Customer Reviews

LotusScriptor's Plain Simple Guide to the Lotus Notes C++ API

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How many times have I not downloaded the C or C++ API toolkint - just to leave it on my harddrive untouched. This book actually got me working through setting up my Visual C++ ( yes that is the IDE that is used as an example throughout the book and quite many pages are spent on showing you VC settings. ) and compiling the first few examples in 5 minutes. I was flying. Fuuuun....

The book describes how to do the basic things that I have been doing through Lotus Script or Java (manipulating databases, documents, views etc). It also shows you the steps needed for creating a dll that is called from Lotus Script. It shows you some detail on how to give you more control of RichText fields. It even shows you a small Domino Server Add Inn task.

The book is only 115 pages - and it uses about 20 pages talking about the c++ language. I have programmed in c++ for some years so I cannot say if it succeeds in removing some of the mystification and intimidation that usually surrounds c++. For experienced users it is nice to see that the user of smart pointers makes the use of the object model very similar to Java and Lotus Script (almost no memory management needed).

The target group for this book is seasoned "Lotus Script" developers. I myself have medium to good knowledge of the object model and when working through this book I kept asking myself when would I actually need to use c++ because I kept discovering that what I can do in c++ I can also do in LS. The answer so far is - probably not in a while. Yes - C++ offers you the possibility to add server add ins, and give you more control over rich text field - but for my daily work I have all I need in the LS/Java object models. However - C++ will be a good choice for applications created in other development tools - that would benefit from communicating with Lotus Domino.

The book is good as a kickoff to get you started. Then you will discover that the examples in the API development kit has good examples and explanations as well. The book will serve as a easy reference.

Programming with the Lotus Notes C++ API is thankfully much easier than using the Lotus Notes C API. The Notes C++ API classes mirror the LotuScript classes so one you get used to programming in C++, the code follows a similar path to LotusScript code. The Notes C++ API can do a large amount of what the Lotus Notes C API can do but for some tasks you still need the Notes C API.

This book is an ok starting point for complete beginners, especially if you are new to Lotus Notes and/or the C++ API. If you have never called a DLL then you should probably read this book. But you may find that you move beyond the book quite quickly.

You may also want to consider "LotusScript to Lotus C API Programming Guide" [...]