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This tip explains how to load Domino Web forms faster and even reduce the amount of time it takes to save. The technique outlined here is particularly beneficial to developers who have a habit of generating HTML for all fields on a form.
When a form loads, it renders objects that include HTML information, JavaScript, form fields (editable, hidden and computed), etc. Note that hidden fields are rendered only if you have selected the "Generate HTML for all fields" property of a form.
There are both advantages and disadvantages of the above action.
Advantages
- You can access hidden fields using JavaScript by referencing the object. For example: document.forms[0].h_WebUserName
- It becomes easy to debug, because you can view the source of the HTML document and track the value of the hidden field.
Disadvantages
- We often only access 20% to 30% of the hidden fields. The rest of the hidden fields are rendered unnecessarily, which increases the amount of time it takes to load a Web form.
- When a Web form is submitted, by default Domino uses POST method. Consequently, data in the body tag (basically, form fields) is submitted to the Domino server for processing. So, again you have a performance issue, because you're sending information that is not required -- resulting in a time lag when saving the form.
- The data in the hidden field is exposed, which may be confidential or important in some cases.
The solution to the above disadvantages is to deselect the property "Generate HTML for all fields" of the form. The question arises, though -- how will one access the fields? The answer: Use the following JavaScript technique.
In the HTML Head Content, write the following code:
"<SCRIPT>" + @newline +
"var uname="" + h_WebUserName + """ + @newline + "var uid="" +
@documentuniqueid + """ + @newline + "function isDBAdmin(){" + @newline + "var
result=""+@if(@ismember(@username;"[DBAdmin]");"Yes";"No")+ "";"+
@newline + "return result;}" + @newline + "</SCRIPT>"
As shown in the above example, you can create global variables containing values evaluated using Formula Language, or just access Hidden Fields. You can also create JavaScript functions that contain a mix of JavaScript and Formula Language.
Once the variables are declared globally, they can be accessed anywhere on a button click, JS Header, .JS file, etc., using JavaScript.
MEMBER FEEDBACK TO THIS TIP
After reading this tip, I have two comments:
- The provided formula doesn't work. The pairs of double quotes needed to be modified, using single quotes. Also, @documentuniqueid has to be converted to text:
"<SCRIPT>" + @newline +
"var uname='" + h_WebUserName + "'" + @newline + "var uid='" +
@text(@documentuniqueid) + "'" + @newline + "function isDBAdmin(){" + @newline + "var
result='"+@if(@ismember(@username;"[DBAdmin]");"Yes";"No")+ ";'"+
@newline + "return result;}" + @newline + "</SCRIPT>"
- Another benefit of using the "Generate HTML for all fields" property is that Computed for Display fields can also be taken advantage of.
I think that was too much troubleshooting for what was supposed to be a wear-tested tip. I'm using ND5 though; perhaps the code runs cleaner in ND6+.
—Mark E.
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Since I got some errors, I made some additions to the script. If you set semicolons at the end of the "var lines" and around the @Text document unique ID, it works fine and becomes more readable.
db := "/"+@ReplaceSubstring(@Subset(@DbName; -1); "\\":" "; "/":"+");
@Implode(
("<SCRIPT>") :
("var uname=\"" + h_WebUserName + "\";") :
("var uid=\"" + @text(@DocumentUniqueID) + "\";") :
("function isDBAdmin(){") :
("var result=\"" + @If(@IsMember(@UserName;"
[DBAdmin]");"Yes";"No") + "\";") :
("return result;}") :
("</SCRIPT>") :
("<LINK REL=stylesheet TYPE=\"text/css\"
HREF=\"" + db + "/pCSSActions\">"):
("<LINK REL=stylesheet TYPE=\"text/css\"
HREF=\"" + db + "/pCSSLabel\">");
@NewLine )
—Klaus W.
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