Keeping you abreast of the ever-changing Java world
Headlines
Apple almost made its own all-Java OS
Corporate Java collaboration software in the Netmosphere
CNT uses Java “Green Beans” to grab legacy data
Groupware vendors moving to Java
JavaSoft shows off RMI middleware at JavaOne
Oracle gets “Java-ready” for NCs
PeopleSoft readies Java client to ease C/S rollouts
Timecruiser, a Java-based groupware scheduler
TVObjects and Sun offer VB-to-Java bridges
Viper strikes with rapid list-based information
Zander says Java ideal for tight e-commerce apps
A database queuing system from Sybase
Add a chatty avatar to your site with U&I SoHo toolkit
Coda: All-Java Web site builder
Full Moon clustering, for that uninterrupted access
WebCrusader builds security in Java development
WebTrends tells you just what’s going on on your site
Timecruiser, WebMan Tech’s Java-based groupware scheduler
WebMan Technologies has released a new groupware product called Timecruiser, a Java-based scheduling program. Timecruiser lets users access the calendar through a browser, linking scheduled events to a Web site or to multimedia files, such as Progressive Networks’ RealAudio. Timecruiser features restricted access to events and can run a search to find out when all group members would be available to meet.
The 50-user Timecruiser license runs 90; a 100-user license costs 70.
Product information: https://www.webmantech.com/
Free Timecruiser download: https://www.webmantech.com/time_agree.html
- Original story: http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/database/body.pl?ID=970314145153
Groupware vendors moving to Java
Lotus’ Kona initiative to deliver Java-based email, word processing, and spreadsheet components, has other groupware vendors scrambling to meet the same summer 97 delivery with lighter, more flexible front ends. Microsoft, Oracle, Novell, and Netscape are each developing either Java email components or applets for browsers and network computers.
A Microsoft source mentioned for Outlook 97: “We have a mixture of ActiveX and Java components we’re doing.” The company admits to developing ActiveX email and groupware components for browsers, and sources said it also is developing a Java-based mail applet. “Microsoft is still straddling the fence, but they’re not saying it’s going to be ActiveX or Java,” said Matt Cain, a VP at Meta Group.
Oracle demonstrated NC Mail, a lightweight, Java mail applet developed using Oracle’s Web SDK, at Internet World in Los Angeles in March. Oracle is planning to release the Web SDK with Version 4.1 of InterOffice, due in May ’97.
Novell, which is trying to get an Internet version of its GroupWise server out in the summer, is also working on Java components, but they are not expected soon.
Oracle Web SDK (in InterOffice 4.1): https://www.oracle.com/products/groupware/interoffice/html/prodov/integ.html
Novell GroupWise components: https://www.novell.com/groupwise/html/other.html
Microsoft Outlook components: https://www.microsoft.com/officedev/outlook/techinfo/outinter.htm
Lotus Kona: https://components.lotus.com/
- Original story: http://www.pcweek.com/news /0317/17gro.html
Zander says Java ideal for tight e-commerce apps
Ed Zander, president of Sun Microsystems, illuminated Sun’s position in electronic commerce at the Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference & Exposition.
Zander argued that Java is an ideal language for writing tight electronic-commerce applications. “Why can’t we give a data tone the way we give a dial tone?” so users can easily access bank accounts and other financial information from cell phones, TVs, ATMs, PDAs, PCs, and smart cards. He indicated that some financial companies are already rewriting applications to use in financial services, such as stock quotes, insurance policies, portfolio management, and customer accounts.
Zander mentioned SunScreen, a high-end, encryption product that some banks now use to hide their IP address and other information so intruders aren’t able to find the info in a network. He said that Sun will offer SunScreen at a lower price to attract more users. “Java offers unprecedented safety because it doesn’t touch the OS or instruction sets,” Zander said.
He wound up his address with a general recommendation for corporations: “Don’t upgrade your desktops. Say ‘no’ to Office 97; you don’t need another spreadsheet, and you need to get your company more productive. Look at your backbone systems — ISDN, ATM, whatever — this is no different than putting an interstate in your city or country. Get your company on an interstate. If you’ve got any extra bucks, put it in networking.”
Original story: http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?970319.ezander.htm
Oracle gets “Java-ready” for NCs
Oracle is readying Java clients to provide a Web front-end to its client/server enterprise applications. The company will publish the Java client with Oracle Web Applications 2.0 by the end of second quarter ’97. It will tie into the company’s Network Computing Architecture, said Ronald Wohl, senior VP for Applications Development.
The Java release will allow corporations to use inexpensive network computers without losing the security and workflow capabilities found in the client/server environment. The company is moving from a two-tiered to a three-tiered architecture, taking all SQL off the client and relying upon a Java-enabled application server and a Java-enabled tool kit. Officials point to recent or impending Java improvements, such as increased caching capabilities, in browsers.
The Oracle Web Application server will act as a middle layer, generating HTML forms on the fly, gathering PL/SQL data from the Oracle database, and feeding client data to a browser residing on a thin client or Windows PC. Each of Oracle’s more than 30 application modules should run on the Java client. Users will be able to create the Oracle Java client with a new Java cartridge in the Developer 2000 toolkit, now in beta.
Original story: http://www.pcweek.com/ne ws/0317/20morac.html
Viper strikes with rapid list-based information
IT Design’s Viper Instant-Access is a 100 percent Java-compliant intranet-ready tool that provides high-speed delivery of corporate list-based information. Using Java advantages, Viper eliminates the need for CGI, which speeds searching and retrieving important corporate information, across any platform. CGI and SQL searches significantly slow down the system and a tremendous amount of code lies behind the CGI interface.
Viper Instant-Access delivers data to Windows, Unix, OS/2, or Macintosh systems via a single button click from the company’s home page. It allows each desktop with browser access to rapidly query and receive important business information, utilizing the browser’s familiar interface.
CNT uses Java “Green Beans” to grab legacy data
Computer Network Technology Corp. has enhanced its recently introduced Web Integrator by including support for JavaBeans. Its own set of JavaBeans, called Green Beans, allows Web Integrator clients access to legacy data and applications.
Green Beans provides the user with the latest Web technology in a legacy 3270 SNA (green screen) application environment. Customers can use the Bean-enabled Web Integrator across multiple platforms employing standard drag-and-drop visual application builder tools, enabling them to quickly develop and deploy applications. So Navigator and Internet Explorer get access to existing legacy applications, re-engineering of legacy applications, and new intranet applications.
Brian Hodgson, product manager, said “Our design is based on the JavaBeans specification, which has already collected the support of IBM, SunSoft, Netscape, Oracle, Borland, Symantec, and virtually every other major development environment. We’ve included ‘Green Beans’ in our Web Integrator Software Developers Kit (SDK), because it provides developers with increased versatility and greater programming power.”
CNT’s Web Integrator product suite is three highly scaleable software products that provide clients with a complete path for migration to new intranet applications:
Web Integrator: SDK — the development kit
Web Integrator: Hot — a 3270 Java emulator that provides 3270 application access from any Java-enabled browser
- Web Integrator: Access — an HTML-3270 server that provides 3270 application access from any browser and leverages existing server/browser functions
Green Beans for the Web Integrator should be available early Q297 as part of the Web Integrator 2.0. Pricing was not available at press time.
https://www.cnt.com/news/javabeans.htm
JetEffects speeds up your Web
Peak Technologies brings you JetEffects, a Java-based animation tool for Web site graphics. The company claims that JetEffects allows Web authors to add animations to any Web site without experience in Java or HTML programming. JetEffects (formerly Web Animator) enables any Web authors to add 2D and 3D animated graphics and text with sound and motion to any Web site without programming knowledge. JetEffects’ GUI allows authors to insert both small frame and full-screen animations into a Web site. Placement of text, graphics, and animations is unrestricted to allow for unique, innovative Web page design without any plug-ins or viewers required.
Any GIF or JPEG graphic file can be moved along a path on the Web page, but animations must be done in other software. Still, because there is no limit to the number of objects that can be moved with JetEffects, it does allow for some animation-like qualities without importing the animation. Once the object to be moved and the path are selected, the developer hits a button and the HTML code is automatically written, producing a Java effect.
JetEffects works with any HTML authoring tool and provides graphics and text features, such as zoom and fade, bounce off a frame, interactive triggers, and follow a designated path. JetEffects runs on Windows 95 or Windows NT. A Macintosh version is currently in development. You can get it from the Peak Web site at for a free 30-day trial period with an option to purchase for 0.
https://www.peak-media.com/webanimator/webanim.html
Java’s Remote Method Invocation middleware debuts at JavaOne
JavaSoft will use the JavaOne Developer’s Conference to demonstrate its server-side Java applications and to highlight the role of Java’s Remote Method Invocation (RMI) as a way to extend Java’s distributed computing architecture. The company plans to detail its delivery of the NEO distributed object framework and Java-to-NEO object middleware technology as a single product. It will function as an object request broker that supports both RMI and the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP). Sun will also unveil the Java Messaging Standard, a mechanism for asynchronous messaging and publish-and-subscribe communications.
JavaSoft characterizes RMI as a means of providing an “activation model” for Java, which allows RMI to perform many of the same functions as IIOP by creating inflection, pass-by values, and lazy activation. Still, IIOP remains Sun’s first choice for mixed environments. It is still deciding how hard it wants to push RMI as a complement to IIOP.
Object Management Group president Chris Stone said “With the IIOP Interoperable Object Reference, you get support for multiple transports and transport negotiation. RMI is Java-only. Name a Fortune 1000 company in the history of computing that dictated and stuck to using one language and one transport.”
RMI tutorial: https://www.javasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/docs/guide/rmi/
NEO White Paper: https://www.sun.com/sunsoft/neo/wintel/wp/wintel-ch2.doc.html
- Original story: http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?970321.wjaone.htm
PeopleSoft readies Java client to ease C/S rollouts
PeopleSoft is preparing a Java client that will change the way client/server enterprise apps are rolled out to corporate users. Its Java client, which will ship by the end of 1997, will extend its applications to a three-tiered architecture.
The company is taking all SQL off the client and relying on a Java-enabled application server and a Java-enabled tool kit. PeopleSoft plans to start with the PeopleTools development kit. A Java-enabled PeopleTools, which the company expects to accompany the PeopleSoft 7 release, will allow corporate developers to be able to create a Java-enabled GUI that can run on any Java-supporting browser on any operating system.
The PeopleSoft architecture will have a database server level and an application server — in this case, it will be the Tuxedo app server from BEA Systems Inc. On the other end of a PeopleSoft intranet transaction will be a standard Web server, where HTML pages, called Dashboards, are stored.
PeopleSoft is also releasing a new Windows thin client written in C++.
PeopleTools devkit: http://www.peoplesoft.com/products_and_services/tools_and_technology/ppl-tool.htm
- Original story: http://www.pcweek.com/news /0324/24jav.html
TVObjects and Sun offer VB-to-Java bridges
In case you didn’t know, TVObjects currently offers Visual Basic (VB) developers the option of converting their code into Java by using its Applet Designer, a VB add-in that converts existing Visual Basic applications to Java applets. Applet Designer converts new or existing VB applications into Java applets, allowing VB developers to use their existing knowledge base to easily create high-powered, cross-platform Java controls.
Applet Designer creates new applets by starting with a VB form and VB code, then saves these files with a .jav extension. Applet Designer’s .jav modules are the basis for the Java applet source code. The Java applets created consist of Java code that re-creates the functionality and appearance of the original VB form. The code encapsulated in the form, including the VB handlers, are translated.
Also, the applet will mimic the functionality, look, and feel of the original Visual Basic .jav module and all of its controls. Applet Designer automatically generates native Java code that is compatible with Symantec Cafe and Microsoft Visual J++.
Sun’s Visual Basic-to-Java conversion kit, which will allow millions of lines of Visual Basic code to become Java code, won’t be on display at JavaOne. Sun officials expect it to ship later this year.
TVObjects Applet Designer: https://www.tvobjects.com/products.htm
Apple almost created its own all-Java OS
An Apple official revealed that the company considered creating its own Java operating system last year rather than purchasing NeXT Software and using its OpenStep technology to create the Rhapsody OS, which is expected to ship next year.
Executive VP of Advanced Technology Ellen Hancock said Apple looked at writing a platform-independent OS entirely in Java, but finally decided that it wasn’t feasible. “When I went looking for an OS, one of the things we had a serious conversation [about was] ‘How about just Java? Why don’t we just do Java?'” Hancock said. “We spent some time on that, and if we were having the same discussion two years, maybe three years from now it’s probably what we’d be able to do. But the system today is not mature enough to do be able to do that.”
But Hancock insists the company still plans to create Java-based OS technology. “Over time, we’re going to have more and more of our operating system in Java.”
Original story: http://www.macweek.com /mw_1112/nw_hancock.html
Year-old Netmosphere develops Java-based collaboration software
One-year-old startup Netmosphere announced that it plans to develop Java-based collaboration software for corporate intranets using its Java Application Server (JAS) middleware technology. The company will also focus on building Java-based intelligent agents and other applications for legacy groupware and client/server systems, said Heather Rose, CEO of Netmosphere.
The Java Application Server allows corporate users to add real-time collaboration to business productivity applications. The company plans to release products based on the JAS technology during Q297.
Product information: https://www.netmosphere.com/
- Original story: https://www.pcweek.com/news/0324/25mjava.html
No HP NCs, but will add Java to X terminals
Hewlett-Packard has decided it will not market a Java-based network computer, but it will Java-enable its X terminals. The company’s Panacom Automation Division (which develops its X terminals) will announce a RISC-based netstation that includes the Java virtual machine.
HP executives said they don’t believe in the Java-based NC concept as defined by Oracle and partners. Reason: They think the architecture is too decentralized. But they can’t ignore Java; the number of ISVs writing Java applications is constantly growing.
By adding the Java VM to its X terminals/netstation (based on the I960 RISC processor from Intel), HP joins the other companies that are migrating their thin clients to Java-based NCs, such as Wyse Technology, HDS, and Network Computing Devices.
Original story: http://www.pcweek.com/news /0324/26ahp.html
NetResults search engine comes in a “Lite” version, too
Innotech now offers NetResults Lite 1.0, a Java-based search engine that is a scaled-down version of its NetResults 2.1 engine. Lite delivers multi-server capabilities, cascading searches across different platforms, and customizable interfaces for users. So why the “lite”?
When creating an index, NetResults Lite allows a maximum of 500 documents in each index. The full version allows for substantially more documents per index, making it more useful for large databases, while the Lite version is good for Web sites with a less database-intensive mission.
For 95, Innotech offers one site license of NetResults Lite and one year of technical support.
https://www.netresults-search.com/ A>
Sun’s Full Moon clustering to enable uninterrupted Web access
Sun detailed its development plans for its clustering architecture created by the Full Moon clustering project. The clustering technology is designed to provide uninterrupted access to apps on intranets, whenever hardware or software fails, or even during routine maintenance.
The scalable clustering technology is based on existing APIs, so it should be compatible with Solaris products already in use, and it should add some “oomph” to Sun’s existing clustering products, such as Solstice HA and the Ultra Enterprise parallel database. Sun plans to phase in the new technology in four steps — customers will be able to purchase nodes as they become available, then purchase new nodes and just plug them into the ones they’re already running.
The rollout is as follows:
- April 1997: Cluster API and disaster recovery.
- Late 1997: Easy Java-based cluster monitoring, multiple logical hosts, additional data services, and four-node clusters.
- 1998: Global cluster file system, global networking, global devices access, fast interconnect, Java-based cluster management tools, and eight-node clusters.
- 1999: Single system image, global process management, and Java-based single system image administration abilities.
Coda from RandomNoise builds all-Java Web sites
RandomNoise’s Coda all-Java Web site package offers a point-and-click interface that allows site designers to place graphic elements with pixel-level accuracy. Designers can order the loading of layered objects. And the software is extensible by adding Java plug-in modules — either ones that come with the package or Coda modules that the Java-able can write themselves.
The Coda working environment is WYSIWYG — in fact, RandomNoise claims the site you see (and create) in Coda will look the same in Navigator or Explorer, on a Mac or through Windows 95. The user can use objects as blocks to build complex Web structures. Toolbars and palettes can be edited visually.
Coda uses Sun’s JDK 1.0.2 and ships for Windows 95 and NT, MacOS, and Solaris. Its retail price is 95.
http://www.randomnoise.com/pr oduct.html
Sybase offers a database queuing system
Sybase has introduced dbQ, a database queuing system that allows Java and ActiveX developers to combine database and message queuing operations to aid in rapid application development. Through “fire and forget” processing (in which multi-step processing is guaranteed, without making users wait through all the steps before continuing on to the next transaction), this should help independent business apps separated by location, function, or technology communicate via messaging. Users will be able to collect messages in their DBMS and reliably deliver them to non-DBMS apps or mainframe systems.
With dbQ, message queue operations and DBMS updates are integrated into a single DBMS transaction. This way there are fewer points of failure and performance is better, because you don’t incur the overhead you find in two-phase commits. dbQ will support IBM’s MQSeries system, as well as other popular databases.
The dbQ SDK is available for Windows NT and Solaris, and can be downloaded from the company’s site. Sybase plans to have dbQ ready later this year, integrated with Sybase SQL Server and SQL Anywhere.
http://w ww.sybase.com/products/announcements.html#Anchor9dbq
Add a chatty avatar to your site with U&I’s SoHo toolkit
U&I Interactive’s U&I Toolkit, SoHo Edition, will let users add avatar chat areas to Web sites, regardless of platform. The toolkit lets Webmasters install chat areas in minutes, using templates. Third-party and embedded apps and plug-ins can be integrated and used to build interactive virtual environments. Users can then access the site with popular browsers, select an animated avatar, and start roaming the virtual world.
With the U&I Toolkit Webmasters can create 100 chat rooms. Scrolling messages (for the site administrator to communicate with the users) can be changed on the fly, and automated slide shows can be run continuously or when chosen by a visitor. The toolkit also comes with management tools, so the administrator can monitor usage and events.
To start the chat, administrators need a Java-capable server and 99.
WebTrends tells you just what’s going on on your site
WebTrends, from e.g. Software, is a Web traffic reporting tool that analyzes Internet/intranet server log files, then creates tables and graphs that help determine whether your Web site is meeting its goals. With WebTrends, managers can track advertising impressions, views, and click-through rates complete with demographic info on visitors. It allows administrators to get an up-to-the-second audit trail of Web activity.
WebTrends has back-end database storage to help determine long-term trends, C/C++, 32-bit and 64-bit variables to allow analysis of large log files (more than 4 gigabytes), and support for Microsoft Office. It has more than 30 tracking graphs and tables (in 192 styles), from general statistics and top visited pages to bandwidth/directory activity and proxy server info. Using WebTrends filters, managers can include or exclude such features as ad clicks, virtual domains, result codes, and IP addresses. Report templates include ad summary, executive summary, proxy report, and more.
WebTrends supports all Web server and log file formats. It analyzes more than 30 log file formats, supports server clusters, and analyzes and reports on proxy servers.
WebCrusader builds security into Java development
Gradient Technologies’ WebCrusader 2.0 is a software line that lets developers build secure Java intranet applications. Through integration with NetDynamics, Web Crusader envelops the entire enterprise — SSL-based browsers and servers, databases, and client/server and transaction processing application — in its security system.
The WebCrusader Connect Server adds security to Web servers by supporting virtual URLs, server replication, and load distribution. With the Secure AppEngine, developers can write secure app servers without writing DCE code. And Security Authority serves as a gateway between SSL browsers and WebCrusader’s own security structure.
Prices for WebCrusader components: Connect Client, 5; Connect Server, ,500; Secure AppEngine, ,500 to ,500 (platform); Security Authority, ,500 to 2,500 (configuration). It supports HP-UX, Windows 3.1, 95, and NT, MacOS, AIX, and Solaris.
http://www.gra dient.com/products/web_prod/br_webcr.htm
