Rick Dobson
Developers frustrated by a limited number of visual-programming tools for writing client programs that access data stored in Lotus Notes databases should see their options improve this summer, thanks to Lotus Development, Brainstorm Technologies, and even Microsoft. This summer, Lotus plans to release ViP, a Windows-based visual-programming environment to develop graphical front ends for Lotus Notes. ViP, which will sell for $995 per developer, is based on a new version of LotusScript, a structured, BASIC-compatible programming language.
ViP joins a similar program from Brainstorm Technologies (Cambridge, MA, (617) 492-3399) called VB/Link for Lotus Notes ($795). At press time, Microsoft said it was about to begin testing of software that gives applicat
ions like Excel bidirectional data-exchange capabilities with Notes.
ViP will help address the concerns of developers who want an easier way to develop custom programs for Notes clients than by using the current applications development environment. ViP distinguishes itself in several areas, in part because it uses a new version of LotusScript that lets a developer construct object classes without having to rely on C++ programming to create custom object classes. Objects developed within LotusScript can be used interchangeably with externally defined objects.
ViP's most dramatic new feature is its linking tool. This tool, which appears in a standard Visual Basicstyle toolbox, lets a developer draw a link between any pair of objects, such as a button and a chart tool. As a developer draws the link, ViP generates a default script that specifies how the two objects work together. When the default code does not establish the desired link, developers can sometimes make revisions just by clicking on d
ialog-box controls. In other cases, simple manual code edits are necessary. ViP should also improve Notes' interaction with SQL databases by allowing the concurrent display of data from multiple sources through Lotus Data-Lens and support for Microsoft's ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) platform.
Although Lotus says LotusScript is syntax-compatible with Microsoft's Visual Basic, LotusScript and ViP do not support Visual Basic custom controls. Nor does ViP currently let you write programs that view or update data stored in a rich text field in a Notes database. Maria Watts, Lotus's director of product management for applications development products, says a future version of ViP will support rich text fields.
Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications cannot currently access Notes databases on their own. But using Visual Basic and VB/Link for Lotus Notes, Visual Basic developers can visually program applications that access information stored in Notes databases. With VB/Link, a developer can
compose a response document that can be attached to an existing Notes document, for example. In going the Visual BasicVB/Link route, you can also take advantage of the many other custom controls available to Visual Basic developers. VB/Link has been shipping since December, and the company plans to release a new version this month that adds support for rich text fields and file attachments in Notes.
LotusScript vs. Visual Basic
Lotus says it will release LotusScript 2.0 this summer. The company will include it in Notes ViP and other applications. Microsoft's Visual Basic for Applications provides users of that company's Office products with a cross-application development language.
Feature Visual Basic for Applications LotusScript 3.0
Introduction date First quarter February 1993
Products in now Excel 5, Project 4, Access Improv 2.1 for Windows
Projected introductions Word for Windows in 1995
Notes ViP in summer;
other products this year;
cc:Mail, SmartSuite,
and Notes 4.0 in 1995
Type of programming Visual Basic technology BASIC-compatible with
object-oriented
extensions
When it will support Now in Access 2.0, future Early 1995
OLE Custom Controls Microsoft applications
Platforms Windows, Mac Windows, OS/2, some Unix
Options for Notes Developers to Improve
