InfoGlide Corporation announced the availability of its XML Similarity Engine for cross-consortia and industry data exchange. The patented XML Similarity Engine is technology that offers cross-industry, B2B integration of software solutions. In the recent past, B2B firms have been forced to choose between BizTalk, OASIS, RosettaNet, ACORD and other leading industry consortia to enable interoperable XML applications. According to InfoGlide, XML was intended to solve many of these interoperability issues for data. However, XML has not been able, until today, to solve two critical data problems left over from the 1970’s: schemas in unlike formats and “dirty” or imperfect data. Neither XML nor the standards imposed by these consortia can bridge the two key barriers to applications working together. While XML enables data segments across different databases to be shared, what the XML Similarity Engine does differently is share entire databases for all common data segments, presented in an untransformed data model. Because the databases do not have to undergo any transformation, they retain all their richness and context. The XML Similarity Engine does not alter the source database or database structures. The XML Similarity Engine gives immediate results while consortia-imposed standards focus only on exchanging data in a very painful and limiting manner. For example, B2B applications must use XML documents with virtually identical schemas or file layouts, or they will not interoperate. For instance, a purchase order from one firm cannot “talk to” a bill-of-materials from another because they have completely different formats. XML cannot solve this problem so the industry has been looking to consortia to develop models and rules as standards, or worse, a rigid transformation technology is required. With InfoGlide’s XML Similarity Engine, companies are freed from the need to painfully model their data independently, or through a consortium. Now they can just use the data and schemas as they exist in their industries-and these can easily communicate with any other XML schema in any other industry. InfoGlide’s patented XML Similarity Engine also enables legacy databases to be fully accessible to XML applications without any data conversion. Any relational, flat file, or hierarchical structure becomes XML enabled through use of the XML Similarity Engine. www.infoglide.com
Month: May 2000 (Page 1 of 6)
Quark Inc. and Quill Communications announced an alliance intended to increase efficiency and margins for companies that produce and publish advertising, direct marketing, and manufacturing product catalogs in print and Web formats. Quill will integrate Quark Digital Media System with CATPUB (Content, Approval, Tracking, Publishing), Quill’s Web application for managing workflow, content approval, tracking, and publishing. Quill’s integration of the two systems will result in a Content Intensive Media Management solution that hopes to eliminate the challenges of managing and publishing large amounts of content. QuarkDMS is a solution that lets customers manage a virtually unlimited number of text files, images, and other digital resources. It combines an Oracle8 relational database with a scalable three-tiered architecture capable of serving hundreds of concurrent users. The QuarkDMS clients offer secure access to assets from both Windows and Mac OS platforms, as well as from standard Web browsers. www.quillcom.com, www.quark.com
XMLSolutions Corporation announced a partnership with bTrade.com, Inc. Together the companies will expand their Global 2000 product and service offerings through shared technologies and systems integration. XMLSolutions’ XEDI Translator provides an expansive, completely customizable EDI solution, expanded trading communities and cost reduction in trade transaction process and fulfillment. XEDI supports every ANSI X12 and EDIFACT document produced by major EDI Translators from GE Global Exchange Services, Harbinger, Sterling Commerce, and SPS Commerce. bTrade.com offers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions that can be integrated easily into existing, new and emerging business processes. Their component-friendly approach to e-business technology creates an optimal “plug and play” environment that maximizes customer flexibility and freedom of choice. XMLSolutions and bTrade.com will deliver a comprehensive e-business network that will allow customers to rapidly integrate 100% of their customers and suppliers into a secure digital trading community. The combined solution will offer guaranteed message delivery and complete customer profile capability, including support for open standards and protocols, such as RosettaNet, xCBL, cXML, ebXML and FpML and BizTalk. www.xmls.com, www.bTrade.com
WebXi, Inc. introduced Symmetry Xchange integration Suite (SymmetryXi), a B2B integration solution to integrate corporate data sources and legacy systems with a cost-effective, scaleable and flexible open standards architecture. SymmetryXi is a solution for portals and application server vendors. SymmetryXi provides reliable, commercial-grade XML messaging – critical for emerging XML-based e-markets and trading exchanges. Using SymmetryXi, companies can integrate the business processes of customers, suppliers and distributors, reducing development and implementation costs and speeding time-to-market. SymmetryXi is a Java-based solution that uses XML technology as a backbone to deliver a scaleable B2B integration solution. SymmetryXi provides a flexible architecture utilizing XML adapters and also provides a software development kit so that companies can create custom XML adapters to integrate in-house systems and to incorporate emerging standards. Symmetry Xchange integration Suite is available now. Pricing varies depending on components and configurations purchased. Volume discounts may apply. www.webxi.com
Art Technology Group, Inc. announced the acquisition of Boston-based Petronio Technology Group, a provider of educational training and consulting services. ATG’s acquisition of Petronio provides it with Java, J2EE, and XML courseware, as well as other enhanced technology training capabilities. Additionally, it was announced that John Petronio, the founder and President of Petronio Technology Group will serve as ATG’s new director of customer education. ATG currently provides a broad selection of training for customers and partners, including programming classes to accelerate productivity and ensure maximum benefit from its Dynamo Product Suite. The addition of Petronio Technology Group will serve to meet increasing market demand for dedicated, customized training services required to develop personalized eBusiness applications on Dynamo and will strengthen ATG’s existing worldwide curriculum development and delivery capabilities through the addition of both seasoned trainers and curriculum developers. www.atg.com
Newmarket International, Inc. announced the submission of a complete, end-to-end XML schema for MeetingBroker.com, its new Web-based service that facilitates the open exchange of sales information among meeting planners, site selection or e-RFP sites, hotels, and destinations. The schema will work with the BizTalk Framework, an e-commerce framework that provides a set of implementation guidelines that facilitate open integration using Internet standards. MeetingBroker.com translates leads sent from e-RFP sites and deposits them directly into sales automation applications installed at individual hotels and destinations. MeetingBroker.com employs an open bi-directional architecture based on XML. In 1999, the HITIS (Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards) Advisory Committee and the OTA (OpenTravel Alliance) endorsed XML as the primary standard for platform mapping. The MeetingBroker.com schema utilizes XML and is available on the BizTalk web site at: www.biztalk.org, www.newsoft.com
SyncML, the initiative founded by mobile technology industry companies Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Motorola, Nokia, Psion, Palm, Inc. and Starfish Software, has released its first specification and reference toolkit. Delivered months ahead of schedule, the Specifications and Reference Toolkit source code are available in the Supporter area of the SyncML Website located at www.syncml.org. With the immediate availability of the first set of released SyncML specifications and development code, Supporters can deliver feedback directly to the SyncML initiative and start product development work. Bringing SyncML-based products one step closer to the public, the specifications include a full description of the XML based SyncML format, and a first look at the SyncML synchronization protocol. The toolkit will also include information on using SyncML over HTTP, WAP and OBEX. Since the announcement of its formation in February 2000, nearly 200 companies have announced their support for SyncML. The goals of the initiative are to develop a universal synchronization standard for the mobile computing industry. SyncML compliant products will be able to exchange information seamlessly across a wide range of operating platforms and communications technologies. Supporters of the initiative now include the founding eight companies and organizations such as Symbian, Excite@Home, PUMATECH, fusionOne, Xircom, and BT Cellnet. A complete list of the Supporters can be found on the Website. www.syncml.org
Arbortext, Inc. announced the launch of Epic 4.0. Principal among Epic’s enhancements is the introduction Epic E-Content Engine (E3), a server-side system that enables e-businesses to attract and retain more customers by providing more personalized, dynamic and easily searchable content for improved pre-sale and post-sale interactions. In addition, Epic 4.0 adds compatibility with Oracle 8iFS to the list of repositories that Arbortext supports. E3 forms the centerpiece of a Web-based system to assemble, process and personalize business-critical content for delivery to the Web, print, wireless devices and other media. Running under a Web server, E3 offers powerful content processing capabilities that can be triggered through commands sent over the Web. Developers can write processing routines in a choice of several programming and scripting languages including C, C++, Java, TCL and Perl. Developers gain access to E3’s capabilities through its support for the Web-standard Document Object Model (DOM) Application Programming Interface (API). E3 can convert Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker and Interleaf content to XML through the Epic Interchange option. In addition, E3 can capture XML from Web forms with the Forms Engine option. E3 is capable of transforming XML for many different purposes, including HTML for Web browsers, WML for cellular phones, Open Electronic Book (OEB) for eBooks, PostScript and PDF. Through stylesheets based on XSL E3 adapts content to the capabilities and limitations of each device. For example, customers can control the size and font of text, the amount of text that fits in a single page, and the format of an automatically generated table of contents. Available as a new standard feature of Epic Architect, graphical DTD development for XML DTDs is the starting point for quick development of a DTD. This feature, along with Arbortext’s free form editing, enables rapid prototyping and helps reduce development time substantially compared to traditional DTD development. Epic 4.0 adds DOM Level 2 core support to existing DOM Level 1 support along with Range interface. Epic Editor, Epic Editor LE and E3 may be programmed using C, C++, Java, Perl, TCL and Arbortext Command Language (ACL). Epic Editor’s “Tag Alias” feature lets customer present alternate tag names to authors, which allows authors working in different language to create content based on the same DTD. With this release, all versions of Arbortext software support 16-bit Unicode. Epic 4.0 will ship in July 2000. All Arbortext customers on maintenance are eligible to receive the Epic 4.0 upgrade at no charge. www.arbortext.com
