APPLICATION DESIGN

Planning a traditional Notes and Web application
If you are planning an application that users will access via an IBM® Lotus® Notes® client or via a Web browser, you will need to do some design work to tailor your application for each platform. For example, a navigation structure that is suited for a Notes client application may not be the best choice for a Web application. When you design an application for both Notes and Web, about 85% of your design will be suitable for both clients, and the remaining 15% will require some modification. Here are some issues to consider when planning an application for Notes and Web users:

Understanding the differences

The division of labor in a Notes application -- what the IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) server does and what the Notes client does -- is very different from the architecture of a browser-based application. This is because the capabilities of a Notes client are very different from a Web browser, and the protocols the browser and server use to communicate are very different as well.

Domino uses Sun Microsystems Java(TM) and JavaScript(TM) to translate Notes client functionality to the browser with fuller fidelity, so that Web users can interact with action bars, rich text, views, and other Notes features in familiar ways. But there is no Web functionality equivalent to the Notes Document Object Model (DOM) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol. A Notes client can send instructions to the server to perform a task and receive back results that are refreshed within the current open form or document. This kind of interaction is nonexistent between a browser and server. All a browser can do is send a request to a server, and all a server can do is send a complete page to a browser.

Limitations of the Web browser and the browser/server architecture are the basis for most of the problems you must solve as you consider how to serve one application to Notes client and Web browser users.

See Also