Lotus Notes NDL File - Location, Create and Recover Error

What is an NDL file in Lotus Notes?


NDL is a link file which is used by Lotus Notes known by its business productivity and collaborative application suite. It contains a reference to Lotus Notes Document saved in XML format which is used to share links to documents over emails and in webpages.

Location of Lotus Notes NDL File


The Default Location of Lotus Notes .ndl file is: C:/Program files/IBM/Notes/Data

.ndl file lotus notes

What Information does this .ndl file store?


This NDL file contains all the doc links send in Notes. These links can be directly open in Web pages. It can be any form link URLs, Notes link and attachments.

How to Create Lotus Notes NDL File?


  1. Open a Lotus Notes database.
  2. In Edit tab go to Copy As Link and then select the type of link you want to create from Document Link, View Link and Application Link.
  3. Open the Notepad in Windows, click on Edit tab and click on Paste. It will generate the following code in Lotus Notes if you have selected view link:
    • admin admin - Inbox
    • <NDL>
    • <REPLICA 6525803B:00234BB3>
    • <VIEW OF38D46BF5:E8F08834-ON852564B5:00129B2C>
    • <HINT>CN=lotusmail/O=lotusmail<⁄HINT>
    • <REM>admin admin<⁄REM>
    • </NDL>
  4. Save this notepad file with .NDL extension.

This created .ndl file can be attached with a web page which can be opened through a Web browser or it can be attached to a Lotus Notes email message which is to be sent to other non-Notes user. You can launch the Notes Client and can open the View Link by opening the Windows Explorer and double-click the NDL file.

How to create link on a non-Notes document on a file server?


Follow the given steps to create a link in a mail of IBM Notes/Domino pointing to a non-Notes file which means on a shared server.

  1. Create a new memo.
  2. Highlight the text and click create→ Hotspot and then link hotspot.
  3. In the properties of Hotspot specify the following:
    Type- URL
    Value- file://servername/folder/filename.doc
  4. Provide the address of desired recipients in message and send it.

LO75561: On Double Clicking A .NDL File Doesn’t Launch Notes


Reason:

Root cause of the problem, a registry key is wrong

Solution:

After the installation of registry key “[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Notes.link\Shell\Open\command]”
It will have the value “C:\Program Files(x86)\Notes\notes.exe-defini %1” and it is wrong.
The correct value should be “C:\Program Files(x86)\Notes\notes.exe” -defini “%1”

Conclusion:


This article is all about Lotus notes Document Link i.e NDL file. We have discussed here what actually Notes Document Link works and how does it creates different links. Links created for a different document get stored in with a .ndl file extension. If in case this NDL file gets deleted then you can use a third party tool to recover the Notes Document link.

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