Weblog
15/2: SNTT: Notes Support Helper
I have been using the OpenLog database a lot recently. It was written by Julian Robichaux over at NSF Tools and can be downloaded from Open NTF.
Well basically I use it for all my new Notes development and I'm also back fitting it into my existing applications when I get an excuse to do so. It's a great tool and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
However, there are times when a user rings up with a Notes problem that hasn't triggered an error. For example, the button they need has disappeared. This might be access related or it might be a bug. However, to progress you have to get all the relevant information from the user. Ideally you'd like to be able to interogate the actual document. Depending on the user, this sometimes takes a while and the information extracted isn't 100% reliable.
I decided to make things a bit easier. I've created a simple shared action that can sit in the actions menu for multiple forms. Whenever, I need to know user related information, I ask the user to select the "Write Access Details" option in the Actions menu. This routine uses the LogEvent() function that comes with the OpenLog database and logs all I need to know. It even adds a document link so that I can quickly get to the document and provide the support needed.
Click on the picture above to download the LotusScript source if you want to try it out. You'll also need to get the OpenLog database from OpenNTF if you haven't done that already.
