From the Bookmark History view, it is now possible to present the History by either Date, Site or Title.
The Bookmark bar and folders now support drag and drop of OS elements; bookmarks will be created when these elements are dropped onto the bookmark bar, or any of the bookmark folders.
The Bookmark grid view provides functional equivalence to the Workspace, and has been extended to include folders which are part of the existing bookmark pane. It is now possible to view and navigate to any folder as part of the bookmark grid, and to move items between different folders from the grid view.
The Multi-select capability within Bookmarks has been extended to allow the selection of items which are not necessarily adjacent to one another. This mechanism allows items which are not adjacent to be selected at the same time, and the appropriate operation applied to all selected items. In addition, users can now bookmark multiple databases from the "Database Open" dialog.
Users can now select multiple bookmarks and/or bookmark folders for management operations such as Delete, Drag/Drop, or Open.
A user can now search bookmarks using Edit\Find and Edit\Find Next, in addition to the accelerator key equivalents Ctrl+F and Ctrl+G.
Bookmark grid control will now display right-to-left, for languages such as Arabic and Hebrew
Components
Users can associate a range of text in a document with a certain language, and Spell Checking for that text will use the appropriate language dictionary (if installed).
Users can switch a language dictionary (if installed) during Spell Checking.
Spell Checking will allow English language users to specify supplemental dictionaries (currently only Medical may be specified).
The Action bar applet now supports pulldown menus, instead of displaying a second row of action items. Note that this is not supported on the Macintosh.
The View applet now displays a horizontal scroll bar, as necessary.
The Outline applet now also supports horizontal scrolling, allowing you to view entries in their entirety. Additionally, this applet now supports horizontal and vertical alignment attributes.
Installable Domino Applets are available as an action button, for Internet Explorer and Netscape, through the TeamRoom templates (Windows platform only).
Users now have the ability to use an IE control instead of Editor applet. Must have IE installed to use this.
Within Internet Explorer, Notes is now the default alternative program for Mail and Contact list internet services.
Editor
Descriptive text can now be added to a field's design. This text helps the user know what to select or fill in for that field. The descriptive text disappears when the cursor is placed within the field, and the text is not saved out with the document.
Designers can now create their own style sheets which can be used to define the look and feel of documents. These documents can then be changed simply by changing the style sheet, without having to change the original documents.
Sections now support four additional border styles: Windows-caption style, gradient colors, and two tab styles. Designers can also specify that the vertical alignment of a text control match that of the outside text, rather than the control's border.
Designers can now add an embedded editor (a fully-functional editor) to a form.
Designers will be able to specify on a form that a document be "sign-on-save".
Designers can specify the line spacing for 'checkbox' or 'radio button' items.
Designers can now specify that buttons, check boxes, combo boxes, list boxes, dialog lists, text & related fields, embedded outlines, date picker, and scheduler, be sized relative to font sizes on individual Client machines.
Designers can specify their own buttons to be identified as the "OK", "Cancel" and "Help" buttons, and these buttons will take on appropriate behavior beyond their script.
Properties and events can now be accessed and edited for ActiveX controls through the menu choice Applet -> Edit Events and Properties. The programmer's pane is presented, containing the current properties and events, along with their values.
The @dialog function has a new parameter that allows the OK/Cancel buttons to appear either on the right or on the bottom of the dialog box.
Users will now have the ability to select borders for text paragraphs. Options include: border style, border effects, and border thickness.
Notes "guesses" at times and dates based on what a user types in a time or date field, and changes the time or date to the correct format. This feature is disabled by default, and may be enabled through User Preferences.
A new option for tables allows a size-to-fit column (column width automatically sizes to fit the contents).
Designers can now specify a style of table called "Captioned table", which allows viewing of only one section/table row at a time. A caption bar is displayed to identify each row.
Users can now move the contents of a cell, or selected group of cells, up and down within a table using Ctrl+uparrow and Ctrl+downarrow keys.
Within a form-based table, users are no longer prompted when pasting a table into a field. This essentially hides the fact that a table was used in the form as a layout tool, and reduces users' confusion.
Users will now be able to use the keyboard to tab to table tab headers, and use the left & right arrow keys to navigate among table tabs.
Tabbed tables now support placement of the tabs on any side of the table (top/bottom/left/right).
When creating tabbed tables, users can now specify the offset of the first tab, in pixels from 0-100, from the table edge. In addition, users can now create tabbed tables with equal-sized tabs.
Context-sensitive help will become available for each tabbed page within a tabbed table dialog box.
The Help button will appear on a templated dialog box, if the form's onHelp event has been specified.
List items within a rich text field can now be moved up or down via keyboard and menu controls.
The Time Picker and Time Zone controls are now accessible via screen readers for the visually impaired.
Screen readers will now be able to obtain the value of a table tab when in focus.
Text pop-ups and HTML field labels are now reported to Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) screen readers, for the visually impaired.
If the HTML title field is left blank, Editor will use text preceding the field as the HTML title. This is useful for meeting accessibility requirements for screen readers.
International
IME is automatically turned off when users are entering fields which do not require IME. For example, users do not use IME to enter dates in a numeric field. This feature is available on the Windows 32 Client only.
Users are able to choose either a primary name or an alternate name when entering data by using the "Select Name Selection" dialog box. In addition, users will have an option to display alternate names in Mail database views/folders, and in various areas in the Rooms/Resources/Reservations database.
For right-to-left language markets (i.e., Arabic, Hebrew), the Calendar View can now be read from right to left, where Monday will be shown at the top right corner and Friday will be shown at the bottom left corner. Additionally, users can now choose another, secondary calendar to appear in their calendar view. Finally, the Date Pickers now also work from right-to-left.
Template designers are able to select the Hijri calendar for each field. When the option is set to "Hijri", the date information in that field is displayed by the Hijri calendar date; input strings are also recognized in Hijri.
Users are now able to select Unicode text or UTF-8 text when exporting a plain text file.
A newly-defined internet character set, which includes the Euro currency sign, is now supported by Notes/Domino internet messages.
There is a new and improved collation and translation algorithm being used in Notes/Domino. This sorting function follows a standard defined by the Unicode consortium.
Mail, Calendaring, and Scheduling
The 'Delete' functionality has been notably enhanced. After selecting and deleting a document, that document will be removed from the open view and now appear only in the Trash folder. The Trash folder now works as a soft delete mechanism. Documents in Trash can be undeleted until they have been hard deleted from the system and are no longer recoverable. Deleting a document from Trash hard deletes the document.
In the Mail file, it is now possible to see the number of items that are Unread within all of the mail file folders.
The Inbox is now automatically refreshed after mail polling; you no longer need to hit 'F9' to refresh. However, there is a preference to turn this feature off, if desired.
The mail template now allows the user to customize colors for messages in the 'Inbox' and 'All Documents' view, based on the sender of the message. Users can change the background color, or the text color, or both, for a message. Users can also select their own color scheme for various entry types in their calendar.
Users can use the mail rule 'Send copy to' to have Notes forward incoming messages automatically on new messages they receive that meet certain conditions. For example, a user could create a rule that checks for messages from a certain sender, or that contain a certain subject, and have Notes automatically 'Send copy to' a certain e-mail account, or cell phone or pager, before they can see them in their In-box.
Users will be able to upgrade the design on all private and shared folders, from any previous version to the current Release 6 version.
The ambiguous names dialog is easier to use. It is resizeable, displays multiple columns for each name, and includes a "Details" button for getting additional information about a name. In addition, you can sort by any column in the name list.
Reader lists are now respected when trying to mail or route mail to restricted groups. Restricted groups are private groups protected by readers fields.
The Select Addresses dialog is easier to use. It is resizeable, has a new layout, and has an improved keyboard interface.
Users can now use LDAP when searching for names to add to Access Control Lists.
The Attachment Property options have been changed; "View/Launch/Detach" is now "View/Open/Save". There are also two new options "Edit" and "Remove". Selecting "Edit" allows you to make changes to the attachment and retain those changes back in the Notes document after closing the application you used to edit the attachment, and also after saving the Notes document. Selecting "Remove" will remove the attachment from the document.
Users can attach files to documents by dragging files from their operating system into a rich text field in a document. Additionally, users can save attached files by dragging them out of a document and into a folder in their operating system.
The Calendar Entry form has been redesigned, and includes a new Integrated Freetime control within the form. When creating a meeting or appointment, users have the option to override the check against their Calendar profile for free time.
Notes now provides a way to tell the embedded scheduler control which timezone to use for displaying Busytime.
The location of a meeting is now shown in the alarm dialog.
The Rooms and Resources reservation forms and requests have been revised to provide more information and allow more feedback to the requestor. Additionally, a room or resource may now be administered by more than one person, by including a list of the owners. And, single entries created from within the Rooms and Resources Database may now be edited to change the Room/Resource or date and time of the reservation.
As part of enhancements made to the Calendar delegation functionality, a user can now specify an alternate user who should be notified when the first user receives a meeting invitation in their mail file.
Users who use autoprocessing now have the option to decide whether to accept or decline those meeting invitations for which there is a time conflict. Repeating meetings for which there are no conflicts will be autoprocessed.
Meeting, Appointment and Reminder calendar entries now include time zone fields, to specify start and end time zones. You can even specify a different time zone for the start and end times. This feature is especially useful for scheduling airline flights.
In a Group Calendar, users can see the start and end times, description, Chair, and list of attendees for each appointment in a group member's schedule.
Additional actions have been added to allow the Chair of a meeting to: Send Memo to all invitees (regardless of status); Send Memo to meeting participants (those who have responded to the invitation); or Send Memo to invitees who haven't responded.
Using the Print command in Calendar, users can generate a document containing calendar entries which can be printed, edited, and sent to others. Users can also generate a document containing a calendar of entries from a group, which can be edited and sent to others.
Various Calendar entry types have been color-coded to distinguish one type from another.
In the QuickNotes section, users can create "Quick Reminders" that will be added to their calendar.
Scroll bars in the Calendar view can be used to move to a different day.
The 'To Do' view has been enhanced to support in-place editing of existing To Do entries.
The 'Check Calendar' action for a meeting invitation has been enhanced to open the calendar in a dialog. This dialog shows the day the meeting has been proposed for.
Notes now supports copying a calendar entry to the clipboard in iCalendar format, and pasting an iCalendar entry from the clipboard to Notes.
iCalendar messages received in mail are now converted to Notes C&S messages.
The Mail and Calendaring user interfaces have been updated, and their usability has been improved.
The Mail template has been modified so that errors will not be generated when viewing C&S entries from Lotes Notes/Domino releases prior to Release 6.
The In-box folder of IMAP client mail files can be renamed to an alias. This allows customers to internationalize their users' In-box folder.
The "Reply without Attachments" choice will remove attachments, graphics, layout regions, or images.
Mail users can now choose to reply to messages "Internet-style", which formats the history in all replies with ">" markers on the left margin (users may select another character to use as the left margin marker). Internet-style replies are also stripped of pictures, attachments, and OLE objects. Choose the action 'Reply->Reply with Internet-Style History' to use this feature.
User Preferences allows a user to select the character(s) and line length for Internet-style quoting. This character and line-length selection is applied to message histories when Internet-style replies are enabled, instead of applying collapsed sections. The character and line-length selection will also be applied whenever a user chooses Edit->Quote Selection for selected text in a document.
The calendar and scheduling views are better-looking and easier to use. Changes include general interface improvements, displaying "To Do" and all-day events at the top of the calendar, and allowing users to change the length of meeting entries by dragging their edges.
In the Work Week view, users can choose the number of days (up to 7), and which days to display.
Calendar View meetings can now be lengthened or shortened by dragging and resizing the meeting in the time-slot view.
Calendar control has a pop-up list for month and year selections.
The Calendar view supports displaying an additional timezone.
New @CheckCalendar command will bring up a dialog with a 1-day view of the specified date.
Monthly calendars can now be printed starting at a specified week, rather than always having the month start at the first week. As many weeks of the following month as will fit on the page can also be printed. Additionally, users can print a monthly calendar so that the more entries a week has, the more space it gets on the page, and can print calendar views even with multiple time zones displayed. These changes are designed for better space efficiency when printing the calendar.
Printing from the Notes Client supports printing of embedded scheduler and outline controls.
The Programming Pane IDE in the Designer has been enhanced to allow designers to add a "free time" embedded element to a form or page, and to control what information it displays.
Users can now open a vCard attachment and add the contents to Name and Address Book person records. This feature also allows users to drag a url for a vCard or iCal message to the filesystem.
There is a new LotusScript class called NotesUIScheduler. This class works with a new embedded element called Appointment Scheduler to provide template developers with the needed tools to create easier to use appointment workflow.
When reading a message in your Inbox, you can now right-click on any name in the To or cc fields and select from the following commands: Create Memo to, Invite to Meeting, Show Name Details. This feature also works on a list of names. For example, you can select more than one name an use Invite to Meeting to create an invitation.
When composing a new Memo, you can now select delivery options right on the form itself. To display delivery options, use the button on the far right side of the action bar.
Mobile
iNotes Web Access provides Notes users with browser-based access to Notes Mail and to Notes Calendar and Scheduling features. iNotes Web Access users can send and receive mail, view their calendars, invite people to meetings, create to do lists, keep a notebook, and work offline. However, users cannot access Notes databases other then their mail file.
After being set up for iNotes Web Access, a user can use both the standard Notes Client and a Web browser to access their mail files. Because both the Notes Client and iNotes Web Access operate on the same underlying user mail file, read and unread marks remain up-to-date, regardless of which Client the user uses to read the mail. Users can also synchronize information in their Personal Address Book with information in their contact list in iNotes Web Access.
Notes users can now store their Notes password in the Macintosh OS keychain. The keychain is a recent feature of the Macintosh OS that allows a user to store all their security information -- including passwords and certificates -- in one place.
Performance
For increased performance, alarms, subscriptions, and the Web navigator tasks now occur as background tasks.
Polling for new mail now occurs as a background task.
File detachment now occurs as a background task. Also, to keep the user better informed, the progress of both the detachment and/or attachment is displayed.
To increase multi-tasking capability and enhance system performance, database archiving now occurs as a background task.
Refresh/Replace Design now runs in the background, allowing other tasks to be done while the Refresh/Replace occurs.
Background printing can now be enabled via the user preference "Process print requests as a background task".
Replication occurs as a background task, allowing other tasks to be done while the replication runs.
Agents activated from the Action Menu can run in a separate thread, thus allowing them to run as true background tasks.
To improve performance, keyword fields now support the option "Allow keyword synonyms". If unchecked, this option will assume that no keyword synonyms are in use.
Users can now access more than 250 installed fonts from the Notes Client, though there is a limit of 250 fonts within a given document.
Platform Abstraction Layer
A Macintosh version of NotesMinder is now available. NotesMinder is an application that checks for, and notifies users of, new mail, even when Notes is not running.
Verity filters have been updated to version 6.55.
Drag/Drop support has been improved within the Notes Client and Designer.
The right mouse options for the toolbars provide the capability to turn on/off individual or all toolbars, plus provide access to the configuration dialog. Each Toolbar may be positioned individually on any side of the Client UI.
Printing
Designers can now specify their own form printing by specifying that the form be included in the print dialog, and defining a set of variables within the form. This allows for printing of labels and simple listings.
Printing Contact information now supports different print listings (formats); address labels or contact lists.
Print Preview now works for views.
Productivity
Field-driven tabbed tables now update the value of the field associated with the table whenever the user changes the current tab.
The Table menu now allows the user to select an entire table, as well as an entire row(s) an entire column(s) and all cells.
Embedded controls now support having a border.
Embedded subprograms, such as views, editors, or outlines, will not launch until needed, if they were initially hidden in a hide-when formula, unseen tabbed table row, or collapsed section.
Designers can now put multiple views and embedded editors on a form.
Form backgrounds now support additional styles of repeating images: vertical, horizontal, size-to-fit, and centered.
Documents which are wider than the current window will automatically have the horizontal scroll bar enabled.
Sections now support four additional border styles: Windows Caption Look, Gradient, and two tab styles.
Designers can create rich text fields which are more limited in content, such as only a bitmap or only attachments.
Replication
The usability of the Replicator page has been improved, and the Replicator page interface has been updated to be more customizable and user-friendly.
Users can drag databases from their bookmarks to the Replicator icon, or to the Replicator tab, and Notes will add those databases to the list of databases to be replicated.
Dragging databases to the Replicator icon on the Bookmark bar automatically opens the Replicator page.
Users can organize databases on the Replicator page into collapsible groups.
Designers can now specify on a form-by-form basis whether to try and merge conflicts, or ignore them altogether.
The Replicator page now displays more complete progress indication. The new progress bars within the status bar also provide status updates for replication.
Users can now set the Replicator page either as a full page or as a "slide-out" bookmark page.
The Replication Settings Dialog now provides additional truncation options, allowing the user to select the size at which truncation of documents and attachments will occur. A new, advanced form has also been provided for a number of databases, allowing the user to select replication criteria based upon information pertinent to the database.
Security
Notes 6 includes the new User Security dialog box. It is an easy-to-use interface that brings together the most important aspects of security. You can find the User Security dialog box on the new Security submenu by choosing File - Security - User Security.
Beginning with Release 6, users have the ability to log in to Notes using a Smartcard. The user's ID file must be enabled for Smartcard use, where the password that unlocks the ID file is stored on the Smartcard. The advantage of this feature is that it provides two-factor authentication: it requires the use of the Smartcard, and the PIN to unlock the card. Enable and disable Smartcard login through the User Security dialog box.
Template
Both the Client and Designer include redesigned Welcome pages. A new Welcome page wizard will guide users through the process of customizing their Welcome page.
The default Welcome page has been redesigned to include some new features: Personal Journal, Tip of the Day, with an option to turn on/off the Tip of the Day, and New Item buttons. Additionally, administrators are able to modify the Tip of the Day list.
There are now thirteen frameset styles. Users can choose from one to six frames in the new Welcome page wizard. If a user selects the single-frame home page, they can choose from a gallery of different layouts, each with pre-defined content, plus some sections that can be customized by the user, for example, users can select from a variety of themes and colors.
The Welcome page now provides a "switcher" for each frame, when the user selects multiple frames for their layout. The switcher frame will be closed by default. The switcher consists of hotspots which will switch the contents of the frame directly to the left of it, on a temporary basis, until the user either exits Notes or clicks a different hotspot in the switcher. Users will have the ability to select any Notes database, file system, or web page via the switcher.
Administrators can now lock the content of any frame in their customized Welcome page. When this is done, individual users will not be able to change the content of the 'locked' frame.
The preview pane will be available at the bottom of the Welcome page. Documents in the Inbox, Subscriptions, To Do list, or in Notes databases, can be displayed via the preview pane.
Template dialogs now have a look and feel that is similar to the platform dialog boxes.
The new Launch Pad feature allows quick, easy access to web links, Notes database links, and users' non-Notes applications.
Users now have the ability to select any Notes database to display in any frame.
If a user selects Inbox, Calendar, or To Do as the content for a frame, they will have the additional option of displaying the corresponding action buttons in the frame as well. This will allow users to administer their Calendar or To Do items directly from the Welcome page.
Previously, to configure and run the 'Out of Office' agent it had been necessary to have manager access to the mail database. Using the new security model, only Editor access is needed to run the 'Out of Office' agent.
In the default Subscription form, the user is presented with a list of fields in the "Subscribed to" database. They can then specify the contents of that field.
There is a new option to display any drive/path on a user's file system. When a user chooses "File system", they are presented with a dialog box where they can specify the drive/path that they want in that frame. If the user does not have "Notes with IE" selected as their browser in the current location, the file system window will display in a separate window.
A new preference has been added that will prevent To Do entries from appearing on a calendar view. The preference is set via the Calendar view action: Tools->Preferences.
The To Do view now allows you to view by Priority.
TeamRooms will now open to an Announcements view. Anyone with access of "Editor" or higher can create an announcement.
Team leaders can now sort the list of categories in the TeamRoom setup.
Any user can create a group calendar for any subteam within a TeamRoom.
Preview mode is now available on TeamRoom views in the Notes Client.
There is a new hotspot on the Team Members tab of the TeamRoom Setup form by which a user can create a group calendar for either the entire team or a selected subteam.
TeamRoom supports alternate names. All team member profiles now have a hidden field which holds the user's alternate name, and an additional field for the team member's alternate language.
From the Inactive Documents view in the TeamRoom, a user can mark an inactive document as Active again.
In the TeamRoom Setup form, there is a new button called 'Manage Subteam Lists'. From this dialog box, you can add or remove a team member's name from a subteam.
TeamRoom team members can create individual (weekly) status reports, based on their subteam name. In addition, team members can view all individual status reports in the "Individual Status Reports" view.
A user can now create a selective replica in the TeamRoom database through use of a single form.
After creating the team member documents in a new teamroom, the team leader can click "Update ACL" and easily add each team member to the Access Control List, and can select the access level for each team member.
Users can now easily create a selective replica in their Mail database, Discussion database, or Public Name & Address book.
The "mail.box" database, Cluster database, Log database, Schema database, and Directory Assistance database are now all accessible from the web.
For MS Outlook users, it is now possible to choose to work in an online mail database only. By selecting this option from the iNotes Access for MS Outlook download page, users can save space on their hard drive and shorten install time.
The MS Office template (doclbm5.ntf) has added several new features. You can now "migrate" existing MS Office documents from a central location via a Migration Tool, or manually via the template menus (select and open MS Office document). Each MS Office document will get embedded as an OLE object in a Notes document. You can create MS Word documents based on a specific template as well.
View
The View menu has changed to further promote usability. New options such as "Starts with" (launches a type-ahead search dialog) and "Customize this View" (allows you to show/hide columns, change item order, etc.) have been added.
Mouseover "pop-up help" text has been added to everything in the Search Bar, including the extended ("More") area. Hold the mouse over a section of the user interface to see pop-up help.
Views now support grid lines. This feature is used specifically by the To Do view to improve its usability, but is also available in any view.
Views allow you to create new documents at view level; as an example, the $Todo view in the Mail6.ntf to allow users to create a new To Do at the view level. A new property in view design needs to be set to enable this feature.
View lines can be color-coded programmatically, based on a formula.
Horizontal scroll bars now automatically appear as necessary.
Designers can now create views that allow users to create new documents directly in standard views.
Designers can now specify margins (top, bottom, left & right) around Standard and Calendar views from the Style tab of the View Properties box.
Time slots are shown in the Calendar if the designer has checked "Enable Time-slot" option in the designer infobox.
Designers can determine font/color of time slots, month name(s), and day names, and day numbers from the style panel of the Calendar View infobox.
Users can now click on a column entry within a View, either Database style or Calendar style, and enter into an edit mode that allows data to be changed in-place. Thus, the user can edit certain types of documents without having to double-click and open the document form. Edit mode is also available by pressing the 'F2' key.
Date picker can now drive the Calendar view in a specific frame, rather than in all frames.
When re-sizing an entry in the Calendar view, a pop-up will dynamically show the current time position.
Columns can be hidden based on a formula, and resource links can be used to specify icons for columns which aren't in the fixed list provided by a view.
Multiple icons may be specified/displayed within a view column. Icons have been updated to improve their usability.
Currency and date/time formats can be specified for view columns.
Users can re-order and resize the columns in a view. Any changes will be saved and restored the next time the user revisits that view.
Improvements allow designers to have better control of the simple appearance properties for both an embedded view found in a document, and for a resource-linked view found in the frame of a frameset (i.e., Show/Hide Column Headers, Action bar, etc.) In addition, there is a new embedded view option to show the parent and child(ren) of the current document.
Embedded views are printable.
Designers are able to control whether the action bar and/or the selection margin for embedded views are shown
Added ability for designers to specify that embedded view elements are rendered as underlined text, to make it more obvious to the user that it is a clickable item.
Users are able to print documents containing embedded documents.
A user can now reorder the window tabs by dragging them.
Users can search on the results of a full-text database search.
Users will be able to set a preference to show the 'Window' menu, which allows better usability for the visually impaired.
Users can specify that the Notes Client window be obscured when the user's ID is locked.
Upon exiting a database, the size of re-sized frames (framesets or multiple-paned layouts) can now be saved.
Users can now specify a bitmap to be used on their logout window.
Designers can now turn off the line which is drawn next to the selection margin.
View->Design now provides an option for the designer to specify 'Bold' when displaying unread lines in a view.
Designer includes support for the display of a background image for a view.
Designers can now specify a background for the date picker control.
Release 6 includes context-sensitive action buttons. View action hide-when formulas will be evaluated every time the selection entry in a view changes. This will allow the designer to present only those actions which are appropriate for the highlighted document to the user.
New @Command - ([RefreshFrame]; [targetframe]) - allows application designers to refresh a particular frame in the Notes Client.
Designer
Bookmarks
Users can now create arbitrary levels of folders in the Domino Designer bookmark pane, allowing for greater customization and organization of the design environment.
Users can now select multiple databases in the 'Open Database' dialog, and create multiple bookmarks at one time.
Design elements can be opened directly from bookmarks by expanding the list of design elements, clicking on the icon for the design element type, and then clicking on the design element of interest.
Designer now allows the user to drag database and folder icons around within the Designer bookmarks. Folders can be moved into other folders, and databases can be promoted to the bookmark bar, allowing for greater customization and organization of the design environment.
Designers can create collections of arbitrary design elements in a database by creating a folder that is parented by the database, and dragging and dropping design elements into that folder.
Design Elements
The ability to create a customized Tools menu now allows application designers to extend the Designer environment by including their own custom formulas or third party tools.
Layers, which can contain any element that a page or form can contain (for example, text, graphics, links, and so on), allow a designer to position overlapping blocks of content anywhere on a page or form.
Resources, such as images, shared fields, subforms, applets, and embedded views, can now be referenced and shared across databases. Additionally, Notes Client users can now access and manage their own image resources to consolidate the definition of images in a central repository.
New border styles allow the use of a shared image as a border, and include a new style called "Picture", which makes an image look like an instant photo.
The Agent design list is now sortable.
An action can now be displayed as a checkbox instead of a button. The associated menu item will also support a checked state.
Designer will now be able to specify 3D, simple, or no border for all native-style controls.
Customizable twisties allow designers to specify specific bitmaps (also called an image well) for use to identify sections as "collapsed" or "expanded".
Embedded outlines now can be programmed through the Designer Programming Pane.
Users may generate reports on their database design by applying an XSL style sheet to the DXL output of one or more design elements.
In multilingual databases, designers can now provide different language versions of shared fields, and manipulate the shared action Notes creates for each language.
Formulas can now be used to specify the kind, database, and name of a design element for named elements in frames and link hotspots.
Users with "Editor" access in the Access Control List can now enable agents. Note that this is allowed only if the agent is set to allow activation by editors (via the second tab in the agent builder).
Designers can specify that the same JavaScript be used for both Notes and the web by selecting "Common JavaScript" from the dropdown 'language' list in the programmer's pane.
In addition to selecting HTML or Java Applet for editing rich text on the web, there is a new option, 'Best Fit for OS', that will use the IE ActiveX edit control on IE 5.0 or higher browsers running on Win32 system.
ActiveX control properties can now be edited through property sheets.
The Design Synopsis feature now displays Hide-When formulas associated with design elements.
Shared Actions are now listed under Resources-Shared Actions in the design pane, instead of under Resources-Other-Shared Actions.
Designers can indicate that design elements and other design components are specifically intended for mobile clients, or indicate that a design element should be hidden from mobile clients, in the same way design elements may be hidden from web or Notes clients.
Design elements that specifically inherit from a template are now marked with a bitmap in the design list.
Fields, Functions, & Events
@GetField(fieldName) returns the value of the field, which is a text parameter. @ThisName returns the name of the current field. @ThisValue returns the value of the current field. These new functions allow for portable code.
Enhancements to the Designer allow designers to configure a new Time Zone control (available in Meeting, Appointment, and Reminder calendar entries).
There is a new field property calledInput Enabled which is available for all field types, with the exceptionof Rich Text andRich Text Lite. This property only works when field style is set to 'Native OS only'.
Field.OnChange event: added to Field object.
NotesUIDocument.PostSend event: occurs after a document has been sent (mailed)
NotesUIDocument.QuerySend event: occurs before a document is sent (mailed)
NotesUIDocument.QueryRecalc event: occurs before a document is recalculated.
Programmability
New versions of LotusScript (5.0) and JavaScript (1.4) are available, and a new version of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM 1.3.1) is available. Note: For Macintosh, the JVM uses the OS installed version, which is different depending on the OS version.
Extensive additions have been made to both the LotusScript/OLE interface to Domino, and the Java interface.
The COM interface has not been updated; the CORBA interface has not been updated, with a few exceptions.
For a complete list of programmability changes, please see the "What's new in this release?" topic in the Domino Designer on-line Help.
Programming and Data Management
Support for a project model that allows designers to build, organize, and deploy complex applications that combine NSF with non-NSF files.
Designer now supports Data Connection Resources (DCR) which define links from Notes applications to other external data sources. That is, there is a Notes/Oracle connector, Notes/DB2 connector, etc. This feature enhances the ability to exchange data between Notes and non-Notes applications.
Designers can now specify that forms and pages have content (MIME) types other than HTML.
Form design now supports the ability to edit the HTML representation of a form, with the option to save changes to either the native object or to the HTML object.
When editing HTML in the HTML view, a preview window is now available to allow visual feedback.
Pass-thru HTML on forms and pages now renders in Notes Client. Pass-thru HTML in rich text fields still displays as raw HTML.
JavaScript code can now be stored in Script Libraries to allow designers a place to define common JavaScript functions so that code doesn't have to be repeated in many forms/views/pages or shared elements. Allows for easier maintenance of JavaScript code.
The UI now provides a mechanism that enables users to recompile all of the LotusScript in their application. In addition, support for tools for debugging server-based LotusScript agents is now included.
The Open statement in LotusScript has been extended to include a code page. This allows the script writer to handle character sets in different code pages than the current platform that the script is running on.
Autocomplete support is now available for LotusScript editing.
The LotusScript IDE now supports code sections that are larger than 64K.
Any viewable or editable source code can be printed from the programmer's pane.
Properties
Color choices are being standardized by using one color-picker instead of the two previously available.
Certain common properties can be set on more than one selected design element.
Server
Administration
Lotus Domino 6 now includes a brand new Web Administration Client which closely resembles the W32 Administrator Client.
Administrators can now create and deploy customized Welcome pages to their Notes users.
Administrators are no longer limited to 2 characters for middle name/initial information during person management operations (registration, rename, etc.). A full middle name may now be used.
Server activity logging has been enhanced to capture detailed information about Notes sessions, databases, passthrus, and scheduled agent activities, as well as information about POP3, SMTP, HTTP, IMAP, NNTP, and LDAP activity.
The Activity Trends feature exploits Domino 6 activity logging to automate server workload analysis and redistribution. This feature's UI will be part of the separately sold/marketed IBM Tivoli Analyzer for Lotus Domino product, and is integrated within the Administrator Client Server Monitoring pane.
The Domino Administrator Log Analysis Tool has been extended to capture enhanced server activity logging data
ADSync extends and expands the functionality of Notes User Manager Extension for the Microsoft Active Directory in Windows 2000. ADSync enables you to register, synchronize properties and passwords, and rename and delete users and groups in the Domino Directory when such actions are performed in the Active Directory. Features include container and property mappings between two directories, and the use of policies for registering users
Archiving/documentation retention has been enhanced to give the Notes Administrator the ability to set and manage all archive settings for users through policy-based management. In addition to the administrator having the ability to set the archive settings, they can also allow/disallow the end user to create "private" archive settings which apply only to their own database. The new archiving functionality also allows more than one set of archive criteria and archive destinations. Finally, the archive log has been updated to the Release 6 look and feel.
Some of the features performed via the Domino Administrator are now executed in the background. In previous releases, these features prevented the execution of any other features until processing was complete.
Database management has been enhanced in Release 6 by using server clusters to manage some tasks, including: dragging & dropping databases to a cluster, specifying which cluster members get a replica, and allowing users to select cluster mates as targets when using File->Database->New, New Replica, and New Copy dialogs.
The user registration UI and registration preferences in the Administration Preferences dialog now allow the administrator to select Certificate Authority (CA) configured certifiers to register users. The administrator must first set up the CA process on a domain server, and must select a certifier from the UI list that is configured to use the CA process. This feature allows administrators to register users without having to provide a physical certifier ID and certifier password before or during registration.
Servers now support the ability to save a copy of all messages, including text, for long term archiving.
The user interface for managing server task scheduling has been improved to include scheduled tasks such as mail routing, agents, program docs, etc.
Administrators now have the ability to monitor the performance of their Domino Server Statistics in real-time, historical or by trend, through a graphical interface. Administrators can specify sets of statistics, and select any server.
The server console now has the ability to log a text file. This allows the STDOUT to go to a file which does not tie up the machine, and which can be looked at off-line.
The RegisterNewUser method has been updated for Release 6. The new RegisterNewUserWithPolicy method allows administrators to supply name, password and policy name to register a new user.
Administrators can now create multiple, different default registration settings for users through the creation of policies and registration policy settings documents. If you have policies that include registration policy settings in place before you register users, these settings set default user registration values.
The Windows 2000 Event Viewer can now display error messages related to generating Domino statistics within the Performance Monitor.
Agents
Release 6 contains several new rules for agent security; the fields controlling new security functionality are in the server record of the Name and Address Book.
Release 6 supports two modes of enabling agents - one mode enables an agent to run, as well as signing it (the same as in R5); the second mode only enables the agent to run without changing the signature (we sometimes refer to this mode of enabling as 'activation'). The mode of the agent is controlled by the "Activatable by user" setting on the second tab of the agent builder info box. The agent can be enabled (activated) by Editor level users when the agent is in the "Activatable by user" mode.
Directory - General
You can choose an alternative centralized directory setup consisting of a full Domino directory holding enterprise user, group and mail-in database records hosted in a central location combined with small configuration directories holding Domino configuration information hosted on individual servers.
You can use Extended ACLs, implemented in the Domino Directory, Extended Directory Catalog, and Administration Requests databases, to refine the database ACL and set access for authenticated users at the document and field level.
Users are now able to select whether a directory should be served up by LDAP, NAMELookup, or both.
A Multiple Organization Domino Directory allows a Service Provider to store directory information for multiple organizations within a single Domino Directory. Through the use of Extended ACLs, users of a Multiple Organization Domino Directory have access only to their organization's information.
Directory assistance can now use cluster failover to fail over to an alternate replica of a Domino Directory.
The ability to authenticate Internet clients in a secondary directory (Domino or 3rd party LDAP) has been extended to include IMAP, POP3, LDAP and NNTP clients. Previously this capability was available only for clients connecting over HTTP.
You can put groups used for database authorization in one secondary Domino Directory or in one external LDAP directory, in addition to the primary Domino Directory; previously you could put authorization groups only in one external LDAP directory in addition to the primary Domino Directory . Note that you can't put authorization groups in both of these directory locations.
Release 6 provides the ability to define a custom filter for groups and users, and a timeout limit.
These new statistics related to directory lookups are available: Database.NAMELookupTotal; Database.NAMELookupTotalLookupTime; Database.LDAP.NAMELookupTotal; Database.LDAP.NAMELookupTotalLookupTime; LDAP.Total LDAPSearchTime.
These new statistics related to Directory Assistance are available: Database.DAReloadCount, Database.DARefreshServerInfoCount, Database.DAFailoverCount
Directory - LDAP
The LDAP service schema improvements include: complete support for LDAP RFCs 2252, 2256, 2798, 2247, 2739, 2079, 1274; new Domino LDAP Schema database(SCHEMA.NSF) used as a tool for maintaining and extending the schema; an automatic schema maintenance process, true object class inheritance; faster schema loading; and support for the namingContext operational attribute defined in LDAP standard RFC 2251.
If you enable Extended ACLs on Domino Directory or Extended Directory Catalog, LDAP search and NameLookup utilize Database ACLs and Extended ACLs to return appropriate results.
The LDAP service now supports arbitrary distinguished names.
You can now configure some LDAP settings in the Domain Configuration record instead of placing them in Notes.ini. These LDAP configuration settings can now be set/modified dynamically.
The LDAP service now returns appropriate results when an LDAP client searches for vendor information attributes.
Activity logging for the LDAP service provides the ability to more easily determine who is reading/writing objects in the directory.
The average time to complete an LDAP search transaction and the amount of CPU time used in completing a search transaction have been reduced.
You can now override the built-in search filters used by Directory Assistance when searching an LDAP directory by specifying custom LDAP filters for mail address lookups, client authentication credentials lookups, and group authorization lookups (i.e. expanding groups on ACLs).
You can include more than one value in the Hostname field in an LDAP Directory Assistance document, so that if the first server specified is unavailable, Directory Assistance can fail over to another LDAP server.
The LDAP address picker will chase references to other LDAP servers.
There is a new migration tool that enables you to migrate person and group entries directly from an LDAP directory server into the Domino Directory.
Domino Hosting Environment
The Lotus Domino Release 6 server includes new hosting features that allow multiple organizations to be transparently hosted by a single Domino server. Clients from different hosted companies access their data from the same logical server, securely, using standard internet protocols. Internet protocols supported for Release 6 include: HTTP, IIOP, IMAP, LDAP, POP3, SMTP, SSL and DOLS access.
The Domino Hosting Environment simplifies server administration and application support. The administrator works with only one server, yet each organization on that server can function as if it is hosted by its own unique server. For example, each organization has its own HTTP application and file location, with organization-specific authentication controls. The Domino Directory template and associated server tasks have been modified to allow granular configuration control for each hosted organization.
International
The string resources used in the Domino servers are switched to the proper language. The language is selected based on the Web browser's accept language setting, so one Domino server is able to serve multiple language clients at once.
Web access users can configure their preferences, and keep that configuration over their sessions. The configurable preferences are: 1) timezone, 2) date/time format, and 3) number format. The information is stored on the Web browser using cookies.
Messaging
The IMAP server now supports the NAMESPACE extension, which allows an IMAP client to view folders in another user's mail file, or view public folders in a shared database.
Mail file quota processing has been enhanced, allowing administrator control over message disposition and notification to the owner of a mail file.
The IMAP server has been rearchitected for performance, scalability and robustness.
Support for Realtime Blackhole Lists (RBLs). RBLs are databases used to track SMTP servers that permit third-party relay.
System-level mail rules allow administrators to specify message criteria, and actions to be taken, for all messages processed on a server.
Monitoring
You can view OS platform statistics from the Domino console along with your Domino server statistics. This provides for easier Domino server monitoring and tuning.
Domino platform statistics displays operating system level statistics like CPU, Memory and Disk I/O.
Via the Domino console or Administrative Panel remote console you can determine system resource consumption of the Domino server.
To view platform statistics, issue the Domino console command "show stat platform".
Platform statistics can be viewed on NT, OS/400, Solaris, Win2K, and AIX 4.3.3.
Individual network names are shown in platform statistics, and all network adapter names are supported.
Domino platform statistics are now enabled by default on the Domino server.
Server Health Monitoring (SHM) extracts the Domino name lookup stats, and determines whether the lookup time is Normal, Significant, or Critical.
SHM supports analysis of the health of all server types supported by Domino, and of the newly-provided Domino Network Platform statistics on Win32, AIX, and Solaris platforms.
This feature's UI will be part of the separately sold/marketed IBM Tivoli Analyzer for Lotus Domino product, and is integrated within the Administrator Client Server Monitoring pane.
Network
Support for Vines and Appletalk as a network protocol has been removed from all platforms. The support for SPX has been removed from UNIX platforms. Note that it is still possible to manage servers installed prior to Release 6 that use these protocols from Release 6 servers.
iNotes Access for Microsoft Outlook allows MS Outlook users to fully participate in Mail and C&S functions using a Domino back-end, while fully interworking with Notes users. Additionally, this service may be installed using a Web Browser (using DOLS technology) and may be used without installing a Notes Client.
To assist users who travel frequently to many locations, and who need to dial their ISP from those locations using the proper local phone numbers, a new phonebook database has been introduced. This phonebook is populated with ISP phone numbers for various locations by either the site administrator or the end user, and is accessed by the phonebook dialog when connecting to a server.
Network compression is now available for each enabled network port, and can speed up data transmission between a Notes Client and Domino server, or between two Domino servers. Additionally, there may be a reduction in network traffic when compression is enabled. Note that there are additional memory and CPU costs involved with performing compression, which should be considered before compression is enabled.
Domino Release 6 provides support for the IPv6 protocol.
Thread pooling support -- introduced in Domino 5 to the database server for the NRPC protocol -- has been extended in Domino 6 to the Internet servers for IMAP, POP3, SMTP, LDAP, ICM, and IIOP, increasing their scalability by reducing per connection CPU utilization and memory. Thread Pooling support allows the server to switch from using one thread per user/connection to using a small pool of threads for a much larger number of user/connections.
Policy-based Management
Domino Administrators can create policies, and then using an established hierarchy, automatically distribute those policies across a group, a department, or an entire organization. The use of policies makes it easy for administrators to establish and maintain standard settings and configurations, and automates redundant administrative tasks.
Programmability
A Notes DateTime object can now be created from a Java Calendar object.
The new DIIOP task supports the HTTP request for creating a session, and includes support for DIIOP in a Service Provider environment.
The ACL activity log is now available programmatically.
Rich Text enhancements to back-end classes include: the ability to specify colors and styles for tables; the ability to search for strings to begin inserts or set range boundaries, and the ability to Replace one string with another in RichTextItem; the ability to enumerate and access embedded objects from within RichText editing framework; a Navigator property on the RichTextRange object (to do bounded navigation within a specified range); and the ability to begin an insert operation in a RichTextItem at a specific text offset, or after searching for a string;
A NotesStream class has been provided, to input/output MIME and XML content.
Programmatic access to MIME via Backend Classes using both LotusScript and Java interfaces is now available.
Security
HTTP password management allows administrators to set password restrictions on users configured in the Domino Directory. Restrictions include: the ability to set an expiration period on an Internet password; a grace period for re-setting Internet passwords; the requirement to change an Internet password immediately; and lockout internet access for users, requring password. Administrators can also set internet password quality and length.
SSL session resumption allows for the cryptographic work of authenticating over SSL to occur only on the first connection, with all subsequent connections re-using the existing keying information.
When a Site document is created for a given Internet protocol, a server will use that site document to obtain SSL security settings for that protocol, rather than from the Server document. New settings have been added to the Site document security settings to control the use of Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs). These settings do not appear in the server document. The security settings are passed into trust policy code for use during certificate chain evaluation.
Administrators can now synchronize users' Notes password with the Internet password stored in the person record in the Domino Directory. To do this, the administrator can set the 'Allow synchronization flag' in the Person record; the next time the user authenticates to the mail server, an adminp request is created, which changes the Internet password in the Domino Directory to the password used to unlock the Notes ID file.
Administrators now have the ability to create Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs), as part of the new Release 6 CA. CRLs can be configured to be published on a regularly scheduled basis, and posted in the CA's certifier document in the Domino Directory. This will allow the revocation status of a certificate to be verified before trusting it.
Administrators can push Admin ECLs to their clients dynamically, as needed. This solves the issue of those instances when clients get the default ECL (rather than the Admin ECL) during setup because they are disconnected from the directory, and provides for a more timely delivery of updates.
WebDAV
Domino supports WebDAV for remote editing of resources in a Domino database.
Web Server
Web Server search results can now be in the same order as View, when "Keep current order" is selected for sort options.
Search result template forms no longer require author access.
An additional field has been added to HTTP logging (supported for logging to text files and to domlog.nsf). This field records the full pathname of the file-system resource (database, text file, or cgi program) accessed by the request. For example, if the request was "http://server/sales.nsf", the field would record "c:/lotus/domino/data/sales.nsf".
Support for JavaScript Library allows applications the ability to store JavaScript routines once in the database without requiring developers to copy/paste useful routines from one form into another.
