On April 16, we hosted the official Domino Volt launch webcast. Nearly 1,500 people signed up for the webinar, and we had almost 1,000 live attendees. You can always watch the replay here.

There were about 250 questions were asked during the one-hour time slot. We’ve distilled them down to the following Q&A.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Q. Will Domino Volt be included in HCL SW Partner Pack?

A. Yes, Domino Volt will be included in the Partner Pack by May 2020.

Q. Will HCL provide partners with enablement resources?

A. Yes, starting on April 22, we are delivering education and sales resources to help partners communicate Domino Volt’s value to customers.

Q. Are there plans for a trial version?

A. HCL will make trial versions for Domino Volt available soon.

Q. Is a training course available for Domino Volt?

A. Yes, video tutorials are already available in the Domino Volt Help Center

Q. What is the minimum number of licenses to take advantage of Domino Volt?

A. To purchase Domino Volt, you must buy the equivalent number of users as you have for the underlying Domino user license. Like email we believe the Domino Volt product is for everyone in your organization, so the license is both people using and building apps.

Q. Once licensed, are there any limits to the number of apps can be built with the tool?

A. There are no limits to the number of applications you can create.

Q. How will licensing be handled when anonymous access is available?

A. This will be announced as we get closer to the availability of anonymous usage.

GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY

Q. How does versioning work? Can we create new versions with added functionality and if needed revert back to a prior version?

A. Versions of Domino Volt apps can be made by making copies of them. This can be done through the duplicate option. Domino Volt apps can also be exported giving you the ability to save a version of the app at any given point and then revert back to that version if needed.

Q. Is Domino Volt available in multiple languages and can we create multilingual apps?

A. Yes, Domino Volt supports 31 different languages. Also, there is a sample app available which shows how this can be done. Translated strings are stored in a central DB which apps use to dynamically fetch translated strings based on locale or language preference.

Q. Can you authenticate with Microsoft Active Directory and SAML idProviders?

A. Yes, this is possible. Domino Volt authenticates users based on Domino, which can be configured to work with and sync with Microsoft Active directory. Domino Volt authenticates users based on Domino, which can be configured to work SAML idProviders.

Q. Most of the integration examples I have seen show Domino Volt reading information. Can I also update?

A. Yes, Domino Volt services can create, read, update and delete information if the API you are accessing allows. Each Domino Volt app automatically exposes its data through a REST API which will allow full create, read, update and delete – provided access permission set on the app allow you to do so.

Q. Why does Domino Volt include an entitlement for HCL Enterprise Integrator?

A. Yes, Domino Volt includes an entitlement to HCL Enterprise Integrator. This has been included for future releases of Domino Volt to be able to access data from enterprises databases such as Oracle, DB2, and SQL Server.

Q. Can I use Domino Volt for external people to sign up for an event? Is anonymous usage supported?

A. Building apps for anonymous usage is not supported in the first release of the Domino Volt. This is something HCL will add support for in a future release.

Q. The demo showed some built-in analytics, can these be customized?

A. A limited number of modifications can be made on the summary page which show charts and analytics. This includes which charts you wish to see, the type of chart. The ability to see charts based on data filters will be added soon.

Q. How does Domino Volt handle authentication with REST APIs?

A. Service credentials can be stored in the service configuration or provide at runtime in the form. Credentials are passed to the header section of the call. Additional options for secure interaction with OAuth based REST APIs planned for the product.

Q. We have a standard UI for all our Notes apps. How can we enforce our own custom standard UI across Domino Volt apps?

A. Domino Volt provides an option to include your own CSS. This provides a way to enforce corporate guidelines for usability and branding. Themes included with the product provide a way to consistently style applications

Q. How does my Domino Volt app work on mobile devices?

A. Yes, Domino Volt apps are mobile friendly and responsive by design. The responsive settings can be set to any dynamic range and can include breakpoints for when to collapse to single column and show/hide different elements of your app.

Q. Can we use Domino Volt in a Docker container?

A. Yes, Domino Volt and Domino can be containerized. Details on how to get started can be found at the domino-docker project on GitHub. HCL has plans to offer a single container version of Domino Volt and Domino in the near future.

Q. Is a dedicated server recommended?

A. In most cases this is not necessary. Domino Volt application runs client side with server interaction being limited to when a user opens or saves. This approach allows a single Domino Volt (and Domino) server to scale with little impact on server resource.

Q. Is it possible to lookup information in another Domino database?

A. Yes, this is possible in the first release by Domino Volt making service calls to Domino Access Services. In the next release HCL will introduce direct access to Domino data which will make accessing data much easier.

Q. If you build a Domino Volt app, how can you export the data?

A. Data can be exported from any Domino Volt app in Excel spreadsheet format (xls). Each app can also expose its data through a REST API.

Q. Can we do the role-based workflows?

A. Role-based access is part of the set of workflow capabilities in Domino Volt. Access and permissions in each workflow stage are role-based.

Q. Can Domino Volt be integrated with SAP for fetching of employee master data?

A. This can be done today through services. In the near future we will make this easier to do through HCL SAP Connector and Domino Volts ability to work with Domino data.

DOMINO VOLT ROADMAP

Q. What is the expected release schedule for Domino Volt?

A. In keeping with Verse, Nomad, and AppDev Pack, HCL will release new Domino Volt functionality as continuous updates on a quarterly basis. Details of what will be delivered in the next release will be shared soon.

Q. Is there a public detailed roadmap for HCL Domino Volt?

A. Yes, we have shared our plans for Domino v12 and Domino Volt at Engage 2020. In broad terms, we are focused on enhancing support for Domino functionality, adding a visual workflow experience, enterprise integration, and dedicated mobile app.

Q. Will Domino Volt workflow support parallel tasks, due date notifications and conditional routing? Will a visual workflow designer be introduced?

A. Workflow is a priority focus for the team, and we do plan to add these capabilities in the future

Q. Is HCL planning to integrate Domino Volt with Verse, Connections and Sametime?

The simple answer is yes. Today, customers can immediately embed Domino Volt apps within Connections. Support for Verse and Sametime are currently being explored as candidates for the v12 roadmap.

NOTES AND DOMINO

Q. Can I modify my Domino Volt app so that it can also be used on a Notes Client?

A. Domino Volt apps are Domino apps, so, yes, they can be opened in Notes and with Nomad. You can customize Domino Volt apps in Designer to adding styling and capabilities such as Views for Notes and Nomad client users. The one caveat to keep in mind is that client-side logic in the Domino Volt app will not work in Notes or Nomad.

Q. Is it possible to extend an existing Domino app with a new Domino Volt interface?

A. Domino Volt is designed to both build new apps and extend existing Domino apps with new forms and workflows. It will be able to leverage existing Domino data and agents.

Q. Is there a documented list of Domino Volt artifacts that we should not touch?

A. The HCL development team will provide some documentation and guidance on Domino Volt artifacts which should not be changed by Designer.

Q. Does Domino Volt support HA and Domino Clusters?

A. Not in the initial version. We plan to update Domino Volt at some point so that you can leverage Domino clustering seamlessly.

Q. Can I use DQL in Domino Volt?

A. Domino Volt uses DQL under the covers to provide filtering and sorting capabilities and is one of the reasons why Domino Volt requires v11.0.1 of Domino. Use of custom DQL is not possible today, however, we are planning to enable that functionality in the future.

Q. Views are a significant part of the design of a Domino application. Domino Volt has no View design capabilities equivalent. What are the plans here?

A. We plan to enhance Domino Volt’s capabilities more in line with Domino’s underlying capability. This could include letting you define custom views as part of your app and to include categorization.

Q. When I change the app in Domino Volt, will my customizations from Designer be lost?

A. Changes made in Designer will not be lost when you update your Domino Volt app with the exception of changes to some of the artifacts that are generated by Volt (the subforms, file resources, etc.).

Disclaimer – HCL’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at HCL’s sole discretion. Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development, release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion. Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard HCL benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience will vary depending upon many factors, including considerations such as the amount of multi programming in the user’s job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve results similar to those stated here.