Lotus Notes/Domino 6 introduced significant new features and functionality, and the Lotus Notes/Domino 6.0 maintenance releases bring you further improvements. This article describes the new enhancements in the maintenance releases (MRs) and maintenance updates (MUs) beginning with the first two maintenance releases in the Domino 6 code stream: Notes/Domino 6.0.1 and 6.0.2.
Please note that as a general rule, we try to avoid including new features in our maintenance releases and updates. Each time the decision is made to include new functionality in a maintenance release or update, it is an exception to our rule, done to keep Notes/Domino competitive in the marketplace and to meet customer needs and wants.
You can find this list in the set of release notes that comes with each new release. You can find all the Notes/Domino Release Notes in Lotus Documentation on Lotus.com. You can also check on the status of the next Notes/Domino MR/MU.
For information about enhancements to Notes/Domino R5, see the LDD Today article, "Enhancements to 5.0.1 to 5.0.12."
Domino server and Administrator client
Among other features, roaming user and the Automatic Diagnostic Collection Tool are new to Domino.
Automatic Diagnostic Collection Tool
The Automatic Diagnostic Collection Tool lets you automatically collect crash diagnostic data on Notes clients and Domino servers and send that information to a specified mail-in database, so you no longer have to worry about unreported crashes or incomplete or inappropriate data from a client or server crash. The Automatic Diagnostic Collection Tool not only associates the diagnostic file with the correct server or client, but also locates the diagnostic file on the server. The Domino 6.0.1 server uses a diagnostic directory to store all diagnostic files, including console.log.
Domino creates an index file (diagindex.nbf) to track the diagnostic files created on the server or client since you started it. When you restart a client or server after a crash, a new process searches the index file to find specific information that it forwards in an email to the mail-in database.
To configure the Automatic Diagnostic Collection Tool for your Domino server, use the new Diagnostics tab on the Configurations Settings document. To configure the tool for your Notes clients, use the Diagnostics tab on the Desktop Settings policy document. For information on how to configure the Automatic Diagnostic Collection Tool, see the Notes/Domino 6.0.1 Release Notes .
Roaming user
Users who access Notes from more than one Notes client can access their customized settings and personal information automatically from any Notes client in the domain. Data for these users, known as roaming users, replicates between the user's machine and a roaming user server, where these files are stored. When a roaming user logs on from a different Notes client, the client automatically retrieves the user's Personal Address Book, bookmarks database, and personal journal from the roaming user server.
In addition, the user's ID file is attached to the Personal Address Book, so he doesn't need carry his ID file with him, and parts of the user's Notes.ini are copied to the Personal Address Book also. You can enable roaming users to access other databases from any client in the domain by replicating the databases to the roaming server. Any changes that the user makes in these files replicate to the roaming user server to enable the roaming user to have a consistent experience from any Notes client.
The roaming user feature is available only for Notes 6.0.1 clients and Domino 6.0.1 servers. For instructions on how to designate a Notes user a roaming user, see the Domino Administrator 6 help .
Domino Directory outline view enhancement
To match the outline view in the Domino Administrator client, the Domino Directory outline view now uses the same icons in both the Domino Directory and Domino Administrator client. The following screen shows the new Domino Directory outline view:
Figure 1. Domino Directory outline view
Lotus Notes Smart Upgrade support for multilingual installations
If users have more than one language version of the Lotus Notes client installed on a machine, Lotus Notes Smart Upgrade can detect those languages and upgrade all of them to the specified version.
Solaris 9 support
In addition to Solaris 8, Domino 6.0.1 also supports Solaris 9. For more platform support information, see the Notes/Domino 6.0.1 Release Notes .
$CacheValid field reintroduced
The $CacheValid field, which was removed from Domino 6, is reintroduced in Domino 6.0.1 for backward-compatibility. However, if you enable User Preferences or if a response contains either a localizable field (such as time or date) or any server resource strings from which more than one language can be chosen, the response is cached even if the form contains the $CacheValid field.
You can disable User Preferences or locale preferences through the Server document or Web Site documents. See the Notes/Domino 6.0.1 Release Notes for additional information.
Browser-side caching enhancements
Domino browser-side caching enhancements include the use of HTTP/1.1 Entity Tags (ETags) and the @SetHTTPHeader function. With the @SetHTTPHeader function, applications can set HTTP response headers to control browser caching behavior. You can use Entity Tags for cache validation. For more information about these features, see the LDD Today article, "A preview of browser-side caching enhancements."
Transaction logging Notes.ini setting
The new Notes.ini setting RM_SMALL_NBNSRO_LOG_RECORD, when set to 1, divides a transaction log into smaller logs to save memory. After configuring this setting, you cannot use a Domino 6.0 server to read the transaction logs.
Notes/Domino 6.0.1 introduces new Macintosh platform support and significant enhancements to the iNotes Web Access client.
Support for Macintosh OS 10.2
The Notes client now supports the Macintosh OS 10.2 platform. In addition to this support, you can install the Notes client on a Macintosh that has only OS X installed. To install Notes 6 previously, you were required to have OS 9 or OS X with the Classic OS 9 environment installed. Note that the Notes 6.0.1 client supports OS 9.x.
iNotes Web Access client enhancements
The iNotes Web Access client enhancements include:
- Ability to read Notes-encrypted mail
You can read Notes encrypted mail messages from the iNotes Web Access browser interface. - LDAP directory access
You can access an LDAP directory when performing name lookups. - Linux server support
iNotes Web Access supports the Linux server platform.
Single Copy Template and template version information are just two of the new features available in Domino Designer 6.0.1.
Launch WebSphere Studio Application Developer from the bookmark bar
A button has been provided in the Domino Designer bookmark bar to launch the WebSphere Studio Application Developer, if you have that application installed.
Template version information is available
You can use a single shared field on the Design tab of the Database Properties box to find template version information. The following screen shows the version string in the properties box:
Figure 2. Database Properties box - Design tab
Single Copy Template
Single Copy Template saves disk space by letting you store design information in a single template rather than in each database that uses that template. For example, if users in your organization use the same Notes mail template, you can designate a Single Copy Template and let the mail databases derive design information from the template. The design task ensures that all reference notes in the databases match those in the template.
To create a Single Copy Template, copy an existing template, rename it the template copy, and select the Single Copy Template database property.
The next time the design task runs it replaces all design elements from the databases using the Single Copy Template with reference notes.
For more information about Single Copy Template, see the Domino Designer 6 help .
Domino server and Administrator client
New in Domino 6.0.2 is Express installation, Webmail enhancements, and the SMTPVerifyAuthenticatedSender Notes.ini setting.
Express installation
Express installation is intended to help small and medium businesses get started with Notes/Domino 6 quickly. Express installation includes the following enhancements to the existing Notes/Domino installation program:
- Links from the server autorun installation program to the server setup and administration documentation
- Additional silent installation documentation in the Notes, Domino, and Domino Designer 6.0.2 Release Notes
- Script and user interface server setup options for AIX, Linux, and Solaris platforms
- Selected Enterprise license option as default for Windows platform installations
- Changes to starting Domino as a service
Webmail enhancements
The following enhancements were made to Webmail in Notes/Domino 6.0.2:
- Added Phone Message functionality
- Ability to rename a folder
- Address Book lookups for fields that accept user name input
- Support for IBM Browser for OS/2 version 2 and the Mozilla Web browser on Linux
SMTPVerfiyAuthenticatedSender Notes.ini setting
The new Notes.ini setting SMTPVerifyAuthenticatedSender determines if mail sent during an authenticated SMTP session is issued from a user's Internet address. This setting validates the entry in the From field and prevents authenticated users from sending mail from an address other than their Internet addresses.
The Lotus Domino Toolkit for WebSphere Studio is included with Notes/Domino 6.0.2.
Lotus Domino Toolkit 1.0 for WebSphere Studio
The Lotus Domino Toolkit 1.0 for WebSphere Studio lets you create J2EE applications in WebSphere Studio using the Domino custom JSP tag libraries. The toolkit provides easy access to data stored in Domino. You can find the toolkit in the Domino Designer Apps directory.
Changes in the Notes 6.0.2 client include iNotes Web Access enhancements and a name change, new platform support, and a calendar and scheduling improvement.
iNotes Web Access (now called Domino Web Access)
iNotes Web Access (which in 6.0.2 has been renamed Domino Web Access) introduces a new user interface and the following new features:
- Ability to specify iNotes Web Access as your default mail application
- Ability to perform name searches based on organizational hierarchy and to differentiate between two people with the same name
- Multiline preference display for long entry lists
- Improved Calendar and Scheduling features
- Ability to set expand/collapse default preferences
- Sametime meeting support
- Improved editing capability
- Ability to create tables and horizontal rules
- Ability to set a default view for your mail file
- Additional Server document setting for specifying the number of days for offline subscriptions
- Ability to set plain text or rich text formatting
- Multilingual template and bi-driectional language support
Support for Domino Directory lookups from Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002 clients
Notes/Domino 6.0.2 provides Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002 client users with a Domino Internet address that lets them perform Domino Directory lookups.
Citrix MetaFrame XPe FR2 platform support
Citrix Metaframe Xpe FR2 supports the Notes client on Windows 2000 server using NT and MAC ICA (Indepentent Computing Architecture) clients. Citrix ICA Client separates an application's logic so that the server processes tasks, but the client shows only screen updates.
Domino server and Administrator client
In Domino 6.0.3, you can expect new serviceability enhancements as well as changes in Domino for iSeries and z/OS.
Replicate unread marks
Advanced database properties let you replicate unread marks in certain databases, such as mail files. You can choose one of three unread mark options for replication: Never replicate unread marks, replicate unread marks among clustered servers only, or replicate unread marks for all servers on which there are replicas.
Figure 3. Database Properties box
Multi-versioning support in Domino for iSeries
If you run a partitioned Domino for iSeries server, you can now install more than one version of Domino on the server, such as Domino 6.0.2 and Domino 6.0.3.
Use hardware cryptography for SSL on Domino for z/OS
If you run Domino for z/OS, version 6.0.3 supports hardware devices that can generate and store private keys for SSL Hardware cryptography can improve performance by offloading the task of encrypting and decrypting keys from the host server onto the hardware device.
New Server.Load workloads
Server.Load for Domino 6.0.3 includes exposed D6 workloads for Domino Web Access, Mail, and IMAP.
Platform statistics for Linux and Linux on zSeries
You can view, control reporting, collect, and perform other statistics-related tasks for both the Linux and Linux on zSeries platforms just as you would for other Domino server platforms.
Serviceability enhancements
Here are the new serviceability enhancements for Domino 6.0.3:
- Unified Fault Recovery/Cleanup Scripts interface
- From a Server document, you can enable and disable NSD to collect diagnostic data, Server restarts, and specific Cleanup Scripts.
- Free-running Memcheck to validate in-memory data structures
- Memcheck can now lock memory pools when executed, so no additional errors are reported during memory validation.
- Timestamps in SEMDEBUG.TXT
- Semaphore management adds timestamps to SEMDEBUG.TXT to compare time-outs with events in the server log.
- Log Name/ThreadID of HTTP Agent at Runtime
- Collection/recording of basic system and server data at startup
- Now you can collect system and server data at startup to check for server or client changes.
In Notes 6.0.3, you can find mail, calendar and scheduling, and Domino Web Access enhancements.
Here are the Notes mail enhancements in 6.0.3:
Set Notes as your default email client
On the Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 and Windows XP platforms, you can set Notes as you default email client. There are three ways in which you can set Notes as your default mail client: One, during the Notes client installation, select the option on the installation wizard to make Notes your default mail client. Two, select the "Use Lotus Notes as my default email program" option in the User Preferences dialog box. Three, use the Windows Add/Remove programs to select Lotus Notes as the default. See the following screen.
Figure 4. Add/Remove Programs window
Indicate if a message has been replied to or forwarded
Easily view if you have already replied to a message or forwarded a message with icon indicators in a view or in the note header area.
View all unread messages
Quickly see which messages are unread in your mail file with the new All unread view.
Print the distribution lists in mail messages or calendar entries
When you print a mail message or calendar entry in Notes 6.0.3, you can choose whether or not to expand the TO: and CC: field contents on the mail message or the Names fields on a calendar entry. By default, Notes 6.0.3 prints the first three lines of those fields. The "Expand Names field contents when printing" option is available in User Preferences. You can also select the Expand Name field contents option on the Page Setup tab of the Print Document dialog box (or deselect the option if you set it in User Preferences and want to disable it for that one instance).
Calendar and scheduling
Create a calendar entry or to do item from a mail message
Create a new calendar entry or to do item from a mail message by dragging and dropping the message from any view in your mail file onto the Calendar or To Do bookmark. Similarly, you can drag and drop a calendar entry onto the Mail bookmark to create a new mail message or drag and drop a To Do item onto the Calendar bookmark to create a new entry.
Reschedule a repeating meeting time
In Notes 6.0.3, if you are a meeting chairperson, you can reschedule the time for one or more instances of a repeating meeting without affecting the other meetings, so you can specify different start and end times for each repeating meeting.
Views
Mark All Read and Mark All Unread enhancement
Whenever you choose Edit - Unread Marks - Mark All Read or Edit - Unread Marks - Mark All Unread for selected documents, you are now prompted.
Manually entering a URL improvement
Entering a URL when the Address toolbar is closed is now easier. When you begin typing a URL, the Starts with dialog box opens where you can enter the entire URL. Click Search, and Notes launches your default browser to open the Web address.
Figure 5. Starts with dialog box
Domino Web Access (iNotes)
Several enhancements for Domino Web Access are made in Notes/Domino 6.0.3 in areas such as mail, calendar and scheduling, Domino Off-Line Services, and administration.
- You can now print a mail message, including the body, while in Edit mode.
- You can create page breaks in your mail messages.
Calendar and scheduling
- Domino Web Access now lets you show two time zones-a start time zone and an end time zone-in calendar entries and in the calendar view.
- You can choose from a one-day, two-day, five-day, or one week Calendar display for your Domino Web Access Welcome page.
- You can let other users schedule and respond to your meeting invitations by delegating your calendar to them.
Domino Off-Line Services (DOLS)
DOLS supports replication of truncated documents to determine the size of attachments replicated to the client. You can also filter replication to not allow replication of attachments.
Administration
- Domino Web Access 6.0.3 now displays your total database size and what percentage of the database you've used so far. This feature lets you track your database quota.
- You can make Domino Web Access name change requests though the Domino Administration Process (AdminP).
The programming enhancements have been made in Domino Designer 6.0.3.
Java/CORBA and COM bindings
Notes/Domino 6.0.3 includes enhancements to both XML and non-XML LotusScript classes for Java/CORBA and COM bindings. In this release, all new LotusScript classes, methods, and properties introduced in Notes/Domino 6 are now available in Java/CORBA and COM. These new classes include the following: AdministrationProcess, ColorObject, DxlExporter, DxlImporter, NoteCollection, ReplicationEntry, RichTextDocLink, RichTextNavigator, RichTextRange, RichTextSelection, and RichTextTable.
Class enhancements
You can now take advantage of additional functionality in the LotusScript NotesRegistration class. This additional functionality applies to all bindings (LotusScript, Java/CORBA, and COM). In addition, the QueryAccessPrivileges method was added to the NotesDatabase class and ConvertNotesBitmapsToGIF property was added to the NotesDXLExporter class.
Notes 6.0.4 includes one significant enhancement to Domino Web Access and new platform support.
Reply/Forward indicators in Domino Web Access
When you reply to or forward a message in Domino Web Access 6.0.4, indicators appear in various views of your mail database as well as in the header of your messages, showing the action that you've taken on that message. By default, this feature is enabled through the Database Properties box. The "Mark parent note on reply or forward" option enables the indicators shown in the following.
 | Replied to |
 | Forwarded |
 | Replied and forwarded |
Support for Mac OS 10.3
Notes 6.0.4 supports Mac OS 10.3. For more platform support, see the Notes/Domino 6.0.4 Release Notes.
Domino server and Administrator client
In Domino 6.0.4, there is one significant platform enhancement for Domino for iSeries.
Use hardware cryptography for SSL on Domino for iSeries
If you run Domino for iSeries, version 6.0.4 supports hardware devices that can generate and store private keys for SSL Hardware cryptography can improve performance by offloading the task of encrypting and decrypting keys from the host server onto the hardware device. You can use hardware cryptography on Domino for iSeries with the HTTP service. To enable system SSL support, use the GSKit APIs.
We will update this article as new maintenance releases of Notes/Domino 6 become available, so check back with us later this year to find out what's new in Notes/Domino 6.0.5.
- Domino 6 Technical Overview
- Notes 6 Technical Overview
- Domino Designer 6 Technical Overview
- A preview of browser-side caching enhancements
- Enhancements in 5.0.1 to 5.0.12
Tara joined the developerWorks: Lotus (formerly the Lotus Developer Domain) as a Content Developer for LDD Today in April 2002. Prior to joining us, she was a senior user assistance writer for the Notes User Assistance Group. She documented a number of products for the web applications, streaming media, and other development teams. She also worked on the Documentation Library and occasionally freelanced for Iris Today. Tara holds a B.A. and an M.A. in English.
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