News and New Product Briefs (November 5, 1999)

Java 2, Enterprise Edition available in beta

Sun Microsystems has released the beta version of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). An integrated Enterprise JavaBeans platform, J2EE improves EJB portability and eases the creation of enterprise solutions based on EJB.

J2EE includes support for Extensible Markup Language, JavaServer Pages, and servlets. It is available as two bundles for download: one contains documentation; the other, software — including Cloudscape’s database management system and SQL data manager.

J2EE is available for the Solaris and Windows NT platforms (free registration is required):

https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/earlyAccess/j2sdkee/

Downloading J2EE makes you eligible for Cloudscape evaluation support:

https://www.cloudscape.com/

Colt lets you analyze data online and off

The Colt distribution is a package of several free software libraries that enable scientific and technical computing in Java. The distribution includes the Colt library (which provides general-purpose data structures), the Jet library (which contains mathematical and histogramming tools as well as random-number generation), the JAL library (a partial port of the SGI C++ Standard Template Library), the RngPack library (which provides random-number generators), and VNI libraries (which contain mathematical functions and complex numbers).

This all-in-one toolkit allows for offline data analysis, histogramming, Monte Carlo simulations, and more — and it is all open source.

https://nicewww.cern.ch/~hoschek/colt/index.htm

Riverton introduces EJB app server

HOW Application Server Edition for EJB is a port of Riverton’s ebusiness application servers for Enterprise JavaBeans. Meant as an aid in building or reengineering business applications, HOW Application Server Edition for EJB allows for component-based project-oriented development and deployment.

Complexity is built in, so you can rapidly develop entirely new applications with a component-aware design — or reengineer legacy apps for the EJB platform. The application server provides graphical interfaces for domain building, task building, and query building when you design middle-tier business objects, presentation-tier objects, and the application’s database interactions. It also provides an activity-building component used to form the software’s business logic.

HOW’s component-deployment framework, OpenFrame, has been improved to support more EJB capabilities such as transaction, object, and connection pooling, as well as error logging.

HOW Application Server Edition for EJB should be available in the fourth quarter of this year; it is priced at about ,000 per developer license.

Product information is available at:

https://www.riverton.com/product/welcome.htm

Find the HOW Learning Edition at:

https://www.riverton.com/howle/welcome.htm

viewONE extends browser image capabilities

viewONE, a simple yet high-performance Java applet, lets you and your Web-site visitors zoom, scroll, pan, rotate, and print images and multipage image documents in a number of formats, including TIFF, JPEG, BMP, and GIF. You can also view Web-based faxes, invoices, letters, and CD distributions.

viewONE requires Java 1.15 or later (which can be found in Internet Explorer 4.01, Netscape 4.06, Java Plugin 1.1.2, or later versions).

https://www.daeja.com/

Java Business Conference focuses on the enterprise

Business people can share how using Java gives them a competitive edge — and can learn more about success stories in areas as diverse as manufacturing, human resources, and finance. They’ll join experts from Sun Microsystems and experienced instructors at the Java Business Conference, to be held December 7-9 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, in New York City.

The conference will cover the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition; Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) architecture deployment; Jini connection technology; Extensible Markup Language; Java Foundation Classes; JDBC technology; and CORBA/RMI.

https://www.javabusinessconference.com/

HotDispatch a hot commodity

HotDispatch announced the closing of a first round of venture capital financing, which garnered million from a group of investors that includes New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Accel Partners.

As a result of the deal, HotDispatch is adding Mitchell Kapor and Arthur Marks to the board of directors. Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development, is currently a partner at NEA, and Marks is a general partner at NEA.

HotDispatch will continue its focus on Web-deliverable technical services, including those showcased in a recent pilot sponsored by Sun Microsystems. In the test, registered users from around the world bought and sold their Java expertise. While the HotDispatch brokerage service will initially focus on Java and Linux, it will eventually encompass other developer and end-user application areas.

https://www.hotdispatch.com/

Codagen relieves developers of code-generation tasks

Codagen Technologies has introduced Gen-it for Java, its first release in what is to become a family of code generators for the enterprise.

The context-based Gen-it uses templates that enable developers to automatically create components consisting of repetitive (or nearly repetitive) code.

Promising to save time and headaches, Gen-it allows developers to focus their energies on the implementation of unique code, and leave the chore of coding repetitive sequences up to the computer. Applications thus arrive at market sooner. The component-base code can be updated or modified at a high level, easing maintenance chores as well.

Codagen Technologies says that, as a rapid development tool, Gen-it for Java generates code that is more usable for Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) than that produced by other code-generation tools for Java — in part because developers using Gen-it can increase the number of generation instructions.

Gen-it for Java works with leading UML (Unified Modeling Language) tools and offers seamless integration with IBM VisualAge for Java and with IDEs (integrated development environments). The product was demonstrated at the SIGS conference and is now available at an introductory price of about ,000 per user. Gen-it is supported by Windows 98/NT.

https://www.codagen.com/

ALife robot can manage your investments

Artificial Life, a developer of intelligent software robots, has released ALife-PortfolioManager 1.0, a sort of cyberbroker that uses the company’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology as well as high-level financial models to enhance the management of a personal investment portfolio. A user also can also seamlessly collect and filter relevant news articles, maintain multiple investment profiles, build a knowledge base, and query and control the stockbot. The company says that the user interface is friendly and humanlike, and that communication with the stockbot takes place in natural language.

In the second quarter of next year, the company plans to release a client/server version of the ALife-PortfolioManager for institutional investors. The client/server version will feature additional risk models as well as forecasting algorithms.

A platform-independent Java application, the portfolio manager runs on Windows 9x, Unix, and Linux. Netscape Navigator 4.x or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x is recommended.

https://www.artificial-life.com/

JProbe tunes up performance for server-side Java

The JProbe 2.5 ServerSide Edition now offers performance analysis to developers working on server-side Java. The application has improved its performance tuning, memory debugging, code coverage, and EJB thread analysis. It also introduces full suitewide support for Sun Solaris and new lock analyzers in JProbe Threadalyzer.

JProbe is designed to work well with code written for such popular application and Web servers as IBM’s WebSphere and VisualAge products.

The JProbe ServerSide Edition is shipping now, with single developer computer licenses starting at 99; technical Gold Support costs an additional 99 annually.

JProbe 2.5 ServerSide Edition:

https://www.klgroup.com/jprobe/

Download a free evaluation copy:

https://services.klgroup.com/store/evals/evals.cgi?prodLine=5

Chain Link accelerates ecommerce applications

Chain Link Technologies launched IS*Integrity Accelerator, the first product in what the company says will be a series of management packages for ecommerce.

The IS*Integrity Accelerator is a 100% Pure Java implementation designed to improve the way companies manage their Internet business workflows. The application manages the life cycle of requests for modifications to existing products.

For better compatibility, IS*Integrity Accelerator natively supports Java, HTML, C, and C++ code constructs.

IS*Integrity Accelerator is a part of Chain Link’s IS*Integrity suite. For pricing, contact the Chain Link sales department.

https://www.clti.com/

Patricia Seybold Group reports on feasibility of Java

The Patricia Seybold Group, a consulting and research firm in Boston, has announced the availability of “Java Application Servers,” a report on the feasibility of the Java platform.

Published by TechMetrix Research of Burlington, MA, the report takes a look at Java application servers and Java’s role in the enterprise. It discusses several questions regarding Java’s future, including the idea of using Java as an alternative to three-tier client/server architectures. It also examines the use of server-side Java in HTML applications. Finally, TechMetrix compares the capabilities of six leading Java application servers, including those from BEA Systems, IBM, Oracle, and Symantec.

“Java Application Servers,” available in the United States only through the Patricia Seybold Group, costs ,295.

https://www.psgroup.com/

RMI over IIOP becomes more CORBA-like

Remote Method Invocation (RMI) over Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) — or RMI over IIOP — now includes the updated Objects by Value mappings that the Object Management Group (OMG) has approved.

RMI over IIOP, developed jointly by Sun Microsystems and IBM, offers CORBA-compliant distributed-computing capabilities to the Java 2 Platform and to the 1.1 version of the Java Development Kit (JDK).

It thus provides a framework for Java applications to talk to applications written in CORBA-supported languages like C++ or Smalltalk. The IIOP interface keeps your development environment 100% Pure Java. With RMI over IIOP, remote interfaces or clients written in Java can be used with programs written in other languages. The RMI-over-IIOP IDL Compiler works with the 1.0.1 release to compile CORBA interface definition language for CORBA development on the Java platform.

RMI over IIOP is based on the OMG’s Java-to-IDL mapping and Objects-by-Value specifications. The OMG defines open standards with the wide participation of vendors and users.

The recently released version 1.0.1 of RMI over IIOP is supported on Solaris and Microsoft platforms.

https://java.sun.com/products/rmi-iiop/index.html

ImaginOn launches high-bandwidth portal

ImaginOn has introduced its ImOn.com high-bandwidth Internet portal, featuring Internet TV with seamless realtime n-branching video. The service is fully integrated with Web research functionality as well.

The Java-based ImOn.com is deployed from a Solaris-based server that creates fast access to high-speed video streaming.

The portal provides many functions, including:

• Realtime online media searches
• Interactive TV
• Music videos
• Video games
• Interactive video travel planners
• Video shopping catalogs

Traditional features such as email, calendars and datebooks, and customized news channels are also included.

https://www.imaginon.com/Home/about/papers.html

IBM updates Java developer kit for Linux

IBM has launched its IBM Developer Kit and Runtime Environment for Linux, Java Technology Edition, version 1.1.8. It is an update to the IBM Developer Kit and Runtime Environment, Java Edition, 1.1.7.

The upgrade includes

• The just-in-time (JIT) 3.5 compiler with the Mixed Mode Interpreter (MMI) function from IBM

• Euro support

• Greater stability

• Effective security with signed applets

• Reusable components using JavaBeans

• Networking

• Support for simultaneous display of Unicode characters

• Industrial-strength Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)

https://www.ibm.com/java/jdk/118/

New version of Kaffe OpenVM released

Transvirtual and the Kaffe Core Team have released Kaffe 1.0.5. Kaffe is an open source implementation of the Java Virtual Machine and class libraries. It is mostly compatible with JDK 1.1 and partly compatible with Java 2.

Kaffe now includes KJC, a completely open source Java compiler. There are new ports available in this version as well — JITs for MIPS and StrongARM.

Kaffe is released under the GNU General Public License and supports currently used Unix and Unix-like systems (as well as Windows 95).

To download:

https://www.transvirtual.com/products/downloads.html

Sun releases APIs to the Jakarta Project

Sun Microsystems has released the full source code for the reference implementations of the Java Servlet 2.2 and JavaServer Pages APIs to the Apache Software Foundation’s Jakarta Project. The project is planning to provide a commercial-quality server solution, called Tomcat, based on the Java platform.

The Tomcat implementation of the Java Servlet 2.2 and JavaServer Pages 1.1 specifications will be used in the Apache Web Server as well as in other Web servers and development tools. Tomcat, now in beta, is expected to be available as a full release by the end of 1999.

A Web site dedicated to the Jakarta Project can be found at:

https://jakarta.apache.org

Internet Message Router filters email content

The Mirapoint Internet Message Router is a network appliance designed to route network messages in multiple-server environments. It can handle more than a million messages a day.

The device itself comes preloaded and configured for the user’s system and can be managed through a Java-based GUI or a command-line interface. Internet Message Router provides support for LDAP-based directory lookups (version 2.0) and can be deployed in multiple messaging server environments. It is fully SMTP and MIME compliant, and it can also act as a proxy server that gives clients POP/IMAP-based access to multiple servers.

The router contains content-filtering software, including virus-detection technology from Trend Micro. The filtering device automatically scans both inbound and outbound email messages and can also provide spam prevention services.

The product is expected to ship in November.

The Premium bundle includes the router itself as well as LDAP routing and authentication, the POP/IMAP proxy, and the antivirus filtering. It is priced at 7,475.

https://www.mirapoint.com/products/routers/index.asp

JClass GUI components add IRIX and Linux support

KL Group has released JClass 4.0.1, a development environment that is fully scalable to even mission-critical situations.

JClass 4.0.1 offers integrated development environment (IDE) features, including:

• IBM VisualAge for Java 2

• New platform support for IRIX and Linux (added to previous support for Windows 9x/NT and Solaris)

• Full JDK 1.1 support in JClass PageLayout

• JClass PageLayout capability to convert and save any Swing or JClass component as a PDF, PCL, or EPS file

JClass 4.0.1 also supports JBuilder, NetBeans, and Symantec VisualCafé. Components are available now as individual products or in suites. The JClass Standard Suite includes the Chart, Field, LiveTable, and SwingSuite components, plus one year of Gold Support for ,499. The JClass Enterprise Suite adds the HiGrid, DataSource, JarMaster components for a total of ,099.

https://www.klgroup.com/news/pr/jclass401.html

Accucast nets personalized email lists

With Accucast Software’s Java-based Accucast tool, you can create personalized email marketing campaigns.

The main module of the package, Accucast Manager, runs on any Java-enabled Web server and can be accessed with a Web browser.

Accucast can query any JDBC-compliant database, so you can build targeted distribution lists from existing data structures. Such mailings can be personalized down to special click-through URLs that are then tracked by the Accucast Click-Thru Server.

The package comes in both an in-house version (Accucast Enterprise) and a vendor-hosted version (Accucast Accelerator).

Accucast Enterprise begins at 5,000, with an additional fee for the required Business Distribution License (the cost of which depends on email volume). The hosted Accucast Accelerator version requires a ,000 up-front setup fee plus 4 cents per delivered email message.

https://www.accucast.com/

Instant ASP deploys applications on any Java-enabled server

Developers using Instant ASP (iASP), by Halcyon Software, can deploy their ASP (Active Server Pages) applications on virtually any Java-enabled Web or application server. The open deployment framework supports Apache (Unix/Linux), Netscape Enterprise, IBM WebSphere, Zeus, and many other servers. In addition, iASP supports JavaBeans, Enterprise JavaBeans, and CORBA components.

iASP replicates the ASP’s own environment — including support for all built-in objects and installable components — in Java.

It then extends this core functionality with added support for VBScript, Jscript, Perl, and JavaScript. Because of this platform independence — iASP relies only on the existence of a Java-enabled server — Halcyon Software says that the product allows developers to create their applications using any of these or other development tools — and then port their finished work to their target platform. iASP handles the necessary translations and intercepts and processes client requests to the Web server — including those for executing embedded scripts and delivering the appropriate result to the user.

The standard version of iASP is priced at 95; a free developer’s version is available from the Halcyon Web site.

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

SilkPilot checks behavior of CORBA-based servers

Segue Software’s SilkPilot is an open object-level application that tests the behavior of CORBA-based servers.

SilkPilot, now available in version 1.2, consists of:

• Test automation
• Code generation
• Regression testing capabilities

SilkPilot supports:

• Dynamic query
• Navigation of an interface repository
• Dynamic binding to objects
• On-the-fly invocation of operations and attributes on objects

SilkPilot is available in standard and professional editions. The Standard Edition is an entry-level product that supports the interactive testing of objects. The Professional Edition includes all Standard Edition features, plus those for test automation and code generation.

A pure Java application, SilkPilot runs on a variety of platforms, including Windows 9x/NT, and various Unix operating systems. It acts as a generic CORBA client and communicates with all CORBA-compliant servers. As the only commercially available multi-ORB test product, SilkPilot supports IONA Orbix and OrbixWeb, Inprise VisiBroker for Java and C++, and BEA WebLogic Enterprise.

To register for the trial copy of SilkPilot Standard Edition, go to:

https://www.segue.com/html/s_solutions/s_info_form.htm

For pricing, contact Segue sales:

https://www.segue.com/html/s_solutions/s_corba/s_spilot_overview.htm

RPK brings out encryption toolkit in Java

RPK Security has released a high-speed Java version of its Encryptonite Software Toolkit. The product adds strong encryption to stand-alone Java code.

RPK’s toolkit features

• A platform-independent high-speed Java implementation that performs at 95 percent the rate of native code

• Tools to develop fully transparent, browser-based security applications

• On-the-fly Java-based encryption of streaming media, multimedia conferencing, and more

• Support for transparent, secure login

• Built-in Web page security, eliminating the need for special plugins

• JDK 1.2 compatibility and conformity with JDK 1.1.7

• Strong encryption that was developed outside the US and is available worldwide

“The RPK Encryptonite Software Toolkit for Java also solves the growing problem of username and password management,” said Jack Oswald, president of RPK Security. The company says that the Encryptonite engine combines public key encryption with the speed of symmetric systems in one algorithm. It solves the security needs of streaming-media applications, accommodating variable-sized, garbled, lost, or out-of-order packets without losing performance.

Pricing of the toolkit starts at 95 per developer (development only). Deployment license fees are based on the application with which the toolkit is used.

https://www.rpkusa.com/

Sun Microsystems acquires NetBeans

Sun Microsystems announced that it has acquired NetBeans Ceska republika, a Czech joint stock company, by means of a purchase of assets that took place on October 20.

NetBeans develops an eponymous cross-platform, Java-based IDE (integrated development environment). The NetBeans IDE will be combined with products from Forte Software, another of Sun’s recent acquisitions, to provide customers with choices that range from entry-level offerings for individual developers and students to enterprise-class offerings for team development. Sun will also provide customers with support services to help keep their businesses up and running on the Internet.

Free versions of NetBeans Developer 3.0 Entry IDE for Solaris, Linux, and Windows 98/NT are now available from:

https://www.netbeans.com/product_dl.html

NetBeans software for Linux is available over the Web and through the Red Hat, SuSE, and Linux-Mandrake distributions.

Together/J updated

TogetherSoft (formerly Object International) has released version 3 of Together/J (TJ), with new features for visual UML (Unified Modeling Language) modeling and team development.

Together/J now features:

• Simultaneous round-trip engineering.

• The capability to reverse-engineer sequence diagrams from source code (including source code not generated by TJ itself, as TJ requires no special tags). TJ also delivers simultaneous round-trip engineering of Enterprise JavaBeans (including EJBs not generated by TJ).

• Automatic generation of modeling patterns, design patterns, refactorings, and EJBs for more efficient development.

• The ability to automatically generate up-to-date documentation, including javadoc2 multiframe HTML documents, multiplatform Rich Text Format (RTF) reports, and government- and corporate-standard documents. RTF reports are customizable in Together/Enterprise; all documents are generated with Java as the scripting language.

• Detailed visual support for Unified Modeling Language 1.3 diagrams.

As it is a pure Java application, TJ naturally runs on Windows 9x/NT, Solaris, and Linux.

The Whiteboard edition is free. For Developer Edition pricing, contact the company sales department.

https://www.togethersoft.com/together/togetherJ.html

SilverStream Application Server features J2EE support

SilverStream’s Application Server 3.0 builds on the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition. It features implementations of J2EE technologies, including Enterprise JavaBeans, servlets, JavaServer Pages, Extensible Markup Language, CORBA, Java Transaction API, and JNDI.

SilverStream 3.0 features:

• An integrated development and deployment platform

• Expanded data connectivity

• Content-management capability

• An implementation of the new EJB 1.1 specs

• Support for the latest JSP Servlet standard

• New XML capabilities, including an embedded XML parser

• Support for such other J2EE APIs as the JDBC 2.0 standard, Java Mail JNDI, and JTA

A Development Environment for up to five developers (on Windows NT, Solaris, IBM AIX, or HP-UX) costs ,500; the same configuration for ten developers costs 0,000.

A Deployment Server (for NT and Unix platforms) is available with unlimited user licenses. Pricing starts at 5,000 for one CPU.

Enterprise Data Connectors for NT — used to connect SilverStream 3.0 to enterprise applications — start at ,000 per CPU.

https://www.silverstream.com/website/SilverStream/Pages/home.html