Domino Interface

For the first time ever I was selected as an IBM Champion for 2015.  I honored to be selected.  I would like to thank everyone who nominated me and selected me.  I have been given this honor but it is the ICS community that should accept the honor.  Without our wonderful ICS community events like MWLUG can not happen.  When Gregg Eldred and I started the MWLUG conferences, neither of us thought  it would last this long.  But it has been the wonderful community that includes not only IBM Business Partners like myself, but IBM Customers, and IBMers that make everything possible. It is this community that motivates me to spend a significant amount time to help organize this event.  I have been involved with many different communities, but nothing compares with what I have experienced in the ICS community.  The passion and the willingness to help each other is unprecedented compare to any other technology community. As members of the ICS community, we are passionate about the products, w

Here is another article in my "Fun with Dojo" series. Dojo traditionally has been considered slow.  One reason is that Dojo loads alot of modules before it instantiates the page.  Dojo with AMD helps reduce the number of modules when it first loads but not the number of modules.  This is great.  However, one thing that I really dislike are Dojo Dijit widgets.  They are heavy, slow, and require a lot of modules to be loaded. We like the Bootstrap widgets because they are lightweight. So instead of using Dijits that are built into XPages we created our own lightweight Dojo Bootstrap widgets that utilized the most minimal amount of required Dijit modules and dependencies. One of the things that we had to figured out was what bare bone modules that we needed beside dijit._Widget in order to create our own widgets and include them in the loading process.  When we were using Dojo 1.53, we created a custom loader with all the required modules contained in a single file.  Rathe

We were testing iPhora Touch 2 with the attendees of MWLUG 2014 in the MWLUG portal and as usual, the interface had issues even after having outside users provide feedback before we rolled it out.  When you are so focused on the creation process it hard to see issues until it is seen by fresh pair of eyes.  So we are working on a new faster and improved interface for iPhora Touch. This is the evolution of any product. Since we are using a JavaScript/JSON Restful API approach most of the changes will be on the front end and only minor changes to the back end which is great.  In theory we can swap out different interfaces with little impact on the back end.  This is where the newer AMD approach for Dojo comes into play. The use of AMD in Dojo allows us to modularize the UI components even more than what we had.  Therefore, we have been upgrading all the iPhora widgets from Dojo 1.53 to Dojo 1.10.0 and at the same time upgrading from Bootstrap 2.32 to 3.2 and the latest version of Fonta

One of the "Next Big Things" these days is the use an MVC framework for developing Web applications. There are a number of MVC frameworks out there including Backbone, Ember, and the rapidly growing Angular.  Ideally these MVC frameworks are great, hook things together and any changes to the model (data) and all the views are updated based on the controller code. If there is changes to the model, the data is automatically updated on the server. This is the ideal case. However, it assumes one critical thing, you have the access rights to CRUD data on the server. This is an extremely dangerous assumption. In our iPhora security model, we assume the opposite and you do not have access rights to any data on the server. We do not trust anything and any request. We assume that you are trying to hack and inject. Your authorization is checked during each request. We looked at using Angular since it is the hot stuff of the MVC world and everyone seems to be using it. We also loo

Async callbacks and closures is an incredible thing about JavaScript.   This is what makes environments like nodejs possible, a topic of many blogs to come.  Many of the JavaScript frameworks like my favorite framework Dojo have the ability to deal with closures and callbacks.  One of the issues that one needs to deal with is getting a handle to the current scope within a closure. We discussed this and how to deal with it in Dojo in a previous blog. http://dominointerface.blogspot.com/2014/03/when-is-this-is-this-and-what-is-this.html The nice thing about Dojo is how extensive the library is.  This is also a negative thing since there is so many features that you might not beware of. As I am converting our iPhora library from Dojo 1.53 to Dojo 1.10.0, I realized there is also another method that you can use to get a handle to the current scope within a closure and that is dojo.hitch which has been around for a long time.  In our previous example, we had a simple widget. &l

Over the past few weeks there has been a significant number of discussions about Domino and the lack of SHA-2 support.  Jesse Gallagher had an entire MWLUG 2014 session on this very topic.  When I ask Jesse to present on this topic, unbeknownst to me what a hot topic this would become and so timely.  First, IBM should have fixed these problems years ago.  For us this is a critical issue that if not addressed will kill the market for Domino. Thanks to Jess efforts and contributions, there is a workaround that he presented and published recently in a series of blog articles on this very topic.  His solution is to configure nginx as a reverse proxy for Domino so that SHA-2 certificates can be used with Domino. nginx is not just a Linux solution but can also be a Windows solution since it is available for the Windows platform. Jesse's article focused on setting up nginx reverse proxy on a Ubuntu server.  My comments here are about the differences between what Jesse explained for th

For our iPhora applications we only use one XPage and dynamically create the content that appears.  We do this by storing the dynamic content in Notes Rich Text fields and using SSJS to read and generate the HTML/JavaScript during runtime.  Since we are moving to an single page MVC model, we were adding a few addition xp:scriptBlock to generate the initial loader and pulling the information from a NotesRichText field.  We were using doc.getFirstValueString('richtextfield') to pull and create the script. No problem until, we had a JavaScript object declaration that was longer than 72 odd characters. Unfortunately, there is an issue with Notes Rich Text fields that we encountered in the past using LotusScript that I forgot all about.  When you read a Notes Rich Text field it will automatically add a carriage return after 72 characters and this can drive you crazy. If the carriage return occurs between a JavaScript object declaration then you will get an JavaScript error. To

Great Article about MWLUG 2014 in the Grand Rapids Business Journal.  Special thanks to Louise Burton for helping place the article. http://www.grbj.com/articles/80431-ww-ii-vet-headlines-downtown-lotus-conference

With MWLUG 2014 just about to start in a couple of days, we will be announcing the host city for MWLUG 2015 on Friday at the closing session. So we have decided to head south for 2015.  And yes it is a bit of a stretch in calling some of these towns being in the Midwest.  Here are the potential host cities for MWLUG 2015.  We would like to hear your input so fill out the survey. Atlanta, GA Cincinnati, OH Columbus, OH Dayton, OH Louisville, KY https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZGSND2

As many of us who have attended Lotusphere/IBMConnect/Connected know that IBM references a fictitious company for their demonstrations called Renovations Inc. We have a number of XPages with Java sessions and we wanted to apply the demos and designs to a company and cohesively tie the different sessions into how one company that was using XPages throughout their business. So we came up with Midwest Bicycle Incorporated. So as you attend these sessions you will learn how the Midwest Bicycle Incorporated uses XPages throughout their operation.

As many of you know MWLUG is not just about building knowledge of IBM solutions and networking with our fellow ICS community members, it is about being part of the community.  This is one of the reason we move MWLUG from city to city.  It is about getting to know your local community whether it is in your town or a different town. Each year we have a fundraising drive for a local community organization in particular a local food bank.  This year with the help of Devin Olson our boots on the ground, we have selected Kid's Food Basket as our MWLUG 2014 Community Outreach Program Recipient.  We will be raffling off a weekend stay at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel as the grand prize along with signed copies of Virgil Westdale's book. Please take the opportunity to help feed the needy kids in Western Michigan.  Each raffle ticket is $10 and you can buy them at the registration desk starting Thursday morning.  We will announce the winners on just after the Speed Sponsoring on Thursd

In light of the recent conversations regarding SSL and SHA-2 support for Domino within the ICS community, the "Ask IBM" session will be a great session for IBM customers and partners to ask this and other critical questions to our IBM panel at MWLUG 2014.  Below is the official description of the session.  The session will be on Wednesday at 6:00 PM in the Imperial Room. Ask IBM - IGS101 Here is a session you want to attend!! This will be like attending GURUpalooza, Ask the Developers and Ask the Product Managers but all at once. All (or most) IBMers attending MWLUG 2014 will join efforts and will answer all your questions related to Best Practices, Licensing, Roadmap, Offerings, Vision, etc. This will be a very informal roundtable/panel style session and will be lot of fun. Please come prepared with all those questions you always wanted to Ask IBM.

We are one week away from the start of MWLUG 2014.  There is still time to register for this one and only ICS user group conference in North America this year.  This year we have 3 days of events and sessions. Take this opportunity to learn and network with all you ICS community members in person and be true to our MWLUG 2014 theme "Connecting the Human Community." Here are the highlights for this years conference. 44 sessions and workshops in 5 topics areas: Application Development Best Practices and Customer Business Cases Mobility and Web Security Open Source with ICS System Administration 3 BOF user group sessions Wednesday visit to the Gerald Ford Library and Museum Thursday Evening Social Event at Founders Brewing Co Wednesday Evening Exhibitor Showcase Reception OGS Guest Speaker, Virgil Westdale OGS IBM Speaker, Kramer Reeves Book Signing withVirgil Westdale For Cyclist, Saturday MWLUG 2014 Bike Ride Breakfast and Lunch for two days So if you h

A new session has been added to an already packed MWLUG 2014.  The new session is entitled "Ask IBM".  If you are familiar with the "Ask a Product Manager" session at IBMConnect, you will know what this session is all about.  The difference is that you are up and front of the IBM panel almost in a one to one conversation.  This session is scheduled to be in the Imperial Room at 6:00 PM before the Exhibitor Showcase Reception that will be held in the Vandenberg Rooms.  So coming and join us and ask away.  Then continue your conversation with beer, wine, or soda and hors d'oeuvre and learn about all the great sponsors that we have at MWLUG 2014. Don't forget to register and the hotel still has rooms. http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Hotel.xsp

Scott Souder from IBM is coming again to MWLUG 2014 and will be following up on his last year's OGS keynote and presenting the latest news about IBM Mail Next. His presentation is: IBM Mail Next: Focus on Your Work, Not Your Inbox! Unlike many other trends, email is not going away. You know it, and IBM knows it, which is why IBM is revolutionizing the corporate inbox from the ground up for today's social and mobile workplace. Check out this session if you want to hear the details and see the latest update for Mail Next -- still under development -- and how your organization can position itself for driving massive improvements in end-user satisfaction, productivity and engagement with IBM's new cloud-based, easy-to-use inbox

MWLUG 2014 is coming up in two weeks.  Our IBM OGS Speaker is Kramer Reeves.  He will be presenting IBM's current and future vision of IBM Collaboration Solutions including my favorite platform, Domino.  His presentation is entitled, "IBM Collaboration Solutions - Vision and Strategy for Today and the Future." So, if you want to know the future direction of IBM Collaboration and how it will impact your organization, it is important that you come to this session, OGS101. The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel has been gracious enough to extend the MWLUG 2014 hotel discount of $129.00 as long as there are rooms available.  So get registered and come to the best ICS user group conference this year in North America and beer is included. To register go to: http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp

The guaranteed MWLUG 2014 hotel discount rate of $129.00 for MWLUG 2014 attendees expires today, August 11, 2014.  The hotel is normally over $200 per night.  After today, if there are available rooms, the hotel may honor the rate but it is not guaranteed.  If you are coming to MWLUG 2014 and register for the hotel after today and there are no more rooms at the discount rate, please contact me and I will see what I can do. But I prefer you register NOW!. http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp

The MWLUG 2014 OGS Guess Speaker will be autographing copies of his books "Blue Skies and Thunder" after the OGS.  He and his co-author, Stephanie A Gerdes will be on handle to sign their book.  The cost of hardcover copies is $30 and for the paperback copy, $ 20.  We ask if you would like them to autograph a copy that you donate $10 to our  MWLUG 2014 Outreach Program designated Grand Rapids food bank.  We will also be raffling off a few signed copies.  The raffle donation will also be $10. All the proceeds with benefit a Grand Rapids food bank. Please bring exact change.  The OGS is a bit shorted this year in order to give everyone an opportunity to get a signed copy of the book. 

We are three weeks away from MWLUG 2014 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel from August 27-29, 2014.  The special hotel discount is expiring on August 11, 2014.  I will attempt to extend that, but no guarantees.  This is going to be the best MWLUG conference we have ever had.  Here are some of the highlights for this year. MORE ROOMS HAVE BEEN ADDED Kramer Reeves OGS presentation Guest Speaker, World War II veteran, author, and inventor, Virgil Westdale Wednesday Gerald Ford Library and Museum Tour Thursday Social Event at Founders Brewing Company 43 sessions and workshops plus three BOF user group meetings in five topics area: Application Development Best Practices and Customer Business Cases Mobility and Web Security Open Source with ICS System Administration So get registered and see you in Grand Rapids in three weeks. http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp Hotel Registration: http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Hotel.xsp

I am a big user of open source technologies including, Linux, Twitter Bootstrap, Dojo, and many other open source tools.  Open source technology has had a huge impact on the ICS Community in general.  We are fortunate enough to have a number of sessions this year at MWLUG 2014 that includes open source technology as part of their presentation. So come join us in these sessions.   Open Source Technologies: Nginx, OpenSSL, Apache HTTP Server Load Balancing, Failover, and More With Nginx,  Jesse Gallagher,  CTO,  I Know Some Guys, LLC Putting an alternative web server in front of your Domino installation gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility and new abilities. This session will discuss using nginx on Ubuntu server to sit in front of several Domino servers and provide load balancing, automatic failover, multiple SSL certificates, and other tricks. The same concepts will apply to Apache and IBM HTTP Server.   Open Source Technologies: AngularJS Write once, run anywhere

When The Human Community Saved the World - MWLUG 2014 - Part I Last year at MWLUG 2013 through the great efforts of Sam Bridegroom from Bridegroom Technologies, we able to have Iraq veteran and community spokesman Josh Bleill from the Indianapolis Colts to be our Opening General Session Guest Speaker. This year was a challenge.  How can we duplicate the incredible presentation that Josh did in MWLUG 2013 and deliver to our ICS community similar expectations.  We wanted to really capture the essence of the MWLUG 2014 theme, "Connecting the Human Community" and what a community, a collection of us can do together and for each other. We all go through hard times and challenges in our lives.  And our ICS community members are going through these challenges professionally and sometimes personally.  It is our community of colleagues and friends that helps us through these challenges. Our Greatest Generation endured the hardship of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, disea

Too often in our technology focused world we become no more than bits of data.  We become less and less social and feel lost within our technology. Communities for Generation X, Y is all about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media.  However, a community in the past was all about people and individuals.  Technology is just a vehicle to connect individuals, no different than hundreds if not thousands of year ago when stories and our history was told by the bonfire.  Our goal each year at MWLUG is to bring everyone together in person to share our knowledge and experience so that we can grow our community as people have done in the past. Only through the test of time, will we know the impact of our ICS community in the fabric of technology.  However, there was one amazing community of men and women despite all odds save our world as we know it. Over 70 years ago, the human race was tested to its greatest extend and our freedom, our democracy that we as Americans fought s

The session schedule for MWLUG 2014 is now online at the main mwlug.com site. I am looking forward to MWLUG 2014.  We have a lot of great and unique sessions that you will not find elsewhere in the ICS community.  http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Schedule.xsp . So register as soon as you can, the special discount for the hotel rooms will be expiring in a couple of weeks. http://mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp

The MWLUG 2014 Online Community is up and running.  If you signed up as an attendee and opt-in to be part of the online community, you should have already registered and sent log-in credentials.  We have two interesting conversations in the Attendees community that we would like you input. - Softlayer vs AWS - IBM Partnership with Apple So coming and be part of these two conversations and get a chance to influence whether we should have a session covering these two topics at MWLUG 2014. The full agenda and sessions will be coming out next week.

I am please to announce that the Platinum Sponsor for MWLUG 2014 is IBM. This is the second year that IBM is supporting MWLUG as the Platinum Sponsor. I would like to thanks Kramer Reeves, Oliver Heinz, and Alysha LaFountain to make this possible.  Making MWLUG possible requires the effort of everyone in the ICS community including IBM Staff, IBM customers, and IBM Business Partners. I am looking forward to MWLUG 2014 and making this the best MWLUG conference yet.  Also, I would like to thank all the other generous MWLUG sponsors for their support. Gold Sponsors: BCC HADSL Panagenda PSC Group Riva CRM Integration Sherpa Software SugarCRM Ytria Silver Sponsors: Crossware Instant Technologies Phora Group Prominic.NET Redpill Development RPR Wyatt Teamstudio We4IT Event Sponsors: NotesCode Don't forgot to register go to: http://www.mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Register.xsp

Since Grand Rapids, Michigan is the Beer City USA, we thought it would be fitting to celebrate this at MWLUG 2014 with beer, wait we always do that.  So in great lengths, we had to decide where we would have the MWLUG 2014 Thursday Social Event. It was a very hard decision to make. But we are please to announce that the MWLUG 2014  Thursday Social Event will be held at Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, MI on Thursday, August 28, 2014 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. So if you are attending MWLUG 2014, come join us and sample some of the best Michigan has to offer.   For more information about the Founders Brewery go to: http://foundersbrewing.com/

We are please to announce the MWLUG 2014 sessions and workshops.  We have 43 sessions and workshops that will be presented starting from Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 1:00 PM all the way to Friday 5:00 PM, August 29, 2014 with food and fun before in between and afterwards. This year we had the largest number submissions from IBM customers.  Also, this year we had the largest number of submissions by potential speakers. Congratulations to all the speakers that had their submissions accepted and thank you to all the speakers who submitted their abstracts.  The MWLUG 2014 speaker committee had a hard time rejecting the great abstracts that we received. Unfortunately, we only have so many slots.  So don't miss this chance to attend MWLUG 2014 and receive 47 hours of technical and business training plus food and fun for the cost of a few Starbucks coffees. Help connect the human community the most important community!!! http://www.mwlug.com/mwlug/mwlug2014.nsf/Sessions.xsp

Since everyone keeps asking.  Here is the preliminary schedule for MWLUG 2014.     Wednesday August 27, 2014 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Optional Social Event  1:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Workshops and Sessions 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Exhibitor Showcase Reception Thursday, August 28, 2014 08:00 AM to 09:00 AM - Breakfast 09:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Opening General Session 11:00 AM  to 12:00 PM - Sessions 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM - Lunch 01:00 PM to 05:00 PM - Sessions 07:00 PM to 10:00 PM - Thursday Social Event Friday, August 29, 2014 08:00 AM to 09:00 AM - Breakfast 09:00 AM to 12:30 PM - Sessions 12:30 PM  to 01:30 PM - Lunch 01:30 PM to 04:00 PM - Sessions 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM - Closing Session