Lotusphere 2007 BP301 Advanced Object Oriented Programming for LotusScript

BP301 – Advanced Object Oriented Programming
for LotusScript
Bill Buchan – HADSL

®

Agenda
Introductions

Why Object Orientated Programming

Basic OO techniques

Advanced OO techniques

Summary

Questions and Answers

Introduction
Who am I?
Bill Buchan, HADSL
23 years IT experience, 12 with Lotus Notes
Dual PCLP in v3, v4, v5, v6, v7
Founder and CEO of a Business Partner – HADSL – in the UK
I was 40 years old on Sunday. Something a lot of people thought would
never happen…

Who are you ?
A LotusScript developer
You wish to improve your code, write more efficiently, & write more robust code
You have used some object orientated programming techniques already.
Or you’re a very fast learner…

Agenda
Introductions

What is Object Orientated Programming?

Basic OO techniques

Advanced OO techniques

Summary


Why Object Orientated Programming?
Object Orientated Programming:
Allows you to design higher-level objects.
Allows far more code-reuse.
Allows you to write less code.
And therefore leads to easier maintenance.

Using OOP, we can componentise the manufacture of objects within
our application
And use common techniques to deal with those objects.

Objects – Public and Private:
An object has to have
some public methods (functions/subs).
may have public members (variables).

Internal code for the object need not be exposed
“Code Hiding” means not showing the consumer more than he needs to see.
Importantly – the consumer now codes to the public interface of that object.

NotesSession

CurrentDatabase

InternalVariable SendConsoleCommand()

InternalFunction()

How to design an Object Orientated Application

Decide which objects make sense in terms of the problem space.
Make the object represent logical entities within the application.
“Person”, “PersonCollection”, “Transaction”, etc are good examples.

Write these object names down on separate pieces of paper

Perform an application “walk through”
This will quickly show which objects need to perform particular operations, and
which objects interact with other objects.
This helps define the “public” interface to the Object.
Don’t worry as to how operations within objects are performed at this stage.

Note:
More sophisticated approaches exist.
Remember, OO programming is common in other environments.

OOP & LotusScript
To create a class in LotusScript, wrap code and data around “class”
definitions. Such as:
Class Person
Private nnName as NotesName
Public strInternetAddress as String
Sub new(doc as NotesDocument)
Set nnName = doc.GetitemValue(“FullName”)(0)
me.strInternetAddress = doc.getItemValue(“InternetAddress”)(0)
End sub
Public function getName
If (me.nnName is nothing) then exit function
getName = nnName.Abbreviated
End function
End class
Dim P as new Person(doc)
And consume it with: Print “Person: “ + P.getName()

Constructors and Destructors

“Sub New()” in a LotusScript Class is its “constructor”
It is executed automatically when the class is constructed.
If the class is inherited, then the parent class’s constructor is ran first.
This means that you need not know how the parent class constructor works
If you change the constructor in one class, you need not update code in any
sub-classes constructors.
You can pass parameters to it.
Useful for code setup.

“Sub Delete()” in a LotusScript class is its “destructor”
It is executed automatically when the object is out-of-scope, or is deleted.
Useful for clean-up code.
Very useful for disposing of critical memory objects!
C-API programming, COM objects, etc.

Why does that help ?
It helps us construct complex (and possibly interconnected) in-
memory data structures

It sites the code for that data structure alongside the data structure
Making maintenance easier

We can use these complex data structures to represent far more
complex algorithms.

We can architect solutions at a far higher level, using objects
(instances of these classes).

Classes can inherit from other classes, thus aiding code re-
use(dramatically).

Where does this help us ?
Complex code.

Large applications.

Applications that have or may change data structure frequently.
Object Orientated Programming helps segregate objects from each other,
insulating against data or structure changes.

Groups of applications that share common data structures.

Examples:
Directory Comparison tools.
Its far faster to read multiple directories into memory and perform comparisons
between in-memory objects.

Workflow systems
Where you can “hide” the complexity of the workflow from other code.

Interfaces to External Systems
Where the Interface can be complex.
Or where you wish to support multiple interfaces.

Where you are attempting to perform complex relational
operations.

Agenda
Introductions


Basic OO techniques

Advanced Object Orientated Techniques

Summary


Lets make some assumptions
These techniques will probably not help in very small projects

These techniques are overkill for simple algorithms

Where these techniques are invaluable are in
Large data operations
Relational data operations, where entire data sets have to be compared
For instance, directory comparison routines
Interface code – interfacing a Notes database to something else
For instance, a relational database

Try not to be prescriptive

Keep it simple!

Organising Objects with Lists
Lists. A collection construct that’s always been in LotusScript.

You can construct a memory construct where you have zero or
more items in a list, and each item is referenced by a lookup value.
Like an in-memory “view”.

How many people know how to use lists ?
Resources:
The View – December 2006 article.
http://www.billbuchan.com/web.nsf/htdocs/BBUN67JJCV.htm
Can Lists work with Classes ?
Of course!

Lets make a list of Person Objects
Store Person Objects by Name:
Class Person Dim vLookup as NotesView
Private nnName as NotesName …
Sub new(doc as NotesDocument) Dim doc as NotesDocument
Set nnName = doc.FullName(0) Set doc = vLookup.GetFirstDocument()
End sub Dim People list as Person
Public function getName While not doc is nothing
If (me.nnName is nothing) then exit function dim P as new Person(doc)
getName = nnName.Abbreviated set People(P.getName) = P
End function set doc = vLookup.GetNextDocument(doc)
End class wend

Why is this significant ?
A list is a very efficient (for both memory and performance).

Consider it to be the same as a view containing documents.
But everything is in memory – therefore 1,000x faster.

Because of its low memory footprint.
Its more efficient to have multiple lists in memory than attempt complex
operations on a single list.

Extending Classes
Classes can be extended from other classes, and inherit
code+properties.
Class baseClass
This leads to code-reuse.
…
If more code is added to Private Function log(msg as String)
BaseClass, this is available …
to PersonClass end function
End class

Class PersonClass as BaseClass
….
sub new(doc as NotesDocument)
….
call me.log(“Started”)
….
end sub
End class

Extending Classes…
When one class is extended from another class
It inherits all code and data from that original class.
It can execute private methods and access private members of the parent
classes.

There is no limit to the level of inheritance
But don’t go mad
BaseClass
For instance:
UIClass RequestClass FactoryClass

UserCreateUIClass
UserMoveUIClass UserCreateRequestClass
UserRenameUIClass UserMoveRequestClass
UserDeleteUIClass UserRenameRequestClass
UserDeleteRequestClass

UserCreateRequestClassv6

Inheritance Trees and Code Placement

Inheriting all classes from a common root means
Common code can be placed high in the inheritance tree and be used by all.
If this code changes, its only changed in one place.
Lots of code reuse.
Examples of Infrastructure code might be:
Logging.
Persistence.
Error trapping.
Configuration.
New code can be placed at the relevant level in the tree.
Each individual class can be kept to a manageable size:
No 1,300 line functions!
Architectural decisions can be followed - No “Design Drift”.

Inheritance

Note that in large systems:
You may end up with Classes that are not used by the application itself, but are
placeholders for inheritance points and inherited code/data.
This is not a bad thing! It keeps the design “clean”, and keeps infrastructure
code out of your business objects!

You may wish to use the Factory design pattern
Where one class is responsible for creating instances of other classes.
It’s a useful point for deciding whether an object is a Singleton or not.
Its also a place to keep lists of all classes that are created:
Useful for NSD-Style error trapping analysis!

Version/Platform Specific code insulation

Class inheritance allows you to insulate code from version or
platform differences

For instance, a class may be written using v5 features
A v6 version of the class can be created which inherits from the v5 class, but
only overrides the version-specific code

To make this simple
Group version specific code into particular functions which can be easily
identified and overridden.

Version/Platform Specific code insulation - Example

Class personClass Dim S as new NotesSession
… Dim P as variant
Private Function createUser(userName as String) as integer If S.NotesBuildVersion < 170 then
… ‘ Its v5
end function set P = new PersonClass()
End class Else
‘ V6 and above.
Class PersonClassV6 as PersonClass
set P = newPersonClassV6()
Private Function createUser(userName as String) as integer
End if
‘ place v6 specific code here
end function
‘ Use P as normal from now on.
End class

Note that the V6 class usually ONLY contains
functions that have been overridden. It
may be very small.
1. Good Code Reuse.
2. Business Logic remains in one place.

Inheritance Trees and Code Placement - Example

Infrastructure BaseClass

Common UI Features UIClass RequestClass FactoryClass

UserCreateUIClass
UserMoveUIClass UserCreateRequestClass
UserRenameUIClass UserMoveRequestClass
UserDeleteUIClass UserRenameRequestClass
UserDeleteRequestClass

Version Specific Code UserCreateRequestClassv6

BaseClass Specification
We would like to put some form of logging into our Baseclass

However, lots of other objects will inherit from BaseClass.

Our Baseclass cannot create a new NotesAgentLog class for each
instance.
We need to only create ONE single instance of our NotesAgentLog class.

LogClass
BaseClass
BaseClass
Site BaseClass
Site
SiteClass
BaseClass
BaseClass
Person
BaseClass
Person
BaseClass
Person
PersonClass

The Singleton Design Pattern
“Singleton” is a design pattern which ensures that ONLY one copy
of an object exists at one time:

Class baseClass Private globalLog as Variant
private log as variant Public Function getNewLog() as variant
Sub new() if (isEmpty(globalLog)) then
set log = getNewLog() set globalLog = new logClass
End sub end if
Private Function log(msg as String) set getNewLog = globalLog
call log.writeMsg(msg) End function
end function Class logClass
End class public Function writeMsg(msg as String)
…
end function
End class

Infrastructure Code: Configuration

Typically, a large application will have lots of configuration values
Hard coded design decisions can be exposed as configuration variables
This makes the application far more useful.
Allows the application to be used in ways not originally envisaged at design
time, without code changes.
Flexibility – whilst a positive thing – does come at a price
Configuration variables have to be exposed, checked and read at Run-time.

I could have a single configuration profile document and a single
configuration object
BaseClass could then link to that as a Singleton at run time.
Making all configuration options available to all objects in memory.

Infrastructure Code: Persistence

“Persistence” is the ability of an object to make itself persistent
between executions

We could easily add a NotesDocument, and methods to manipulate
that document available in the BaseClass

However, the BaseClass cannot know the layout of objects inherited
from it
Therefore objects that inherit from BaseClass must have their own persistence
routines coded which make use of the hooks from BaseClass.

An object need not be persistent
Nor does it need to “save” itself between runs – it might only “read” itself from a
profile document.

Infrastructure code: Error Trapping

BaseClass is a good place to put a single error trapping routine:

Function RaiseError() as integer
Dim thisType As String, es as String
thisType = Typename(Me) ' calling code...
...
' Not a class, use the calling module instead ExitFunction:
If (thisType = "") Then thisType = Getthreadinfo(11) exit function
errorhandler:
es = thisType & "::" & Getthreadinfo(10) & ": " Call RaiseError()
resume exitFunction
If (Err = 0) Then end function
es = es + "Manually raised an error"
Else
es = es + "Run time error: (" + Trim(Str(Err)) + ") " + _
Error$ + " at line: "+ Trim(Str(Erl))
End If

Print es
end function

How does all this work ?

Since all classes inherit (directly or indirectly) from our BaseClass:
All have common infrastructure elements.
Logging, Persistence, Error Trapping, Configuration.
All defined in one single place.

All new classes can then focus on business logic.

Late Binding

Late Binding is a method where the type of an object is decided at
Run-Time.

In LotusScript this is normally achieved using the Variant data type

This may be useful where you have to perform the same operation
on number of objects of roughly the same type.

Late Binding Example:

' calling code. ' calling code.
dim dc as NotesDocumentCollection dim vLookup as NotesView
Set dc = dbThis.UnprocessedDocuments Set vLookup = dbThis.GetView(“($All)”)
Call ProcessDocs(dc) Call ProcessDocs(vLookup)

Function ProcessDocs(coll as Variant) as integer
dim doc as NotesDocument
Set doc = coll.getFirstDocument
While (not doc is nothing)
‘ Do something with the document
set doc = coll.getNextDocument(doc)
wend
end function

Late Binding Summary

Late Binding in LotusScript:
Uses Variants.
Relies on the SIGNATURE of the passed object to work, not its type.
(Other languages would force you to have a common inheritance point)
If that signature is not available, this results in a Run-time error:
So – more testing!

Very useful for “framework” processing code
A framework which will process objects exposing a common set of methods or
properties.

Architecturally:

Collect data together in meaningful small objects
Person, Purchase Orders, etc.

Use collection objects to group these small objects

Use generic classes to perform business operations on these
collections.

Write out the results at the end.
Good “defensive coding”.

Lets put all this together:

Our application compares two Notes Directories
Identifies people who are not in both databases

The Application:
1. Reads in all person documents from both directories into PersonClass objects.
2. Compares the list of PersonClass objects in both directions.
3. Creates a list of PersonClass objects that is of “interest”.
4. Writes these out to the local database for further processing.

This would be difficult to do using NotesDocuments and Arrays.

Demo Application

Demonstration of Advanced Object Orientated Techniques.

Agenda
Introduction


Basic OO techniques

Advanced OO Techniques

OO Pitfalls

Summary


Editing Code

All Class definitions are placed in the Declarations Section

So the left-hand LotusScript Editor is useless.
Ouch!

TeamStudio to the Rescue!
http://www.teamstudio.com/support/scriptbrowser.html
Download the Class Browser.
Its Free!
Allows you to see the structure, and jump to any piece of code.
Many thanks to Craig Schumann of TeamStudio for this.

Editing Code

This is a screenshot
From a 400+ Script Library
database.
625 LotusScript Classes.
130,000 lines of code.

“Error loading USE or USELSX ” Or “Type Mismatch in %F”

This indicates that some parent class in the inheritance tree has
changed its public signature.

All dependant classes need to be recompiled.
“Tools, Recompile All LotusScript” is your friend.

This is not restricted to LotusScript
However, other IDE’s – Eclipse, RAD – will recompile all other dependant code
automatically.

Memory Usage:

Its very tempting to store NotesDocuments within Objects
However, this will use a lot of memory.
This will hold a lot of documents open on the server.

If you need to perform comparisons on large numbers of
documents:
1. Read the relevant parts of the document into an object.
2. Store the document NoteID or UNID.
3. Close the document.
4. Perform the comparison.
5. If you need to return to the document, open by NoteID or UNID.
Performance wise, this is very quick.

Class Loading Performance
As the number of dependant classes in a system starts to exceed 20
or 30, the load-time for any system which incorporates these
classes climbs exponentially.
Example. 120+ classes – 145 seconds to load!

The workaround is to use Dynamic Loading.
Dyamic loading allows you to load a class at run-time based on data, instead of
using the “Use <classLibrary>” definition.
It means that all classes are now Variants, and late-bound - More run-time
errors.
outlined in Redbook: “Performance Considerations for Domino Applications”
SG24-5602
Buried in Appendix B, Page 243

Dynamic Loading: ClassFactory
Class PersonClassFactory The ‘Factory’ Version of this class exists only
Public Function produce As Variant to create a new instance of the main class
Set produce = New PersonClass()
End Function
End Class

There are no constructor arguments
Class PersonClass being passed to class ‘PersonClass’. This
… will have to be changed if you choose to
End class add constructor arguments.

Dynamic Loading Example: CreateOtherClass

Private P as variant ‘ This HAS to be global!

Function createOtherClass (_
scriptName as String, _
className as String) as variant
This string contains
Dim exString as String LotusScript code!
exString = | Use “| & scriptName & |”
sub initialize
Set P = new | & className & |Factory &
end sub |
Execute exString ‘ Now run the code in exString

Set createOtherClass = P.produce()

End sub

Dynamic Loading Example: Execution

MyClass now contains an
Sub DynamicLoadingExample instance of Class “PersonClass”
from script library
dim myClass as variant “Class:PersonClass”
set myClass = createotherClass(“class:PersonClass”,“PersonClass”)

End sub

Summary
Object Orientated Programming in LotusScript:
Is easy.
Allows far more code reuse.
Allows you to focus on the design.

Developing Large Systems using Object Orientated Techniques
Is different.
Is far simpler.
Allows much more code re-use.
Allows you to write more consistent, more robust code.

Example: Our product:
Has over 130,000 lines of LotusScript.
Supports 40+ transactions.
Supports multi-platform, multi-version transactions.
Would be impossible to write without OO techniques.

Some Resources
Notes Designer help: look for "class statement", "custom classes",
"derived classes" ... and more

LotusScript Programmer's Guide, Developer Works
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/notesua.nsf)

Article on Developer Works (Archive of Iris Today):
Bruce Perry: Using the object oriented features of LotusScript (Oct. 1,
2001)
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-object_oriented_LotusScript/

Article "Creating Custom Classes in LS" by Johan Känngård
http://dev.kanngard.net/dev/home.nsf/ArticlesByTitle/LSClass.html

Teamstudio ScriptBrowser: http://blogs.teamstudio.com

Related Sessions at Lotusphere 2007
BP507 Leveraging the Power of Object Oriented Programming in
LotusScript
Jens-B Augustini & Bill Buchan

AD506 Intermediate LotusScript
John Dillon

BP308 Leverage DXL and OOP to Build Powerful Tools
Mikkel Heisterberg

AD504 What's New in the IBM Lotus Domino Objects?
James Cooper

Agenda
Introductions


Basic OO techniques

An Object Orientated Project

Encapsulating Classes

Extending Classes

Summary


Limited Time for Questions
I’m available in the speaker room immediately after this session.

This was BP301 – Advanced Object Oriented Programming for
LotusScript

I am Bill Buchan:
http://www.billbuchan.com
http://www.hadsl.com

Remember to fill in your Evaluations.
This is how YOU influence Lotusphere 2008!

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Lotusphere 2007 BP301 Advanced Object Oriented Programming for LotusScript

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