News and New Product Briefs (11/15/97)

Apple fixes bug in its JVM

Apple has discovered and repaired a bug in MacOS Runtime for Java 1.5 (MRJ), its Java virtual machine.

Apple Java product manager Gary Little said the problem (which also affects MRJ 1.0.2, included in MacOS 8) is mostly “theoretical,” but that it could potentially become a problem. A flaw in the JDirect technology, which allows Java applets and applications to communicate with the Mac Toolbox, could give Internet Java programs unwanted access to the OS. It is supposed to give access to local Java programs only.

A fix patch (MRJ 1.5.1) is available online. Apple recommends that MRJ 1.0.2 users upgrade.

• MRJ fix patch: https://applejava.apple.com/

• Original article:

ParaSoft delivers jtest! Java bug finder

ParaSoft released jtest!, a bug finder for Java that automatically discovers and reports on Java code problems.

The jtest! software generates input for the Java app in question, just like a user would. If the input causes a runtime exception, the software reports the type of exception and identifies the input that caused it. Developers can also replay the input, watching it make its way through the code, to see where the exception happens.

Testing code is as simple as entering a few commands — the name of the software and the name of the applet starts the test.

The jtest! software runs on Windows NT 4.0 at a cost of 95 per copy.

BulletProof JDesignerPro 2.3 gets new Java enhancements

BulletProof announced that is has upgraded JDesignerPro, its Java development system, with built-in methods for automatic creation of files that can be viewed, saved, and printed on a remote user’s computer.

The new on-board Java methods allow JDesignerPro users to add HTML, Microsoft Excel, and text files to their Java applications. The file is created, including both data and format, and opened in the user’s corresponding application for viewing. The user can then print, save, or email the file.

JDesignerPro is compatible with:

• Netscape FastTrack
• SuiteSpot servers
• Netscape One
• Navigator
• Communicator
• Windows 95 and NT
• NT Server
• Internet Explorer
• Visual J++
• Symantec Cafe
• Oracle
• Informix
• Sybase
• JDK 1.1.4
• Netra servers and the JavaStation
• Weblogic T3
• I-Kinetics openJDBC for CORBA

JDesignerPro 2.3 is available for free download.

Sun debuts Java Studio — Java for the rest of us

Sun’s Java Studio 1.0, its Visual Java authoring tool, allows non-developers to build Java applets and applications.

Java Studio consists of more than 50 JavaBeans components, which can be pulled from a tool bar and dropped into a design window. The window displays the component as it will appear in a Web browser. The designer can then link the component to other components in the design window, including a data component, and can customize (font, size, color) the component, as well. And the user never needs to be bothered with such basics as event modeling and compiling.

Testing the JavaBeans components happens within the development environment, so users don’t have to publish or run the application.

Java Studio runs on Solaris, Windows 95, and Windows NT, and includes the JDK 1.1. The program includes database connectivity, charts and graphs, calendars, email, and image map beans. Pricing is set at 9, but for a limited time, developers can get Java Studio and Java Workshop 2.0 both for 89.

• Product information:https://www.sun.com/studio/cover.html

• Additional information:

NC guns fire off “Webtop” spec

The four big guns behind network computing (IBM, Sun, Lotus, and Oracle) are collaborating on the “Webtop Specification,” a set of APIs designed for Java-based NCs. The specification (not an OS, say the companies involved) is expected to deliver a consistent environment for application builders; a framework that would allow NCs and PCs to run any app built to this spec.

Software developers from each company will work on the APIs, designing each programming interface so that regardless of the device the user chooses, the application’s interface will be consistent. And through repetitive use, the common set of APIs should also allow developers to build applications quickly, and not have to worry about endless platform-specific modifications.

Developers and manufacturers would license the specification and reference implementation from the participating vendors. The companies plan to announce the availability of the specification in the near future.

• Additional information:

Sun’s on “The Road to Java” at IIAS 97 in Berlin

Sun took more than 4,000 senior executives on a ride along “The Road to Java” at the International Internet Associate Symposium (IIAS) in Berlin earlier this month. Attendees included customers, ISVs, systems integrators, Java enthusiasts, and the media, all gathering to hear about “The Road to Java,” Sun’s strategy to move Java from just a vision to a real, business-critical system.

Scott McNealy and Ed Zander opened the event. Representatives from Federal Express and Scottish Telecom provided real-life case studies of their recent efforts to deploy Java-based, NC technology. JavaSoft president Alan Baratz demonstrated how Java continued to drive the industry in his address. The symposium concluded with a 100% Pure Java Day (which delivered the latest updates on the JDK and components).

ABB, Deutsche Telekom, Daimler-Benz, and Mexico National Treasury focused on Java from the specific perspectives of their individual industries. Technical sessions focused on Java APIs, products, and the architecture, networking, planning, and security of Java-based enterprise solutions.

• Additional information:

Objective-C is not the NeXT thing for Rhapsody

NeXT Computer’s advanced development language, Objective-C, probably won’t continue its role in Apple’s Rhapsody operating system. Instead, look for Java to replace it.

Objective-C is C with object technology added. The goal of this language (as with Smalltalk) is to make programmers more productive. C++, another C with objects language, strives to make computers more efficient.

Objective-C gained popularity because of its late binding approach, which allows developers to mix objects with similar behaviors, preserving enough information about the individual objects so that it’s easy to decide how the behaviors should be invoked at runtime.

When an object is loaded across a dispersed network, a program may not know until runtime what type of object will appear. Objective-C handles this type of situation with ease.

The decision to drop Objective-C for Java in Rhapsody was made because of the popularity of Java, the way the concepts of Java conform to Smalltalk and Objective-C thinking, the way its syntax resembles C++, and the fact that tons of Java development tools and training opportunities now exist.

• Original article:

WebLogic’s Tengah pure-Java app server

WebLogic Inc. debuts Tengah, its Java application server, which is expected to make it easy for developers to create, deploy, and manage mission-critical Java applications that adhere to business logic.

Tengah, written in Java, allows IT personnel to focus on workflow processes, scalability, and business logic when planning, launching, and managing distributed apps, instead of worrying about the infrastructure. The server provides Java-standard-compliant integrated services for distributed components, distributed objects, event management, database connectivity, global directory support, and Web integration.

Tengah supports Java-native JavaBeans, RMI, distributed events, and JDBC databases. It also supports HTTP and CORBA IIOP, and security through optional Secured Socket Layer (SSL) support. Protocol tunneling and request forwarding allow secure dispatching to servers behind corporate firewalls.

Tengah reaches directories through the Java Naming and Directory Interface, JNDI, which supports the LDAP, or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. Tengah also offers application monitoring and management.

With Tengah, you’ll get:

• Enterprise JavaBeans (compatible with 0.5 draft of the JavaSoft spec)

• Access to Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and Informix databases through JDBC

• Distributed events (for remote publication and subscription, as well as push technologies)

• Distributed beans (to mutate plain old off-the-shelf beans to distributed versions)

• Support for servlets

Available now, development licenses start at ,995 per seat. Production licenses begin at ,995. Tengah supports 1.0.2- or 1.1-based clients and runs on Solaris, NT, AIX, Digital, HP, NetWare, and SGI servers. The Tengah/JDBC component costs ,995.

Sybase SQL Anywhere gets Java components in Adaptive Server DB

Sybase’s successor to its SQL Anywhere database, Adaptive Server Anywhere 6.0 (ASA), which contains Java components, is available in beta. ASA is designed for mobile computers — it consumes less than 1MB of memory.

ASA is different from Sybase’s Enterprise version of the database. The Enterprise version has user-adjustable controls to optimize performance. ASA uses self-optimizing algorithms. Plus, with ASA, you can write stored database procedures (business logic, etc.) in Java that can then be used to access SQL data with an internal, proprietary interface. Also, Java objects (such as Beans) can also be stored since the RDB model has been extended to include Java as a datatype (which is then stored in rows and tables like any other datatype). (Also, the Enterprise version won’t get Java components for about a year.)

ASA now handles symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) to speed up large transactions and it has better caching through an improved predictive caching algorithm.

When the product will be available hasn’t yet been announced, but the company is predicting the first half of 1998. As for the question of price, you’ll need to contact Sybase.

Did SunSoft rig its Solaris Java compiler to burn the CaffeineMark?

Pendragon Software president Ivan Phillips says yes — that SunSoft did indeed tinker with its Solaris 2.6 Java Just-In-Time compiler so it would run faster when tested with Pendragon’s CaffeineMark.

Phillips added, “It may have been an accident, but we noticed that 600 bytecodes of our benchmark can be found in SunSoft’s Just-In-Time compiler. The probability that this code made its way there accidentally is infinitesimal.”

Sun claimed in October 1997 that Solaris ran the Java tests 50 percent faster that NT.

About the surprising appearance of the bytecode in Sun’s compiler, Phillips said, “We don’t know how it happened, but we should do something about it. We contacted SunSoft and they removed the JVM from their Web site, but they did not remove the press release or issue any sort of retraction.” Sun officials originally denied that they did anything wrong. In fact, they called such optimization standard practice. (Sounds similar to the type of argument against campaign finance reform) Sun representative Terri Molini said, “We followed the rules. We had very specific guidelines to follow and we did. We didn’t tweak anything. We did however, optimize it for the benchmark.”

Sun Solaris product marketing director Brian Croll chimed in. “The idea is that you want people to optimize for the benchmark. We’ll do everything in our power to do really well on all the benchmarks we get our hands on.” He denied that Sun used the CaffeineMark code.

Phillips acknowledges that optimization for benchmarks is an accepted practice, but he also felt that taking code from the test and installing it in the compiler was probably going too far. “The logic test is contained in the logicatom.class file, and almost 50 percent of that file appeared in the compiler.” He added that reusing a large chunk of specific code can divert too much of the compiler’s resources, so users would get lower performance when they used the compiler for real-world tasks.

At the “Inside Sun Software Day” earlier this week, Sun Software president Janpieter Scheerder admitted that Sun lifted the code, but that “nobody was trying to do anything malicious,” Scheerder said. “We just optimized [the Solaris Java compiler] too much.”

A Sun public relations manager called the episode a “big-time organizational breakdown.” Sun has posted an explanation of this breakdown on its Web site.

• Sun press release: https://www.sun.com/software/caffeinemark.html

• Additional information:

ChatPlanet delivers Java-based moderated chat

ChatPlanet is releasing its Java-based EarthWeb Moderated Chat, which gives Webmasters control over chat-room flow.

The chat applet runs on all Java-enabled OSes and browsers, and with it moderators can view conversations in real time, block certain messages (and individuals) without holding up others, allow private messages between two parties to occur without disrupting the general flow, and host a “pass the mike” sort of moderated chat.

EarthWeb Moderated Chat is free. To add a moderated chat room on your Web site, you need to register with ChatPlanet, then cut-and-paste nine lines of HTML code into your page.

Australia changes its tune on Sun ISO proposal

Standards Australia has decided to change its July 1997 vote (“no, with qualifications”) to a “yes” vote, allowing Sun to proceed to have Java become an international standard.

Project manager for the Standards Australia committee David Bruce-Steer said the majority of its members felt Sun had effectively dealt with concerns by addressing the committee’s worries about intellectual property rights to the Java trademark and code maintenance issues. He also commented that Sun had proposed the establishment of a special technical working group to maintain and revise a future international standard for Java, which his group approved.

By the time you read this, all the final votes (due November 14) will be in.

• Original article: https://www.australian.aust.com/computer/fulltext/c1104a.htm

• More on Java Standardization from Sun:

Bluestone integrates VisiBroker for Java into Sapphire/Web

Bluestone Software has licensed Visigenic Software’s VisiBroker for Java object request broker technology to integrate into its Sapphire/Web 4.0 integrated development environment.

VisiBroker gives Sapphire/Web the ability to support CORBA 2.0 and CORBA’s Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), which means that developers can easily re-deploy existing S/W applications.

• Visigenic press release: https://www.visigenic.com/news/blue1197.html

• Original article:

Oracle and NCI plan to license Lotus eSuite applications

Oracle and Network Computer Inc (NCI) have both decided license Lotus’ eSuite, a set of Java-based productivity applets.

Oracle intends to offer the eSuite applets (option) to Oracle InterOffice, its Web-based collaboration and database-messaging product. InterOffice users will enjoy eSuite’s support for POP3, LDAP, and IMAP4, including access to secure and scaleable Oracle databases. Expect it to be bundled in by Q198.

NCI will offer eSuite as an option on its NC Desktop. Details about the integration were not available.

eSuite is a set of applets for word processing, spreadsheet calculation, presentation graphics, charting, email, browsing, calendaring, and directory- and file-management services.

• eSuite information:https://esuite.lotus.com/esuite/esuite_site.nsf

• Oracle press release:

Telinet MediaMail 2.1 gets Java API

Telinet Technologies’ new release, MediaMail 2.1, will get a Java administration API among the other enhancements.

MediaMail 2.1 is Telinet’s unified messaging server for email, voicemail, and fax messaging. The latest additions (beside the Java API) include internodal technology, improved pager support, E1 signaling support, and upgraded security features.

With MediaMail, you can access messages through your telephone, fax machine, and such Web browsers as Communicator, Internet Explorer, and WebTV. The new internodal capability lets you link MediaMail servers using TCP/IP over a LAN or WAN. With the enhanced pager support, you can get full-text email messages on your alphanumeric pager.

MediaMail 2.1 is available now for 9.

Sirrus ships IntelliSite Java component

Sirrus Internet Solutions announces the Java IntelliSite 2.0, the first component of its IntelliSite suite. IntelliSite 2.0 is an access-management security software that uses the Unified Access Management (UAM) security framework to pull together the management of integration, administration, and security tasks across an enterprise network. IntelliSite uses UAM to provide complete access-management security features, including user authentication, authorization, and security auditing.

Deployed on a CORBA 2.0 architecture, IntelliSite features single log-on capabilities and a centralized administration point. The component also provides integration capabilities with secure APIs for Java, C, and Perl.

The IntelliSite suite will be available by the end of the 1997. Pricing should start at 5,000 for an unlimited number of user licenses. It will run on a single-CPU Web server under Unix or Windows NT.

Lucent links conferencing to Java

Lucent Technologies announced OneMeeting Solution, software that will combine conference calling and data collaboration, linking corporate phone systems (running through a PBX) to a PC with a Java-enabled browser.

Using OneMeeting, users set up a conference call the way they normally do. Data sharing is then added by going through a designated home page on the corporate intranet. (The company’s PBX, though, must be hooked to the data network by the Telephony Services API (TSAPI) for this to work.)

Using a T.120-compliant interface (such as Microsoft’s NetMeeting), users can then participate in a data-sharing session that allows sharing whiteboard, file transfer, and application datatypes.

Lucent expects to ship OneMeeting by the middle of February 1998. If you’ve already got TSAPI integrated into your network, the cost will be 25 per user. If your PBX needs to be upgraded, it will cost about 00 per seat.

• Lucent Technologies: https://www.lucent.com/

• Original article:

Microsoft won’t abandon Active Directory

For developers who write directory-enabled applications, Microsoft has posted the first beta of its Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI) to its Web site. The ADSI, which is written in Java, is a set of native programming calls that let developers write to the industry-standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and ANDSI.

Microsoft also posted an update (version 2.0) to its currently shipping ADSI development kit.

Microsoft plans to include the ADSI in NT 5.0 (due to ship in 1998), but has no timetable for the final Java version.

• The Microsoft Developer Network: https://www.microsoft.com/msdn

• Original article:

Sun’s enhanced JDK expected in mid 1998

Sun’s performance-enhanced version of the Java Development Kit, version 1.2, is expected in the second quarter of 1998. This revved-up version will include:

• Optimized garbage collection and memory allocation functions.
• A JIT compiler for Solaris and 32-bit Windows.
• An expanded security model that allows developers. to set exact levels of access for individual applets. For example, they will be able to specify that the applet can access the hard drive to read, but not write.
• A new set of classes called Collections, which makes it easier to use object persistence when developing for object databases.
• The new Java IDL compiler, which allows Java applets and applications to communicate with CORBA objects.
• Java Foundation Classes
• Expanded drag-and-drop. The feature is no longer platform-specific.

IBM and Netscape also plan to release their own specially tuned Java virtual machines to guarantee high performance on their respective platforms.

The 100% Pure Java certification program goes to Europe Sun is establishing a European testing and certification center for the 100% Pure Java Initiative.

KeyLabs has chosen Telefication BV in Arnhem, The Netherlands, to be the Java certification center for Europe. It will offer services in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch, and it will be able to offer these services in a U.S.-like style — customers are only a few time zones away from an answer.

KeyLabs will continue to process European submissions until Telefication BV has received full training and auditing of testing and certification. Certification fees will remain the same — about US,000.

In honor of the announcement, Sun is offering free certification for one application to the first 50 companies to register at the International Internet Associate Symposium ’97.

• Sun press release:

CryptoCard announces ST-1 Java authentication token

CryptoCard has unveiled ST-1, a Java-based software authentication token.

Using a Web browser, users download the ST-1, which generates a one-time random password for each network entry and the authentication server generates the same random number. The user submits the password, and if it matches the server’s number, the user is allowed on the network.

CryptoCard is offering the ST-1 software tokens on CD-ROMs for free so companies have a full stock of tokens. ST-1 applets are planned for later this year. For more information, contact the company.

Microsoft launches IE for Unix

Early this week, Microsoft showcased its first Internet Explorer for Unix, a scant two years after the introduction of the first IE version.

The Preview 1 of Explorer 4.0 is only available for Sun’s Solaris 2.51, with the final version for this platform shipping in early in 1998. Along the way, Microsoft intends to offer betas for HP-UX, AIX, and IRIX.

The beta will include support for Dynamic HTML (DHTML), ECMA script, VBScript, and Java virtual machine and Security Zones settings. And the user interface will have a familiar feel, a la Motif. Where it will differ from the Win32 offering is that it won’t have the Webcasting content-push architecture and the Outlook Express mail client.

But don’t look for Microsoft to rush to build more IE versions for Unix languages. According to one spokesperson, “It’s more important for us to deliver a French [Windows] version of Internet Explorer 4.0 rather than a Linux version of Internet Explorer.”

• Additional information:

Netscape posts latest Communicator

Netscape is posting Netscape Communicator 4.04, an update to the client side that adds America Online’s Instant Messenger and Fortezza II, a U.S. government encryption technology.

The AOL Instant Messenger will give Internet-based email users the ability to reach AOL’s users in real time. A phone call from a user can now happen as an instant email conversation. The client will also support Fortezza II, a security technology based on the Feds’ cryptography standard that gives Netscape’s client and server products stronger user authentication and data encryption.

Java initialization becomes faster in Communicator 4.04. It also offers Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP 3.0) classes. And the Navigator 4.0 browser component is now compatible with Novell Client 32 software.

Communicator 4.04 will be available for a free trial download from the Netscape home page.

• Download Communicator 4.04: https://www.netscape.com/download/index.html

• Instant Messenger:

IBM issues JDK upgrade

If you are a registered developer with IBM, you can now pick up an updated AIX JDK 1.1.2 code port.

Sun offers Java Design Center consulting

Sun is offering around the world Java-design consulting through its Java Design Centers, centers staffed by Sun employees to consult on projects surround the design of Java-based software.

The Design Centers staffs are professionals with architecting, prototyping, and deploying experience in Java. Developers can find a Java Design Center in Atlanta, Denver, New York, Santa Clara, Washington D.C., London, Munich, Stockholm, and Sydney (with offices planned for Dallas and Zurich). If you’re not near one of these centers, you can arrange to have Sun send Java consultants to your location.

So far, Design Center staffers have helped businesses develop applications for account review systems, financial banking software, foreign exchange trading sites, and customer management.

New Atlanta expands ServletExec

New Atlanta Communications has expanded its ServletExec products from MacOS only to now run on Netscape and Microsoft Web servers running Unix or NT. ServletExec also gets new support for the Java Servlet API 1.0 and 1.1 for Web servers. Servlets are Java-based alternatives to traditional CGI scripts and C/C++ Web server extensions.

ServletExec 1.0 (available now in public beta) supports full compatibility with the Java Web Server, including:

• Servlet aliases, chains, and filters
• Remote loading of servlets
• Reloading of modified servlets without restarting the Web server
• Support for servlets within .zip/.jar archives, and reloading those servlets without restarting
• Support for configurable servlet initialization arguments
• Support for the SERVLET tag in server-side includes (SSI) pages

ServletExec 1.1 (planned for release early in 1998) will support the complete feature set of the Java Servlet API 1.1, including:

• Page compilation (embedded Java in HTML pages)
• User session tracking
• HTML templates

ServletExec 1.1 (which will be a free upgrade for registered owners of ServletExec 1.0) will add the Lotus Domino Go Webserver to its list of supported Web servers. And New Atlanta is looking into integration for Novell’s IntranetWare.

The free public beta versions of ServletExec 1.0 can be downloaded from the company’s site now. The final versions will be ready to go by December 1, 1997. The NT and MacOS versions will cost 95 for a single-server license, 95 for five. The Solaris, HP-UX, IRIX, and AIX versions are still under development.

HuskyLabs debuts the Java-based Chakra extranet distribution system

HuskyLabs announced Chakra 1.0, a Java-based software that provides secure, perpetual access to information across intranets and the Internet.

The Chakra Knowledge Distribution System includes:

• Chakra Unified Workspace, which provides an intuitive, cohesive, context-sensitive view of resources throughout the enterprise.
• Chakra Authentication Agent, which verifies user identity and generates encrypted session keys.
• Chakra Database Engine, which incorporates object and relational data repositories.
• Chakra Beacon, which establishes real-time meetings between participants.
• Chakra Presence Factory and Chakra Context Factory, which dynamically generate and reflect the state of the whole system, resources and users.
• Chakra Notification Agent, which alerts participants to any changes in the state of the system or users.
• Chakra Transformation and Chakra Transportation, which are subsystems to distribute and massage documents and multimedia files.

Chakra was designed to work collaboratively by supporting a project-centered teamwork focus that taps into shared knowledge stores. Its multi-tiered component framework allows it to be integrated into existing document-management groupware and database services, at the same time making it easy to upgrade and administer.

Once you license Chakra for a project, you can distribute the software to any of the project team members for free. Contact the company for component and configuration pricing.

UK Acorn intros new NC, new Java classes, and Java-integrated RISC OS

Acorn Computer has introduced the Concord NC, based on the 32-bit Digital SA110 StrongARM processor. The Concord was designed by the Acorn team that designed the original NC, which it licensed to Oracle.

The SA110 powers the Concord up to 233MHz, and according to Acorn, the NC is optimized for the consumer, Internet-access market, with drivers that can use either a television (NTSC or PAL) or a monitor as a display. Concord also includes support for an infrared keyboard and EmbeddedJava, a smart card interface, 8MB of RAM, and employs vertical filtering, a technology to reduce interlace flickering.

The Concord will come with an integrated version of the OS by the end of 1997. Integrated PersonalJava (and the TV-centric Java) will be available by the middle of 1998. At press time, little information about the Concord was available on Acorn’s site.

Acorn is also writing new Java classes called Acorn TVX, so Java applications can display digital images on televisions. Acorn is working with Sun to develop these classes for PersonalJava.

Also, Acorn is developing Java-integrated RISC operating system for its products called RISCafe with Java 1.2. The company claims that with the Java/RISC combo, Acorn can offer its customers the best of both worlds — specific solutions with RISC and the ability to run generic Java apps.

• Acorn’s home page: https://www.acorn.co.uk/

• Additional information:

Avis the “No. 1” to go with NCs

Avis Rent A Car has decided to go “network computer” by choosing Boundless Technologies to supply the company with the thin clients. The first target — 60 NCs running workflow-management software in four of Avis’ service centers. And it plans to install 200 Viewpoint TCs at 84 sites by the end of the year.

The software/hardware integration and deployment was handled by WizCom International, a company that provides reservations systems and global distribution systems to more than 80 hotel chains and 20 car rental companies.

Avis chose the Boundless Viewpoint TC because of its durability (garages can be messy places) and its small footprint (they can also be crowded). The company chose the NC concept because it eliminates steps in the work process (the mechanics used to have to write everything down on a order form or work order, then data entry would key the info in), at the same time allowing the centers to be more efficient (the mechanics themselves can re-check their work orders before they hit the database, and they can instantly check the inventory for potentially needed parts).

Donna Fronckowicz, systems development project leader for WizCom, said, “To improve productivity and help control costs, we needed to provide our garage technicians with an automated workflow system which would improve work order dispatching and give them easy access to our network-updated information about parts availability, manufacturers’ warranties, and maintenance and repair histories. The garage environment was too harsh for PCs.”

• Boundless press release:

Network Engines P6000 series of thin client application servers

Network Engines has debuted three clustered application servers designed for scalable Web or thin client server farms — the P6000/WC, the P6000/TC2, and the P6000/CS.

The P6000/WC (Web Clients) routes URL requests to the CPU that is best for handling the request. It has optional failover capabilities. The P6000/TC2 (Thin Clients) serves up to 500 thin clients in a single chassis. The P6000/CS (Client/Server) is two complete clusters in a single chassis. It runs Microsoft’s Windows NT Server.

All of the systems have available an embedded support system that monitors applications, hardware, and the operating system. The company claims that the engine cluster can be serviced in less than five minutes. And they are highly scaleable — each chassis can house up to 10 engines.

The servers run Windows NT. Prices start at 5,000.

North London University installs NCs

The University of North London (UNL) has installed 43 Neoware Prima @workStations on campus, giving students online access to a catalog of books and educational materials.

The @workStations are linked to a Sybase-running Sun UltraSPARC 3000 server. In this first phase of the NC project, students are given access to the TalisWeb Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), a repository of books and educational materials. Phase two entails the NCs running TalisJV (a Java version of the existing online library software), which will then replace the VT220 interface in managing the library’s system.

The UNL library officials chose the NC concept (and the @workStations) because:

• They thought PCs would be too expensive to maintain
• They wanted to establish a “secure kiosk” mode
• They wanted to save server resources, so they needed a VM and browser (Netscape) that would run locally

They chose the Neoware NC because it could boot directly from the Unix-based server that runs the existing Talis system, so they wouldn’t have to purchase WinFrame servers to act as boot servers.

Each Prima @workStations has 24MB of memory, Navigator, and a built-in Java virtual machine (supplied by Momentum). They plan to introduce smart card authorization.

Mike O’Reilly, EIS Manager at UNL, said of the new system (after several months of deployment): “The network computers from Neoware have completely fulfilled my expectations in offering an easy to manage environment with extremely high performance.”

VXL Instruments offers the EaziTC NC

VXL Instruments has launched the EaziTC, its new NC designed for Citrix WinFrame and other ICA servers.

The EaziTC is optimized for WinFrame (and other ICA technology) so existing business-productivity applications are still available when corporate PCs are replaced by NCs. The EaziTC comes with a plug-and-play ISA card, a built-in NE2000 network card, and it runs its own operating system and ICA client software locally.

The EaziTC costs approximately 00, with discounts for the educational sector.

Sun starts selling JavaStations in Japan

Nihon Sun Microsystems KK plans to start selling JavaStations at home (in Japan) in January 1998. The Japanese JavaStation will carry a 200MHz processor for about 20.

Sun builds Java into Solaris with NCR middleware

Sun Microsystems signed an agreement with NCR to build NCR’s Top End middleware into the Solaris operating system.

NCR will be integrating the Java Workshop, Java Studio, and Sun Visual Workshop C++ development tools with Top End into Solaris.

NCR Top End:

IBM plans a Java OS

IBM plans to introduce a Java-based operating system and management tools sometime in 1998.

The company plans for the OS and tools to run on PCs and thin clients. IBM marketing VP Donn Atkins said that it makes no difference whether the client is an “Intel-based device, a PC, or what people call a network computer. The Java approach is to download applets or the eSuite, and the actual logic is occurring in the client.”

The operating system (which can also use Citrix Systems WinFrame to run Windows apps from servers) will run Lotus eSuite applets and custom applets designed to perform repetitive tasks or for pure Java environments.

The tool suite will consist of current IBM products as diverse as Workspace on Demand, Network Computing on Demand, and Network Station Manager, delivering an environment that can be controlled with a single suite of products. Atkins added, “We probably want to bring network computer management capabilities together and merge them into one product.”

Zona’s calls on Java’s leading vendors

A new study by Zona Research, “Java: Markets, Opportunities and Trends,” takes measure of Java’s potential and also measures the potential performance of leading Java vendors.

First off, despite the best efforts of Java detractors (and you know who you are) and Java champions (ditto) to create a philosophical schism or control the emerging market, Java is about to become a strong engine to power the growth of new revenue, says the study.

The study says that Java’s greatest potential is in the areas of Web page development, services, application development, and content creation. It projects more than billion business this year.

Java’s success and value:

• Lies with the server, not the client
• Lies with developers and administrators, not users

The report goes on illustrate the strengths, weaknesses, and strategies of the big players in the Java market.

Get the LDAP Java SDK 1.0 from Netscape

The Beta 3 release of the LDAP Java SDK 1.0 from Netscape is available. The SDK includes the compiled class libraries, online documentation, and examples to help developers create their own LDAP-capable clients in Java.

The software is subject to the Netscape ONE SDK license.

Seeker Software debuts business suites

Seeker Software is debuting The Seeker Workplace, a suite of Web-based employee self-service applications composed in HTML and JavaScript.

The software package is designed to help companies extend back-office business data stored on any system that supports the ODBC (open database connectivity) data access interface (such as HR and financial systems) to anywhere in the enterprise.

The first three Seeker Workplace applications are available now. They are The Seeker Workplace Core module and the Payroll and Benefits modules. This software interfaces to PeopleSoft and human resources software maker TesserAct products.

Other Seeker application modules include:

• Benefits Enrollment and Modeling
• 401K and Investment Planning
• Performance Management
• PeopleSoft Interface
• Training Management
• TesserAct Interface
• Health and Safety
• Expense Reporting
• Skills Management
• Payroll and Paid-Time-Off
• HR Events
• Compensation and Salary Management
• Time and Attendance
• Applicant and Requisition Tracking
• New Hire Processing and Orientation

Nine more application modules will become available during 1998. Each module will cost between 0,000 and 00,000. (But pricing for each depends on the size of the organization.)

• Product information: https://www.seekersoft.com/html/products.html

• Original article:

Applix releases Enterprise Solutions Platform No. 7

Applix has released its newest version of its Java-based thin-client business application, called Enterprise Solutions Platform (ESP) 7.0.

ESP 7.0 is a graphical user interface development environment used to automate such business processes as customer management and client (the human ones) interaction.

ESP 7.0 is included with Applix Enterprise 7.0. If you purchase it separately, it costs ,995 per user.

• Product information: https://www.applix.com/appent/index.htm

• Original article:

Clarify’s ClearExpress gets Java client

Clarify is shipping ClearExpress 2.0, which includes the ClearExpress WebUser Java-based client.

WebUser is a Java applet that allows users to access Clarify’s customer support and help-desk applications, ClearSupport and ClearHelpdesk. It allows remote salespeople, traveling account managers, and telecommuters to access the customer support software over the Internet or corporate intranets.

ClearExpress 2.0 will be available in December 1997 as a part of ClearSupport and ClearHelpdesk packages. These will be priced at 0,000 per server license.

• Product information: https://www.clarify.com/index.htm

• Original article:

Sun’s new security model for Java

Sun Microsystems is preparing an enhanced Java security architecture that should make it easier to build advanced distributed applications.

The enhancements include new cryptographic extensions and a new permissions-based access model in the JDK 1.2 that will give users control and access over specified local computer resources and directories.

The Java Cryptography Extensions (JCE) 1.2 allows developers to work with several standard encryption technologies and build encryption wrappers around Java applets to create virtual private tunnels. The access model will allow users to authorize Java applets to address specific portions of a local computer. At the same time, developers will be able to build applications that are extensible and distributable across multiple back ends.

JDK 1.2 is available in preview release for select developers; expect it in general-release beta by the end of the year. JCE 1.2 should follow closely on its heels. JCE 1.2 will support Secure Sockets Layer 3 and Version 3 of the X.509 digital certificate standard.

• Original article:

Netscape to release Java RAD tool

Netscape plans to release Visual JavaScript (VJS) later this month, a tool to let developers build applications for Netscape’s SuiteSpot server.

VJS is a rapid application development (RAD) tool that lets developers roll JavaBeans, applets, HTML, and JavaScript components into applications that adhere to Netscape ONE architecture. The tool will house an application-object palette repository. Its Inspector feature allows VJS users to view the properties of components; the Connection Builder feature lets developers change a component’s behavior by setting new properties and connecting components, but without having to write code.

VJS supports CORBA objects and services, which can be accessed through the IIOP protocol, as well as JavaBeans. With VJS’s Component Developer’s Kit, developers can build their own JavaBeans or CORBA components.

But perhaps VJS’s most important feature is that with it, developers no longer need to write low-level APIs for each SuiteSpot server — the apps built with VJS easily leverage all aspects of each SuiteSpot server.

VJS has been beta testing since April 1997 and will be rolled out at Comdex in Las Vegas.

• Original article:

Fujitsu licenses picoJava I core from Sun

Fujitsu Microelectronics intends to license the picoJava I microprocessor core from Sun to incorporate into its own picoJava designs.

Fujitsu will use the licensed technology to manufacture microprocessors for Web phones, cellular phones, and network computers, as well as re-license the combined technology (and sell the chips) to other system manufacturers.

A Fujitsu company statement: “Fujitsu’s low-power technologies, together with the optimized execution of native bytecode by a picoJava I core, makes it possible to extend battery life and save on code memory compared to other platforms.”

SuperCede 2.0 to get Athena Design’s Integer spreadsheet component

SuperCede will be integrating Athena Design’s Integer spreadsheet component into its SuperCede 2.0 Java development environment.

The Integer spreadsheet component is a JavaBean, which means that it is easy to integrate it into applications. It offers access to real-time feeds and JDBC databases. With it, users can import and export data from legacy sources. The spreadsheet contains more than 300 formulas, and supports millions of rows and thousands of columns.

David Pollak, president of Athena Design, said that the integration of Integer into SuperCede “will give developers exposure to a powerful real-time spreadsheet in SuperCede’s rich development environment.”

Microsoft posts court docs, but 72% of Internet can’t read it

Microsoft posted its most recent court petition on the Internet Tuesday, November 11. In it, Microsoft lawyers contend that:

• “The DOJ’s petition does not address any of the licensing practices that were addressed in the Consent Decree.”
• “The petition is instead aimed squarely at preventing Microsoft from including improved features and functionality in upgraded versions of Windows 95 provided to computer manufacturers.”
• “Denying consumers the benefit of technologies that have already been developed and tested is perverse.”
• “The DOJ should be encouraging Microsoft to disseminate such new technologies to consumers as quickly and as broadly as possible.”

Unfortunately, Navigator users couldn’t read the posting.

Microsoft’s Mark Murray said the posting was a missing a seven-character coding tag. “It was completely inadvertent,” he said. “We wanted everyone in the world to see these documents immediately.”

He added that the problem, corrected now, happened because the employee that regularly posts such documents was away. Still, it does make a case for Internet technologies to be compatible.

Forrester’s George Colony sees future in Java, not the Web

George Colony, the president of Forrester Research, calls the World Wide Web a “warm-up exercise, not even the pregame scrimmage.” And the Web will unravel because of its technological limitations — flat files and nonimmersive features.

Instead, he sees the successful Internet computing model based on a connected relationship between customers and businesses — customers request software modules (either for purchase or rental), businesses supply the modules over the Net, then customers use them to perform certain functions (such as online business transactions). In other words, the Java/distributed computing model.

Colony predicts that the Java-based model will rule the market for 5 to 10 years. He also added that companies unable to develop great software will be out of business.

According Forrester research, the U.S. will be the Internet economy development leader, with 50 billion by 2001, representing 3 percent of gross domestic product. Expect that to grow to 7 to 10 percent by 2005.

In 2001, the largest component of the Internet economy will be business commerce, accounting for 86 billion. Here’s a few other financial tidbits:

• Consumer and retail commerce will ring in at only 8 billion
• Infrastructure spending will be 9 billion
• Internet access will be 8 billion
• Financial services will bring in billion
• Internet-delivered content should bring in 8 billion (0 billion as business-to-business content)

And for Internet success, Colony said companies should create Internet commerce groups comprised of marketing and IT professionals because, “marketing will screw up the technology, and IT won’t understand the customer.”

Market Decisions says Java developers losing faith in Java

Market Decisions Corp. says that developers (the individuals that actually decide whether or not to use a development language, and so are responsible for its success) are losing their enthusiasm for Java.

Developers’ largest complaint about Java was what Market Decisions called the “write once, test everywhere” character of Java code — the lack of actual cross-platform compatibility. Other findings are listed here:

• 67 percent said their plans to deploy Java had been scaled back by the need to test code on multiple virtual machines and multiple platforms.
• 22 percent of developers surveyed indicated that they were satisfied with Java as a cross-platform development language.
• 56 percent complained about the incompatibility between JDK 1.02 and 1.1.
• 47 percent said they had problems with the lack of Java as an open standard rather than a proprietary technology.
• 45 percent cited poor performance by Java applets when compared with programs written “in other languages.”
• Developers spent 9 percent of the overall development time developing in Java.
• Almost 40 percent are in early planning stages.
• 87 percent are targeting Java apps for Windows 95 or NT. Other platforms (percentages):
  • Solaris/SunOS (36)
  • Macintosh (31)
  • Windows 3.x (18)
  • AIX (17)
  • NetWare (11)
  • OS/2 (11)

Read more about this study at the Newbytes Web site.

TV Objects Applet Designer 1.7 adds Java widgets

TV Objects has incorporated a new set of additional controls, RogueWave’s JWidgets, into Applet Designer Enterprise 1.7, Visual Basic-to-Java development tool.

The JWidgets control set includes Java Grid, Tab, Tree, Progressbar, Statusbar, and Toolbar.

The new Applet Designer allows developers to generate CORBA objects from Visual Basic applications, and also converts User Defined Types within Visual Basic into Java classes.

The new version with the JWidgets control set is available now, and through the end of 1997, for 99. It runs on Windows 95 and NT 4.0.

AD: E 1.7 upgrade:

FTP offers Web-to-host access with OnWeb Host

FTP Software debuted OnWeb Host, a Java-based application that offers Web-to-host access to mission-critical applications.

The server-only OnWeb Host users can access information from any client running a Java-enabled Web browser. Deployment, configuration, upgrades, and support for OnWeb Host is performed at one place — the server. The app coordinates with Web servers to authenticate users, set user access permissions, and monitor the network’s activity.

OnWeb Host costs ,350 for a 10-user license and ,050 for a 25-user license. The OnWeb Host server license costs 95.

Source: www.infoworld.com