Extension Library - Viagra for XPages

Editor's Notes

• #6: JavaScript/CSS Aggregation feature For performance reasons, the XPages runtime now features a new option that dynamically aggregates multiple Dojo modules, or multiple CSSs into a single file. This results in the following performance improvements:a decrease in requests sent from the browser to the server an increase in user performance, particularly in the context of networks with high latency an increase in the speed of JS/CSS parsing from the browser the freeing up of server connections to fulfill other requests As an extreme example of the saving, let's say the XPages Extension Library is using the page DWA_ListView.xsp. Without the aggregator enabled, 82 requests are made to the server. With the aggregator enabled, the count decreases to 6 requests, including the Ajax request that gets the data. Also, a test run on processing time might see changes from ~4 sec to ~800 ms. To allow you to actvate this option, XPages now feature a new runtime option, which can be set in xsp.properties (database or server level). This option is xsp.resources.aggregate=true It can also be set in Domino Designer from the Application Properties - XPages tab by checking the Use runtime optimized JavaScript and CCS resources option.
• #8: XPages Preload options New options designed to improve the startup performance of XPages applications have been added to this release. A preference can be set that preloads the XPages runtime on the Domino server and Notes client. Additionally, specific XPages applications may also be preloaded. The preferences are set as entries in the NOTES.INI file and have the following form: XPagesPreload=1 XPagesPreloadDB=myServer!!myDb.nsf/myXPage.xsp,myLocalDb.nsf/test.xsp The XPagesPreload entry causes an extensive list of XPages runtime Java classes to be preloaded, so they are available in memory when an application is opened by a user. The XPagesPreloadDB preference lets a comma separated list of applications be specified, with or without a specific XPage extension. Again, any required classes are loaded when the server or client starts up and are thus available as soon as any declared application is accessed by a user. The benefit of this may be more evident when running in remote mode on the Notes client, i.e. the XPages is running on the client but the application itself resides on a remote server. In this instance, the Java classes in the application (XPages, custom controls) need to be loaded across the network in order to be executed in the local XPD web container. Preloading such applications produces more responsive initial user experience.
• #10: Designer - JAR design element ­ A new JAR design element has been introduced in this release. The JAR design element gives you the ability to work with packaged Java code/libraries that are included in the application NSF. ­ This design element is only available to XPages applications, where the JAR is automatically loaded by the XPages runtime. This feature frees you from having to deploy the JARS to a server and/or include the source files uniquely in the application database. ­ While JAR files can be added to the NSF through the virtual system, the JAR design element automatically manages the classpath and places the JAR file into web-inf/lib, which is the recommended location for JAR files used in a J2EE application. ­ The JAR design element is found in the Application Navigator under Code, right next to the Java element.
• #16: The XPages Extensibility Framework is one of the most powerful new features built into IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8.5.2. Using it, developers can build their own artifacts and move far beyond XPages' out-of-the-box features. XPages extensibility has already spawned the creation of many exciting new user interface components that are freely available to the global Lotus development community. Now, a team of all-star XPages experts from inside and outside IBM show developers how to take full advantage of the XPages Extensibility Framework, Extension Library, Extensibility API, and the growing portfolio of components built with them.