HCL Notes and Domino wiki: Troubleshooting: Prohibit Design Element Tool

Prohibit Design Element Tool

Added by ~Zelda Quethipiskinivu on July 21, 2010 | Version 1

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This tool can be used to fix a mail file that is experiencing various LotusScript or Formula errors caused by the 'Prohibit design refresh or replace to modify' option being enabled on some of its design elements. Errors would most likely start occurring after mail file was upgraded to a newer template version.

The 'Prohibit design refresh or replace to modify' design element option is used to prevent a design element from getting overwritten when a Design Refresh/Replace is performed on the application. When upgrading a mail file to a different template version, if this option is set on any design elements in the mail file, those elements will not get replaced by the version in the new template. This can cause abnormal behavior/appearance when using mail file.

For example, when the mail file opens or when using the mail file, various LotusScript or formula errors occur or parts of the mail file appear like different version of mail file. Errors can include but not limited to the following:

Type mismatch on external name: various_design_element_name
Illegal circular USE: various_design_element_name
Duplicate PUBLIC name various_method_name in USE module various_script_library_name
Variable not declared: various_variable_name
Object Variable Not Set
Formula Error

To resolve these errors (when the 'Prohibit design refresh or replace to modify' option is involved), you must inspect all the design elements of the mail file using the Designer client and disable the option on each element where it's enabled.

This tool was created to make this troubleshooting process easier. It scans all the design elements in a mail file and compares them to the template it's inheriting from. If any design elements are found with the 'Prohibit design refresh or replace to modify' option enabled, it will present them to you in a list and allow you to select and disable the option and then prompt you to refresh the design of the mail file. It will also inform you of all the elements with this option enabled that are not part of the template. You can choose to disable the option on some or all of these elements however, since they are not part of the template, disabling the option on these elements will cause them to be removed from the mail file on the next Design Refresh/Replace.

The 'Prohibit design refresh or replace to modify' option is enabled on all personal folders in a mail file. Disabling the option on personal folders will cause them to be removed from the mail file. This tool will NOT allow you to disable the option on any personal folders.

Requirements
User running tool must have Manager rights to mail file
User running tool must have at least Reader rights to template
This tool has only been tested on English Language mail file/template

Using the Tool
1. Download and extract ProhibitDesignTool.zip to your machine
2. (Optional) Sign the application. When using this application, you will receive various ECL prompts for the Notes ID I used to create this application. If you cannot/do not want to start trusting this ID, follow the instructions in the 'How to Sign an Application' section.
3. Open the ProhibitDesignTool.nsf in Notes or Administrator client
4. Click on the green button next to 'Select the mail file' to select the mail file
5. After processing the mail file, it will fall into at least one of the following scenarios:

How to Sign an Application
1. Place the tool in either the Notes/Data or Domino/Data directory (or subdirectory of Data directory)
2. In the Administrator client, go to File -> Open Server...
3. Choose either Local or the server where you placed the application
4. Navigate to the Files tab
5. Right-click on 'Prohibit Design Tool' and choose 'Sign...'
6. Choose appropriate ID and click OK