10 Minute Guide to Lotus Notes Mail 4.5 - 24 - Creating a New Mail Replica In this lesson, you learn about replication, how to create a new Mail replica, and how to copy from the Public Address Book. Understanding Replication Your home server in the office stores a number of databases. When you are in the office and connected to the network, you can open databases on the server directly from your workstation. When you are not in the office, however, you can only access the server by using a modem. If you have a lot of work to do in a database, (such as reading and replying to mail) staying on the phone line can be costly. Also, working via modem is much slower than being on the network in the office. Lotus Notes lets you read and reply to mail offline through replication, the process of "synchronizing" the same databases on different computers. It is actually a special type of copying process. Replication does not overwrite the entire database file. It only updates the documents you modified, and it does the same thing for everyone who replicates the database. Then as people call in and replicate a database, they get the most recent copy of the documents in the database on their own computers. The server receives their changes, and the server sends them any updates that have occurred since they last replicated. Eventually, the modifications get around to everyone using the database. How Replication Works When you are ready to replicate a database, you place a telephone call from your computer (using your modem) to the server in your office. Once the two computers "shake hands" and recognize each other, your computer begins sending any updates you made to the database replicas. Then your computer receives any modifications made to the database since you last replicated. Figure 24.1 How replication works. Each database has a unique replica ID that identifies it as a genuine replica, and not just a copy of the database (see Figure 24.2). If the database on your computer does not have the same ID as the one on the server, the server won't replicate the database. Before replicating, the server also checks to see when the database on your computer was last modified. If that date is more recent than the date the database was last successfully replicated, then the database replicates. Lotus Notes maintains a replication history of each database you replicate (see Figure 24.3). Figure 24.2 The replica ID. Figure 24.3 The replication history. When the database replicates, it updates only those documents that have been changed since the last replication. Each document has its own unique Notes identification number assigned to it when it is first saved (see Figure 24.4). Part of that number is a document-level sequence number that increases each time you modify the document. If the number is higher for a particular document than the database on the server, then it gets replicated to the server. Figure 24.4 A unique Notes identification number. When replication is complete, you'll hang up. You'll now have an updated copy of the database on your PC. Creating a New Mail Replica Once you set up your computer for mobile use, as described in Lesson 23, the next step you should take is to create a new Mail replica. You need to call the server to do this. This step is only necessary if you don't see your Mail database on your workspace. You should also talk with your Notes administrator and confirm with him that you need a new Mail replica. Calling the Server To place a call from your computer to the server: 1. Choose File, Mobile, Call Server from the menu. The Call Server dialog box appears (see Figure 24.5). Figure 24.5 The Call Server dialog box. 2. Pick the name of the server you want to call (if you have more than one). 3. Click Auto Dial. If you call from a location that requires you to call an operator first before placing an outside call: 1. Choose File, Mobile, Call Server. 2. Click More Options. The expanded Call Server dialog box appears as shown in Figure 24.6. 3. Click Manual Dial. 4. When you see the Notes prompt, pick up the phone and call the operator. 5. Once the operator connects you to the outside line, dial the phone number of your server. 6. When the connection is made, hang up the phone and click OK. Figure 24.6 The expanded Call Server dialog box. Making New Replicas Making a new replica is a one-step process. When you finish this lesson, Lesson 25 will show you how to update this replica on an ongoing basis. It's very important to make a new replica of a database only once: 1. Choose File, Replication, New Replica; or click the New Replica SmartIcon. 2. The Choose Database dialog box appears (see Figure 24.7). Figure 24.7 The Choose Database dialog box. 3. Under Server, choose your home server (if you are not currently connected, Lotus Notes will prompt you to call the server). 4. From the Database list, select the file you want to replicate. Mail files are usually located in the \Mail subdi- rectory or folder, and your Mail file has your name on it. 5. Click Select. 6. In the New Replica dialog box (see Figure 24.8), type the same title for your database as you saw in Figure 24.7. Notes does not automatically fill in the title field. Figure 24.8 The New Replica dialog box. 7. Use the same file name for your database as indicated on the server copy. 8. Under Create, click Immediately. 9. Remove the check mark from Copy Access Control List. 10. Click OK. After this, any time you want to replicate (update) your mail you'll use the Replicator page as shown in Lesson 25. Copying Addresses to the Personal Address Book Now that you can create and send Mail messages from outside the office, make sure that you have the addresses you need in your Personal Address Book. You have two choices here: either copy information from the Public Address Book into your Personal Address Book as described here, or make a local copy of the Public Address Book as described under "Replicating the Public Address Book" that immediately follows. 1. While still online with your home server, choose File, Database, Open. 2. Under Server, select the name of your home server. 3. From the Database list, choose the name of your Public Address Book. 4. Click Open. 5. Open the People view. 6. Click in the left margin next to the names of the people documents you want to copy. A check mark will appear in front of each name to show it's selected. 7. Choose Edit, Copy, or click the Edit Copy SmartIcon. 8. Press ESC to return to your workspace. 9. Open your Personal Address Book by double-clicking its icon and open the People view. 10. Choose Edit, Paste or click the Edit Paste SmartIcon. In this lesson, you learned about replication, making a new Mail replica and copying addresses from the Public Address Book to your Personal Address Book. In the next lesson, you learn how Mail works for mobile users.

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