What is a .NSF file seen in some web client?

Source: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?64318-What-is-NSF-files


NSF/Notes/Domino is not a scripting language and is not similar to ASP/PHP. NSF stands for "Notes Storage Facility". The system architecture is roughly as follows:

Code:

+----------------+
| Notes (client) |
+----------------+
         |
+----------------+
| Domino (server)|
+----------------+
         |
+----------------+
|   .NSF file    |
|(Notes database)|
+----------------+

So an NSF file is just the database that Domino uses. Even the term "database" is a misnomer. The NSF contains security rules, application code and data all in one file, and can also normally be accessed directly from the client without using a Domino server. Each Domino application/website/whatever can be one or more databases.

The Notes/Domino system is fairly unique. It's an entire infrastructure that handles security, storage, scripting etc. The closest alternative I can think of is Zope, but even that doesn't do everything Notes/Domino can do.

In terms of development languages, you can use C, Java, LotusScript (kind of like VBScript), Formula Language (a proprietary very high level language) and probably one or two others.

In terms of "is it any good", that depends on what you need to do, and how you need to do it. For some things, it can't be beaten.

In terms of where can you get a copy - it costs $$$  However if you want to try developing in a superficially similar environment (as far as web apps are concerned anyway) give Zope a go.