for the web using HTML and @Formula language,answered back something like this: "I don't know how well he knows Lotusscript, but if he does not he will learn it in no time".To me, that was one of the greatests comments I been getting. I think that is a sign of being a good/real programmer, to be able to learn new tools as they are needed. I am sure that as soon as we get Notes 8.5.1 here at work, I will start working with Xpages. Butuntil then I havevery little extra time to play with that technology. However, even if Iconsider myselfa good Notes/Domino developer, I don't think I am in the same class as many of the "rockstar" developers in thecommunity. I am sure you know who I am talking about, people like Nathan T Freeman, Tim Tripcony, Matt White, Mikkel Heisterberg, Viktor Kranz, Julian Robicheux, et al. 

Lotus Notes is a great tool, and I enjoy developing applications using the RAD capabilities in Domino Designer. But I also create some web applications on occasion. This past week, when Hurricane Alex was moving in towards Texas, John, the CIO (and my boss), grabbed me first thing Wednesday morning and asked me to build a webpage. He wanted me to use the Google Earth plugin to consuming some KML files he created from the policy database (built using Visual FoxPro).As I blogged about a year ago, I wrote some code to get the latitude and longitude for an address, and John had then rewrote the code for FoxPro so he could get the coordinates for the addresses he had in his system. So he could now very easily generate a couple of KML files, one of all our policies and one of the policy holders potentially in the path of the hurricane.I built the webpage in a Domino database, that is usually the easiest way for me to put up a simple webpage. I added some overlays, the two different KML files that John created. I also found a KML file online with different projected paths, as well as one of the current path of Alex. The users could turn on and off these layers as they wanted. Suddenly it was very easy to see if we had any insured customers in the path, etc.Of course, the same web page could as easily have been created using Notepad or any other tool, as it was pure HTML. But my next plan is to integrate this page with other Domino data, and we are talking about building a generic reporting tool with all different kind of geographic data. Imagine being able to map every accident/insurance claim, see where the accident happens, where the insured is located, etc. Perhaps run statistics showing the average distance from home the accidents take place, etc.I think it is critical that I, as a Notes/Domino developer, show the power and business use of Notes by integrating it with different systems. When I first started working at this company, I was tasked with building a claim system, to handle insurance claims. The company had hired a pair of Notes consultants, who set up the environment and attempted to build a claim system. They failed, and they also told everyone that Notes and FoxPro could not talk to each other. Of course, when I came in and sat down with my (then) new boss after a few weeks at the new company, we quickly figured out a way to get the systems to communicate. It took about 90 minutes to come up with the solution (using COM), write the basic specifications (yes, they changed some over the years, but not much), build the COM object and write some test code in Notes. Today, that COM object is used for all kind of things we never envisioned back then, in 2002. It even sends PDF files into our…

The last few weeks have been slightly turbulentin the Yellowsphere, with JonVonstarting a discussion about the future of Notes development with his Lotus Notes: The Long Goodbye.I am lucky enough to have a solid position as aLotus Notes developer at a Dallas-based insurance company. Notes is not going away from here any times soon, as a matter of fact we are moving rapidly towards getting the latest versions. We are just now in the final phase of getting all users on Notes 7. This is done at the same time we are moving most branch offices to Citrix.Very soon we are planning to move everyone up to Notes 8.5.1 as well. Our current plan is to wait about 6 months after the release of a new version to push it out, to let any bugs get fixed. The exciting newsis that after 8 years at the company asme being theonly Lotus Notes developer,we might even hire anotherdeveloper to help me out, so I canspend more time on the architecture and design, and less onsupport. I spend about 40% of my time (more at times) at supporting end users. I also support the rest of the IT department (mainly the operations manager and the desktop support group) with Notes knowledge when needed.So there are companies hiring. As soon as there is an official job posting I will publish it here. So Notes is not dead. As a matter of fact, several of the most important applications here are based on Notes.   

Today is Father's Day here in the US. In Sweden it is actually celebrated in November (Nov 14 this year). I am thinking about my dad, who passed away in 2001.My dad was a very intelligent person. He may not have had a fancy education and degree. As a matter of fact, he just had six years of school back in the 1930's (he was born in 1926), then he had to start working. But he could build pretty much anything. He built us a summer house from scratch. He even did the design and the drawings/blueprints himself. At home he had a real architect drawing table. But he also repaired all kind of things down in the basement. He built his own tools, a powerful electrical motor and some pieces of scrap metal, and he had a lathe. When my sister needed a violin, he simply built one. And yes, it sounded great!After I moved to the United States in 1998, he got a computer, and at age 70 he started learning how to use it and to send email.  Working on the summer house, circa 1974 Taking a break from the hard work.Building a violin.But my dad was not always working. Yes, he did work a lot, both to support the family and to (litterally) put a roof over our heads. But he also had time for me and my sister.We went fishing, sailing (he got us a small sail boat and put me and my sister in sailing classes), and worked in the vegetable patch together with mom. At Midsummer celebration, circa 1976.There are so many things that make me proud of my dad, I can't list them here. But he was a great role model for me, and I hope my son Erik one day will be able to think at me in a similar way. He was also, for a very brief time, a grandfather. He died in March 2001, but not until after he got to see and hold his first and only grandchild. Erik was born in August 2000, and he (together with my sister) visited us in early November.I was told that he printed out the pictures I mailed him, and was showing them to all his friends. He was so proud! I wish he would have lived a few more years so he could have seen Erik starting to grow up. Holding his grandson Erik, Boston November 2000. One more of the proud grandpa. Funeral, April 2001.Thank you for everything, dad. I will always miss you.Stig Martinsson1926 - 2001 

This picture, and the two previous ones, were taken with my Nikon D90 fitted with a Tamron 18-270mm lens. No tripod was used. The pictures were taken yesterday evening around 19.30 in the Sundance Square area of Ft Worth. Click on the images to see the full versions.  

Thelatest version of Ubuntu,code name Lucid Lynx and with the version number 10.04, is being released today. Due to a problem inGrub, the boot manager, the release have been delayed somewhat, but hopefully it will be out today.Among thenews in this version, which is a LTS (Long Term Support) version, is a further polished user interface, with many similarities to MacOS. The maximize/minimize buttonsare now defaulting to the left side of the title bar, but of course the user can move that around and reconfigure the interface.Built-in support in the operating system for social network sites/services is something that very few, if any, operating systems have. The cloud storage service Ubuntu One have been updated with additional functions, you can now access contacts and files stored in the cloud from mobile phones/devices. No Windows client, though, so you can't access your files at home from your Windows computer at work. Ubuntu One will also allow you to share files with family and friends in an easy way. Every Ubuntu user get 2 GB free storage, and for $10/month you get 50 GB storage.The software repository/manager have been updated, and an online music store for DRM-free music have been added.Some programs have been removed(GIMP being one of them) and others have been added (for example the video editing program PiTiVi).Another thing that Canonical, thecompany behindof Ubuntu, have been pushing is faster start-up time. I don't restart my computer that often, so 10 seconds of 25 seconds is no big deal to me. But for laptops it is nice. Talking about laptops, there will also be a special "Remix" version for netbooks.As always, you can download and burn an ISO image and test it on a computer without having to install anything. This will test your hardware and give you an idea about the looks and functionality of the operating system. As my FaceBook and twitter followers might have noticed last night, I cleanedand backed up my existing system (using Clonezilla, highly recommended tool) in anticipation of installing 10.04 in the next day or so. I plan to first try an install on top of the existing version 9.10, then make a backup of that, wipe the partition and install 10.04 from scratch to see if any of the hardware I hjad to get separate drivers for is now supported out of the box. 

I have been writing object oriented Lotusscript for a little over a year now. When I started, I probably did a lot of mistakes, and I did not fully understand everything about object oriented development. I can't say I am an expert yet, but I wanted to share some information that hopefully will help anyone else looking into switching to object oriented Lotusscript (OOLS). WhyOOLS? I see several benefits, at least to me. The code is usually shorter and I get a better overview. It is modular and can easily be moved to other applications. It is easy to maintain and add functionality. And the calling code can be very compact and easy to understand as well. Is OOLS hard? Not really. You have to grok it, but as soon as you do that, it all falls into place. My background was in pure procedural programming, and it did not take me very long to get the concept. How do I write OOLS? You write class definitions and code in the Declarations section of your code. I usually put the code in script libraries,usually several related classes in one script library. I name thescript library after the main class, so in my claim system I havescript library called Class.ClaimData, Class.FinancialTransactions and Class.ClaimLink. The code is just regular Lotusscript. You define a class, with one or more functions/subs. You can also define variables in the class to store data. Functions, subs and variables can beprivate (only accessable inside the class) or public (accessable from the calling code). You should always have a Public Sub New() defined in the class. Can I seesome example of a class? Sure. I have posted a couple of classes in the past, both here on my blog and on OpenNTF.org. In part 2 I will explain a simple class and how it can be used.  

As everybody else that attended Lotusphereback in January, I heard about Project Vulcan. Ever since, I have been trying toget my head around it. So many others have beebn writing about it, that it almost does not seem like another post would make a big difference. But here are my thoughts. Perhaps I am stating the obvious, if so forgive me.Last year, I believe duing IamLUG, I heard someone (I forgot who) saying that the reason the Workspace inthe Notes client was not developed any further was because Lotus was working on "a totally new, HTML5 based Workspace". Obviously this was a reference to Project Vulcan. based on this, and the information released at Lotusphere, I do not think Vulkan is a totally new interface, but (at least initially) a replacement for the Workspace. Instead of the database icons (Chiclets, sometimes written "Chicklets"), a Facebook-like feed seems to be planned. I think that makes sense in some companies, but I believe it is important that users have quick access to the applications from a desktop-like location. At my company, at least 90 percent of the users use the Workspace exclusively. Personally, I think a new interface need to contain some familiar elements. It is great to get a built-in feed, but there must be an easy way to get to the applications. I am sure Mary Beth Raven and the rest of the design team will do a great job, though. I am looking forward to see some more design ideas for Project Vulcan. 

 As you may know, I have been using Ubuntu as my primary operating system at home for almost 6 months now. I am very happywith it, despite some small glitches and shortcomings. For example,the other week Gimp started to refuse to load. I had added GimpShop just before that happened, perhaps that is related. I am also having issues connection to work using Citrix, and of course my network administartor says that he does not support anything but Windows.In the end of this month (on April 29), Canonical is releasing the next version of the operating system, version 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). This is a so called LTS (Long Term Support) release, meaning it will be supported for three years on the desktop and five years on the server.I am currently running 9.10 (Karmic Koala) at home, and i have also installed that on several other systems, both my son'sdesktop and a friends laptop. She is however complaining that she need/want iTunes so she can manage her iPhone... So I guess i will see how good iTunes work in Wine.Among the new features in Ubuntu 10.04are built-in support for social networks like twitterand Facebook, a new faster boot process, new themes, a music store, better file syncronisation with the cloud storage service Ubuntu One, and a manual. Yes, a PDF manual, so you don't have to search the net for information.Some changes have been made when it comes to the bundled programs. The video editing program PiTiVi is included, and Gimp have been removed. The focus on this version is to make the operating system as easy to use as possible, especially for first time Ubuntu users. Of course, it is easy to add any programs you want back, Ubuntu Software Center have been improved and it should be easier than ever to get programs for the operating system.Personally I am very impressed by the number and quality of programs for Linux. For the few programs where I have not found a replacement of the Windows version, I simply use VMware. I also have the system set up for dual boot, if I want to I can boot straight into Windows, which is needed on occasion. VMware does not support IEEE1394 (Firewire), for example. I will look for a program to download DV through FireWire in Ubuntu and start playing with video editing using PiViTi. I am currently using Sony Vegas in Windows for this. Slowly I am migrating off Windows more and more, a platform I have been using daily since Windows 2.03 back in 1988. I intend to write about my favourite and recommended programs in Ubuntu within the next few days. 

My onlinehandle have been "TexasSwede" for a number of yearsnow. I have seen one or two other "TexasSwede"around the internet as well, so the other week I started wonderingif the domainst TexasSwede.com or TexasSwede.net perhaps were available. I already have Martinsson.us, but I don't have any real web presence there. I did a quick search and found that both the domains were in fact available. I quickly snatched them up, togther with TexasSwede.us, and pointed them to my Domino server at home. A couple of days later I decided to rebuild my personal website from scratch. I added some code to identify what domain people were trying to access, and serving up different logodepending on the site. Right now I am trying to find a good menu system to use. I want one where I can very simply add items to a menu using javascript. I have been looking at YUI Menu, but it is not exactly what I am looking for. Close, though. As the site will be driven by a Domino database, I want to be able to use a (categorized) view to generate the menu. Most menu systems require closing tags or similar, which is hard to do in a view. I know I found a perfect menu system last year, but I lost the bookmark, or I forgot to bookmark it.If anyone have a good suggestion, I would appreciate it. What I am looking for is a menu where I can simply add items like this:AddItem("Menu","Item Label", "/mylink.html");I also plan to start learning Xpages soon, when I get the time. But for now I work in "classic" Notes/Domino, as that is what we use at work. 

I have not been blogging very much lately, and i feel bad about it.The Lotus community have given me a lot through the years,both technical information and entertainment, and I want to giveback.So the next couple of weeks I intend to be more active, and to publishcode, thoughts and hopefully entertaining information as well.Feedback is always appreciated, even if I knowcomments only works for BleedYellowmembers. However, mail to TexasSwede@gmail.com also works. There are several reasons I have not been blogging very much. After Lotusphere I was worn out, and then I was innundated with work.Sunday, the day after arriving in Orlando, I got a text message from one of my two managers telling me she was no longer with the company. She was the business process expert, and the one that knew the claims process the best. So suddenly I lost all her knowledge, and of course very little was documented. I now had to work directly with the claims users and managers, gathering information about their workflow, processes and requirements that I previously were handed on a silver platter. So my code output have suffered, of course. I have also been involved in several new projects, some of them very important. For example, new legislation require us to submit certian information about certain claimants to the MediCare administration. The penalty is $1,000.00 per claim per day we are not in compliance. That is a lot of money. So for obvious reasons, I had to focus a lot of my attention on this. However, I also had time to work on some other (more fun) projects, and I intend to blog about themsoon.   

Ed Brill just wrote about the announcementof a Ubuntu-base Netbook with Symphony and LotusLive for $190.I wrote a comment, but I want to expand slightly on ithere.I wonder aboutother markets? I can see some big opportunities in the US and Europe for IBM/Lotus. If I could buy an inexpensive Netbook like that for Erik, my nine year old son, I would get him one tomorrow. He could then bring it between his moms place and my place, just connect to our respectively WiFi networks. He could even use it at school, if his school allows him to use it there.Erik's computer at my place is already running Ubuntu 9.10, he have been using Ubuntu on his home computer for almost a year now. He could care less what operating system it has. He play some online games at Nick.com (even ifthere are a handful ofgames not working in Ubuntu/Firefox as they use ActiveX), go on Facebook to play Farmville and watch videos on Youtube.He also check his webmail accounts (he had one through his old school). Typical Netbook useage.So, what wouldbringing this to the USand European markets do for IBM and Lotus?Well, you would get Ubuntu-based laptops with Symphony and LotusLive out among kids and teenagers. They would get used to theLotus products. What do you think will happen when they hit the job market and workplaces in a few years? I think they will be proponents of Ubuntu and Symphony/OpenOffice (and OpenSoftware in general).A few well-spoken and enthusiastic people, who know the product and what you can do with it, can change the software a workplace is using. I think a lot of the migrations from Notes/Domino to Exchange/Sharepoint/Outlook is driven exactly by that, one or two people coming from the outside and showing a handful of cool applications and talking about the benefits of the MS stack. The CEO's will listen to them (just like they listen to a consultant but not an internal IT worker saying the same thing). Who will the CEO listen to, the old-timer in the IT department that likes Notes, or the new young go-getter with a fresh MBA talking about all the new things like Enterprise 2.0, cloud computing and other buzzwords he learned in class, at a university or college where every student must use Microsoft Office...I told the story before, how I came in as a 23 year old fresh employee to a workplace where everyone used WordPerfect. With a background at Microsoft, andseveral years of using Word for Windows, it took me just 6 monthsto exterminate WordPerfect and get everyone to switch to Word, just by showing the advantages (as I saw them) and write a clever macro or two that save the users a lot of time each day.Ithink getting the products out there ("show the product") is much more important than abstract advertising for Smart Planet or Lotus Knows. Yes, those are ways to get the name/brand out there, but how many car commercials do you see…

Duffbert and Jim Casale bothblogged about the cryptic names on downloaded files from the IBM Passport Advantage site. Jim's Excel macro inspired me to write something in Lotusscript (I don't even have Excel on my home computers anymore, I am only using Symphony now).Belowis my Lotusscript code. Note that I have not been able to test the actual renaming part, since I am atthe officeand I have all the files downloaded at home. But the parsing part works. You may want to either modify the location of dlmgr.pro, or even write some code to let the user select the file to process. But Ijust made a quick-and-dirty hack for now.Update: Something went wrong earlier when I tried to post this, I got two borked entries. It seems like if I paste certain formatted text (like the code section below) into the entry, and save it while in preview/WYSIWYG mode, it breaks the entry. If I am in HTML code view, it works...Update 2: Thanks to the guys at Lotus911, they removed the two bad entries. Also, I wanted to clarify, the code is actually copying the files and giving the copy a new name, the original files are still there. If you want to perform a move, un-comment the the line Kill fromfile.Dim dlmgrfile As StringDim dirname As StringDim filename As StringDim filecode As StringDim filedescription As StringDim temp As StringDim newitem As IntegerDim fromfile As StringDim tofile As Stringdlmgrfile = "c:dlmgr.pro" Open dlmgrfile For Input As #1Do While Not Eof(1) Line Input #1, temp If Left$(temp,6)=".file=" Then filecode = Right$(temp,Len(temp)-6) newitem = True Elseif Left$(temp,2) = ".." Then newitem = False End If If Left$(temp,7) = "..path=" Then dirname = Right$(temp,Len(temp)-7) End If If Left$(temp,8)="..title=" Then filedescription = Right$(temp,Len(temp)-8) End If If Left$(temp,7)="..name=" Then filename = Right$(temp,Len(temp)-7) End If If newitem = False Then If filename<>"" Then If dirname<>"" Then If filedescription<>"" Then fromfile = dirname & "" & filename tofile = dirname & "" & filedescription & Right$(filename,4) Print "Copying " & fromfile & " to " & tofile Filecopy fromfile, tofile ' Kill fromfile dirname = "" filename = "" filedescription = "" filecode = "" End If End If End If End IfLoopClose #1This LotusScript was converted to HTML using the ls2html routine,provided by Julian Robichaux at nsftools.com. 

The concept ofNotes@Home ({link} and {link}),or "Notes Home Edition" as I like to call it,is very interesting, and I think it would be a great way to increase the visibility of Notes. The people who initially would install it would probably be the more technical kind of users, some of them probably the same kind of users we see bashing Notes on /. and similar sites, basically because they haven't seen the current version, or the product at all. The second group I believe would install Notes Home Edition would be members of the Notes community. But not on their own systems, most of us probably already use Notes at work and at home. No, I think it would be family members and friends who would get it installed.Last weekend I formatted my ex-father-in-law's laptop and re-installed Windows on it for him. I also downloaded and installed Symphony. Would it not have been nice if I would been able to download a limited Notes client as well, so he would use "Notes 8 Home Edition" for his mail? I could have setup a mailbox on my server and given him access to Sametime (if I had a Sametime server).I understand the issues Ed have with cost (there have to be some development/testing associated with creating a new client, even if it is built on an existing one). But initially make just an english language version, perhaps a spanish, french and german version as well. That should cover a large part of the western world. Start there first, before spending any more money.The client need to be able to do the following: access mail on a Domino server download/syncronize with POP/IMAP mailIf there could be syncronisation with Gmail and perhaps Yahoo mail, that would be even better. I am sure the Gmail API is published somewhere....There are many things that can be dropped from "Notes Home Edition", like activities, composite applications, etc. Make it a stripped down version with the most important features, and a few ones that "regular" users actually might use, like the RSS reader.Also, in order to show the power of Notes, there should be some way to run either local applications, or even applications on a server. Here we have the tricky question, and it is related to licensing... How do IBM avoid a company from getting the free "Notes Home Edition" clients and using in the business? On the other hand, the Domino Express offering works on a honor system already.I would love to setup a small server at home (or actually open up the one I have) and let my sister, her boyfriend, and some other friends use it for mail and some applications. I can also see consultants setting up a server for their clients, offering not only mail but also discussions, IM and some shared applications. Perhaps the blog template?What about this: Domino Enthusiast Edition - up to 25 (50?) clients/IDs allowed, all must be using Notes Home Edition, except the administrator who…

Opening Spring 2010   

I am lucky enough to be able to go to Lotusphere again. This will be my 13th time inOrlando. I also went to LS97 in Nice. This year I will be arriving to MCO on Saturday at 9:40am, and leaving Friday at 1:55pm. If anyone is interesting in sharing a cab, let me know. @TexasSwede on Twitter or texasswede@gmail.com. I am flying AA 1434 from DFW, anyone else on that flight?  Also, if there are any Swedish readers of this, I have a favour to ask... Could someone bring a few items that are hard/impossible to find here?Just let me know how much it is and I bring cash. What I am looking for is 2 or 3 of the larger (double) packs of Vasa Frukost (900g?) and 2 or 3 tubes of Kalles Guld. The regular Kalles Kaviar can be found at IKEA here in the US, but not the premium Guld. Let me know if you can do this, I would appreciate it! For anyone not familiar with Kalles, it is the most sold brand of caviar in Sweden. It is made from salted and smoked cod roe and comes in a metal tube. You squeeze it out on bread (for breakfast) or on hard boiled eggs. A piece of bread with a sliced egg and some caviar on top is a delicious and helathy way to start the day!