Lotus Notes developers are often concerned about the security of their Lotus Notes application design, especially when an application is about to be rolled out to users. Even in the case when developers are packaging and selling their own Lotus Notes applications, they don't want to give away the source code along with it.
This tip provides an easy method that hides the design of the Lotus Notes database when you are rolling out an application or selling it. When the Lotus Notes database design is hidden, no one can make design changes or even display the design by making a copy of the database.
Be sure to take a note of the following things before hiding the design of your Lotus Notes database:
- Hiding the design disables all the design capabilities for the database. So make sure that you have a template or a copy of the Lotus Notes database where the design isn't hidden, or you won't be able to make any changes.
- As a Lotus Notes application developer, you might not have the necessary Domino Directory permissions to change any or all the security related settings. If you don't, seek the assistance of a systems administrator who is skilled in this area.
Now follow these steps to hide the design of a database:
- Create a Lotus Notes database template.
- Create a new Lotus Notes database using the template.
- With the new Lotus Notes database selected, choose File -> Database -> Replace Design from the Lotus Notes menu.
- Select the template you used to create the Lotus Notes database and choose Hide Formulas and LotusScript.
- Make sure to select Inherit Future Design Changes.
- Choose Replace and Yes to confirm the replacement.
Now the next time you roll out or sell an application, you won't have to worry about your source code being copied.
MEMBER FEEDBACK TO THIS TIP
We were hiding the design of our Lotus Notes applications but ended up having several problems when we sent out template updates to our customers. The design either did not update at all, or duplicate design elements were placed into customer applications
We then had to add tools to our applications to deal with and remove duplicated design elements after a design update. In the end, we decided not to use hidden designs anymore due to the problems we encountered.
According to Lotus Technote #1087252, "Replacing design with template containing hidden design does not delete existing design elements," Lotus has no plans to address these issues.
—Alex E.
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This is not a guaranteed way of hiding the Lotus Notes application design. Anyone savvy enough to write about 10 lines of LotusScript code can do it, while using some of the Lotus Notes API calls to get around this. A better way is to remove the LotusScript source code altogether, leaving only the compiled code. Create a copy of the template locally, and run this script from another Lotus Notes database:
Function RemoveAllScript( Byval szFilename As String )
If debug Then On Error Goto erh
Dim db As New NotesDatabase( "", szFilename )
Dim dc As Variant
'Dim doc As NotesDocument
Dim docTmp As NotesDocument
Dim dbDesign As DatabaseDesign
Set dbDesign = CreateDatabaseDesign( db )
dc = dbDesign.databaseScriptDocuments
dc = dbDesign.alldesigndocuments
If Not Isnull( dc ) Then
Forall doc In dc
Dim bModified As Integer
bModified = False
If Not doc.hasItem( "$Class" ) Then
If doc.HasItem( "$$AssistAction" ) Then
bModified= True
doc.RemoveItem( "$$AssistAction" )
End If
If doc.HasItem( "$ScriptLib" ) Then
bModified= True
doc.RemoveItem( "$ScriptLib" )
End If
' If bModified Then
doc.sign
doc.save True, False
End If
' End If
End Forall
End If
Set dbDesign = Nothing
Set db = Nothing
Exit Function
erh:
Msgbox "Error in RemoveAllElements
on line " & Erl & " : " & Error$
End Function
The CreateDatabaseDesign method can be found in the LotusScript library.
—Simon D.
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You don't have to create a new Lotus Notes database from the template. After you've created the template, you can replace the design of the already rolled out Lotus Notes database. In the window where you have to choose the template, you can check Hide, etc.
—Koos V.
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As far as I know, the Lotus Notes application design can be unhidden by only changing a hexadecimal byte to "00." The code will still remain protected though.
—Noel R.
Do you have comments on this tip? Let us know.
Related information from SearchDomino.com:
Reference Center: Notes/Domino security tips and resources
Reference Center: Notes/Domino applications tips and resources
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