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Product Briefs

By ADT Staff

Pocket PowerBuilder 1.5
Sybase Inc. has announced the availability of Sybase Pocket PowerBuilder 1.5, an integrated app development environment aimed at simplifying and speeding the creation of mobile and wireless enterprise apps.

Features include an IDE with an object-oriented language, including built-in functions, ready-to-use components and drag-and-drop RAD programming, which can reduce development time. The product's DataWindow technology enables data access, processing and presentation for mobile devices, without coding.

Pocket PowerBuilder's MobiLink synchronization enables data to be stored locally and minimizes connection time. Bi-directional data synchronization is used to integrate the product with other enterprise databases, including Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. Wizard-driven programming, integration with Sybase iAnywhere SQL Anywhere and fingerprint recognition technology is offered, as well as new native objects that encapsulate OS and device-specific APIs.

Sybase Pocket PowerBuilder 1.5 is priced at $1,295.
Sybase Inc.,
Dublin, Calif.,
www.sybase.com

N8 Archetype
N8 Systems has introduced N8 Archetype, which is said to improve the generation of systems requirements by allowing business analysts to describe requirements in English text and see them represented as meaningful diagrams. From textual descriptions of requirements, the product automatically creates UML use case and activity diagrams. It also enables rapid iterations of refined requirements.

The product provides a dual-view interface that allows business users to transform text describing business processes in Word into diagrams of an existing or desired system in Visio. This is said to allow business people and development teams to jointly review, and edit, the system requirements models. This can help users to identify errors and omissions, as well as correct them early in the development process.

N8 Archetype is available as a subscription-based service.
N8 Systems,
Berkeley, Calif.,
www.n8systems.com

Mercury Performance Center
Mercury Interactive is offering Mercury Performance Center, an integrated set of application delivery software, services and best practices. The Performance Center consolidates app delivery activities, including load testing, performance tuning, app diagnostics and capacity planning.

The Performance Center enables disparate IT performance teams to work in a centralized way. The product consists of integrated Mercury application delivery products, a real-time dashboard and an enterprise foundation. Performance Center modules, including LoadRunner, LoadRunner TestCenter, Mercury Tuning, Mercury Diagnostics and Mercury Capacity Planning, emulate unpredictable user patterns of critical enterprise and Internet applications to ensure performance under real-life conditions.

Improvements in this release include diagnostic drill-down capabilities for J2EE, Siebel and PeopleSoft in Diagnostics; and embedded best practices for Siebel and PeopleSoft in Performance Tuning. The Capacity Planning module can predict the infrastructure requirements for new and existing apps. The product also contains the Application Delivery Dashboard, which presents key performance indicators in real time. The Application Delivery Foundation leverages shared information, integrated tuning processes and data across functional IT performance teams.

Mercury Interactive Corp.,
Sunnyvale, Calif.,
www.mercuryinteractive.com

Shunra\Storm Solution Suite 3.1
Shunra\Storm Solution Suite 3.1 delivers centralized management of the entire enterprise lab, including end-user load emulation and third-party automated lab tools, to complete a best-of-breed pre-deployment lab.

The product emulates any environment, including the global network and remote end-user load in the lab, enabling testing, networking and performance professionals to evaluate the functionality, robustness, performance and scalability of any distributed n-tier app from the remote end-user perspective before global deployment.

Shunra Software Ltd.,
New York, N.Y.,
www.shunra.com

mProve 3.1.
mProve 3.1. is an end-to-end solution for over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates to mobile handsets.

Version 3.1 has the ability to update firmware images stored in both NOR and NAND memory, and has three-tier Generator optimization that allows users to both optimize build time and update package size during the firmware differencing process. Version controls between Update Agents and Generator ensure that update packages are always backwards-compatible with any deployed handset agents. Bitfone Corp., Laguna Niguel, Calif., www.bitfone.com

LiveTime Support Version 2.5 LiveTime Support Version 2.5, Web-based J2EE technical support and help desk software, now has technician dashboards and company-based reporting.

The dashboard consolidates personal, team, departmental and organizational information in a graphical format. Version 2.5 is also said to provide more than a 10-fold improvement in the search and retrieval of cases and the generation of complex correlation reports. Out-of-the-box features include reporting, service-level management, knowledge-base management and asset management.

LiveTime Software,
Newport Beach, Calif.,
www.livetime.com

Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 1.5
Sun Microsystems has announced the beta program for the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 1.5.

Code-named Project Tiger, the beta release includes new Java programming language updates focusing on ease of development, new application monitoring and management features, as well as a continued focus on rich client support for the PC desktop. Performance improvements include reduced startup time, a smaller memory footprint and JVM auto-tuning.

Sun Microsystems Inc.,
Santa Clara, Calif.,
www.sun.com

Packet Sniffer SDK for Windows library set
MicroOLAP Technologies has released the Packet Sniffer SDK for Windows library set -- ActiveX, DLL, VCL and static library editions for Microsoft VC and Borland C compilers.

Previously available only to Delphi/C++Builder developers, the suite has been rewritten in Microsoft Visual C++ and is now available to any development environment, including Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C++, Microsoft Visual C#, Borland Delphi/C++Builder, Sybase PowerBuilder, Intel C++ for Windows and many others.

MicroOLAP Technologies,
Trenton, N.J.,
www.microolap.com

Simplicity Version 3.0 for Palm OS
Simplicity Version 3.0 for Palm OS is a visual RAD tool for building robust J2ME/MIDP apps. By dragging and dropping visual parts, a software developer can assemble user interfaces, images, threads, timers and network communications.

Version 3.0 includes palmOne's Java Toolkit, which enables J2ME/MIDP apps to run on all Tungsten handheld devices and Treo smartphones.

Pricing for Simplicity Version 3.0 for Palm OS is $395 per developer.

Data Representations Inc.,
Summit, N.J.,
www.datarepresentations.com

Leap SE
Leap SE is an advanced requirements engineering Case tool that produces object-oriented models directly from a system requirements repository or spec (SRS). By translating English into logical models for software development, Leap SE achieves RAD from the source.

Twenty-one templates and a Requirement Builder are provided for fast and flexible composition. Each time a new requirement is saved, Leap SE's object model database is updated to reflect the new entities, relationships, attributes and methods. From this database, a directory of header files can be generated at any time to give software engineering a head start on design.

A free demo can be downloaded from the company's Web site.

Leap Systems,
Melbourne, Fla.,
www.leapse.com

Procoll
Kauri Business Systems has launched Procoll, a collaboration and workflow product that removes the need for re-implementation of key systems as a firm grows and needs additional functionality in its enterprise systems.

Procoll provides the ability to inter-relate business processes, workflows, business logic and business constraints through a collaboration engine that ties together information systems, office systems, business partners, customers and suppliers. The product is Web-enabled, based entirely on Microsoft .NET, and addresses problems in underlying business processes hindering productivity. In addition, Procoll reflects and executes management initiatives to improve business processes and bottom line performance.

Kauri Business Systems,
Auckland, New Zealand,
www.procoll.com

Jira 2.6
Jira 2.6 is a Web-based issue-tracking and project management application. The browser-based application has more advanced source-control integration, stronger e-mail integration, Confluence integration and the ability to import issues from the Mantis open-source bug tracker.

Jira 2.6's per-server licensing policy includes unlimited projects, users and issues, plus free upgrades and support for 12 months.

Atlassian Software Systems,
Sydney, Australia,
www.atlassian.com

JProfiler 3.0
JProfiler 3.0 is an all-in-one profiler designed to help developers manage performance risks throughout the development process and produce reliable enterprise apps.

Version 3.0 adds a redesigned heap walker with reference graphs, method graphs for CPU profiling, automatic deadlock detection, an allocation hot spot monitor and allows for the undocking of views into separate top-level windows.

A trial version is available on the firm's Web site.

ej-technologies GmbH,
Munich, Germany,
www.ej-technologies.com

MySQL 5.0
MySQL AB has released Version 5.0 of its open-source database.

Version 5.0 adds support for stored procedures, which can facilitate the adoption of MySQL for existing legacy database apps. The stored procedures functionality in MySQL also integrates server-side cursor support. New functionality to enhance portability and migration, internationalization and general usability has also been added.

MySQL 5.0 alpha can be downloaded from the MySQL Web site at www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-5.0.html. It is available under the free software/open-source GNU General Public License.

MySQL AB,
Menlo Park, Calif.,
www.mysql.com

Khalix
Business Objects and Longview Solutions have integrated Business Objects performance products with Khalix by Longview Solutions.

Khalix is a performance management application suite that drives delivery of all finance functions, including planning, budgeting, forecasting, modeling, consolidation and analysis. BusinessObjects Performance Manager and BusinessObjects Dashboard Manager provide a view of the business via a dashboard containing alerts, scorecards, analytics and reports. By providing integration between their respective product suites, Business Objects and Longview Solutions make it easier for joint customers to implement a complete enterprise performance management solution that leverages their existing technology investment.

Business Objects,
San Jose, Calif.,
www.businessobjects.com
Longview Solutions,
Toronto, Ontario,
www.longview.com

JSQLMapper
JSQLMapper is a bi-directional data mapping tool that is said to eliminate the need to construct custom code to bring relational data into XML format.

Through an interactive graphic interface, users can access support for create, read, update and delete operations. JSQLMapper provides a data-mapping editor that allows users to visually design the relational data to XML mappings that will be executed by a runtime engine. The mapping editor allows for the creation of arbitrarily complex mappings that can be used to express intricate relationships between relational tables and XML schemes.

 JNetDirect,
Herndon, Va.,
www.jnetdirect.com

Windows Services for Unix Version 3.5
Microsoft has announced the latest version of its Unix interoperability product, Windows Services for Unix Version 3.5 (SFU 3.5).

SFU 3.5 offers customers enhanced performance of cross-platform tools and services, better Unix command-line administration capabilities, and the ability to extend Unix-based applications in a Microsoft .NET Web Services environment. The Network File System has been improved for better performance, providing users with a more seamless experience accessing files between machines running Windows and Unix. Improved two-way password synchronization, user-name mapping and the Server for Network Information Service in SFU 3.5 are also included. Organizations are said to be better able to integrate or centralize directory services across Unix and Windows platforms with the Windows Server 2003 Active Directory service.

The free Web download is available at www.microsoft.com/windows/sfu/ .

Microsoft Corp.,
Redmond, Wash.,
www.microsoft.com

Swing InOffice 2.1
Swing InOffice 2.1 is the latest version of software that integrates Microsoft Office and PDF with Lotus Notes. The new version adds Notes Group Calendar printing and reporting capabilities, PowerPoint-to-PDF conversion, and improved PDF protection and distribution.

The product provides advanced formatting, reporting and printing from any existing Notes database using familiar Microsoft Office tools. Swing InOffice is completely based on a point-and-click configuration, eliminating any programmer intervention. It also works with any database, without any changes being required to the existing databases.

A five-user pack is $750.
Swing Software,
www.swingsoftware.com