Chris Doig's Blog

New version of DocMaster: 4.2.14

DocMaster is a Single Database Document Management System. Its is used to manage large collections of loosely related documents, for example Policies & Procedures, Application Help, User Manuals, System Documentation etc. Of course the DocMaster User Manual and Application Help are written in DocMaster. Originally developed in 1994, it has been constantly enhanced over the years in response to user suggestions. Here is a link to the original DocMaster posting with more details.

The attachment below contains the DocMaster help database (.nsf), and the production template (.ntf).

DocMaster Change History

Below is a summary of the recent changes to DocMaster. This information is also in the help file. DocMaster has now been used for Sarbanes Oxley monitoring for almost a year, and been through the year end test and audit process. The real benefit of using DocMaster for Sox was that the effort required to maintain the Sox monitoring was about half that of the "spread sheet & word doc" method. And because all the information was at the Sox tester's fingertips, the testing took only 60% as long as last year. A great bonus was scoring 100% from our Sox auditors, E&Y.

10 December 2008: 4.2.14

1096 Refreshed Rev History template. This fixed a bug where a new document created via the back end incorrectly triggered a Rev History prompt on first save. (Design Requirements:  Refactoring)

1003 Added Excel Export to the "Test Results" view. (User Requirements:  New Feature)

11 November 2008: Release 4.2.13

 1024 Fixed Help Error: When clicking on a "Help" button (from "Sox Test" form) you always got the same help page. (Bug:  Code Error)

1004 Added button to copy "Test Results from previous results. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

1002 Renamed "Remediation" to "Comments" (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

1005 Sox test form: Copied "Key Control" field from the control form. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

9 November 2008: 4.2.12

1001 Renamed "Test Comments" to "Test Findings" (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

9 November 2008: Release 4.2.11

1022 Fixed: Issues views missing action buttons (Bug:  Missing feature)

22 September 2008: Release 4.2.10

999 Added "Test Evidence" rich text field to Sox test form (User Requirements:  New Feature)

11 September 2008: Release 4.2.9

997 Fixed error: "Public" does not belong in this module (Bug:  Code Error)

10 September 2008: Release 4.2.8

993 Fixed: "Sox test" view incorrectly shows up on printed pages (Bug:  UI error)

992 Fixed: Buttons show in (Sox) Test Results view that should not be there. (Bug:  UI error)

994 Hid effective date if field empty (Bug:  UI error)

991 Fixed: List of Sox Control Objective not sorted alphabetically. (Bug:  UI error)

29 August 2008: Release 4.2.7

972 Added "Sox Test" form (User Requirements:  New Feature)

981 Added Effective Date field to Sox Control form (User Requirements:  New Feature)

983 Renamed the "Control Details" field to "Control Narrative" on the Sox control form. Add "Control Activity" field. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)<

990 Fixed: Sox control effective date: should appear on doc in read mode. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

8 August 2008: Release 4.2.6

971 Added "Sox Testing" field (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

11 June 2008: Release 4.2.5

917 Removed unused field, code from (dlg Import files)  (Design Requirements:  Refactoring)

922 Added Sox Objectives lookup. Control matix now categorized by objectives. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

75 Fixed: can now import files from the OS. (Bug:  Feature not working correctly)

915 Moved the "Comments" fields from the "Doc Management" tab to the "People" tab. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

916 Fixed: Sox Monitoring by date - extend last col to window width (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

920 Removed import option from view menus. This menu function should only appear on folder menus - not view menus. (Design Requirements: Conform to CSS standards)

919 Fixed: When creating a new issue, the issue owner doesn't default to the doc owner. (Bug:  Code Error)

2 June 2008: Release 4.2.4

912 Fixed: On DB setup doc "Select initial view or folder" button generates error. (Bug:  Code Error)

913 Fixed help buttons on DB Setup form. (Bug:  Code Error)

30 May 2008: Release 4.2.3

903 Fixed: Issue owner overwritten if doc saved. (Bug:  Code Error)

902 Added spell check to fields on Glossary form (applies to Notes 8.0.1 and later). (Design Requirements:  Conform to CSS standards)

910 Issue docs now filtered out of the Doc Management view. (Bug:  Code Error)

911 Removed empty action menu items. (Bug:  UI error)

900 Categorized issues views now open collapsed. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

901 Fixed: Issues by date views - the first few columns are fixed in width when they should be expandable. (Bug:  UI error)

28 May 2008: Release 4.2.2

895 Fixed: All docs by attachment size incorrectly divides size by 1024. Note that this uses the new R8 column number formatting feature. (Bug:  Code Error)

897 Fixed: Sort closed issues by date closed, not the date created. (Bug:  Code Error)

898 Fixed: Issue owner defaults to current user; should default to doc owner. (Bug:  Code Error)

899 Removed "Doc Owner" col from open issue by owner. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

896 Fixed: Embedded Monitoring view (on Sox form) incorrectly shows time. (Bug:  UI error)

27 May 2008: Release 4.2.1

894 Removed "Corrected" from "Resolution" field on Issue form. (Bug:  UI error)

893 Changed all view twisties to Notes default. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

23 May 2008: Release 4.2.0

883 Fixed: Issue form fields hidden when in read mode. (Bug:  UI error)

881 Added issues by date views. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

882 Added help button to view: Sox... Monitoring by Date        . (Bug:  UI error)

884 Added lines to the list manager view. (Bug:  UI error)

885 Updated doc management view UI. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

887 Modified views to use lines insted of alternate bands of color. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

888 Added help button to issue form. (Design Requirements:  Conform to CSS standards)

886 Removed views: Doc Management\Special\FAQ & Glossary. (Design Requirements:  Obsolete feature)

889 Fixed: Workflow State Table, FAQ category, Keyword index views have wrong font for categories. (Bug:  UI error)

890 Fixed: List manager uses wrong twisties. (Bug:  UI error)

891 Fixed: Make the "State Table" view wrap over multiple lines. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

DocMaster 4.2.14 Released

Below are two zip files: the DocMaster template, and the help file. This version of DocMaster was written using Notes 8.0.2, but makes very little use of R8 features (i.e. it should still work with R7 or even R6.5). See the help file for setup instructions.

DocMaster_R4.2.14.zip

DocMaster_R4.2.14_HELP.zip

A Thought on SharePoint as File Server 2.0

A while ago Ed Brill had an article in his blog which mentioned SharePoint being described as File Server 2.0 (a phrase coined by Sean Burgess). This got me thinking - originally Vista was going to have a new data storage and management system called WinFS. I had even read somewhere that WinFS was going to be very much like Lotus Notes in the way it handles data. Then in June 2006 Microsoft shelved those WinFS plans. Did they pull the plug because SharePoint was going to fill that need? Basically could they make more money packaging the functionality as SharePoint that they would building WinFS into Windows? Of course there is no way to know one way or the other, but the phrase File Server 2.0 certainly did get me thinking.

Added Document Issues in release 4.2.x

What do you do when you are reading though a published document like a policy or procedure, and find a problem or error? DocMaster now has an answer: create an issue. Issues are a special form of comments, complete with a simple (but customizable) workflow. In the screen shot below you can see an example of a new issue, along with the issue categorization and workflow.



Issues are attached to documents, just like comments. You can even add comments to issues.



But the most important thing about issues is that they are all collected in one place where they can be managed. See screen shot below. This give you one place to find all the issues with any documents. And because of the workflow you can develop a process to ensure that all issues are resolved. As I said on Tuesday, this has worked so well for us that we are actually ahead of the game with our Sox monitoring.

Added Sarbanes Oxley (Sox) to DocMaster in release 4.2

One of my responsibilities at work is to ensure that IT is Sox compliant. Unfortunately the usual manual processes based on spreadsheets and word documents simply don't work very well, and are a lot of effort to maintain. And since Sox procedures should be integrated with other IT procedures, it made sense to extend DocMaster to specifically support Sox.

Possibly the most useful feature added is the "Sox Documentation" view, which includes a color coded calendar showing the current status of Sox monitoring. This is a huge time saver, and has organized our Sox work so well that, at the end of May 08, we are completely up to date! See screen shot below with annotations.



Adding monitoring tasks to the calendar is pretty easy: simply check the appropriate month check box on the control document. See screen shot below.



Sox documentation usually consists of control narrative documents, which are summarized by a spreadsheet. The problem is that it is impossible to keep the narrative documents in sync with the spreadsheet. DocMaster solves this problem by using a separate document for each control, and then summarizing these documents in a Control Matrix view. That normalizes the information, and because the information is now only maintained in one place, total solves the synch problem. DocMaster has special views of the Sox control documents, but those control docs can also be put in folders, along with other policies & procedures.

Once Sox controls are in place, you are required to monitor them to ensure they are working. DocMaster allows you to attach monitoring documents to the controls. This means that when the next monitoring event is due, you can use previous monitoring as a template - a tremendous time saver. It also means that when auditors look at your documentation, they can easily find all monitoring - a tremendous money saver! To track actual monitoring there is a view of all monitoring, categorized by month. See screen shot below.



Release 4.2 also added document issues, but more on that tomorrow.

More Excel Woes!

Although the technique "copy as table and paste into spreadsheet" works, it is limited, e.g. if the view is too wide, you can't copy it as a table (but shrinking the column widths does work). Also, graphic icons in a view don't get pasted.

An alternative thought occurred to me: Why not export the view as a Lotus 123 file, and then import it into a IBM Symphony spreadsheet. Surely two IBM products would be compatible with each other? Surely...? Not a chance! The error message is "IBM Symphony do not support this file format." (love the grammar!) Unfortunately Open Office can't import Lotus 123 spreadsheets either, and I haven't yet been able to find any filters on the web. I'll keep trying because there is a need coming up in a few weeks.

DocMaster Ver 4.1.x

Below is a summary of the changes in DocMaster 4.1.x. This information is also in the help file.

16 May 2008: Release 4.1.27

875 Added "Closed Issues" view. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

796 Added page to preview frame on all Sox views. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

874 Added spell checking to appropriate fiels on Evidence tab of Sox control doc. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

876 Added field spell check to workflow state form. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

879 Changed background color of closed issues. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

880 Changed font size on Comments view. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

8 May 2008: Release 4.1.26

873 Made sure the comments field always shows on issues docs. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

872 Moved the Monitored By field on the Sox Control doc. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

7 May 2008: Release 4.1.25

869 Added issue assignment. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

868 Removed Rich Text body field under "Monitoring" on the Sox Control doc. (User Requirements:  Obsolete feature)

871 Added "Evidence" details to Sox form (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

870 Added [Rev History] button to monitoring form. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

7 May 2008: Release 4.1.24

869 Added issue assignment. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

868 Removed Rich Text body field under "Monitoring" on the Sox Control doc. (User Requirements:  Obsolete feature)

871 Added "Evidence" details to Sox form (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

870 Added [Rev History] button to monitoring form. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

6 May 2008: Release 4.1.23

866 Moved "Monitoring doc format" field to 2nd line on monitoring tab. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

867 Added "Role" list lookup to Sox fields. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

865 Fixed: Sox doc help button points to Standards doc. (Bug:  Code Error)

5 May 2008: Release 4.1.21, 22

864 Fixed: Monitoring doc format, description fields - help doesn't work. (Bug:  Code Error)

863 Modified "Control Matrix" view to match spreadsheet (added missing columns). (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

2 May 2008: Release 4.1.20

851 No way to delete comments. (Bug:  Missing feature)

853 Issue not inheriting parent doc fields. (Bug:  Code Error)

856 Make monitoring tab visible for external monitoring. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

862 Edit in preview pane shows in full screen edit. (Bug:  UI error)

861 Change view: Open issues by severity, to by category, severity. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

859 Add managed lists; set up Issue Category, Resolution with managed lists. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

840 If Sox monitoring frequency > monthly, the monitoring calendar should be hidden. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

852 Issues workflow does not initialize. (Bug:  Missing feature)

854 "Monitoring" tab shows when printing Sox doc. (Bug:  UI error)

855 Open Issues by Severity view... Add sort to date column header. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

858 Remove obsolete form: dlg department selection. (Design Requirements:  Obsolete feature)

860 Get view help key to use the view alias, and not the view title. (Design Requirements:  Refactoring)

857 Fix document descriptions. (Design Requirements:  Refactoring)

1 May 2008: Release 4.1.19

846 Created blue line in "Sox Docs" view for As Required monitoring. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

836 Updated all forms with the new [Edit] button. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

843 Verified that Full DB search includes the Sox docs. (Bug:  Missing feature)

847 Fixed: Problem editing comment / monitor or issue doc: Opens the parent doc. (Bug:  Code Error)

736 Added "Issues". (User Requirements:  New Feature)

837 Look at moving the [Add Monitoring] button to the monitoring view, rather than having it at the top of the form. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

844 On Sox form: Added the Sox ref as 2nd title line. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

845 Fixed: Sox references missing in the Calendar view. (Bug:  UI error)

838 Fixed: Sox doc Window Title. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

839 Fixed: Spelling error in Sox calendar view. (Bug:  UI error)

25 April 2008: Release 4.1.18

824 Moved "Edit" out from under "Document" button. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

829 Removed "Evidence" form, view, buttons etc. (User Requirements:  Obsolete feature)

830 Removed the [New] button from the Sox views. (User Requirements:  Obsolete feature)

831 Fixed: Sox views should not indent doc titles. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

24 April 2008: Release 4.1.17

823 Fixed error with Monitor Date field in read mode. (Bug:  UI error)

826 Error with Sox Calendar. (Bug:  UI error)

822 Fixed: Sspelling mistake in list: Sox When Performed. (Bug:  UI error)

824 Fixed: Sox lable: "Evidence Location". (Bug:  UI error)

828 Add COSO columns to control matrix view. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

827 Increase size of % Done col in sox Documentation view. (Bug:  UI error)

23 April 2008: Release 4.1.14, 15, 16

820 Added entry in the list for weekdays only in Sox "When Performed". (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

821 Added Non monitored controls. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

816 Hid monitoring view if Monitoring docs are external to the database. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

814 Added Sox Controls Matrix view. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

813 Sox Monitor embedded view: Remove checkboxes: Show Action bar; Show only current thread. (Bug:  Code Error)

815 Now can clear "Sox Freq" field. (Bug:  Code Error)

817 Moved Monitoring Fields. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

819 Added spell check to title, keywords etc fields. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

818 Fixed Window title on monitor doc. (Bug:  UI error)

812 Fixed: Sox help buttons refer to the wrong agent name. (Bug:  Code Error)

22 April 2008: Release 4.1.13

809 Added Sox Monitoring (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

808 Added Sox fields (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

797 Renamed "Sox" to "Sarbanes Oxley" (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

6 April 2008: Release 4.1.12

773 Added indicator columns to show when Sox tests occur in which months. Added traffic light status. (User Requirements:  New Feature)

771 Sox\Evidencve by Date incorrectly calculates the category counts. (Bug:  Code Error)

1 April 2008: Release 4.1.11

762 Sox evidence doc does now displays correctly in read mode. (Bug:  UI error)

761 Added view showing Sox evidence by date (i.e. Sox work completed.) (User Requirements:  New Feature)

760 Added windows title to Sox Evidence document. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

31 March 2008: Release 4.1.10

759 Added "Sox Evidence" form, views. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

758 Put "Sox" in new doc title on doc window title. (Bug:  UI error)

756 Added calendar flag to the Sox Docs view. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

757 Removed extra columns from calendar view. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

28 March 2008: Release 4.1.9

754 Fixed: Auto Keyword formula is wrong. (Bug:  Code Error)

755 Added Sox section Look-up. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

745 Added feature to turn on % Done on selected docs. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

28 March 2008: Release 4.1.8

747 Converted doc size columns to use the new R8 byte format. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

744 Added a Sox (Sarbanes Oxley) Control doc as a standard doc type. Added 2 views: Sox Documentation and Sox Calendar. Note that the Sox features are a work in progress, and the manual has not yet been updated. Since DocMaster is often used for IT documentation, and Sox is just another form of documentation, it was more logical to add Sox features to DocMaster, that to create a separate Sox database. (User Requirements:  New Feature)

672 Added "Case" buttons to doc title field. Now you can change to upper case, lower case etc. (User Requirements:  New Feature)

665 Moved "Database Owner" to the people tab on the DB setup. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

752 Remove Comment, Doc metaData, memo from the "Create" menu. These forms should not have been on the Create menu. (Bug:  UI error)

1 February 2008: Release 4.1.7

659 Error with AutoNew button (sometimes uses wrong template). this means that templates finally work properly! (Bug:  Code Error)

655 Fixed: Clicking [Close] on mail attached to a doc in preview pane close the app. (Bug:  UI error)

652 Fixed: Doc links launched from the preview window open full screen. (Bug:  UI error)

656 Removed response hierarchy from Soft Deletions view. (Bug:  Code Error)

651 Removed unnecessary action buttons from Folder Title form. (Design Requirements:  UI Improvement)

653 Fixed: Several action buttons show in the action menu when they should not. (Bug:  UI error)

654 Fixed: Default page does not have the "Side Preview" action button. (Bug:  Missing feature)

658 Fixed: Error selecting a workflow on the workflow tab. (Bug:  Code Error)

2 October 2007: Release 4.1.6

650 Fixed: Rep save conflict when editing doc from preview pane. (Bug:  Code Error)

648 Added missing red line to Doc Management view. (Bug:  UI error)

646 Fixed: Bottom Preview - action button spelling error. (Bug:  UI error)

647 Fixed: Add red line below form action buttons to be consistent with views. (Bug:  UI error)

1 October 2007: Release 4.1.4, 4.1.5

645 Force action button update (Bug)

637 Fixed: DocMaster info form - Help & Search buttons are reversed. (Bug:  UI error)

632 Fixed: Rev history text sometimes wraps on Metadata doc, causing the columns to get out of sync. (Bug:  UI error)

644 Fixed: Add "Side by side" frame view. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

643 Fixed: Add ability to force doc URL to open in IE. (User Requirements:  New Feature)

640 Fixed: Modify "Read titles" for printing (line under title went off the page, looked wrong). (Bug:  UI error)

642 Put doc number field in same line as the "Sort type" selection. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

639 Fixed: View "Docs by attachment size" doesn't sort by attachment size. (Bug:  UI error)

9 May 2007: Release 4.1.3

625 Add Index Terms to Doc Metadata form. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

629 Add workflow column to views that could use it, e.g. doc management etc. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

613 Change "Selected Docs... % done" to "Workflow". (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

627 Add Today, +, - buttons to date field on doc date. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

628 Fixed: "Metadata" action button causes the "Doc" action button to show in the preview pane when it should not. (Bug:  UI error)

 614 Fixed: Wrong hide when formula for % done. (Bug:  UI error)

19 April 2007: Release 4.1.2

609 Convert WfState to shared displayed field. Add to all forms where needed. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

612 Add "Doc sorting" to metadata form. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

603 Fixed: When the workflow state field is set via the [Select] action button, get an @function error saying text is expected. (Bug:  Code Error)

606 Change "Preview" background to be something other than white. (User Requirements:  UI Improvement)

610 Show % done with workflow text. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

611 Add "Show" action to views. (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

601 Fixed: Database title page: the help & search buttons on the top right corner are the wrong way around. (Bug:  UI error)

602 Fixed: Workflow event field is editable - change it to computed. (Bug:  UI error)

605 Fixed: Spelling error in "Show workflow in doc title" field. (Bug:  UI error)

7 April 2007: Release 4.1.1

545 Modify the DB search to use the view "All docs by last edit date". (User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

575 Fixed: If a doc has no doc date, and was created before the folder title document, then that doc appears ABOVE the folder title doc. (Bug:  Code Error)

557 Fixed: Comments documents are not sorting correctly. (Bug:  Code Error)

597 Fixed: Right aligned action buttons on DB Title form are in reverse order. (Bug:  UI error)

598 Fixed: Spelling error on memo form: "No yet sent". (Bug:  UI error)

7 April 2007: Release 4.1.0

494 Implement document workflow. Note that document workflow is manual, i.e. you must manually move documents between workflow states. Automatic workflow, e.g. doc promotion on approval, will be added in a future version.        (User Requirements:  New Feature)

541 Comments (memo form) show in the doc management view. (Bug:  Code Error)

592 Turn off "Show response docs in a hierarchy" for "Folder Default" view. (Bug:  Code Error)

542 Add view "Templates by name" (        User Requirements:  Feature Improvement)

544 Memo forms don't show in view All docs by edit date" (Bug:  Code Error)

Excel import workaround that’s better than the original!

Well, you learn something new every day, and sometimes from the most surprising sources. Although we use Outlook for email, we had created an Asset Management application in Notes (using rich text fields to store scans of original invoices etc). We needed a way to export information from this application to an Excel spreadsheet to further manipulate it. This was where I discovered that Excel 2007 no longer imports Lotus 123 - see blog post from April 23.

A few days later the finance person using the Asset Tracker came back to me and said she had solved the export / import problem - just use "Copy as table" and paste into the spreadsheet! Wow - this finance person had never used Notes before, and come up with a work around that was much better / easier to use than the original process. (Note: Although cell background colors are preserved in Open Office, they are miss aligned. Background colors don't paste into MS Excel.) This just goes to show that you never stop learning, and that potentially anybody can teach you something.

Excel 2007 can’t open Lotus 123 spreadsheets

We hit this problem today trying to export a Notes view as a spreadsheet, and import it into Excel. Older versions of Excel could import a wk4 spreadsheet, but not so in Excel 2007. Maybe IBM / Lotus will finally provide a means to export native Excel files directly from Notes (or maybe this is just wishful thinking...!)

Problems with Microsoft Server 2008?

Microsoft obviously run Windows servers, which they tout as highly reliable. Yet their eOpen web site has had a problem for the past 6 days (and maybe longer - it is just that I have been trying to download some software that we purchased for the past 6 days). I can only presume they are upgrading to Windows Server 2008. But that hardly inspires confidence when considering Windows Server. If Microsoft has this much difficulty getting their software to work, what will I experience?

The strangest thing is that I can reach the eOpen page with Firefox, but not with IE. But that doesn't make any difference, because I can't log in anyway.