Lotus Domino and IBM WebSphere Integration solution: Domino XML

Many organizations find that the next logical step to take with their Domino WEB applications is to integrate them with IBM WebSphere software. There is a reasonable reason for them to do so. Lotus Domino's file-based architecture makes it easy to create documents and share documents between the content creator and the editor. Its built-in security and versioning capabilities apply to managing document-based content.

WebSphere is a high-performance, enterprise-class, transactional application server. Its core is the powerful Java EE engine, which is designed to achieve high scalability and robustness. WebSphere is also the crucible of the latest Web technology. Organizations seeking to use these technologies by extending their current Domino applications will find it a rational choice to include WebSphere in their environment.

While the benefits are obvious, completing the integration may not be as easy. Typically, developers who are proficient in a system are not familiar with other systems. For developers, therefore, integration requires a combination of steep learning curves and tense timelines. IBM and Lotus are aware of this, and they have incorporated many tools to facilitate this process.

In this two-part series, we introduce you to two different integration methods: One approach using Domino XML (DXL) and the other using Domino JSP tag libraries, which are Lotus Domino Toolkit for WebSphere S Part of the Tudio. We'll look at the pros and cons of each approach and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. By using checklists, we will help you determine which approach is best for you and your application. Then we'll give you a detailed example of how each method is used.

In the 1th installment of this series, we focused on Domino XML. In the 2nd part, the focus is on the Domino JSP tag Library. Both articles assume that you are an application developer who is familiar with XML and JSP technology. The 1th part also assumes that you have some Java experience.

Two approaches: XML and Domino JSP tag libraries

Lotus has long been a supporter of XML. Starting with the Lotus Notes/domino version 5, Lotus has been adding new features to the new version of Lotus Notes/domino to enhance its ability to process XML. Lotus Notes/domino 6.5 is no exception. It provides many features that enable developers to generate and extract XML from all Domino elements. For those who are unfamiliar with Domino technology, the Domino database contains Notes documents and some design elements, such as forms, views, and proxies. XML allows you to access these design elements and documents, which you can imagine as an integrated application server, WEB server, and database engine.

Another way to access this is the Domino JSP tag Library. These libraries are provided by Lotus and help developers build Domino-enabled JSPs. The tag library hides the basic Java code needed to connect JavaServer Page (JSP) to Lotus Domino. Communication is performed using CORBA via IIOP. This allows Java code to programmatically access almost all elements of the database.

Roadmap: XML or tag library?

These two approaches provide different approaches to integration. The following checklist will help you determine which method is best for you and/or the work you want to accomplish.

Expertise

Many Java developers are afraid to learn Lotus Domino simply because Lotus Domino has nothing to do with what they are accustomed to. These people seek solutions in the open standards field, where language development programs such as Java and XML are universally used. If you're one of these developers, you'll find XML methods easier to understand. It requires minimal Domino expertise, but requires a greater understanding of XML, XSLT, and Java.

At the other end of the group are experienced Domino developers who have full Lotus Domino knowledge, but no Java or WebSphere expertise. For these developers, tag libraries are more appealing. This approach requires a fairly broad range of Domino knowledge and skills. At the same time it requires minimal management experience and access rights to modify system configuration changes.

The nature of the site/application

Performance type

Many Web sites are expressive. This means that their primary goal is to display HTML content over the Web. This type of Web site requires little user input. The content does not usually need to be modified after the initial release. Examples of performance sites are news or product document pages.

Sometimes you might want to publish data on media other than the Web. For example, you might want to create flyers and brochures, or generate e-mail newsletters from data stored in Lotus Domino. Performance-driven (presentational-driven) sites/applications primarily benefit from XML methods, because XML is extensible and can be converted to countless formats.

Transaction type

Technically, all Web sites are transactional. But here, for the sake of interpretation, a transactional site is a site that relies heavily on user input. These sites provide a collection of services, where the content is personalized and often dynamic. This typically requires some form of authorization and authentication of the user's registration. Examples of transactional sites are auction sites and online forums. This type of site/application mainly benefits from the tag library solution.