Linking Two Different Lotus Notes Databases On Unique Field Value

Question

I am developing an application out of two applications - the 'Staff DB' and a 'Calendar DB'.

I need to link both - so that clicking on a member of staff in the 'Staff DB' then looks up all their information in the 'Calendar DB'.

The link will be made by the UNID of the person, available in both databases and their respective forms.

If i was to write this in SQL it would take me about 5 minutes.

I believe composite applications are the way to go - does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

Using a composite application would work, as you could wire the components together using the UNID. But you could also do this using a "traditional" Notes design. For example, you could design a simple form with a list of names, sourced from the Staff DB, and an embedded view from the Calendar DB. The embedded view could be configured as a "show single category" view, which filters the content to only show calendar entries for the selected UNID. (When you build the view, add a first categorized column of UNID). Set the names list field to refresh the document when changed.

If this is a web-only app, you have other options as well, such as firing an AJAX request to a view URL with a category filter, whenever the name selection changes, etc.

Answer 2

One idea based on my experience linking documents, whether in the same or in separate databases, is to capture the UniversalID and store it in a text item and then look-up the documents using a view sorted by that item.
What you gain is more flexibility in managing the links, as you don't rely on a property (UniversalID) that you cannot change. You lose some performance though - GetDocumentByUNID is supposed to be one of the fastest ways to access a document.