reader fields-the complete reader and author field troubleshooter

Search

Aug

16

Lotus Notes Add comments

The Complete Reader and Author FieldTroubleshooter

Here's a general-purpose Author and Reader field troubleshooting guide. This documentexplains how these fields work and the causes of common perplexities.

There's a helpful tool that analyzes and explains your access to read or edit thedocument, but you should still read the information below so you'll understand what thetool does and what can go wrong.

To begin, look at one of the documents that has the readers fields in it. If the documentsare hidden even from you, the database manager, then you will have to access thedatabase from the server console, or use full access administration, which lets you see alldocuments regardless of Reader access. You may also have to temporarily disable thelocal security property ("Use consistent access control") in the database ACL.

TIP: To prevent the database manager/administrator ever losing read access todocuments, put a Computed when Composed Authors field (not a Readers field) on everyform, with a formula such as "[Admin]". This will allow all members of [Admin] role toread the document, without preventing others from reading it as a Readers field would.

From a view, open the Document Properties box. Here's an example of what it shouldlook like:

Highlight each of your reader fields in turn and look for differences from this ideal image.Note that:

- Field flags must say READ-ACCESS NAMES. If not, read in Domino Designer help aboutIsReaders property of NotesItem.- If there are multiple values, they should appear as separate quoted strings on separatelines. In this case there are two values, "CN=Rex Rightway/O=Pings" and "[Admin]". Ifinstead the value were listed as "CN=Rex Rightway/O=Pings, [Admin]" (or any othercharacter instead of comma) then the problem is that you are storing multiple values as astring instead of a proper multivalue. If this is the problem:

SearchAbout Me

RishiSingapore

Certified Lotus Notesdeveloper with 8+ years

experience in developing and supportingLotus Notes,Quickplce,SharePoint and Javaapplications. Additionally I'm an author of

SharePoint Journals(http://sharepointjournals.wordpress.com/)which focus on SharePoint development and

customization.

View my complete profileRecent Comments

Wiebe, Only solution I found wheneveryou modify a...I have exactly the same problem Rishihas. We'...Here is the Search Domino URLhttp://searchdomino....This problem exists since Note 6.5xIBM/Lotus neve...@Rishi, Best practice which I know is torecompi...

Recent PostsLotus Script agent sometimes unable toinclude Script Library, Any solution ?Is it really hard to deploy customSharePoint applications ?Any clue about this error ?Accessing pdf form fields using DominoJavaWhat is the best place to keep externaljars in Domino Java ?

CategoriesDojo (2)Domino designer 8.5.1 (8)Domino Java (9)Java (1)Lotus Designer 8.5 (3)Lotus Designer 8.5.1 (2)Lotus Designer 8.5.2 (1)Lotus Notes (44)Miscellaneous (3)Quickplace (7)SharePoint (1)Web Development (17)XPage (2)

Let's Connect..

Sites I followThe XPages BlogCode StoreEd Brill

Tips and Tricks for Lotus Domino and Domino Java

Lotus Notes: The Complete Reader and Author Field Troubleshooter http://lotus-blogs.blogspot.com/2007/08/compleat-reader-and-author-field...

1 of 4 20/07/2011 6:01 PM

- Make sure the multivalue checkbox is checked in the field properties.- If you assign the field with LotusScript, assign it from an array with one value in eachelement, as opposed to a string with some character in it as the delimiter. Example: DimreaderNames(0 to 1) As StringreaderNames(0) = "CN=Rex Rightway/O=Pings"readerNames(1) = "[Admin]"doc.Readers = readerNames' If field did not previously exist, tell Notes' it's a Readers field.doc.GetFirstItem("Readers").IsReaders = True

- If assigning the field from macro language, say FIELD Readers := "CN=RexRightway/O=Pings" : "[Admin]" as opposed to "CN=Rex Rightway/O=Pings;[Admin]" (forinstance).- If you use a username, you must use the full canonical username. If you store "RexRightway/Pings" the readers field will not work in all situations. You need that CN=garbage.- Make sure there are not excess characters in the name, e.g. leading or trailing ormultiple consecutive spaces. In other words, always use @Trim.- If the field is not visible in the document properties from the view, but only when thedocument is open, you've probably made the field Computed for Display, or created thedocument using an agent that neglected to set the field as shown above, so that it's notbeing stored in the document when it's saved. To take effect, a readers field must actuallybe saved in the document, before the user tries to access it. Notes looks at thedocument, not the form, when deciding whether to grant access.- Should you have a problem with users being able to read the document whom you thinkshould not have access:- Check whether the READ-ACCESS flag is set on your Readers fields as shown above.- If all Readers fields are blank, anyone can read the document.- An Authors field also allows read access (see below).

Author fields work like Readers fields for all the above tests, except that:

- the Field flags should read READ/WRITE-ACCESS NAMES instead of READ-ACCESSNAMES, and- a blank Authors field does not enable everyone to edit the document. "*" does, though.

1 Response to "The Complete Reader and Author Field Troubleshooter"

Terry Pearson Says:March 11, 2009 1:59 PMThanks for the tips on using Lotus Script to assign multiple values to a readers field. Iwas just running into that very issue, and your post answered my question quickly!

1.

Leave a Reply

Wed, Jul 20th

9:12 AM : Lotus GermanySocial Business Roadshow Berlin /Frankfurt / Ehningen

8:45 AM : Olivier FranchetFirefox 5 et IE 9 supportés avec la sortiedu 8.5.2FP3

8:13 AM : Mitch CohenUpgrading from 32 bit to 64 bit Domino(what is a flatform?)

8:13 AM : Jonathan Distad20 reasons not to collaborate – youenjoy a silo-driven company

View posts from 300+ Lotus bloggers atplanetlotus.org

Archives

► 2010 (13)► 2009 (53)► 2008 (11)▼ 2007 (29)

► December (3)► November (1)► October (2)► September (2)▼ August (13)

Profiling LotusScript Agents inLotus Notes/Domino...

Inline PDF viewing in quickplaceAll About pre-delivery(Before new

mail arrives) ag...Before new mail arives agentLotus Notes/Domino 7 application

performance: Part...The Complete Reader and Author

Field Troubleshoote...How does the Notes Indexer work?What causes Notes database

indexes to rebuild?IBM Redbooks | IBM Lotus Notes

and Domino 8 Deploy...Quickplace:Corrupt data exception

while adding new...Quickplace: Creating a new

welcome pageQuickplace: How to resolve

"Document has been dele...Quickplace : What to do when you

get 'Invalid docu...

► July (8)Ed Brill

Bob Sutor: IBM to donate Symphonycode to Apache for considerationAllThingsD: IBM’s Cloud Is Big in JapanWith Two New Data CentersFrom Alistair Rennie’s Enterprise 2.0presentation: "The enterprise itself ischanging forever"IBM at 100: We’ve always been aboutcommunicationDominoPoint Italy conference recap

Notes Design BlogA question for you about NotesAdvanced search


2 of 4 20/07/2011 6:01 PM

Comment as:

Links to this postCreate a Link

Calling all video criticsMany thanks to Joyce Davis forcoordinating the IBM Championselection processXPages controls from Extension LibraryprioritizationDo those Sametime status messageinfluence what you use tocommuniciate? (short survey!)

Best Practice Makes PerfectWhat I’ve been working on...Creating a replica ID item for adminprequestsWhat is this boy doing?LS2J static method calls and a littleintrospectionAnother way to make an efficientdate/based view

The IBM Lotus Community IdeaJam (allideas)

Notes Client / Mail: Move Stationery andRules to top section of left navigatorNotes Client / Mail: Make key navigatorsin mail not scrolled with folders listTraveler / : Add support for Tasks/ToDosIdea Jam / Other: Create one list thatshows the current version/fix pack levelfor IBM products, preferrablyLotus/Domino AppsNotes Client / Mail: Search in LotusNotes-display unread emails withinsearch results

Microsoft SharePoint Products andTechnologies Team Blog

October 2010 Cumulative Updates forSharePoint & Project Server 2010RepublishedEric Swift on Connecting Lync toSharePointSharePoint 2010 October CumulativeUpdate Issue: Details and WorkaroundCritical Information about theSharePoint Server 2010 OctoberCumulative UpdateEric Swift on Office 365

Java blogsHow to get C like performance in JavaHow much Java SE 7 is secure than JavaSE 6Spock Grails environment extensionApache Tomcat 7.0.19 ReleasedApache Isis 0.1.2 (incubating) Released

ScottGu's Blog(.NET)June 26th Links: ASP.NET, ASP.NETMVC, .NET and NuGetFree “Guathon” all day event in Londonon June 6thUpcoming Conference talks in Norway,Germany and the UKGreat Free Video Training on ASP.NETWeb Forms and ASP.NET MVCASP.NET MVC 3 and the @helper syntaxwithin Razor

The Official Google BlogUsing data to protect people frommalwareg.co, the official URL shortcut forGoogle websitesShareable Google News badges for your


3 of 4 20/07/2011 6:01 PM

favorite topicsWhat Do You Love?Hats off to the winners of the inauguralGoogle Science Fair

Subscribe To

Posts

Comments


4 of 4 20/07/2011 6:01 PM

reader fields-the complete reader and author field troubleshooter

Documents