IBM has released two XML development tools on its Alphaworks Web site and launched a search site for finding XML resources on the Web. IBM’s XML for C++ parser is a C++ version of its XML for Java parser. The C++ version lets developers give C and C++ applications the ability to read and write XML data without a lot of programming. It brings XML abilities to a large installed base of apps written before the release of Java. IBM’s XML Security Suite lets developers build applications that stamp XML documents with digital signatures, which assure a sender and receiver that a document wasn’t altered during transmission. The suite is based on an IBM-developed specification called DOM-Hash, which the company is circulating among users and standards bodies for feedback. IBM plans to extend its security suite to encrypt individual data elements in XML documents, letting developers provide access only to portions of documents. Commercial use licenses for XML for C++ parser are available through IBM’s Alphaworks Web site. The XML Security Suite is available for evaluation only. www.software.ibm.com/xml/