Oracle debuts Internet Commerce Server
Oracle’s Internet Commerce Server, code-named Apollo and based on Java, is soon to be shipping and will allow companies to set up commercial Web sites. Oracle’s competition? IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape already have commerce servers on the market.
“We’re later because we took the time to write the whole thing in Java, which makes our Commerce Server easier to integrate with the systems that run your business, whether it’s SAP [AG client/server software] for inventory or whatever,” said Randy Hodge, Oracle’s product manager for the Internet Commerce Server.
The Commerce Server is bundled with the Oracle 7 database and customizable templates so developers can create transaction systems. It costs 0,000. And as part of the Server package, Oracle provides a consulting service to help integrate the server into clients’ existing systems.
IBM printers get Java-enhanced network software
IBM Printing Systems has added Java enhancements to its Network Printer Management (NPM) software. The Java version of NPM lets network administrators access management features from any browser-enabled desktop running any platform. It will support some printers from Lexmark International and Hewlett-Packard. The Java module of NPM is available for free at IBM’s home page.
With NPM, you can:
- View the status of each printer, such as its alarm conditions.
- View and change printer properties, such as the default input tray.
- View and change printer network properties, such as the NetBIOS printer network workgroup name.
- Add new network services to printers so you can customize the environment, such as creating high- and low-priority print services.
Intranet tool: Metro Autopilot
With Metro Autopilot, from Action Technologies, developers can test their Autopilot applications on Action’s Web site for 30 days at no charge. Metro Autopilot is a free downloadable component that enables users of Action’s Metro to build form-based approval applications and deploy them on the Internet.
The Autopilot software is now available on the site. If you’re not familiar with Metro, the company claims that with it, anyone can build and deploy a fully functional intranet application in less than 10 minutes.
Autopilot demos: https://www.actiontech.com/metro/apps/
- Metro info: https://www.actiontech.com/Metro/
Intranet tool: Enterprise Web Manager
For 0,000, the Enterprise Web Manager from Aziza can deliver a multiserver Web management tool for the enterprise that offers centralized administrative control, site replication, uniform security access, link integrity, and decentralized authorship.
The Enterprise Web Manager comes in three parts:
The Administrator’s Console — provides intuitive graphical management of Web contents for security, physical distribution of content, searching, project management, and replication for non-stop operation. It will be available for Windows NT (now in beta testing stage).
The User’s Console — enables any authorized user to search for, create, and edit Web content. It works with standard browsers (Navigator Gold and Internet Explorer) and uses the same familiar Web interface. This Console is implemented in JavaScript, so you don’t need to install additional software. It complements HTML and GIF editors.
- The Web Object Manager — contains an advanced- technology, object-oriented database designed to meet Web requirements and manage Web content, including HTML, GIF, Java, ActiveX, PDF, and such standards as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Lotus. It also maintains full-text search indexes, and manages document versioning and page meta data. The Web Object Manager enables content replication across multiple Web servers for non-stop operation and Web content availability even when part of your intranet is down.
The product is expected to ship in the third quarter of ’97.
Intranet tool: Radcom response test
Radcom Equipment offers test software that lets network managers measure their intranets’ response time and delay. At a cost of ,000, the software also tracks the flow of data through firewalls by simultaneously monitoring both the local and wide-area segments of an intranet link for latency and loss.
The application uses RADCOM multi-segment analyzers to capture live, operational data across different technologies. Using a correlated timestamp and a proprietary heuristic algorithm, the software automatically matches data captured on different segments and calculates latency and loss statistics. Such calculations can be performed regardless of the underlying technology or upper-layer protocols and are presented in an easy-to-use graphical as well as textual format.
Previously, the capability to automatically perform latency and loss measurements was limited to developers performing “black box” testing, by using a data generator to send data on one side of a device and capturing data on the other side. However, to perform these tests the developer had to model the expected traffic behavior of the actual network and would often get results different then those experienced in the operational network.
RADCOM’s application, on the other hand, performs such measurements on real data traveling on an actual network, without the need to inject specific test traffic. In addition, the capability to capture data on several segments allows end users to track the exact device causing delay in a multi-segment network.
Intranet tool: Vision Jade
Vision Jade is Vision Software Tools’s Java rapid app development environment that automates and manages the logic, data, and presentation levels of a business application. With Vision Jade, developers define and declare business rules, and then the software generates the Java code. The Java apps are component-based, which should make them faster than HTML-based code.
The environment has an Internet Explorer-style interface, events-based code editor, and wizards to help developers. The tool’s application designer provides a high-level view of the application, the form designer gives control over the application’s look and feel, and the code editor provides access to Java code for precise behavior. Jade can exchange components with those built in Visual J++ and Visual Cafe.
“First-generation Java development tools require developers to write lots of low-level, procedural code and to constantly reinvent the wheel,” said Val Huber, Engineering VP at Vision Software. “Vision Jade leverages the time and expertise of developers by creating applications which are defined once using high-level business, data, and presentation rules. The applications can then be easily maintained and adapted to rapidly changing business needs and retargeted to new deployment environments.”
Due to ship by the end of summer 1997, Vision Jade should cost ,995.
https://206.189.44.67/new/jade.htm
Unify chooses Informix for Vision/Web products
Unify has chosen to support Informix’s Universal Server in the next release of its Vision and Vision/Web products. This integrated set of Java-based object-oriented tools and services can be used to develop, deploy, and manage transaction-based Internet applications. The products support Windows 95 and NT, MacOS, OS2, AIX, Solaris, DEC-Alpha, and HP-UX. And the tools package offers native database connectivity to Oracle, Informix, Sybase, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and Unify DataServer.
The Unify products will incorporate support for Universal Server’s object-oriented SQL3 extensions and its new Universal DataBlade capabilities. DataBlades are third-party, reusable software snap-in modules that extend the capabilities of the core database server. These snap-ins allow companies to tailor the server to suit the unique information-processing requirements of individual businesses.
- Vision, Vision/Web products: https://www.unify.com:80/Product/vis-ds.html
- Universal Server: https://www.informix.com/informix/bussol/iusdb/ius/iusindex.htm
IBM sells Hannaford Groceries 1,200 thin clients
Hannaford Bros. Co., a chain of 142 grocery stores in the Northeast, has ordered 1,200 of IBM’s Network Stations to replace the X terminals and PCs at each of its stores. Hannaford CIO Bill Homa also plans to order several hundred more next year to replace 3270 terminals and PCs at the company’s headquarters. Hannaford’s current setup consists of about 10 X terminals and PCs per store that access an AIX-based RS/6000 system at each site. The RS/6000 servers connect to an IBM OS/390 Enterprise Server at company headquarters. The HQ terminals access the Enterprise Server directly.
“These systems will allow us to give everyone access to enterprise-wide information,” said Homa. “For example, our pharmacists have not had access to corporate e-mail with the X terminals. They would have to go to a PC sitting on a desk somewhere, but they can’t leave the pharmacy unmanned.” He also noted that the company chose the IBM devices because of IBM’s support of the Lotus Notes system (which Hannaford was already using) and because he liked the look of IBM’s Kona applets, due to hit the market sometime this summer. “The beta version is looking pretty good,” said Homa. He describes Kona as a slimmed-down version of Lotus SmartSuite. In fact, IBM’s early development and proposed deployment of Java-based client apps may mean it will be the first large vendor in that arena, and consequently may grab a large share of that market. “IBM will exert huge influence on the pace and direction of network computers and thin clients in the enterprise,” said Greg Blatnik of Zona Research.
A notebook NC from Corel
Corel Computer Corp., a new subsidiary of Corel, is still working on a design for an NC notebook, which it plans to deliver by November 1997. The notebook should cost about ,500. It will come with a hard disk drive so customers can use the machine while it’s not hooked to the network. And when it’s reconnected, it will automatically synchronize the data on its hard drive with that on the network, spokesperson Carrie Bendsza said.
The Digital/ARM StrongARM processor will power the notebook. It will, of course, rely heavily on Java, but it will support Windows also.
Watch the company’s site for upcoming information.
Open Group watches network computers
Sun, Oracle, Netscape, IBM, and Apple asked The Open Group to refine and develop a standard network computer reference profile to combat the proliferation of NC definitions as the NC market takes off. As it is, the NC market is moving in several directions at once, allowing the Wintel giant to capture the NC concept, according to analyst Rob Enderle at the Giga Information Group.
“Remember, Unix had a great deal of promise, but [standardization] didn’t work,” said Enderle. “Unlike the NetPC, the NC world has a bunch of guys competing with each other trying to come together for a standard. They need someone like Microsoft and Intel to hold it all together.”
So The Open Group will help standardize the NC by testing potential NC devices for compliance with the profile and awarding them an official logo. The Open Group hopes to be branding NCs by the third quarter of this year. “The end goal is to make sure that all NCs conform to a certain set of standards,” said Allan Brown, The Open Group’s COO.
NCD adds smart card technology to Explora/HMX NCs
Feedback from clients in Europe has prompted Network Computing Devices (NCD) to add smart card connectivity to its Explora and HMX network computers. Plus, the company has been listening to a report from Dataquest that projects the demand for smart card units to grow to 1.2 billion by 2001. Card readers from Gemplus and Schlumberger can be attached to the NC serial ports, allowing the device to read and transfer data encoded on smart cards through WinCenter NT server software.
“With the emergence of requirements like remote computing and electronic commerce and the importance of accurate data for healthcare purposes, smart card access to applications is becoming critical,” said Doug Klein, NCD’s CTO.
Customers could view the technology in action at Spring Comdex.
Oracle snaps up Navio
For 0 million, Oracle’s NCI bought Netscape’s Navio Communications Inc. Navio makes a scaled-down, NC-capable version of Navigator. NCI’s immediate plans are to integrate the Navio browser with its NC Desktop software, which includes a desktop operating system, a Java virtual machine, a multimedia Video User Interface, and a range of standard user tools, such as e-mail, personal calendar and address book, text editor, file manager, and news feed ticker.
According to Oracle officials, NCI will continue to create NC-based software while Navio will concentrate on software for the consumer market, focusing on Web navigational software for TV and set-tops. Navio President Wei Yen said his company has started shipping software development kits to OEMs.
Netiva: Corporate intranets get DB app
Netiva Software is offering Netiva, a Web database application that allows developers to create database applications for Internet and intranets. “Yesterday’s database applications were not designed for the Web,” said Steven Pollock, marketing VP at Netiva, “so creating data-centric Web applications required cobbling together complex Web technologies.”
Netiva is a Java- and browser-based, multiuser relational database for workgroups over corporate intranets designed for high-end developers. It comes in three parts — the Designer, the Server, and the Intelligent Java Client. Developers use the Designer to create an application on a server or desktop. Once the application is on the server, customers can use their browsers to access the application. The Intelligent Java Client makes the application behave as though it is operating locally when most of the processing takes place on the server.
Trade’ex adds Java functionality
Trade’ex Electronic Commerce Systems will soon release its Java Object Model, which will allow users to customize the look and feel of the Trade’ex user interface. Users also will have access to a library of Java applets with which they can set the controls of a Java client. (Trade’ex supplies Internet/intranet e-commerce software.)
The next Trade’ex release will include two new file types, the LCF (Layout Control File) and the PRF (Program Resource File). These files will be stored on a server and will be accessed by the Java client. Each applet will have its own LCF and PRF files.
The LCF includes all the information an applet needs to add components to the interface, giving an administrator the choice of what components will be visible to the end user and how they are displayed. The PRF is used to customize the client. With it, the administrator can control the backgrounds and text that is displayed in the client. The PRF also will include all embedded SQL statements used by the program.
By the end of 1997, the company will release TXTP (Trade’ex Transaction Protocol), translation software that will allow a company to connect most data sources with a server running Trade’ex software. With the TXTP, an administrator will be able to set parameters to import data into the Trade’ex servers.
These Java objects work with the three Trade’ex applications — Market Maker, Distributor, and Procurement.
Market Maker is designed to create virtual marketplaces using Java applets. Registered buyers can show products for sale, place offers to buy, negotiate, place orders, and trace their order status. Distributor lets companies create electronic catalogs, customized price lists, and negotiate and process online orders. Procurement lets corporate users place orders from a central catalog with preset guidelines.
Trade’ex product platforms start at 0,000.
Objectivity 5.0 upgrade has Java support
Objectivity Inc.’s Objectivity 5.0 object-oriented database now has native support for Java and the ability to store and retrieve text and image data. Java applications can run within the database’s process space, allowing for faster execution. The database supports language independence, so applets can access Java objects from C++, Smalltalk, and SQL tools and applications. Objectivity 5.0 supports Java through a Java Database Connectivity interface and a language binding that complies with the ODMG-93 standard.
“The Java binding will make it easier for our customers to extend our applications and link them to other applications by building Java applets that can be pushed automatically into the database without having to define the schema,” said Mark Nixon, systems architect at Fisher-Rosemount Systems, a company that embeds Objectivity 4.0 in some of its applications.
Tom Gruber, Intraspect Software CTO, said, “The Java binding is something we had been waiting for. We wrote our own for now, but with the new version, a lot of the maintenance will be handled by the database itself.” Intraspect embeds Objectivity 4.0 in an intranet collaborative application the company is developing. The application’s server component is written in Java.
The upgrade also supports Iona Technologies Orbix ORB (Object Request Broker), with support for more ORBs coming. And thanks to technology from Virage Inc., Objectivity 5.0 users also will be able to search for database images according to a variety of visual conditions, such as color, texture, shape, and composition.
Objectivity 5.0 should ship in fall 1997 at a cost of 0,000 to 5,000 per developer license.
https://www.objectivity.com/Products/Version5.htm
Flash: Get the JDK 1.1.1 for Linux
Quick flash: The JDK 1.1.1 (version 3) for Linux has been released and is available via FTP from mirror sites. Developers can also grab an overview of the devkit.
Download sites: https://www.blackdown.org/java-linux/Mirrors.cgi
- Overview: https://www.blackdown.org/java-linux/JDK-1.1.1/Howto-1.1.1/Java-Linux-1.1.1-Howto.html
With Lasso, FileMaker databases get Java Web connections
Lasso 2.0 (the May ’97 beta release from Blue World Communications) has the added benefit of Java. Lasso lets developers make Java front-ends for Claris FileMaker databases. This upgrade can stand alone (as a Web server), as a CGI or a StarNine WebStar plug-in.
The company claims the new software will allow users to create applets that can search and edit FileMaker databases. The upgrade should provide better performance through improved file caching, built-in logging features, and Apple events sending support, as well as enhanced if-then-else conditional operators. Version 2.0 also will support combining several database actions into one format file (which are HTML documents that contain Lasso tags and define database interaction). And the software will convert stored PICT files to GIF and JPEG, on the fly. Sample applets come with the package, including one that lets you add a FileMaker-type interface to databases.
Lasso 2.0, scheduled to ship in early summer 1997, will cost 99 for a full package of the CGI and plug-in version and 49 for a downloaded version. The server will cost 49 for the full package and 99 for the download. Upgrades are 49 for the CGI and plug-in version and 99 for the server version.
Beta download: https://www.blueworld.com/lasso/lasso20dw/default.html
- General info: https://www.blueworld.com/lasso/2.0/
Digital Unix on Alpha gets a JDK and JIT compiler
Digital delivers its Java Development Kit (version 1.1.1) and just-in-time (JIT) Java compiler for Digital Unix on Alpha systems. The Digital JDK supports Posix threads, which allows Digital Unix Java applications to dispatch execution threads across multiple Alpha processors, making it easier to work with large databases. This should improve an application’s runtime performance. The JDK also provides an interface to Unix applications that use Digital’s AlphaServer 64-bit VLM (Very Large Memory) model.
According to Digital Internet product development VP Don Harbert, the JIT compiler scored a 3,674 on the CaffeineMark 2.01 benchmark (Digital Unix running on an Alpha), the fastest score so far for this kind of tool. He noted that Digital achieved this score by fine-tuning the compiler, and also through the inherent speed of the Alpha hardware. “We made sure [from Sun] that we could change the innards, as long as we didn’t change the outward Java interface or APIs,” Harbert said.
Harbert also said Digital is working closely with Microsoft, in order to remain compliant with any new NT developments, such as Microsoft implementations of ActiveX and Java.
Free downloads of the beta versions of the JDK and compiler are available at Digital’s Web site.
Java validation suite from Plum Hall tests compilers and code
Get ready to test Java compilers and the resultant code with the Plum Hall JVS 1.0 validation test suite from Plum Hall. This first release stress tests the individual Java compiler, and then tests the code it generates on a Java virtual machine. JVS also incorporates direct conformance tests for the “Conversions and Promotions” and “Classes” chapters of the Java Language Specification (JLS). With the suite, developers can test more than 2,000 programs, made up of more than one million lines of code. The testing software is designed for portability and should be easy to integrate into an existing test environment.
JVS consists of:
- The Grinder Stress tests for permutations of operators, primitives, and reference datatypes.
- Expresso Stress tests for the expression compilation capability of a Java compiler.
- Validation Tests Tests that translate statements in the JLS into:
- positive tests for valid assertions (which should compile and run) and
- negative tests for invalid conditions (which force diagnostics to check compiler’s ability to find bad code.
Developers with Plum Hall JVS maintenance contracts will receive new tests as they are produced. Contact Plum Hall directly for pricing.
https://www.plumhall.com/jvs.html
Perc VM: Real-time embedded Java for pSOS OS
Integrated Systems Inc. offers the Perc Virtual Machine — real-time Java for embedded Internet products that run with its pSOS embedded operating system. The Perc VM is available as a standard pSOS software component for 68K target processors, and it runs both Java and Perc code. Perc is a standard programming-language notation and a VM definition that is similar to Java except for two control structures that allow programmers to specify real-time execution attributes of each Java application.
The Perc VM, designed for low-cost hardware and small amounts of memory, comes with a clean-room implementation of the JVM, a software system that understands and executes standard Java bytecode, and extensions of Java to support real-time applications.
Pricing for the Perc VM starts at 0,000. Support for other CPUs is expected soon.
Prolifics 3.0 RAD tools adds push and transactions
Prolifics Inc.’s Prolifics 3.0 RAD tool will give developers the ability to design push technology, transactions, and failover into Java applications. The tool creates distributed transactions without requiring SQL coding and applications that result in failover to HTML when Java is blocked by firewalls.
Three new features allow Prolifics 3.0 to take advantage of the JDK 1.1’s new technology implementations — Transactional Java, Java Fail Safe, and Push Transactions.
Transactional Java enhances performance by using Prolifics’ JetNet middleware, which is based on BEA Systems’ Tuxedo and the company’s Distributed Transactional Object Model.
Fail Safe gives companies that block Java applications at the firewall access to Prolifics applications. If Java applets are blocked or if a user’s application or browser doesn’t support Java, Prolifics 3.0 falls back to HTML format, disabling any Java-specific functions.
Push Transactions lets applications automatically deliver a transaction execution to a browser.
The software will be available in September 1997 for SunOS 4.x, Solaris, and Windows NT. Versions for HP-UX, AIX, OpenServer, Digital Unix, SGI IRIX, and MacOS are expected in October 1997. Pricing starts at 5,000 for a five-user development system.
https://www.prolifics.com/prod/prol1.htm
Protect your Win95 workstation from Java/ActiveX attacks
Axent Technologies’ OmniGuard/Enterprise Access Control for Windows 95 protects Windows 95 workstations from Java and ActiveX attacks. It prevents unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information to malicious Java and ActiveX Internet applications.
EAC for Windows 95 provides:
- Centralized administration of PC and notebook security.
- Protection for data on PCs, notebooks, file servers and the network — secure authentication and single log-on.
- Transparent integration with Windows 95 and all Windows 95 applications — additional security for unattended computers logged into the network.
- Complete auditability of all PC and notebook actions.
It is priced at 39 per workstation, with quantity discounts available.
IS managers debate ActiveX vs. Java at Spring Comdex
In the Tuesday, June 3, panel session at the recent Spring Comdex 97 — entitled “Java or ActiveX” — panelists took the sting out of the earlier keynotes battle between Lotus CEO Jeff Papows and Microsoft’s Bill Gates.
“It’s not a choice you have to make,” said Microsoft product manager Greg Leake. “ActiveX is better for some things and Java is better for others.” He did point out, though, that the “Java everywhere” adherents were oversimplifying their position. “Some say all applications will be rewritten in Java in two years. It won’t happen. We heard the same thing about Cobol and C++.”
Technology chief for the USA Today Information Network, Gary Gunnerson, said that for most IT executives, choosing Java or ActiveX is less of a “religious” issue than it is one of choosing the language that best suits one’s environment. He evaluated ActiveX as being easy to use and stable, but added that being tied to a Wintel system will slow ActiveX’s acceptance. “If you have a heterogeneous environment or are out on the Internet serving many platforms, I don’t think you have any choice but Java.”
Yobie Benjamin, CTO of Cambridge Management Labs, said ActiveX is not a bad business decision for intranets and Microsoft environments, but only two of his current 10 clients chose ActiveX. And both already were heavily invested in a Microsoft environment.
JavaWorld exceeds 1 million page views in a single month
JavaWorld magazine announced that it registered more than 1 million page views during the month of April. This is the equivalent of 5 million pages read in a print magazine. In just over one year, the online-only magazine has firmly established itself as the leading source of news, information, and tutorials for the Java community — with more than 8.5 million page views, 125,000 registered subscribers and 200,000 total readers. JavaWorld is read by more developers than any other print or Web-based Java publication.
“By leveraging the real-time and interactive capabilities of Web publishing, JavaWorld is addressing Java developers’ requirements for timely in-depth articles, tutorials, and technical information,” said Michael O’Connell, Editor-in-Chief, JavaWorld. “Our extensive coverage of industry events, ability to include applets and programming code with articles, and online resources have helped us become the best independent source of news and information for Java developers.”
During the month of April, JavaWorld was contacted more than 200,000 times by readers who viewed a total of 1,059,582 pages from the publication. In addition to regular features and columns, JavaWorld provided daily coverage of the JavaOne Developers’ Conference — the year’s most influential industry event for Java developers, held April 2-4. The 1 million page views milestone reflects JavaWorld‘s rise to prominence within the Java community and the steady growth of the Java market.
Database class library tools offered by Rogue Wave
At the recent Object Expo, Rogue Wave debuted JDBTools 2.0, a JDK 1.1-compatible Java class library that gives Java programmers distributed relational database access through an object-oriented API. Version 2.0 also adds support for multithreaded pooled database connections through the standard Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) interface.
Developers commonly mix object Java code with legacy sequential query language (SQL) statements through the JDBC. The JDBTools library now lets developers manage relational databases primarily using object-oriented techniques. Library objects correspond to relational database constructs, such as cursors, selectors, stored procedures, and tables, and can be extended through class inheritance.
JDBTools also adds Connection Pools — defined groups of users connected to a back-end relational database — to the standard JDBC interface. This feature uses Java’s ability to multithread to manage connections as multiple database access threads.
JDBTools 2.0 should ship by July 15 at a cost of 95 for a single-user license.
JavaSoft’s JDK 1.1.2 and runtime environment now available
The latest update to the Java Development Kit (version 1.1.2) and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) are now available for download. The JDK 1.1.2 includes several bug fixes for JDK 1.1.
The JRE consists of the Java virtual machine, the Java core classes, and supporting files. Basically, it is the runtime part of the JDK — no compiler, no debugger, no tools. The JRE is the smallest set of executables and files that constitute the standard Java platform.
Java Web Server 1.0 ships from Sun
Sun Microsystems is shipping the Java Web Server 1.0. Probably one of the best features of this version is its support for Java servlets — pluggable, platform-independent, server-side mini-programs that extend a server’s capabilities. Advantages of servlets over CGI include platform independence and better performance. And since servlets are object-oriented, they are easy to change and maintain. But developers don’t have to toss those old CGI scripts — this version has a CGI compatibility module to integrate preexisting CGI.
A servlet can be written to balance the load of a number of different servers, which would optimize computing resources available for applications. (Developers, have no fear: This sample servlet is included in the Web Server package.)
Java Web Server 1.0 also provides on-the-fly configuration, so changes to user groups or security modifications can be made without having to restart the server. This translates to no downtime.
Download the Java Web Server 1.0 binaries now for a 120-day free evaluation. It costs 95 for the version with the Secure Socket Layer (SSL); 5 for the version without SSL. The server is available for Solaris, Windows 95, and NT and can be moved over to other platforms. For more on the Java Web Server, see Phil Chang’s news story in last month’s issue of JavaWorld.
Download: https://java.sun.com/java-server/
- To see it work: https://java.sun.com/jdc/
Bristol’s Jprinter’s JpClient 1.0 Java printing system
Bristol Technology has delivered Jprinter’s Java classes — JpClient 1.0 (beta), the native Windows printing system for Java. JpClient provides job control, printer setup, and drawing classes. It also provides complete print and printer setup dialogs for use in non-Windows environments.
JpClient consists of JpClient classes and a non-profit, non-commercial user license to develop evaluation, educational, or non-profit Java applications and applets that can print through Windows or through an existing licensed JpServer. This includes JpClient package, online Windows help file documentation, samples, and freeware license.
Download the free JpClient 1.0 at the Jprinter Web site. Information on purchasing a commercial license is also available online.
Boeing and Nokia use Iona’s Orbix
Iona Technologies will provide Nokia Telecommunications with its Java-enabled object development tool Orbix, to act as Nokia’s primary Object Request Broker (ORB). Nokia will use Orbix to develop and produce telecommunication products to allow service providers to rapidly create, deploy, and manage value-added services based on a common architecture.
“The nature of our business demands the continuing development of new and innovative products which continue to interoperate with existing infrastructure,” said Juha Lipiainen, head of Intelligent Network Platforms at Nokia. “Orbix offers us a flexible approach to the development of these products, leveraging an open standards based approach.”
The deal also includes the provision of Iona’s training and consultancy services. Orbix conforms to the Object Management Group’s Common Object Request Broker Architecture specification, which defines a standard for communication between objects independent of their platform or location.
Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group has chosen Orbix for its manufacturing re-engineering project. The project uses Orbix to integrate third-party software applications, from companies including Baan, HP, Oracle, and SDRC, into a single manufacturing system. The project includes the addition of an integrated messaging layer to provide seamless communication across the enterprise between the various applications. Boeing deems this seamless communication necessary because the manufacturing system has to inventory and track more than three million individual parts per aircraft, with a total of 45,000 users — a possible 9,000 of them being concurrent users.
“Our work in integrating a host of diverse applications into a reliable robust manufacturing infrastructure presented us with a host of challenges,” said Tom Schick, senior VP at Boeing. “However, by taking the open standards-based approach offered by Orbix, we have been able to develop a full-featured, distributed system which has exceeded our expectations.”
Java-based Internet service helps build online communities
On June 8, Volano and SureSite introduced a Java-based Internet service to help people build online communities. The service, which will be available to developers of all sizes, is based on Java chat technology developed by Volano and offered by SureSite.
With the service, developers can add customized chat rooms to their pages in a short time, without purchasing any software or worrying about installation and maintenance. Establishing chat networks is fairly easy too.
VolanoChat features:
- 100 percent pure Java both in the client and server.
- More than 125 configurable settings including all of the applet’s text, images, sounds, colors, fonts, help pages, buttons, logos, and advertisements.
- Easily translates to any language other than the six offered.
- Support for embedded Java applets in banner advertisements.
- Only 39 kilobytes to download the entire applet with all of its features using Internet Explorer (119 kilobytes with Navigator).
- Simultaneous chatting in multiple public and private rooms.
- Chat rooms that run independent of the browser window.
- Complete Web page and user access control, with real-time monitoring to kick out or ban unwanted guests.
- Connection logging in the same format used by Web servers.
- Full logging of all chat traffic and ad impression statistics.
- Built-in live performance and resource monitoring of the server.
- Fully multithreaded server to optimize response time and take advantage of multiple processors.
The service, available in six languages (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), starts at 0 per month.
VolanoChat: https://www.volano.com/pi.html
- SureSite Web host: https://www.suresite.com/
Monorail, Acer, and Gateway offer “Not a NetPC”
A third camp in the network computing wars seems to be forming — around PC makers who are “trimming” down their offerings for corporate networked clients without following the NCRef1 or NetPC specifications.
Monorail Inc. has released the NPC 166 line of desktop NetPCs, equipped with AMD’s K5 166MHz processor. The two models, the NPC 166 (,199) and 166 LS (,499), enclose the CPU, system board, 1GB hard drive, floppy drive, built-in EtherEZ Ethernet card, 16 megabytes of RAM, and LCD into a sealed chassis. The 166 features a built-in 10.4-inch enhanced dual-scan color display. The 166 LS comes with a 12.1-inch enhanced dual-scan color display. The systems use Intel’s LANDesk Client Manager, which features DMI 2.0 (Desktop Management Interface). Note that standards and components that support DMI 2.0 are still evolving.
The units are targeted for corporate, networked PC use. But they do not comply with the NetPC or NC specifications. VP of marketing Andrew Watson explains why they haven’t joined one or both of the camps: “The only people who’ve asked us to do a NetPC or NC are representatives from the [NetPC and NC] camps.”
Two other PC manufacturers, Gateway and Acer, also have targeted NetPC customers, but not with NetPCs. Both companies have chosen to ignore the NetPC specifications and are pushing low-cost, manageable PCs that still can offer some flexibility, a product category that Intel refers to as “flexible managed PCs” — basically, products that hover between NetPCs and traditional PCs.
“We’ve worked closely on these specs, and this is what customers want,” said Ted Waitt, CEO of Gateway 2000. “The specs have evolved: First it was a sealed box, but then we realized a ‘sealable’ box was a better idea.”
Acer has already offered its Network Ready PC, with a monitor and a price under ,000. And Gateway’s answer to the NetPC is the E 1000 (shipping in July), which is half the size of the average desktop, and comes with a 166 MHz Pentium, 16 megabytes of RAM, 256 kilobytes of Level 2 cache, a 1.2 gigabyte hard drive, a floppy drive, integrated 10/100Mbps Ethernet, 16-bit audio, one PCI and one shared PCI/ISA expansion slot.
So what’s this all about?
“Intel has been blind-sided by the customers,” said International Data Corp. analyst Roger Kay. “These [flexible managed PCs] are what the customers favor. If you seal the front and the back of the box, you are frightening the IS manager. You need to be able to open the box.”
SilverStream ponies up a complete Java IDE
SilverStream Software offers the SilverStream integrated development environment, written in Java, which includes an HTML authoring tool, version control, security services, a distributed Java application development tool, and a mid-tier Web application server — a combo that the company can only hope will create a self-contained environment for building Internet or intranet Java applications.
SilverStream’s development and hosting environment is made up of a Designer and an Application Server (which resembles the Lotus Domino server). But instead of building on a native object store like Domino, SilverStream already has native connections to Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft databases. The Designer provides a graphical Java application development tool with wizards for building forms, views, HTML pages, database access, and Java agents. It also allows developers to treat applications as an ongoing developmental process, with users able to continually collaborate on applications that blend structured data with interactive Web content. Designer generates client and server application components.
The Application Server is a pure Java HTTP server that has integrated support for Java servlets. Business logic that points to relational DBMS, mainframes, or other applications (such as CORBA objects) is an integral part of the Server. When an application is executed, the Application Server pulls together information from the various data stores and constructs the application on the run.
SilverStream is expected to ship in September 1997. Check with the company for more information.
SGI IRIX version of JDK 1.1.2 available
Developers can grab a copy of the JDK 1.1.2 for IRIX 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4 from Silicon Graphics, available now. (You will have to register as a surfer, first, though.)
Many developers finding 100 percent Java impossible
Although a majority of programmers still support the idea of applications free of “native” code that anchors them to Windows 95, Macintosh, or Unix, many developers are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to write applications entirely in Java. This is due to a variety of reasons, including slow performance and no printing support.
And Sun is listening. It has relaxed its requirements, and is willing to allow developers to stamp a special logo (one that reflects future “purity”) on Java applications containing some native code — as long as the developer commits to migrating the app to pure Java by a certain time.
According to George Paolini, director of communications for JavaSoft, “The key objective for 100 percent pure is portability. We recognize that this is a migration path. Some of the functionality you need if you’re using JDK 1.02 is going to be through platform-dependent code. We’re trying to work with companies to help them to migrate over. But we recognize this is a transitional issue.”
Sun was making a business decision to give developers more room in the branding program. Java still is less mature than the OS it needs to work with, so often the language can’t compete with desktop applications in the performance and features arenas. If developers can’t get what they need from Java, they have one of two choices: leave out the feature (which can seriously devalue the app’s desirability), or make native calls to the OS (which means the app is no longer portable). Sun knows this, which is why in the latest version of the JDK, it offered the JNI (Java native interface).
But most of the many Java software development companies that still use native code in their Java applications are in agreement on this: Even though they don’t have all the Java tools they need to develop all-Java apps, they expect JavaSoft ultimately will deliver the tools. And they still believe all-Java apps eventually will become the standard. But until those tools arrive, the following two schools of thought will exist, both driven by pragmatic business decisions.
“Complete cross-platform compatibility is numero uno for us,” said Scott Milener, BulletProof’s CEO. “We develop our tool once. For us to be able support eight different platforms is just insane.”
“I have an application to ship,” said Karl Jacob, Dimension X CEO (the company recently was purchased by Microsoft). “I have customers [who] care about multimedia animations or visualizing stock data. I can’t give them the answer, ‘Wait till next year’.”
ISO/IEC rejects Sun’s plan for Java
The JTC 1 TAG, the U.S. consensus group that represents the U.S. position on international IT standards, agreed on June 6 to vote “No with Comments” on Sun’s plan to submit Java as an international standard in ISO/IEC. TAG had three concerns about Sun’s proposal. These concerned intellectual property rights, the scope of the application, and maintenance of the standards. Sun could garner TAG’s support if it addressed these concerns.
“While there was disagreement among U.S. interests regarding specific aspects of the Sun application, there was overall agreement on the benefits of standardized Java. Java is the first cross-platform computing environment that will work with existing systems. Standardized Java will open a huge range of possibilities for any organization that uses computers,” said Thomas Frost, chairman of the JTC 1 TAG. “This decision and the intense debate that preceded it all testify to the importance of the Java specifications and more importantly, the standardization of the Java specifications.”
Thirty other national groups must decide on their position on Sun’s proposal and submit their ballots by July 14, 1997.
The JTC 1 TAG’s position has been posted to the TAG’s Web site.
https://www.jtc1tag.org/sunvote.htm
New chip to deliver broadband wireless network
Six-month-old startup Triton Network Systems Inc. (TNS) is announcing a deal with a major defense contractor that gives Triton the exclusive commercial rights to a military-grade chip design — MMIC technology. MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) will be the cornerstone to a broadband wireless network that Triton will be building around the chip.
The Triton network consists of an MMIC-based microwave transceiver (operating on the FCC-regulated 38GHz frequency) and a briefcase-size microwave device that sits on a building rooftop. The rooftop device should provide as many as 120 phone connections to the wireless network. Java-enabled telecommunications networking software will run Triton’s T-Gate gateway, which sits at your friendly local telephone company and provides an interface to the phone network’s central office switch as well as to an ISP node for Web connections.
Triton is adding a level of flexibility with its Java-based software enabling users to log onto the ‘Net, go to the carrier’s Web page, and disconnect call waiting while they are online (and not get billed for it). When they have finished surfing, users can go back and turn on the call-waiting option.
Triton plans to beta test TNS in December 1997 with hopes of full network delivery by the middle of 1998. And at an estimated cost of 00 per line (fiber runs between 00 and ,500 per), plus the easier maintenance costs (no land lines to keep up), the company believes its new technology will shape things to come in telecommunications.
The military-made gallium arsenide MMIC chips, which run at two watts, can accurately broadcast through rainy and dry weather and can reach up to 30 miles. This should solve the distance limit of three miles found in other microwave network setups. The chips were designed as embedded components for missile guidance systems.
Study shows: ActiveX lagging behind Java
It seems that slow progress by the Active Group standards body, combined with security concerns among corporate users, is keeping ActiveX from making any headway as a Web site development technology, according to Application Methods Inc. and International Data Corp.
A March 1997 survey of 20 million Web pages turned up about 30,000 pages that use Java, while fewer than 1,000 use ActiveX, said Jeff Winchell, software architect at Application Methods. IDC analyst Evan Quinn reinforced the numbers: “We are just not seeing a lot of increase in usage right now on the Web for ActiveX, but JavaBeans and Java are growing.”
Microsoft had intended to hand the ActiveX technology to the Open Group as a public standard, but that move is not proceeding quickly. The Open Group formed the Active Group committee last fall to run ActiveX through the process, but little has been heard from the organization.
Many corporate users are not biting the ActiveX apple. “We are not doing any ActiveX work and are strong on Java,” said Dave Baker, an Eli Lilly associate information consultant. “There are some inherent security risks in ActiveX that create holes big enough to drive a semi through.”
Others feel that ActiveX is redundant with current Web technologies. Reynolds Metals Web site administrator John Pardue summed it up by saying, “We can do everything we need to on our Web site with HTML and CGI. We have done some applet work, and there are some people looking at ActiveX. But there is not a pressing need for either right now.”
ISVs say: We want Java apps! JavaSoft enhancing developer support
ISVs are eager to start using Java applications — so eager that they’re starting to complain to JavaSoft. JavaSoft’s response is to roll out a new “Java Select” program and an expanded Java Developer Connection program. And, JavaSoft is easing up on the “100% Pure” campaign to include an intermediate certification branding called 100 Percent Pure Pending. ISVs can certify a non-pure Java application on the condition that the application be converted to 100 percent Java within a specified time. (See “Many developers finding 100 percent Java impossible” for more info.) Some developers are tired of waiting to launch their Java applications. And they have been frustrated by JavaSoft’s answers. “To date, [JavaSoft] has been real weak in providing timely support and answers to my questions,” said an anonymous ISV developer. “I hope they get their acts together soon.” To provide more open access to technical support, JavaSoft has responded by converting its Java Developer Connection from a fee-based Web site into a free service. The JDC will provide tutorials, sample code, FAQ files, and documentation for developers building Java client or server applications, as well as chat forums and links to Java user newsgroups and Web sites.
“We are about halfway there,” said George Paolini, JavaSoft’s marketing director. “We should have the site completely up to speed by mid-summer.”
JavaSoft is launching the Java Select program for the top 200 to 300 ISVs and corporations. “Basically we will be camping at their front door,” said Paolini.
Netcaster: Microsoft would rather switch than fight
Microsoft has decided to modify its Channel Definition push format to support Netscape’s Netcaster client rather than continue the standards battle with Netscape. “Now the Netcaster client won’t have to crawl the entire site to find what it wants; it can crawl the CDF [Channel Definition Format] file and get exactly what it wants,” said Dave Fester, Internet Explorer group product manager.
Netscape responded that there is no need for a new format. Content providers can use HTML, Java, and JavaScript to create channels for the Netcaster client. “This is Microsoft’s attempt to force their proposal more into the spotlight, but it’s not clear whether it will be something that really helps end users. They’ve done nothing more than what we already do,” said Mike Po, Netscape’s director for client product marketing.
The Netcaster client is expected to ship by the end of July 1997.
Microsoft buys component maker
In an effort to boost its Java Application Foundation Classes (AFC) development efforts, Microsoft Corp. has bought a Cooper & Peters Inc., a Colorado component vendor. The cost of the acquisition remains undisclosed.
Cooper & Peters develops object-oriented frameworks and applications in Java and Smalltalk. The company announced a product code-named EyeOpener, a Java component suite, last November.
The two heads of the company, Ken Cooper and Ted Peters, will join Microsoft’s AFC development group.
French Java user group lacks an important element — users
On June 11, the first Java User Group in France was launched. The only problem? Lack of users. Formed by eight Java vendors, including IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc., the user group was established to encourage the use of Java as a development language in that country, whose high-tech companies have been slow to adopt it. The French companies that are embracing Java are primarily using the language to create graphics.
According to Thierry Thevenet, director general of FI System in France, of the 300 largest French companies, approximately half have initiated projects using Java — although these projects largely are unremarkable client/server applications. The Java User Group members, who are all vendors, hope to change this situation, inspiring companies to develop vital Java apps.
Netscape Communicator 4.0 gets a Caffeine high
Visigenic Software Inc. is debuting Caffeine, a Java development tool for building Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) applications. The product will be integrated into Visigenic’s VisiBroker for Java product, which will ship as a module for Netscape’s Communicator 4.0.
With Caffeine, developers working on CORBA apps don’t have to know Interface Definition Language (IDL) when using Java development tools. IDL is complex. They can build CORBA apps easily with Visigenic’s new tool.
Novell Inc. and Oracle Corp. will ship Caffeine-based products in the third quarter of this year.
IBM uses Java for stable online gaming
IBM and Red Storm Entertainment Inc., owned by author Tom Clancy, announced a development agreement on a 100-percent Java-based technology developed by IBM and code-named InVerse. Red Storm and IBM hope this technology will ease online gamers’ frustrations with Internet latency while providing more stable and communal Internet gaming environments. The first product, scheduled for shipping in the fourth quarter, will be a game called “Tom Clancy’s Politika.”
Set in future Russia after Russian President Boris Yeltsin dies, the game concerns power struggles between the church, KGB, Mafia, reformists, and other political groups.
InVerse allows clustering or distributed implementation of servers to accomodate and adapt to systems load and the given application’s needs. Most Internet gaming configurations now use a single server, which leads to lag time as the number of clients increases and the load on the server grows proportionately. This system might suit smaller numbers of players, such as two or three, but as more players join and the game grows, servers run out of horsepower and the high ping rate is born.
