News and New Product Briefs (December 20, 1999)
INDEXHEAD: Mindbright readies pure Java template-creation system
Mindbright has made available an early release of its new MindTemplate template-creation system. MindTemplate is implemented in pure Java; when used within a servlet, it can output better HTML. It can also generate stub servlet code.
Using MindTemplate instead of JavaServer Pages or Active Server Pages means that you can completely separate your content from your markup, as the originators of markup languages intended.
The MindTemplate engine includes:
- A simple development and test environment
- An editor
-
A simple HTTP server
Formats MindTemplate understands include:
- HTML
- XML
- Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) content
- Email text
- Programming code
- Installation scripts
-
Configuration files
MindTemplate is free for noncommercial use, development and experimentation; contact company sales for terms of commercial use.
Product pages:
INDEXHEAD: Parasoft’s Jtest is one cool tool
Parasoft has released a third iteration of Jtest. The company touts this tool as not merely analyzing code, but actually helping you to program.
With Jtest, you can automatically test your classes to check for unhandled exceptions. It also lets you to input your own checks on your code, and then remembers the results of previous tests, so that it can alert you when later changes violate your own internal rules.
Jtest also knows how to compare your code to defined coding standards, and lets you know when you’ve forgotten to initialize a variable or have otherwise made a silly mistake. (You can selectively suppress the messages thus generated.)
According to Parasoft’s Website, “Jtest gives the developer a full report, including the inputs that caused the problem, the stack trace for the exception, and the calling sequence that shows the exception occurring.”
Jtest allows for automated and user-input testing. With Jtest, you can:
- Check for unhandled exceptions
- Perform regression testing
- Perform static analysis
- Perform white-box testing
- Automate black-box testing.
Jtest is available for the Windows 95x/NT and Solaris 2.51/2.6, and for the JDK 1.x and 2 platforms.
Company Website:
Jtest page:
INDEXHEAD: Ganymede complements NIS, DNS, and LDAP
Ganymede is a portable and customizable network directory management system put out by the computer science division of the Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin. Ganymede is free and distributed under the GNU General Public License.
Like Microsoft’s Active Directory and Novell’s Novell Directory Services, Ganymede is a network directory system designed to make managing directory services easier. Ganymede’s built-in, user-configurable database and plug-in Java classes support easy, immediate customization; the open source nature of the project allows for even greater customization if and when needed.
Ganymede is distributed, multithreaded, and database backed, and the central server provides browse and edit services to a number of clients simultaneously.
Ganymede features:
- Permissions tracking
- A full transactional model
- Plug-in management classes
- Task scheduling
- Hooks for external Perl or shell scripts
Ganymede runs on Unix-like platforms capable of hosting a 1.1 JDK-compliant JVM. It is free.
Ganymede pages:
INDEXHEAD: Sun ships Java Media Framework 2.0
Developed jointly by Sun Microsystems and IBM, the Java Media Framework 2.0 application programming interface (JMF 2.0 API) provides a specification and reference implementation that allows developers to add interactive streaming media technologies to their applications.
JMF 1.0 focused on playing back audio and video files; JMF 2.0, on the other hand, allows for the capture and manipulation of streaming technologies, including:
- Effects
- Tracks
- Renders
- Synchronization
- Transmission
-
Compression
JMF 2.0 also supports multiple audio and video formats, including MP3, Quicktime, Flash, AVI, MPEG-1, and RMF.
JMF is available for download from the Sun Website, and JMF 2.0 source code can be licensed. JMF technology will run on all Java-enabled browsers.
JMF software and documentation:
INDEXHEAD: Emulation Beans coming soon from CTC
Core Technology Corporation is implementing new, modular CTC Emulation Beans, emulation technology that will be embedded into the company’s CTCBridge communications server.
Emulation Beans are modular versions of the company’s CTCBridge 5250, T27, and UTS browser-based emulation and file-transfer technologies, rewritten for the Java platform.
CTC Emulation Beans will include ActiveX component versions. When implemented, they will be made available by the system for direct access by the CTCBridge communications server, as well as by the MultiBridge client/server management tool. CTC Emulation Beans can also be utilized by third-party vendors.
A preview version of CTC Emulation Beans, which will run on any Java-enabled platform, should be available in first quarter of 2000.
Company Website:
INDEXHEAD: Tango now supports Java
The new Tango 2000 application server and Pervasive.SQL 2000 server from Pervasive Software now support JavaScript, Java classes, JavaBeans, and Perl.
The products are intended to be used together for the creation of powerful, database-backed ecommerce solutions. With this release, they now include additional clustering capabilities.
Tango and Pervasive.SQL run on Windows 9x/NT/CE, Novell Netware, Mac OS, Wind River Vx Works, QNX Neutrino, 32 and 64 bit Solaris, and several flavors of Linux.
Pricing for Pervasive.SQL 2000 server begins at ,495; The Tango 2000 application server starts at 0,000 for 10 user and single machine, multiple CPU licenses.
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Christmas applets for your Webpages
Download free Christmas-themed applets for your Web site courtesy of Freewarejava.com.
The site offers interactive applets that will allow your visitors to build a snowman or color in a Christmas-themed coloring book. You can also fit several Java-animated applets with Christmas themes, including animated Java epostcards, into your stocking.
In the seasonal spirit of giving, you can even submit your own Christmas applet for others to use.
INDEXHEAD: BrainJar.com throbs with links
We don’t frequently get all worked up about a Website, but Mike Hall’s BrainJar.com is simply special.
Hall’s collection of links, tips, and tutorials, and working examples of JavaScript and Java in use for the Web is well organized and informative — not to mention fun. The site is an excellent resource for any beginning Java Web programmer, and a nice showcase for the kinds of things Java can achieve when combined with HTML, DHTML, and even Active Server Pages.
INDEXHEAD: Sun adds Java yang to your XML yin
According to Jon Bosak, the father of XML technology, XML and Java are “the yin and yang of cross-platform XML technology.” In order to complete the circle before the new millennium, Sun Microsystems has released version 1.0 of the Java API for XML Parsing Specification, which uses the Java Project X parser.
This release fixes several bugs noted in the previous release, and provides some low-level functionality that earlier versions lacked.
The core library’s major features include:
- Fast parsing of XML documents
- Optional validation
-
Optional in-memory object model tree
The XMLTM library is a pure Java implementation, and is compatible with any system that successfully runs the JDK 1.1 or Java 2 software development kits.
The API is being made available under early-access conditions, so you must register in order to download it. Registration is free.
Product info and download:
XML and API examples:
INDEXHEAD: EUREKA:Portal organizes your Web
Sterling Software has released the EUREKA:Portal 2.0 infoportal software for information sharing and collaboration.
EUREKA:Portal 2.0 is more open than its predecessor, with an open, XML-based documented API.
A pure Java implementation, EUREKA:Portal provides a single point of entry for your company intranet or application service provider business. You can completely customize the look and feel of EUREKA:Portal in order to seamlessly integrate all of your business intelligence in one place.
EUREKA:Portal is designed to organize the presentation of structured and unstructured data, and offers built-in search capability that quickly puts your information where your employees and business partners need it most — on their computer screens.
EUREKA:Portal is:
- Extensibile
- Loaded with security features
- Platform independent
- Content agnostic
- XML friendly
EUREKA:Portal is designed to integrate into the EUREKA:Suite family of products, which includes the EUREKA:Reporter reports broker, the EUREKA:Strategy data-reporting tool, the EUREKA:Intelligence query-analysis and reporting tool, and the EUREKA:Analyst business-modeling utility.
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: ICE is nice as a browser or a plugin
ICE Browser 5 has been released by ICEsoft.
A pure Java implementation, ICE can function as a Web browser component, a Java application component, or as a freestanding Web browser.
ICE Browser is built on top of the ICE Storm architecture for dynamic content handling on the Internet, is runtime extensible, has support for custom scripting languages, and is compatible with Mozilla’s Rhino JavaScript-engine.
ICE Browser 5 Base is an HTML rendering engine that supports HTML 4, CSS2 (Cascading Style Sheet Specification 2), and XML, but does not offer applet or advanced HTTP functionality. It is a good tool for incorporating basic HTML-based help systems into your Java applications.
ICE Browser 5 Pro adds support for:
- Applets
- Cookies
- Proxies
- Redirects
- Authentication
- Multimedia
You can download a free 60 to 90 day trial copy from the company’s Website. For pricing, contact company sales.
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Lincoln Beach offers nothing but buttons
Lincoln Beach Software’s Just Buttons v1.02 offers a GUI-based environment for button creation. The utility provides shortcuts to mouseover and other special effects for the navigational elements on your Website.
Just Buttons is available for the Windows 9x/NT platforms for 9.95. Student and nonprofit discounts are available.
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Cyberflex Access releases enhanced SDK
Schlumberger, a provider of smart card solutions, has released version 2.0 of its software developer kit for Cyberflex Access cards.
This Java Card development tool adds new features, including seamless interoperability with:
- Microsoft’s CryptoAPI
- RSA technologies, including Cryptoki Cryptographic Token Interface
- DES
- SHA-1
This crypto-enhanced version of the Cyberflex Access Software Developer Kit has been approved for export to most countries outside the US by the National Security Agency and the Bureau of Export Administration. Export is restricted for the version that includes 3DES cryptography.
Pricing begins at 00 for the development kit, which comes in US-only and Export-OK flavors. If you already own a previous version of the software and would like to upgrade, it will cost 50.
INDEXHEAD: THWT announces JavaRunner
THWT Software has released JavaRunner, a tool that automatically manages software installations across your organization. JavaRunner is complaint with JDK 1.1 and later.
Upgrade once at your server, and JavaRunner will take care of deploying system improvements everywhere, according to the company. Each time a user loads a local application, JavaRunner checks with the server to see if any new versions or upgrades for that software exist. If this is the case, JavaRunner upgrades the client system itself via HTTP.
JavaRunner comes with API documentation and requires a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) of version 1.1 or later.
JavaRunner is generally available, with prices starting at 0 for orders of 20 copies or more and 00 for a single copy. Contact company sales for additional pricing options.
Free trial download (requires registration):
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Free sound for your Webpages
Add one-off or looping sound to your pages with CodeBrain.com’s Voice applet.
With minimal setup, Voice will play a sound or sounds in the background while other applications run; it can also serve as a sound-file player for one Webpage or a whole siteful of pages with minimal setup. You can additionally control Voice directly from JavaScript, as long as your browser is Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later.
Documentation is available online at CodeBrain.com’s Website.
The Voice applet is free, for now, according to the company. Download an evaluation copy (a free Keyfile is required) at:
More information:
INDEXHEAD: New Jini technologies fulfill wishes
Sun has released new versions of several Jini technologies, including the Jini Technology Starter Kit v1.0.1, the JavaSpaces Technology Kit v1.0.1, and the Jini Technology Core Platform Compatibility Kit (TCK) v1.0B.
Improvements in the new versions consist mostly of bug fixes; changes to the JavaSpaces Technology Kit also include the extension of the platform to allow for both persistent and nonpersistent versions of the Jini Technology Extended Platform (JXP).
The Jini Technology Starter Kit consists of three components:
- Jini Technology Core Platform (JCP)
- Jini Technology Extended Platform
-
Jini Software Kit (JSK)
These should all be installed before installation of the JavaSpaces Technology Kit.
You must accept the Sun Community Software License and register before you can download the new Jini package:
Some information on the package is available at the Sun Microsystems site:
https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/products/jini/.
INDEXHEAD: BEA adds Java to WebLogic Enterprise
BEA Systems has incorporated Enterprise JavaBean capability into its WebLogic Enterprise 5.0 ecommerce application server. BEA is the first leading application server to have done so, thus offering users the opportunity to take advantage of both the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) technologies at the same time.
The new version’s CORBA enhancements include:
- Events and notifications
- Support for the COS Naming Service
- Support for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for IIOP
- Request-level interceptors for C++ and Java
BEA WebLogic Enterprise 5.0 supports myriad platforms on the server end, including HP, Solaris, Windows, AIX, Tru64, IRIX, OS/390, and UnixWare. The Java client end supports Solaris and Windows NT. Additional client support is available with the CORBA client.
For pricing, contact company sales.
Company information:
Product datasheet:
products/weblogic/enterprise/datasheet.html
INDEXHEAD: Lock up your apps with Claymore Secure Java Toolkit
Claymore Systems has announced the general availability of the Claymore Secure Java Toolkit. The software allows you to incorporate enterprise-grade security into your Java applications, including those based on Enterprise JavaBean technology.
Features include:
- Channel security (TLS and SSL)
- Access control, including authentication and encryption
- Role-based permissions
- DES and 3DES symmetric encryption
- PKI
- Optional JNI-based JCE encryption
The Claymore Secure Java Toolkit requires JDK 1.2 or higher.
Both a 60 day evaluation download version and one-time source code licensing (for deployment and distribution) are available. For pricing, contact company sales.
The company also offers Java-based versions of TLS 1.0 and SSL 3.0, known collectively as PureTLS, available under a BSD-like license.
Company information:
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Stronghold: a Java-aware, secure Web-serving solution
C2Net Software has announced the general availability of Stronghold 2.4.2.
Stronghold is a secure, commercial implementation of the popular Apache Web server that includes strong SSL support. The Apache Foundation produces a highly customizable, open source Web server that controls about 60 percent of the Web server market.
Stronghold features support for Java via the Java Apache Project, and supports Java servlets with Jakarta.
Pricing begins at about ,000 for a single license with unlimited free e-mail support.
Stronghold is available for Unix and Unix-like platforms. A list of supported platforms is available:
Company information:
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Ease cross-platform admin headaches with jmk
Make in Java (jmk) is a cross-platform make utility from John D. Ramsdell that works on both Unix and Microsoft platforms.
Make in Java is similar to the Unix make utility, but runs on a wide variety of platforms and is accessible through its own GUI for users unfamiliar with the command line.
jmk is a free tool, and is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Download it, read about it, and check its status:
INDEXHEAD: Forté for Java beta edition available under community license
Sun Microsystems has released another recently acquired product — this time, NetBeans’ Forté for Java Community Edition 1.0 — under community license.
Forté is a Java integrated development environment (IDE) with advanced Swing support, a forms editor, syntax coloring, dynamic source code completion, a sophisticated object browser, and a multithreaded debugger. It was previously developed by NetBeans, a corporation which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in the fall of 1999.
The Forté IDE is modular, and everything about it, right down to the GUI interface it shows to the programmer, can be customized.
This public beta release is the first for the product since its acquisition by Sun, and it is available for both the JDK 1.1 and the Java 2 Platforms. It should be available for general release in the first quarter of 2000 — also under a community license, and free of charge.
An enterprise, or Internet, edition will follow late in the second quarter of 2000.
Download the beta:
INDEXHEAD: New ERP software eradicates barriers, thanks to Java
American Software has released an Internet-aware version of its Intelliprise client/server enterprise resource planning (ERP) software; the new product is dubbed e-Intelliprise.
Calling the product both “the first Internet-ready ERP” and a “supply chain without walls,” American Software says the e-Intelliprise product suite takes advantage of the omnipresence of the Web to create the most flexible ERP deployment possible.
The product release includes:
- Alert-enabled business intelligence
- Support for multiple languages and currencies
- Business profiles and rules by user
- Support for traditional or flow manufacturing
- Financial and operational logic
e-Intelliprise is available for multiple platforms. For specific information, including pricing, please contact company sales.
Company information:
Product information:
INDEXHEAD: Free SQL applet connects Web with databases
ThinSQL is a free applet-servlet utility that connects to an SQL server over the Internet. It’s compatible with proxy servers and network firewalls because it uses HTTP as its main method of communication.
ThinSQL can be used to add, remove, modify, and retrieve data, but is too simple an implementation to be trusted with important information.
The Web server in use must be servlet enabled; the database that is accessed must be JDBC compatible. ThinSQL is free; ThinSQLPro adds functionality, including the reuse of previously opened database connections, and costs 00.
Download ThinSQL:
Learn more:
INDEXHEAD: Borland Inprise releases JBuilder 3
Borland Inprise has announced the immediate availability of JBuilder 3 Enterprise, Solaris Edition. JBuilder is a visual Java development tool that aids the creation of pure Java implementations for the Java 2 Platform, including:
- Applications
- Applets
- Servlets
- JavaBeans
- Enterprise JavaBeans
-
CORBA applications
JBuilder 3 Enterprise, Solaris Edition includes support for the soon-to-be-released Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
Product pricing begins at around ,500 for new users. Upgrades range from around ,700 to ,200; contact company sales for precise figures for your installation.
Product information:
System requirements:
solaris/productinfo/sysreq.html
Download a trial version (registration required):
INDEXHEAD: damango puts SFS Java tools in ASP package
SFS Software Partners have teamed up with damango to incorporate Java tools and applications into damango’s application service provider (ASP) service.
damango’s 100 percent Java enterprise ASP service will provide clients with SFS’s CoffeeShop Java IDE and the Pablo HTML-to-Java converter for development of GUIs, along with the innovative iavaZIP pure Java file-compression software tools — all over the Web.
damango utilizes the all-Java Speiros Internet operating system from Cyrus InterSoft, so it is truly cross-platform. damango is friendly to Windows, Mac OS, and Unix and Unix-like platforms with JDK 1.1.7/1.1.8 installed.
Basic damango services are available for free.
damango:
SFS Software:
INDEXHEAD: O’Reilly & Associates Web portal focuses on Java
Technical book publisher O’Reilly & Associates has announced that the Servlets.com Web site will be an affiliate of the company’s soon-to-be-launched open source technology Web portal, the O’Reilly Network.
The Java content will reportedly focus on the creation of dynamic Web content with Java servlets. According to a company press release, the site covers the latest news on servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) development.
Additional affiliates in the O’Reilly Network include XML.com, Apache Week, and MySQL.com. The portal is expected to launch in January 2000.
O’Reilly & Associates:
O’Reilly Network:
Servlets.com:
INDEXHEAD: Javu mixes it up with streaming media
Javu Technologies has announced a major upgrade to its Java-based JavuNetwork multimedia-editing service, JavuNetwork 2.0.
The upgrade includes an all-new audio editor, additional MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 support, realtime video effect rendering, and automatic project backup — all with a smaller footprint than before.
Javu’s network-centered editing tool incorporates streaming and bandwidth technologies and allows for the ASP-style editing, creation, and management of:
- Video, including special effects
- Image manipulation
- Audio, including mixing and overlay
- Integrated video and audio
- Text editing, including labels
The Web-centered service employs resolution-independent video-editing techniques and works across several platforms. JavuNetwork supports all current streaming-media formats, and features an intuitive drag-and-drop user interface. The site even contains project-management tools to keep remote collaborators working constructively.
JavuNetwork is friendly to users of PC, Mac, and Unix platforms, but it prefers to run on Sun Microsystems’ Solaris Enterprise servers.
JavuNetwork technology is available for lease to application service providers (ASPs); users can also access the product directly from the company’s own ASP-and-host site, VideoFarm.com. VideoFarm service costs between 5 and 0 per month.
JavuNetwork:
VideoFarm.com:
INDEXHEAD: Visually alter chart properties with EspressChart
Quadbase Systems has announced the release of EspressChart 2.2, a Java-based charting solution for business.
Available both as a JavaBean and a Swing component, EspressChart 2.2 is friendly to many development tools, including:
- Visual Café
- JBuilder
- IBM’s Visual Age for Java
- WebSphere
- WebLogic
-
Microsoft Visual J++
EspressChart runs on Windows 95/NT, Solaris, HP-UX, and IBM platforms, including S/390, AS/400, and AIX. The full development license includes a CD-ROM and user’s guide. The Windows NT version is priced at ,000.
Product information:
