In an effort to make the user experience and user interface more flexible and customizable for customers, the iNotes team has implemented a new URL argument, &layout. It has been available since Domino 8.5.1.

Implementation

Use the &layout URL argument to refine the skin components. This is preferred when you want to enable/disable/modify a set of layout components in the current skin used for the page without introducing a new static skin. For example, you want to control the preview pane or sidebar option when using h_SkinTypeOverride;h_Portal skin using &layout. If &layout values contain a component not in the current skin, it will simply be ignored.

• Define &layout with a similar pattern as &PresetFields, component!State Location(Direction)
• Use 2-character component symbols such as SB for sidebar, PP for Preview Pane. See the table below.
• Use up to 2 character state/location symbols. The 1st character to represent the state of the component and the 2nd character (if necessary) to identify the component location/direction.

State Values

C = Closed
O = Open
D = Default , use iNotes preference if any.
H = Hide

Location/Direction Values

None - Location value is optional and it may not be required.
B - Location = Arrange the component on the (B) bottom side, s-bottompanel
R - Location = Arrange the component on the (R) right side, s-rightpanel
S - Location = Arrange the component on the (R) right side, s-rightpanel (works the same as previous R)
L - Location = Arrange the component on the (L) left side, s-leftpanel
T - Location = Arrange the component on the (T) top side, s-toppanel
W - Location = Whole area (s-basicpanel)
D - Location = Use iNotes preference by default.

Delimiters

The exclamation point (!) serves as a delimiter to separate the component and its state.
The asterisk (*) serves as a delimiter to separate multiple component and state pairs.


Note: Using semi-colons or commas, like the PresetFields URL pattern, and other reserved characters as delimiters, is not advised, as it will require proper encoding and can easily double the URL length. For example, &layout=SB;0,LP;0 becomes &layout=SB%3B0%2CLP%3B0 after encoding is applied.

To display a one day calendar view showing 20090128 with the sidebar open and the left panel displayed but closed, the url would be look like this:

http://{mail file path}/iNotes/Calendar/?OpenDocument&PresetFields=s_CalView;D, s_CalDate;20090128&layout=SB!O*LP!C

When it's used with h_SkinTypeOverride;h_Blank, &layout values will be ignored since the blank skin does not contain the sidebar/left panel.

The global layout values are used to refine the skin components. The following table defines supported values for &layout query argument.

Supported layout component symbols	Supported layout state value	Supported layout location value	Comment
SB (SideBar)	C - Display sidebar collapsed(default) O - Display sidebar open D - Display sidebar from iNotes preference, if any. H - Hide sidebar (No display)	N/A	Display options for Sidebar. It will be right sidebar only and if not specified, it displays sidebar collapsed by default. When it's hidden, Show\Sidebar & its related right-click menus should be hidden(or disabled at least)
LP (Left Panel)	C - Display left panel collapsed O - Display left panel open by default (default) H - Hide left panel(No display)	N/A	Display options for Left Panel. If not specified, it displays left panel open by default.
SW (Functional Area Switcher)	S - Show (default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for mode switcher. If not specified, it displays the mode switcher by default.
LV (List View)	V - Virtual list P - Paged list D - display from iNotes preferences, if any. (default)	N/A	Display options for list view It should be only honored when it's used in full mode.
TB (Managed Tabs)	S - Show (default) H - Hide	N/A	Display options for managed tabs. If not specified, it displays the tab by default.
BN (Banner)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Logo Display options for banner area(logo). If not specified, it displays by default.
MH (Masthead)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Masthead Display options for masthead. If not specified, it displays by default.
MS (Mode Switcher action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Global Actions area will be hidden if none of the actions available.
PF (Preferences action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A
OF (Online/Offline action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A	Note: it is also controlled by policy/preferences/feature availability.
LO (Log out action)	S - Show(default) H - Hide	N/A
HL (Help actions)	S - Show (default) H - Hide	N/A
PP (Preview Pane)	C - Display collapsed O - Display open H - Hide D - Display from iNotes preference, if any. (default)	B - Display at the bottom S - Display on the side(right) R - Display on the side(right) Ignored when first state symbol value is D.	Display options for preview pane. If not specified, it displays preview based on iNotes preferences by default. When it's disabled, Show\Preview & its related right-click menus should be hidden(or disabled at least) Example of usage with multiple values (when including a Location value) PP!OB = Preview Pane Open Bottom

Integrating the Programmatic URL Enhancements with the iNotes Portlet in WebSphere Portal

WebSphere Portal contains "Out Of The Box" pages that contain portlets with which to access your Domino data backends. One in particular is the iNotes/DWA portlet, an iFrame portlet, which appears on the Applications->Messaging->Mail page. Before using this and some of the other Domino & Sametime portlets, your administrator must first do the Portal<->Domino integration step that is included in the WebSphere Portal Help topics. Once that is done and you can access your Domino data thru the iNotes portlet, you are ready to further customize your user experience by using the aforementioned &layout parameter through the portlet. Please follow the steps below to implement that and get started. It should be noted here that it is available in WebSphere Portal releases that support Domino 8.5.1 and greater. Those are 6.013, 6.1, and 7.0 and all greater releases in those version streams.

1. Login to portal as an administrator
2. Select Administration
3. Select Portlets
4. Search for portlets beginning with Domino or iNotes (portlet name should change to iNotes in Portal Release 7.1 or 6.106)
5. This should result in a single entry (unless you have previously created copies of the iNotes portlet)
6. Make a copy of the portlet and rename it, thus preserving the original. (Copy button outlined in red)
7. Click on the "wrench" icon to view/edit the configuration parameters of the newly copied portlet (Wrench button outlined in red)
8. Enter CustomURLArgs (parameter name is case sensitive) in the edit field at the top for the name of the parameter and in the value field you want to enter the URL fragment that will be appended to the base URL (after the .nsf of your mailfile)

Note: In the example below, the CustomURLArgs parameter has already been added to the configuration parameters. It should be entered in the New Parameter edit field and then the URL value in the New Value field, and then click Add..

Steps 4-6


Step 7


Step 8