Lotus rallies developers with Web site, aid programme

The software vendor said the approach marks a new area of focus. "Historically, Lotus has never gone to the developer community and said 'Look at this'," said Jim Craig, UK Notes developer programme manager. "With Notes 4, SmartSuite's LotusScript and the Bean Machine Java applet builder, we have serious development tools. We've never taken the time to find out what developers want and we're doing that now."

In tandem, Lotus has kicked off its two-tier Lotus Developer Warehouse Programme, targeting Internet and intranet developers. Free to entry-level members and £69.95 + VAT for Chartered Membership, the programme highlights Lotus Domino and lets users play with code examples and access Lotus support staff. "It's not Noddy stuff," Craig said. "It's hard core stuff like scripts for connecting Domino to SQL links. We've got ScreenCam movies, white papers, support forums, application examples. It's a cool site."