Well it is a new year, and there are new
things to learn and read about.
So, lets look at a few quick things from Lotus Notes 7 (Domino).
Debugger Icon
The Close All Windows Feature
Sametime and Chat
There is a really nice, to me any way, feature that has been added to
the default toolbar in Notes 7. (
Please note: The toolbars and pictures are snap shots from Domino 7.0
Beta 1 as of 29 May 2004, and may change on a future date with a future
release).
Debugger Icon
For developers, a welcome addition will be that the
debug 
icon is now on the toolbar, for quick access.
When you click the icon, it will give a message in the
status bar, that the debugging has started, and you can debug your
LotusScript without going through the long (after awhile) route via the File
Menu option.
While it is really had to tell, when you screen
resolution is big and you have the small icons on the toolbar, the debug
icon will become indented 
to let you know, that script debugging is enabled. Even with the larger
icon 
, there is not
really a big change. I think that it would have been or will be better,
if they changed the background color to make the indicator more obvious.
Then, when we received the message debugging
terminated, after clicking the debugger off, the background could revert
back to the normal toolbar.
But, goof things are good things, and we can not get
everything wright the first time out of the gate :-)
Sametime and Chat
There are many of us, who have the pleasure of working,
from non-conforming office spaces, that are really user friendly. And,
with the advent of teleconferencing and video conferencing we can have
an impromptu meeting with colleges around the globe.
But, if you company is one who is partially adverse to
AIM, and has setup there own Sametime servers, this new toolbar will be
great. It is the Chat Toolbar 
.
This newly integrated tool set, will now sit in the
bottom of your Notes client window, and you can quickly change your
status, without the need to go to another window on your desktop.
It is also nice that you can click the Show/Hide
icon to view your Sametime buddies and see if they are online and
available.
However, it would be good, if in the next release if
this window could either be docked (some where?) or you could minimize,
and restore it back. As you can see, the restore option is
disabled?
I guess the thinking is that you will only show it, to
find someone to chat with, and then close it again. But, if you buddy is
busy (or just away to launch) you might want to leave it visible, so
that you know when they returned.
Or better yet, during your conference, you might mention
some one's name, and like to know if they are available to answer a
quick question or join the chat session.
But, all said and done, integration is a very nice
thing, and I like the new thought patterns that are roaming the great
and hollowed halls of IBM/Lotus.
The Close All Windows
Feature
It is the closeall 
icon. If you find yourself switching between many documents, you will
eventually have 10 or so little window tabs sitting on your desktop.
Clicking every one of these close, can be time consuming, and sometimes
you just don't click wright. You create a new document or open another
window instead.
Now, with one swift click of the CloseAll icon, all of your
little tabs will now disappear, nice and neatly.
The good news, is that it will close every tab (documents and views).
The bad news is that it will also close your inbox, if you have it
open, but it will not close any document that you have opened in a new
window. But progress is progress, and I like the new feature very much, because
there are times that I just keep opening documents while talking through
a problem or question with someone. And, then after all is said and
done, I can quickly close all the window tabs and get back to business
as usual.
