JavaWorld News Briefs (12/15/96)

Apertus gives you legacy data from the Net

Cross-platform Java printing

DB2 gets its first Java-based thin client

An EPIC in the making

Faster, faster, you objects!

I want my Java ITV!

Java development tools: JavaSoft or Microsoft?

JavaSoft buys CyberCash for its Commerce Toolkit

Lotus goes head-to-head with Microsoft Office suite

Mac OS Runtime for Java 1.0

Microsoft Virtual Machine

Deploy apps written in any language across Net and desktop

Next Sybase IQ DB to have enhanced Java

Parlez-vous Java?: Keeping up with the language

Powersoft splits its C++ and Java RAD tools

Put the JavaSoft brand on your stock

Sanga adds data access to Corel’s Java office suite

Ta-da! Presenting the Java Commerce Toolkit

A Thermos for your hot Java

Upgrade alert: NetDynamics 3.0

Visual Basic-to-Java conversion

Apertus Technologies is previewing the Java-based Apertus Emulator, designed to provide cost-effective access to mainframe applications and data information from any Web browser. The server-based Apertus Emulator for Java delivers an industry-standard Telnet 3270/5250 client that is centrally downloaded on demand, eliminating the need to install and administer client software on every desktop. This allows for close to zero administration costs and high performance Web-to-host access.

Users can connect the Java emulator to the Apertus host for a quick look or they can download the product for the Windows or Unix platforms to their own server for a more extensive evaluation. The Apertus Emulator for Java will be available in early 1997 as part of a new suite of Internet-related products.

https://javasvr.apertus.com/

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Infospace released WebSeQueL — a ready-to-use, thin-client Java tool for browser-based access to IBM’s DB2 databases. With WebSeQueL, companies can easily access, analyze, and publish their DB2 data over the Internet or corporate intranet. The product combines interactive 3-D data visualization, professional reports, and point-and-click access to any relational database, all from within a common, browser-based interface. It operates from a central, multithreaded Java server and offers native connections to IBM, Oracle, Informix, and Sybase databases.

IBM plans to include an evaluation copy of WebSeQueL on its RS/6000 Web Server Software Sampler. WebSeQueL for DB2 is available for download from Infospace’s home page. Pricing starts at 95 per developer seat and 9 per user.

• Demos: https://www.infospace-inc.com/docs/websqlbr/demosql.html

• Data sheet: https://www.infospace-inc.com/docs/websqlbr/datasql.html

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In its attempt to stay in front in the rush to create platform-specific Java extensions, JavaSoft will launch a marketing and branding program to promote “pure Java” applications and implementations.

The branding program, which will involve a number of other vendors, is designed to help steer developers away from writing Java applications that make use of platform-specific classes or APIs — such as Microsoft’s ActiveX. The timing of the branding program coincides with the announcement of the final Java Development Kit, version 1.1 (more on JDK 1.1). Although JavaSoft officials declined to comment on the start date, the branding program is scheduled to debut by the time Internet World opens in New York City, the week of December 9.

https://www.pcweek.com/news/1202/02jav.html

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French company Temic Semiconductors is preparing hardware accelerations to give its SPARClet core (TSC711) a significant performance boost when executing Java bytecode. In changing the TSC711 (scheduled to be sampled in the third quarter of ’97), Temic examined the entire class of object-oriented systems and found common functions that could be accelerated without making a processor specific to Java. The company decided that the best way to speed up the core was not to accelerate the computing operations of the Java VM, but to focus on object management.

The core will be fast enough to run Java code in real-time environments (70 and 100MHz) and has provisions for extremely fast context switches and interrupt response. Attention primarily has been directed at the chip’s memory management unit (MMU), as memory-management tasks in object environments (such as garbage collection and memory footprints) have to use as little CPU time as possible.

The TSC711 isn’t dedicated to Java; the core will retain its compatibility with existing SPARC code. The chip also will include PCI, Ethernet, ISDN, and USB interfaces. It will compete directly with Sun’s picoJava core.

• Original story in Electronic Engineering Times: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?EET19961202S0174

• Temic: https://www.temic.de/static/sparclet.html

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JavaSoft and Microsoft are locked in a race to bring Java development tools to market. The prize: possible control of Java.

JavaSoft’s answer is to launch the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1. Additionally, JavaSoft will disclose that it has stepped up its work with Intel to speed the development of Java Media APIs, a core part of the JDK. The Java Media APIs are scheduled to be released in 1997. The importance of these APIs is best described by Karl Jacob, CEO of tool developer Dimension X: “The bottom line is that any API that isn’t defended by Sun will be exploited by other vendors. People want to be able to make their software run faster and better, and developers are clamoring for better APIs.”

JDK 1.1, due out in early `97, has two sections: Core APIs and Extended APIs. Java licensees will be required to support all of the Core APIs, while support for the Extended APIs will be optional. The core set includes: a new version of the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) for the Win32 platform; support for securely signing Java applets; remote method invocation (RMI); and Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) — an API that enables Java applications to make calls to any Open Database Connectivity database. JavaBeans, ActiveX controls, and OpenDoc bits will also be included.

Microsoft’s answer is to provide Intel-created, Windows-specific Java classes that leverage DirectX APIs. The Redmond, WA-based company hopes to shine in 2-D animation and imaging, media framework, and JavaShare-for-collaboration APIs. And Microsoft has promised to deliver a “super-charged” version of the AWT, which is part of JavaSoft’s JDK.

• JDK 1.1: https://www.javasoft.com/pr/1996/dec/pr961203-01.html

• Microsoft’s Java strategy: https://www.microsoft.com/workshop/java/javaqna.htm

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The makers of NetDynamics 3.0 are saying that this new version will help corporations and enterprises develop Web-based applications to facilitate such tasks as supply chain management, enterprise resources planning, and human resources. And it provides access to enterprise services and middleware, such as CICS and DCE. To make it easy to use Java, NetDynamics’ Studio development tool offers a set of predefined functional objects, delivered through more than 200 Java classes and 2,500 Java methods. These objects are used to automate session control, state management, database access, application messaging, GUI display, and security.

In addition, NetDynamics 3.0 offers nearly three times as many “wizards” as its previous version to automatically generate Java programming for corporate Web applications. These wizards help corporate developers to leverage their existing skills to create Java Web applications — without first needing to learn all the complexities of Web development.

NetDynamics 3.0 is available now. The single-developer NetDynamics Studio Developer System, which includes a single-user application server, starts at ,295. NetDynamics Application Servers start at ,000. This pricing applies to both Windows and Unix operating systems.

https://www.netdynamics.com/

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It seems Java is the hottest topic in IT training these days, and the variety and number of Java training courses is growing rapidly.

SunService recently announced an increase in instructor-led and computer-based Java training courses aimed at helping customers assess and develop their skills in deploying and managing Internet and intranet solutions based on Java. More than 10,000 students have taken Java courses at the 108 SunService centers worldwide since January 1996, says Trisha Bright, SunService’s program manager.

Other training services confirm the growing interest in Java. “I’ve never seen such recognition of a technology so quickly by technical people and managerial types who desire to understand what it is,” says Fred Michaels, training director at Greenbrier & Russel Inc., a national consulting and training firm in Schaumburg, IL. Among the Java courses offered by Greenbrier & Russel are introductory classes aimed at showing business and IS managers the potential applications that Java offers their organizations.

• Original story in Information Week: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK19961125S0075

• SunService: https://www.sun.com/java/list.html#training

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Hongkong Telecom, the largest telecommunications provider in Asia and the ninth-largest in the world, is preparing to use Java as the mission-critical programming language at the heart of its upcoming interactive-television network. Hongkong Telecom already operates a fully digital network; the interactive network will come with a broad range of interactive services, including video-on-demand, home shopping, home banking, and Internet access. The Java-based network will bring together several disparate technologies. On the client side, set-top boxes will be equipped with David, an operating system from Microware. Tying the network together will be middleware from Iona Technologies Ltd. Iona’s programs, called Orbix and OrbixWeb, provide a communications infrastructure that link the set-top boxes running Java-based code to more powerful servers at Hongkong Telecom’s head-end operations. Orbix uses IIOP, a new protocol, to convert Java-based messages sent across the network to messages in CORBA.

If Java is a success in its interactive role, it could eclipse MHEG (the Multimedia and Hypermedia Information standard). Most recently, MHEG adherents have been developing a core set of packages for the set-top-box environment, equivalent to what is provided by the java.lang and java.util software libraries.

• Original story in Electronic Engineering Times: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?EET19961202S0060

• Hongkong Telecom: https://www.hkt.com/index.shtml

• Microware’s David: https://www.microware.com/david.html

• Iona’s Orbix: https://www.iona.com/

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Open Software Associates released OpenWeb netDeploy version 1.2, which enables software developers to deploy client/server or stand-alone applications produced in any development language across the Internet and desktop.

NetDeploy consists of two parts. The netDeploy Packer prepares application components for transmission from a developer’s Web server; it allows software developers to create a catalog with details of all components required for an application. New or updated applications can be delivered with just one click of the mouse.

The netDeploy Launcher lets end users download and install any application over the Internet. With the Launcher, users can securely transfer new applications or their latest upgrade files to a persistent cache and launch the application. Only components that have changed since the application was last launched will be downloaded.

NetDeploy 1.2 is available now for Windows 95, 3.1, and NT, Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX. Pricing ranges from 95 for a single netDeploy Packer up to 0,000 for a corporate license buyout.

https://www.osa.com/products/netdploy/

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In November, Apple released a beta of the Mac OS Runtime for Java. It featured a virtual machine and JManager, an API for embedding Java applets inside standard applications. In January 1997, look for the real thing — MRJ 1.0. And soon after, expect developer releases with Apple’s home-grown just-in-time (JIT) compilers. (Apple had previously licensed its VM and JIT compiler from Natural Intelligence.)

Apple plans to bring out MRJ 2.0 in the second quarter of ’97. Version 2.0 will support JDK 1.1 (see JDK 1.1), a forthcoming version of Sun’s development kit that will include a database-access API and Java Beans component architecture. The MRJ will be incorporated into the OS in summer 1997.

Third parties aren’t standing still. Natural Intelligence’s first complete release of its Roaster tool is due in January. The company said the release will include an enhanced debugger, as well as the final version of the company’s JITs. Roaster Professional, due in the second quarter of 1997, will support JDK 1.1.

Symantec expects to release the Mac version of its Cafe environment this winter. Cafe will include native Java compilers, and Symantec may bundle it with Apple’s virtual machine. Symantec will follow this release in January with Visual Cafe for the Mac, an object-oriented environment, as well as Visual Page, an HTML editor.

When it ships in January Metrowerks’ CodeWarrior 11 will include the final release of its PowerPC JIT as well as the alpha version of its 680×0 JIT. CodeWarrior 11 will also come with the company’s native Java compilers. Last month Metrowerks’ virtual machine was added to the Internet Explorer 3.0 browser, now in a public beta.

• Apple’s MRJ: https://www.devtools.apple.com/mrj/

• Natural Intelligence’s Roaster: https://www.natural.com/pages/products/roaster/index.html

• Symantec’s Visual Cafe: https://www.symantec.com/vcafemac/vcmacpr1.html

• Metrowerks’ CodeWarrior: https://www.metrowerks.com/products/cw/index.html

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The free Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java, an ActiveX control that runs Java applications and Java/ActiveX hybrids, is the fastest virtual machine on Intel chips, according to a study done last July by Pendragon Software. And soon it will ship as a Netscape Navigator plug-in and will be ready for Windows 3.1 and Macintosh by the end of 1996. The Windows 3.1 version will not have full ActiveX support.

Microsoft won’t ship all of the JVM with Windows. JavaSoft’s debugging and native code APIs will be made available on Microsoft’s Web site or through the Microsoft Developer Network, but will not be broadly distributed.

Microsoft also promised Java “innovations” for Internet Explorer 4.0. These include a “supercharged” Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) written in Java (see AWT); multimedia, 2-D/3-D, printing, database, and dynamic HTML class libraries; advanced code distribution, including automatic versioning and downloading; code-signing and a loosening of the Java security restrictions; improved AWT performance; and server integration.

• Original story in Computer Reseller News: https://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?CRN19961202S0060

• Microsoft’s “Java Strategy Discussion Q&A”: https://www.microsoft.com/workshop/java/javaqna.htm

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Lotus says its proposed Java-based SmartSuite 97 application has the potential to break Microsoft’s hold on the application suite market with its 120-megabyte Office 97. Office 97 went to manufacturing recently after three years in development. Microsoft acknowledged that it may introduce a component version of Office for network computers that runs on its implementation of the Java Virtual Machine, but only when that market develops.

Dennis Tevlin, Microsoft Office group product manager, said Microsoft would not rule out any platform and that there will “probably be a market” for scaled-down applications once network computers show up on the market. In response, Microsoft has formed a Web components group within the Office division that is developing components to add to Office.

At Comdex, Lotus showed off SmartSuite 97, due next quarter, and its new Java applets. The upcoming applets will not only use Notes as a container, but Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

https://www.lotus.com/smartsuite/

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Novera announced its Java-based Enterprise Platform for Internet Computing (EPIC), an environment for developing applications that run on a variety of devices, including network computers, PDAs, and PCs. EPIC will feature the Interactive Socketplexing protocol, which allows users to access network resources — printers, databases, directories — regardless of the physical device they use to log in. EPIC will also allow developers to manage applications and directory services and to monitor clients and servers on the network in real time.

The Interactive Socketplexing protocol in the EPIC framework first makes a connection with a Web server to download a Java applet. Then it opens a socket connection with the network and its resources, each of which runs the Socketplexing kernel. The protocol also manages the sockets, allowing for multiple connections through a single socket.

On the user side, EPIC supports ActiveX technology and desktops with Web browser, Java, or ActiveX support; on the developer side, EPIC supports the development object-oriented database accessing, and in the future, will support Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.

A free 60-day trial of EPIC 1.0 is available now. Version 2.0 is slated for delivery in February 1997 and will be priced at about 0,000.

https://www.novera.com/products/

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Powersoft is focusing its efforts on a single rapid application development (RAD) environment for Java. Code-named “Starbuck”, the Java RAD tool started beta testing the first week of December. Powersoft hopes to serve up the steaming hot tool in the first half of 1997.

Powersoft decided to modify its earlier-announced plans to incorporate Java generation in its Optima++ 2.0 RAD C++ tool. The company has instead opted to produce separate RAD C++ and RAD Java tools. The company insists, though, that Optima++ will be completely integrated with Starbuck. And Optima++ 1.x users will be given an upgrade path to Starbuck — as well as to Optima ++ 2.0.