DOTS - considerations about a real cool gem for IBM Domino

Have you ever heard about DOTS - the Domino OSGi Tasklet Service? If not, check it out. And consider some important information.

The Domino OSGi Tasklet Service (aka DOTS aka JAVADDIN) was originally a project on OpenNTF. You’ll find some sources and examples directly on OpenNTF. In addition my friend Serdar had a great session about DOTS at Connect 2013. Our company is using the OpenNTF edition of DOTS in several applications and products. For us they are working like a charm - if you know what to do and how to handle possible problems regarding the underlying framework.

There are some things _you_ should know about DOTS:

• IBM will deliver the DOTS server task with IBM Domino 9. But not with the standard installation - you’ll have to install the Social Edition add-on. So check if your license entitlement allows you to do so.
• You have to uninstall the OpenNTF edition of DOTS before migrating your server to Domino 9.
• IBM uses DOTS for their social stuff. You won’t get support for your custom tasklets. Point. Exclamation mark! Don’t expect help from IBM if your tasklets are crashing Domino.
• Check your Java knowledge. Having a good understanding of Java development is good, having a good understanding of plug-in development is better.
• The Extension Manager component for database hooks is not delivered with IBM Domino 9. You can use the OpenNTF edition for that - on your own risk. It’s working, but you need to know what you’re doing.
• The OpenNTF project for the task isn’t actively maintained (as IBM has used/modified the source code internally and because people have changed jobs at IBM). Expect an update around the release of Notes/Domino 9. But again: no support for that.

As said - I love DOTS. Getting rid of the Agents and/or LotusScript on the server-side is IMHO one of the biggest advantages. As with any other technology you have to check what you can do and what you can’t do - and what risk are you ready to bear on your shoulders.