Is there a way to preformat a message in lotus notes?

Question

I frequently send e-mails regarding inventory with a very particular format. I'm trying stationary and am wondering is there something that checks if the right number of characters are entered for the serial numbers? For example one serial number is 5 characters I had only typed 4 before sending the e-mail. The number of serial numbers I need to enter in a given e-mail is variable but the format is to have a tab space between two (related ones) and the a new line.

I'm thinking of the formatting features a spread sheet would have.

Answer 1

There's nothing built-in that would do this for you without programming, but a Notes developer could write an application for you.

How a developer might approach it would depend on what version of Lotus Notes you have, and possibly on what skills the developer has. The "traditional" way of doing it with older versions of Notes would be to give you a custom form that you can fill in. The fields on the form could include validations for the format of your serial numbers, or even a lookup to make sure that the serial number corresponds to a valid inventory item. When you have filled in the details, you would click a button and it would format your email for you. With newer versions, instead of a custom form, a developer might be able to give you a custom plugin that lets you write free-form messages but still provides the checking that you want.