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@DBLookups are powerful and, usually, a fast way to find data within an application. When I first started developing Notes/Domino applications I used lookups everywhere, even if I was getting data from the same document. This is bad for performance.
After a while, I understood that a better way to do this was to do just one lookup, get a summarized value from a document, and then parse out various bits of information to different fields on the form.
To create a summarized string, you usually put some kind of separator between the values in the column formula, or even a hidden field on the form that does the computing of the summarized values -- for even better performance, since the view index will be faster.
For example, a normal string of several values might be: erik~rydberg~sweden~2. You can parse out any value with @left/@right or @word.
There are at least two problems with the above string -- both concern maintaining applications. First, it is hard to figure out what the values are (what does 2 mean in the above example?) Second, it is hard to change the order of the string, remove something that isn't needed anymore or add a value. You can't be sure that nothing is going to break, even if you just add a value at the end of the string – -- especially if you didn't build the application or it was too long ago to remember all the details.
I started to use the following syntax instead:
<firstname>erik</firstname>
<lastname>rydberg</lastname>
<kids>2</kids>.
I also changed the way I extract values from the string. Now I use @Middle instead. To get the number of kids: @Middle(string;"<kids>";"</kids>").
I think it is safe to say that the string is more readable even for someone who didn't develop the application in the first place. Also, it is a lot easier to change the string since it is not as order-sensitive as the old one was.
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This is a very good tip. It's very clear and easy to use, thanks!
—Linda T.
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