8.5 mail template on 8.0.1 server

A few questions

What are the benefits of using the 8.5 template instead of the the 8.0.1 template?

Is it possible or safe to use the new template on a 8.0.1 server and then run an 8.5 client against it? Should I just stick to the 8.0.1 template?

Are the new DWA benifirts dependant on the 8.5 template, the 8.5 server or both?

Subject: Arg, it looks horrible

I copied my client’s mail85.ntf to the server (8.0.1), signed it and then replaced a test user’s mail file with the new template.

It looks like the really old webmail. It didn’t like Firefox, after installing the IBM plugin it wanted me to save a npdolctl.dll to my sytstem and then do something with it. I got bored with Firefox at that stage and tried IE. After installing the IBM activeX the client loaded. God, it’s awful!

Subject: Which ui? Lite, ulite, or full?

Subject: Full

Subject: inotes/forms85.nsf?

you may need to add the inotes forms database to the server, dont know what the effects this might have on the http server though.

Looking at my 8.0.1 server i have versions for 5,6,7,8

Subject: I think that’s the reason.

I should have thought of that. I’ll download them next week and try it on a test server.

Subject: Lite doesn’t look good either.

Subject: I can confirm the problem doesn’t happen on a 7.x server

In DWA I get the same as I did with the 8.0 template

Subject: Info on newer release mail template on older DWA server

The newer template will typically reference a newer Forms file (mail8.ntf references iNotes/Forms8.nsf and mail85.ntf references iNotes/Forms85.nsf). This newer Forms file will not be available on the older server. Generally, the newer Forms file WILL NOT work on the older release server as it will likely leverage newer DWA formulas/tags that are not supported by the older server.

DWA is designed to fail back to the default forms file on the current server when it encounters such a scenario. The views will still be using the newer view designs (and there may be some issues if there are newer icons referenced)…but should mostly work.

This should mean you could expect the DWA experience that was with mail8.ntf.

However, in this particular case (with mail85.ntf) we uncovered a bug that required a change to the 8.0.1 server. This has been fixed in 8.0.2. Because of this issue, it is failing back all the way back to the old webmail. (Support has a hotfix for this issue for 8.0.0 and 8.0.1)

Thanks for taking the time to report this issue! (I don’t believe the problem occurs if you fail back to a Domino 7 server…but if someone finds otherwise, please let us know)

Are the new DWA benifirts dependant on the 8.5 template, the 8.5 server or both?

The new benefits are dependent on the newer template, the newer server and the newer Forms file.

  • Vinod Seraphin (DWA Team)

Subject: Hotfix

Thanks Vinod,

What’s the name of the hotfix, it makes dealing with support a bit easier.

Subject: ask for 211.041 to receive the most recent hotfix available for 8.0.1, this hf has this fix.</>

Subject: Thanks for testing. This is not a valid setup, you need template, Forms85.nsf, dlls, and some server changes

Domino\data\domino\html\dwa85.cab, dwa85res_en.dll, dwa85W.cab

Domino\data\mail85.ntf

Domino\data\iNotes\Forms85.nsf

And we will have some server code changes also

We don’t officially test what you are trying to do although it does sometimes work at the start of a new code stream. We are 3 betas in now so I doubt it will work well.

We test 8.0x mailfiles on 8.5 servers - old templates on new servers but not the opposite like you have because of all the dependancies listed above.

Thanks for testing it though. We want to hear feedback on the new beta. We have more good changes coming for the next beta too.

Please let us know what you think of the new UI once you see it working properly.

Thanks!

Jeff Foster, DWA Team