Notes ViP (R) Runtime (READRUN.TXT) Release 1.1 (C) Lotus Development Corporation, 1995 This READRUN.TXT file is the documentation provided for the Runtime version of Lotus Notes ViP. This document provides the application developer with guidance on distributing Notes ViP Runtime and Notes ViP applications to users. CONTENTS I. Distributing and Installing Notes ViP Runtime Feature Specification (ALL/MINIMUM/CUSTOM) Lotus Shared Tools Directory Specification Server, Database, and File Name Specification AUTOEXEC.BAT File Update ODBC Driver Registration Windows Startup Specification II. Deploying Notes ViP Applications Installing on a Local Drive or a Network File Server Launching from the Windows Program Manager Launching from a Lotus product using a SmartIcon Launching from a Notes document using a button Installing on a Notes Server For product updates for Notes ViP Release 1.1, see the README.TXT file included with the Designer version of Notes ViP. **************************************************** * * * DISTRIBUTING AND INSTALLING NOTES VIP RUNTIME * * * **************************************************** The Runtime version of Notes ViP must be installed on users' computers before they run Notes ViP applications. Typically, you distribute Notes ViP Runtime for installation when you distribute your first Notes ViP application to users. Before you distribute Notes ViP Runtime to users, take the following steps: 1. Ensure that users' hardware and software meet the requirements of Notes ViP Runtime. Notes ViP Runtime has basically the same system requirements as Notes ViP Designer (for details, see "Before You Begin" in Getting Started provided with Notes ViP Designer). However, Notes ViP Runtime takes less disk space. For example, to install Notes ViP Runtime with minimum features, requires 5 MB of disk space. 2. Decide if you want users to install Notes ViP Runtime from diskettes or a file server. 3. Determine what choices users should make when installing Notes ViP Runtime. The choices that users make determine the functionality of Notes ViP Runtime for all of the Notes ViP applications that they install. You can identify the information that users need from: * This document * "Before You Begin" in the "Getting Started" manual provided for Notes ViP Designer * The screens and Help in Install for Notes ViP Runtime * The product updates for Notes ViP Release 1.1 4. Write installation documentation for your users. This documentation needs to contain the information that you identified in Step 2 and 3. 5. Create installation diskettes or an installation directory on a file server by copying the Notes ViP Runtime diskettes. Since this READRUN.TXT file is not written for end users, you may want to delete the copy of this file or replace it with the installation documentation that you created in Step 4. The rest of this section provides information about user decisions when installing Notes ViP Runtime. Feature Specification (ALL/MINIMUM/CUSTOM) ------------------------------------------ The Install program gives users three installation choices: ALL features -- If users choose All features, Notes ViP Runtime uses 8 MB of disk space and Install includes the Notes ViP Runtime program core, full data access to Lotus Notesr data, and full data access through the DataLens and ODBC drivers provided with Notes ViP. Drivers are listed in "Before You Begin" in the "Getting Started" manual. MINIMUM features -- If users choose Minimum features, Notes ViP Runtime uses 5 MB of disk space and Install includes the Notes ViP Runtime program core and full data access to Notes data. No DataLens or ODBC drivers are installed. CUSTOM features -- If users choose Custom features, users can select the Notes ViP features they want to install. You need to tell your users what features to install: * If you want users to install Notes ViP Runtime only once, have users install the minimum features and ALL of the DataLens and ODBC drivers that access any data source that planned Notes ViP applications use. * If you want users to install only the Notes ViP Runtime features that their first application uses, have users install the features required by the first application. If future applications use additional drivers, users can install additional drivers by running Notes ViP Runtime Install again and selecting the needed driver from Custom features. Lotus Shared Tools Directory Specification ------------------------------------------ Users can choose the directory where they want to copy Lotus shared tools. Lotus strongly recommends that users put the shared tools directory (LOTUSAPP) in their Windows directory or in the root directory. Users should not put the Lotus shared tools directory in an application directory because if they later delete that application, they will no longer be able to run Lotus applications. Server, Database, and File Name Specification --------------------------------------------- The names that users specify for servers, databases, and files when they install DataLens and ODBC drivers is company-specific. When you design a Notes ViP application, you decide on a strategy for accessing data using Notes ViP. This strategy determines how application programs connect to data sources and the names that you want users to specify for servers, databases, and files when they install DataLens and ODBC drivers. Startup Specification --------------------- The install program asks if users want to make Notes ViP a Windows startup application. If the user says Yes, Install places a starter popup application (VIPPOPUP.VIL) into the user's Startup Program Group. When Windows starts, it automatically loads the Notes ViP Runtime executables and runs the popup application. Selecting this option insures the shortest response time when users run a Notes ViP application. Typically, you recommend that users select this option if they will run many Notes ViP applications. AUTOEXEC.BAT File Update ------------------------ To successfully run Notes ViP Runtime, the following changes must be made to a user's AUTOEXEC.BAT file: * The Lotus Notes program directory must be in a user's path. * The DOS SHARE utility must be added. Users can have Install make these updates to their AUTOEXEC.BAT file or to update the file themselves. ODBC Driver Registration ------------------------ Any of the ODBC drivers installed by a user must be registered. You need to give users instructions on using the ODBC Administrator Tool to register these drivers. Custom Driver Selection ----------------------- The Notes ViP Runtime provides two drivers for some data sources. This allows the Notes ViP Runtime to support database access for applications written in Release 1.0 (using DataLens drivers and a few ODBC drivers) and applications written in Release 1.1 (using all ODBC drivers). All Release 1.1 driver names begin with the word Lotus. For example, the Release 1.0 text driver appears as Text (ODBC) and the Release 1.1 driver appears as Lotus Text. If you don't need Release 1.0 compatibility for your distributed applications, don't select the following drivers under the Shared Data Access tab, as they are duplicated by newer Lotus ODBC drivers: dBASE (ODBC) Paradox (DataLens) Informix (DataLens) Text (ODBC) In addition, the Spreadsheet (ODBC) and the Lotus Excel4 & 5 drivers overlap in Excel support. If you need only Excel XLS file access, you don't need to select the Spreadsheet (ODBC) driver. The Spreadsheet (ODBC) driver is primarily for WK* files. **************************************************** * * * DEPLOYING NOTES VIP APPLICATIONS * * * **************************************************** Users can run a Notes ViP application, both editable (.VIP) or locked (.VIL), if it resides on a local drive, a network server, or a Notes server. The location of the application affects the ways that you can have users launch the Notes ViP application. ---------------------------------------------------------------- IF THE APPLICATION YOU CAN HAVE USERS BY SELECTING RESIDES ON USERS LAUNCH THE AN AN APPLICATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- Local drive or Windows Program Manager Icon or File/Run network file server Lotus product Icon Notes Button Notes server Notes document Icon Notes view Document line ----------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLING ON A LOCAL DRIVE OR A NETWORK FILE SERVER Perhaps the simplest way to deploy a Notes ViP application is to copy it to a network drive that is accessible to all users using the same path. Users can also install a Notes ViP application in a local drive on their computer from: * Diskettes you create * A file server Files associated with a Notes document on a Notes server. You can attach the application as a file or embed the application as an object in a Notes document. For information on attaching and embedding files in a Notes document, see your Notes documentation. Once a Notes ViP application resides in a user's local directory or on a network drive that is accessible to all users using the same path, users can execute the program from the Windows Program Manager. You, an installation program, or the user can also create a SmartIcon in a Lotus product or a button in a Notes document that launches the program. The rest of this section provides more information on using these methods to launch an application. Launching from the Windows Program Manager ------------------------------------------ Users can execute a Notes ViP application by using the Windows Program Manager File/Run menu or by creating a Program Item for the application. In either case, the command to execute the Notes ViP application does not have to include a .VIL or .VIP extension. The Install program for Notes ViP Runtime associates these extensions with the Notes ViP executable. If the user or the application installation program creates a new Program Item for the application, the user can launch the application by selecting the icon that represents the application. For information on creating a Program Item, see your Windows documentation. If the Notes ViP application is in the Startup Program group of the user's Program Manager, Windows automatically launches the Notes ViP application when a user launches Windows. Launching from a Lotus product using a SmartIcon ------------------------------------------------ You can create a SmartIcon in a Lotus product that launches a Notes ViP application. To create this type of SmartIcon, see the instructions provided with the Lotus product documentation. For example, to set up a SmartIcon in Notes: 1. Open Notes. 2. Choose Tools SmartIcons. 3. Select a palette and icon. 4. Choose Edit Icon. 5. Choose Formula. 6. Enter a command, similar to the Notes macro shown below, to execute the application: @Command([Execute]; "c:\\viprun\\vip.exe"; "c:\\viprun\\apps\\myapp.vip") 7. Click Done in the SmartIcons Formula Dialog. 8. Click OK in the SmartIcons Dialog. 9. Drag the icon into the icon set. Launching From a Notes document using a button ---------------------------------------------- You can create a button in a Notes document that launches a Notes ViP application. To create this type of button in a Notes document, follow the instructions provided with Notes when designing a form. The following example creates a button in a form, uses the EditTop and EditDown macro commands to place the insertion point at the proper field in the Notes document, and associates the application command with the button: 1. Choose Edit Insert Button when the form is open for design in Notes. 2. Enter a formula, similar to the one shown below, to associate the button with a command to execute the application: FIELD DateDue:=""; @Command([EditTop]); @Command([EditDown]; "1"); @Command([Execute]; "c:\\viprun\\vip.exe"; "c:\\viprun\\apps\\myapp.vip") INSTALLING ON A NOTES SERVER You may prefer to have a Notes ViP application remain on a Notes server as part of the Notes document. In this case, Notes replicates the application throughout the organization when it replicates the Notes document that contains it. If you want a Notes ViP application to launch when users select an icon in a Notes document, attach the application as a file to a Notes document in any rich text field. Notes displays an attached application as an icon. When the user selects the icon, Notes gives the user a choice of launching or detaching the application. When the user chooses Launch, Notes launches the application. If the Notes ViP application is an embedded object, users always run the latest version of an application. You can create a Notes form that allows users to launch a Notes ViP application by selecting a document line in a Notes view. To ensure that Notes launches an application without displaying the document, choose the following Form object activation attributes when you create the form: * Launch object when reading * Hide Notes document For detailed information about attaching applications to Notes documents as files or embedded objects, see the Notes documentation.