COMPOSITE APPLICATIONS - DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT

Elements of composite applications
Composite applications are aggregations of multiple components brought together for a business purpose. These components can have different types and are developed with different tools.

Composite applications and components can be run on either the rich client (IBM® Lotus® Notes® or Lotus Expeditor) or projected on a browser via WebSphere Portal. Composite application definitions can be read from either Lotus Notes/Domino or WebSphere Portal. NSF based composite application definitions are stored as design notes in NSFs and can even be read from local databases.

Composite applications deal with the following component types:


The following tables summarize the composite application types and the component types that they do or do not support. The tables address both the rich client and Web client scenarios.

Rich client component and application types



Component type\serverbackend		NSF-based application definitionsPortal application definitions
NSF componentSupportedSupported
Eclipse componentSupportedSupported
Local portlet componentSupportedSupported
WebSphere Portlet Factory componentNot supportedNot supported
You can also run some component types on Lotus Expeditor. Eclipse components are already supported in Lotus Expeditor 6.1 and 6.1.1. In order to run NSF components on the rich client, however, you will always need Lotus Notes.

Web client component and application types



Component type\serverbackend		NSF-based application definitionsPortal application definitions
NSF componentNot supportedSupported via DAP (Domino Application Portlet
Eclipse componentNot supportedSupported via custom portlets (see next row)
Portlet componentNot supportedSupported
WebSphere Portlet Factory componentNot supportedSupported
You can embed NSF components in composite applications with DAP (Domino Application Portlet). In that case you get the original HTML rendering from the Domino server inside of a portlet. The DAP does not support the property broker at this point, however. You can put an NSF component on a page with other components but the components cannot interact.

Other alternatives to get the data from a NSF into a composite application is to use your own portlet or WebSphere Portlet Factory component. In these cases you get property broker support but have to reimplement the user interface and the business logic of your NSF application.

In order to use Eclipse components in Web-based composite applications you need a portlet. There is no native representation of an Eclipse component in the Web but the portlet is the Web counterpart.

The main thing to keep in mind is that composite applications can contain any combination or permutation of components from heterogeneous technologies.

The following are some other common terms that are used when discussing composite applications in Lotus Notes:


The next section provides additional information on application/component scenarios.

Composite applications created with NSF components

These composite applications are created from Notes NSF components created from one or more Notes applications. All IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) applications begin with a Domino database.

Note For the sake of clarity, a Notes application is built to run in the Notes client. A Domino application is one designed to run in a browser.

Notes databases are the containers for the application you are to include in your composite applications. Databases hold the data, logic, and design elements for your application. Your Notes application can be made up of one or more Notes databases.

You use Domino Designer to create the component(s) and to add properties and actions to the applications. You do all design work in Domino Designer. The following Notes design elements can be "surfaced' as components in composite applications:


For more information on creating Notes Domino applications, refer to the IBM® Lotus® Domino(TM) Designer help that is installed with Domino Designer.

See Also