News and New Product Briefs (4/05/99)

JDK 1.1.8 Release Candidate preview available

Developers can snag a preview of the JDK 1.1.8 Release Candidate at the Java Developer Connection.

This JDK 1.1.8 maintenance release is designed so developers can test existing applications and applets to hunt down major bugs before the 1.1.8 final release. It offers memory and internationalization improvements and various bug fixes.

The JDK 1.1.8 RC is available for Windows 95/98/NT 4.0 (Intel) and Solaris (SPARC and x86).

Registration is required to access this site.

https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/earlyAccess/jdk118/index.html

Tutorial on fine-tuning Java I/O performance

Java Developers Connection and Glen McCluskey offer a tutorial on a variety of techniques to improve Java I/O performance. The article focuses on tuning disk file I/O, but it also offers some ideas on improving network I/O and window output.

The article is broken into low-level I/O issues, such as:

• Basic rules to speed I/O
• Buffering
• Reading and writing text files
• Formatting costs
• Random access

and high-level I/O issues, such as:

• Compression
• Caching
• Tokenization
• Serialization
• Obtaining information about files

The article does not cover application design issues such as choice of search algorithms and data structures. It also doesn’t discuss system-level issues such as file caching.

Registration for this site is required.

https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/PerfTuning/index.html

Two plan Java on-demand services for set-tops

Intertainer and General Instrument (GI), US cable set-top box suppliers, plan to include Java-based video and music on-demand services in their digital set-top boxes later this year.

Intertainer cofounder and co-CEO Jonathan Taplin noted that the company will make its Java-based on-demand services application available for the upcoming GI DCT-5000 set-top box, planned for a mid-1999 ship date. The application should make it easy for cable companies to deploy on-demand entertainment, e-commerce, and advertising services over broadband networks.

Intertainer also provides user interface, network management, and other set-top technology so cable operators can develop and deliver new services.

Storm fronts ready to collide over realtime Java

A possible storm front may be brewing between the November 1998-launched, HP-led Real-Time Java Working Group (RTJWG) and the recently announced Sun-led Real-Time Expert Group (RTEG) over developing realtime extensions for Java 2.

The power driving the split is the realization that the potential market for embedded Java is tremendous, what with an emerging belief that further integration of technology into everyday life depends on technology being simpler to use and embeddable in everyday items. According to IBM engineer Greg Bollella, “The opportunity for sales for realtime devices is so huge, it dwarfs PC sales.”

And many companies would rather not have their portion of this market eternally “taxed” by Sun through royalties and per-unit licenses.

Further clouding this issue is the perception that actions by Microsoft have attempted to undermine Java by fostering a schism. Also, HP has a Java-like environment known as Chai that will probably be included as a part of an upcoming version of Windows CE.

The RTJWG said that its mission is to develop realtime APIs for Java, in response to complaints about Sun licensing fees that it calls excessive and Sun’s lack of effort to develop realtime extensions. There is also concern with Sun’s new Community Source Licensing model, which requires a fee upon delivery of a Java-developed product. Membership in the RTJWG continues to grow.

Sun’s RTEG includes IBM, Nortel Networks, Cyberonix, and Rockwell-Collins (the last two are defectors from the RTJWG), with input from Aonix, Apogee, Lockheed-Martin, Lucent, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NIST, and Schneider Automation.

Many participants are hedging their bets by belonging to both groups.

Updates and new offerings from alphaWorks

IBM’s alphaWorks has been busy. Here is a round up of five recent product updates and three new products from alphaWorks.

Updates of existing products from IBM’s alphaWorks Division:

• Speech for Java, its Java API designed to incorporate IBM’s ViaVoice speech technology into user interfaces, recently received improvements in runtime resource, audio error reporting, and event delivery for Swing applications. It runs on Windows 95/NT platforms.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/speech

• Jax 5.1 is a Java application-packaging tool that minimizes the distribution size of applications. Jax works by pulling out the unneeded elements in class files (dead/overridden methods, unused classes/interfaces, non-essential attributes) and by shortening internal method and field names, reducing their size by up to 50 percent. This recent upgrade (to version 5.0) contains fixes, as well as two new features — one for preserving package names during name compression and one for including and excluding classes. It runs on any Java system.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/JAX

• BigDecimal 0.97, affording decimal floating-point arithmetic in Java applications, incorporates some new changes suggested by Sun and the alphaWorks forum. It runs on any Java platform.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/bigdecimal

• TFTP Server 1.19, which implements the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) as a server process (allows TFTP clients on any host to read and write files to the server), has been enhanced with more detailed diagnostic messages and fixes for simultaneous client-access fail errors. It runs on AIX, OS/2, and Windows 95/98/NT.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/TFTP

• Snacc for Java, a Java stub compiler that meets ASN.1 specifications, has been updated for AIX 4.3.2, Linux 5.1, Solaris 2.6, and Windows 95/NT. The AIX 4.1 version is no longer supported. It runs on AIX, Linux, Solaris, and Windows 95/NT.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/snaccforjava

New components from IBM’s alphaWorks Division:

• iButton is a suite of two nonvisual beans — BusinessCard and JavaCard — that provides a Java interface to the Dallas Semiconductor iButton. It can be used to interact with JavaCard applets running inside smart cards based on the Dallas Semiconductor iButton microprocessor. This version is based on the javax.smartcard API; a version based on the OpenCard Framework is forthcoming. It supports JDK 1.1.

  https://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/ab.nsf/bean/iButton

• NumberFormat classes provide the capabilities of the JDK NumberFormat, as well as add scientific notation, BigDecimal support, space padding, and rounding. These classes can be used in place of standard JDK classes since they have the same names and support a superset of the API. They are also a subclass of java.util.Format. It includes a demo applet that lets users experiment with the settings to see how they behave. You need the JDK applet viewer. NumberFormat is for all Java platforms, as well as Windows 95/NT.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/numberformat

• Graph Foundation Classes for Java is a framework for programming with graphs in Java. The graph theoretical and drawing and layout abilities are housed in separate packages according to function. It uses the system dictionary to store state data. For Java platforms, Unix, and Windows 95/98/NT.

  https://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/tech/gfc

Novell CTO outlines company’s XML strategy

During his closing day address at Novell’s recent Brainshare 99 conference, CTO Glenn Ricart discussed the future of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) in Novell products.

Ricart noted that the contents of Novell Directory Services (NDS) and NetWare would hold more value for developers if the data could also be offered in the XML format. Ricart said, “XML is an interesting standard for representing structured data, and it could be very valuable in sharing directory information.” He added, “XML is ideal for the interchange of data. For example, objects recognizable within the directory might be represented in XML and likewise, objects recognized by the directory might be represented in XML.”

Without detailing specific product plans, he did note that XML would be an asset in “Novell’s play for a cross-platform, cross-vendor application framework.”

IBM lapping Oracle in the database race?

Preliminary research recently released by market-research firm Dataquest suggests that IBM has overtaken Oracle’s 1997-established lead in the database software market.

According to “Worldwide DBMS Preliminary Market Statistics: 1998,” strong sales of IBM System 390 and AS/400 systems, as well as powerful growth for DB2 (on Unix and NT systems) helped to propel it past Oracle.

In 1998, IBM’s worldwide share of new license revenues reached 32.3 percent, up from 28.9 percent in 1997. At the same time, Oracle’s share dropped to 29.3 percent. Oracle, however, still leads the pack on relational database management systems and on Unix and NT systems.

An Oracle spokesperson called the findings a statistical anomaly.

Microsoft, Informix, and Sybase came in a respective third, fourth, and fifth place.

Compaq plans server bundle of Visual Café

Compaq and Symantec announced that the system maker will bundle Symantec’s Visual Café Enterprise Suite Java development environment with Compaq’s Tru64 Unix and Windows NT mixed server environments.

Visual Café Enterprise will be hosted on Intel-based NT platforms and will deploy and debug Java code on both NT and Tru64 Unix (the former Digital Alpha) systems.

Novell plans to rebuild GroupWise as components

Novell announced plans to turn its GroupWise messaging system into a component-based platform sometime in 2000. It would come with a backend server and Web-enabled clients based on XML.

Novell Directory Applications Director John Gailey noted that users could just choose and deploy the parts of GroupWise they needed (such as workflow and document management) instead of the whole product. He said, “This is a way for you to buy exactly what you need.”

This version of GroupWise will include an application framework that exposes all data through XML. Novell Directory Service will be used to set access privileges. Users could customize the system with their own custom components.

IBM plans XML toolkit for WebSphere Studio

IBM announced plans to integrate an XML toolkit into its WebSphere Studio application development environment, in a effort to open its application-server and transaction-processing technologies — including MQSeries and the Transarc Lab middleware — to a wider range of developers.

At present, existing complex native interfaces and crafted JavaBeans are the only way developers can access these technologies. An XML toolkit would be a third avenue to the resource, an avenue that developers familiar with HTML can use.

According to IBM Software GM Steve Mills, “What customers are looking for is simplification. They want the system to automatically understand the transaction semantics that are coming in and choose the right execution path so the administrators spend less time in setup and it becomes more transparent.”

IBM also intends to use XML tags to integrate various sets of middleware by mapping functions across the disparate middleware technologies.

Look for the XML toolkit sometime in the next 12 months.

DOJ approves AOL/Netscape merger, Sun alliance

The Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) approved America Online’s .2 billion acquisition of Netscape, as well as its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems.

After a thorough investigation, the DOJ decided not to challenge the merger or the alliance, concluding that neither violates antitrust law.

Symbian, Sun to integrate Java into EPOC wireless devices

At CeBIT 99, Sun and Symbian announced a Memorandum of Understanding (subject to further negotiation and the formation of a definitive agreement) to incorporate Java as part of Symbian’s standard EPOC operating system. EPOC is a small-device operating system.

The combination of Java and EPOC offers the ability to deploy applications in a multiplatform wireless environment. Sun CEO Scott McNealy noted that “The Wireless Information Device is likely to be one of the most influential networked devices to drive customers into the post-PC era, providing a vast new market for wireless networked services and applications.”

Symbian licensees, such as Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, and Psion will benefit from the easy way Java (and EmbeddedJava and PersonalJava) lets developers build and deploy lightweight applications on EPOC-based wireless devices, regardless of processors or operating systems.

Both companies expect the fruit of this alliance to start showing up within the next five years.

Florida K-12 school students get wearable computers

Dallas Semiconductor announced that Celebration School, a K-12 public school in Celebration, FL, has given students small, wearable computers to give them access to classrooms, computers, and Web pages. Dallas Semiconductor’s iButton, a Java chip in a stainless steel case, is the key for the system.

The programmed iButton lets students into various “doors,” whether it’s the door to their homeroom or the door to the Internet. The iButton presses against a dot on a door or computer, giving the individual student access to rooms and various levels of Web pages.

The iButton carries individual students’ access privileges. In addition, the iButton can provide a digital signature for e-mailed homework (the dot receptor costs 5 and can easily hook up to a home PC); allows for digital attendance (and timestamps, too) to be taken just by logging into the homeroom door; and can store electronic cash for in-school purchases.

It includes an optional safeguard that can make the iButton inoperable if not used within a certain period of time. If it’s lost (so it’s not used with the normal frequency), it becomes invalid until the student logs it on with a personal PIN number.

Kaffe VM 1.0.b3-3 for Debian Linux

Debian.org announced Kaffe 1.0.b3-3, a JVM to run Java bytecode on Debian/GNU Linux systems.

The Kaffe virtual machine is designed to perform just-in-time code conversion from the abstract code to the host machine’s native code, allowing Java code to execute at the same speed as standard compiled code.

https://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/interpreters/kaffe.html

Philips, NSI Com build JVM for TriMedia processors

Philips Semiconductors and NSI Com announced that NSI’s JSCP Software Co-Processor for Java software will now run on Philips Semiconductors’s TriMedia VLIW processors.

The TriMedia long-instruction word processor contains a realtime kernel that can simultaneously support video, audio, graphics, control, data, and communication-processing tasks. It is found in digital television, set-top boxes, and videophones.

JSCP is a JVM implementation designed to support embedded applications. It lets embedded systems run Java programs without compromising the embedded system’s realtime operating system by using a software-encapsulation technique to enclose the VM in its own environment. JSCP runs as a standard task in the TriMedia RTOS.

GGX to provide print/imaging services for Jini

GammaGraphX (GGX) announced that it will adapt its image and printing software to provide support services for Sun’s Jini network-connectivity architecture.

Upcoming GGX services will be platform-independent (any JVM will do). The company plans to extend its current product offerings, as well as develop a new class of document servers comprised of Jini-compliant Java programs that support simple and complex workflows that traditionally follow paper-based information. Its software services should support device handling, image processing, workflow management, and transaction monitoring. The company also plans to offer interfaces to such distribution services as fax, e-mail, and Web publishing.

The company offers a whitepaper (“Designing a Digital Document Server”) that further explains what it intends to do to support Jini, but at press time, a contact for this paper (or for general information) wasn’t available on the company’s site.

Platypus JET 2.2 delivers inexpensive, Net-based mainframe access

Platypus Partners announced JET 2.2 and the JET API, a Java software package that delivers PC access to IBM and Tandem mainframe legacy applications over the Internet.

JET 2.2 — a Java-based terminal emulator that lets PC and Unix workstations access IBM 3270 and Tandem 6530 legacy applications with an IP address — integrates new Internet technology with existing mainframe technology. It comes with its own Windows-like GUI, and handles file transfer and multiple host configurations from the desktop. JET supports multiple IBM/Tandem host sessions to any Java-capable client through a single connection.

JET API is a Java development application that allows developers to wrap legacy application greenscreens with GUIs that the developer designs. Developers can write new IBM 3270 user interfaces using the OHIO draft interface (probably destined to become the next 3270 host-access open standard). Its performance-optimized code supports Windows, Unix, and Linux environments, and can be used to write Java applications/applets.

JET 2.2 runs 9 per concurrent user with no server fee. A single-developer JET API license costs 95 per user with an end-user runtime license of 9 per concurrent user.

https://www.platypuspartners.com/products.html

Cloudscape, MCS embed Java DB into Calypso Message Center

Cloudscape and Micro Computer Systems (MCS) announced an agreement to integrate Cloudscape’s embedded Java database into MCS’s Java-based Calypso Message Center (CMC). CMC is a Java-based system designed to track and distribute internal e-mail. The Cloudscape database is an all-Java SQL DBMS that sports a tightly integrated, extensible object relational database, designed to act as a local data manager embedded in applications.

CMC comes with server and client software. The server software assigns incoming mail to the appropriate department and specific agent; outgoing mail is also routed to the server. The server maintains statistical information about each message and the responding agent, and it interfaces with standard e-mail systems. It can also simultaneously handle messages from various sources. It has the ability to tap external programs for additional message processing.

The CMC client software defines three types of users that connect to the server via the Net: the system administrator, department supervisors, and agents. The system administrator and supervisor programs let users control e-mail flow, while users can create ready-to-use messages for instant e-mail acknowledgement, route and filter messages, and specify security controls.

The Cloudscape database expands the abilities of CMC, making it much like an automated telephone-call distribution system, but for e-mail.

CMC runs on Windows, NetWare, Unix, and AS/400 platforms. Check with the company for configuration and pricing options.

Cloudscape: https://www.cloudscape.com/

CMC: https://207.115.144.206/mcs/calypso/cmc/index.htm

It’s JVMs in the databases

Sybase and Informix have separately announced that Java will become a more important player in upcoming versions of their main database products as they both add an embedded virtual machine, evolving the respective companies’ database architectures to three-tier versions that let business logic be moved off the database and onto the application server.

Sybase officials said that in spring of 1999, the company will offer Enterprise Server 12, the next version of its enterprise database that will come with an embedded JVM. Sybase also announced that it will be joining Sun to codevelop enterprise applications for Sybase’s SQL Anywhere Studio.

In an unrelated announcement, Informix officials disclosed that the next version of the Dynamic Server database, code-named “Centaur” and expected in June 1999, will also include a built-in JVM.

The JVMs in both databases will allow developers to write Java applications designed to run on an application server atop a relational database, which will allow a thin client (such as a browser) to front the architecture.

Database competitor Oracle already offers an embedded JVM in its database products.

Java U. opens at Comdex/Spring

Comdex/Spring, April 19 through 22 in Chicago, will be the site of a Java University campus.

Sun’s two-day Java University conference focuses on skill-oriented Java training for developers using a variety of languages and systems. It offers panel discussions for ISVs, resellers, business managers, and executives. This particular session will deliver:

• Jini details
• How to program Java on Windows 2000
• A fast track to Sun Java Certification

The Java University Developer Program will offer three curriculums:

• Advanced Java Technology
• Java 2 Platform
• Fast-Track Java Platform

Each features one or more full-day lectures that will enable participants to view Java at the code level. Java U. attendees will get the Java Developers Almanac by Patrick Chan and a copy of the Sun Educational Services Java Studio JavaTutor CD.

Also, there will be reseller and business programs that include half-day technology panels, which will examine Java from a business owner and nontechnical executive point of view.

https://www.comdex.com/comdex/owa/conference_home?v_conference_id=481

Cygnus offers open source Java API test suite

Cygnus Solutions announced the availability of the Java test suite, open source Java test software that checks Java API compatibility.

The suite is a product of the Open Source Mauve project, a collaboration started by Cygnus for Java developers without access to Sun’s Java Compatibility Kit. It lets organizations developing clean-room Java libraries test compatibility of those libraries against the Java standards without compromising the clean-room implementations.

Hewlett-Packard has also contributed the compatibility test suites of its Chai Java-like environment.

The initiative provides a common testing infrastructure for (among other clean-room implementations):

• GCJ, Cygnus’s GNU compiler for Java
• GNU classpath project for clean-room Java libraries
• HP’s Chai
• TransVirtual’s Kaffe project

https://Sourceware.cygnus.com/mauve

O’Reilly releases ‘Java Power Reference’

O’Reilly announced the release of Java Power Reference by David Flanagan, a booklet and searchable, hyperlinked CD-ROM that documents each and every one of the 1,520 classes and interfaces and 59 packages in Java 2.

The booklet acts as a quick-reference guide to, and overview of, Java 2.

Java Power Reference: A Complete Searchable Resource on CD-ROM by David Flanagan, February 1999, 1-56592-589-0, 64 pages with CD-ROM, 9.95.

https://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jpower/

Burton offers CoffeeLink news server

Burton Computer announced CoffeeLink News Server, an NNTP discussion server written in Java that supports Solaris, Windows NT, and Linux.

The CoffeeLink News Server supports the draft NNTP standard and several extensions, offering a general level of compatibility with most existing news clients, such as Communicator and Outlook Express. It comes with an NNTP server, a configuration program, and an HTML-based online users manual.

It uses a flexible authorization model to make it easy to control access to news groups for individuals or groups of individuals. It can be installed from any computer on the network without having to edit configuration files or environment variables.

The CoffeeLink News Server runs on any platform with a JDK 1.1-compatible JVM; it has been tested on Solaris 2.6 (SPARC or Intel), Windows NT 4.0sp3, and Red Hat Linux 5.1. It costs 25 per host, which includes 60 days of e-mail technical support.

https://www.burton-computer.com/clspecs.html

IBI spins off components division

Information Builders (IBI) has created a new business unit — the Components Technology Division — as a focal point to develop and deliver an enterprise JavaBean application server, integration JavaBeans, and related Java components. The new division is a part of IBI’s middleware technology initiative.

Vice President John Senor said, “We have recognized the importance of application integration and have offered robust solutions centered on enterprise data access, legacy to ERP, and data warehousing.” Senor added, “We are also beginning to see a migration from client/server architectures to an n-tier model. The formalization of this new division and the addition of the Parlay application integration server [a Java app server] allow our client/server customers to seamlessly transition to a component-based architecture.”

The division is headed by General Manager Keith Wimberley, a former Netscape employee.

Sun builds fix for JDK implementation bug

Sun announced a fix for the recently discovered implementation bug that plagues both the JDK 1.1.x and Java 2 versions, and any third-party product that uses this code.

The bug, discovered by a German graduate student, lets an untrusted applet execute unverified code. There are no reports of this bug.

Patches for the problem should appear soon and will be incorporated into the planned April releases of JDK 1.1.8 and Java 2 1.2.1.

https://java.sun.com/sfaq/chronology.html

IBM software GM Steve Mills talks

In a recent InfoWorld interview with Steve Mills, IBM’s general manager of the Software Solutions Division, Mills comments about IBM’s Java strategy for the next 12 months.

When asked about IBM’s current approach to Java, Mills said:

The long-term challenge that Sun creates around Java is that as long as they maintain a very tight licensing control on this, there’s always the potential for the broader community of participants to split in frustration. Our message to Sun has been consistent and unwavering — Java is an initiative.

Why did we agree to do this in the beginning? Because we all saw the same set of problems around the Web and interoperability.

Now for some at Sun, it’s a brand or a business. Those kinds of things can get in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish as an initiative, so that’s why there is this tension. IBM is constantly pushing Sun towards more openness, better licensing terms, and allowing the various vendors to do more of their own thing without having to be stuck behind a JavaSoft development process that might lack some unique features that the companies need.

Mills also commented on what developers desired from IBM:

What customers are looking for is simplification. They want the system to automatically understand the transaction semantics coming in and choose the right execution path so that the administrators spend less time in setup. And then they want another set of interfaces for certain classes of developers looking for a simple way to attach to the transaction processor without having to understand any of the low-level structures.

That will be accomplished with both Enterprise JavaBeans and XML. Both provide a higher-level scheme by which I can attach a set of transaction semantic connections to a particular piece of business logic. The idea is that the programmer never has to know the middleware interfaces. They represent two options for the programmer and obviously for somebody who is HTML-centric in their thinking. They might be more attracted to the XML tag architecture than to the JavaBeans architecture.

Mills also commented on IBM’s Linux plans and NT support.

The full interview: /cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?/interviews/990329mills.htm

Java process should end by December with J2EE

With the delivery of the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), loosely planned for December 1999, the Java definition process should be concluded, or as Java Marketing Director Gina Centoni puts it, “For the core technology, we’ll be as complete as we need to be, with no gaping holes.”

Sun is designing 15 extensions to go with the EJB-based J2EE, extensions that will deliver a common enterprise platform for applications, server, and tool developers. It should also come with technical specifications (Java Server Pages APIs, transaction monitoring, message queuing, e-mail, datatype connectors, and so on), reference implementations, an application-programming model, and a guide for using CORBA and Java to craft enterprise systems.

Compliance testing will also be a critical component to J2EE, in order to keep the Java market from splintering.

Developers confused, disappointed, angry

This analysis in InfoWorld covers developer reaction to Microsoft’s putting its Java strategy on hold.

The article comments that Microsoft developers have heard nothing from the company on Java development in the months since the preliminary injunction on the company’s use of Java, stemming from the Sun-launched lawsuit. ViewSonics Application-development VP Jerome Liss notes that, “It’s as if they are pretending [Java] doesn’t exist.” Liss added, “We put a lot of time into development. It’s as if they pulled the plug. There’s no reference to Java and Windows CE [on the Microsoft Web site] — as if it never occurred.” ViewSonics was using Windows CE and a Java tool to build handheld/wireless device GIS/GPS applications.

Giga Information Group analyst Phil Costa thinks that another factor to the “disappearance” of Java at Microsoft may be that it presents Microsoft with two choices, neither of which works well for the company: The company needs “to choose between satisfying their customers or their competitive positioning.” Costa added, “This is a litmus test [to see] if they are truly an enterprise-class provider, because those kinds of vendors do not jerk their customers around.”

Microsoft Group Program Manager Charles Fitzgerald said that Microsoft is “absolutely committed to making sure that there is support for the Java language on the Windows platform,” but that the company is focused on building a nonJava path for its products that will lure developers away from Java.

The full story: /cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?/features/990322javajam.htm