Source code control and version control for Notes
Teamstudio CIAO! Server prevents design changes from being made, lost or overwritten by server-to-server replication, design refreshes or by users who do not have the element checked out. By requiring elements to be check out, CIAO! Server gives your development team a complete history of everything that changes in your application's design.
Download the CIAO! Server Datasheet
Teamstudio CIAO! Server Best Practices Tip
Using CIAO! Server with Web Services as Part of a Change History Dashboard
The demands of IT governance require your development team to track changes to all your applications. Organizations with multiple development environments face the challenge of gathering data from different change history systems into one report and doing so in a timely manner. The nature of the Lotus Notes/Domino development environment makes it incompatible with traditional source control systems if you want an audit trail at the element level. Teamstudio has introduced Web Services in CIAO! Server to address the issue.
The new Web Services in Teamstudio's CIAO! Server feature provides access to the change history for all application elements via the ND7 Web Services. A detailed report of change history is available with minimal investment of time and effort, and without expertise in Lotus Notes development. You can also create other Web Services to create and merge reports from source control systems in other development environments, creating a single view for the purposes of auditing changes to applications. As the ability to audit your development environment across the board becomes mandatory to satisfy various industry best practices and IT governance, a unified change history solution should be the goal of all IT departments. With the introduction of Composite Applications in Notes 8, developers will find the need even more pressing if they are to take advantage of this powerful new Lotus Notes feature.
A complete audit report across all development environments is a goal for any IT department seeking to enforce best practices within their organization, and may be necessary in some industries to be in compliance with regulatory frameworks such as Sarbanes-Oxley. A Change History Dashboard linking to each source control system can provide a single report. All changes across all development environments can be tracked including who made the change, when the change occurred and any comments made by the developer. The diagram below illustrates how a Change History Dashboard might be implemented:
There are several important advantages to using Web Services to bring together all change history reporting:
- No need for expertise in multiple development environments
- Protocols like SOAP offer an open standard and a common framework meaning many organizations already have the necessary skills
- Upgrading or migrating to new source code control systems requires little or no change to the consumers of the services
A Unified Change History Report gives you a comprehensive report across all development environments on one screen satisfying audit requirements for regulatory frameworks.
Implementing Teamstudio CIAO! in Your Environment
Whether driven by external regulatory changes, internal audit concerns or a simple desire to work in an efficient and controlled manner, implementing a best practices source code control system in any Notes/Domino development environment is essential. Teamstudio CIAO! software, combined with expert on-site implementation and training will help reduce concerns about inefficient team efforts or compliance failures.
Download the CIAO! Implementation Datasheet
Solutions Brief: Source Code Control for Lotus Notes Applications
Lotus Notes applications have transitioned from back room to mission-critical in many organizations, but software development processes have not changed. This has resulted in out-of-control development cycles, application failures and irate customers. By embracing source code control, IT organizations can bring order out of chaos, contain costs and improve end-user satisfaction.
6 Must-Have Best Practices for Source Code Control
Learn how, with a proper source code control and version management system in place, an organization can get control over their Notes development environment, provide audit trails of design changes for compliance purposes and enable rollback to previous versions.
View this Teamstudio webcast on-demand.
CIAO Server with Web Services FAQ
CIAO! Server with Web Services User Guide
