Notes 8: How the Help About Dialog pulls data
Tuesday 17th March, 2009Here's a screen shot from my Notes install which I manually modified. Can you guess which version of Notes am I running?
More important, how did I do this?
The "Help - About" Dialog pulls the version numbers from two different locations.
First, C:\...\Notes\framework\shared\eclipse\plugins\com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430\about.mappings
(if a hotfix is installed the folder will most likely contain the hotfix version like "\...\com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430-CCH3\about.mappings")
also part is pulled from "C:\...\Notes\nstrings.dll" using a variable name.
Part of the information (objects 0, 1, 2, 3 & 5) are pulled directly from the about.mappings files and object 4 is pulled from the "nstrings.dll" file through the variable name in object 4 in the about.mappings.
Most Notes 8 client hotfixes contain both a Standard and Basic client hotfix. The Standard client hotfix updates Expeditor piece of Notes along with the version numbers on the left identified by the CCH1 and CCH2 listed in my first screen shot above. The Basic Client hotfix updates the DLL and EXE files thus updating the nstrings.dll that reflects the version number listed on the right side of my first screen shot above. Some Notes 8 client hotfixes could be a Basic only or Standard only client hotfix installer so not all versions will be updated on the Help - About.
When you unzip a client hotfix file, the "deploy" and "updateSite" folders are for the Standard client hotfixes and then in the "deploy\hotfix" folder you will find the basic client hotfix installer.
The Standard portion of the hotfix installer in the "deploy" and "updateSite" folder will typically unregister the "com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430" folder and then install and register a new "com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430-CCH3" folder with an updated "about.mappings" file.
So, if this is all customizable, is there a way to tell what hotfix may or may not be installed? I would recommend checking for the file "C:\...\Notes\framework\rcp\deploy\fix.ini". This file will also tell you what hotfix was last installed.
[HOTFIX]
Version=HHF234
NotesFixPath€2HF736_W32_basic.exe
ForVersion=20080809.0430
ProductName=IBM Lotus Notes 8.0.2 HHF234
More important, how did I do this?
The "Help - About" Dialog pulls the version numbers from two different locations.
First, C:\...\Notes\framework\shared\eclipse\plugins\com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430\about.mappings
(if a hotfix is installed the folder will most likely contain the hotfix version like "\...\com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430-CCH3\about.mappings")
also part is pulled from "C:\...\Notes\nstrings.dll" using a variable name.
Part of the information (objects 0, 1, 2, 3 & 5) are pulled directly from the about.mappings files and object 4 is pulled from the "nstrings.dll" file through the variable name in object 4 in the about.mappings.
Most Notes 8 client hotfixes contain both a Standard and Basic client hotfix. The Standard client hotfix updates Expeditor piece of Notes along with the version numbers on the left identified by the CCH1 and CCH2 listed in my first screen shot above. The Basic Client hotfix updates the DLL and EXE files thus updating the nstrings.dll that reflects the version number listed on the right side of my first screen shot above. Some Notes 8 client hotfixes could be a Basic only or Standard only client hotfix installer so not all versions will be updated on the Help - About.
When you unzip a client hotfix file, the "deploy" and "updateSite" folders are for the Standard client hotfixes and then in the "deploy\hotfix" folder you will find the basic client hotfix installer.
The Standard portion of the hotfix installer in the "deploy" and "updateSite" folder will typically unregister the "com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430" folder and then install and register a new "com.ibm.notes.branding.version_8.0.2.20080809-0430-CCH3" folder with an updated "about.mappings" file.
So, if this is all customizable, is there a way to tell what hotfix may or may not be installed? I would recommend checking for the file "C:\...\Notes\framework\rcp\deploy\fix.ini". This file will also tell you what hotfix was last installed.
[HOTFIX]
Version=HHF234
NotesFixPath€2HF736_W32_basic.exe
ForVersion=20080809.0430
ProductName=IBM Lotus Notes 8.0.2 HHF234
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