Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator for Lotus Notes | FAQ

Mainsoft SharePoint^® Integrator is easy-to-deploy, client-side software that enables Lotus Notes^® users to adopt Microsoft^® SharePoint^® for managing and sharing emails and attachments. It also enables users to organize SharePoint team events from the Lotus Notes 8.5 calendar application.

Version 2.0 enables Lotus Notes 8.x, 7.x, and 6.5.x users to access and publish e-mail and documents in SharePoint document libraries, as well as attach SharePoint documents and document links to Lotus Notes applications, such as mail, calendar, tasks, and team rooms.

Lotus Sametime^® customers can also use presence awareness to identify and initiate a chat with the person who checked-out, last modified, or created a SharePoint document, and drag SharePoint document links to the Sametime chat window. Lotus Notes 8.5.x users can manage SharePoint team events within the Lotus Notes calendar application, making it easy to sync up and organize schedules from a single location.

Available later this quarter, the SharePoint Integrator v 2.5 enterprise beta brings the SharePoint-based professional network into the Lotus Notes email client, with support for SharePoint User Profiles and My Sites.

For Lotus customers migrating to a single vendor stack, we also offer a private Beta supporting SharePoint integration with Microsoft Outlook^®. Contact sales@mainsoft.com if you are interested in a trial.

Mainsoft offers theSharePoint Integrator as a standalone application that docks to the Lotus Notes window for Lotus notes 8.x (Basic Configuration), 7.x and 6.5.x.

Future releases will integrate with SharePoint's enterprise Social Networking capabilities, deliver improved storage-saving features, and federate SharePoint contacts and tasks within Lotus Notes applications.

Our Services team can create composite applications that integrate SharePoint, Lotus Notes, Domino and Java data, and business logic into business mashups. Our team can also deliver customizations to support additional SharePoint Integrator configurations, such as a plug-in to the Sametime client, and support for non-Windows^® client operating systems, such as Mac OS and Linux^®.

No, Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator operates with any Office version. Since Office 2003, Office applications are integrated with SharePoint, and Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator preserves this integration when launching the Office applications from the sidebar panel.

The application integrates with the plug-in-based architecture of Lotus Notes 8, which is based on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform. Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator leverages Lotus Notes' extension points for application installation and updates, user preferences, and the Lotus Notes account framework. Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator for Lotus Notes 8.x (Basic Configuration) , 7.x, and 6.5.x is a standalone application that docks to the Lotus Notes window and shares most of the same code as the Lotus Notes 8 plug-in.

All Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator packages rely on the documented Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) to access the SharePoint contents. Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator preserves connectivity to the SharePoint server. This allows Lotus Notes users to open Microsoft Office documents from a Lotus Notes sidebar using the server's collaboration features, such as check in, check out, version history, etc.

Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator’s rich client interface makes it quicker to work with SharePoint from the desktop than it would be from using SharePoint’s Web interface. For example, you can perform actions such as copy, link, check in, check out, publish a major version, and approve or reject changes on multiple documents at one time. Another advantage is that you can drag documents and e-mail messages between Lotus Notes and SharePoint.

Yes, you can open documents of all types using Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator. SharePoint Integrator relies on the file types defined in your Windows environment, and it will launch the application associated with the selected file type.

When you open a non-Office document, a temporary copy of the file opens. Changes to this file are not saved on the server. To force applications to open the document directly on the SharePoint server, right-click it and select Edit.

SharePoint Integrator detects when a document has required properties that need to be filled in by the user, and it automatically opens the Properties window when the document is uploaded. All properties defined for this document are displayed, and required properties are marked by a red bullet. If you leave the uploaded document without filling in the required properties, you will be warned by the SharePoint Integrator, and the document will not be visible to others until properly checked it in.

Yes, you can add additional SharePoint columns to the visible columns of the sidebar. Through the preferences, you can open the Visible Columns dialog and select additional columns. If a column is not listed, you may add your own column to the table.

Version SharePoint Integrator v. 2.5 will support views, including filters, columns, and sort order. Check out the 2.5 Enterprise Beta release later this quarter.

The e-mail message and its attachments are stored as one compound document. E-mails are saved as .eml documents in SharePoint, a file format derived directly from the SMPT mail standard protocol. This protocol is supported natively by SharePoint and can be indexed and searched. When accessing the SharePoint Web interface through a browser, the .eml file is displayed with the full formatting fidelity preserved, including the e-mail headers, body, and attachments.

Yes. To simplify the process, users can select the Save e-mail to SharePoint option on the SharePoint button when they compose an e-mail. As the e-mail is sent, it is saved in the default SharePoint location for e-mails or a location specified by the user.

The Replace attachments with SharePoint links feature directs the SharePoint Integrator to upload attachments in outgoing messages to SharePoint and replace them with links to the SharePoint documents. Recipients must have access to SharePoint to be able to access the documents.

The name of an .eml document, which is a Lotus Notes e-mail in SharePoint, is derived from the e-mail's Subject. When multiple e-mails with the same Subject are stored in the same SharePoint location, a trailing index is appended to the document name.

Lotus Notes users can view, edit, and forward e-mail messages stored on SharePoint in their native Lotus Notes format. Extranet users can view e-mail messages from Internet Explorer, with the document attachments displayed as internal links. When using Web browsers other than Internet Explorer, e-mail messages will open using the application associated with the .eml file type, such as Outlook Express on Windows XP or Windows Mail on Windows Vista.

The SharePoint Integrator Preferences feature offers you the ability to map between e-mail headers (Sender, Subject, To, Cc, Date, etc.) and SharePoint metadata properties. If the SharePoint library is configured properly, SharePoint Integrator copies the corresponding e-mail headers to relevant metadata properties. For more information, read Displaying E-Mail Headers on SharePoint.

The SharePoint administrator can create custom SharePoint views for efficiently displaying e-mail messages through the Web interface.

Using the SharePoint Integrator, you can add SharePoint calendars to your Lotus Notes 8.5 calendar application. Users can create, edit, and delete SharePoint events from Lotus Notes. Calendar entries can be copied between personal Lotus Notes calendars and registered SharePoint calendars. You can also invite people to attend a team event using Lotus Notes, and view SharePoint team events when offline.

Use the SharePoint button in the Notes Calendar application to copy a SharePoint event to your personal Lotus Notes calendar or to copy a Lotus Notes Calendar entry to the team SharePoint calendar.

When adding or modifying a SharePoint calendar in the Add a Calendar or Modify Calendar dialogs, select the View this calendar when offline or on a mobile device check box.

From the Lotus Notes sidebar, select the Search button in the SharePoint document toolbox to search either an entire SharePoint site or a specific document library, depending on the current navigation state. The results are displayed within the sidebar panel, along with the context surrounding the search term or terms.

The SharePoint Integrator is designed to facilitate the most common workflows, such as attaching documents to e-mail messages, uploading documents received via e-mail, and checking documents in and out.

Operations used less frequently, such as creating new SharePoint sites or document libraries, or modifying document library settings can be accessed using the SharePoint Web user interface, which opens from the breadcrumbs context menu item Open in Browser.

No, it works the other way around.

No, SharePoint Integrator integrates with the Lotus Notes rich client and does not currently offer an iNotes integration.

When uploading a new document to a document library with multiple content types, the default content type is applied automatically. Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator allows you to change this behavior by selecting the Let me select content type during document upload check box in File > Preferences… > SharePoint > Settings.

Yes, Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator provides full support for French and German. In addition, you can run SharePoint Integrator in a Windows-localized environment, with a Lotus Notes-localized installation and against SharePoint sites localized in any language.

To inquire about localization support in your market, contact sales@mainsoft.com.

SharePoint Integrator prompts Lotus Notes users to adhere to the governance and taxonomy defined by the organization. When uploading documents, the user is prompted to check in documents to make them available to other users. It also warns users about leaving edited documents checked out in libraries. Required metadata for new documents is automatically presented for the user to fill in.

Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator for Lotus Notes consists of two components: a sidebar application that allows users to drag documents and e-mail messages to and from the SharePoint sidebar, and an optional SharePoint button packaged as a Mail template file, which can save an outgoing e-mail message on SharePoint and replace attachments with document links.

No, end users can download and install the SharePoint Integrator on their computer using the public Eclipse update site, or a standalone NTF installation program.

For organizations that need a hands-off installation, the Domino administrator can provision Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator centrally. For step-by-step installation instructions, select the Lotus Notes version you are using and read the download instructions. For centralized provisioning, read the Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator Administration Guide.

There are three items that can impact the Domino/Notes administration environment:

1. Provisioning SharePoint Integrator to Lotus Notes users,
2. Provisioning SharePoint sites to Lotus Notes users, and
3. Integrating the SharePoint button in the server-based Mail template.

The SharePoint sites do not require any modifications to be accessible from SharePoint Integrator.

The SharePoint Integrator provides a Mail template file that contains the SharePoint button for Lotus Notes 8.x, 7.x, and 6.5.x. If you are already using a customized version of the Mail template, you will need to integrate the SharePoint button into the customized template. Learn more about the Mainsoft Mail template in the Administration Guide appendices.

For Lotus Notes 8 installations, create a Lotus Notes widget and use the Lotus Notes widget catalog to deploy a new plug-in to an existing Lotus Notes installation. Read the Administration Guide for details.

For Lotus Notes 8.x (Basic Configuration), 7.x, and 6.5.x, run the standalone sidebar application silently using the command line parameters /S (silent) and /D={install directory}. To deploy the Mail template centrally, sign the template file and copy it to the server. Read the Administration Guide for details.

Yes, consult the Administration Guide to learn how to bundle the integrated sidebar with the Lotus Notes installation package.

For Lotus Notes 8 installations, you can provision SharePoint sites for each organization using the Domino organizational policies.

SharePoint sites are stored in a standard desktop policy settings document, which can be assigned to users either as organizational policies or as explicit policies. Read the Administration Guide for details.

Yes, e-mail publishing settings can be provisioned by the Domino administrator. To learn more about this feature read the Using Managed Settings section in the Administration Guide.

Yes, SharePoint users that rely on Windows integrated security can access SharePoint sites without having to configure their username and passwords. On Windows, this approach is the easiest way to provide single sign-on.

Yes, users can configure a custom username and password from their SharePoint preferences for each of the configured sites. These credentials are safely stored within the Lotus Notes account framework.

Yes. SharePoint Integrator authenticates on behalf of users using their SharePoint credentials, and accesses content based on their SharePoint permissions.

Lotus Notes credentials are not persisted by the SharePoint Integrator. Because the integrated sidebar panel runs in the context of the Lotus Notes process and uses the Notes API, it does not need credentials. The standalone application prompts you for your Lotus Notes password the first time a Lotus Notes feature is accessed, after SharePoint Integrator is restarted.

Yes, the SharePoint Integrator supports proxy server configurations. By default, the Internet Explorer proxy settings are used. The user can also define custom proxy settings.

Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator displays the SharePoint columns "Created by", "Modified by", and "Checked out to" with the Sametime presence status. SharePoint Integrator maps SharePoint users to Sametime users in either the Internet e-mail address, if it's configured in both user registries, or using the user ID if they match. The Domino administrator can also customize this mapping. Read Resolving user names for Sametime presence awareness for more details.

• Lotus Notes version 8.x - for the integrated sidebar panel.
• Lotus Notes version 8.x (Basic Configuration), 7.x, or 6.5.x - for the standalone sidebar application.

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 or later, or
• Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate Edition.

Contact Mainsoft for additional operating systems support such as MacOS or Linux.

• Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) version 3.0, or
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007.
• Microsoft SharePoint Online.

See our Price List and Discount Schedule.

Yes, you can download a 30-day evaluation copy of Mainsoft SharePoint Integrator for Lotus Notes 8.x, 7.x, or 6.5.x. For custom integrations, contact sales@mainsoft.com.