.NET and Lotus Notes Interop

Question

I've Lotus Notes database file (.nsf) at some location, let's say: http://intranet.mycompany.com/somewhere/data.nsf

Is it possible in any way to read from that location using any .NET language?

Answer 1

Take a look at these resources:

• http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/domino-msnet/index.html
• http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/lotusnoteintegrator.aspx
• http://www.builderau.com.au/architect/database/soa/Create-an-ODBC-connection-to-a-Lotus-Notes-database/0,339024547,320282240,00.htm

Answer 2

1. You can use the ReadViewEntries URL option and that returns data as XML --> http://www-12.lotus.com/ldd/doc/domino_notes/7.0/help7_designer.nsf/855dc7fcfd5fec9a85256b870069c0ab/63d772b44948d4848525704a003f6544?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,readviewentries

2. You can use the COM classes to access the database. Actually the first link that @Konamiman posted covers both solutions --> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/domino-msnet/index.html

Answer 3

My humble opinion for those who face such a task would be not to bother with direct access to LN data (at least i haven't heard of any decent C# dev for Lotus Notes), but consider the following:

1) dump LN data into a relational database (IBM DB2, MS SQL Server etc.) with the help of LEI (Lotus Enterprise Integeration) or a custom tool, where you can use it any way you want, say in ORM for ASP.NET, even bi-directional. This makes sense when you migrate or have a schedule for data exchange.

2) for lesser amount of data with sporadic access i'd develop a WebService or some in the Lotus Notes database.

Answer 4

I'll assume that you're accessing the database over HTTP only, because this is how you provided its location. So, for the current and older versions of Domino server, you can access the different database elements using the Domino URL syntax which provide access to design elements in addition to data documents.

And starting with Domino 9, you can also access the data using REST requests using the Domino Access Services (DAS), which provide all the standard CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) commands that you need, i.e. POST, GET, PUT, DELETE, and PATCH. Remember that you need to enable the database and its views to be accessed by DAS before you can run your requests.

The links provided give you all the information you need.