IdeaJam(tm) : XPages - Native support for RDB access

Domino Designer / : XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:25:31 +0000

Author: John Mackey
Tags: XPages rdb sql
Idea:

XPages should have native access to RDB data. This will allow the use of external SQL data in views and forms in conjunction with Notes data. Moving Domino Designer to Eclipse was a big step forward in opening up the propertairy technology of the Lotus Notes development platform. The next step to wider acceptance of Lotus Notes as an application development platform is to allow the tool to easily integrate with other systems in a corporate environment.

Sure you can write java sql procedures and call them now from XPages server side javascript. But this is a one off solution and more of a work around. Or you can write routines to bring in this data into Notes (or use a third party product), but again this is additional work and effort and adds to the complexity of what should be a simple task. Why shouldn't the developer be able to point and click and have data come from multiple data sources as with other development platforms?

I know this has been mentioned as a future enhancement for XPages but I feel we need to drum up support to make sure this happens.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:35:15 +0000

Author: Larry Helwig
Comment: YES - but not just to DB2

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:44:32 +0000

Author: John Mackey
Comment: Yes, I agree. At least the major rdb systems: DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:58:48 +0000

Author: Pascal Vachon
Comment: Same here!
I agree, DB2, MSSQL, MySQL and Oracle.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:01:30 +0000

Author: Tom Oneil
Comment: I'll agree but I think it will be seldom used. Visual Studio has had ASP.NET database integration for years but all of the good developers write the data access layer on the back end.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:57:08 +0000

Author: Roland Reddekop
Comment: I am primarily interested in access data to our "i" (i5/OS) through Xpages, but definitely Lotus Domino needs the other backends mentioned to become a serious player in the web dev world.
We have many apps accessing this data now through LCLSX and DECS, but its limited in what you can do.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:07:52 +0000

Author: Ben Langhinrichs
Comment: To play devil's advocate just a bit, why would this be more widely used than the NSFDB2 features that were requested for years and not extensively used when they were available?

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:37:21 +0000

Author: Bruce Elgort
Comment: @Ben,

Because we have SQL Server dbs and other non DB2 data sources out there that we would just love to access data from.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:18:04 +0000

Author: Peter Presnell
Comment: I believe IBM have already announced this feature is coming in a future release of Notes.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:31:44 +0000

Author: Arshad Mahmoud
Comment: Yes, I agree. bring it on par with ASP.net

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:57:59 +0000

Author: John Mackey
Comment: @Ben, the NSFDB2 is different then this request. That was/is a datastore for Notes. This request is to add the ability to natively access data in other systems as well as Notes. Many of the applications in the corporations I have worked on require interaction with other applications across an enterprise, where reading and writing of RDB data in conjunction with my Notes data is required.

As a consultant I see this play out all the time. Corporations have Notes development groups as well as other competing development groups. A request comes in for a new application to a work intake manager. The request is assessed and assigned to the appropriate development team. If part of requirement is to access data from a RDB system, it is immediately assigned to a non-Notes team... unless there is a huge reason it has to be in Notes.

Native support for RDB will help DDE compete.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:54:04 +0000

Author: Angelo Pampalone
Comment: Me too
Integrate with the big 4: DB2, MSSQL, MySQL and Oracle.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:37:17 +0000

Author: Roland Reddekop
Comment: @those comparing this request to the defunct NSFDB2:

As John pointed out NSFDB2 isn't comparable to this request. I haven't the foggiest why IBM chose to port the entire NSF itself into DB2 when all we really wanted was the ability to read/write from other databases using basic SQL in a way that was more flexible than LEI, LCLSX, and DECS. Being on the "i" platform at my org we never got to taste it (fortunately so or I for certain would have had egg on my face and a mountain of legacy apps). IBM bit off more than they could chew and it fell apart. This request to create a simple interface to non-notes data has a reasonable scope and is strategic with real world practical benefits. The only reason I could imagine IBM would not do it would be due to internal competition between product managers and a fear of cannibalizing their other product's profit margins. If you can do it in Notes, why pay big dollars for_____.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:49:43 +0000

Author: Marie-Claude Mayrand
Comment: I agree, Native access should be there for major RDB

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:36:23 +0000

Author: Starrow Pan
Comment: An IBM consultant said more db source would be added to xPage in a demo.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:18:25 +0000

Author: Markus K�stner
Comment: Why not JDBC? Its standard and you could access almost every database you want.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:05:03 +0000

Author: John Mackey
Comment: @Markus, I would assume it's JDBC. That's up to IBM however. I mentioned the 4 RDBs that are essential whatever technology they use to implement the access.

@Starrow, this is an item that is being planned for a release, IBM has stated that. The issue is will it be sooner or later. I feel it should be high on the priority list.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:06:05 +0000

Author: David Wilkerson
Comment: Yes. I think that it is a serious omission that undermines the credibility of IBM's fidelity to the Domino platform. Too often they seem to hobble there products to drive customers to the 'more scalable' enterprise solution (J2EE based). I think that Domino has been a very strong player in the SMB market but for XPages to robustly deliver new life to the platform there must be RDM connectivity.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:12:18 +0000

Author: VIjaya Kumar
Comment: We should promote Notes Designer as universal development tool , and only competing product against .net . so the data population from any RDBMS is must. IBM should consider seriously and soon not in version 9 or 10 jerk.

re: XPages - Native support for RDB access

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:17:20 +0000

Author: John Turnbow
Comment: Yes Please!!!!