This is a sequel to my previous post, on understanding itemlocations.  What follows are some of my favourite itemlocation tips: Be a Minimalist Get rid of excess baggage in the itemlocation list. So if you have itemlocation entries x, y, width, offs… more »

The Itemlocation list is the heart and soul of IBM Form's layout capabilities. Its well described in the documentation and the Forms courses and tutorials, but there are a few key points that newbies - and I - often forget. Order Matters &#65… more »

When you get past the beginner stages of building an IBM Form, you will start building more and more complex computes and xPaths. Using the built-in compute editor and the built-in xPath editor, you'll want to add a bit of formatting to keep sane … more »

The XFDL Compute "date()" returns "yyyymmdd". The default XForms Date field format is "yyyy-mm-dd". The XForms Date picker seems to understands either "yyyymmdd" or "yyyy-mm-dd" for prepopulation, but will save the date as "yyyy-mm-dd" by default. No… more »

Sometimes you need to get the user to enter a string value with no spaces.   Regexes to the rescue!  Here's a simple field that accepts any string, as long as it doesn't have spaces. … more »

I've been doing a lot of work with IBM Forms (nee PureEdge forms, then Workplace Forms, then Lotus Forms, now IBM forms...) over the past few years.  During the last year or so I've built up a backlog of technical blog posts on IBM Forms ... but my blog… more »

Technological changes happen like tides:  inexorable, imperceptible transitions from one state to another.  We don't realize the change until the water is "suddenly" three feet higher. Note, for instance, the white-noise sound of static.   It is surely… more »

My daughters have a CD .... it's a mixed bag of teenie-bopper hits. Or something like that. I don't claim to know any of these "artists", or recognize any of the songs. However, I have to admit, some of the tunes are not that bad. I can even find mys… more »

Boys and their toys ..... My new toy is an Insignia stereo Bluetooth headset from Future Shop. I have my brother Dave to thank for this ... Davey gave me a lovely set of good quality wireless earphones (not Bluetooth) from Future shop, but knowing that… more »

I need a new cell phone, as my current flip phone has a cracked front display, and the inner display is not in good shape either. Problem: I'm cheap, and I have to stick to the phones offered as part of the corporate plan, since this is not exclusivel… more »

(Apologies to Shelley). So let's get the obvious thing out of the way here first: This is clearly a case of over compensation. I'm not even going to pretend there isn't something Freudian going on here. There, I said it, so you don't have to.… more »

It took me a while, but I've finally switched on to CFLs. (Pun intended, in case you missed it ...) To be fair, the cute little curly bulbs took a while to become likable though. The early versions gave off a harsh light that was difficult to like, an… more »

On the weekend I needed a tool to test out Xpaths, as I was banging away at a final Workplace Form. I was quite delighted to realize that Jedit has a plugin for XQuery (and XSLT for that matter). You have to love Jedit's smooth install of new plugins… more »

Oscar Wilde wrote the importance of being Earnest (which I never read, although it's on my list). Here's my 2007 redux: The importance of writing minutes. Or maybe, to misquote Severus Snape, "the exact art and subtle science of taking minutes". 12 ye… more »

I've been working the last few years on projects related to IBM HR I/T in Canada, and in particular on projects impacting the payroll application. Payroll is interesting for several reasons .... the amount of money involved, the corporate and governme… more »

What a week. I was fortunate to be sent to Anaheim last week for IBM's Technical Leadership Exchange (TLE) conference. What an amazing experience! But Friday night, hours before my plane was to leave, my thinkpad died. It started freezing up afte… more »

[This was originally posted on my internal IBM blog on October 31, 2005] My wife and I did a bit of purging in the spare bedroom on the weekend. At the bottom of a closet packed with boxes of old clothes was a box of binders. My wife and I, both pac… more »