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Midas Rich Text LSX™ 4.10 - Rich Text, HTML and MIME Programmability
If you need technical support, or just have questions: To ask general questions or search for previous answers, try our Genii Support Forum. If a question must be confidential or is too specific for a public forum, contact our e-mail support. If you have an urgent problem or have complex questions, please give us a call at +1 740-205-1126 or, from Europe, +44 (0) 208 819 6374. Primary support is provided by The Turtle Partnership. |
Midas Rich Text LSX: On-line Demos
- Send It! On-Line: We have adapted our Send It! sample (available on website now) to show the Midas Rich Text LSX enabling MIME HTML mail to be generated and sent programmatically. Send yourself an e-mail to see how it works.
- Walden (Dynamic Table Manipulation): We have taken our popular Walden sample and made it available on-line to show how easy dynamic tables can be. Try this sample and see how "dynamic" can mean much more than just a flexible number of rows.
- Midas Search & Replace: The Midas Rich Text LSX allows you to search for and replace simples words and phrases or even wild card expressions, and this demo gives you a chance to try it yourself.
- Highlight Search Term: The Midas Rich Text LSX allows you to highlight search terms with much more control than the &Highlight syntax gives you on the web. You can set the font, text attributes and color of the highlighted term, and not modify the document at all.
Please let us know what you think of our demos and whether you had any problems or suggestions.
| Features |
• Adds classes to LotusScript that can be used in Notes client or Domino server
• Powerful addressing model allows developer to target defined "chunks" of rich text
• High level methods allow simple calls to build cross references links, sort tables, export to HTML and other common tasks
• Low level methods allow fine control over almost any property or attribute of any rich text construct
• Backward/forward compatibility allows use in R4/R5/Notes 6, and supports constructs from all |
| Benefits |
• Gain access to the corporate assets in your rich text
• Control your content for both Notes and the Web
• Create high quality, standards compliant HTML which meets accessibility standards such as WAI and Section 508 guidelines
• Send MIME/HTML e-mails with simple LotusScript methods
• Use rich text editing classes better than those in Notes/Domino 6, and use them in R5, or even R4 |
Frequently Asked Questions about the Midas Rich Text LSX
1) What is an LSX?
LSX stands for LotusScript eXtension, and as the name suggests, it is software package that extends LotusScript by adding additional functionality.
2) Is the Midas Rich Text LSX easy to install and configure?
Yes. Installation is simply the addition of a single DLL (shared library on UNIX systems) and a license file, both in the same directory as your Domino server software. There isn't really any configuration. If your script includes Midas using the Uselsx statement you will see in all our samples, and if Midas is installed, it will simply work. No special NOTES.INI entries or re-boots are required.
3) Do I need to be a LotusScript expert to use the Midas Rich Text LSX?
No. Midas has a very simple model with only two classes used in most applications. There are many samples available, and most customers do not need to do much more than modify a sample slightly. We are also always willing to help with ideas, sample code, pre-written agents and extensive documentation.
4) Is the Midas Rich Text LSX fast enough to use with thousands of documents?
Yes. Midas is written in highly tuned low level C using the Notes C API. It has been used by companies who need to process hundreds of thousands of documents each day. Of course, performance is one of the toughest software metrics to test. The only true test is whether your application is fast enough, and only you can find out.
Nonetheless, we have performed various tests as part of our stress testing that should give a feel for how fast Midas can be. These random tests show Midas performing some ordinary tasks at extraordinary speeds.
Midas Rich Text LSX Version 3.50 on Pentium(4) 2.8ghz with 2GB RAM under Windows XP Professional:
| Task |
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| Generate XHTML for every document in the BP Technical Forum for 2001 (typical discussion forum) |
73 seconds to translate 38574 documents [528 docs/sec]
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| Cross reference Midas Rich Text LSX Help db for V3.50 |
106 seconds to generate 1398 links in 543 documents [5 docs/sec, 13 links/sec]
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5) If I modify rich text with Midas in one version of Notes, will the changes be visible in other versions?
Yes. Midas uses the same structural conventions that Lotus Notes/Domino uses, so all rich text will be both forwardly and backwardly compatible. Of course, since tabbed tables were added in R5, they won't be visible in R4 except as normal tables, and since layers were added in ND6, they won't be visible in R5. Similar limitations are found with any features added in a later version. Unlike Notes, Midas can create rich text for a future version, so layers can be created in R5, but will only be visible in Notes 6, and anchor links can be created in R4.5, but will not function until R4.6.
6) Will the Midas Rich Text LSX work with earlier versions of Notes/Domino?
Yes. Midas was originally created for R4.1, but now supports R5.x, ND6.x, ND6.5.x, ND7.x and ND8.x. Virtually all functionality in Midas is available to all these versions, except where the rich text itself does not support the functionality. Similarly, Midas will work on AIX as well as Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP. It will soon be available for Linux as well.
7) Why do I need the Midas Rich Text LSX now that Notes/Domino 6/6.5/7/8 support rich text programmability?
You may not, if your needs are very simple and are covered by the very limited functionality exposed by the Notes rich text classes offered. If you need to create a table, but don't really need to control its appearance or contents or nest one table in another or turn on and off borders, Notes 6+ will let you do it natively. If you want to add formatted text, but not a section, horizontal rule, layer, graphic or embedded view, Notes 6 will let you do that as well. If your application is not mission critical, so you can afford some crashes and slow performance, Notes 6+ rich text classes may well be enough for you. After all, a bicycle may get you where you are going, but you wouldn't drive it on the highway.
8) Do you have local support in [name that region]?
Yes and no. Our offices are in Cleveland, OH in the United States, our support team is based outside London in the U.K. with a branch in Australia, but support is available all over the world, from our support team, our home office and from the many, many developers, ISVs and business partners who work with the Midas Rich Text LSX regularly. With customers in 47 countries, we are very familiar with the issues in supporting companies in different locales. When a problem arises, our developers and support staff are prepared to deal with it no matter where the customer resides.
9) How do I know Genii Software will still be there next week or next year?
There are never any absolute guarantees, but Genii Software has been around since 1994, and providing Notes solutions and supporting Notes customers since 1995. While bigger companies have failed with the dot com bust or simply through overreaching, we have stayed strong and grown by focusing on our areas of expertise and by never forgetting our customers.
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