Plug-and-play functionality sought Server-side application deployment may get a boost from a project newly proposed to the open source Eclipse Foundation. The Rich Server Platform – User Interface Framework (RSP-UI) effort within Eclipse seeks to provide a UI framework to compose integrated server-side applications based on Eclipse and OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) styles.It would allow sets of rendering technologies to be combined to enable development of versatile applications and will augment the Eclipse community by bridging client- and server-side applications, according to an Eclipse document on the proposal.Through the effort, plug-ins would be used to build modular, plug-and-play applications on servers, said Wolfgang Gehner, CEO of Infonoia, a Geneva -based software company leading the project. “It’s kind of taking the RCP [Eclipse Rich Client Platform], which runs on clients, but taking it and having it run on the server,” Gehner said. These applications will feature reusable business logic, said Gehner.Applications could be accessed via a Web interface. The technology could be applied to building Internet portals, as well.A draft of the API for RSP-UI is expected in October; a final release is anticipated in May 2007. Advocates, however, are still awaiting the project’s endorsement as a formal Eclipse project, Gehner said. The full proposal is viewable here. Software Development