Using Design to Design an Update Distribution Mechanism

When redesigning or updating an existing database, design modifications can be distributed in one of three ways:

  • Make design changes directly to the database on the server.

  • Make design changes in a template and replace or refresh the design to distribute the modifications to the target database.

  • Make design changes to the master template and then refresh the design of the database (or allow the Design task to refresh the design when run).

Replacing or refreshing the design of a database is described in the following sections.

Refreshing a Database Design

When refreshing a database's design, design elements are updated by the template database. You may prohibit design refresh or replace by explicitly setting the Prohibit Design Refresh or Replace to Modify settings. This setting is located on the Design tab when viewing the Design Element properties dialog.

A database's design can be manually refreshed or refreshed automatically when the Design task runs on the server. By default, this task is set to run at 1:00 a.m. nightly, but might be modified by the Domino administrator. The design of a database might be manually refreshed in one of the following scenarios:

  • You want the design refreshed immediately rather than waiting for the Design task to run when scheduled.

  • The database is stored locally (the Design task doesn't update the design of the local database).

  • You do not have Designer access to the database.

The following design elements are not updated when the design of a database is refreshed (whether the refresh is manually triggered or automatically triggered by the Design task):

  • The database icon

  • Database title and category

  • Database Access Control List (however, ACL roles are updated)

  • Database encryption settings

  • The Using Database and About Database documents

  • Any design element whose Prohibit Design Refresh or Replace to Modify property is enabled

  • Any design element whose Inherit from the Design Template design property is set to Unavailable or does not exist

  • The List as Advanced Template in the 'New Database' Dialog option located on the Design tab of the Database Properties Infobox

  • All options on the Advanced tab of the Database Properties Infobox except the Document Table Bitmap Optimization setting and the Don't Support Specialized Response Hierarchy settings

However, the following design elements are refreshed when the design of a database is refreshed:

  • Forms (all fields, form actions, event scripts, and so on)

  • Views and folders (and any view actions)

  • Agents

  • Pages

  • Framesets

  • Navigators

  • Shared fields

  • All database Infobox settings excluding the settings described in the previous list

  • The Document Table Bitmap Optimization setting and the Don't Support Specialized Response Hierarchy setting on the Advanced tab of the Database Properties Infobox

Using the Replace Design Command to Update a Database Design

If a database design is not set up to inherit its design from a template database, you can also update a database design by using the Replace Design command. This feature replaces the design of a database in much the same manner as the design refresh does. However, this is a manual process and is not updated when the Design task runs on the server. Only database designers and managers can manually refresh a database's design.

Follow these steps to perform this command:

1.
Select the database whose design is to be refreshed.

2.
Select File, Database, Replace Design from the pull-down menu. This displays the Replace Database Design dialog box (See Figure 7.2).

Figure 7.2. Replace Database Design dialog box.


3.
Select the template server on which the template database resides.

4.
Select the template database from the list of available template databases. Only databases with an .ntf extension and that are located in the root directory of the server are displayed.

5.
Optionally, you can select Show Advanced Templates to display database templates that have been set up as advanced templates.

6.
Optionally, select the feature to Inherit Future design Changes. When selected, this database will automatically be set up to have the database design refreshed when the Design task is run on the server (scheduled or manually) or when the database design is refreshed by the database designer or manager.

7.
Optionally, select Hide Formulas and LotusScript to hide the database design from all users. However, after a database design is hidden, it can be unhidden later.

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