xpages Getting started with xpages

Remarks

Installation or Setup

In short: XPages is part of IBM Domino Designer. Extra setup or installation isn't required for XPages.

---

First XPage / Hello-World-Example

To create your first XPage you have to create a new NSF first. Open the IBM Domino Designer, and open the menu "File" -> "New" -> "Application".

In the popup Dialog make these settings:

1. Select the server where the NSF will be created (can also be "local").
2. Then enter a title, for example "Hello World NSF ".
3. Then enter a file name of your new NSF, for example "hello-world.nsf ".
4. Ignore the "Encription ..." button to keep the default settings.
5. Check the option "full index".
6. Then click "OK".

The new NSF is created.

Now right-click on section "[XPages]" in the application navigator and select "new XPage ...".

1. Enter a title of your new XPage, for example "HelloWorld ". This will create a file named "HelloWorld.xsp".
2. The comment field can be left empty for this simple example.
3. Click "OK", and the page is created.

Double-click at your new HelloWorld XPage, which you can find under the "[XPages]" section.

Select the tab "Source" (which is located at the bottom of the editor), and add a simple textfield component to your page. This should be the result:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xp:view xmlns:xp="http://www.ibm.com/xsp/core" pageTitle="Hello My World">

  <xp:text id="simpleTextField" value="Hello World!!!!" />

</xp:view>
 

Save the page and build the project (right-click at your application "Hello World NSF" and select menu entry "build").

Now, open a browser like Internet Explorer, and navigate to the new XPage of your application's NSF. For example "http://mydominoserver.com/hello-world.nsf/HelloWorld.xsp" and you will see your Hello World text.

Use external texts with message.properties in XPages

Prepare

First create a "message.properties " file in Resources/Files/. Example:

##############
# Test message.properties
##############
label.age=Enter your age:
validate.error.reqired.age=Sorry, but you have to give away the secret of your age ...
 

Next, connect the resource with your XPage or Custom Control:

<xp:this.resources>
    <xp:bundle src="/messages.properties" var="appMsg" />
    ....
</xp:this.resources>
 

Note: The "var" defines the name you want to use in your XPages or Custom Controls to reference the message map.

Usage

Now you can use the message map with server-side JavaScript (#{javascript:appMsg.getString('...')} ) or with EL (#{appMsg['...']} ).

Example usage:

...
<!-- to show the error message: -->
<xp:messages />

<!-- use with ssjs: -->
<xp:text value="#{javascript:appMsg.getString('label.age')}" escape="false" />

<!-- use with EL: -->
<xe:djNumberSpinner value="#{myDoc.age}" maxLength="2" javaType="int">
    <xp:this.validators>
        <xp:validateRequired message="#{appMsg['validate.error.reqired.age']}" />
    </xp:this.validators>
</xe:djNumberSpinner>
...