How can we calculate Function Points for the Lotus notes applications.
We need to calculate this to rate the complexity of the Notes applications.
thanks
Subject: Re: How to calculate function point/complexity of the Lotus Notes application
You could, of course, do a design synopsis (either with the built-in feature or using an outside tool such as TeamStudio Analyzer). The resulting output contains all the lines of code in the application, as well as descriptions of the options selected for each design element. You can then review this output to count function points.
However, I’ve never heard of function points being calculated on a Notes application, don’t quite know how you’d do it, and I’m not sure it’s a useful thing to do. Since a lot of design work in Notes isn’t done by writing code, it’s not a good measure of the work involved in creating the application.
For instance, to create a GUI in Notes, you use a word-processor like UI to design a form. This is not a case of code being generated in response to your creating fields and setting their characteristics, as with most visual design tools. Instead, a description of the form is stored and interpreted at runtime. You never get to see the code that does this work, and since it’s not written anew for each application, it can’t really be counted as part of the work of the application; and yet, a lot of work can go into designing a form and getting all its bits to work together properly, even when there’s very little code involved. You could get a rough idea by counting fields, I suppose, but some fields take more work than others, even without code.
There are also multiple programming languages within most Notes applications, and as I’m sure you’re aware, different languages have different expressive power. I’m not sure what you would do with macro language. An @DbLookup call, for instance, involves considerably more work to setup and get working than @MailSend, even though they are syntactically at the same level of complexity. It’s not fair to count them the same. And yet, repeating the same or a similar lookup in another formula within the same application takes little additional effort.
Not to mention, Notes applications are often interrelated. They often look up information in other Notes databases or let users navigate there, or fill in a form in another database supplying default field values, or interact with the user’s mail file – by sending out notices and having particular places that these notices link to, for instance. The interrelatedness of a Notes application with other parts of the environment is often a significant part of its complexity.
Subject: RE: Re: How to calculate function point/complexity of the Lotus Notes application
I know Function point does not have real meaning for Lotus Notes Applications.there for I had also written how to find out the complexity of any application.
This may be reqd for costing etc…
Is there any white paper or write up on this.
Subject: Google “domino points”
Subject: How to calculate function point/cimplexity of the Lotus Notes application
ToJava have a java based application to check the complexity of the Notes application. check it out
http://www.to-java.com/Downloads.htm
William