Sometimes you forget how cool this stuff can be

Over the last couple of weeks I've been building a little database for one of my customers. The reason I was doing it is that they were running a system in MS Access that wasn't suiting their needs, nor the requirements of their security and governance standards.

Anyway, I took a look at the app and thought about just upsizing it to SQL Server and rewriting the front end in VB or something, and that probably would have worked fine. I suppose it's a bit of my bias coming through, or even perhaps just because I'm more comfortable doing it, but after looking at what they were doing, and figuring out the data, the relationships and the workflow, I couldn't see any real reason not to do it in Notes.

1 week after making that decision, I've got the application up, it's far more functional than it's Access predecessor, it's more secure, it's more stable, it integrates with Excel (thanks to some XML), it contains all of the data from the old system (thanks to some ODBC to do the migration), and it's undergone almost daily iterations with the customer, with changes sometimes even being made on the fly in the meetings.

Now, I'm certainly not advocating this as a new software design methodology, and I also am neither saying that all Access apps should be in Notes, nor that I couldn't have done the same things in Access or VB/SQL, I'm sure that I could have. What I'm trying to say is that there is an awful lot of really powerful stuff in Notes that we sometimes just take for granted.

Once in a while it's good to go back to just an old school - non web based - stock standard Notes client based application to give you an appreciation of exactly what it is you have in your toolbelt. Sometimes you can even make the customers happy :-)

iNotes Ultralite on the iPhone

Ok, I promised, so here it is - my impressions of iNotes Ultralite on the iPhone (3G).

iNotes Ultralite is basically a very cut down version of (the much loved Domino web mail front end) iNotes, or as it was formerly known, Domino Web Access, or as it was even more formerly known, iNotes. 

Ultralite was developed specifically for mobile devices (and although IBM would probably deny it, let's be honest here, pretty much specifically for the Apple iPhone). Because it is a web based product, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages when you compare it to something like a Notes Traveller or CommonTime mSuite or similar. 

First, you have to browse the web for everything - even contacts. This is both a blessing and a curse. Nothing is stored on the phone, so if you lose it, you don't have all of those security concerns. But, it's kind of slow because you browse (although certainly not too bad if you have a 3G connection), and most importantly for those of us that don't live in the land of "all you can eat" iPhone data contracts, unless you can find a free WiFi to connect to, it uses expensive 3G bandwidth.

On top of that, while I'm ok with jumping on the web and logging in and clicking a few icons to get my email or even my calendar, I have to say, having to do it to get someone's phone number - while I'm on my phone - is a bit painful.

My other top bugbear because it works like this is that you don't get reminders for calendar appointments. This is a major one for me because I am the most forgetful person on the planet.

Once you are connected though, the UI is great. It's well thought out, well laid out, pretty much works exactly as you would expect - particularly if you use other iPhone apps. All in all, I'm really happy with it.

One thing you have to keep remembering is that it is a CUT DOWN version of mail. Because of that, there are things you can't do.

Overall, I really do like it, and I'm pretty happy with the functionality. That being said, I do tend to use it much more as a reader than a creator. For example, I never create appointments using it and I very rarely create emails on it (although I do reply a bit). 

I'm looking forward to the update to Traveller which will include the iPhone to see what it's like. I'll be sure to blog about that as well when I get it.