Installing additional features from IBM Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 onto IBM Lotus Notes 8.0.1

Document options Document options requiring JavaScript are not displayed Discuss Rate this page Help us improve this content

Level: Intermediate

Keith Carter (carterk@us.ibm.com), Senior Software Engineer, IBM

13 May 2008

Learn how to install additional features from the IBM® Lotus® Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Desktop onto the IBM Lotus Notes® 8.0.1 Client so that you can run Lotus Expeditor components that use these features on the Lotus Notes 8.0.1 desktop.

The IBM Lotus Notes 8.0.1 Client includes features from Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Desktop. To conserve resources on the Lotus Notes 8.0.1 client, not all Lotus Expeditor features are included in Lotus Notes 8.0.1. This limitation means that developers who build software components that run on Lotus Notes 8.0.1 and require these features must install them onto Lotus Notes 8.0.1. This article explains the additional features that you can install onto Lotus Notes 8.0.1, the procedure to do so, and the support that you receive from IBM.

Installing these additional features provides the following benefits:

• You can extend your Lotus Expeditor software components on Lotus Notes 8.0.1 to use these additional features. For example, you can use messaging to perform secure transactions with enterprise messaging systems.
• You can develop common software components that run with Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Desktop and Lotus Notes 8.0.1 on laptop and desktop clients. In certain cases, you can develop common software components that also run with Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Devices on handheld client devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smart phones. As a result, you can extend your line-of-business applications from Lotus Expeditor to the Lotus Notes desktop.

Lotus Expeditor: The core of IBM Lotus rich clients

Lotus Expeditor is IBM's Java™ Enterprise Edition (JavaEE) client application development and runtime platform, and it is based on Eclipse. Lotus Expeditor also provides the core client technology for the latest versions of Lotus Notes, IBM Lotus Sametime®, and IBM Lotus Symphony.

Developers can use the IBM Lotus Expeditor Toolkit to develop JavaEE and Eclipse applications for all these products. The toolkit allows you to select your target client platform, and then it automatically configures the development environment with the features necessary to develop applications for the selected target client platform. You can also develop software components that run on multiple client platforms by developing your software to use Lotus Expeditor features that are common to the client platforms of interest. See figure 1.

Back to top

Prerequisites

The procedure described in this article is intended for Java developers familiar with Eclipse RCP. The procedure assumes that you have experience in Java development and that you have in-depth knowledge of building Eclipse RCP applications. Java developers who do not have these skills should study the reference documents in the Lotus Expeditor library before they perform this procedure.

You should have the following skills and expertise:

• Familiarity with the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Toolkit
• Experience with Eclipse update sites
• Familiarity with Lotus Notes 8.0.1
• Experience with Lotus Domino Administrator 8.0 and NSF-based update sites (optional)

To create an Eclipse update site with the additional features, you must have the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Toolkit and Lotus Notes 8.0.1 installed on your workstation. To create an NSF-based update site, you must also have Lotus Domino® Administrator 8.0 installed on your workstation.

To install the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Toolkit, you can either purchase Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 or download a trial version of the toolkit.

Back to top

Selecting features

The following sections list the additional Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 features that you can install onto Lotus Notes 8.0.1.

NOTES:

• A feature can require multiple feature files to install correctly. Read the "Feature files to install" column in the tables that follow for a complete list of feature files.
• All features run with Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Desktop and Lotus Notes 8.0.1. Certain features also run on Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Devices. Read Client support in the "Feature files to install" column of each table in the following sections to understand where each feature runs.
• Features designated as nl1, nl2, or nl3 refer to national language groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively, as defined in IBM language groups in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/ledoc/v6r11/index.jsp.

Compatibility

WebSphere® Everyplace® Deployment V6.0 was the predecessor product to Lotus Expeditor 6.1. The compatibility feature detailed in table 1 enables WebSphere Everyplace Deployment V6.0 applications to run in Lotus Notes 8.0.1 as shown in table 1.

Data access

The data access features, detailed in table 2, enable applications to access relational data in local databases on client systems and optionally synchronize local relational data with server databases. Lotus Notes 8.0.1 supports the Derby local database. Lotus Expeditor provides support for a lighter-weight database, called IBM DB2® Everyplace, that is primarily used by applications on handheld devices. If you write applications that run on handheld devices and desktops, then DB2e becomes a viable option for application portability across these platforms. In addition, data in both Derby and DB2e local databases can be synchronized with server databases, such as IBM DB2 Universal Database™. This function enables client applications to read and store data when the client is offline and then subsequently to exchange local data with data in a server database.

In addition, the database lifecycle management framework offers Lotus Expeditor applications the ability to interoperate with a relational database in a uniform and transparent manner (using the notion of managed data sources). The framework enables the platform administrator or developer to:

• Declaratively specify the required database structure
• Initially populate databases prior to client access
• Migrate from one database structure to another

For more information on developing client-side data access applications, read Developing data access applications in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor. For information on configuring database synchronization to back-end enterprise databases, read DB2 Everyplace 9.1.1 information in Using Lotus Expeditor Server.

Development enablement

The development enablement features, detailed in table 3, enable application development with the services provided by Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 on Lotus Notes 8.0.1.

Messaging

Lotus Expeditor provides both enterprise class messaging through the Java Message Service (JMS) and embedded messaging using IBM WebSphere® MQ Everyplace and micro broker with the MQ Telemetry Transport Java client APIs. WebSphere MQ Everyplace and micro broker provide a point-to-point JMS provider, while the micro broker also provides a publish-and-subscribe JMS provider that enables Java developers to leverage the JMS APIs to send and receive messages from the Lotus Expeditor runtime. You can utilize these messaging services in Lotus Notes 8.0.1 by installing the appropriate messaging features. See table 4 for details.

For more information on developing client-side messaging applications, read Developing messaging applications in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor. For information on configuring the WebSphere MQ Everyplace gateway, which enables client-side messaging applications that use WebSphere MQ Everyplace to exchange messages with IBM messaging servers, read WebSphere MQ Everyplace 2.0.2 information in Using Lotus Expeditor Server.

Portlets

The Lotus Expeditor platform supports portlet applications that conform to the Java Specification Request (JSR) 168 specification. Lotus Notes 8.0.1 includes this function. An additional portlet feature, Apache Portals Bridges, detailed in table 5, is available in Lotus Expeditor. If this function is useful, then you can install the feature onto Lotus Notes 8.0.1.

For more information, read Developing portlet applications in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor.

Security

The User Admin service supports authentication and authorization of the users of an OSGi platform. The Lotus Expeditor Web container also uses this service for local Web applications that require security. See table 6 for details. For more information on the User Admin service, read the OSGi Service Platform Core Specification at http://www.osgi.org.

Web applications

The Lotus Expeditor platform supports Servlet 2.4 and JSP 2.0 Web applications as well as Servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2 Web applications. Lotus Notes 8.0.1 supports these types of Web applications.

Lotus Expeditor also supports additional types of Web applications that use JavaServer™ Faces and the JavaServer Faces Widget Library, as detailed in table 7.

JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a technology that helps you build user interfaces for dynamic Web applications that run on the server. The JavaServer Faces framework manages user interface states across server requests and offers a simple model for the development of server-side events that are activated by the client. JavaServer Faces is consistent and easy to use.

JavaServer Faces Widget Library (JWL) allows you to build a Web application with rich components to display complex arrangements of data. The resulting application has no footprint because it uses only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript™.

For more information, read Developing Web applications in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor.

Web services

Lotus Expeditor supports a lightweight Web services client, called mobile Web services, so that client applications can consume Web services. Mobile Web services support functionality that is similar to JSR-172. In some cases, very complex Web services that comply with JAX-RPC might not be fully consumable by JSR-172 Web services. In cases where the client needs to consume JAX-RPC-based services, Lotus Expeditor provides Apache Axis 1.4 to develop JSR-101-based Web services clients. In addition, Lotus Expeditor exposes OSGi services as Web services providers. See table 8 for more details.

Lotus Notes 8.0.1 supports Apache Axis 1.4, but it does not support mobile Web services and Web services providers.

NOTE: If you are writing applications that run on handheld devices and desktops, then mobile Web services become a viable option for application portability across these platforms.

In addition, the Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF) feature provides a lightweight implementation of the WS-Resource Framework set of specifications (WS-Resource, WS-ResourceLifeTime, WS-ResourceProperies, and WS-BaseFault) in the OSGi environment. It provides an environment where various Web services clients can access stateful resources running in an OSGi environment using WSRF standards.

For more information, read Developing Web services in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor.

Back to top

Installing features

The procedure to install additional features consists of the following major tasks:

1. Assembling an update site with the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 features that you want to deploy to Lotus Notes 8.0.1.
2. Deploying the update site to Lotus Notes 8.0.1.

The way in which you deploy the update site to Lotus Notes 8.0.1 determines the steps necessary to assemble the update site. You can choose one of the following deployment options:

• Deploy the update site as an NSF-based update site from a Lotus Domino™ 8 server to Lotus Notes 8.0.1. The steps are as follows:
  
  1. Assemble an Eclipse update site.
  2. Assemble the Eclipse update site onto an NSF-based update site.
  3. Deploy the NSF-based update site.
• Deploy the update site as an Eclipse update site to Lotus Notes 8.0.1. The steps are as follows:
  
  1. Assemble an Eclipse update site.
  2. Deploy the Eclipse update site.

Assembling an Eclipse update site

You must assemble an Eclipse update site with the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 features that you want to deploy to Lotus Notes 8.0.1. Before you assemble the update site, you must install the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Toolkit and configure the test environment as Lotus Expeditor for Desktop. For more information on the toolkit, read Using the Lotus Expeditor Toolkit in Developing Applications for Lotus Expeditor.

After you have installed the toolkit onto either the Eclipse or IBM Rational® integrated development environment (IDE), start the IDE and follow these steps to create an Eclipse update site:

1. Select File - New - Project.
2. Expand Plug-in Development, select Update Site Project, and click Next.
3. Enter the project name, and then click Finish.
4. The Site Manifest Editor opens, enabling you to add features to the site. Select Add Feature to add features to the site.
   

   You need to add only the features that you specifically want to make available for installation. Refer to the list of features described in this document to determine the features to assemble in your update site.

   Refer to the Platform Plug-in Developers Guide and to the Eclipse site (http://help.eclipse.org/help32/index.jsp) for more information on using the update site editor.

5. After you have added all the features, select Build All to build the features and the feature content onto an update site.
6. Click your update site project, and then select File - Export.
7. In the Export menu, expand General, select File System, and click Next.
8. In the File System menu, specify a To directory and click Finish. The Eclipse update site is then stored in the directory.

Assembling an NSF-based update site

Eclipse update sites are accessed with HTTP. Not every Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino customer, though, uses HTTP to provision updates. Therefore, Lotus Notes and Domino 8 allow customers to create NSF-based update sites that contain Eclipse update sites. As a result, Lotus Notes and Domino 8 customers can provision NSF-based update sites through the Lotus Notes Domino protocol Notes Remote Procedure Call (NRPC).

Additional advantages of NSF-based update sites over Eclipse update sites are as follows:

• Lotus Domino administrators can assign access rights to an NSF-based update site.
• The NSF-based update site can be easily distributed by Lotus Domino replication.
• Lotus Domino administrators can perform intelligent analysis and view metadata of the entire update site in easy-to-read Lotus Notes documents, such as one in which all plug-ins used by a feature are doc-linked.
• The NSF-based update site template provides tools to globally and automatically modify embedded URLs inside JAR files.

If you decide to use an NSF-based update site, then you import your Eclipse update site onto an NSF-based update site. For information on how to assemble an NSF-based update site, do the following:

1. Go to Lotus Domino Administrator 8 Help.
   

   Download the available material at Lotus Domino documentation: Version 8.0.x.

2. Expand Notes client installation and Smart Upgrade - Enabling and using third-party feature installation and update in Notes - Installing and updating custom and third-party features and plug-ins.
3. Read Creating and using an NSF-based update site.

NOTE: Specify the directory path to the site.xml file in your Eclipse update site.

Deploying the update site

For information on how to deploy an NSF-based update site to Lotus Notes 8.0.1, do the following:

1. Go to Lotus Domino Administrator 8 Help.
2. Expand Notes client installation and Smart Upgrade
3. Read Enabling and using third-party feature installation and update in Notes.

For information on how to directly deploy an Eclipse update site to Lotus Notes V8.0.1, do the following:

1. Go to Assembling and Deploying Lotus Expeditor Applications.
2. Expand Assembling and deploying.
3. Read Deploying features to the platform.

Back to top

Uninstalling features

After you install one or more of the additional Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 features onto Lotus Notes V8.0.1, you can decide subsequently to uninstall one or more of these features. Be aware of the dependencies among features that will affect the order in which you uninstall certain features. Consult Selecting Features in this document for these dependencies.

For example, to uninstall feature Derby Client Sync, you must uninstall its feature file com.ibm.mobileservices.isync.db2j.feature. If you do not use DB2 Everyplace Client Sync, then you can uninstall its feature file com.ibm.mobileservices.isync.feature. If you try to uninstall these features in reverse order, you are not able to do so because the Derby Client Sync feature depends on the DB2 Everyplace Client Sync feature.

Back to top

Support options

If you encounter any issues when installing Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 features onto Lotus Notes 8.0.1, help with questions can be obtained via the Lotus Expeditor Forum or through normal Lotus Notes® support channels.

If you have purchased Lotus Notes 8.0.1 but have not purchased Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2, you may install the Lotus® Expeditor 6.1.2 Toolkit trial for free from developerWorks. Follow the procedure described in this document to assemble and deploy an update site to Lotus Notes 8.0.1.

NOTE: Like other non-warranted toolkits for Lotus Notes, support for the Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Toolkit is not included when used with Lotus Notes 8.0.1. However, support may be purchased via the "Developer Support Program for Lotus Software Toolkits and APIs." Contact your Lotus Sales representative for more information on that program. Help with questions can be obtained free of charge through the Lotus Expeditor forum.

Back to top

Conclusion

In this article, we explained how to install additional features from Lotus Expeditor 6.1.2 Client for Desktop on to Lotus Notes 8.0.1. As a result, you can utilize additional features in your Lotus Expeditor software components on Lotus Notes8.0.1 and develop common software components that run on a variety of client devices.

Resources

• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Implementing an embedded Web browser using IBM Lotus Expeditor Toolkit."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Using the Personal Wizards plug-in in IBM Lotus Expeditor."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Migrating J2EE projects to IBM Lotus Expeditor V6.1."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "End-to-end integration with pervasive messaging and IBM Lotus Expeditor micro broker."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Building an offline application in IBM Lotus Expeditor."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Developing and deploying rich client applications on desktops and mobile devices using IBM Lotus Expeditor V6.1."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Migrating Eclipse RCP applications to IBM Lotus Expeditor."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Creating collaborative components for IBM Lotus Expeditor Property Broker."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Developing an OSGi service as a Web service in IBM Lotus Expeditor."
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus article, "Building and deploying a simple Web Services Resource in IBM Lotus Expeditor."
  
  
• Read the IBM Redbooks publication, Building Composite Applications in Lotus Expeditor V6.1 .
  
  
• Read the developerWorks Lotus Expeditor page.
  
  
• Consult the Lotus Expeditor Information Center.
  
  
• Refer to the IBM Lotus Expeditor documentation.
  
  

• Download a trial version of the IBM Lotus Expeditor V6.1 Toolkit.
  
  

• Participate in the discussion forum.
  
  
• Participate in the developerWorks Lotus team blog.

About the author

		Keith Carter is a Senior Software Engineer on IBM's Business Partner Technical Enablement team. He has worked at IBM for more than 26 years in jobs that span the software development life cycle, including architecture, development, testing, management, and enablement. He currently assists business partners and independent software vendors in developing software applications with IBM Lotus Expeditor. You can contact Keith at carterk@us.ibm.com.

Rate this page

Please take a moment to complete this form to help us better serve you. Did the information help you to achieve your goal? Yes No Don't know   Please provide us with comments to help improve this page:   How useful is the information? 1 2 3 4 5 Not useful Extremely useful

Share this.... Digg this story del.icio.us Slashdot it!

Back to top