lekkimworld.comthe_view

Sametime blackbox - update needed for Lotus Connections 2.0

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:54:26 GMT

I wrote a number of articles in THE VIEW some time back on writing custom Sametime blackboxes (see the March/April and May/June 2008 issues). If you implemented the Sametime blackbox that read data from Lotus Connections (like it's done on bleedyellow.com) and you have upgraded (or are planning to upgrade) to Lotus Connections 2.0 this post is for you.

The database schema for Lotus Connections 2.0 has changed slightly in comparison with Lotus Connections 1.0.x so if you're using a custom Sametime blackbox to read data from Lotus Connections it needs to be changed. The only thing that needs to change is the SQL since the key column in the EMPINST.PHOTO table has been renamed from PROF_UID to PROF_KEY (hightlighted in the SQL below).

SELECT EMPL.PROF_UID UID, PROF_DISPLAY_NAME DSP_NAME, PROF_MAIL_LOWER EMAIL, PROF_MOBILE MOBILE, PROF_PAGER PAGER, PROF_TITLE TITLE, PROF_TIMEZONE TIMEZONE, PROF_TELEPHONE_NUMBER PHONE, PROF_BLOG_URL BLOG_URL, EMPL.PROF_DEPARTMENT_NUMBER DEPT_NO, DEPT.PROF_DEPARTMENT_TITLE DEPT_NAME, EMPL.PROF_ORGANIZATION_IDENTIFIER ORG_IDENT, ORG.PROF_ORGANIZATION_TITLE ORG_NAME, EMPL.PROF_ISO_COUNTRY_CODE CTRY_ISOCODE, CTRY.PROF_COUNTRY_DESC CTRY_NAME, P.PROF_IMAGE PHOTO_BYTES, P.PROF_FILE_TYPE PHOTO_MIMETYPE FROM EMPINST.EMPLOYEE EMPL LEFT OUTER JOIN EMPINST.PHOTO P ON EMPL.PROF_KEY=P.PROF_KEY LEFT OUTER JOIN EMPINST.DEPARTMENT DEPT ON EMPL.PROF_DEPARTMENT_NUMBER=DEPT.PROF_DEPARTMENT_CODE LEFT OUTER JOIN EMPINST.COUNTRY CTRY ON EMPL.PROF_ISO_COUNTRY_CODE=CTRY.PROF_ISO_COUNTRY_CODE LEFT OUTER JOIN EMPINST.ORGANIZATION ORG ON EMPL.PROF_ORGANIZATION_IDENTIFIER=ORG.PROF_ORGANIZATION_CODE WHERE EMPL.PROF_MAIL_LOWER=?

Part 2 of the blackbox article published

Thu, 22 May 2008 10:34:13 GMT

The second and final article in my series on Sametime blackboxes (Configuring the Sametime business card system, Part 2: Reach more data with custom blackboxes) has been published at the THE VIEW website and will be out in the May/June issue.

Where as the first article primarily focused on configuration and setup of the blackbox system the second article describes how to develop your own custom blackbox implementations. One of the blackboxes I describe is the one I developed for the bleedyellow.com Sametime server. This implementation retrieves business card data from Lotus Connections.

THE VIEW 2008 Technical Supplement available for download

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:06:56 GMT

THE VIEW 2008 Technical Solutions Supplement is now available for download from THE VIEW at no charge. Although you will likely pick up a hardcopy at some conference this year it never hurts to have the PDF as well. The supplement features a short piece by yours truly called "Use a blackbox to bolster your Sametime Connect buddy list with business card data".

Download THE VIEW 2008 Solutions Supplement

Article draft of to THE VIEW

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:42:00 GMT

Just shot of an e-mail with a draft of my next article for THE VIEW. The working title is "Into the blackbox - a tour of the Sametime Business Card system" and will discuss and describe the business card system, a.k.a. UserInfo, of Sametime and how to configure, mix and match blackboxes and how to write your own blackbox implementations. The article is a little less development focused than I'm used to but I still managed to sneak in some Java code... ;-)

No word yet on when it's gonna be out but I'm guessing the March/April 2008 issue.

Sametime blackboxes (update)

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:33:00 GMT

Just a short update on my Sametime blackboxes post from earlier today.

As noted by Julian Robichaux and Urs Meli in comments I had a typo in the previously posted code as I had managed to insert the wrong looping code twice... :-( The correct, correct looping should be:

public static void main(String[] args) {
   LinkedList l = new LinkedList();
   for (int i=0; i<10; i++) {
      l.addLast(new Simple(i));
   }
   while (l.size() > 0) {
      System.out.println("" + ((Simple)l.removeFirst()).getI());
   }
}

Sametime blackboxes

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:32:28 GMT

This week I have been writing an article on writing custom Sametime blackboxes for THE VIEW 2008 Technical Supplement and during my research I have stumbled across of number of interesting things. One of them is quite serious, and is actually a quite serious bug, so I thought I ought to share.

New THE VIEW article is out!

Thu, 24 May 2007 13:38:56 GMT

I'm happy to say that my newest article is online at THE VIEW website. The article is on managing and provisioning lotus.domino.Session objects to plug-ins in Sametime Connect 7.5.1 - a subject that's a little tricky due to the native code underneath the Notes/Domino Java API and due to the way that classloaders work in Sametime Connect/Expeditor.

For the ones who's already on Sametime 7.5.1 please see the errata (http://lekkimworld.com/theview_sametime).

Article abstract:

Take the mystery out of providing multiple Notes sessions from Sametime Connect. Plug-in developers find that running multiple Sametime plug-ins that access Notes at the same time is tricky; the reasons are due to how the Sametime 7.5 Java application-programming interface (API) differs from the one Notes uses, and how Java class-loaders load native library code on Windows. The solution provided in this article uses a bundled group of plug-ins, invisible to connect users, for managing lotus.domino.Session objects across other plug-ins. You also learn how to achieve fast plug-in deployments with automatic Connect configuration, plus easier plug-in maintenance. The solution code is available for download at THE VIEW Web site.

Link to article on eview.com: Provide multiple Notes/Domino sessions for Sametime Connect 7.5 users
Link to previous post on the same subject - Show 'n Tell Thursday: The missing link for plugging Notes into you Sametime 7.5 plugin (10 January 2007)

New article for THE VIEW

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:42:19 GMT

After submitting my presentation for my Lotusphere 2007 session (BP308) I'm busy putting the finishing touches on my next article for THE VIEW. The draft is due before I leave for Lotusphere.

The working title is somewhat of a mouthful ("Solving the native library binding problems of the Notes/Domino Java API in the Sametime 7.5 Connect client plug-ins") and it will probably be changed a couple of times before the article goes to print.

The article is slated for publication in the Mar/Apr 2007 issue of THE VIEW.