Customer Service Sample Application
This document describes the Customer Service sample application provided with the
Lotus eSuite DevPack. The document is divided into the following sections:
Introduction
In the Customer Service sample application, customers submit requests
-- for services or information -- in Domino database
forms, which are then processed by a representative (or "rep").
This sample application demonstrates the following basic steps:
- A customer submits a request in the Domino database.
- A rep processing the request selects a reply template, which is a presupplied
document formatted with company letterhead, contact information, etc.,
that represents a standard reply issued by the organization. After
a template is selected, it is displayed in the eSuite word processor
applet, and information from the original request --
first and last name, e-mail address, and problem description --
is automatically merged into the template.
- The rep can then use the editing capabilities of the eSuite word processor to
add response text.
- When the rep saves the completed reply, the eSuite word processor document
is saved in HTML format to the Domino database.
- The final step in the process -- although not implemented in the sample --
would be for an agent or similar automated process to send the composed HTML reply back
to the original requestor via e-mail. The diagram below shows the sequence of events:
Application design topics covered
The Customer Service application illustrates
the following eSuite application design topics:
- Overview of Web application development
in Domino
- Employing eSuite components in a Domino
application
- Using the eSuite word processor applet
- Using eSuite word processor templates
- Saving eSuite applet data to a Domino database
- Using the eSuite ScriptHelper applet
The following applets and additional functional pieces make up the
Customer Service application.
Requirements
- Domino 4.6, pre-release 3 (or later)
server & client
- Internet Explorer 4.0 or Netscape Communicator 4.04
- Microsoft SDK for Java 2.0
- eSuite DevPack Preview
Installing and running the Customer Service application
Follow these steps to install the Customer
Service application on your Domino server.
Note: There is no stand-alone version of this sample application;
installation on a Domino server is required in order
to use the Customer Service sample functions.
- Copy the CustomerService.ntf (database template) file from the
eSuiteDPP\samples\customerservice directory to the Notes data
directory on the Domino server. For example:
copy customerservice.ntf c:\notes\data
- Create a new database, using the File - Database - New
command. For the template, select "Customer Service Example"
(CustomerService.ntf). You must name the new database CustomerService.nsf.
- Open the new database. Select the Agents view. Two agents are shown:
RequestActionAgent and RequestOpenAgent. For each of these, open the agent
and issue the File - Save command. This will save the agent with the signature
of the Domino server ID, which is required for Domino to execute the agent
in response to a web request.
- The eSuite DevPack Preview files
must be installed to a suitable directory, accessible from the
root HTML directory of the Domino server. See the
Installation and Configuration Reference
for details on installing the eSuite DevPack Preview files.
Note: For installations on a server, the default install directory eSuiteDPP must
not be changed. This directory name is coded into the RequestOpenAgent agent in CustomerService.nsf
where the variables "codebase" and "serverbase" are set up.
- Users may access the installed sample
application by using their browser to open the file CustomerService.nsf
on the Domino server. For example, if your server were "myserver",
the required URL would be:
http://myserver/CustomerService.nsf
- The first screen shown is the WebNav navigator of CustomerService.nsf. Click on "Enter a Request"
and fill out a request. Next, click on "Process Requests" from the navigator to see the new request.
Click on that request to get to the ProcessRequest form of CustomerService.nsf. View the source of this
page to see the HTML which uses eSuite (explained in the next section).
The eSuite word processor applet is contained via a pass-through HTML <APPLET> tag
in a Domino form named ProcessRequest, which the rep uses to process a customer request.
This form contains a selection box to allow the rep to select a reply template, such as thankyou.html.
A JavaScript function named doSelect() handles the rep's selection of a reply template
and merges the request data (names, address, email address, and subject) into the word processor
document that is based on the selected template.
To do the merge, the doSelect() function assembles the request data into an
InfoBusVector object, publishes it as an InfoBus data item using the ScriptHelper applet,
and passes the data item name as an argument to the word processor's mergeFirstRecordFromInfoBus method.
After the reply template is selected and the request data is merged into the reply document,
the Save/Return button may be pressed. A JavaScript function named doSave() posts the Domino
form and saves the completed reply to the database.
Files included
The following table describes the files included with the Customer Service application:
File |
Description |
CustomerService.ntf |
Domino database template for application database |
thankyou.html answer.html needinfo.html inforeq.html passwincl.html |
Reply document templates |
success.gif |
Image file |