Microsoft Corp. presented an architecture for XML Web services and published four specifications supporting that architecture. The Global XML Web Services Architecture provides a set of principles and guidelines for advancing the protocols and file formats of today’s XML Web services to more complex and sophisticated tasks. The four specifications — WS-Security, WS-License, WS-Routing and WS-Referral — build on XML Web services technologies such as SOAP. As with previous XML Web services specifications, these four will be available for a review period and then submitted to appropriate standards bodies. The four specifications provide standard ways to implement and enhance two key XML Web services capabilities — security and routing. These specifications adhere to the road map outlined by Microsoft and IBM Corp. at the W3C Web Services Workshop in April 2001 and represent a first step toward a comprehensive Global XML Web Services Architecture. The security specifications are WS-Security, which outlines how to use the W3C specifications XML Signature and XML Encryption, and WS-License, which, along with WS-Security, outlines how existing digital credentials and their associated trust semantics can be securely associated with SOAP messages. The routing specifications are WS-Routing (formerly SOAP-RP), which describes how to place message addresses in the SOAP message header and enables SOAP messages to travel serially to multiple destinations along a message path, and WS-Referral, which enables the routing between SOAP nodes on a message path to be dynamically configured. Each of these specifications provides extension and composition mechanisms that enable future specifications to be incorporated into a complete solution. They are available for download from msdn.microsoft.com

Documentum announced its support of the Sun ONE software product architecture with the intention to certify Documentum eContent Services within the Sun ONE architecture. Documentum eContent Services will allow content management capabilities to be available through portal interfaces and enable the creation of customized content-rich services. By exposing content management functionality within the Sun ONE
architecture, joint customers will have the ability to control the creation, production, and delivery of their company’s content assets through a variety of applications and devices. www.documentum.com/products/webservices, www.sun.com/sunone

Ektron, Inc. announced the immediate availability of extensions for Macromedia Dreamweaver and Dreamweaver UltraDev. These new extensions give Web developers the ability to quickly and easily deliver low-cost, powerful, business-user-oriented Web content authoring and management capabilities – while ensuring that the developer retains important control over the site architecture, look and feel, navigation, and other important elements of a Web site. Ektron ships the Dreamweaver extension files with its Ektron CMS100 and Ektron CMS200 products, as well as its eMPower system. These Web content management applications are available for the Macromedia ColdFusion and Microsoft Active Server Pages platforms. Ektron also makes an extension available for its multi-language browser-based XHTML/HTML editor, eWebEditPro. The extensions are available at the Ektron or Macromedia Web sites. www.ektron.com, www.macromedia.com

FileNET Corporation announced general availability of Panagon eProcess Services 4.2. This version offers a range of new functionality including process submaps, out-of-the-box timing and event synchronization, support for Internet attachments and automatic launching of document lifecycle processes within Panagon Content Services. FileNet also announced a partnership to integrate FileNET’s Panagon family of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products with Arbortext’s Epic software. Customers will be able to create customized documents that leverage content created in many disparate forms, bringing this content together to deliver fresh, consistent and complete information to multiple types of media – PDF, Web, CD-ROM and wireless devices. The two companies are working together to create an integration that will combine Panagon’s in process management and enterprise content management services with Arbortext’s XML-based authoring, conversion and multichannel publishing of customized documents. www.filenet.com, www.arbortext.com

Vitria announced its plans to support Web Services standards by the end of the fourth calendar quarter of 2001. These standards include WSDL (Web Services Definition Language), SOAP and UDDI. WSDL is used to define a web service, SOAP is used to access a web service, and UDDI provides a repository for storing Web service definitions. By adding support for these three standards, Vitria customers will be able to expose their Vitria integration solutions as “Web Services” to simplify internal integration of applications and external collaboration between partners and industries. All current connectivity and process modeling options will remain available to Vitria customers who choose not to embrace Web Services. www.vitria.com