IONA shipped the final element of the iPortal Suite by delivering the iPortal Server. IONA’s iPortal Server is the web-facing component of an enterprise portal that aggregates back-end applications and manages content to provide customers, suppliers, partners and employees with a single point of access to all of an organization’s business processes and software applications. The iPortal Server ships with IONA’s iPortal Application Server and Orbix 2000 offerings, providing an integrated J2EE-, SOAP-, XML- and CORBA-compliant environment. Further integration with IONA’s iPortal OS/390 Server and the rest of the iPortal Suite enables organizations to build and deploy portals that leverage mainframe, ERP and proprietary enterprise applications. The iPortal Server provides a structured web design process for building, deploying and managing portal applications. By separating content, presentation, business logic and data layers, the iPortal Server’s XML/XSL-based design ensures that web content is architecturally separated from the presentation layer, enabling new business logic or protocols to be added without affecting data or web content, unless desired. This capability enables organizations to scale their Web applications as they evolve. The IONA iPortal Server 1.0, Standard Edition ships this week and is available from IONA and from partners including Compaq, CIBER, SAIC and others. US list pricing starts at $50,000. The iPortal Server supports Windows NT and Solaris 2.7 immediately, and will support Tru64 UNIX in the third quarter. The iPortal Server supports Oracle, Microsoft, Informix, Sybase and IBM databases. The iPortal server, Commerce Edition, featuring a B2B and B2C commerce portal, entered beta today and is expected to be available in the second half of this year. This offering will expand on the plug-in capabilities of the 1.0 Standard Edition, providing additional functionality in the areas of catalog management, inventory management, order management, payment processing, profiling capabilities, search capabilities, auction functionality, price quote management, message board capabilities, Java mail integration services, and others. www.iona.com
Category: Semantic technologies (Page 67 of 72)
Our coverage of semantic technologies goes back to the early 90s when search engines focused on searching structured data in databases were looking to provide support for searching unstructured or semi-structured data. This early Gilbane Report, Document Query Languages – Why is it so Hard to Ask a Simple Question?, analyses the challenge back then.
Semantic technology is a broad topic that includes all natural language processing, as well as the semantic web, linked data processing, and knowledge graphs.
Hummingbird Ltd. announced the release of the latest version of its DOCS Open document management solution. This latest version delivers significantly enhanced functionality, augmenting an enterprise architecture and product family from Hummingbird that is designed to enable organizations to customize their document management environment. A highlight of the new release is the full integration of SearchServer, the leading full text indexing and retrieval engine from Hummingbird. DOCS Open Release 3.9 includes new application integration offerings, enhanced desktop functionality, and updated documentation and online help. DOCS Open 3.9 is available immediately. www.hummingbird.com
Open Text Corporation announced the next evolution of BASIS and Techlib-the document collection and library automation components of the Livelink product family- myBASIS, the collaborative portal interface. The customizable portal framework of myBASIS allows users to organize multiple information sources. With the interface, library users can define on a single page, different areas to deliver internal news channels, external news feeds, content subscriptions and favorite URLS. myBASIS also provides search access to predefined resources like the organization’s Techlib library catalog, any BASIS or Livelink repository or content from b2bScene.com’s Content Services (www.b2bScene.com/contentservices). Users personalize their own page according to individual need and preference. The optional development toolkit can be used to configure new content choices for internal and external sources. This announcement follows last year’s release of the Livelink Cataloged Library, an integration of the Techlib OPAC (Online Patron Access Catalog) with Open Text’s Livelink collaborative enterprise application. Continuing Open Text’s strategy to advance an organization’s ability to organize multiple information sources, a second-generation Web OPAC is planned. Available independently or as the Advanced Search option from the portal interface, this new OPAC uses Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) for data access and includes a fully standardized Java Development Toolkit (JDK) to support local extensions and customizations to integrate library collections with other enterprise information assets. www.opentext.com
IBM alphaWorks has posted two new Java tools in XML messaging and intelligent software for developer feedback — SOAP for Java Q and ABLE — as part of IBM’s ongoing efforts to promote open standards on the Internet. SOAP for Java Q XML-based messaging technology has better synergy with other Internet standards than its predecessor. ABLE provides a framework and graphical editor for constructing intelligent software agents in Java. The SOAP specification defines a simple, Internet-friendly way of using XML to send messages and to access services. SOAP is important to e-business because it provides a flexible, natural way of building applications of which pieces are distributed across networks. With XML and SOAP, each business can choose its own internal implementation technology, such as Enterprise JavaBeans, Microsoft’s Component Object Model (COM), or traditional languages such as COBOL. In addition to HTTP, SOAP services can now be accessed through a variety of message transports. For example, bindings could be defined to IBM’s MQseries, or to electronic mail messages (SMTP). SOAP data representations and structures have been aligned with the proposed W3C XML Schema language, and it is now possible to apply those encodings in a much broader range of message patterns (e.g., streaming, one-way, multicast, etc). Using SOAP, any business can access a service, such as a parts catalog, or send a purchase order, to or from any other business. SOAP makes it easy to bind to the programming language or object system of the developer’s choice. SOAP’s built-in support for Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) also makes it easy to invoke methods on remote objects, using XML and HTTP, so developers can use SOAP to create distributed systems within their own organizations. This posting on alphaWorks is in Java, and is designed to work well with Websphere and other servlet-based systems. IBM and Tivoli’s ABLE is an agent construction toolkit based on the JavaBean architecture. Targeted to the needs of Java application developers, academicians and researchers working on intelligent agent software, ABLE provides an extendable library of JavaBean software components, called AbleBeans, that includes inferencing and learning algorithms. ABLE’s graphical Agent Editor allows users to quickly construct and test intelligent agents. The library of reusable AbleBeans provides forward and backward chaining inferencing, fuzzy reasoning, genetic search algorithms, and neural network learning capabilities. Application developers can focus on the unique requirements of their application and use the intelligent AbleBean components to create solutions. ABLE is designed to allow Java application developers to easily construct hybrid intelligent agents out of IBM and third-party software components. ABLE provides a flexible mechanism for integrating software agents with Java client and web applications. www.alphaWorks.ibm.com
Oracle Corp. announced availability of Oracle Internet File System (iFS), which combines the simplicity of the Windows file system with the powerful information management features of Oracle8i. Now with iFS, companies can easily manage all their content in a single repository, content which is currently scattered across PC desktops, document management systems and web sites. This innovation yields tremendous gains in efficiencies for e-Businesses faced with the mounting problem of managing the variety and high-volume of content — not just data — being generated by the Internet, business-to-business exchanges, e-commerce and enterprise portals. In spite of the proliferation of the Internet and tremendous innovation within the software industry, the file system has been virtually unchanged in the past 20 years. Oracle iFS is a file system designed for the Internet. It brings order to today’s document chaos, supporting the storage and management of over 150 different file types, including documents created using XML. Independent software vendors (ISVs), especially XML and image document management application vendors, are embracing iFS as a means to innovate their applications rapidly delivering advances in functionality which were for all intents and purposes impossible to achieve under the primitive architectural constraints of the Windows file system. The availability of Oracle iFS marks a number of software innovations. Firstly, iFS breaks the link between the file system and operating system. iFS frees files from the operating system so that they can be accessed from any popular computer in much the same way that the Web browser freed applications. iFS delivers long overdue files system features such as versioning, check-in, check-out and advanced searching. Secondly, Oracle is first to provide native XML support in the file system, providing companies with the first secure and scalable means of managing high-volumes of XML files. Thirdly, Oracle is the first to offer completely open Java APIs to the file system allowing ISVs and developers to add, modify or override iFS’s default features. Oracle iFS includes: Drag and drop filing, Management of over 150 file types, Browser-based access from any operating system, Advanced search and version control, and an iFS Developers Kit. With general availability of Oracle iFS, comes availability of iFS-based services from Oracle. Oracle Consulting now offers Oracle iFS Quick Start for rapid implement iFS and Oracle8i in five business days or less. Oracle University will be offering two Oracle iFS courses in Summer 2000: “Oracle iFS Administration” and “Developing Applications with Oracle iFS.” Oracle iFS is generally available worldwide and is free with Oracle8i. iFS is available for immediate download to developers at Oracle Technology Network (OTN). www.oracle.com
NextPage announced the launch of a Web-based content delivery platform. This platform, the Content Network, enables users to simultaneously access Internet sites, databases, intranets and document repositories as if the data existed in a single location. NextPage solutions are targeted at companies establishing corporate portals as well as professional publishers seeking to publish high-value content to customers inside corporate intranets. The Content Network searches, navigates, categorizes and personalizes information across disparate content sources. Two core products form the foundation of this new technology: LiveEnterprise software for corporate intranets, and LivePublish software for Internet publishers. LiveEnterprise provides users a single point of access to retrieve and organize information from file types, such as XML, HTML, Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF files, which are stored in relational databases, file systems and on the Web. With LivePublish, professional publishers can assemble and deliver content on the Internet and inside corporate intranets. Inside LiveEnterprise and LivePublish is a software adapter, called the Content Network Adapter, that creates a continuous link between all content servers within the Content Network. This live link, called LiveSyndication, connects users to information in almost any format and in any location. The technology overcomes today’s practice of IT departments having to centralize content to make it available within a corporate portal. www.nextpage.com
netLibrary announced a new initiative to market digital libraries, consisting of eBooks and other electronic information resources, to corporations. netLibrary is capable of providing corporations with an extensive library of digital content by employing an eBook development and distribution platform it has built during the past 20 months in the academic library market and by drawing from a collection of more than 18,000 titles from 200 publishers. Initial targets for netLibrary’s corporate library offering include corporations with existing physical and digital libraries, corporations with advanced training programs and corporate universities, and organizations with a strong knowledge-management orientation. netLibrary is offering its corporate library solution to public and private companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. netLibrary’s corporate library content includes thousands of business and technology titles. Subject area headings in the business collection include finance and banking, human resources, international business, management, sales, and eCommerce. Technology titles include computer engineering and hardware, databases, enterprise management, networking, operating systems, programming, and Web development. Corporate library customers can work with netLibrary and publishers to build customized digital libraries covering specialized areas of knowledge such as science and engineering, risk management, and finance. At the customer’s discretion, intranet/extranet access to digital library resources can be made available to employees, clients, and suppliers. In the future, netLibrary plans to enhance its corporate library solution to include components such as executive information services, PDA versions of newspapers and magazines through netLibrary’s peanutpress.com handheld division, and periodicals and journals offered through netLibrary’s alliance with EBSCO Publishing. Information resources generated in-house can be combined with the digital library for seamless searching and retrieval. www.netLibrary.com
Datawatch Corporation announced an XML product suite that transforms legacy transaction documents and text data streams into XML on an automated basis. The suite, which will be available to Datawatch partners next quarter and to end-users in the fall, includes a Windows-based XML GUI designer and an XML Data Pump. The technology will also be incorporated into Datawatch’s own line of enterprise reporting products. Datawatch’s new XML Suite allows transaction data, statement data, EDI streams, and other structured document information to be extracted, scrubbed, transformed, validated, and converted to well-formed XML on an automated basis without new programming. Datawatch’s product suite includes a Windows-based XML GUI designer and an XML Data Pump. Each product will be available first as an enabling technology for Datawatch partners and then as an end user product. The XML GUI Designer allows the user to view a sample copy of the input document and break it into templates and fields. Each template generates a table of records which can be logically filtered and extended through calculated fields and database joins. The designer also provides a visual interface for defining the relationship through which the input templates map to an XML schema. The XML Data Pump, when fed an individual input document or stream of documents, has the ability to search the document profile database and associate the appropriate profile with the input. Using the profile, the XML Data Pump generates and outputs a series of XML documents. www.datawatch.com
Subscribe to the Gilbane Advisor
