IBM SC34-4499-03 manual Database Design Strategies and Advanced Customization, 121

Chapter 9. Database Design Strategies and Advanced Customization

This section include some general strategies for setting up, testing, and tuning your Notes Integrated Database implementation. The primary administrative functions are described in ªChapter 8. Creating and Maintaining Integrated Notes Databasesº on page 111 , but if you have limited experience with Lotus Notes database administration, wish to familiarize yourself with terminology used by templates, or expect to signi®cantly modify the template database used to create your organization's integrated databases, it may be valuable to read this section of the document.

Rules of thumb and general advice

There are some simple, general rules that will make your implementation of Notes Integrated Databases:

vAlways work on a copy of a database, rather than a server (common) version when altering design. This guarantees that you will not overwrite your customizations when performing maintenance.

vStage database setup and implementation. You will always begin with an Initialization setup and test phase. After the high-level veri®cation of a Notes Integrated Database template's ²®tness² for your organization, it is likely to require customization

It is also likely that a staging scheme may involve changes in database ownership, as increasing customization is necessary. Individual database administrators may have more to say about the details of implementation, and therefore control of databases has a tendency to become decentralized.

vIn terms of customizability, document hierarchies are relatively static, as compared to forms and views.

Note: The primary exception to the customizability of forms is the set of subforms supplied by TeamConnection as they are currently named. It is important to copy and rename any forms that you plan to customize, so the template refreshes do not overwrite your customizations.

vTesting at every stage of re®nement is crucial to successful implementation, related to stability and improved mapping to your organizations needs.

vTo enhance performance for database users, it might be advisable to turn replication on, using the standard Notes process.

vPlan and monitor access control as needed.

To summarize the basic steps for moving from the originally installed TeamConnection template database through opening a speci®c database to your user base for production-level work:

1.Download the teamc.nsf template to your local machine and rename it to something that makes sense for your organization.

2.Complete Initialization setup.

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