Domino Designer is the development tool for Notes applications. It is where you build forms, views, agents and XPages.
Domino Designer is the development tool for Notes applications. It is where you build forms, views, agents and XPages. Designer is part of HCL Notes and is installed with the client, but requires its own licence for developers.
What do you build in Domino Designer?
A Notes application consists of design elements that all live in the same NSF file as the data. The most important are:
- Forms, which define which fields a document has and how it looks.
- Views, which are sorted and categorised lists of documents. Views are Notes' answer to SQL queries.
- Agents, which run code in LotusScript, the formula language or Java.
- Frames, pages and outlines, which form the navigation.
- Script libraries with shared code.
- XPages for web and mobile.
Rapid development
Designer's strength is speed. An experienced developer can build a working case management application with form, view, access control and mail notification in a day. That is why companies have hundreds of Notes applications. The weakness is that the speed has also produced applications without documentation or structure. Those are typically the ones we are asked to take over.
Designer is based on Eclipse
Since version 8.5 Designer has been built on Eclipse. That provides syntax colouring, search across design elements and the option of version control in Git through DXL export. We always recommend keeping application design in Git, so changes can be traced.
Common questions about Domino Designer
Can Designer run on a Mac?
No. Designer is Windows only. Mac developers use a virtual machine.
Does Designer cost extra?
Designer requires a developer licence, but HCL offers it free to developers who register.
What is the alternative to Designer?
Domino Leap for low code, or a modern frontend against Domino REST API.
Help with development
We take over, document and extend Notes applications. Read about Notes development and maintenance.