Astonishingly simple

I don’t have much time to write today, but I wanted to post something about my first foray into programming for the Blackberry.  I took an existing phone directory application and had it working well for the Blackberry in less than an hour!  Domino (as usual) does much of the HTML work for you, and you can detect when a BB is asking for the page so that you can provide special HTML, or even a specific form.  For example, the form formula I use to serve a different form to the BB is:

@If(@Contains(@GetHTTPHeader(“User-Agent”);”BlackBerry”);”BB-Personnel Information”;”Personnel Information”)

The Blackberry specific form is very simple with no tables and no unnecessary graphics (all those hours designing terrible UIs in version 4.6 have finally paid off!).  If you have been hesitating at all, I encourage you to take some baby steps into developing for the Blackberry, as I have.  It is much easier than I ever imagined.  I’m sure it can get trickier and more robust, but it’s nice to get something going so quickly.

For more details, start here.