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Lotus Notes is a Client-server , Collaborative application owned by IBM Software Group. IBM defines the software as an "integrated desktop client option for accessing business E-mail , calendars and Applications on IBM Lotus Domino server."[http://www-142.ibm.com/software/sw-lotus/notes "IBM's home page for Lotus Notes" Definition of Lotus Notes. FEATURES The Notes client is mainly used as an email client, but also acts as an Instant Messaging client (for Lotus Sametime ), browser, notebook, and calendar/resource reservation client, as well as a platform for interacting with collaborative applications. People who support the Notes client regard the easy interoperability of all of these roles as a major advantage in multiple-application business environments. In the early days of the product, the most common applications were threaded discussions and simple contact management databases. Today Notes also provides Blogs , Wiki s, RSS Aggregators , CRM and Help Desk systems, and organizations can build a variety of custom Applications for Notes using Domino Designer. The Notes client can be used as an IMAP and POP e-mail client with non-domino mail servers. Recipient addresses can be retrieved from any LDAP server, including Active Directory. The client also does web browsing although most people configure it to launch their default browser instead. Features include group calendaring and scheduling, SMTP -based e-mail ( HTML based e-mail is available to Java developers), NNTP -based news support, and automatic HTML conversion of all documents by the Domino HTTP task. Notes Instant Messaging allows you to see your coworkers online and have chat sessions with them. A Chat session can be with one person or multiple people (an instant meeting). In its latest version (7), Notes provides a Web Services interface. Domino can be a Web Server for HTML files too; authentication of access to Domino databases or HTML files uses Domino's own user directory and external systems such as Microsoft's Active Directory . A design client is available to allow rapid development of Database s consisting of forms, which allow users to create documents; and views, which display selected document Fields in columns. In addition to being a "groupware" system (e-mail, calendaring, shared documents and discussions), Notes/Domino is also a platform for developing customized client-server and web applications. Its use of design constructs and code provide capabilities that facilitate the construction of "workflow" type applications (which may typically have complex approval processes and routing of data). DATA REPLICATION A generalized replication facility was implemented in the first release of Notes. The generalized nature of this feature set it apart from predecessors like Usenet , and continues to differentiate Notes from many other systems that now offer some form of synchronization or replication. The facility in Notes and Domino is not limited to email, calendar, and contacts. It works for any data in any application that uses NSF files, which are the standard container for data in the Notes architecture, for its storage. No special programming, tagging, or other configuration is required to enable replication. Domino servers and Notes clients identify NSF files by their Replica IDs and keep files with matching IDs synchronized by bidirectionally exchanging data, metadata, and application logic and design. Replication between two servers, or between a client and a server, can occur over a network or a point-to-point modem connection. Replication between servers may occur at intervals according to a defined schedule, in near real-time when triggered by data changes in Domino server clusters, or on an ad hoc basis when triggered by an administrator or programmatically. Creation of a local replica of an NSF file on the hard disk of a Notes client enables the user of the client to take full advantage of Notes databases while working off-line—with the client synchronizing any changes when client and server next connect. Local replicas are also sometimes maintained for use while connected to the network in order to reduce network i/o. Replication between a Notes client and Domino server can run automatically according to a schedule, or manually in response to a user or programmatic request. Local replicas on early releases of the Notes client did not always maintain all security features programmed into the applications, but starting with Notes 6 enforcement of application security is automatic for all local replicas. Early releases also did not offer a way to encrypt NSF files, raising concerns that local replicas potentially exposed too much confidential data on laptop computers or insecure home office computers, but an optional encryption feature for NSF files was added in more recent releases, and as of Notes 6 it is the default setting for newly created local replicas. SECURITY Security is built into the product. Notes was the first widely adopted software product to use . Some governments objected to being put at a disadvantage to the NSA, and as a result Lotus continued to support the 40 bit version for export to those countries. Under current US export laws, Lotus supports only one version of the Notes PKI with 128 bit symmetric keys, 1024 bit public keys, and no workload reduction factor. The Domino server's security tools also include S/MIME , SSL 3.0 support with industry standard key sizes for HTTP and other Internet Protocols , X.509 client certificates, and an integrated Certificate Authority . PROGRAMMING Notes/Domino is a cross-platform, secure, distributed document-oriented database and messaging framework and rapid application development environment that includes pre-built applications like email, calendar, etc. This sets it apart from its major commercial competitors, such as Microsoft Exchange or Novell GroupWise , which are generally purpose-built applications for mail and calendaring that offer APIs for extensibility. Lotus Domino databases are built using the Domino Designer client, available only for Windows. A key feature of Notes is that many replicas of the same database can exist at the same time on different servers and clients, across dissimilar platforms, and the same storage architecture is used for both client and server replicas. Originally, replication in Notes happened at document (i.e. record) level. With release of Notes 4 in 1996, replication was changed so that it now occurs at field level. A database is an NSF (Notes Storage Facility) file, containing basic units of storage known as a "note". Every note has a UniqueID and a NoteID. The UniqueID uniquely identifies the note across all replicas within a cluster of servers, a domain of servers, or even across domains belonging to many organizations that are all hosting replicas of the same database. The NoteID, on the other hand, is unique to the note only within the context of one given replica. Each note also stores its creation and modification dates, and one or more Items. There are several classes of notes, including design notes and document notes. Design notes, which are created and modified with the Domino Designer client, represent programmable elements, such as the GUI layout of forms for displaying and editing data, or formulas and scripts for manipulating data. Document notes, which are created and modified with the Lotus Notes client, via a web browser, via mail routing and delivery, or via programmed code, represent user data. Document notes can have parent-child relationships, but Notes should not be considered a hierarchical database in the classic sense of IMS . Notes databases are also not Relational , although there is a SQL driver that can be used with Notes, and it does have some features that can be used to develop applications that mimic relational features. There is no support for atomic transactions in Notes, and its file locking is rudimentary at best. Notes is essentially a document-based, schemaless, loosely structured database with support for rich content and powerful indexing facilities. This structure closely mimics paper-based workflows that Lotus Notes is typically used to automate. Items represent the content of a note. Every item has a name, a type, and may optionally have some flags set. A note can have more than one item with the same name. Types include Number, Number List, Text, Text List, Date-Time, Date-Time List, and Rich Text. Flags are used for managing attributes associated with the item, such as read or write security. Items in design notes represent the programmed elements of a database. For example, the layout of an entry form is stored in the rich text Body item within a form design note. This means that the design of the database can replicate to users' desktops just like the data itself, making it extremely easy to deploy updated applications. Items in document notes represent user-entered or computed data. An item named "Form" in a document note can be used to bind a document to a form design note, which directs the Lotus Notes client to merge the content of the document note items with the GUI information and code represented in the given form design note for display and editing purposes. The resulting loose binding of documents to design information is one of the cornerstones of the power of Lotus Notes. Traditional database developers used to working with rigidly enforced schemas, on the other hand, may consider the power of this feature to be a double-edged sword. Notes applications development uses several programming languages. Formula and LotusScript are the two main ones. LotusScript is similar to, and may even be considered a specialized implementation of, Visual Basic , but with the addition of many powerful native classes that model the Notes environment, whereas Formula is unique to Notes but similar to Lotus 1-2-3 formula language. Since Release 5, Java and JavaScript are also integrated into Lotus Notes. LotusScript is the primary tool in developing applications for the Notes client, as well as server-based processing. Java and JavaScript are the primary tools for developing applications for browser access, allowing browsers to emulate the functionality of the Notes client. The Notes client can now natively process Java and JavaScript code, although applications development usually requires at least some code specific to only Notes or only a browser. However, the Mac client does not support Java and the Windows client usually does not support the most recent version of Java. As of version 6, Lotus established an XML programming interface in addition to the options already available. The Domino XML Language (DXL) provides XML representations of all data and design resources in the Notes model, allowing any XML processing tool to create and modify Notes/Domino data.
DATABASE Notes includes a DBMS but Notes files are different from relational or object databases since they are document centric, allow multiple values in items (fields), don't require a schema, come with built-in document-level access control and store RichText data. There are some Object-Relational features being developed and Domino 7 supports the use of IBM's DB2 database as an alternative store for Notes databases, and you can map a Notes database to a relational database using tools like DECS, JDBCSql for Domino or [http://www-142.ibm.com/software/sw-lotus/products/product4.nsf/wdocs/notessqlhome NotesSQL .
The benefits of this data structure are: #No need to define size of fields, or datatype — although you can if you want to; #Attributes (= Notes fields) which are null, take up no space in a database; #Built-in full text searching. USE AS AN EMAIL CLIENT Lotus Notes is commonly deployed as an end-user email client in larger organizations, accounting for more than 120 million total users according to IBM's latest figures.1 When an organization employs a Lotus Notes server, it usually means all its users use the Lotus Notes client for reading mail and for using databases. However, the Domino server also supports POP3 and IMAP mail clients, and through an extension product (DAMO - Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook) supports native access for Microsoft Outlook clients. Lotus also provides Domino Web Access, to allow the use of email and calendaring features through Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux client platforms. There are several spam filtering programs available, and a rules engine allowing user defined mail processing to be performed by the server. HOW NOTES DIFFERS FROM OTHER EMAIL CLIENTS Lotus Notes is a unique environment. It was designed to be a collaborative application platform where email was just one of numerous applications that ran in the Notes client software. The Notes client was also designed to run on multiple platforms including Windows, OS/2, Mac, SCO Open Desktop UNIX, and Linux. These two factors have resulted in the user interface containing some differences from applications that only run on Windows. Furthermore these differences have often remained in the product to retain backward compatibility with earlier releases, in favor of conforming to Windows UI standards. Some of Notes differences include:
Like all popular commercial software packages, Lotus Notes has its detractors as well as supporters . Critics assert that there are dedicated email clients that are simpler, more intuitive and have a lower purchase price. Proponents argue that richer capabilities and advanced programmability are available, and that purchase price is a small fraction of Total Cost Of Ownership . Many of the differences mentioned above are seen by some as weaknesses in the product, especially when the user interface is compared to Windows only applications. Later releases of the product made some headway in addressing end-user complaints. Notes 6.5 (2003), in particular, paid some long needed attention to the e-mail client, which has traditionally been regarded as the product's Achilles Heel . Features added at this time include:
In terms of usability, this release went a good way towards redressing the balance with arch-rival, the Microsoft Outlook / Microsoft Exchange combination, which had incorporated many of these features for a number years. CRITICISMS Criticisms of the product include:
HISTORY Lotus Notes has a history spanning more than 20 years. Official history of Lotus Notes IBM DeveloperWorks Web Site Its chief inspiration was ''PLATO Notes'', created by David Woolley at the University of Illinois in 1973. In today's terminology, PLATO Notes was a message board, and it was the basis for an online community which thrived for more than 20 years on the PLATO System . Ray Ozzie , who in 2006 succeeded Bill Gates as Chief Software Architect at Microsoft , worked with PLATO while attending the University of Illinois in the 1970s. When PC network technology began to emerge, Ozzie made a deal with Mitch Kapor , the founder of Lotus Development Corporation , that resulted in the formation of Iris Associates in 1984 to develop products that would combine the capabilities of PCs with the collaborative tools pioneered in PLATO. The agreement put control of product development under Ozzie and Iris, and sales and marketing under Lotus. In 1994, after the release and marketplace success of Notes R3, Lotus purchased Iris. In 1995 IBM purchased Lotus. When Lotus Notes was initially released, the name "Notes" referred to both the client and server components. In 1996, Lotus released an add-on for the Notes 4 server called " Domino ". This add-on allowed Notes documents to be rendered as web pages in real time. With the release of Notes 4.5, later that year, the Domino web server was integrated into the core Notes server, which was itself renamed to "Domino". The client is still called "Notes", while the server component is now known as "Domino". However, one may frequently see the terms used interchangeably. VERSIONS
Current server versions available:
Current client versions available:
Current beta versions available: FUTURE Since the IBM acquisition of Lotus, some industry analysts and mainstream business press writers, along with IBM competitors, have made predictions of the impending demise of Lotus Notes. One noted example of this was an article published in '' Forbes '' magazine entitled "The decline and fall of Lotus", published in April 1998. Since that time, IBM claims that the installed base of Lotus Notes has nearly tripled from an estimated 42 million seats in September 1998 to more than 125 million in 2006. Speculation about the decline of Notes was fueled by lingering market confusion emanating from IBM placing marketing emphasis on version of Notes 7.0.1 is already built on Eclipse, and a private beta of Notes 8 is in progress with more than 100 companies participating, and at the Lotusphere conference in January 2007 IBM announced that a large-scale public beta would begin within a month. In addition, IBM executive Ken Bisconti has made public comments on several occasions asserting that there will be releases 8, 9 and 10 of Notes and Domino. "Lotus set to uphold the future of Notes" Article published in January, 2006 In 2005, some analysts nevertheless concluded that Lotus is losing market share to Microsoft Exchange . "IBM In Denial Over Lotus Notes" Article published in April 2005 There is no general agreement, however, about methods of accurately calculating share in the messaging and collaboration market. "Response to Daniel Lyons: "IBM In Denial Over Lotus Notes"" Blogpost by Michael Sampson, Research Director at Shared Spaces Figures based on seat count may be skewed by the presence of unused seats that are counted as a result of "bundled CALs", and figures based on customer count may be skewed by difference in typical customer organization sizes. IBM has asserted that growth shown in the revenue figures for the Lotus brand, as published in their audited annual financial report, show the continuing strength of the Lotus Notes product in the market. According to these figures, the Notes and Domino product line has sustained double-digit since in late 2004 and continuing through 2006, including 30% year-to-year growth in Q4 of 2006. SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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