designed to enable enterprise-wide collaboration and the sharing of work-flow applications over LANs and WANs.
By its nature, Notes is an excellent vehicle for developing elaborate work-flow and controlled-distribution information systems. It provides multiple levels of security, an excellent model for interaction and response, add-in tools for extensive customization, and the ability to pass objects easily.
The broadcast nature of the Web, on the other hand, makes it a good arena for developing applications that involve the public publishing of documents. The Web has one unusual feature for a client/server system: The clients are extremely diverse and detached from the server development process.
It's tempting to view the document-publishing functions in Notes as being in competition with the Web. But Andrew Mahon, communications product marketing manager at Lotus, disagrees. "
Notes doesn't c
ompete with the Web,
" he says. "It competes with other application platforms that run on the Web." The latest version of Notes, release 4.0, has powerful features for integrating with the Internet. These are listed below.
InterNotes Server.
This is a gateway to the Internet running on a Notes server. You gain two valuable capabilities by using it: Notes security limits inbound traffic from the Internet, and you don't have to run TCP/IP to each desktop -- the InterNotes Server acts as a TCP/IP gateway.
InterNotes Publisher.
This application translates Notes documents into Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), so a Notes application can produce Web documents as output.
InterNotes Web Navigator.
A Web browser with a difference, this feature works within Notes. You can control it with the usual Notes macros and scripts.
With these tools, you can construct and manage applications that inclu
de unique features of both Notes and the Web. Thus, you can benefit from the integration of the two technologies.
The Web at a Glance
The Web works on a "pull" model of document management. That is, Web clients, or browsers, specify the uniform resource locator (URL) for a document name and request a copy of that HTML page. The page is transmitted across the network and then displayed on the client workstation.
Web information is document-based. The documents employ rich-media presentation, as well as a hypertext linking structure. The Web appears to be an ideal way to provide marketing, corporate, and service/support information that is readily available for public access. In addition, the broadcast nature of Web publishing works well in a one-to-many situation.
The Web is also becoming increasingly popular as a means of enterprise-wide communications within organizations (the so-called intranet). The main appeal of the Web seems to be its apparent ease of use. Many organ
izations falter, however, when it comes to maintaining a Web server. As documents are produced, they must be prepared in HTML and linked. Each time you add or delete a document, you must update the links, as well as the pages that refer to those links.
The Notes System
Notes is a client/server platform for developing and deploying groupware applications. Like the Web, it's document-based. The basis of any Notes application is a database of documents that appear to the user as forms that can be viewed with a browser. Complex document topologies are structured using an outline-like expand-and-collapse metaphor.
Because documents can have arbitrarily structured or unstructured content, Notes is able to store and manage collections of data that do not readily lend themselves to relational or other database systems. Notes can easily support facilities that prove useful in a business environment, such as passing information as formatted text, tabular data, graphics, or linked or embed
ded objects. Multimedia objects, such as scanned images and faxes, voice, sound, and video, can be passed as well.
In addition, Notes incorporates a full-text search engine to allow users to index and search documents. It can also implement version control to track multiple changes that different users make to a single document.
Information Access
Both the Web and Notes have server environments designed for information distribution. However, to view data on a Notes server requires both a Notes client and permission to view the desired documents. This rigid control can make it difficult to create public domain documents or to share information with members of the general computer public, some of whom might not have the required client software.
The broadcast nature of the Web lends itself to the use of independent client and server applications. And the proliferation of free and shareware browsers has had the effect of making client software, and thus Web data, universally
available.
But being an information provider on the Web is a good deal more demanding than being an information user. Setting up and maintaining an enterprise-level Web server requires a commitment to additional personnel and equipment that many companies might not wish to undertake. Collecting and translating documents manually into HTML is time-consuming. And you must update links to the documents or references to other Web sites.
One solution is to provide organizations with the ability to publish to the Web from within Notes. Lotus's InterNotes Publisher does exactly that by automatically converting Notes databases and documents into HTML. This solves the problem of managing HTML documents.
Putting information from Notes on the Web also solves the problem of giving access to non-Notes users. Anyone with a Web browser can access the Notes documents you choose to put on the Web. And as the content of the documents changes and new contributions are added, the InterNotes Publisher automatica
lly updates the Notes overviews and Web home pages, as well as all links that refer to the new documents, without manual intervention.
Interactivity
As mentioned earlier, an organization can publish information on the Web to capitalize on its graphical nature and ready public access. This increase in visibility can aid marketing, sales, and technical-support efforts. But the Web's ability to integrate itself into a company's core business applications is weak.
The Web is volatile in nature. Each day, for example, five firms that yours competes with might post new data on their Web pages. But tracking those updates manually might take more effort than it's worth. Also, on most Web pages, interactivity or feedback is limited to filling in a form to send an E-mail message back to a single contact. Integration of feedback and inquiries into a company's work flow can be a difficult, roll-your-own proposition.
On the other hand, you can easily program Notes to search for and ret
rieve data from a variety of sources. With Notes 4.0, that includes the use of the InterNotes Web Navigator with macros or scripts to create applications to monitor the Web. For example, you can monitor your favorite Web sites for changes and tell Notes to send you a daily summary as E-mail with links to altered pages. The InterNotes Web Navigator can also easily place information gleaned from the Internet into a Notes application. Responses from a help-wanted posting, for example, can be forwarded as mail messages within Notes to the company's hiring center.
You can translate into Notes all standard HTML documents on the Web, including forms, tables, photos, graphics, links, and URLs. You can also browse and retrieve information from other Internet sources, such as ftp, gopher, and Usenet.
Security and Access
No organization wants to expose its confidential information and internal systems to unauthorized viewing or possible tampering by persons or programs on the Internet. But
techniques for implementing security on the Internet are still evolving, as the recent problem with Netscape's encryption system has demonstrated.
Notes, on the other hand, is known for its robust security. The InterNotes Web Navigator works through the Notes server and inherits all its password-authentication and access-control procedures. Because direct client access to the Internet is eliminated, your security risk is reduced.
Conversely, not all access to Web sites is productive. By restricting Internet/Web access through a Notes server, administrators can deny access to specific sites using Notes' access-control features.
Replication Overhead
The need for prompt access to changing information can be critical. In some cases, Notes replication can introduce unacceptable delays. A remote office, for example, might need the latest price sheet immediately but not receive it until the next scheduled replication. In other cases, small offices or single workers might not be
able to justify the expense of setting up a full-time server. Similarly, mobile or contract workers might need access to information on an unscheduled basis. But licensing and installing a personal server or having these workers constantly dialing in to a central site might not be time- or cost-efficient.
However, when an organization publishes documents on the Web, these workers can use readily available browsers to access the latest information. The need to acquire a Notes client for each user or to replicate entire sets of document databases on numerous servers is eliminated. In addition, the central site isn't forced to maintain a large inbound communications server to handle frequent and lengthy dial-up Notes access.
Room to Grow
The broadcast nature of Web publishing and its readily available client software make it popular with developers. But Notes remains a powerful platform for developing document management and work-flow applications.
Lotus's Mahon acknowledges
that both Notes and the Web have room to grow. "We've already got the function; now our challenge is to get more open," he says. "They've got the openness and need to get the function."
It's important not to underestimate the impact of the Web and other developing on-line services on the way in which business will evolve in the next few years. The extensions and capabilities planned for Notes will ensure it remains an effective platform for managing information.
FOR THIS WEB PROBLEM: NOTES OFFERS THIS SOLUTION:
TCP/IP must be installed and supported Client access to the Web is via the
on every desktop Notes server
Unrestricted access can waste resources Sites can be locked out using Notes'
and sap productivity access-control features
Browsing requires an on-line connection Internet database can be replicated
and read off-line
Access to popular sites is often slowed Notes can cache popular Web sites
by high traffic and save pages as Notes documents
No notification of page updates, new New information or other changes in
sites, or other changes the Web can initiate a work-flow
application
Interactivity is limited Incoming Web information is easily
channeled into work-flow applications
Custom applications require independent Notes applications run on all
development and support for each supported platforms
platform
Exposure might compromise security Server security extends to the Web
FOR THIS NOTES PROBLEM: WEB OFFERS THIS SOLUTION:
Access to Notes database requires all Web browsers offer access to HTML
users to have a Note
s client documents produced by Notes
Replication of large databases to many Users can eliminate delays and the
servers at remote sites can be slow need for a server by viewing the
and costly latest documents published on the Web
Access to information outside of Notes Notes' new integrated browser allows
databases requires leaving Notes direct access to the Web via Notes
server
screen_link (95 Kbytes)
With Lotus's new InterNotes Web Navigator, users can access the World Wide Web from w
ithin Notes.
Robert L. Hummel is an electrical engineer, programmer, and consultant. He has written extensively on assembly language programming for Intel processors and on data and fax communications. You can reach him on the Internet or BIX at
editors@bix.com
.
Net-Surfing with Notes
