What would you choose - XPages or old forms style development?

Most of our Lotus Notes developers do not have XPages experiance. They are used to doing old style forms development.

We are d开发者_C百科esigning a new Lotus Notes database application that is required to be used in disconnected (offline) mode.

Why would we use XPages in this application instead of using old forms based application? (Keep in mind the existing skill set, learning curve and disconnected feature requirements).

As David said there are many enhancements in Notes 8.5.3 which make the disconnected XPages experience much better. With the latest Upgrade Pack 1 you can even install a supported version of the extension library which allows very rich applications to be deployed. 8.5.3 UP1 works on non windows clients also.

Newbs

I really don't think there is any reason to consider using XPages for an application which will be used, even in part, off-line. Off-line support is just not there (8.5.1 and earlier, at least). And XPage applications are generally less coupled to the Notes client - meaning, you would have a harder time doing things like scripting replications, updating the notes.ini file, etc.

I do highly recommend use of XPages for any web-centric applications, as the development model id a vast improvement over Domino forms and pages. But for a disconnect app, I think you have a lot to lose and not much to gain.

Not sure this is still a relevant question based on timing, but as of Notes 8.5.1 XPages in The Notes Client was available. There are some quirks with it but it's much better in 8.5.3. The big key really is... if the app is going to be local - use local data. Don't try to have a local app that hits server side data.

My 2 cents.

Your question has a number of discussion threads, but I'll try be as concise as possible. I am going to be presumptuous here and say, what you're really asking is "Should I try and do XPages for offline apps ?"

Currently, XPages offline capability is not supported, but there is some recent discussion and widgets leading in that direction that would indicate it is possible, however it is not a vendor supported solution.

Even if you could work offline, there is a learning curve and "keyboard mashing" exercise in working it out. If you're Notes client fleet is pre-release 8. I would recommend you stay with "old forms" development. I am not sure how much the Evolution Transformer by GBS would help you here. It's just been release after an extensive beta. This may take some short term pain out of the equation if constrained by time and money to deploy an offline Xpages application based on the discussion link above.

Each company that has invested in inhouse developed applications has a unique situation depending on business demands, budget, plain ol'tenaciousness etc. The Notes client is un-surpassed for economical application development effort for both connected and offline compatibility of apps. Weigh up your determining factors and the decision becomes easier to make.

The XPages learning curve in my guestimate is easily 3-6 months of re-tooling. It's faster if you have a mentor leading you through it.