I can say without question that every script I write will be better than it would have been in any previous version. The feature I'm about to show you is one of the reasons -- but not the only one. There is a lot to talk about, so first let me dispense with the disclaimers -- Notes 8.5.1 is still in beta. Absolutely anything I say about what I've seen, heard, or used is still subject to change without notice, and no ship dates that I can talk about are confirmed. In fact, it may be an entirely different product by the time you get it. Probably not, but it could happen.

Lotus Notes & Domino 8.5.1 is the new "best choice". It will go down as one of those classic versions you turn to when you want something to build from. I've been using early code drops since before Lotusphere 2009 -- some of them were pretty rough, but even from the first first I installed I was convinced that 8.5.1 was already better than 8.5.0 even though that was the production version. As the code drops become more rich, new features were included, and performance and stability got better and better, I couldn't wait to talk about what we were seeing. There are things that didn't make it. I'll talk about those too, but not today. For now, only good things.

This is the feature I'm the most proud of -- because it's one that we, as Design Partners, really had a lot of influence in getting done. I've been told that it would have been pushed out to a later release without our strident vocal.....discussions. As design partners, we were able to explain why a feature like this that is seemingly so small, will have such a huge impact on the product. This one feature makes all the weekly conference calls, all the un-install/re-install of code drops, and all the sometimes rough early code drops worth it.

There's no way I'm going to be able to cover everything in one or two posts, so let this be just the introduction -- and a taste of my FAVORITE new feature -- If you write Lotusscript, you absolutely unquestionably have to use the new CODE TEMPLATES feature. Pictured below is a very basic one. Any time I declare a new function, this basic error handling routine is instantly built right in. This one is pretty simple - it just reports the error, the line number, and the name of the function. Nothing super secret here -- except that this kind of error handling gets overlooked when you're in a hurry or doing something you don't think will be around that long. It shouldn't, but it does.

Not any more -- thanks to this little gift, under preferences in Designer.