Charles Savino & Co. Inc.
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This document is under review for possible changes.
 

Latest R8.5 Experiences

  		• 8.5 was released January 6th, 2009 and I updated my environment to it on January 10th, 2009. This is where I will comment on my experiences with using this new release.

    First of all, this is a major Notes release from a developer standpoint. The Designer client has moved to the Eclipse platform and has a whole new interface. This will take some getting used to, and a lot longer to master than any release for me since Release 4.5 when LotusScript was introduced.

    There are a lot of new features for web development, such as XPages & Themes, and initally, doing the things I used to do in the old Designer client required searching for those same items in new panels and drop-down lists. IBM intends for this to be only the beginning of a fresh new way to develop and maintain Notes/Domino applications. Clearly the priority has been on enhancing web applications in 8.5 with the consideration for similar upgrades to Notes client applications in future releases.

  		• To take advantage of some of the new 8.5 features it was necessary to upgrade applications to 8.5's ODS 51. Normally, this is done by copy-style compacting the existing nsf's. The first time I tried that it did not upgrade the the db's ODS to 51 from 48. Then, I remembered I had a notes.ini variable set, CREATE_R8_DATABASES=1 (this was required from my 8.0 upgrade). I changed that to CREATE_R85_DATABASES=1, and then my copy-style compacts started upgrading databases to ODS 51.

  		• Encountered a problem with using computed text while trying out the new XPages tutorial. Seems the computed text was not updating on the web page unless I clicked twice on the Submit button. The computed text displayed was continually 1 click behind what it should have been. Reported this to Lotus and they were able to duplicate the problem in their environment. They have written SPR OIH7N8M9Z against the issue and do not have a workaround for it. The scope session variable seems to be set after the computed fields are computed by the web server. I am concerned this is just a symptom of a deeper issue with the order in which javascript and computed formulas are processed. Beginning to think my clients will be better off waiting for 8.6 before moving this release to production.

  		• Tried out the new 8.5 Config Tuner feature which evaluates your server's configuration for possible performance and security issues. Install was easy. Just had to create a new db from the Config Tuner template DCT.NTF on the server and open it. The wizard quickly helped me run a first scan and view the results. Got a few recommendations on changing ini parameters to improve server performance. Afterwards, did not notice any speed difference, but my server has low usage anyway. Due to ease of install and execution, I would say this new feature is worth a good look, especially if you have been experiencing performance problems or have had a lot of admins working on your Domino Directory that never talked with one another.


       
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