How to create doclinks in database A to forms in another Notes database B. This can be used instead of actually moving the data (using Notes to Notes, Example 14). The advantages of this are: less space utilized, and the ability to offer two levels of security. For example, a personnel database could have all information except salary information, which could be doclink using the Sentinel to a salary only database, with extremely limited access.
Now you can make Notes behave like a relational database system, with multiple tables available for reference from one database.
How Creating Doclinks to Data Works
Think of importing Doclinks just as you might import any other data. The Sentinel needs a key to match the source data to the destination database. All that is added is a Doclink, not the data.
Typical Uses
1. Human Resources wants to separate out confidential information from the employee database. Specifically, it wants doclinks to a) salary database, which is ODBC loaded from the mainframe, and b) benefits database, listing personal sick time, days off, and 401k information. Two separate doclink tasks into two separate fields accomplish this nicely.
2. Sales wants access to all product sales while in a customer record. Size makes this too big to carry around in the main customer database. A doclink task allows people to reference this in the office, and minimizes the size on the laptop.
3. Marketing wants to add profitability information to the customer database. They do not want the field sales staff to see profitability. They create a separate task, with a separate field in the customer database. The ACL on the profitability database prevents Sales from seeing this information.
4. Legal wants to create doclinks from its contract database to the full text searchable database of all legal Word Processing documents (created in example # 13).
Points to Remember
1. The Field Name that will contain the doclink must be entered on the Task form.
2. Always make sure that you have a key to the destination. Sentinel cannot find the Note in the destination database without a key.
3. If the doclink already exists, and is still current, no update is necessary (and no update occurs).
4. Doclinks are much faster than @dblookup buttons.
5. You can have as many doclinks as you need in one document. Just make another task form and run the doclinks into separate fields.
6. If the Sentinel does not find a match to the key, no doclink will be created.
Tips and Techniques
1. Use doclink imports as a secure way to link two separate databases with separate ACLs. One database could contain customer information, with doclinks to customer sales information, which can have a separate and more secure ACL.
2. You can use this feature to minimize the amount of data that remote field staff, working with laptops, need to replicate. Sometimes field staff do not need to always see all the data in the doclinked database. This technique works well in this case.
3. Another technique for databases that are too large, or if that database is too big to replicate conveniently, is to break up that database into two or three separate database. Use the Doclink Task to rejoin them via doclinks. The performance improvement will be significant.
4. Creating multiple doclinks: You can create more than one doclink by putting each doclink into its own field. You can use a table to display the doclinks vertically or side by side.
Sample Uses
1. Use this to break up large databases.
2. Save space by adding quick lookups to static text in another database.