Introduction

In an effort to make the user experience and user interface more flexible and customizable for customers, the iNotes team has implemented a new URL argument, &layout. It has been available since Domino 8.5.1. These enhancements can be utilized wherever iNotes URLs are used, directly in the browser, through the iNotes portlet in WebSphere Portal, in widgets, iWidgets, gadgets, etc. This article will focus on using this new feature in iNotes and the iNotes portlet in WebSphere Portal.

Implementation

Use the &layout URL argument to refine the skin components. This is preferred when you want to enable/disable/modify a set of layout components in the current skin used for the page without introducing a new static skin. For example, you want to control the preview pane or sidebar option when using h_SkinTypeOverride;h_Portal skin using &layout. If &layout values contain a component that is not in the current skin, it will simply be ignored. Here are some guidelines when using the &layout argument:

• Define &layout with a similar pattern as &PresetFields, component!State and Direction (if applicable).
• Use 2-character component symbols such as SB for sidebar, PP for Preview Pane. See the table below for a list of supported layout symbols.
• Use up to 2 character state/location symbols. Use the first character to represent the state of the component and the second character (if applicable) to identify the component location/direction.. See the table below for a list of supported location symbols.

State Values

C = Closed
O = Open
D = Default , use iNotes preference if any.
H = Hide

Location/Direction Values

None - Location value is optional and it may not be required.
B - Location = Arrange the component on the (B) bottom side, s-bottompanel
R - Location = Arrange the component on the (R) right side, s-rightpanel
S - Location = Arrange the component on the (R) right side, s-rightpanel (works the same as previous R)
L - Location = Arrange the component on the (L) left side, s-leftpanel
T - Location = Arrange the component on the (T) top side, s-toppanel
W - Location = Whole area (s-basicpanel)
D - Location = Use iNotes preference by default.

Delimiters

The exclamation point (!) serves as a delimiter to separate the component and its state.
The asterisk (*) serves as a delimiter to separate multiple component and state pairs.

Note: Using semi-colons or commas, like the PresetFields URL pattern does, and other reserved characters as delimiters, is not advised, as it will require proper encoding and can easily double the URL length. For example, &layout=SB;0,LP;0 becomes &layout=SB%3B0%2CLP%3B0 after encoding is applied.

Examples

Open the mail functional area only (used by portlet):
http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Mail/?OpenDocument&ui=portal

Open the calendar in 2 week view using the h_Blank skin UI and starting with a certain date:
http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Calendar/?OpenDocument&PresetFields= h_SkinTypeOverride;h_Blank,s_CalView;2,s_CalDate;20090301

Open the contacts view hiding the banner, the mode switcher, and some global actions, while showing the left panel collapsed:
http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Contacts/?OpenDocument&layout=BN!H*MS!H*OF!H*LO!H*SW!H*LP!C

To display (see picture below) a one day calendar view showing the date October 6, 2010 with the sidebar open and the left panel displayed but closed, the URL would look like this:

http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Calendar/?OpenDocument&PresetFields=s_CalView;D,s_CalDate;20101006&layout=SB!O*LP!C

Note: Any &layout values used with h_SkinTypeOverride;h_Blank, will be ignored since the blank skin does not contain the sidebar/left panel.

Component Table

The global layout values are used to refine the skin components. The following table defines supported values for the &layout query argument.

Supported layout component symbols	Supported layout state value	Supported layout location value	Comments
SB (SideBar)	C - Display sidebar collapsed (default) O - Display sidebar open D - Display sidebar from iNotes preference, if any. H - Hide sidebar (No display)	N/A	Display options for the Sidebar. It will be the right sidebar only and if not specified, it displays the sidebar collapsed by default. When the sidebar is hidden, Show Sidebar and its related right-click menus should be hidden (or disabled at least).
LP (Left Panel)	C - Display left panel collapsed O - Display left panel open by default (default) H - Hide left panel (No display)	N/A	Display options for the Left Panel. If not specified, the left panel displays open by default.
SW (Functional Area Switcher)	S - Show (default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for the Functional Area Switcher. If not specified, the functional area switcher is displayed by default.
LV (List View)	V - Virtual list P - Paged list D - display from iNotes preferences, if any. (default)	N/A	Display options for the List View. The list view is the virtual list by default. Honored only when used in full mode.
TB (Managed Tabs)	S - Show (default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for Managed Tabs. If not specified, tabs are displayed by default.
BN (Banner)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for the Banner Area (Logo). If not specified, the banner area is displayed by default.
MH (Masthead)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for the Masthead. If not specified, the masthead is displayed by default.
MS (Mode Switcher action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for the Mode Switcher action. If not specified, the mode switcher displays by default.
PF (Preferences action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for the Preferences action. If not specified, preferences is displayed by default.
OF (Online/Offline action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for Online/Offline action. If not specified, the online/offline action is displayed by default. Note: it is also controlled by policy/preferences/feature availability.
LO (Log out action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for the Logout action. If not specified, the logout action is displayed by default.
HL (Help actions)	S - Show (default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for Help. If not specified, help is displayed by default.
PP (Preview Pane)	C - Display collapsed O - Display open H - Hide D - Display from iNotes preference, if any. (default)	B - Display at the bottom S - Display on the side(right) R - Display on the side(right) Ignored when first state symbol value is D.	Display options for the Preview Pane. If not specified, the preview pane is displayed based on iNotes preferences by default. When the preview pane is disabled, Show Preview and its related right-click menus should be hidden (or disabled at least). Example of usage with multiple values (when including a Location value) PP!OB = Preview Pane Open Bottom

Integrating the Programmatic URL Enhancements with the iNotes Portlet in WebSphere Portal

WebSphere Portal contains "Out Of The Box" pages that contain portlets you can use to access your Domino data backends. One in particular is the iNotes/DWA portlet, an iFrame portlet, which appears on the Applications->Messaging->Mail page. Before using this and some of the other Domino & Sametime portlets, your administrator must first do the Portal<->Domino integration step that is described in the WebSphere Portal Help topics. Once that is done and you can access your Domino data thru the iNotes portlet, you are ready to further customize your user experience by using the aforementioned &layout parameter through the portlet. Please follow the steps below to implement that and get started. Note that the &layout parameter is available in WebSphere Portal releases that support Domino 8.5.1 and later. Those are 6.013, 6.1, and 7.0 and all later releases in those version streams.

1. Login to portal as an administrator
2. Select Administration
3. Select Portlets
4. Search for portlets beginning with Domino or iNotes (portlet name should change to iNotes in Portal Release 7.1 or 6.106)
5. This should result in a single entry (unless you have previously created copies of the iNotes portlet)
6. Make a copy of the portlet and rename it, thus preserving the original. (Copy button outlined in red below)
7. Click on the "wrench" icon to view/edit the configuration parameters of the newly copied portlet (Wrench button outlined in red in Step 7)
8. Enter CustomURLArgs (parameter name is case sensitive) in the edit field at the top for the name of the parameter and in the value field you want to enter the URL fragment that will be appended to the base URL (after the .nsf of your mailfile)

Steps 4-6



Step 7



Note: In the example below, in Step 8, the CustomURLArgs parameter has already been added to the configuration parameters. The parameter name should be entered in the New parameter edit field, and the parameter value, the URL fragment, should be entered in the New value field.

Step 8