Before you can begin a Domino session, you must perform an initialization routine. During this routine the Domino or Notes DLLs are bound to the Smalltalk Image and several internal data areas in Domino or Notes are initialized. It is important to deinitialize the system after ending a session in order to free memory. The Domino runtime environment is initialized with the AbtLnEnvironment class. In addition to that, the class offers a number of methods for different purposes related to your Domino or Notes installation.

A Domino session usually begins with access to one or more databases. The AbtLnConnection class models a connection to a local or remote Domino database or application. It defines methods to log on to a Domino or Notes system and to retrieve information on a server's setup. In addition to that, there is a set of convenience methods, for example to access a default mail server.

AbtLnDatabase is one of the core access classes to data stored in Domino or Notes. It provides methods to maintain the two possible states of a Domino database (open and closed) and to perform a variety of database related operations like:

Further, AbtLnDatabase implements methods to gather information about a Domino database's structure offering access methods to design elements like forms, views and replication settings. Finally, there is a set of basic methods to retrieve documents directly from a database without using a Domino view.

AbtLnDirectoryView serves as the entry point into the Domino directory tree (it is not used to represent the Domino directory, formerly know as names and address book). Its primary use is to provide a convenient method to iterate through a Domino or Notes environment in search of local and remote databases.

AbtLnNote is the general representation of a Domino document. Subclasses of AbtLnNote include AbtLnPseudoNote as well as AbtLnFormNote and AbtLnViewNote. The classes implement methods to get data in and out of a document's fields and to add or delete fields. Other functions for this class include advanced features like file attachment management, encryption, signing, the creation of doclinks and response hierarchies. The AbtLnPseudoNote class represents a internal concept of the Domino C API called summary buffer and is used to gain fast access to view data. There are conversion routines between AbtLnPseudoNote and AbtLnNote.

From the perspective of the Smalltalk class hierarchy, Domino document fields are in general subclasses of the abstract class AbtLnItem. The elementary access mechanisms for Domino fields are implemented in AbtLnItem. There is a protocol to access field data and field properties.

Here is a table that shows you the mapping between Domino field types, Smalltalk classes implemented in Domino Connection, and Smalltalk base classes. The AbtLnItem classes are used to translate Domino internal data formats into Smalltalk base classes.

The class AbtLnDatabaseView is the starting point of a navigation into a Domino view. There are various protocols available in view classes to support iteration in the tree-like structure of a view and to expand and collapse view categories. Of importance to a view are also the classes AbtLnTreeNode and AbtLnPseudoNote.