IBM Connections iPad app is now available!

This from Mac Gudera's blog 

The iTunes App Store has just been updated with the 3.1.0 version of the iOS mobile application for IBM Connections. This now includes a beautiful iPad interface and some great file updates, like round trip editing of documents,  adding email attachments to Files and support for 'Open In'.

What's New in Version 3.1.0

• Universal app - new native iPad interface
• Ability to upload documents to the IBM Connections server from other apps that support the "Open In..." feature of iOS 
- Upload email attachments directly to the IBM Connections server 
- Enables round trip editing of documents. Allows you to download a document from the IBM Connections server, open it in another editor app, then upload the updated document back to the IBM Connections server
• iOS 5 Compatible
• Fixed an issue with getting "Cannot Verify Server Identity" prompt for servers certificates from a valid certificate authority

ScribeFire - Blogging from a browser ...

Having a quick play with ScribeFire, a blogging client (plugin) for Firefox.

So far, so good.

I'm told that it supports off-line mode ( I normally use Apple Mail for this! ), and that it'll post directly to IBM Connections. Will test the latter out after the weekend, once IBM's W3 service is upgraded to the latest 3.0.1.X release.

Some Connections-related ScribeFire tips are here and here.

Life is good :-)

Want to know more about using ScribeFire and IBM Connections ? Let me know ...

Use IBM Symphony ? Satisfied ? Not ? Let IBM know ...

Do you use IBM Lotus Symphony ? If so, please consider giving 5 minutes of your time to complete a satisfaction / quality survey.

I ran through it, and added my personal feedback re Symphony on OSX. Please go ahead and give your input here.

Aide Memoires - Maintenance Pages and Cookie Size in IBM HTTP Server / WebSphere Application Server

Saw these on Twitter thanks to IBM_AppServer and thought … hmm, interesting, I may need these two tips at some point down the line.

Configuring a temporary 'Site Down For Maintenance' page in IBM HTTP Server

When IBM HTTP Server is used to front-end a WebSphere Application Server deployment, there might be a need to temporarily redirect users to a 'Site Down For Maintenance' page when one or more back-end Application Servers require off-line maintenance.

Request Header Field Size Exceeds Limit for Web server

Problem(Abstract)

Request to IBM HTTP Server fails with Response code 400.

Symptom

Response from the browser could be shown like this:

Bad Request 
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand. 
Size of a request header field exceeds server limit. 

IBM HTTP Server Error.log shows the following message:

"request failed: error reading the headers"

Cause

This is normally caused by having a very large Cookie, so a request header field exceeded the limit set for Web Server.

Both have been useful and relevant to me recently, so have shared them here for you, you and you over there.

CLFRQ0415E when accessing the Homepage feature of IBM Connections 3.0.1

One of my colleagues saw this exception: -

CLFRQ0415E: An error occurred while executing the action. See nested exception for more details.
java.lang.NullPointerException

earlier when trying to access the Homepage application in a newly minted IBM Connections 3.0.1 installation.

I asked him to check whether the databases had been correctly created and configured.

He checked with the DBA, who'd set the databases up manually, and found that the script initData.sql had not been executed.

Once this was run, the Homepage application burst into life.

The Wiki documents this manual database setup for each feature, as per this example ( for Homepage )

C:\IBM\SQLLIB\bin\db2cmd -c -w -i db2 -tvf connections.sql\homepage\db2\createDb.sql
C:\IBM\SQLLIB\bin\db2cmd -c -w -i db2 -tvf connections.sql\homepage\db2\appGrants.sql
C:\IBM\SQLLIB\bin\db2cmd -c -w -i db2 -tvf connections.sql\homepage\db2\initData.sql
C:\IBM\SQLLIB\bin\db2cmd -c -w -i db2 -tvf connections.sql\homepage\db2\reorg.sql
C:\IBM\SQLLIB\bin\db2cmd -c -w -i db2 -tvf connections.sql\homepage\db2\updateStats.sql  

Hope this helps.

Quick Tip - Keyboard Shortcuts for OSX Lion

I think I found this by accident :-)

Using the Macbook Pro, it's possible to access Mission Control and App Exposé from the trackpad, as explained in the gorgeous little videos that come with the System Preferences > Trackpad "widget" ( use [CMD][Space] to bring up Spotlight and then type "Trackpad" to access this ).

So, by default, if you swipe up with three fingers, you get to Mission Control - all the windows contract

and, if you swipe down with three fingers, you get to App Exposé  - the windows of the active application appear

So far, so good - a few days ago I "discovered" that I can achieve the same effect, but only using the keyboard: -

[Ctrl][Up Arrow] - invokes Mission Control

[Ctrl][Down Arrow] - invokes App Exposé

So, if you don't have a track pad, this MIGHT be useful ?

Matt Newman turns IBM Connections into a Widget in the IBM Notes client

I saw this in the blog roll of my own blog 

Yesterday's #TipOfTheDay was how to access IBM Connections in 'miniature' form by accessing your IBM Connections site with the addition of /mobile at the end of your address, like:

http://greenhouse.lotus.com/mobile 

A little while ago I wrote how many sites designed for mobile/smart-phone/tablet access actually make  GREAT Lotus Notes side-bar widgets.

Well, combine this concept, and the brilliant mobile version of IBM Connections and what do you have - Lotus Notes fully Connected, right there in your side-bar :-)

Great job, Matt, I followed this and now have our internal W3 site accessible in the sidebar - looks very shiny