The other option and the one that ended up in the final solution was to use LotusScript to create an ASCII flat file containing the same information and then save it with a ".csv" extension. This way, the file is ready for importing into the application as soon as it has been created. There is no need to open it up or manipulate it further in any way. Just redirect the user to a Notes document with the CSV file embedded into it and let her download it and import it into her application right away.

A picture of the final solution
I always like to give a big picture of the final solution before going into details about how I did it. In Figure A, you can see a screen shot of how the Address Book Creator application looks on the Web.

FIGURE A


Here's a picture of how the Address Book Creator application looks on the Web Roll over picture for a larger image.

Get your copy now!

You can download a Notes database containing all of the elements of the solution at http://dan.velasco.com. You can also find all of the LotusScript code listed there as well. I won't go over every element of the solution here, but will instead focus on the key parts that were difficult to figure out so you will have an easier time creating similar applications.

The five hurdles
Here are the five hurdles to creating the application that you should know about:

• Overcoming the lack of native multiple-item selection on the Web;

• Using the DocumentContext property of the NotesSession class;

• Properly signing the agent so it has sufficient rights;

• Figuring out the correct file structure of the server so you can temporarily place a file there;

• Deleting the file off of the server once it has been created.

Let's go through these hurdles individually and I'll detail how to overcome them.

Enabling multiple-item selection on the Web
Fortunately for me, this was a fairly easy problem to solve, courtesy of Steve Devoll of Workflow Designs in Dallas (the Top Gun class people). He had given a presentation at Advisor DevCon in October 1998 that outlined the solution to exactly this problem. What you do is to mix a little old-fashioned HTML and Posting commands into your view and view template and then use a "catcher" form to basically get a handle on multiple items by their UNIDs.

You can see how you can put checkboxes onto the page that will calculate to the UNID of the document in Figure B.

FIGURE B


The User Information View on the Web uses HTML to capture the UNID via a checkbox. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The other essential component for making the multiple-item selection work is the $$ViewTemplate for the User Information Web View. You can see how this form looks in Figure C.

FIGURE C


Here you can see the $$ViewTemplate form for the User Information Web View. Roll over picture for a larger image.