News and New Product Briefs (October 5, 1999)

IONA to provide interactive training, consulting, and certification

IONA Technologies, a provider of standards-based middleware solutions, announced that the IONA World Europe users conference will be held October 18-19, in Dublin, Ireland. The conference will feature interactive technical training and consulting for IONA’s standards-based Orbix middleware solutions for ebusinesses. Orbix is designed to integrate mainframes within the enterprise.

A certification program targeted at systems integrators and value-added resellers will be available for those proficient in Orbix middleware, distributed systems, and deployment and development.

IONA World Europe: https://www.ionaworld.com

IONA Professional Services: https://www.iona.com/info/services/ps/index.html

Certification program: https://www.iona.com/partners/newsinfo/certificationfaq.html

NetBeans and Tendril introduce Java modeling solution

NetBeans and Tendril Software have announced StructureBuilder, an integrated modeling and development program written in Java. StructureBuilder allows developers to visually design Unified Modeling Language (UML) models for distributed applications inside an integrated development environment (IDE).

As developers amend either the Java source or the UML diagrams, the changes are incorporated into the other in realtime.

Intended to help developers quickly construct, deploy, and debug applications, the solution uses leading application servers and CORBA ORBs. The model-based component and application development tool is available as a plug-in module for the NetBeans Developer 3.0 IDE (currently in beta).

StructureBuilder’s price ranges from 95 for the standard edition to ,990 for Enterprise Pro-SM. The maintenance cost is 15 percent of the contract price. A single support incident cost is 5. The software is available on both companies’ Web sites.

Tendril’s StructureBuilder: https://www.tendril.com/content/products.htm

NetBeans 3.0 IDE (in beta): https://www.netbeans.com/developer30/entry/index.html

Learn about Java in a boutique

Java Boutique is posting monthly installments of an online course that teaches Java from the ground up. Beginning with history of the Java language, the course is intended to provide easily understood and comprehensive information.

Current installments include Introduction to Java and Introduction to Object-Oriented Design.

Selena Sol — who has worked in software development for the National Center for Human Genome Research, Microline Software, Neuron Data, and Electric Eye of Singapore — wrote the course. Sol’s additional credits include the Public Domain Web Script Archive (Extropia) and several books on Web programming (Perl, CGI, Java).

https://javaboutique.internet.com/articles/ITJ/

IBM’s Jikes Java compiler project updated

IBM launches version 1.06 of Jikes Java compiler, its inaugural open source software project. The project currently comprises the Jikes compiler, the Jikes Parser Generator, and the Jikes Test Suite.

The Jikes compiler translates Java source files into a bytecoded instruction set and binary format. Features include adherence to the language specification, a fast compile speed, and a built-in dependence analysis, which enables incremental compilation and automatic makefile generation.

IBM provides the source code for Jikes, a parser generator, and a test suite under a liberal license. Developers and contributors interact through Jikes mailing lists and the Jikes Discussion Database, which contains problem reports, suggestions, and queries to Sun about language specification issues.

Jikes is included in the Debian and FreeBSD distributions and in Red Hat distributions. https://www10.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/jikes/index.html

You can download the source or prebuilt binary versions for commonly used systems: https://www10.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/cvs/jikes/

Kingsley and Visualize team up to further Java visualization products

Kingsley Technologies, a developer of corporate data operating systems and virtual information server technologies, announced a partnership with Visualize, a developer of Java-based data visualization and analysis products.

The partnership further positions Kingsley to develop on the Java platform. Its goal is to provide solutions for gathering data from multiple sources via intranets and the Internet, and for viewing, manipulating, and analyzing the data.

Clients using both Kingsley and Visualize technology will be able to graphically view all corporate data in realtime. The two companies will conduct joint marketing strategy sessions through their respective sales and distribution channels.

https://www.visualizeinc.com/main.html

https://www.kingsleytech.com/

Wind River and Espial partner on Internet appliances

Wind River Systems, a developer of embedded software and services, has teamed with embedded Java technology developer Espial Group to create a one-stop software solution for producing Java-based Internet appliances.

Wind River is now Espial’s preferred realtime operating system (RTOS) partner. A series of integrated Personal JWorks development kits, a primary component of the partnership, is available now from Wind River.

The partnership is betting on the increase in demand for specialized Internet appliances to fuel demand for its joint offering. As such, according to IDC (International Data Corporation), the number of specialized Internet appliances is expected to increase from 15 million units being shipped today to more than 55 million by 2002.

Espial Group: https://www.espial.com

Wind River Systems: https://www.windriver.com

Eicon announces ecommerce security solution

Eicon, a provider of remote access solutions, announced its newest thin client software, the Aviva for Java 2.00. The software — designed for ecommerce — comes with SSL options enabling additional levels of security.

Aviva’s Web-based host access allows ebusinesses to maintain existing legacy systems and provides customers and employees access to data in a secure Web browser environment. The Web-to-host structure provides Web-based access with central management and configuration. Corporate mainframe data can also be securely accessed by business partners, employees, and remote workers via the Web.

The product features customizable scripting and host printing tools, as well.

Aviva for Java 2.00 supports JavaBeans and other industry-standard Java development tools and APIs. Features of the new release include:

• Server platform independence (Unix, Linux, OS/390)

• IND$FILE file transfer

• Multilanguage support

• 3270 printer support

• Ability to remap keyboard assignments

• Color display support

Aviva for Java 2.00 is available in French and English for single and multiple user licenses. Pricing begins at 5.

https://www.eicon.com/avivajav/default.htm

New Java installer released

DeNova introduced version 4.0 of JExpress, DeNova’s Java installer and auto-updater. You can now customize updaters with Java commands or native programs.

The API included with JExpress Professional provides for the integration of custom commands into the standard updater, and the built-in auto-updater keeps systems current with the latest release.

The JExpress Updater eliminates the need for programming or background tasks. A simple configuration option in JExpress sets up the software manufacturer’s Web site and their customers’ systems to manage updates seamlessly. Customers’ machines download only new or modified files from the manufacturer’s Web site, so updates take minutes instead of hours.

If developers decide they do want to enhance the JExpress Updater, then they use Java to issue any special commands or prompt users for additional information.

You can request the full version from: https://www.denova.com/index.html

ISPCON Internet access event to be held in San Jose

Billed as an educational and networking event for those in the business of providing Internet access, ISPCON Fall ’99 is scheduled to take place October 26-28 at the San Jose Convention Center.

Scheduled for the three-day event are 120 educational seminars giving product, service, and industry updates. A variety of companies are slated to participate in the conference: besides Internet service providers, they include CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers), ITSPs (Internet telephony service providers), IXCs (interexchange carriers), cable operators, telecommunications resellers, satellite and wireless companies, and Web hosting companies, among others.

Full conference registration is 95.

Registration for the event can be found on: https://ispcon.internet.com/fall99/register.html

ProSyst provides free and pure Java server for Linux

Java middleware developer ProSyst Software, of Germany, is offering for free an unlimited-usage developer version of its EnterpriseBeans Server. The all-Java server is platform independent and designed for the development, integration, deployment, and management of Java applications in Linux environments.

The product is available over the Internet and supports the following standards:

• Enterprise JavaBeans

• Java Message Service

• Java Transaction Service

• Java Mail

• Java Servlets

• Java Server Pages

• JNDI

• JDBC

• HTTP Server

• FTP Server

• NNTP Server

The included tools consist of EJB and service wizards, a source editor, compiler, and a test and debug environment.

https://www.prosyst.com/products/index.html

Bluette releases a small but fast IDE

Bluette International has released its namesake: a small integrated development environment (IDE) that appears faster and easier to use than many other Java IDEs on the market.

Bluette 1.0 can be used with a variety of JDKs. Site licensing begins at 5 per ten academic users and 5 for ten enterprise users (for more than 100 licenses, the range is from 00 to 40, respectively) and 0 for individual users.

Bluette also released the General Help System (G Help 1.0) for 00.

G Help:

• Assists developers in writing help documents and assists users in finding and managing information effectively

• Generates help documents with automatically provided context-sensitive help

• Enables developers to modify topics and index information in their help documents with the Windows 98 Explorer interface

• Analyzes existing HTML documents and extracts help data according to the users’ interests

The company site carries a FAQ page in addition to four newsgroups.

https://bluette.com/

Condensity shrinks Java to help prevent reverse-engineering

Condensity, developed by Plumb Design, shrinks and obfuscates Java classes, making it more difficult to decompile Java class files, thus protecting them from reverse-engineering.

Plumb Design also developed TH!NKMAP, a tool for building next-generation interfaces, which led to the development of Condensity.

A trial version of Condensity can be downloaded for free; the fully licensed version costs 49.

https://www.condensity.com/download.html

Flashline.com launches auction service for Java development projects

In response to the IT labor shortage, Flashline.com, a software-component marketplace, has launched Components by Design. The auction service outsources Java, COM, and CORBA software-component development.

Flashline.com serves as a clearinghouse of sorts, allowing companies to post software-component specifications for bids from registered developers. The goal of the service is to help organizations quickly find qualified and specialized programmers.

Charles M. Stack, Flashline.com’s president and CEO, says that “Components by Design offers a better, faster, and cheaper way of developing software using outsourced components. Companies have the opportunity to tap into a larger knowledge base than what may already be available in-house.”

More than 1,000 software developers are registered with Flashline as potential bidder. To register, developers must provide information on technical expertise, previous programming experience, and earned certifications.

During the auction the developer profile is available for review by the requesting organization. The candidate’s identity is revealed to the organization after he or she is selected, and Components by Design completes its role in the search.

For a limited time, Components by Design is allowing organizations to post component requests free charge.

https://www.flashline.com/components/developers/entrypage.jsp

To become a Components by Design developer, register at: https://www.flashline.com/components/developers/developer.jsp

Odigo updates features for its JavaWeb community

Odigo has spiffed up Odigo 0.98 for its JavaWeb online community. In addition to a surfing application, chat facility, and messaging tools, the new version now supports the NeoPlanet browser in addition to Internet Explorer 4 and Netscape Navigator 3.

Personal homepages have been added to the directory and owners have the option of suggesting their URL for cataloging by Odigo.

Odigo’s features include:

• A realtime graph of the most popular sites by users

• Note posting to a Web site that only other Odigo users can read

• Buddy lists

• Email and file sending

The Odigo client is a small application that lives in the Windows system tray. System requirements are a Pentium 100 or higher, at least 32 MB of RAM, Windows 9x/NT 4; the browser needs to be IE 3 or later, Netscape 3 or later, or NeoPlanet 2.x or 5.x.

A free download is available at: https://www.odigo.com/download/index.htm

Cerebellum names new CEO

Cerebellum Software, the Pittsburgh, PA, developer of the Cerebellum data-integration platform, announced the appointment of Edward M. Peters as its new CEO.

He is charged with establishing Cerebellum as “the standard data integration solution for Web-based and Internet applications.” Prior to joining Cerebellum, Peters spent four years as the senior vice president of data connectivity at MERANT.

The complete press release can be found at: https://www.cerebellumsoft.com/pubrel/press/92199.shtml

HP’s BFOOT modules provide remote Web access to devices

BFOOT is Hewlett-Packard’s family of embedded Ethernet controllers. These small preprogrammed hardware modules are designed to help manufacturers incorporate sensors, actuators, instruments, and machines in Ethernet networks and the Internet.

The BFOOT 11501 and 10501 both include a 10BaseT Ethernet interface. An embedded Web server supports basic HTTP communications, allowing for remote query capabilities through the Internet on any browser.

The controllers, which use open standards, also have:

• Customizable Web servers

• Standard IEEE 1451.2 interfaces

• Serial interfaces/Serial gateways

• HP Time Synchronization

• VxWorks real-time operating system

• Custom node applications

The 11501 version contains 2 MB of flash memory, while the 10501 contains 1 MB. HP preloaded both modules with a standard firmware package including support for the FTP/HTTP/TCP/UDP multicast network protocols, user authentication (via FTP or HTTP), and an embedded Web server that can be customized with user-uploaded HTML pages or Java applets. Options include a C++ API and HP Time Sync.

Pricing for the BFOOT controllers ranges from 40 per unit (up to nine units) to 5 per unit (for 10,000 units and above).

https://www.hpie.com/

PointBase delivers pure Java database-management software

PointBase’s Mobile and Server Editions deliver 100% Pure Java database management solutions. They are geared toward ISVs (independent software vendors), VARs (value-added resellers), corporate development teams, and device manufacturers who design Web-based, mobile, and embedded device applications.

Product features include an embedded database and seamless integration with many corporate databases. Transparent two-way data synchronization with corporate databases is available as an optional feature.

The Mobile Edition targets applications that support mobile workers and Internet appliances such as PDAs (personal digital assistants), while the Server Edition is aimed at networked applications such as ecommerce and Java servers. Both provide support for many standard programming interfaces and application development environments, such as SQL, JDBC, Microsoft Visual J++, and JBuilder from Inprise/Borland.

The newest (3.0) version of the products is scheduled to debut by the end of the year and should fully support the Unicode standard.

The Mobile Edition starts at 95, and the Server Edition at ,995.

https://www.pointbase.com/products/index.html

RasterMaster/Java 3.0 imaging SDK released

Snowboard Software has released RasterMaster/Java 3.0, a new imaging software development kit that it claims has greater speed, capability, and functionality than previous releases. The company reports that the new kit is up to ten times faster than version 2.0.

The professional imaging functions include an antialiased display, zoom options, rotations of any angle, plus deskew and despeckle. You’ll also be able to remove borders, flip x and y axes, and convert coordinates from screen to image.

Additional upgrades include those for PCL output, JPEG saving, high-resolution printing, large-image support for engineering drawings, and EPS output.

RasterMaster/Java 3.0 supports a variety of image formats, including TIFF, JPEG, GIF, BMP, MO:DCA IOCA, MO:DCA PTOCA, DICOM, JEDMICS, and CMYK.

Pricing is as follows: ,350 for a RM/View developer’s toolkit, ,995 for the RM/Plus version, and ,995 for the RM/Extended version. Evaluation software and customized versions are available in addition to application and applet development.

https://www.snowbnd.com/Products/rmjava_eval.htm

Build and deploy ASP applications on Sun or Linux

Halcyon Software’s iASP (instant Active Server Pages) facilitates the building and deployment of ASP Java-enabled Web servers, application servers, and operating system platforms, including Sun, Linux, Apache, IBM AS/400, and S/390.

Active Server Pages let developers use most scripting languages, components, and popular third-party tools to quickly build data-driven, dynamic Web applications.

The software extends the ASP environment to support JavaBeans, Enterprise JavaBeans, CORBA, and other non-Microsoft development tools and methodologies.

A free Developer’s Edition of iASP is available. The full deployment capabilities cost 95 per server.

https://www.halcyonsoft.com/prods/iasp/iasp.htm

ISG and WebXi team to further Internet data server technology

International Software Group (ISG), a provider of enterprise information infrastructure (EII) programs, has announced a strategic partnership with WebXi, a provider of Web-enabled high-performance data server technology.

Under the terms of the partnership, WebXi is to use ISG Navigator’s EII to deliver a more comprehensive Internet data server: it will extend the backend access and integration capabilities needed for deploying data- and transaction-intensive Web applications.

The WebXi Data Server Java Edition includes a 100% Pure Java JDBC driver and a scalable data server with intelligent connection pooling.

ISG Navigator’s EII extends the data server by providing customers with multiplatform, native access to a full range of relational, prerelational and postrelational data sources as well as standard OLE DB sources.

ISG Navigator is incorporated in products offered by Oracle, Compaq, Computer Associates, and Cognos. It is also available through ISG’s offices in the United States, Israel, United Kingdom, France, People’s Republic of China, and Australia and through its full-service distributor, Mitsui, in Japan.

https://www.isgsoft.com

Progress introduces Internet messaging server

Progress Software, a supplier of application development, deployment and management products, announced the standards-based Progress SonicMQ, an Internet messaging server for Java developers.

Based on the Java Message Service (JMS) specifications from Sun, the product enables Java developers to add enterprise messaging capabilities to their applications. It should facilitate meeting scalability requirements for business-to-business and consumer ecommerce that depend more and more on realtime messaging systems.

SonicMQ will be available in two versions: the SonicMQ Enterprise Edition is a fully featured product for deployment configurations and complex development environments, and the SonicMQ Developer Edition for building and testing messaging applications.

The product is certified to run with Oracle8i, Microsoft SQL Server v7.0, and Progress RDBMS 9.1, as well as its own internal database.

The Developer Edition runs on Windows NT and is to be available at no cost. The Enterprise Edition runs on Windows NT and Solaris platforms with pricing yet to be announced. Both editions should be available in November for the North American market.

Further details and a copy of SonicMQ Developer Edition are available at:

https://www.sonicmq.com

Sun and 3Com incorporate Java into handhelds at PalmSource’99

Sun and 3Com have teamed up to push Java technology further into consumer devices with the introduction of the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition, designed for the Palm platform. Sun workstation users can connect with their Palm devices using Java synchronization software based on Palm Computing’s HotSync technology.

The Java 2 Micro Edition is scheduled to be featured at the PalmSource’99 event, October 19-22, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The conference is geared toward developers, enterprise solution providers, VARs (value-added resellers), ISVs (independent software vendors), system integrators, and management information system and IT executives.

Sun at PalmSource’99: https://java.sun.com/events/palmsource99/

PalmSource’99 event: https://www.palmsource.com/

A 100% Pure Java solution for manufacturer supply chain

Sun has certified Agile Anywhere, a content-management program for ecommerce supply chains, as 100% Pure Java.

The product, developed by Agile Software, is the first and so far only pure Java application designed to manage product content for this market. Agile Anywhere leverages Java technology to drive virtual manufacturing through an Internet-based system.

As supply-chain partners work to stay current on product specs and to reduce the time to market, the prompt sharing of information plays a vital role in determining efficiency and profitability.

The objective of Agile Anywhere is to bring partners into the supply chain with a Java applet, providing flexibility as vendors change and as specs are updated.

“Certification and compatibility are significant issues because an application designed to enable collaboration in a supplier network is effective only if it communicates with all partners in the network,” said Bryan D. Stolle, Agile Software’s CEO.

Agile Anywhere runs on all Unix and Windows/Intel platforms that meet Java certification criteria and are certified as 100 percent compatible with Windows (9x or NT) and Mac OS.

Sun’s 100% Pure Java Initiative: https://www.java.sun.com/100percent

Agile Software: https://www.agilesoft.com

CoSORT launches support for Linux, Solaris 7

CoSORT’s latest release, the CoSORT 7, is now available for Linux and Solaris 7, on the SPARC and Intel platforms.

The CoSORT package is a collection of routines for file sorting; for one-pass extraction, sorting, summarization, and reporting; and for providing sort functionality within databases, data warehouses, and application programs.

The technology, targeted at developers and end users, is designed to help exploit inherent parallel processing, large file I/O, and Internet-related data Web-housing.

In addition to the newly supported platforms, CoSORT supports AIX 4.1.4-4.3.3, HP-UX 9.04-11.0, Solaris 2.5-2.6, Digital Unix/Compaq Tru64 Unix 4.0, Data General 5.4, Windows NT 4.0, NCR MP-RAS 3, Reliant Unix (Sinix) 5.4, SCO Unix 5, UnixWare 2-7, and Windows 95/98. CoSORT 7 can be remotely launched using a Java GUI and operates across all Unix and NT platforms, with cross-executable utility script and API interfaces.

There is a one-time licensing fee for CoSORT at hardware-based price points.

https://www.cosort.com

Insignia provides Java-compatible, Sun-independent embedded solutions

Insignia Solutions says it offers a speedier version of an independently developed Java-compatible implementation of Sun’s Embedded Java and Personal Java specifications, intended for embedded devices.

With Insignia’s announcement of the successful completion of Sun Microsystems Embedded Java Compatibility Kit (EJCK) self-certification process, the company can now ship the 1.5.1 version of Jeode software with the Sun Authorized Virtual Machine logo on associated marketing and promotional materials.

https://www.insignia.com/4.0/products/jeode.htm