It's now a couple of months since I wrote about a Super Useful Set of LotusScript Wrapper Classes, which I've written about on and off since February.

Today I want to share a few more extensions I've made to them, which help massively when it comes to getting documents from views.

Imagine the following use scenario:

Dim factory As New CustomerFactory()
Dim coll As CustomerCollection

'Let's get a collection from a view
Set coll = factory.GetAll()

'Or you could to this
Set coll = factory.GetAllByID()

'Or you could to this

Set coll = factory.GetAllByCountry()

'Or you could to this
Set coll = factory.GetCustomersMatching("foo")

This code utilises the following functions in the CustomerFactory class:

Class CustomerFactory As DocumentFactory

  Private Function FromView(ViewName As String) As CustomerCollection
    Set FromView = New CustomerCollection(GetViewNavigator(ViewName))
  End Function

  Function GetAll() As CustomerCollection
    Set GetAll = FromView("AllCustomers")
  End Function
  
  Function GetAllByCity() As CustomerCollection
    Set GetAllBySite = FromView("CustomersByCity")
  End Function

  Function GetAllByCountry() As CustomerCollection
    Set GetAllBySite = FromView("CustomersByCountry")
  End Function
  
  Function GetAllByStatus() As CustomerCollection
    Set GetAllByStatus = FromView("CustomersByStatus")
  End Function

  Function GetCustomerByID( id As String ) As Customer
    Set GetCustomerByID = New Customer( GetDocumentByKey( "CustomersByID", id ) )
  End Function
  
  Function GetCustomersMatching(query As String) As CustomerCollection
    Set GetCustomersMatching= New CustomerCollection(GetViewEntriesByKey("(LU-CustomersByAllKeys)", query, False))
  End Function
End Class

In turn the above code relies on a few additions to the base DocumentFactory class:

Class DocumentFactory
  Function GetViewEntriesByKey(ViewName As String, SearchTerm As Variant, ExactMatch As Boolean) As NotesViewEntryCollection
    Set GetViewEntriesByKey = GetView(ViewName).Getallentriesbykey(SearchTerm, Exactmatch)
  End Function

  Function GetViewNavigator(ViewName As String) As NotesViewNavigator
    Set GetViewNavigator = GetView(ViewName).Createviewnav()
  End Function

  Function GetAllViewEntries(ViewName As String) As NotesViewEntryCollection
    Set GetViewNavigator = GetView(ViewName).AllEntries
  End Function
  
  Function GetDocumentByKey(ViewName As String, Lookup As Variant) As NotesDocument
    Set GetDocumentByKey = GetView(ViewName).Getdocumentbykey( Lookup, True )
  End Function
End Class

What all this does is make it a lot less tiresome to get a handle on document(s) relating to a particular business object (in this case documents based on the "Customer" form). The base DocumentCollection class now has helper functions to get all view entries or simply a view navigator object. It also has a GetDocumentByKey method which defaults the ExactMatch option to True, because it always is, thus saving us passing it in to the call.

Going Forward

I've also been using these classes extensively in a new Domino database I've been lucky enough to create from scratch and have been working on lately. As I've gone along I've been tweaking and extending the classes and now feel they're at a solid point ready for wider use.

I don't want to bang my own drum too much, but they're amazing. You maybe have to use them to see why, but, once you do, there's no going back. If this were ten years ago they'd be almost revolutionary.

Talking of going back; will I ever!? Will I ever be asked to create a new Domino-based web app from scratch? Never say never and all that, but I have a feeling I won't. Which makes it a shame that I developed such a rich and powerful way of working with Notes objects via LotusScript so late in my days with Notes.

Either way, if you're still working with and creating new Notes apps I implore you to give these classes a go. You'll love them.

My plan is to scrub them all a bit, document them better and then share on Github, along with a demo database. Assuming there's interest?