How To Handle Differences Between Platforms

We strongly encourage you to write code in your Notes/Domino applications that
works regardless of the platform on which the application runs.
As you may know, different platforms have different file delimiters that should
be accounted for when you design an application.
Windows uses a backslash (\), Unix uses a forward slash (/), and the Macintosh
uses a colon (:).
Following is a technique and code that ensures that @ Functions and LotusScript
programs work on any platform:

Database designers should create a shared, computed for display field to embed
in forms that perform path processing.
Let's call this field Delim and use it to construct paths for lookups and such.
The code for the field is

Plat := @LowerCase(platform);
@If(Plat *= "aix":"sun sparc":" hp unix":"sco
opendesktop":"solarisx86":"solaris sparc":"unixware";"/";Plat *=
"macintosh/68k":"macintosh/powerpc";":";"\\")

So that it can easily be reused, the equivalent LotusScript code should
probably be embedded in a shared utility library:

Function getDelim As String
Dim s As New notessession
Select Case s.platform
Case "UNIX" : getDelim = "/"
Case "Macintosh" : getDelim = ":"
Case Else :getDelim = "\"
End Select
End Function

This was first published in November 2000

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