Summary:
The NotesViewColumn class currently lacks the ability to programmatically read the "Style" setting (General, Number, Date/time, Names) defined in the column's Advanced Format properties. Implementing a read-only Style property would enable robust, context-aware data processing.
Current Limitation:
In a Notes View, the column format "Style" (located in the "Advanced Format" tab of the column properties) is essential for understanding the intended data type of a column's content. However, this metadata is inaccessible via the LotusScript.
Proposed Solution:
Add a new read-only property to the NotesViewColumn class.
Property Name: Style (or FormatStyle)
Data Type: Integer (with predefined constants) or String
Return Values: Corresponding to the UI: "GENERAL", "NUMBER", "DATETIME", "NAMES" (or integer constants like STYLE_GENERAL = 0, STYLE_NUMBER = 1, etc.).
Specific Use Case & Benefit:
A primary application is data export and serialization. When programmatically extracting view data (e.g., to JSON, XML, or a custom format), knowing the column's defined style allows for intelligent data type conversion. This prevents all values from being exported as generic strings and enables:
Reduced payload size: Numbers and dates can be exported in their native, non-string format, significantly reducing token count and data redundancy.
Preserved data fidelity: Consumers of the exported data receive structured, typed information instead of ambiguous strings.
Simplified client-side processing: Importing applications can directly interpret the data without complex and fragile type-guessing logic.
Example of Impact (Payload Optimization):
Without this property, a date column's value is exported as a literal string (e.g., "12/31/2024"). With the property, the exporting script can identify it as DATETIME and output an ISO date string ("2024-12-31T...") or a numeric timestamp, which is typically more compact and unambiguous.
Request:
Please consider implementing this property in a future release of HCL Domino. This change would provide developers with a critical piece of metadata, fostering cleaner, more efficient, and more reliable data interchange solutions built on the Domino platform.
Joe Herrmann
