News and New Product Briefs (July 20, 1999)

JDK 1.2.2 is here

Sun announced JDK 1.2.2, a maintenance release of the Java 2 SDK and Java 2 Runtime Environment (J2RE) that contains performance enhancements and bug fixes.

The size of the download bundle for the Win32 J2RE has been decreased by more than a third by compacting JAR files, removing line numbers and debug data from runtime class files, including only one font (LucidaSansRegular), and removing the color-management profile (PYCC.pf).

The Win32 runtime environment comes with version 1.2.2 of the Java Plugin, which offers enhancements for enabling the HTTPS protocol and support for RSA digital signature verification (on Windows 9x and NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3).

Swing components have been enhanced in this version so that buttons, labels, and menu items can now contain HTML text. The JViewport class also scrolls more quickly.

This release does contain the following bugs, which may break compatibility with existing 1.2-based code:

• The value of public static fields TREE_MODEL_PROPERTY and INVOKES_STOP_CELL_EDITING_PROPERTY in class JTree have changed since version 1.2

• The value of public static field FOCUS_ACCELERATOR_KEY in class javax.swing.tree.JTextComponent has changed from focusAcceleratorKey to focusAccelerator since version 1.2

• A bug causes method JToolBar.getComponentAtIndex(int) to throw ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException when the int input parameter is out of bounds

• A bug in the lightweight component support for Swing on both Win32 and Solaris can cause a spurious NullPointerException to be thrown when making a selection in a JComboBox object

• A segmentation-fault crash, caused by a fault in the multithreading mechanism, can occur on Solaris after Swing components have been used for a short time and are then disposed of, as is the case with dialogs

Expect these bugs to be repaired in the final 1.2.2 release.

Fixes and enhancements to the AWT packages include:

• A fix so cursors can be reliably changed

• The AltGr keys now work

• A new modal dialog architecture is employed which doesn’t spin off multiple threads

• Solaris users can now drag the lightweight components’ frame by the title bar without the components losing focus

• A conservative, performance-enhancing heuristic for PaintEvent coalescing has been added, so that feature is supported

• With the Java Plugin or the SDK appletviewer, multiple applets launched from the same codebase now share an AWT EventQueue and EventDispatchedThread instance

Java 2D functionality has been improved by performance enhancements to the constructive area geometry methods (add, subtract, intersect, and exculsiveOr) of class java.awt.geom.Area and to the hit-testing methods (intersects and contains) of classes java.awt.geom.Area, java.awt.Polygon, and java.awt.geom.GeneralPath. Also, many of the PCL and PostScript printer problems have been ironed out.

There are several Java 2D bugs that are related to image-rendering problems under GDI mode on Windows 95:

• Some display drivers will cause monitor images, including windows, to appear to resync or jump when DirectDraw is accessed

• Java does not support 16-color displays; the user must change the color depth to 256 color mode or better

These problems can be avoided by using DirectDraw (part of the DirectX technology) and the latest video driver.

There are also unsupported changes to drag-and-drop functions, as well as quite a few security notes.

https://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/index.html

LG Semicon plans year-end release of embedded Java chip

LG Semicon plans to release the MJ501, second-generation embedded Java chip, by the end of 1999. Company officials say they have working samples of the MJ501 (MJ stands for Media Java), and that they’ve “made a reference board and it’s working. It’s targeted at Web phones and set-top boxes.”

The MJ501 is a 0.25-micron CMOS chip based on Sun’s picoJava-II core; LG Semicon officials declined to disclose its clock speed, but the target is thought to be 100 MHz. Some Java chip advocates say that a truly marketable Java chip was not possible until the release of the picoJava-II core, in which Sun corrected many of the flaws of the original picoJava-I core.

Sun has also changed its chip marketing strategy by retargeting the picoJava-II core away from the desktop market and toward the embedded device arena, as well as by not requiring companies to pay an up-front license fee under Sun’s Community Source License program for a rendering of the picoJava-II core.

According to Jordan Sohn, a senior researcher at ETRI (the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute), ETRI will first release the LG Semicon MJ501 chip in a set-top product.

The picoJava-II core seems ideal for embedded environments. It is centered around the central CPU, which executes the Java bytecodes; that CPU is surrounded by on-chip peripherals customized for consumer-electronics applications, including a 2D graphics engine, NTSC encoder, audio and CRT controllers, cable input, and PCI connection.

Last Swing backport for JDK 1.1 announced

Sun Senior Product Manager Onno Kluyt noted that JFC/Swing 1.1.1 (FCS) will be the last JDK 1.1-related release for JFC. At JavaOne, it was announced that Swing 1.1.1 beta 2 would be the last release of Swing that would be backported to the JDK 1.1.x.

This could mean that bug fixes, enhancements, and other improvements won’t be available for the Macintosh and other platforms until those platforms have a stable Java 2.

IBM releases TSpaces 2.0.3

IBM announced TSpaces 2.0.3, which consists of a set of network communication buffers called Tuplespaces and a set of APIs (and the classes that implement them) for accessing those buffers. TSpaces allows heterogeneous, Java-enabled devices to exchange data with little effort by programmers. This version is designed to help palm devices access networks better, delivering network-device control to these palmtops.

The small-footprint TSpaces includes server software that implements the communication buffers and client software for accessing the buffers. It provides group communication services, database services, URL-based file-transfer services, and event notification services.

Version 2.0.3 contains:

• Additional support for TupleID, so that the update command that now maintains the original TupleID can be updated without invalidating other tuples that may point to it via the TupleID
• A readTupleById command has been added to allow navigation of tuples that might be linked via TupleID
• A bug in the FieldPS command was fixed so that it would work correctly when the server did not have the class file available
• It now correctly supports multiple fields in a tuple that have the same name
• It now allows indexing by any object that supports the Comparable interface
• Tuples can now be specified to return in FIFO order
• There are new indexCreate and indexDestroy commands that can specify additional indexing options for a space
• There is a fix for EventRegister with SubclasableTuple
• Tuples are now timestamped by the server at the time that they are written to the space

Version 2.0.2 clients can communicate with version 2.0.3 servers, but version 2.0.3 clients cannot talk to a version 2.0.2 server. Also, if you’re running a previous version of the server, you will need to use the -b or -B option for a fresh restart.

https://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/TSpaces/

MRJ 2.2 installer and SDK in early access

Apple announced the Early Access 1 versions of the MacOS Runtime Java Software Development Kit 2.2 (MRJ SDK) and the MRJ 2.2 installer.

Both are prereleases and bear a warning that use is at the developer’s risk. The SDK doesn’t contain MacOS Runtime Java. The latter is Apple’s implementation of the Java Virtual Machine and runtime environment that includes support for Swing and Symantec’s just-in-time compiler, and also helps developers link Java applications to such Apple technologies as QuickTime and AppleScript.

https://devworld.apple.com/java/text/prerelease.html

Java 2 Micro Edition: For your smallest Java needs

Sun introduced Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) at the recent JavaOne show, a version of Java designed for PDAs, smart cellular phones, and two-way pagers, giving these devices access to corporate data.

J2ME is just one of the three branches of Java technology that comprise Sun’s reorganized strategy — J2ME for devices, Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) for desktops and small networks, and Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) for enterprise-level systems. Each includes JVMs that can fit onto a range of consumer devices, a library of APIs designed for each type of device, tools for deployment and device configuration, a profile of the minimum set of APIs necessary for each type of device, and a JVM spec of functions required to support the APIs.

J2ME was introduced at JavaOne by demonstrating a host of Java applications running on a 3Com Palm III and a Motorola PageWriter 2000 two-way pager. J2ME’s 40KB JVM, called the KVM (for Kilobytes Virtual Machine), is what allows the JVM to run atop PalmOS; it is designed to use less than 128KB of memory. (For more on the KVM, see “The core of Micro Java, the KVM,” below.)

In the demonstration, the PageWriter 2000 two-way pager connected to, queried, and updated a corporate database. Both devices were running the same version of J2ME; this feature will save companies time and development effort by allowing them to reuse the code written for one device on another device.

J2ME gives up and alters certain Java features that are unnecessary (or unusable in current form) on a handheld, including the standard error-handling classes. Error recovery will likely be handled differently on the different devices; for instance, disconnect and redial are probably the best way to recover from a communications error on a smart phone. Alterations include:

• Host system calls are implemented as part of the KVM (instead of the JNI)
• Graphics functions are device-specific (instead of using high-level calls such as the AWT)
• Garbage collection becomes a less memory-intensive mark-and-sweep operation

https://java.sun.com/j2me/

Free upgrade to thin-client Java browser

Neoware announced a free upgrade to its Java-based thin-client Navigator 4.5 browser, which comes standard on the company’s Neoware’s Windows-based Terminal 4.0 software and on its Unix-oriented netOS 3.3 for intranets.

The Neoware Netscape Navigator offers support for JavaScript, file download (via Netscape File Transfer), a Java Virtual Machine, and integrated RSA security.

https://www.neoware.com/netscape_info.html

Sedona releases browser version of SpatialVision

Sedona announced a thin, browser-based version of its e-commerce intelligence software SpatialVision, called SpatialVision Lite. It also announced Sedona Link, a new component for SpatialVision that offers realtime data access to users of the Acxiom Data Network.

SpatialVision Lite — a Java 2-compliant, component-based version — is designed to offer Web-based client access. Lite is a downloadable applet smaller than 20 KB that offers full data visualization and manipulation capabilities for business intelligence scenarios. It can drill down through the data that results from visualization. It delivers realtime, concurrent database access.

Sedona Link lets users combine up-to-date information from the Acxiom Data Network with the data already residing in the user’s data warehouse, allowing the user to specify precise definitions and selection of customer records for content enhancement, as well as employ automatic geocoding and a spatial data definition for each customer.

SpatialVision puts enterprise data on maps that allow users to quickly analyze information driving business results. Java technology gives SpatialVision the ability to provide direct query, access, and visualization for Oracle databases. It sports an easy-to-use interface that lets users assemble and execute simple to complex queries. Integrated mapping and imaging tools let users customize geospatial data for display, analysis, and output requirements.

There is a 90-day evaluation version of SpatialVision. Check with the company for pricing.

https://www.sedonageo.com/home/product/spatialvision/

Java Intelligence Card Resource Center launched by Chinese government

During the recent 99 China International Intelligence Card Expo, Sun Microsystems and the First Research Institute (operating under the Chinese Ministry of Public Security) announced that they have jointly established the Java Intelligence Card Resource Center.

The goal of the center is to import, digest, and develop technologies based on Java, focusing on Java Card technology. The center will also try to help developers craft Java technologies that meet the conditions and limitations of China and the Chinese economy.

A Java version of July 4 fireworks

Just in case you missed the fireworks on the 4th of July (or even if you caught them but wanted to identify the different types of bursts), this Java-driven site is just what you need.

The Fireworks Encyclopedia will explain and illustrate each type of burst, including:

• Atomic Ring
• Butterfly Shell
• Chrysanthemum
• Color-Changing Chrysanthemum
• Color Changing Chrysanthemum with Pistils
• Crown Chrysanthemum
• Double Pistils
• Fire Wheel
• Fountain Fireworks (or Dragon)
• Niagara Falls
• Peony
• Saturn
• Triple Ring
• Twin Color
• Umbrella Shell

For the less ambitious, you can just watch the fireworks display. There’s even a Fireworks on Demand applet where you create the style of star burst you want.

https://www.bekkoame.or.jp/~fire/java/encyclopedia.html

How to test Java 2 performance

Osvaldo Doederlein and JavaPro magazine offer “Testing Java 2 Performance,” an article in which Doederlein presents a group of tests he devised to measure the performance of Java 2.

In fact, Doederlein continues to advise Java developers not to “rely too much on journalists or vendors. Tests produced by you [Java developers] are the most valuable.” He concedes, though, that it is “useful to have some standard reference tests that are both accredited and easy to reproduce.”

In the article, the author also discusses the two methods chosen to increase Java speed — native compilers and advanced VMs. And he has benchmark results for two of the latest entries in both categories — NaturalBridge’s BulletTrain 1.0.3 native compiler and Sun’s HotSpot 1.0 VM.

(You will need a free registration at https://www.devx.com to access this article.)

https://www.devx.com/upload/registered/features/javapro/1999/08aug99/od0899/od0899.asp

Inside Java HotSpot

The Java Developer Connection and Steve Meloan offer an in-depth look at the Java HotSpot VM, which promises to deliver at least twice the performance for server-side Java applications.

Java 2’s pluggable architecture allows HotSpot to be dropped into the platform, replacing the need for the virtual machine and the just-in-time compiler. Any application or applet processed with the Java 2 runtime environment (application launcher, plugin, or applet viewer) will by default use HotSpot.

Along with an intimate look at the technology, this article delivers SPECjvm98 results for HotSpot on NT at 350 MHz and VolanoMark results on Windows NT and Solaris/SPARC.

The article looks at such basics as on-the-fly adaptive compilation, method inlining, the improved and redesigned object layout, garbage collection, and fast thread synchronization. It determines that the performance of a Java application depends on four factors:

• The overall design of the application
• The speed at which Java bytecodes are executed
• The speed at which the libraries execute in native code
• The speed of the underlying hardware and operating system

The article explains that HotSpot’s method of dynamic optimization works by:

• Starting programs faster because less compilation is performed up front
• Spreading compilation out over time, making compilation pauses shorter and less noticeable
• Compiling only performance-critical code
• Compiling less of the program
• Waiting longer before compiling code

It also explains method inlining, the new and improved object layout (the replacement of a three-machine-word object header with a two-word one), the elimination of handles, and the introduction of direct-memory references.

HotSpot also provides built-in, nonconservative garbage collection that guarantees that all inaccessible object memory can be reliably reclaimed, and that all objects can be relocated. This allows memory compaction, which eliminates object memory fragmentation and increases memory locality. The article goes on to explains other features of collection, including generational copying collection, mark-compact collection, and incremental train collection.

It covers thread synchronization boosts, including fully preemptive threads that use the host operating system’s thread model, so that every Java thread corresponds to a native OS thread.

(You will need to be registered for free to access this article.)

https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Networking/HotSpot/index.html

Sun calls for developers

Sun is looking for developers and designers to participate in research regarding its developer program and products.

The company says that information from this Java Developer Connection survey will be used to direct future Sun developer offerings. Sun is looking for developers from around the world, familiar with various markets and technologies, for several research projects.

The company grants assurances that data collected from this research will not be given, sold, or shared with organizations external to Sun for any purpose, except for Sun confidential analysis by third-party research vendors contracted by Sun.

https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/surveys/sdcsurvey.html

The core of Micro Java, the KVM

Sun announced the Kilobytes Virtual Machine (KVM), the core of the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), and a new Java runtime environment rebuilt from the ground up to offer a lean implementation of the JVM for limited-memory devices.

The 40 KB KVM is designed for consumer electronics and embedded devices. It works with 16- and 32-bit RISC/CISC microcontrollers with a total memory of no more than a few hundred kilobytes and sometimes less than 128 KB of RAM.

Besides its small object size, the KVM uses a reduced amount of memory. It requires only a few tens of kilobytes of dynamic memory to run effectively. It can run on 16-bit processors as slow as 25 MHz, and scales on up to very fast 32-bit processors.

The KVM is implemented in native code for extra performance, but it still maintains a portable architecture that keeps system dependencies to a minimum. Multithreading and garbage collection have been implemented in a system-independent manner, making it a fast port to any host platform.

https://java.sun.com/products/kvm/

Parasoft upgrades jtest

Parasoft has upgraded its jtest Java testing tool to version 3.0. It includes the following new features:

• White-box testing: Ensures that Java classes won’t crash if they receive unexpected input data.

• Static analysis: Lets developers analyze Java source code by automatically enforcing more than 50 Java coding standards, reducing the number of errors in code early in the development process.

• Black-box testing: Analyzes the class bytecodes and automatically provides inputs. Developers may also specifying their own inputs to execute/

• Regression testing: Lets developers follow class behavior, to determine that it doesn’t change as the code is modified.

jtest 3.0 should work on Solaris and Windows 98/NT. Pricing and availability were not disclosed.

https://www.parasoft.com/products/jtest/index.htm

Instantiations JOVE goes high-end

Instantiations announced the JOVE Super Optimizing Deployment Environment (JSODE), a group of products that lets developers create and deploy Java applications via a combination of whole-program and object-oriented optimization technologies, native compilation, and a scalable runtime architecture and deployment environment.

JSODE products are designed to simplify the deployment of the back-end server applications used to drive e-commerce. The system includes the multithreaded generational garbage collection, native multithreading, and low overhead polymorphism features needed to build and deploy large, complex Java applications. It takes standard Java class files (the output of any Java IDE), aggressively optimizes them, packs them with high-performance runtime support, reduces them to native machine code, and builds an executable that can be deployed on a server or standalone system.

The system includes a software optimization engine, a native Java compiler, and a runtime platform. JSODE comes with the JOVE Developer Environment and the JOVE Enterprise Deployment Platform (both run on Windows 9x/NT Workstation/NT Server 4.0 with a Java Runtime Environment).

The starter kit (both the developer and deployment environments) starts at ,495. The developer environment alone costs ,495 for the first copy, 95 for each additional copy. The deployment platform alone ranges from 95 (for single-processor server) to ,995 (8-processor server). Before August 20, 1999, you get 30 percent off the list price.

https://www.instantiations.com/jove/product/thejovesystem.htm

JVision 1.1 now links with VisualCafe

Object Insight announced the beta release of JVision 1.1, a new release that offers two add-ons to the tool designed for visualizing and communicating the architecture of Java code.

JVision allows developers to reverse-engineer Java code to produce UML (unified modeling language) static class object model diagrams. The two add-on products available in version 1.1 are:

• Integration with Visual Cafe
• The JVision Documentor, a project manager with HTML export and Sun JavaDoc integration

The integration with Visual Cafe is a two-way connection. A JVision diagram can be generated automatically by selecting classes in the Visual Cafe project window that will then appear in the new diagram. Also, by double-clicking on a class in a JVision diagram, the source code for that class will appear in a Visual Cafe editor. This offers users the ability to visualize code architecture by seeing the relationships between classes.

The Documentor feature lets developers build an instant documentation Web site that, when integrated with Sun’s JavaDoc technology, can be viewed by anyone with a browser. It offers a project diagram manager to help organize diagrams.

The JVision 1.1 beta can be downloaded for a free trial, and the final version should be available sometime in July 1999. It runs on Windows 9x/NT.

Upgrades from version 1.0 are free. The basic version of JVision costs 9. With VisualCafe integration, it costs 29. With the Documentor, it runs 99. With both, it’s 28.

https://www.object-insight.com/

KCA VersaPath to support Java and Linux

Kasten Chase announced that its VersaPath Web-to-host connectivity product, which integrates desktop and browser clients into a single solution, will support Linux and Java.

VersaPath offers centralized client configuration and software management that lets sysadmins easily install, configure, and control host session access for hundreds of desktop and mobile users. Configurations are downloaded transparently upon user authentication. The desktop- and browser-client versions are supported via the same centralized infrastructure and centralized configuration database.

Support for Java clients joins VersaPath’s existing support for ActiveX. All client types are supported concurrently on the same system, and remote users have concurrent access to the multiple-supported client types.

Support for Linux and Java in VersaPath will be available in the third quarter of this year.

https://www.versapath.com/versapath_web-to-host.htm

NewMonics Embedded PERC 2.0 now for Intel

NewMonics announced Embedded PERC 2.0, a suite of clean-room Java implementation development and integration software tools and a runtime environment.

PERC features memory-management capabilities for realtime embedded systems. It comes with a VM, compilers, tools, and libraries. The PERC VM supports accurate realtime garbage collection and deterministic realtime tasking.

Embedded PERC 2.0 introduces the following new features:

• Support for Intel processors (Celeron, Pentium, and Pentium II)
• The Embedded Toolkit 1.0, with high-level PERC software interfaces to hardware devices, for building low-level driver code for these devices
• Support for Intel’s VTune Performance Analyzer
• The QuickPERC compiler, an ahead-of-time and flash compiler
• The PERC 2.0 libraries (lang, lang.reflect, util, io, and net) now comply with Java 1.1
• The PERC Virtual Machine 2.0 contains such performance-related improvements as dynamic loading and unloading; the new VM is smaller and faster

Embedded PERC 2.0 software is available now; check with the company for pricing.

https://www.newmonics.com/PERC/perc_prod_info/

JumpStart is EJB component, quick Bean builder

The Theory Center announced the EJB component-based JumpStart 1.5, a member of its eBusiness Smart Components line, designed to help developers quickly build Web-enabled applications.

JumpStart is built from pure EJBs into a plug-and-play development environment designed to rapidly create mission-critical e-commerce applications and systems.

The JumpStart kit includes:

• 80 components that comprise Session and Entity EJBs (for example, eBusiness.Customer, eBusiness.ShoppingAdvisor, eBusiness.Session, eBusiness.Product, eBusiness.Inventory, eBusiness.TroubleTicket EJBs)

• A sample e-commerce application — www.buybeans.com — with complete source code

• UML models (all JumpStart components are modeled using UML; use cases are also included)

• BEA’s WebLogic application server (with an evaluation license)

JumpStart costs ,995 per CPU or 5,000 for four CPUs.

https://www.theorycenter.com/theory/products.htm

Music fans worldwide get a chat space

eShare Technologies announced that it will team up with the Digital Club Festival to offer concert lovers an online chat space they can access in realtime, open 24/7.

The five-year-old Digital Club Festival (formerly known as the Intel New York Music Festival) is using eShare’s Expressions 4.0 to add chat to its high-traffic site, just in time for its July 20-23 festival that will feature 300 bands performing in 20 clubs in Manhattan. Expressions is a turnkey system for adding chat, threaded discussion forums, and online presentations to Web sites.

Expressions 4.0 gives the festival-site users the ability to discuss music in realtime without the need for plugins or downloads. Expressions is built on an open architecture that offers client interfaces for Java, Java Light, HTML, and Active X.

The software provides a communications log and online tracking, plus full HTTP support for operation through firewalls. It consists of five components:

• Chat: server-based software for live, realtime interaction
• Forums: a conferencing tool
• Web Tours: delivers the ability to take a group on a tour, from page to page and site to site
• Moderator: for hosting and managing live discussion
• Integrator Pro: integrates the software with existing databases

Expressions runs on Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4; a Solaris 2.6 version is upcoming. There is a free trial download. Check with company for pricing.

eShare Expressions: https://www.eshare.com/products/expressionsmain.html

Digital Club Festival: https://www.digitalclubfest.com/

CRYPTOAdmin 4.0 adds new authentication features

CRYPTOCard announced CRYPTOAdmin 4.0 (CA), an upgrade to the company’s token administration system software, with new features that make it easier to implement strong authentication, as well as new embedded support for the VTCP/Secure 4.0 virtual private network from InfoExpress.

CA 4.0 sports new CRYPTOAgents that automate the challenge-response process for software tokens, so users can now simply start the token, enter personal token credentials (ID and PIN numbers), and become authenticated. The system works in the background to ensure that the password is unique, used only once, and immediately discarded.

CA 4.0 links with any RADIUS/TACACS+-compliant security and access servers, letting users offer strong, token-based authentication in a mixed environment, including ISDN, dial-up, and intranets.

CA 4.0 also includes multilingual support for RB-1 and ST-1 tokens. The platform supports all the company tokens, including the RB-1 portable card, the ST-1 client-server version, the AT-1 Java-based Web browser tokens, and the CT-1 command-line virtual token. There’s no annual license or maintenance fee for CRYPTOAdmin 4.0 or CRYPTOCard tokens, which do not expire.

The CRYPTOAdmin 4.0 server runs on Solaris, Windows NT 4.0, Red Hat Linux 5.x, AIX, and FreeBSD. The client software runs on all of the above platforms, plus Windows 9x. The standard edition costs ,000.

Other CRYPTOCard-enabled software:

• Cisco Systems’s CiscoSecure ACS (which includes CRYPTOAdmin)
• InfoExpress’s VTCP/Secure 4.0 VPN
• Funk Software’s Steel-Belted Radius
• WatchGuard Technologies’s Firebox II
• CRYPTOCard’s easyRADIUS 4.0 authentication server

https://www.cryptocard.com/ca.html

ObjectWave joins JAIN initiative

ObjectWave Corp. announced that it has joined Sun’s JAIN technology initiative, designed to support and create open telecom standards.

The JAIN initiative employs Java technology to support the emerging convergence of voice-centric intelligent networks with Internet Protocol data networks. ObjectWave is an object-oriented software engineering company. Other JAIN supporters are network equipment, carrier, and operator companies, as well as companies from the service provider arena.

ObjectWave recently jumped into telecommunications by establishing a telecom-related consulting practice and by releasing the ObjectWave JTelkit Transaction Manager, a persistence and transaction management platform that integrates many of the business domain classes unique to the telecom industry. The company claims the software can manage more than 600 transactions per second.

At press time there was no information on JTelkit on the company’s site.

https://www.objectwave.com/html/secTool.htm

WebSession servlet/Java API links to mainframe data via Web

I/O Concepts announced WebSession, a server-side servlet that provides a simple, low-cost way to access mainframe resources from the Web by enabling mainframe sessions using any standard HTML browser.

WebSession installs on any Java-enabled Web server. A single installation of the servlet can host and manage up to thousands of active mainframe connections, so administrators no longer need to maintain terminals on an existing mainframe SNA network.

The servlet sends and receives HTML data streams, so no applet or other downloads are necessary. It uses a proprietary algorithm that translates the mainframe data to HTML, and it automatically establishes and maintains a separate session for each browser.

WebSession sports an easily customized properties file that lets authorized administrators specify to which mainframes users can connect, logon scripts to sign on to each computer, how long sessions remain open, and exactly how the servlet converts mainframe data to HTML.

There is also the WebSession Java API (which was used to create the servlet), a specialized Java class library, and programming tools designed to help users build Java Web pages that connect directly to 390-class host applications.

The Java API automates such repetitive and complex mainframe tasks as querying mainframe databases, monitoring host performance, file uploads and downloads, copying data between mainframe applications, and background file-transfer operations. It allows multiple simultaneous Web-based TN3270 host sessions, and may be customized to present a single integrated HTML screen by gathering information from multiple mainframe databases.

Session licenses for the servlet cost 0 each. There is an evaluation package containing the full-featured servlet and session licenses available. There is also a full-features version of the Java API for evaluation.

WebSession servlet: https://www.ioconcepts.com/websess/servlet.html

WebSession Java API: https://www.ioconcepts.com/websess/javaapi.html

AppStream speeds applet download

AppStream recently announced AppStream for Java, technology that allows for streaming Java applications over the Internet.

AppStream uses a combination of dynamic segmentation and predictive downloading to speed Java applet downloads. The company claims its technology achieves performance boosts of 300 to 800 percent over conventional applet download methods.

When a user first runs an AppStream-enabled applet, a 17 KB AppStream client is installed on the user’s machine. Then, the AppStream server streams open components of the applet to the user, continually delivering additional components in anticipation of user requests. It usually delivers just the needed components.

AppStream also evaluates user requests and options, and tries to deliver the correct component based on server profiles of how similar users have used the target applet. The profiles are updated on the server with every use of the applet.

The AppStream server automatically performs all segmentation, so developers aren’t burdened with deciding where to segment applications.

AppStream will be available sometime in July for a price between ,000 (basic package) and 5,000 (unlimited-user enterprise version). A free 30-day trial version is available.

https://www.appstream.com/

Revize 2.1 offers Web content editing while protecting site

Idetix announced Revize 2.1, an upgrade to its Web content-management system that helps developers create secure content-editing abilities for existing Web sites.

Revize 2.1 is a Web server- and platform-independent, client/server content-management system. It allows authorized content contributors to use a Java-enabled browser to edit Web content, while at the same keeping them from disturbing page layout. In other words, editorial groups manage content, Web developers focus on technology and design.

Revize 2.1 also simplifies options for ISPs and Webmasters by offering FTP capabilities for Revize to upload its information. The software can also now support Macintosh clients.

Other new features in this version include:

• Templates can now be published via FTP
• Updated module editor can now add and delete database fields automatically
• Support for Macintosh clients now uses MRJ 2.1
• Updated fetch command can now “escape” special characters (disallows HTML coding)
• New fetchPlain command lets special characters pass through (allows HTML coding)
• New fetchURL command encodes text in URL format
• Updated Turbo Client installer supports automatic updates for future upgrades
• Modules can be deleted from the Control Panel
• Better handling of applets in Netscape keep them from being pruned
• Tabbing past a text box in IE now works properly
• Text boxes in IE no longer are scrolled to the end by default
• Nested command import fetch() now works properly

Revize 2.1 costs 95 per Web site.

https://www.revize.com/

WebXi launches intelligent JDBC data server

WebXi announced the WebXi Data Server Java Edition (WDSJ), an intelligent multitier server designed to build, deploy, and manage scalable distributed Java applications.

The server employs a High-Speed Streaming Protocol (HSSP) that lets users deploy Java applications outside the corporate firewall at an ISP or ASP without having to copy data to the remote location. The server supports IP packet filtering, so sysadmins can limit database access to users at specific domains and addresses. The server’s engine also collects runtime statistics for monitoring the impact of Web-based access on the corporate database.

WDSJ offers users automatic, shared connection pooling to improve the performance and scalability of Java applications. It controls server-based database connection pools so programmers don’t have to add connection pooling logic to Java code. The connection pools can be shared by multiple Java servlets or applets.

WDSJ consists of the following components:

• WebXi JDBC Driver, a 100 percent pure Java type 3 driver that automatically delivers connection pooling, and can be downloaded as part of a Java applet

• WebXi Data Server Engine, a multithreaded Unix or NT engine that manages connection pools to multiple databases (Oracle, Sybase, DB2, Informix, SQL Server, Model 204, and Lotus Notes), collects runtime statistics (connections, database response time, utilization, and errors), and controls access to data behind the corporate firewall (based on user IP address, network domain, or by challenging the user with a username and password)

• WebXi Management Console, a browser-based console that displays the runtime statistics collected by the Data Server Engine, establishes security policies, and defines runtime parameters (database connections, inactivity timeout, and the maximum number of threads to manage)

There is also a Web edition of the product.

The WebXi JDBC Driver is runs on virtually any Java application server platform. The WebXi Data Server can reside on servers running Solaris, Windows NT, IBM AIX, HP-UX, and Linux; it supports connections to any ODBC data source, and there is optional native support for some databases. Check with the company for pricing.

https://www.webxi.com/product.shtml

Attachmate e-Vantage 2.2 access server adds Java clients

Attachmate announced e-Vantage Host Access Server 2.2, an upgrade to its server that lets users Web-enable enterprise-level data. e-Vantage is now available for Unix platforms and sports new Java client abilities.

e-Vantage lets local and remote users securely access enterprise data on mainframe, AS/400, VAX, and Unix systems from a browser. New features in version 2.2 include:

• Support for deploying and managing viewers from Unix platforms
• SSL security
• Multihost and cacheable Java clients

e-Vantage supports Java, Active X, and HTML clients, in addition to Solaris, HP-UX, Linux, and Windows NT systems.

The e-Vantage Host Access Server 2.2 is available in component form. This allows a higher level of customization, so that each organization can only purchase what it needs in order to achieve its desired configuration. The components include:

• e-Vantage Host Access Server 2.2 is the centralized management console from which viewers are configured, managed, and deployed to users; it costs 14 per server

• The Standard Viewer provides a Java applet or ActiveX control for Web-enabled terminal emulation of 3270, 5250, or VT420; it runs 89 for a concurrent/shared workstation license

• The Enterprise Viewer provides the same abilities as the Standard version, but offers a copy of the EXTRA Personal Client 6.5 and EXTRA Objects (for custom development); 25 for a dedicated workstation license

• The e-Vantage SNA Gateway 2.0 is an SNA-to-TCP/IP gateway; 95 per server

• The e-Vantage HostPrint Server is a server-resident application that provides centrally managed, distributed host printing; 50 per server with 10 printer sessions

• The e-Vantage Enhanced Security Services is a VPN for enterprise-level security; check with company for pricing

• Desktop Management provides extended management functions for the desktop; 9 per desktop

• Attachmate consulting services come with the package as well

https://www.attachmate.com/products/default.asp