CoexLinks 3.0 - New release and new roadmap

Last night, Genii Software released CoexLinks 3.0, the next major version of our highly regarded coexistence and migration software. As part of the new release, there are now three components to the CoexLinks product, all bundled together and sharing the same license and the same cost. 

CoexLinks: The core extension manager product that runs on an IBM Lotus Domino server. CoexLinks recognizes doclinks created either by users in IBM Lotus Notes or by applications running in either IBM Lotus Notes or IBM Lotus Domino. Doclinks can be converted to Notes URL hotspots, Web HTTP hotspots or NDL attachments. Selective conversion can be done for links from specific databases to allow gradual migration of some Notes applications to a web-based interface. In external email systems, hotspot links will act as Notes doclinks whether by triggering the Notes URL or launching the NDL attachment.

CoexLinks Clipper: A windows menu add-in that allows a user to copy a doclink, view link or db link onto the Windows clipboard in a format which will paste a matching link into an Outlook email or other products such as word processors that accept HTML pasting. This allows a use who has migrated to Outlook for email to continue to share Notes doclinks with other users in Notes, Outlook. As this utility evolves, it will also allow pasting of NDL attachments when CoexLinks is configured to use NDL attachments, and pasting of various links into Gmail, which does not accept the same clipboard formats.

CoexLinks Fidelity: A separate extension manager product which renders Notes rich text messages into high quality MIME so that tables, links, fonts, margins and such appear in the destination email the way they did in Lotus Notes. Also enhances rendering of message in iNotes. Going forward, this rendering will be tuned further to meet the needs of different email systems, but from its launch, this is compatible with all current versions of MS Outlook and Google Mail/Gmail. The CoexLinks Fidelity component will be available in approximately one week.

CoexLinks continues to enhance the coexistence and migration experience for those choosing to move from IBM Lotus Notes/Domino email to alternate email systems.

What has been said:

1018.1. Richard Schwartz (09/13/2012 06:10 PM)

Does Clipper depend on the NotesURL format that more recent versions of Notes client put on the clipboard, or were you actually able to reverse engineer the old format (which as I recall was OLE-based)?

1018.2. Ben Langhinrichs (09/13/2012 06:44 PM)

Rich - In the current version, I am not touching the native clipboard functionality at all, but simply adding actions via a menu-addin. I am looking at intercepting the normal Edit - Copy As Link for a future version, but decided it was worth gettin this out there as a number of customers have wanted it.

Incidentally, I think I dd reverse-engineer the earlier format a while ago, for a different project. I'd have to look through my code snippets to be sure.

1018.3. Richard Schwartz (09/13/2012 08:33 PM)

I can't remember when it was that I was last looking at it, but it was probably 2005-ish. I gave up on it and talked to IBM engineers to tell them that it really ought not to be that hard. I believe that they've added a NotesURL format since then.

1018.4. Ben Langhinrichs (09/13/2012 08:56 PM)

Rich - I'm not sure that it matters much now, especially since I am just creating my own HTML and/or file snippet. I don't need to read their format at all, no matter which type it is.

1018.5. Richard Schwartz (09/13/2012 09:42 PM)

True enough with your own menu addin. I was thinking the other way around. I.e., as an outlook plugin that reads the clipboard formats Notes client creates and converts into something useful.