Cover Pages: XML Daily Newslink: Monday, 12 November 2007

A Cover Pages Publication http://xml.coverpages.org/
Provided by OASIS and Sponsor Members
Edited by Robin Cover

This issue of XML Daily Newslink is sponsored by:
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Headlines

W3C Publishes Device Description Ecosystem 1.0 and Landscape 1.0
NETCONF Access Control Profile for XACML
Client-side WSDL Processing with Groovy and Gant
Google Releases Android SDK
Java EE Meets Web 2.0: Adopting Asynchronous, Event-Driven Architectures

W3C Publishes Device Description Ecosystem 1.0 and Landscape 1.0
Rotan Hanrahan (ed), W3C Working Group Notes

W3C's Mobile Web Initiative Device Description Working Group has published two Working Group Notes: "Device Description Ecosystem 1.0" and "Device Description Landscape 1.0." The Ecosystem document describes the business models surrounding the creation, maintenance and use of device descriptions. Device Descriptions are pieces of information relating to Web-enabled devices that may be used to categorize or distinguish these devices. In particular, the W3C documents are concerned with descriptions of Web- enabled mobile devices and the characteristics detailed in such descriptions that may influence the delivery of content (resource representations) to them. As an example, a description of a device may provide information about the type of markup supported by the browser, the size and resolution of the screen and the presence of various input features. A separate description of the same device might contain an evaluation of the usability of its keyboard, the usable area of the screen and the appropriate layout of the access keys. A third description might detail the most effective navigation strategies for the device, the best color schemes and the most readable fonts in order of preference. There may be many such descriptions. The information in these descriptions may overlap, may even conflict. The "Ecosystem" Note identifies the main actors in the current model, explores their motivations for participating, identifies the costs associated with participation and the benefits that accrue to participants. The Landscape document describes what efforts the W3C and other organizations are doing in order to provide accurate device descriptions, part of making it easier to author for the Mobile Web.

NETCONF Access Control Profile for XACML
Ludwig Seitz and Erik Rissanen (eds), IETF Internet Draft

"The Network Configuration Protocol defines an XML-based protocol for managing network device configuration databases." The NETCONF protocol uses a remote procedure call (RPC) paradigm. A client encodes an RPC in XML and sends it to a server using a secure, connection-oriented session. The server responds with a reply encoded in XML. The contents of both the request and the response are fully described in XML DTDs or XML schemas, or both, allowing both parties to recognize the syntax constraints imposed on the exchange. The NETCONF remote network configuration protocol currently lacks an access control model. The need for such a model has been recognised within the NETCONF working group. The Extensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) is an XML-based access control standard, with widespread acceptance from the industry and good open-source support. This document proposes a profile that defines how to use XACML to provide fine-grain access control for NETCONF commands.

See also: XACML references

Client-side WSDL Processing with Groovy and Gant
Klaus P. Berg, Java World Magazine

"As part of a cross-platform Web service testing team responsible for testing functional aspects as well as the performance, load, and robustness of Web services, I recently realized the need for a small, easy-to-use, command-line-based solution for WSDL processing. I wanted the toolset to help testers and developers check and validate WSDL 1.1 files coming from different sources for compatibility with various Web service frameworks, as well as generating test stubs in Java to make actual calls. For the Java platform, that meant using Java 6 wsimport, Axis2, XFire, and CXF. We also needed an environment based on Visual Studio .Net, and C# that tested WSDL and the services themselves in a pure-Windows environment. We started client-side test development with XFire, but then switched to Axis2 because of changing customer requirements in our agile project. We also used ksoap2—a lightweight Web service framework especially for the Java ME developer. Finally, I decided to use Groovy and a smart combination of Groovy plus Ant, called Gant. The components I have developed for the resulting Toolset can be divided into two groups: (1) The Gant part is responsible for providing some "targets" for the tester's everyday work, including the WSDL-checker and a Java parser/modifier component. (2) The WSDL-checker part is implemented with Groovy, but callable inside an Ant environment (via Groovy's Ant task) as part of the daily build process. This article presents a small toolset based on Groovy, Gant, and Java that could support your daily work in this area, especially if you are a tester."

Google Releases Android SDK
Juan Carlos Perez, InfoWorld

Google has released an SDK that programmers can use to create cell phone applications for the company's Android mobile platform. In addition, Google will award $10 million to developers whose applications are deemed "innovative and compelling" by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), the organization in charge of overseeing the Android platform. Android is built on the Linux 2.6 kernel, includes a virtual machine called Dalvik to maximize application performance, and will come with a core set of applications, including an e-mail client, an SMS program, a calendar, maps, and a browser based on the open source WebKit engine. The entire Android platform will be made available for free under the Apache Version 2 open source license in 2008. The SDK has been designed to let developers "extend, replace, and reuse" software components and comes with debugging tools, libraries, a device emulator, and sample projects. A plug-in also comes with the SDK to integrate its tools with the Eclipse open source development platform. To use the SDK, developers need to download it to an x86-based computer running Windows XP or Vista, Mac OS 10.4.8 or later, or Linux Ubuntu Dapper Drake or later. Developers will also need Eclipse 3.2 or later with Java Development Tools and the Android SDK's plug-in, or Java and Javac 1.5 or 1.6; Apache Ant; an integrated development environment; and Python 2.2 or later. More than 30 partners are supporting the OHA, including T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola, Broadcom, eBay, China Mobile, Intel, LG Electronics, NTT DoCoMo, Nvidia, Samsung, Sprint Nextel, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Texas Instruments, and Wind River.

See also: the Andy Rubin interview

Java EE Meets Web 2.0: Adopting Asynchronous, Event-Driven Architectures
Constantine Plotnikov (et al. eds), IBM developerWorks

A tremendous number of successful enterprise applications have been created using the Java EE platform. But the principles Java EE was designed on don't support the Web 2.0 generation of applications efficiently. An in-depth understanding of the disconnect between Java EE and Web 2.0 principles can help you make informed decisions about using approaches and tools that address that disconnect to some degree. This article explains why Web 2.0 and the standard Java EE platform are a losing combination, and it demonstrates why asynchronous, event-driven architectures are more appropriate for Web 2.0 applications. It also describes frameworks and APIs that aim to make the Java platform more Web 2.0 capable by enabling asynchronous designs. It's time to create a JSR that focuses on creating a common asynchronous programming framework for the Java language. Then there will be a long road ahead integrating existing asynchronous components into this framework and creating an asynchronous version of existing synchronous interfaces. With each step, the scalability of enterprise Java applications will improve, and we'll be able to face the challenges that lie beyond that. The continuously growing Internet population and continuous diffusion of network services in our everyday activities will certainly provide us with many such challenges.


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