Problems with the CKEditor mean that inline attachments don't work reliably.  If you insert an inline image in an xPage rich text control, it either won't load it or loses the reference when you re-establish a new session with the server.

 

This has something to do with the way xPages are kept on the server - if you change the Application Properties - Performance - Server Page Persistence between the three options, you can change the behaviour.  If Server Page Persistence is set to 'Keep Pages in Memory' then adding new inline images doesn't seem to work.  The other two options - 'Keep pages on disk' and 'Keep only the current page in memory' seem to allow the adding of inline images but these seem to fail when a new session is established with the server.

 

This is a problem in an important area, as far as I can see.  I cannot get rich text to work reliably in my applications.  For example, even a basic blogging application needs rich text entry.  And inline images are an essential part of rich text.  I'd love to spread the word about the great stuff that is in xPages as I explore and blog about it, but I find my hands tied behind my back.

 

Frankly, it's getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder whether my interest in Notes/Domino/Xpages is worth the effort.  It's a great product and one I've worked with for many years.  But while things like Project Vulcan, Composite Applications, the Eclipse IDE etc are innovative, the nuts and bolts that developers need to do daily programming tasks must be attended to.  If I can't use rich text in my xPage applications, then I'm not able to develop effectively.  And the most annoying thing?  The Notes Client Rich Text field is still, in my opinion, one of the best controls I have ever seen.

 

So, please, please, please IBM, can the issues with the xpages rich text editor be resolved?