Meet Seascape for Notes. It preserves Lotus Notes documents and views outside of IBM Notes and Domino.
While helping customers export IBM Lotus Notes application data to PDF for the past seven years, we at SWING Software have come across nearly every export scenario there is. This includes the simple scenarios in which the data can be exported manually within minutes and extends all the way to the most complex ones that require extremely careful planning and execution.
During these seven years, it wouldn’t be far off to say that we learned something new with each gigabyte exported. And we’ve worked hard to keep up with our customers and provide solutions on the go. As a result, our PDF Converter solution today is packed with a wide range of features that can be used to tackle the most demanding of IBM Lotus Notes export projects — right out-of-the-box.
Yes, it’s nice to have the Notes documents and attachments saved as PDF collections or PDF binders. Yes, it’s nice to have the document view structure retained in a folder structure on the disk. And yes, it’s also nice to have Notes metadata saved as XML files or even imported directly into SharePoint.
But one piece of the puzzle was still missing: Notes application views.
One of the crucial requirements for application archiving is to enable users to see the archived information in its original context. For Lotus Notes applications, this context is presented via document views and form layouts. As such, we set out to provide a way of retaining that information context even outside of Lotus Notes, using portable archives that do not require an application server to run and that are easy to deploy.
Enter Seascape for Notes, the latest offering from the SWING Software team. Seascape for Notes transforms the Notes view structures into a modern web user interface, which is then used to access the Notes documents saved in the background as PDF/JSON files. The interface also features search, sort, and document link capabilities, while a side pane provides quick access to the document metadata and attachments.
And that’s basically it. No application servers or databases are needed. It’s quick, simple, and lightweight. But at the same time also robust, powerful, and highly practical. Now you can finally retire legacy Notes applications while retaining access to Notes views and documents. All data is saved in open formats that a lawyer or a business person will be able to use and understand in 10+ years from today (which is typically not something that can be said of proprietary archiving formats such as NSF).
Below is a short demo showing how a sample Notes application gets archived using Seascape. To try this on your own, feel free to to grab a free trial here. We’d love to hear what you think about this new product, so feel free to send us your thoughts/comments here.
Key benefits
Familiar interface. Exported Notes documents can be accessed using a web browser in nearly identical fashion as you would in Lotus Notes. Full support for document views, parent-child relationships, and document links is offered.
Complete document retention. Both the Notes document form layout and the field values are recreated in PDF format, a must-have for long-term document archiving. Additionally, all field data is also saved in JSON files.
Data independence. Seascape eliminates the risk of proprietary or platform lock-in by using open standards, which allows you to access your archives quickly and easily 10+ years from today, using only a web browser.
Cost savings. Reduce your operating costs by removing old/legacy data from your live applications. Simplify planning of your application and server retirement without needing to worry about how and where your data will be saved.
Simple licensing. A one-off licensing model provides full control over your data export budget, and there are no recurring fees to access your application data.
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