The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has released GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) 1.0, an integrated desktop environment designed to run on GNU/Linux systems. GNOME includes a drag-and-drop-enabled desktop that use the standard Xdnd and Motif protocols, the ability to assign an icon to a file or URL, internationalization support, and support for scripting and compiled languages, including Ada, C, C++, Objective-C, TOM, Perl, and Guile. GNOME is available for free download at http://www.gnu.org/, http://www.gnome .org/, and several other mirror sites.
Free Software Foundation
59 Temple Place, Suite 330
Boston, MA 02111
617-542-5942
http://www.gnu.org/
Instantiations has announced the formation of the Java Performance Lab (JPL). The JPL system combines the company's Java performance technologies -- JOVE and the Flash Compiler -- with technical consulting and support. The JPL system gives customers a performance-tuned version of its Java program, JPL optimization and compilation tools, JPL consulting and lab time, ongoing performance, and deployment of technical support.
Instantiations Inc.
7618 S.W. Mohawk Street
Tualatin, OR 97062
503-612-9337
http//www.instantiations.com/
General Software has released Embedded BIOS Version 4.2, a configurable BIOS for embedded systems. Over 400 configuration options can be selected using BIOStart, a rule-based expert system that makes BIOS adaptation clear and straightforward. Embedded BIOS 4.2 addresses the whole lifecycle of the embedded process, including board bring-up, configuration prototyping, testing with system diagnostics, manufacturing mode, and in-field diagnostics and software reload. Version 4.2 extends firmware support for the latest reference designs from several silicon manufacturers, including Intel's Low-Power Embedded Pentium Processor with MMX Technology Development Platform (Pentium and Pentium II); AMD's K6, Elan SC400; Am486 Microprocessor Customer Development Platform, and Elan SC300; Cyrix's MediaGXm Processor development platforms; ST Microelectronics's STPC Industrial and STPC Consumer Embedded Microprocessors; and others. Support for PCI bridging, AGP, SDRAM, SPC, and a copy of the Caldera System Builder Kit are also included. Additionally, the Embedded BIOS 4.2 Adaptation Kit now supports build ups to 256 KB.
General Software Inc.
12737 Bel-Red Road, Suite 100
Bellevue, WA 98005
425-454-5755
http://www.gensw.com/
Cygnus Solutions has announced an open source Java Programming Language test suite intended to substantiate Java API compatibility. The Java test suite was developed according to published Java API documentation and is the product of the Open Source Mauve project, a collaborative effort initiated by Cygnus between clean-room Java technology developers who do not have access to Sun Microsystem's Java Compatibility Kit. This test suite allows organizations developing clean-room Java libraries (an essential component of the Java language specification) to test compatibility against Sun's published Java standards without compromising their clean-room implementations. The test suite is freely available at http://sourceware.cygnus.com/mauve/.
Cygnus Solutions
1325 Chesapeake Terrace
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
408-542-9600
http://www.cygnus.com/
The Component Vendors Consortium (CVC) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to advance and promote the use of third-party software components and tools by developers, and to enhance the public's understanding of the reliability of third-party tools and the strategic advantage inherent in using third-party components and tools. A key objective of the CVC is to develop an objective testing, measuring, and branding process to identify vendors and components that meet rigorous quality and support standards. The membership of the CVC consists of companies that develop and market commercial software components and/or development tool products. Founding CVC members include Advantageware, APEX Software, Artisoft, Bennet-Tec, CompuWare, Dart Communications, Data Dynamics, Data Techniques, Desaware, DBI Technologies, Distinct, FarPoint Technologies, LEAD Technologies, Modern Software, ProtoView Development, Sax Software, Seagate Software, Sheridan Software, VideoSoft, and Wise Solutions. Software vendors or developers who are interested in membership in the CVC should see CVC's web site for more information.
Component Vendors Consortium
http://www.components.org/
DOME 1.0 from Experimental Object Technologies is a set of visual tools for developers of distributed COM applications. DOME 1.0 supports graphical modeling, code generation, simulation, deployment, monitoring and management, and integrates with Microsoft Visual C++. DOME enables COM application developers to rapidly create and launch application prototypes, debug timing and synchronization and estimate performance of a distributed application via simulation, deploy the application components over the target network, monitor the distributed application, and manage the distributed application remotely via COM interfaces.
Experimental Object Technologies
http://www.xjtek.com/products/dome/
Perforce Software is shipping Release 99.1 of the Perforce Software Configuration Management System, a comprehensive software configuration management (SCM) system that helps software development teams efficiently manage large, complex development projects across multiple operating system platforms. This version improves performance with a new data compression capability in the Perforce API that enables the GUI to run two to four times faster than previously over slow network connections. In addition, a new client-side compression option speeds data transfer by as much as 10 times over the basic file transfer protocol, especially over wide-area networks. Other new features include the ability of the administrator to limit the size of operations that particular users can undertake and the introduction of presubmit triggers. A single-user license costs $600.00.
Perforce Software Inc.
2420 Santa Clara Avenue, Suite 200
Alameda, CA 94501
510-864-7400
http://www.perforce.com/
The RPK Encryptonite Software Toolkit 3.1 from RPK Security claims increased engine performance over previous versions and a new Indexed Encryption for high-data-flow applications like streaming multimedia. The RPK Encryptonite Toolkit offers performance increase on initialization and key creation and accommodates out-of-order, missing or corrupted/garbled data, without noticeable performance degradation or reduction in security. Version 3.1 also adds additional sources of randomness for use in a variety of applications, including server-only situations where user input is not normally available. The RPK Toolkit includes ANSI standard C/C++ libraries for Windows 95/98/NT, HP/UX, Sun Solaris (C only), and Linux, Delphi 3.0/4.0 VCL component for Windows 95/NT, DLL, and ActiveX. It also has been compiled and tested with Visual C++, Borland C++ Builder, and gnu/g++. Because the RPK Toolkit is developed outside the U.S., it is available worldwide with strong encryption. Pricing starts at $695.00 per developer; deployment license fees are based upon custom configurations.
RPK Security Inc.
1755 Filbert Street, Suite 1U
San Francisco, CA 94123
212-488-9891
http://www.rpk.com/
ILOG has introduced ILOG OPL Studio, a design environment that allows development and deployment of supply-chain optimization applications. ILOG OPL Studio combines several optimization methods, letting you identify the best approach for your application. Features include an online model library, database connectivity tools, debugging tools, and an automatic code generator, all within a graphical environment. The Optimization Programming Language (OPL) provides advanced data representation features suited for optimization applications. The OPL language lets you represent and solve optimization problems using linear and integer programming, constraint programming, and scheduling techniques. ILOG OPL Studio is available for Windows 95/98/NT and Sun SPARC/Solaris platforms. It is offered as an add-on to the ILOG Optimization Suite component libraries. There is also a version called OPL Studio Pro that includes integrated versions of ILOG's optimizers.
ILOG
1080 Linda Vista Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043
650-567-8000
http://www.ilog.com/
ASSET has announced the ASSET Internet Application Server (IAS) 1.0, an Internet application server initially targeted for Smalltalk programmers. IAS includes an object-oriented framework (WEBArtifacts) and scripting language (WEBScript, similar to Smalltalk) for developing web-based applications. IAS combines a web server and application server in a single execution environment. Multiple instances of IAS may be clustered to achieve higher performance and availability. ASSET provides a separate bridge to make IAS accessible via IS organizations's existing web infrastructures. IAS for Windows NT lists for $2000.00. WEBArtifacts is available as a service from ASSET and its price depends on the size and scope of a project.
ASSET Inc.
P.O. Box 1236
New York, NY 10156
212-689-6489
http://www.assetinc.com/
TranDyne, a division of Transitive Dynamics, announced Dr. Parse, a set of utilities and tools for parser development. Dr. Parse deploys DFA through LR(1) language-independent parse generators and can support multiple DFA through LR parse engines in a single application. Dr. Parse converts grammars into a parse data stream, detecting syntactical errors, and generating data into the developer's choice of languages. The Parser Foundation Classes (PFC) assemble parsing components, allowing manipulation of data. Dr. Parse VIP (Visually Interactive Parser) lets you view a variety of parsing modes and detect invalid sentences and incorrect ASTs. Its IDE consists of a syntax highlighter and debugger. The IDE lets you input a grammar and check for errors in syntax. Once the grammar is deemed syntactically correct, the parser's conflict resolutions can be viewed and modified. This static check can then be followed by a series of dynamic test scenarios using the VIP.
Transitive Dynamics Inc.
14150 NE 20th Street, Suite 373
Bellevue, WA 98007
425-519-3640
http://www.trandyne.com/
The 8051 Virtual Workshop from Crossware Products lets 8051 programmers simulate their complete target system. The 8051 Virtual Workshop allows the software debugging and verification process to proceed in the absence of any target hardware. The 8051 Virtual Workshop runs under Windows 95/98/NT. At the heart of the system is an 8051 Instruction Set Simulator with full source-level and graphical debugging facilities.
Crossware Products
Old Post House, Silver Street
Litlington, Royston, Herts
United Kingdom SG8 0QE
44 1763 853500
http://www.crossware.com/
Sheridan Software has introduced CodeAssist, a new code-generation software package. Using templates, CodeAssist helps Visual Basic developers create data access and other routines in Visual Basic, HTML, and SQL. A collection of more than 100 prebuilt templates are provided for common code requirements for calling data objects from two-tier and multitier applications, as well as interactive browsers for accessing and manipulating databases, data objects, and templates. Users can modify or customize the prebuilt templates to meet their exact requirements or create and save their own templates as needed. This first release works with Microsoft Access and SQL Server. CodeAssist costs $295.00.
Sheridan Software Systems Inc.
35 Pinelawn Road, Suite 206E
Melville, NY 11747
516-753-0985
http://www.shersoft.com/
Monotype Typography has announced the New Media Core Fonts set, a new collection of fonts designed for high legibility on low-resolution devices such as computer screens, consumer electronic devices, and television screens. The New Media Core Fonts are part of Monotype's Enhanced Screen Quality (ESQ) line of TrueType fonts that have been optimized for viewing in environments such as interactive TVs, palmtop computers, and information appliances. They were specifically developed by Monotype designers and engineers to optimize legibility on devices that have a limited number of pixels with which to display fonts. Albany ESQ, Thorndale ESQ, and Cumberland ESQ font families each contain the regular, italic, bold, and bold italic styles. They are metrically compatible with the original Windows core set so documents created with either core set of fonts will not reflow. Monotype can supply the New Media Core Font set in a Unicode-compliant format with a variety of script support for its customers.
Monotype Typography Inc.
985 Busse Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
847-718-0400
http://www.monotype.com/
Nettech Systems has introduced the Nettech Developer Suite, a set of SDKs for wireless-enabling applications. The Nettech Developer Suite bundles the Nettech 6RFexpress, Smart IP, and InstantRF SDKs for all the networks and operating systems supported by each product into one comprehensive package. The Nettech Developer Suite is sold as an annual subscription of $995.00 per year/per developer.
Nettech Systems
600 Alexander Road
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-734-0300
http://www.nettechrf.com/
DDJ