IBM announced new software that dynamically translates, or “transcodes,” Web information — including text and images — to a format readable on a variety of Internet appliances. IBM WebSphere Transcoding Publisher extends the reach of Web data and applications to a new generation of information appliances, including smart phones, car browsers and PDAs. Because Transcoding Publisher customizes the content to match the capabilities of the receiving device, applications do not have to be rewritten. The software is available for AIX, Linux, Solaris and Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems. Built on an extensible, Java-based architecture, WebSphere Transcoding Publisher converts data and applications written in the standard markup languages of the Web — HTML and XML — to other formats such as Wireless Markup Language (WML). It can also convert graphics to a format that can be viewed on a handheld device, or convert the graphic to a hyperlink. Transcoding Publisher extends the capabilities of other IBM software offerings, including WebSphere Application Server, MQSeries Everywhere, and Host Publisher, to handheld devices. The combination of these offerings gives customers the ability to extend data and applications — whether host or Web-based — to a format appropriate for the receiving device. WebSphere Transcoding Publisher will be available worldwide in ten languages on March 31, 2000. www.software.ibm.com
Category: Content technology news (Page 516 of 627)
Curated information technology news for content technology, computing, and digital experience professionals. News items are edited to remove hype, unhelpful jargon, iffy statements, and quotes, to create a short summary — mostly limited to 200 words — of the important facts with a link back to a useful source for more information. News items are published using the date of the original source here and in our weekly email newsletter.
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The Unicode Consortium announced the release of the Unicode Standard Version 3.0, the software specification that assures a single, universal way to represent text worldwide. Version 3.0 now supports 49,194 characters, including 31% more ideographs for Japanese, Chinese and Korean markets. Implementation support is greatly expanded, with double the character property data, and four times as many technical specifications for supporting implementations. The Unicode Standard is a major component in the globalization of e-business, as the marketplace continues to demand technologies that enhance seamless data interchange throughout companies’ extended — and often international — network of suppliers, customers and partners. This new version reaffirms the broad, cross-industry commitment to the standard among leading IT vendors, enabling reliable transmission and storage of text data anywhere in the world. Unicode is the default text representation in XML, an important open standard being rapidly adopted throughout e-business technology. The Unicode Standard assigns every character a unique number, ensuring the same representation for text regardless of country, language, or operating system. As a result, computer programs written to its specifications can be used around the world without modification. Unicode-enabled programs — client, server, operating system, or middleware — can share textual data worldwide. Text can be transmitted freely, without suffering the data loss that occurs with older systems. The Unicode Standard has been adopted and promoted by global industry. Corporate members of the Unicode Consortium are: Apple Computer, Basis Technology, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Hyperion Solutions, IBM, Justsystem, Microsoft, NCR, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Progress Software, The Research Libraries Group, Reuters, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Unisys and Xerox (many other companies are associate members). Unicode is enabled in all modern Web browsers, almost all operating systems, and Internet standards such as HTML, Java, ECMAScript, XML, and LDAP. The Unicode Standard, published by Addison-Wesley Longman, is widely available in bookstores or may be obtained directly from the Unicode Consortium. www.unicode.org
Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced the immediate availability of the Java API for XML Parsing Optional Package (JAXP). JAXP is now available free-of-charge at . JAXP’s availability is the first phase of Sun’s vision to make it easy for developers to build cross-platform business-to-business applications based on XML and Java technologies. The JAXP Optional Package provides core XML functionality for reading, manipulating, and generating XML documents through pure Java APIs. It provides a standard way to integrate any XML-compliant parser with a Java technology-based application. Depending on the needs of the application, developers have the flexibility to swap between XML parsers — such as high performance or memory conservative parsers without changing application code. Java Project X is used as the default XML parser in JAXP; however, the software’s pluggable architecture allows any XML-conformant parser to be used, including the xml.apache.org XML parser, code named Xerces. Through the JCP, JAXP is being considered for inclusion in the next releases of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE). Also in development is Project Adelard, a facility for generating Java classes from XML DTDs. Other XML initiatives include improved XML support in JavaServer Pages technology using XSLT and extensive XML support in J2EE, such as XML data transcoding to multiple devices, XML data exchange framework and XML support in Enterprise JavaBeans components. www.sun.com
Moai announced support for XML in its LiveExchange Solutions. In announcing its support, Moai has introduced Dynamic Commerce Markup Language (DCML), a standard XML implementation for online negotiated exchanges that includes auctions, trading exchanges and negotiated procurement markets. This standard allows LiveExchange customers to more easily and quickly develop solutions that exchange data with existing legacy systems and other trading networks. DCML augments Moai’s Java-based OpenAPI as an additional mechanism to access LiveExchange based marketplaces. To add XML support to its LiveExchange solutions, Moai has defined DTDs developed specifically for online auctions, trading exchanges, and procurement markets. For example, DCML defines a document for an auction, which includes a product or service description, the type of auction (e.g. reverse, dutch, sealed bid), any reserve price, etc. Moai has channeled its extensive market expertise into defining its DCML standard for dynamic commerce. By defining and sharing the DCML standard, Moai will enable the interconnection of marketplaces that support XML for data interchange, whether these markets are implemented with LiveExchange or an alternate platform. For example, a customer could purchase items in one market and the information on the products would be automatically sent via DCML to a shipping exchange where carriers could bid on delivering those goods. These types of interconnected negotiated e-Commerce marketplaces streamline a customer’s workflow processes, providing a substantial savings in time and money. www.moai.com
Fatbrain.com introduced a new way for businesses to manage, market and distribute corporate information. Fatbrain.com’s Information Exchange product suite combines e-commerce, secure digital publishing technology known as eMatter, comprehensive professional bookstore, established print-on-demand infrastructure and distribution and fulfillment services to deliver a complete Web-based solution for outsourcing mission-critical internal and external corporate information. Despite long-rumored predictions of the paperless office, today virtually every corporation manages large amounts of external content, from books to technical and product documentation to a variety of internal corporate documents such as annual reports and employee handbooks, the vast majority of it still distributed on paper. For many corporations, the volume and complexity of managing all of this information is extremely costly and a distraction from their core business expertise. Using the Information Exchange product suite, corporations can now outsource the management, marketing and distribution of this information. Through the Information Exchange solution, all internal and external publications are cataloged, tracked, published and delivered via an easy-to-use, custom intranet-based or Internet Web site. Publications can be quickly and easily accessed through searching and browsing tools and economical delivery options. The Information Exchange works like an online bookstore for corporate publications, newsletters, research reports, marketing and sales brochures, product manuals, white papers, and other internal publications. In addition, the Information Exchange can provide convenient access to a world-class selection of professional books and resources including Web-based training and certification programs — the same selection available from Fatbrain.com’s popular online store. www.fatbrain.com
VSI (V-Systems, Inc.) announced the immediate availability of Breeze XML Studio (Breeze), The E-Business Accelerator — a development environment that binds XML to JavaBeans. Breeze provides Java and XML developers with a natural and productive method for building XML-based B2B and Enterprise Application Integration solutions. Breeze enables Java developers to create, access, and transport XML-based objects through JavaBeans bound directly to XML data elements. XML element and attribute names immediately translate into Java class fields. XML structures then become Java classes. From there, related XML structures emerge as Java packages. A strategic alliance between VSI and Software AG was also announced. Breeze will be integrated and distributed with Software AG’s X-Studio, which is the developer part of Software AG’s XENON architecture for XML based applications. Breeze also provides a Java language interface for all XML messages processed by XENON’s native XML database, Tamino. Breeze XML Studio includes tools to serialize and de-serialize Breeze JavaBeans for both network streams and data-sources. The Breeze Toolkit can exchange these objects via SMTP and POP3 and includes tools for transporting XML objects over HTTP or TCP connections. The Breeze XML Studio development environment is licensed on a per-developer-seat basis. The generated code, which includes the Breeze Toolkit, is licensed based on the intended distribution–whether for a single internal network, as part of an enterprise deployment, or for inclusion in a third-party product. Breeze XML Studio is presently offered direct from VSI in several different licensing configurations with associated fees: Demonstration (free), Developer ($995 per seat), Single-Enterprise Distribution ($5,000), Unlimited Single-Product Distribution ($10,000), and OEM product licenses. With the exception of the Breeze XML Studio Demonstration License, all licenses include one year of maintenance and updates. Breeze XML Studio is available for Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Sun Solaris and Red Hat Linux. www.vsi.com
WRQ, Inc. and DataChannel, Inc. announced a partnership designed to provide enterprises investing in e-business the ability to extend the usability of legacy data in IBM mainframe, AS/400, UNIX and VAX host applications using XML as their e-business data exchange platform. Through this partnership, enterprises can use WRQ Apptrieve application mining solution to selectively expose valuable data in legacy applications for integration into DataChannel’s XML-based enterprise information portal. WRQ Apptrieve makes it easy to mine legacy applications, preserving their key business logic, and exposing the data via standard object formats such as Javabeans or COM for integration with Web applications — without re-engineering the underlying business processes or host system. WRQ will also provide users the option to expose legacy data via the XML standard for integration with XML frameworks such as DataChannel’s EIP, which enables users to offer a personalized and user-friendly interface to that valuable information. www.datachannel.com, www.wrq.com
Through the ACORD standards-setting process, both Property/Casualty and Life subcommittees have voted to adopt the first insurance industry standard XML transactions. Called ACORD XML for P&C Insurance and ACORD XML for Life Insurance, the transaction standards adopted have been developed through a cooperative process involving hundreds of organizations from the insurance and related financial services industries. ACORD XML is based on existing ACORD standards, thereby easing migration to XML, a cross-industry e-commerce standard for business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions. The ACORD XML initiatives focus on defining a set of standards detailing interfaces, data, and error processing relevant to insurance business functions. These standards enable real-time exchange of information and integration of systems used in day-to-day operations for processing insurance. They enable insurance carriers to face the challenge of providing a single set of views or interfaces into their supporting back-end systems. The P&C adoption includes several XML business messages that enable the real-time exchange of quote and application transactions for personal and commercial lines of insurance over the Internet. Included in the adoption is the Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX) specification, which provides a standard framework architecture to ensure interoperability among multiple trading partners using IFX. The ACORD P&C Transaction Review Board has provided business and technical expertise from organizations such as PMSC, The Hartford, AMS, Travelers, Microsoft, SAFECO, IVANS, National Grange Mutual, Applied Systems, Ontos, and Symmetry Technology Labs. Currently several other working groups are developing additional transactions for use in the insurance industry and in dealing with trading partners. www.acord.org
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