I don't typically hock my wares on the blog, but I thought that this would interest the readership.

I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my latest application - Spread, my NotesData Export Engine for the Lotus Notes 8 (and above) client. This is a consumer-focused product aimed at... well, I suppose anyone who has to take content from a NotesDatabase and work with it in Microsoft Excel.

Today, it's going into Microsoft Excel. Tomorrow -- meaning phase 2 -- I'm going to expand the export capabilities to not only CSV but also OpenOffice and Lotus Symphony.

Some of you may be curious as to what it does: simple really. An admin will define an Export Template. That Export Template will consume a NotesDocumentCollection - either via a defined Application Profile and NotesDocument Selection Formula or at runtime passed via the Lotus Notes client UI (UnproccessedDocuments, etc.). The engine takes each NotesDocument and evaluates it against a defined subset of values that will make up the Excel spreadsheet.

That was all geekspeak for You can either select some documents from a view or just tell it which report to run, and it'll just export the info into Excel! The goal is to make it simple for people to generate reports from any Lotus Notes application, and to do that...

This application will be a Lotus Notes Composite Application, wired as a widget. Once this widget is installed, the idea is that you can select a bunch of documents, right-click, and select Export... from the pop-up menu. A prompt later - mostly asking what it is that you want to export - and you're staring at your spreadsheet complete with NotesData from your application.

I'll babble more about this, as well as talk about the build once the product ships... but I thought that I would show you the Lotus Notes client UI for the application itself:

I've tried to go with as much of a Web UI as I could in the Lotus Notes 8 client without impacting functional integrity -- the last thing this application needs is a flaky UI just because I want it to stand out.

The build is fairly basic - a single Frameset Design Element used as the Default Launch Object for the Lotus Notes Client (since you can't lauch a Form Design Element without relying on hacking), Embedded Views on the application Dashboard/Home page, and a simple-yet-functional interface into what I hope will be an easy to use yet extremely powerful Lotus Notes Client plug-in.

I'll be putting out the call for alpha testers soon, but anyone with export needs that can report bugs back to me please contact me.

This will be a product that I'll be selling -- still working out fair pricing and just what you get for said price, but talk of that will follow.

Also, I'll keep this as far from being a commercial and more focusing on -- when I do bring it up -- the development of the product, as I think that is the more interesting part of this whole exercise for my developer-minded readers.

This just in...

ARMONK, NY, September 10, 2009 --- IBM has begun offering Microsoft customers free of charge productivity software that is compatible with popular Microsoft Office formats, and supports a wide range of widgets popularized by consumer Web sites and third parties that extend the functions of Lotus Symphony.

These widgets allow people to tap into everything from Web-based Google Gadgets, Lotus Sametime, Lotus Quickr, Lotus Connections, popular wikis, even Microsoft Sharepoint and MSN from within Symphony. IBM's Lotus Symphony (link) software provides word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations effectively replacing Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Powerpoint.

IBM has added a new feature that allows individuals to easily drag-and-drop widgets into Lotus Symphony, distinguishing it from static office productivity tools such as Microsoft Word. Drag-and-drop also makes Symphony stand out from other Microsoft alternatives, simplifying the use and installalation widgets with just one click. With this drag-and-drop feature, IBM and various third parties including independent software vendors, individual developers, customers and Business Partners are writing a wide range of new widgets for Lotus Symphony.

Widgets extend Symphony's capabilities through the commonly accepted open standards, Eclipse and Java. Due to its cross-platform nature, Symphony's widgets are developed once and run across all three Symphony document, presentation and spreadsheet applications, lowering the cost to bring new capabilities to end users; whereas new applications must be built separately for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office and Microsoft PowerPoint.

IBM Lotus Symphony leads a growing class of Microsoft Office alternatives, with millions of copies in circulation. The first full version of Symphony appeared on June 3, 2008.

"Today there are more innovative, open alternatives such as Symphony that compare favorably to Microsoft Office," said Bob Picciano, general manager, IBM Lotus Software. "Symphony's open collaboration model can offer businesses limitless options cost-effectively at a time when many organizations are increasingly concerned about investing in Microsoft Office."

New Widgets, New Capabilities

Among the more popular widgets supported for Symphony are cloud-based Google Gadgets such as the Currency Converter Gadget which shows equivalent monetary values; the Unit Converter Gadget which translates units of measurement; and the Wikipedia Gadget that provides instant access to information on Wikipedia, and many others all directly from within Symphony.

IBM also announces the debut of new widgets designed to extend Symphony from office productivity to a more interactive collaboration tool, including:

The Lotus Symphony Learning Widget blends local and cloud-based learning resources at the individual's fingertips inside the product to quickly master the full range of Symphony's capabilities.

• With Team Workspace Widgets, people can access and work with documents from the most popular tools including Microsoft Sharepoint and Lotus Quickr.
• The new ChartShare Widget enables the instant sharing of an individual's screen with from one to 20 people to view a presentation file. To edit and co-create charts, users can launch a Sametime Unyte Live meeting in a single click within Symphony. This widget demonstrates how to seamlessly blend rich client and cloud computing. It also provides presence awareness and instant messaging capability in side shelf for anyone that has been a contributor to the presentation.

Symphony 2 Wiki Widgets are two new widgets that plug into Symphony to create rich wiki content inside of Symphony and convert the content for publishing to wikis such as Confluence Wiki and Mediawiki. Treasure Box allows Symphony to keep on hand links to frequently used documents, graphics and applications and insert them directly into your presentation, for example, without exiting Symphony. This widget essentially makes a "favorites" list right within Symphony for several file types inlcuding presentations, documents, as well as graphics and applications.

The Export Graphic Widget lets users export graphics, shapes, and charts they create in Symphony to files in common formats such as .gif, .jpeg, .png, .bmp helping them save time by re-using their visual creative.

Consumers, students, businesses, governments, universities and non-profits around the world have saved many millions of dollars using IBM Lotus Symphony. While Symphony is free of charge to download and use by consumers and organizations, large businesses can opt to buy contracts for help desk support for a flat fee of just over $26,000 per year which still represents a significant savings over a Microsoft Office licensing agreement. Depending upon environment, Lotus Symphony could save a company millions of dollars in software license fees or software renewal fees.

In its most recently released version, Lotus Symphony 1.3, enhancements were added such as support for Microsoft Office 2007 file formats such as .docx, xlsx, and .pptx which allow most Office users to easily access and transfer company information into Symphony or work seamlessly with a Microsoft user. Symphony has DataPilot (also known as pivot table) improvements that allow people to easily drill down and analyze data. Mail merge and envelope printing enhancements appeal to organizations that need cost-effective ways to correspond with customers.

In addition, Lotus Symphony is also packaged with Lotus Notes and Lotus Foundations with support already included, no extra charge. Symphony is available on a wide range of devices and platforms including Apple MacIntosh, Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu Linux, Red Hat Linux and Suse Linux. IBM Lotus Symphony can be downloaded free of charge at: http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.nsf/home

Add some viral UX video to this, and you've got a hit on your hands!

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Just a little teaser video showing you the Frameset-less Lotus Notes Client UI Design that I had mentioned a few weeks back.

It's not much, but it should give you an idea as to what I was getting at from a functional design standpoint. ;-)

More to come - as I mention in the video - as soon as I get some downtime to play around...

I had the opportunity recently to speak with Sean Poulley - Vice President of Online Collaboration Services at IBM - about LotusLive - a Business 2.0 service offering that is far beyond "yet another social network".

Expect to see an article on the whole conversation, discussing things that customers and business partners should know about LotusLive, later this week... but today's post discusses one of the key phrases that I was introduced to while speaking with Poulley: onsite product portfolio.

See - LotusLive is only partially a cloud service! One of the intentions is to allow you to seemlessly integrate the onsite product portfolio with the ever-expanding LotusLive services portfolio - allowing you to better leverage (not abandon) your current technology investments in the Lotus brand.

One of the integration points that's available today is the LotusLive Plug-In for Lotus Notes 8 (LotusLive Login Required).

I'll give you a visual companion to the directions supplied by the LotusLive Support Team via the LotusLive Engage Support FAQs, and when complete you will be able to push and synchronize your Lotus Notes Contacts with your LotusLive Contacts!

Perform the following instructions on the workstation where you have Lotus Notes installed.
1. Using a text editor, open the following file:
Notes Install Directory\framework\rcp\plugin_customization.ini
The Notes Install Directory is usually C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Notes
2. Perform one of the following steps:
If the following line is not present, then add it to the end of the file:
com.ibm.notes.branding/enable.update.ui=true
If the line is present, make sure that the value is equal to true.
3. Save the file and close your text editor.
4. Stop and restart Lotus Notes, if it is running.

These steps are required for the initial setup of any of these plug-ins in the Lotus Notes 8.n Client. If you're setup TwitNotes, Document Viewer, et al, I think you can skip these steps...

Next, go Lotus Notes and perform the following instructions.
1. Select File > Application > Install. The Features Update box displays.
2. Select Search for new features to install, and then click Next. The Application Location box displays.
3. Click the Add Remote Location... button, and then add the following:
Name: LotusLive Updates
URL: https://apps.lotuslive.com/install/lotuslive_notes_plugin/site.xml

4. Click OK to continue. LotusLive Updates displays in the list of locations.
5. Click Finish and a new window displays.

6. Select the check box for LotusLive Updates, and click Next.
7. To continue, you must accept the license agreement, and click Next.

8. Click Finish. If a window displays about trusted signers, you must select Install this plug-in and OK to continue.
9. Select Yes when a message to restart Lotus Notes displays.

Now that you've installed this plug-in.. you'll want to use it! Simply select Tools\Sync contacts with LotusLive from the Lotus Notes Client File Menu.

If all's fine in the world, you will be prompted for your LotusLive User Name and Password credentials:

Author's Note: If you were originally a bluehouse.lotus.com user and your account was ported to LotusLive, change your account password via LotusLive Administration. Apparently (as I - and several others - experienced this exact issue) those ported accounts would allow us to access LotusLive.com, LotusLive Sametime and LotusLive Connections (even via the Activities sidebar), but thus plug-in only accepted authentication credentials post-account password change.

Once you've successfully authenticated, your Lotus Notes Personal Address Book Contacts will be pushed to the LotusLive Contacts list, and any changes with those contacts updated!

This is not only a pretty slick feature on it's own, but it should both show you where LotusLive can go once you understand integration with the onsite product portfolio, as well as give customers and business partners ideas on how they can make their own products integrate either with other cloud services or specifically with LotusLive.

See... it's stuff like this that makes me giddy: Lotus Notes is being positioned/has the potential to be positioned as the solution that binds cloud service offerings, in-house custom application development efforts, and thus the single functional dashboard to a customer's world!

If you're not already signed up, I suggest checking LotusLive out. And while you're there, feel free to make me a connection!

A better description, and a MUCH smoother process overall, v0.2 of xCopy comes with the following enhancements from the original:

• xcopy via Java Agents and Script Libraries
• Transaction Log documents via Java Agents and Script Libraries.
• Can now handle multi-thread large file xcopies.

And that's about it! Not a major release from a feature perspective, but certainly a major overhaul as I've ported the actual functional Agents from LotusScript to Java... with Tim's help of course!

New/first-time xCopy downloaders just download, sign, and go! v0.1 users: download, sign, change to a Design Template, change the extension from .NSF to .NTF, and run Replace Design!

If you have a need to either manually or automatically copy defined files to a defined target location, this is the app for you! If not, download it if for nothing other than a very simple example of Java Agents and Script Libraries. Feedback and feature requests appreciated.