XML Industry News. July - December 1999.

This XML Industry News section consists mainly of links to company press releases announcing support for XML/XSL/XLink, July - 1999. Separate documents contain references for current press releases and for January - June, 1999. The press releases from 1998 are referenced in their own document. Some earlier press releases from Fall 1997 are listed in the document which references XML Industry Support. Major articles on XML in the trade magazines, as well as the more substantive refereed articles on XML in technical publications, are listed in the dedicated database sections: Current XML Surveys and Overview Articles and the archived XML reference collection. This page is experimental, and entirely provisional.

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• [December 22, 1999] "OpenBox Laboratory Launches Online Access to XML Protocol Tools for Enterprise Developers." - "Innovision Corporation, the XML Protocol leader, today announced the availability of OpenBox Laboratory on its public Web site at http://www.innovision.com. OpenBox lab provides early access to new XML technologies for enterprise developers and industry standards organizations. Accessed from Innovision's Web-based lab, the XML-to-Java Transformation Facility allows developers to freely create their own PSOMs (Protocol Specific Object Models), or browse and download existing PSOMs instantly. PSOMs are all-inclusive Java classes representing a protocol or document object model. OpenBox provides an easy way to develop XML-based applications using familiar object-oriented programming techniques. In an example application, a tutorial provides necessary information to design, generate and utilize a PSOM. Innovision's XML-to-Java Transformation Facility is based on a formal specification provided within OpenBox and includes information on related Java interfaces and specifications. OpenBox also contains Java and XML tools, specifications and white papers useful for enterprise and industry application of XML Protocols."

• [December 21, 1999] "Object Design, Inc. Announces Hyporium Trading Hub eBusiness Deployment of eXcelon XML Application Platform. First of its Kind Internet-based IT Trading Site Relies on eXcelon to Deliver Successful Selling Over the Web." - "Object Design, Inc., a global provider of innovative eBusiness products and solutions, today announced that its eXcelon XML application platform is the power behind the Hyporium Trading Hub, a United Kingdom based online trading hub that allows buyers, resellers, distributors and manufacturers to electronically trade over the Web. Created by leading e-commerce enabler Hyperchannel Ltd, Hyporium Trading Hub is designed to help everyone involved in IT trade embrace electronic commerce. Hyporium Trading Hub allows resellers to create online virtual stores. This includes: store management to set up the style of the store, how they want their prices represented, what they want to sell, what access levels they want and what payment methods they want. Hyporium Trading Hub enables them to create a virtual store that can be easily customized, getting away from the restrictions of the bricks and mortar approach. It allows buyers to visit the IT resellers virtual stores online, input their requirements and obtain immediate, real-time price and availability quotes. Hyporium Trading Hub is set to launch in Germany early next year, as well as in five other European countries. Companies such as IBM, Compaq, 3Com and Novell have already signed up with Hyporium. eXcelon is the first application development environment for building and deploying XML-based e-Business applications. The product consists of three primary components: eXcelon Toolbox (consisting of eXcelon Explorer, eXcelon Studio, eXcelon Manager and eXcelon Stylus), the eXcelon data server and Xconnects. Manufacturers currently endorsing Hyporium include Compaq, IBM, Oracle, Novell and 3Com. Distributors involved in the project include C2000, Computacenter, Logitek, WestCoast, Unipalm, InterQuad and Computer 2000. Leading resellers joining Hyporium include Business Systems Group (BSG), Integrated Network Solutions (INS) and CAE Office Systems."

• [December 21, 1999] "Lawson Software to Resell TSI Software's Mercator for E-Business Integration Within its XML-based Collaborative Commerce Suite. 2TheMart.com E-Marketplace is First Customer Powered by Lawson Insight and Mercator." - "TSI International Software Ltd., a leading provider of e-business integration software, today announced that Lawson Software is reselling the market leading Mercator integration broker to provide XML-to-any transformation and integration for the LAWSON INSIGHT II Collaborative Commerce Suite. The first successful implementation of the combined product is providing business-to-business (B2B) integration between Lawson applications and the IBM Net.Commerce product for 2TheMart.com, Inc., a new electronic marketplace. TSI Software's Mercator is embedded at the heart of the Lawson Collaborative Commerce Suite within the LAWSON INSIGHT II Business Component Integrator. Mercator provides critical 'any-to-any' data transformation and mapping between external data formats and the XML data formats utilized by Lawson e-business applications. The Collaborative Commerce Suite is an integrated set of pre-configured business applications that allows users to create inter- or intra-enterprise business processes between the Web-based Lawson Financial, Procurement, Human Resources and Supply Chain applications and other best-of-breed applications."

• [December 21, 1999] "The E-Content Company Joins WAP Forum to Accelerate the Delivery of XML-based Content to Wireless Mobile Devices. WAP Membership Extends the e-Content Company's Commitment to Providing e-Business Solutions." - "The e-content company, a division of Interleaf, Inc. and leader in delivering XML-based content management solutions for e-business, today announced that it has joined the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum, a consortium of more than 260 firms dedicated to developing the de facto world standard for wireless information and telephony services on digital mobile phones and other wireless devices. Further demonstrating its commitment to providing customers with innovative e-business solutions, the e-content company will work closely with the WAP Forum and its members to accelerate the delivery of customized XML-based content to virtually any mobile wireless device. The e-content company is on the forefront of enterprise e-business with BladeRunner, its XML-based content management solution. Recently, the company announced XML Wireless Application Product (X-WAP), a new BladeRunner application that enables enterprises to dynamically assemble and distribute information to wireless devices from a single source presentation, dramatically extending enterprise e-business. Through the power of the eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), enterprises can seamlessly transform WML, HTML, and XML business content for presentation to wireless devices such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, pagers and e-books. With X-WAP's sophisticated XSL creation tools, content providers have unprecedented control over how their content is rendered on all these devices." For references, see "WAP Wireless Markup Language Specification."

• [December 21, 1999] "Benefon Licenses Microsoft Mobile Explorer To Bring WAP and HTML-Based Services and Content to Mobile Phones." - "Microsoft Corp. and Benefon today announced the licensing of Microsoft Mobile Explorer (MME) for Benefon's new wireless communication products. Microsoft Mobile Explorer, first announced on December 8 [1999], is a comprehensive, open software platform designed to power Internet-enabled mobile telephones. MME enables wireless carriers to provide their customers with the choice of a broad line of applications and services on data-enabled telephones. It is a key component of Microsoft's end-to-end wireless strategy to provide mobile Internet solutions that utilize additional technologies such as Microsoft Exchange Server, the BackOffice family and MSN Mobile Services. 'The mobile Internet is elemental in realizing Benefon's vision of putting wireless technology to meaningful use and contributing to the quality of life of people with individual needs,' said Jorma U. Nieminen, president of Benefon. 'What appealed to Benefon in our choice of a technology partner for the mobile Internet was Microsoft's commitment to supporting industry standards such as HTML and WAP and promoting their convergence under XML, to the benefit of customers and service providers alike'. 'Microsoft Mobile Explorer is a key step in realizing Microsoft's vision of empowering knowledge workers and consumers through great software any time, anywhere and on any device,' said Kevin Dallas, group product manager of the Productivity Appliances Division at Microsoft." ['Microsoft Mobile Explorer for feature phones is an operating-system-independent, air-link agnostic, browser-based solution that enables secure corporate or personal access to e-mail, personal information manager data and the Internet when connected to a wireless network. It includes the first dual-mode microbrowser that can display both HTML- and WAP 1.1-authored Internet content.'] For references on WAP, see "WAP Wireless Markup Language Specification."

• [December 20, 1999] "General Electric Gas Turbine Business Provides Configuration Information with Sequoia's Interactive Enterprise Information Portal. E-Business Solution based on Sequoia XML Portal Server Gives GE's Gas Turbine Customers Ability to Access and Act on Vital Turbine Configuration Information via the Internet." - "Sequoia Software Corporation, a leading provider of interactive enterprise information portals (EIPs), today announced that General Electric's Gas Turbine Business in Greenville, South Carolina has selected Sequoia Software's XML Portal Server (Sequoia XPS) to dramatically improve the way its customers access and act on information. The Sequoia-powered EIP provides GE technicians and customers, including many of the nation's largest power companies, with Web browser-based access to the precise data needed to maintain the 4,600 plus GE gas turbines now in service. . . Sequoia Software Corporation, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, is the leading provider of Interactive Enterprise Information Portals (EIPs). Sequoia's EIP application, Sequoia XML Portal Server(XPS) increases the accuracy of search and retrieval and lets you act on information directly through the portal, dramatically increasing your productivity and effectiveness."

• [December 20, 1999] "IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0 with XML Access Now Available. The New Business Document System from IXOS Enables Access to Archived Documents in Off-line Mode and Provides Improved Integration of Groupware Applications." - "IXOS SOFTWARE AG, Munich, a leading provider of software solutions for the management of business documents in the SAP R/3. system environment, today announced the immediate availability of IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0, the new version of its Business Document System (BDS). Announced in October of this year, IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0 incorporates Java and XML technology and provides an extended range of services. Additionally, the IXOS-DocuLink component enables users to access business transactions and related documents in off-line mode. With IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0, groupware users can now be integrated in business processes in their familiar application environment. IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0, in conjunction with the IXOS-DocuLink module, enables users in off-line mode to manage business documents from every conceivable origin, within the SAP R/3 infrastructure. In IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0, XML (Extensible Markup Language) is used to assign business document attributes, which represent information and metadata in a system-independent form. This means that documents can be extracted out of the SAP R/3 context and can be retrieved via XML-capable browsers. Incorporating this global standard helps all IXOS customers leverage their investment and allows them to link their archiving system with their e-business applications. IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0 is now available in English and German language versions. Other international language versions are intended for delivery in two months. As with all IXOS products IXOS-ARCHIVE 4.0 is fully year 2000-compliant."

• [December 17, 1999] "Vertex Introduces eQuantum for Sales and Use Tax, Featuring the First Object-Oriented Architecture for the Tax Compliance Industry. Designed Specifically for Calculating Taxes on Electronic Commerce Transactions." - "Vertex Inc., a leading provider of state and local tax compliance solutions for corporations, will introduce eQuantum for Sales and Use Tax, featuring integration via Java and XML programming languages to Java-based storefront applications. The eQuantum product, scheduled for general availability during the first quarter of 2000, will provide maximum functionality, flexibility, and efficiency in calculating sales and use taxes on electronic commerce transactions. eQuantum accepts transaction data passed from the host application, via either Java Objects or XML documents, in order to provide a sales tax quote and/or final tax calculation to the on-line customer. The system includes databases to determine the appropriate taxing jurisdiction, applicable tax rates, and any customer-, product-, or jurisdiction-based exceptions. The tax amount is then passed back to the host application and, if necessary, recorded in a register database for tax reporting purposes."

• [December 16, 1999] "Epic Data Releases Java and XML-Based Wireless Application For SAP R/3." - "Epic Data International Inc. today announced the full product release of EPIConnect: Warehouse Edition, a powerful shrink-wrapped software application for the SAP R/3 logistics system. EPIConnect is the first in a new generation of wireless applications developed with eXpresso, Epic Data's leading-edge development environment based on XML and Java technologies. 'The release of EPIConnect demonstrates Epic Data's strategic commitment to using the most advanced open technologies available: Java and XML. We're committed to Java as the leading development environment for application platform independence and to XML as the de facto standard for electronic business-to-business exchange. We believe that the use of these technologies in wireless applications will be rapidly validated by the marketplace,' said Dr. Jacek Lipowski, Epic Data Vice President of Technology."

• [December 15, 1999] "Open Applications Group, Inc. to Deliver Standardized Request for Quote in XML. SupplierMarket.com Joins OAGI and Presents Plan to Lead OAGI's Effort to Increase Efficiencies Through Standardized RFQs." - "The emergence of online trading communities, and the need to integrate them into back-end legacy systems, has increased the need for standards. Request for quotes (RFQs), the most common method for businesses to share information about needed goods and services are company-specific and lack industry standardization. In an effort to ease integration and communications along the supply chain, Open Applications Group, Inc. (OAGI) will standardize RFQs in XML. SupplierMarket.com, a leading Internet marketplace for the buying and selling of built-to-order, industrial manufactured products, will lead the effort for OAGI to standardize RFQs in XML. The Open Applications Group is a non-profit consortium focusing on dramatically easier business software interoperability for eBusiness and Application Interoperability. It is the largest publisher of XML content for business software interoperability in the world. The Open Applications Group also builds and publishes the detail specifications necessary to use the XML content as well as publishing a common middleware API specification that has been endorsed by several major middleware vendors. The OAGI membership is composed of many of the most prominent business software vendors, EAI vendors, Systems Integrators, and end-user associated organizations in the world, including: Agile Software, American Software, AT&T Wireless, Bluestone, Candle, Compaq, Component Software, Computer Associates, CrossWorlds Software, DATEV, Extricity Software, Ford Motor Company, Fortress Technologies, GloTech Solutions, Great Plains, HK Systems, Inc., I2, IBM, Indus, Integrated Systems & Services Group, J.D. Edwards, Lockheed Martin, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, NEC, Netfish Technologies, ObTech, OnDisplay, Oracle, PCS Inc., PeopleSoft, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PSDI, QAD, Requisite Technology, Robocom Systems, SAP, Teklogix, Trilogy, TSI, USData, Vitria, Wonderware, and webMethods." See "Open Applications Group - OAGIS 6."

• [December 15, 1999] "Viewlocity Announces XML Connector for E-Business. New Connector Expands Rich Heritage of Connecting Supply Chains." - "Viewlocity, a global leader in providing supply chain integration and synchronization for e-Business, announced today the availability of its XML Connector at the e-Business Conference and Expo in New York City. The new Extensible Markup Language (XML) Connector leverages Viewlocity's leadership in providing business-to-business connectivity across complex supply chains. Viewlocity has rich heritage of connecting more supply chains than any other vendor. The firm's wealth of experience includes empowering clients to connect to suppliers, customers, distributors, contract manufacturers, and logistics services providers. In the past, connectivity with trading partners was primarily accomplished via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Today XML provides a more open, flexible, internet-based communication standard. Viewlocity is helping clients leverage their existing investments in EDI while migrating them to XML. In fact, several global enterprises are currently launching their XML initiatives using Viewlocity's new XML Connector. The versatility of Viewlocity's XML capability will be exemplified with its XML support for clients of SAP, the leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, SAP. One of the first applications of its XML connector solution is with the SAP R/3 Business Connector during the first quarter of 2000. Viewlocity has currently over 170 installations of its SAP ALE connector in demanding SAP interoperability applications worldwide. Trading partners need to share an extremely diverse variety of information types such as orders, product design information, forecasts and production schedules. Viewlocity leverages XML to provide flexible support for this diversity with key capabilities that include graphical tools to edit and view business objects, as well as transform and share the business objects. Externally, these customers are sharing critical data with their trading partners. Viewlocity's XML Connector enables easy access and open exchange of business messages, allowing companies to take full advantage of web-based collaboration opportunities and form dynamic trading communities."

• [December 15, 1999] "Chrystal Software Announces Content Management on Sun Solaris Operating Environment Clients. Cross-platform support with a Java-based end-to-end publishing solution." - "Chrystal Software, a Xerox New Enterprise Company, today announced content management for clients of Sun Microsystem's Solaris Operating Environment clients. Chrystal Software customers will be able to employ eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) solutions in Solaris operating system-only or mixed computing environments. Capabilities include content management, Web-based access for authoring, view and annotation, and connection to popular authoring tools. Content management is an ideal solution for organizations producing and publishing all types of structured documents created using popular authoring tools. By managing documents down to the component level, users can retrieve, access, version, and secure each component individually, while maintaining the link between each component within the document, or documents, of which they are a part. A graphic, a procedure, or a paragraph are examples of components that can be dynamically assembled within the content management framework to create personal, interactive content. Pivotal to the Solaris Operating Environment integration was Chrystal Software's introduction of Web-based editing using Java technology for all documents and XML/SGML components. This enables authors to access their documents, make changes, and check in documents from distant locations, while working from home or during travel. This add-on functionality uses a standard browser interface running on Solaris desktops. In addition to XML/SGML, file check-out/check-in works with graphics, word processing files, and any other file format client software. The Solaris Operating Environment provides seamless support for 32- and 64-bit applications, superior Java technology performance, and high reliability and is available for systems based on both Intel and SPARC microprocessors."

• [December 15, 1999] "Flashline.com Unveils Component Registry, the Industry's First Open XML-Based Resource for Documentation on Reusable Software Components. New Offering Accelerates Time to Market and Establishes a Complete, Universal Format for Documenting Components." - "Flashline.com today launched Component Registry (www.componentregistry.com), the first non-commercial, open resource to provide critical component documentation for the industry's large and growing collection of JavaBeans, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), and COM software components. By providing all of the component information cataloged on one site, IT professionals using this valuable service will reduce development time and speed time to market for their component-based development projects. At the core of Component Registry is an XML Document Type Definition (DTD) which defines the standard format for documenting software components. This universal format for component documentation eliminates the need for developers to search extensively for the necessary component data, resulting in faster and easier application development. Component Registry also serves as remote catalog storage for component documentation. This centralization of data allows for easy access to the component information, making it simple for developers to receive the information immediately. In addition, the use of XML in the Component Registry allows developers to repurpose the component data into any format. XML also makes the component information portable and fully searchable. Component Registry incorporates software components from developers and development companies worldwide. Currently, the following companies endorse Component Registry as a dynamic way to access component documentation: Sun/Netscape's iPlanet, IONA, KL Group, Pramati Technologies, ProSyst USA, Protoview Development, Wildcrest Associates, HexaTech, Instant Computer Solutions, Intuitive Systems, Inc., Hallamshire Software, Virtua Communications Corp., InfoRad, Tidestone Technologies and Diamelle Technologies... Think of it as a Yahoo!. for software components. Component Registry bridges the information gap in the software component industry by providing a searchable XML database of component documentation. Component Registry's XML DTD provides a universal organizational format for component documentation, freeing vendors of the need to redesign their documentation to suit different presentations, and placing their component data in easy reach of the developers who purchase the components. It's one-stop shopping -- an informational express lane for components and the documentation necessary to put them to use."

• [December 15, 1999] "RosettaNet Opens European Office. Names Director of European Partner Relations to Extend Global Implementation of Supply Chain Standards. Establishes Partner Relations Group in U.S." - "RosettaNet today announced that it has opened a European Office and has appointed Thierry Ceillier as Director of European Partner Relations. Headquartered near Geneva, Ceillier will manage the RosettaNet effort to identify and integrate specific European requirements of companies participating in a global initiative to align supply chain interface eBusiness processes within the information technology (IT) and electronic component (EC) industries. He will also manage the European Partner Relations in these two industries. His appointment coincides with the scheduled first meeting of the RosettaNet European Review Committee on December 7, at which time supply chain trading partners will address issues relating to implementation of RosettaNet standards in Europe...RosettaNet is an independent, self-funded, non-profit consortium dedicated to the development and deployment of standard electronic business interfaces to align the processes between supply chain partners on a global basis. More than 60 companies representing $600 billion in annual revenues currently provide the mandate for RosettaNet's standards development strategy." For additional references, see "RosettaNet."

• [December 15, 1999] "Bridges for Islands Announces Partnership With RosettaNet. Bridges for Islands Leverages RosettaNet's Standards to Facilitate Business To Business Integration." - "Bridges for Islands Inc., an innovative provider of e-Business Application Integration solutions, today announced its membership in RosettaNet, an Information Technology industry- wide consortium that develops XML-based (eXtensible Markup Language) business process standards for B2B. Bridges for Islands is joining RosettaNet as a Solution Partner. RosettaNet's set of standards, including PIPs (Partner Interface Processes), define dialogs for business transactions that enable business partners to fully leverage e-Commerce applications and the Internet. Bridges for Islands offers e-Business tools that support RosettaNet standards. As a RosettaNet Solution Partner, Bridges for Islands will provide the technology and services to aid companies in implementing RosettaNet interfaces. Bridges for Islands with its Brahms B2BEngine will provide the products, tools, services and consulting to ensure increased adoption of RosettaNet standards across the entire supply chain..." For additional references, see "RosettaNet."

• [December 15, 1999] "Bridges for Islands Announces BRAHMS B2BENGINE. BRAHMS B2BENGINE Provides Rapid Integration Between Enterprises and Their Business Partners." - "Today, at the eBusiness Expo, Bridges for Islands, Inc., an innovative provider of solutions for e-Business Application Integration, announced the availability of its XML-based BRAHMS B2BEngine. The new product seamlessly connects previously disparate trading partners, enabling the automation of their business processes. Since BRAHMS B2BEngine is based on open XML standards, its integration solution can meet the needs of any business integration scenario. BRAHMS B2BEngine was designed and modeled to integrate enterprise information systems by spreading BRAHMS B2BModules among business partners. BRAHMS B2BEngine incorporates the latest technologies, such as XML and EJB, creating an open and flexible environment that easily adapts to changes. These technologies allow applications to exchange disparate data across enterprise boundaries via public networks, enabling trading communities to utilize the Internet. It allows companies to easily build dynamic alliances to leverage the changing business environment by streamlining the entire supply chain, increasing margin and reducing time to market."

• [December 15, 1999] "MERANT Introduces New XML Technology, Delivering Critical E-Business Data Integration Capabilities. XML Data Integration Technology Speeds Business-to-Business Implementations." - "Continuing to build on its Egility Data Integration solution for e-business, MERANT today unveiled DataDirect Connect for XML. For the first time, companies can access and integrate real-time XML data across existing standards-based applications, removing the need to rewrite applications in order to leverage XML. DataDirect Connect for XML reduces the amount of work required to implement XML for data integration, helping customers rapidly implement business-to-business systems. DataDirect Connect for XML is one of the technologies fundamental to helping companies implement MERANT's Egility Data Integration solution for e-business. The MERANT Egility Data Integration solution combines products and services that help extend the effectiveness of data in the enterprise value chain, enabling rapid and dynamic access to integrated information for an organization's customers, partners, suppliers and employees. MERANT Egility Data Integration empowers businesses for change by equipping them with a data integration strategy to respond to rapidly changing market dynamics. DataDirect Connect for XML is available immediately."

• [December 15, 1999] "UniCapital Corporation Publishes First Electronic Invoicing Schema on Microsoft's BizTalk for Commercial Equipment Finance Industry." - "UniCapital Corporation today announced it has published an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema on Microsoft's BizTalk Web site that will enable commercial equipment leasing companies to exchange invoices seamlessly with customers over the Internet. UniCapital expects that this schema will facilitate e-commerce in the $220 billion equipment leasing industry by providing companies with a universally compatible program for filing invoices electronically. By developing a standard e-commerce language for invoicing, UniCapital expects its schema to result in cost savings and increased operating efficiencies for equipment leasing companies and their customers. Introduced by Microsoft in March [1999], the BizTalk Framework makes it easy for businesses to exchange information between software applications and conduct business over the Internet with trading partners and customers. The BizTalk framework includes a design framework for implementing an XML schema in a consistent manner to enable integration across industries and between business systems, regardless of platform, operating system or underlying technology."

• [December 15, 1999] "XMLSolutions Participates in the ebXML Global Initiative With The United Nations and OASIS." - "XMLSolutions announces participation and support of the Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML). The United Nations body for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), have joined forces to initiate a worldwide project to standardize XML business specifications. ebXML has invited organizations to join in their efforts to create a cohesive framework that will enable XML to be utilized for the exchange of all electronic business information. XMLSolutions is proud to be one of more than 50 companies, consortiums, and international standards bodies participating in the ebXML initiative. The first ebXML meeting was held November 17 - 19 [1999] in San Jose, California. ebXML.org (www.ebXML.org) is an international initiative established by UN/CEFACT and OASIS with a mandate to undertake a 15-18 month program of work to research and identify the technical basis upon which the global implementation of XML ('Extensible Markup Language') can be standardized. The goal is to provide an open technical framework to enable XML to be utilized in a consistent and uniform manner for the exchange of electronic business data in application-to-application, application-to-person and person-to-application environments."

• [December 15, 1999] "Infoteria Announces iXSLT, the First Commercial XSLT Processor for C++." - "Infoteria Inc., a leading XML software design and development company, today announced that its iXSLT, the first full-featured commercial XSLT processor for C++, will be available worldwide in February, 2000. XSLT is the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Recommendation specification, which transforms XML data to any other kind of XML structure and HTML. Infoteria's iXSLT is fully compliant with W3C's XSLT 1.0 Recommendation and has been implemented by C++ for highest performance. It is available as an executable module (EXE), a dynamic link library (DLL) and a Windows COM module. Using as an executable module, users can easily embed XSLT processes in CGI (Common Gateway Interface) or Windows Shell. Using as a dynamic linking library from C++ applications, users can perform even faster XSLT processing for multiple data with pre-loading XSLT files. Using as a COM module, iXSLT can be embedded in ASP (Active Server Pages) and Visual Basic programs. As for the interface, iXSLT supports standard I/O, file, URL and API to meet various implementation requirements. iXSLT is available in February, 2000 as an executable (EXE), dynamic linking library (DLL) and COM module for Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 and 2000."

• [December 15, 1999] "Corel Corporation Integrates Jabber Instant Messaging Into CorelCity.com Application Platform. Webb Provides First Instant Messaging Service Based On Jabber.org's Open-Source Movement." - "Webb Interactive Services, Inc., a leading provider of infrastructure services for local commerce, today announced JabberIM, its first instant messaging service built in partnership with the Jabber.org XML-based, open-source movement. JabberIM is included in Corel Corporation's recently announced application platform, CorelCity.com, in addition to being embedded within Corel's new Linux Desktop OS. JabberIM provides CorelCity.com users with an all web-based means of creating buddy lists and sending instant messages. Webb has integrated and hosts JabberIM services on Corel's behalf for the CorelCity.com platform. No terms or financial information on the partnership is being released. Webb Interactive Services is building a business and technology infrastructure to enhance buyer-seller interaction in the local commerce market. Webb is leveraging its community building expertise with the emerging standards of XML to create commercial communities that empower our distribution partners in the local directory services, community banking and enterprise communications market sectors. Webb clients include Switchboard, Inc., CBS, RE/MAX International, Inc., and CU Cooperative Systems, Inc. (a network of more than 650 credit unions)."

• [December 13, 1999] "RPX-Signature: Remtec ready to launch a pioneering XML-based digital signature solution." - "Remtec Systems, Ltd has developed a pioneering solution, RPX Signature, for digital signatures and signature verification in e-Business applications. RPX Signature provides maximum integrity, message and signer authentication and signature verification for data of any type, whether located within the XML-data that includes the signature or elsewhere. The new XML (Extensible Markup Language) based RPX Signature application component follows the World Wide Web Consortium working draft for digital signatures. This is a major breakthrough in information security, one of the key issues in enabling the development of reliable e-Business transaction applications. Remtec offers its partners and customers opportunities to utilize Remtec's RPX Platform in their applications, now including strongest available information security. Applications can also use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Smartcard based certificates, where applicable. 'We wanted to be among the very first to combine a powerful Java and XML application architecture with strong security services, offering highest security and integrity for critical e-business applications.' Remtec offers secure information logistics and communication solutions for B-to-B based on a Java and XML application environment (RPX Platform). Examples of solutions based on RPX Platform are: on-line spare part and product catalogues, electronic technical manuals, on-line reporting of operations and workflow, data acquisition and remote diagnostics."

• [December 13, 1999] "Joint Venture to Develop XML Standards for Reinsurance. ACORD and IVANS Selected to Convert Existing Joint Venture EDI Standards." - "The Joint Venture (JV), a group of international insurance industry organizations banded together to develop standards for structured data exchange, is initiating an XML version of standards for processing major types of reinsurance transactions. Currently, JV standards documentation is based on global UN/EDIFACT syntax, independent of industry affiliation. The Executive Board of the JV has chosen ACORD, an insurance industry standards association, and IVANS Inc., an e-business solutions provider serving the insurance industry, to collaborate on an XML version of data standards for processing major types of reinsurance transactions. Scheduled for completion by the end of the first quarter, 2000, the JV XML standards will help reinsurance keep pace with cross-industry XML initiatives. 'The JV XML standards will be the universal XML standards for reinsurance, supported by every major reinsurer and intermediary in the US, London and Western European markets,' says Dan Carmichael, president and chief executive officer of IVANS. 'Any individual company or vendor that is developing proprietary XML applications for reinsurance or insurance will eventually have to map to the JV XML standards to communicate with the rest of the world.' Earlier this year ACORD developed an insurance industry XML dictionary, and the JV project will produce an XML dictionary for JV data. In addition, the project includes Document Type Definitions (DTDs) for all JV messages and research documentation of ongoing XML developments. As part of the XML development, ACORD and IVANS will anticipate evolution of the UN/EDIFACT framework. They will also take into account other emerging international standards, other technologies for transmission among data partners, and XML implementations in other industries. Project objectives include assessment of documentation options and recommendation of standards creation for additional technologies, such as object modeling." See "ACORD - XML for the Insurance Industry."

• [December 13, 1999] "New Management-specific XML Dialect From Manage.Com Helps On-line Businesses Control Infrastructure, Business Processes. manageXML Can 'Wire' Together Managed Objects, Model and Simulate User's E-Commerce Sessions." - "A 'dialect' of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) specifically designed to let on-line businesses and service providers manage the delivery of services to their customers across extranets has been developed by Manage.Com. The new manageXML language, fully compatible with the web-standard XML, enables users of Manage.Com's FrontLine e.M eBusiness management software to create a set of document-like descriptions of managed objects, including Internet infrastructure devices, transactions and business processes. The documents, which establish inter-object relationships and dependencies, supply FrontLine e.M with the basis for provisioning services and taking corrective action. manageXML can model not only physical objects but also logical entities. This is essential in representing logical objects such as managed services, for example, and modeling eCommerce sessions that simulate a user's progress through a series of transactions. Bob Quillin, Manage.Com vice president of marketing, said, 'XML has already spawned a number of market-specific dialects, from eCommerce applications such as Commerce XML (cXML) and the Common Business Language (CBL) to scientific applications like mathXML. manageXML provides the same benefits for eBusinesses needing to directly link their business objectives with their Internet infrastructure. An on-line retailer can represent its top 10 transactions -- shopping cart, catalog browsing, etc. -- in manageXML, and monitor the consistency of performance its on-line users see with each of these transactions. Alternatively, an ISP can take advantage of manageXML to define a set of documents that make up a hosted service package, providing its customers real-time visibility into the performance of those services.' Included with manageXML is an Authoring Kit that provides software tools, templates, examples and documentation designed to facilitate the creation, validation and testing of manageXML documents. Key components of the kit include manageXML authoring tools, which help vendors and integrators wishing to build new manageXML documents using previously defined vendor-specific documents or transfer managed definitions originally created as SNMP MIBs; the manageXML static validator, which ensures correct syntax and format of documents created in manageXML; and a manageXML object validator, which enables correct formation of manageXML documents."

• [December 13, 1999] "Industry Leaders Endorse HR-XML Framework. Consortium to Deliver Business-to-Business E-Commerce Standards Starting With Staffing and Recruiting." - "The HR-XML Consortium announced today that more than 25 organizations have endorsed an XML framework designed to enable web-based workforce management and recruiting services. Based on open, business-to-business e-commerce models, these next- generation workforce management and recruiting services promise to deliver employers greater ROI for their staffing expenditures, while giving HR and staffing vendors new opportunities for growth and profit. The HR-XML Consortium is a newly formed non-profit group dedicated to the development and promotion of standardized human-resources-related XML vocabularies for enabling business-to-business e-commerce and the automation of inter-company exchanges of human resources data. As companies turn to the Internet to conduct business, efficient integration of applications will become essential. Supporting and deploying XML schemas will allow applications with similar types of business data to easily pass information between computers. 'The adoption of HR-XML standards is a key element in creating talent marketplaces that provide true collaboration and a secure transactional environment,' said Chuck Allen, HR-XML Consortium Chair. 'The endorsement of so many industry leaders puts us well on the path to creating a robust, meaningful standard.' Staffing and Recruiting is the first of many HR areas that the HR-XML Consortium will standardize. The HR-XML Consortium is a newly formed non-profit group dedicated to the development and promotion of standardized human-resources-related XML vocabularies for enabling e-commerce and the automation of inter-company exchanges of human resources data. Founding members of the Consortium are Icarian, Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of workforce management solutions (www.icarian.com), and Structured Methods, a Raleigh, NC-based, XML solutions provider (www.structuredmethods.com)." See also "HR-XML Schemas" and the main database entry, "HR-XML Consortium."

• [December 13, 1999] "Arbortext continues leadership role in standards support with latest release of XML e-Content software, Epic 3.0/Adept 9.0." - "Arbortext, Inc. announced today that its modular eContent software products, Epic 3.0 and Adept 9.0, now support key Web standards aimed at easing customer and third-party developer efforts and maintaining interoperability with other key software platforms. In addition to extended Java support, Epic and Adept now support Extensible Style Language (XSL), Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT), Document Object Model (DOM) and Component Object Model (COM) standards. Combined with support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and additional scripting languages, these new standards offer Epic and Adept users a wide new range of interoperability options for developing XML-based e-Content."

• [December 13, 1999] "Ontology.Org Joins With United Nations and OASIS to Support ebXML Global E-Business Initiative." - "Ontology.Org, an independent research organization founded by Computer Sciences Corporation, has announced its support for and participation in the Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML), an open, vendor-neutral initiative to establish a global technical and semantic framework that will enable XML to be utilized in a consistent manner for the exchange of e-business data. ebXML is a joint effort of the United Nations CEFACT, a U.N. body whose mandate covers worldwide policy and technical development in the area of trade facilitation and e-business, and OASIS, a non-profit, international consortium dedicated solely to product-independent data and content interchange. Ontology.Org (www.ontology.org), founded in May 1998, is committed to improving XML practices through the adoption of knowledge engineering techniques and shared ontologies, which has become an important topic in the development of business to business commerce on the Internet. Ontology.Org has joined with more than 120 representatives from such varied organizations as ACORD, Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) x12, Commerce One, CSC, DataChannel, DISA, UN/EDIFACT, IBM, OAG, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems to launch the ebXML initiative. 'We applaud the effort of UN/CEFACT and OASIS to bring together the EDI and XML communities to define XML standards for electronic business,' said Howard Smith, director of Ontology.Org. 'Ontology.Org's community of knowledge engineers understand all too well the challenge ebXML.org will face in re-engineering the complexity and scale of EDI for the new Internet economy. We look forward to collaborating with ebXML participants to solve this problem.' 'OASIS is pleased to have Ontology.Org participate in the important work of ebXML,'' said Laura Walker, executive director of OASIS. 'As an open, vendor-neutral initiative, ebXML will facilitate communications and level the playing field for mature and developing economies.' 'The primary objective of ebXML is to lower the barrier of entry to e-business in order to facilitate trade, particularly with respect to SMEs and developing nations,' added Ray Walker, chair of the UN/CEFACT. 'The success of global e-business is analogous to the success of the telephone -- unless everyone has simple and inexpensive access, it won't work.' EbXML.org is an international initiative established by UN/CEFACT and OASIS with a mandate to undertake a 15-18 month program of work to research and identify the technical basis upon which the global implementation of XML (Extensible Markup Language) can be standardized. The goal is to provide an open technical framework to enable XML to be utilized in a consistent and uniform manner for the exchange of electronic business data in application-to-application, application-to-person and person-to-application environments."

• [December 08, 1999] "Reuters to Use XML for News." - "Reuters, the global news and information group, is to introduce NewsML to present its news services. NewsML is an open standards-based format for the creation, transfer and delivery of news. It is based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), the emerging Internet standard for data sharing between applications developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, the co-ordinating body for Internet developments. Reuters has taken the initiative in the creation and adoption of NewsML through the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC). The IPTC recently established a programme, IPTC 2000, which will deliver a single XML-based format for managing news production. An increasing number of Reuters subscribers are establishing themselves on the Internet and requesting delivery in XML. Jo Rabin, Reuters Vice President, Development, said: 'XML will make a substantial difference to the cost efficiency of our customers in many industry sectors. NewsML will offer new applications to a wider news market and make it easier to achieve the linkage of multi-media products ranging from text, photographs and video to wireless communications. Our adoption of NewsML is an example of Reuters policy to encourage the development of open standards, in line with its membership of the World Wide Web Consortium'. Reuters supplies the global financial markets and the news media with the widest range of information and news products including real-time financial data, collective investment data, numerical, textual, historical and graphical databases plus news, graphics, news video, and news pictures. It reaches over 519,000 users in 57,720 locations and extensively uses internet technologies for wider distribution of information and news. Reuters designs and installs enterprise-wide information management and risk management systems for the financial markets as well as providing equity and foreign exchange transaction systems. Reuters provides news and information to over 225 Internet sites reaching an estimated 12 million viewers monthly. Reuters is the world's largest news and television agency with 1,946 journalists, photographers and camera operators in 183 bureaux serving 157 countries. The International Press Telecommunications Council was established in 1965 to safeguard the telecommunications interest of the world's press. Since the late 1970s its activities have primarily focused on developing and publishing Industry Standards for the interchange of news data. At present, the IPTC membership is drawn mainly from the major news agencies around the globe but it also has a strong representation from newspaper publishers as well as system vendors." For background, see "NewsML and IPTC2000."

• [December 08, 1999] "Flashline.com Releases JavaDox - The First Standards-based eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Version of Java 2 Platform Documentation." - "Flashline.com today announced at Java Business Conference the release of JavaDox 1.0, the industry's first fully searchable and easily formatted eXtensible Markup Language (XML) representation of Java 2 platform documentation. JavaDox was developed to make Java class documentation easier for developers to create and use. JavaDox is modeled on the Javadoc(TM) documentation standard created by Sun Microsystems. Without modifying existing code, developers are now able to utilize JavaDox to generate Java documentation in XML, rather than in HTML as produced by Javadoc. XML allows information to be stored in a pure, shareable format that separates data from presentation. Storing documentation in XML enables developers to fully employ the advantages of XML. In addition to Sun Microsystems, the following prominent industry vendors endorse JavaDox as a robust documentation tool: IONA Technologies, KL Group, ProtoView Development, Wildcrest Associates, Pramati Technologies, Intuitive Systems, Tidestone Technologies, Instant Computer Solutions, Virtua Communications, InfoRad, Hexatech, and Hallamshire Software. Flashline.com has published the documentation for the Java 2 platform in the JavaDox format. This documentation is available at www.componentregistry.com/javadox. The JavaDox Document Type Definition (DTD), Schema, sample XSL files, and the Doclet Program are available for public review.

• [December 08, 1999] "SoftQuad Software Releases XMetaL 1.2. Better Performance for Users, XSLT Support for Web Publishing." - "SoftQuad Software Inc., a pioneer in standards-based content authoring solutions, today announced the release of XMetaL 1.2, a free upgrade for its advanced, yet easy-to-use, XML authoring solution. The upgrade increases XMetaL's performance and productivity for users of all skill levels, and provides powerful new tools for publishing XML documents to the Web. 'With this release of XMetaL, we wanted to improve the user experience and make it easier for organizations to publish their XML documents to the Web,' says Roberto Drassinower, president and CEO, SoftQuad Software Inc. 'We've reached an important XMetaL milestone by giving organizations even more flexibility in how they create, use and share their content.' For content authors, XMetaL 1.2 includes a number of performance and productivity enhancements, including improved table handling, improved CSS rendering, improved spell checking and more intuitive editing functions. To help organizations produce Web-ready HTML from XML documents, XMetaL 1.2 includes a built-in XSL transformation engine. The engine is implemented as an XSLT COM object, which developers can access through scripts. Using XSL stylesheets, XML documents can easily be transformed to HTML for output to a browser or a file. In addition, developers can use the XSLT COM object for performing other complex document transformations on the fly, directly within XMetaL. Other improvements now found in XMetaL 1.2 give developers the ability to automate more processes to increase productivity when authoring XML documents. These include: (1) Broader Event Trapping. XMetaL now tracks a broader range of user events, including on-browser preview, to allow more refined optimization of the authoring environment through scripts or XMetaL's menu-based productivity tuning tools. (2) Scriptable Entity Creation. XMetaL's improved handling of entities gives developers the ability to automate the creation and use of entities through scripts. XMetaL is a powerful, full-featured XML and SGML authoring solution that can quickly be tuned for productivity, integrated with any publishing system, tailored to meet the needs of authors, and deployed across an organization. Ideal for organizations with an existing document solution, as well as those breaking new ground in Web publishing, knowledge management or e-commerce, XMetaL provides the power and flexibility required to create content quickly and cost-effectively."

• [December 08, 1999] "SoftQuad Software Announces Significant Integrator, VAR and OEM Channel Agreements For XMetaL. XMetaL Gaining Significant Industry Acceptance and Momentum." - "Today, at the XML'99 conference in Philadelphia, PA, SoftQuad Software Inc., a pioneer in standards-based content authoring solutions, announced the signing of five new XMetaL channel agreements - AGRA Systems Limited, American Computer Innovators Inc., Datalogics Inc., Movement, Inc. and Software AG - that add to SoftQuad's network of over 70 VARs and OEMs in 13 countries. 'XML'99 is the launching point for XMetaL 1.2 and our comprehensive channel strategy, which focuses on signing the top integrators, VARs and OEMs who use XML for web publishing and e-commerce,' says Roberto Drassinower, president and CEO, SoftQuad Software Inc. 'We're very excited about meeting our channel objectives and we now have partnerships with many of the most successful companies in the industry. With the addition of these latest five new partners, it's clear that XMetaL continues to set the XML authoring standard.' XMetaL is gaining considerable industry acceptance and momentum, primarily due to its ease of use, straightforward deployment and customization features. XMetaL has benefited from rave reviews from both the press and analyst community and, with today's launch of XMetaL 1.2, it is regarded as the most advanced XML authoring solution available, delivering unprecedented ease-of-use to authors while shielding them from the complexities of XML. XMetaL has a familiar word processor-like environment which makes it a broadly deployable solution that drastically reduces training and implementation costs. XMetaL can increase performance, productivity and stability for users of all skill levels, while giving developers additional tools and functionality to create a more intuitive and integrated XML authoring environment."

• [December 08, 1999] "DataChannel and Extensibility Partner to Advance XML Leadership. Extensibility to Support PML 1.0. DataChannel Extends Training." - "In a joint announcement from XML '99, DataChannel and Extensibility have partnered to deliver advanced XML industry solutions. The collaborative efforts from this alliance will help businesses leverage existing information systems by synchronizing data exchange from disparate systems, differing schemas, and e-business applications. Extensibility, the foremost authority on XML Schema management, will create a validated schema for DataChannel's Portal Markup Language 1.0. (PML 1.0). PML 1.0 has been submitted and accepted by the OASIS group as the first industry standard markup language for content display and management by an Enterprise Information Portal. XML Authority, Extensibility's unparalleled schema processing and validation server will contain PML 1.0 support in its next release. DataChannel will accelerate its lead in providing XML training and solutions by becoming the lead training partner for Extensibility, creating new curriculum and certification for XML Authority as well as other company offerings. These courses, along with other advanced tutorials from DataChannel will be offered in both open-enrollment and customized training sessions, available the first half of next year. Additionally, DataChannel will include an evaluation copy of XML Authority in the SDK of its XML-based Enterprise Information Portal, DataChannel Server 4.0 scheduled for first quarter of 2000. Coupling of the two products will deliver the industry's most advanced XML tools, training, support, and sample development allowing customers and partners to build extensible, scalable, XML-based corporate portals. DataChannel will also include XML Authority in its repertoire of offerings for schema design services and portal implementation engagements."

• [December 08, 1999] "Microsoft Announces Finalized BizTalk Framework Microsoft Teams With Customers, Partners and Industry Standards Bodies To Define BizTalk Framework and Accelerate Adoption of XML-Enabled E-Commerce." - "Microsoft Corp. today announced availability of the BizTalk Framework Document Specification 1.0, an updated component of the framework based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) schemas and industry standards for sharing information. The Microsoft BizTalk Framework provides specifications for the design and development of XML-based solutions for communication between applications and organizations by leveraging standard Internet technologies such as XML, XML schema and MIME. This data-focused approach allows businesses to easily exchange XML documents with online trading partners and internal systems regardless of the platform, operating system or the underlying technology of their existing systems. Microsoft submitted the BizTalk Framework Document Specification 1.0 to the BizTalk Steering Committee -- composed of industry-leading vendors, standards bodies and corporate customers -- for review in September. The committee finalized and published the document specifications on the BizTalk.Org Web site, a public online library of shared XML information, resources and business document schema. Any individual or organization can access the specifications and use them to implement e-commerce and application integration solutions using the BizTalk Framework. With the final version of the specification now available, corporate developers and independent software developers can immediately embark on the development of BizTalk-compatible applications." See "BizTalk Framework."

• [December 08, 1999] "Justsystem's Tech Roadmap Adopts XML-Based Spreadsheet." - "Justsystem Corp. announced its product roadmap called XML Document Solution, based on extensive markup language (XML) technology. The first product associated with this solution is the Ichitaro Ark word processor released on Dec. 3, followed by the XML-based spreadsheet and drawing software products. When used with the company's search engine called ConceptBase Search, these products will enable users to effectively reutilize stored information and to have a wider selection of terminals for use with the system. Justsystem will develop a suit of such products for availability in the first half of 2000. Ichitaro Ark released on Dec. 3 is a Java2-based word processor that is capable of exchanging documents over the Internet. The company is planning to introduce a series of new products in the first half of 2000 by applying the XML engine of Ichitaro Ark, called Ark Platform, to the existing Sanshiro spreadsheet software, and Hanako drawing software. A Justsystem official said that development of XML-based products will allow the company to construct a sophisticated knowledge-sharing system by combining XML data definitions and the concept search engine of ConceptBase Search, and to distribute information to terminals like PDAs, in addition to PCs."

• [December 07, 1999] "Sun Microsystems Leads Industry Effort to Simplify XML. Java 2 Platform Support for the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) dramatically eases the creation of Ecommerce applications." - Sun Microsystems, Inc. today made two announcements that underscore its support for the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) with the Java 2 platform: the availability of the Java Application Programming Interface (API) for XML Parsing Optional Package ("JAXP"), and the formation of an expert group for the XML Data Binding project. The expert group for this project, which is going through the Java Community Process, consists of Allaire, Ariba, BEA/Web Logic, Bluestone Software, AOL/Netscape, Extensibility, Fujitsu, IBM, Object Design, Oracle, webMethods and Sun Microsystems. With these announcements, Sun is leading the effort to deliver XML technologies for the Java 2 platform that will ease the creation and maintenance of Java technology-based applications enabled by XML and improve portability of data exchange between disparate business systems. In 1996, Sun spearheaded an initiative through the W3C to develop the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), a standards-based universal syntax for describing and structuring data in a way that is independent from the application logic. Sun's announcement of the Java technologies for XML provides universal application logic that complements XML. The Java 2 platform and XML are complementary technologies that each have common features critical for industrial-strength Web-based applications, including platform-independence, industry standards, extensible, reusable, and global language support. Together, the Java 2 platform and XML will allow enterprises to simplify and lower the cost of information sharing and exchange in Web applications. The JAXP optional package provides basic functionality for reading, manipulating, and generating XML documents through pure Java APIs. Seamlessly integrated with the Java 2 platform, JAXP provides a standard way for a Java platform-based application to plug in any XML-conformant parser. While the reference implementation uses Sun's experimental high performing Java Project X as its default XML parser, the software's pluggable architecture allows any XML- conformant parser to be used, such as the xml.apache.org XML parser, code named Xerces. As part of Sun's ongoing commitment to industry developed standards, JAXP is fully conformant to XML standards from the W3C and the XML community. JAXP is being developed through the Java Community Process ("JCP"), which is the formalization of the open process that Sun has been using since 1995 to develop and revise Java technology specifications in cooperation with the international community of developers using Java technologies. Sun also announced the expert group of industry leaders within the JCP that is working to create XML Data Binding software for the Java 2 platform. This project, code-named Project Adelard, will enable developers to deliver and maintain high-performance XML-enabled applications with a minimum of development effort. Project Adelard provides a two-way mapping between XML documents and Java technology-based objects along with a schema compiler tool. The compiler will automatically generate Java classes from XML schemas without requiring developers to write any complex parsing code. In addition, the compiler will contain automatic error and validity of checking of XML messages, helping to ensure that only valid, error-free messages are accepted and processed by a system. Thus, not only will developers be able to more easily develop and process Java technology-based applications that leverage XML, but enterprises will also lower costs through more productive development."

• [December 07, 1999] "Bowstreet Delivers Industry's First Product To Support DSML, Enabling Companies To Mass-produce Highly Customized B2B Web Sites." - "Bowstreet, the leader in mass-customization of business-to-business e-commerce, today said it is the first company to deliver a product supporting the Directory Services Markup Language (DSML), a specification Bowstreet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and the Sun-Netscape Alliance submitted to industry standards bodies today. The Bowstreet Web Automation Factory leverages DSML - a way to represent directory contents in Extensible Markup Language (XML), the Internet's lingua franca for commerce - to let companies automatically mass-produce, link and highly customize B2B Web sites. This capability breaks a long-standing e-commerce bottleneck: the time, cost and pain of building separate Web sites for each customer and partner from scratch. By establishing directories as the infrastructure for e-commerce applications, DSML enables Bowstreet Web Automation Factory customers to mass-customize B2B Web sites and easily share valuable business data and business processes within and across company boundaries. Other companies are expected to follow Bowstreet's lead. In fact, 20 leading technology companies, including Lotus, Nortel and Red Hat, today announced they will support DSML." See the main news entry "Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) Submitted to Industry Standards Bodies."

• [December 07, 1999] "DataChannel Expands XML-Based Enterprise Portal Solution With WAVO's Real-Time News Delivery. XML-formatted Real-Time News Service Feeds DataChannel Server." - "Bellevue, Washington-based DataChannel, Inc., the leading developer of XML-based Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) solutions, and WAVO corporation, an industry leading Digital Media Services Provider, today announced that Wavo's NewsPak will be immediately incorporated into DataChannel's portal solution. NewsPak is the industry's leading solution for delivering pre-licensed, real-time news content to Web servers worldwide. It aggregates content streams from a catalog of over 600 media sources, including CNBC, Ziff-Davis, Financial Times, USA Today, Comtex, Knight Ridder and UPI. Providing these streams in a richly meta-tagged XML format, NewsPak will give DataChannel customers unparalleled ability to search, manage and personalize news information. 'Wavo NewsPak is a perfect mechanism for bringing external news into our DataChannel Server because its XML-based format is an easy snap-in with our technology,' said Steve Jones, vice president of marketing for DataChannel. 'DataChannel Server is the only XML-based Enterprise Portal server that can deliver those news feeds in real-time to a targeted audience through a customizable web-based user interface to any device.' DataChannel Server is the core of the company's EIP Solutions Framework, which provides a platform for building e-business solutions integrating data from a variety of sources. Utilizing a personalized Web interface, DataChannel portals allow users to quickly and seamlessly search for, retrieve and manipulate strategically relevant information from heterogeneous environments. Giving portal customers the option to incorporate external news via NewsPak is consistent with DataChannel's strategic vision of providing the most unique, comprehensive EIP solution available." NewsPak news is delivered in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format.

• [December 07, 1999] "XyEnterprise Announces Parlance Content Manager v3.0 Featuring Dynamic XML Support, New User Interface, and API. Latest Version Targets Content Creators Using XML for e-Enabled Business." - Xyvision Enterprise Solutions Inc. (XyEnterprise), a leading developer of XML-enabled content management and publishing software, has announced the latest version of its content and document management software, Parlance Content Manager. This new version builds upon Parlance's proven component management functionality by extending its application development environment with COM and JAVA APIs and enhanced support for XML. Additionally, its redesigned user interface offers greater ease of use of the content repository and integrated tools. Parlance 3.0 includes support for dynamic XML import, use, and delivery. Users can automatically load XML encoded data from an editor, legacy data system, or other source and, based on content, document type definition or schema, derive a configuration from the data source. Parlance manages these XML components and metadata at an object level for availability in any desired combination or format including web sites, paper documents, or other electronic media. Parlance Content Manager offers a new user interface that provides visual access to content objects and their relationships, the ability to search on XML and other content, and access to XML metadata. The Parlance interface can be customized based on user or enterprise preferences. The desktop client interfaces with Parlance's powerful integrated workflow, enabling users to develop, view, invoke, and automate new and existing workflows. Additionally, Parlance's interface enables ready access and manipulation of versions, history, projects, and other vital data resident in the system. Parlance Content Manager comes complete with a new Application Programming Interface (API) based on Microsoft COM (Common Object Model) for the Windows NT version of the product. A subsequent UNIX release will offer the same API functionality in JAVA. This API enables smooth integration with other applications in an enterprise environment and facilitates the use and delivery of content from editorial environments to the web. Integrators can offer customized solutions based on programming interfaces that leverage Parlance's server functions."

• [December 07, 1999] "Radiant Logic Introduces RadiantOne: LDAP & XML Based Virtual Directory Server Unlocks Back End Data for E-business." - Radiant Logic Inc., of Novato, California today introduced RadiantOne, a Virtual Directory Server (VDS) based on LDAP, XML and SQL technology. A new addition to the directory world, a Virtual Directory provides an up to date "directory view" to multiple database sources, without requiring complex synchronization. The concept is simple: a virtual directory looks like a regular LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) server, but it doesn't store data, it stores addresses of data records. When it receives a request, it reformats and reroutes the query to the relevant database, returning the data to the person or application that requested it. This simple, but powerful concept is based on directory-driven universal addresses for data records that can be accessed by people and applications across the Web. The RadiantOne VDS has been designed to serve companies that are deploying enterprise directories as well as companies that want to use directories for e-commerce application development. Using RadiantOne for enterprise directories will help companies solve the problems of limited, inflexible, content-poor enterprise LDAP directories. One of the biggest more challenges for enterprise directory architects is the inflexible and static nature of LDAP namespace and schema design. RadiantOne solves this problem with its ability to quickly change the structure and the contents of the directory through its easy to use point and click ViewDesigner application. In addition, in today's e-business environment, enterprises need a central, authoritative source for critical information about employees, customers, products, etc. RadiantOne allows directory managers to include nearly any type of structured data into their corporate directory, and to access it from nearly any type of interface -- Web browser, Microsoft Windows, PDA, mobile phone, etc. The database views, or IRLs, are actually LDAP objects (distinguished names) that can be added to the enterprise directory. The flexibility of the RadiantOne product with its point and click ViewDesigner allows administrators to add, change or modify their directory content or structure in minutes rather than weeks. The RadiantOne architecture represents a breakthrough based upon a combination of industry standards, including LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and SQL (Structured Query Language). The product is fully compliant with LDAP Version 3.0 and has been built upon the Netscape Directory Server 4.0. The RadiantOne engine is fully integrated with Microsoft Site Server and Active Directory, offering roles-based security and open links to higher level security offerings. Future releases of the product will be offered on Unix and other leading platforms."

• [December 07, 1999] "Architag International Corp. Announces xRay, a New XML Editor." - "Architag International Corporation today announced the alpha release of their first software product, xRay, for Microsoft Windows operating systems. The product is a real-time, validating XML editor designed to provide fast creating, viewing and editing of XML documents. 'We are proud to offer this tool as a contribution to the XML community,' said Brian Travis, President and CEO of Architag. 'While there are several editing tools available for the XML implementer, we felt the need for a diagnostic tool that allows users and developers to look inside their XML documents the way the XML parser does.' The product's speed means that it can also be used by professional keyboarders producing XML documents in a production environment. xRay is a real-time editor. On every keystroke, the editor validates the XML document and displays errors in a window on the screen. Multiple windows can be displayed, each containing its own XML document. xRay works with well-formed XML documents, but also validates according to different types of schemas. 'One of the breakthroughs in xRay is the ability to create and modify a document type definition (DTD) schema, but also create and validate against XML Data, a schema submission to the W3C,' said Travis. 'xRay is also the first XML editor that verifies rich datatypes, like numbers and dates, against the XML Data schema.' The xRay XML Editor is currently in a limited alpha testing release. Developers who are interested in participating in the test can contact Architag at xray-alpha@architag.com.

• [December 07, 1999] "Infoteria Announces iConnector and iMessenger. Availability of English version empowers rapid XML-based solution development worldwide." - "Infoteria Inc., a leading XML software design and development company, today announced that the English version of their industry leading XML products iConnector and iMessenger will start shipping in the first quarter of 2000 and be available worldwide. iConnector and iMessenger are member of Infoteria's XML Solution Components which offers comprehensive B2B database and application integration. iConnector and iMessenger are exhibited at the exposition of XML '99 as the first public demonstration in the United States. The iConnector series, the leading XML software packages in Japan, is a gateway product between traditional databases and XML data. iRuleGenerator, included in the iConnector series, allows users to map XML data structure to the database schema, and visa versa, easily using a graphical user interface (GUI). iConnector supports previous versions of the industry's leading databases, such as Oracle 7.x and Lotus Domino 4.5/4.6, as well as the latest versions of those database. iConnector also offers cross database relational joins where incoming XML data can be stored using another database as reference. The iConnector series consist of 3 packages, iConnector for Oracle, iConnector for Lotus Domino and iConnector for Access. Additional database support is planned in second quarter, 2000. iMessenger enables the sending and receiving of XML data via SMTP protocol. It has GUI setting screen and can run as a server to pool the incoming XML messages using IMAP4 or POP3 protocol. Both iConnector and iMessenger are easily used in CGI (Common Gateway Interface) and ASP (Active Server Pages) to build XML based web services, in addition to integrating inter-enterprise information systems."

• [December 06, 1999] "XMLSolutions Announces Beta Availability of First XML Schema Management Tool. Features Centralized Management of DTDs and XML Schemas that Facilitates Business to Business Interchange." - XMLSolutions announced the Beta program opening for release 1.0 of Schema Central. This is the industry's first tool to provide centralized management of XML schemas and DTDs. With large companies moving from the experimentation to implementation stages for XML-based applications, they are seeing a confusing proliferation of schemas from a variety of sources: industry standards groups, technology vendors, trading partners, and in-house projects. Schema Central is a web-based management facility that simplifies XML implementation by providing the following benefits: (1) Simplifies setup for XML interchange with new trading partners; (2) Allows XML schemas to be modified and tracked as business rules change; (3) Promotes reuse of existing schemas, reducing the number of redundant, but incompatible, schemas; (4) Delivers easy side-by-side comparison and mapping tool for viewing like schemas and DTDs. Schema Central allows an organization to set up a centralized repository of schemas, providing tools to import, generate, browse, edit, categorize, validate and manage the development of XML schemas and DTDs. XMLSolutions enables customers to profitably and painlessly expand their existing EDI implementation to non-EDI trading partners through EDI-XML translation."

• [December 06, 1999] "XyEnterprise Previews Content@ Content Management Software for Microsoft Word. New technology offers component management of XML, RTF, and Word files. Adds structure to unstructured data for e-Business applications." - "Xyvision Enterprise Solutions Inc. (XyEnterprise), a leading developer of content management and publishing software, previews its new content management application, Content@ (pronounced Contenta) at the XML '99 conference in Philadelphia this week. Content@ provides content management for users of Microsoft Word by storing and managing Word document components in a dynamic database repository. Content@ offers integrated workflow, meta-data support, full-text search and facilitates the re-use of document components for web, print, and other media. Content@ is a content and document management application that enables users to create efficiencies in their data creation and delivery process. Content@ enables groups of users to simultaneously collaborate on multiple parts of the same Word document, store components of the document in a variety of formats, and recombine these components into customized deliverables in web or print format. Content@ promotes significant efficiencies in the time required to create and distribute business critical documents such as policies and procedures, proposals, financial reports, marketing materials, and many other documents created in Word. With Content@, users can store complete Word files or components of Word files in DOC, RTF, XML or HTML format. This content can include text, spreadsheets, graphics, presentations, sound, and video. Content@ enables content creators and consumers ease of use and powerful content access and re-purposing as they bring their data from the desktop to the internet. Content@ preserves the normal editorial environment within Word and adds a Content@ menu that provides access to the content repository. Through this interface, users can view, select, and edit content objects. Users can access full-text and meta data searches, create new components from existing documents or new documents, re-use content in a variety of data collections, and interact with Content@'s built in workflow. Users create components for re-use from their current documents by accessing the 'Create Components, function from the Content@ menu. After creating components, Content@ creates unique objects in the repository and will track the version, history, re-use, children, and other aspects of each content object."

• [December 06, 1999] "Light Plaza and XML For All Announce XML-Based Turnkey Internet Document Delivery Systems." - "Light Plaza and XML For All, Inc. today announced the release of two Internet document delivery systems: The Light Plaza ScanServer is used to quickly scan paper documents and books and to prepare them for Internet delivery. The Light Plaza BookServer is a high-performance Internet document server. A typical configuration consist of one or more ScanServer document entry stations feeding into a single BookServer that delivers those documents over the Internet. Both the ScanServer and BookServer are out-of-the-box ready-to-use turnkey systems. Using these systems, new documents can be easily brought up on the Internet in a matter of minutes. The ScanServer is built around a Celeron-based Windows NT workstation and includes a high-speed autofeed, double-sided document scanner as well as a special "edge scanner" that makes it easy to scan books without removing their bindings. The BookServer is built around a Pentium-based Linux workstation. Both systems include a CD-RW drive and software for entering and editing meta data; full support for black-and-white, grey-scale, and color tiff, jpeg, and postscript documents; OCR, index and full-text search of scanned documents; high-performance on-the-fly creation and delivery of gif images to client browsers; and an advanced scripting system from XML For All. The use of XML for all meta data together with the inclusion of XML For All script source for the entire user interface yields a system that is completely open and exceptionally easy to customize."

• [December 06, 1999] "FileNET Introduces Panagon Web Publisher 4.0 Offering New XML-based Web Content Management Support with Compelling Return on Investment. New Product Version Delivers on FileNET's e-Content Management Strategy." - "FileNET Corporation today announced its new Panagon Web Publisher 4.0 software, which provides new XML language and incremental publishing capabilities for enhanced content management support of Web-based information portals. This is one of the first components of an upcoming major set of announcements slated for early 2000 in the e-content management space from FileNET. Panagon Web Publisher is currently being actively used by more than 30 major companies to automate and streamline their Web publishing needs and reduce bottlenecks in a critical area of e-commerce. FileNET has seen strong acceptance of this product with customers like Bank of America, UnumProvident Corporation, United States Postal Service, and Tandy Corporation, all of which are using the product in support of e-content management. Panagon Web Publisher 4.0 (PWP 4.0) is a template-driven software engine designed to automate the conversion of native application-authored documents into stylish, consistent Web publications. This conversion is guided by user-specified templates and results in fully linked XML and/or HTML Web sites. PWP 4.0 eliminates much of the tedious labor involved in creating and maintaining Web sites because translation to XML or HTML is automatic, leading to increased organizational productivity because content authors aren't required to learn XML and HTML programming and Web masters aren't required to edit content."

• [December 06, 1999] "XML For All Announces XFA Edit, an Advanced XML Editor." - "XML For All, Inc. today announced the release of XFA Edit, an advanced text editor for XML and HTML documents that runs under Microsoft Windows operating systems. XML, the eXtensible Markup Language, is a W3C standard with broad industry support that is quickly becoming the notation of choice for structured information exchange. XFA Edit is implemented as an intelligent XML editing mode that runs on top of Lugaru's Epsilon, an EMACS-like editor. A single package that contains both Lugaru Epsilon and XFA Edit can be ordered from the XML For All Web site at www.xmlforall.com. Epsilon supports full screen editing with an EMACS-style command set, non-intrusive mouse support, the ability to simultaneously edit an unlimited number of files, an extensive help system and on-line documentation, advanced search and search and replace commands, multilevel undo and redo, and advanced customization via the Epsilon EEL scripting language. XFA Edit adds color highlighting for XML tags, strings, attributes, and comments; checking for matching tags, quotes, and parenthesis; automatic indentation of nested XML elements; fast XML element navigation; and automatic insertion of XML end tags. All features can be individually customized via an extensive set of options. Support is provided for editing HTML, XML, and XML For All's XFA scripts. Complete EEL source code for XML Edit is included."

• [December 06, 1999] "SAQQARA Introduces Industry's First Comprehensive E-Business Software Suite Enabling Advanced Product Selection. Suite Enables 'Content for Commerce' Solution: Includes Product Content Management, Search, Configuration and XML Exchange for Complete Business-to-Business E-Commerce." - "SAQQARA Systems, Inc., a leading provider of business-to-business e-commerce software and services, today announced the SAQQARA Commerce Suite that enables a true "content for commerce" solution featuring product information management, publishing and XML exchange applications. Extending SAQQARA's award winning catalog management software currently in use by multiple Fortune 500 companies, the new SAQQARA Commerce Suite represents a unique offering that combines search and guided buying functionality for industrial manufacturers and suppliers to easily establish an e-business strategy and capitalize on the tremendous e-commerce sales opportunities. By deploying the new SAQQARA Commerce Suite, businesses have a front-end application to launch customized commerce strategies that include integration with existing enterprise systems and interoperability with supply chain partners. Specifically, the suite provides Global 2000 manufacturers with a set of complementary Web server applications that enable them to manage and publish detailed product information with advanced product selection capabilities, exchange product information with supply chain partners via emerging XML standards, analyze customers' online selection processes and fully participate in business-to-business electronic commerce opportunities."

• [December 06, 1999] "Founding Sponsor, Mediaplex, Inc., Hosts Launch Event for the Open Standards adXML.org. Industry Leaders Meet to Define the First XML Schema for the Advertising Industry." - "Mediaplex, Inc., a leading eBusiness marketing and technology company, today announced a launch event for the international open standards adXML.org. The adXML.org introduces a self-describing XML-based vocabulary specifically for the advertising industry that enables advertisers, agencies and Web publishers to issue and acknowledge a broad range of transactions on the Internet in real time. Designed to benefit the advertising industry with the same speed and accuracy that cXML delivers to e-commerce, the adXML.org has gained the support of industry leaders involved in both online and offline advertising. Attendees at the launch will include advertisers, publishers, online interactive agencies, traditional agencies, software vendors, and companies representing wireless, print, outdoor and broadcast media. Mediaplex, along with other members of the adXML.org foundation committee, is hosting the complimentary launch event to involve the advertising industry in the development and advancement of adXML. The event will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Dec. 9 at the Hyatt Regency, San Francisco International Airport. The agenda includes a morning executive overview and an afternoon specification working session. Registration is free at www.adxml.org."

• [December 06, 1999] "Exchange Applications Announces Development with PricewaterhouseCoopers of Links Between neXtricity Software and Customer-Facing Applications." - "Exchange Applications, Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest professional services organization, announced today that they are co-developing interfaces that link Exchange's new neXtricity software to customer-facing applications from leading vendors such as Siebel Systems and Broadvision. Exchange Applications and PricewaterhouseCoopers will publicly demonstrate neXtricity for the first time at the NCDM trade show this week in Orlando, Florida. neXtricity is a real-time, multi-channel decisioning software for eCustomer Relationship Management. The neXtricity links that PricewaterhouseCoopers is co-creating, known as Application Program Interfaces or APIs, will enable companies to gain a complete view of customer activity across all channels, and leverage that information to make customer communications decisions in real-time. Launched just three weeks ago, neXtricity is already being implemented at one of the world's largest financial institutions. By synchronizing historical information with customer interaction data, neXtricity can dynamically determine the optimal next course of action. It can, for instance, notify a call center representative that a high-value customer expressed interest in a product at the Web site that day, and provide a history of interactions and preferences to the CSR for a highly targeted and personalized response. The end result is an ability to more rapidly and effectively understand customer preferences, and ultimately increase revenues through efficiency."

• [December 06, 1999] "WebMethods Announces Rosettanet eConcert Webinar Series. Experts from webMethods, Forrester Research, KPMG and RosettaNet to discuss leveraging RosettaNet for successful B2B e-commerce initiatives." - "webMethods, Inc., a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and integration solutions, today announced a series of executive Web-based seminars (Webinars) hosted in conjunction with RosettaNet, Forrester Research and KPMG. RosettaNet is a non-profit consortium of major technology vendors, merchants and buyers created to develop a universal standard for the exchange of information between businesses online. webMethods was the first solution provider to join RosettaNet. The eConcert Webinar series will address how RosettaNet's e-business interoperability standard provides a common interface for system-to-system integration across the entire supply chain. Leading the discussion will be Kimberly Trudel, director of Industry Solutions, webMethods, David Jaskulke, director of IT Partner Relations, RosettaNet, Lori Orlov, senior commerce technology analyst, Forrester Research, and Jim Oravec, senior manager, KPMG. The panel will discuss the changing e-business landscape as well as technical solutions and implementation approaches for incorporating RosettaNet into successful B2B e-commerce strategies."

• [December 03, 1999] "Zope and Microsoft Integrate Using Web Standards." - "Digital Creations announced today increased interoperability between its Open Source Zope application server and Microsoft platforms using open standards. An early 2000 Zope release will include support for two protocols heavily supported by Microsoft, the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol. 'Zope is the leading Open Source application server for content management and portals,' says Paul Everitt, CEO of Digital Creations. 'Our customers and community gain tremendously when Zope and Microsoft applications communicate in a rich way. We are pleased to aggressively support these open standards that Microsoft has taken the lead on.' 'To build integrated e-commerce applications you must be able to connect different Web services together easily and quickly using Internet standards such as HTTP and XML,' stated John Montgomery, product manager in Microsoft's Developer Division. 'Digital Creations' support for SOAP and WebDAV in Zope will help organizations integrate a truly diverse set of applications and services.' SOAP is a remote procedure call standard based on HTTP and XML, two key standards managed by the World Wide Web Consortium. SOAP allows a program running on one machine to have basic, structured interactions with a program running on another machine. Microsoft submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force a draft specification for version 1.0 of the Simple Object Access Protocol. The Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol for collaborative editing on the Web. Microsoft was first to market with WebDAV authoring software in Internet Explorer 5 and Office 2000, while Zope was the first application server to provide WebDAV support. Digital Creations is working with Microsoft to ensure interoperability with the upgraded WebDAV support in Windows 2000... Visit www.digicool.com for more information, and get Zope free at www.zope.org." See also: (1) "Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)" and (2) "WEBDAV (IETF 'Extensions for Distributed Authoring and Versioning on the World Wide Web')."

• [December 03, 1999] "XMLSolutions' Provides EDI-to-XML Translation Demo Via the Internet." - "XMLSolutions announces that users of electronic data interchange (EDI) systems can submit any standard X12 or EDIFACT document for XML translation by visiting www.xmls.com. XMLSolutions, after receiving the EDI document, will apply the XEDI approach to EDI-XML translation (www.xedi.org) and return to the user by e-mail, the XML representation of the EDI file. 'Through this demonstration, companies will better understand the XEDI approach to EDI-XML translation and will begin to explore the possibilities that XML advancement brings to all industries that use EDI,' stated Rob Jones, Product Manager, XMLSolutions. To reach the EDI to XML translation site, visit the XEDI Translator section of XMLSolutions' Products area at http://www.xmls.com. XMLSolutions enables customers to profitably and painlessly expand their existing EDI implementation to non-EDI trading partners through EDI-XML translation."

• [December 02, 1999] "DataChannel Participates with United Nations and OASIS to Support ebXML Global Business Initiative." - "DataChannel, Inc. a leading developer of XML-based Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) solutions today announced its support of the Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML), a joint effort of the United Nations CEFACT and OASIS. ebXML is an open, vendor-neutral initiative to establish a global technical and semantic framework that will enable XML to be utilized in a consistent manner for the exchange of all electronic business data. DataChannel is one of more than 50 organizations participating in the ebXML initiative. 'We are very pleased that DataChannel has joined this effort,' said Robert S. Sutor, chief strategy officer of OASIS and Vice-Chair of the ebXML Initiative. 'DataChannel is an active sponsor of the OASIS XML.org industry portal. We look forward to their contributions to the development of these important open XML standards for global e-business.' The first ebXML meeting was held November 17 - 19 in San Jose, California, and was attended by over 120 participants representing more than 50 companies, consortiums, and international standards bodies. ebXML.org is an international initiative established by UN/CEFACT and OASIS with a mandate to undertake a 15-18 month program of work to research and identify the technical basis upon which the global implementation of XML (Extensible Markup Language) can be standardized. The goal is to provide an open technical framework to enable XML to be utilized in a consistent and uniform manner for the exchange of electronic business data in application-to-application, application-to-person and person-to-application environments." For other references, see "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)."

• [December 01, 1999] "RosettaNet Reaches Critical Milestone. Releases First 10 XML PIP Specifications." - "Furthering one of the most ambitious standards implementation efforts in history, RosettaNet, an independent consortium dedicated to development and deployment of supply chain eBusiness standards, Wednesday announced the release of its first 10 XML Partner Interface Processes (PIPs). Cooperatively developed by RosettaNet member companies, the PIPs are designed to align the electronic business processes of trading partners within the information technology (IT) supply chain. RosettaNet's PIPs are specialized system-to-system XML-based dialogs that define how business processes are conducted between IT manufacturers, software publishers, distributors, resellers and corporate end users. RosettaNet PIPs are essential to enabling the standardization of eBusiness processes among buyers and sellers in the supply chain. The PIPs were developed by analyzing supply chain processes, identifying mis-alignments, and designing a standard solution that enables global-scaled deployment. With the completion of these 10 PIPs, RosettaNet takes a step closer to achieving its goal of global deployment on Feb. 2, 2000. RosettaNet is unusual to industry standards-setting efforts in that it is designed to go beyond data interchange to align business processes. Like the earlier release of RosettaNet's technical and business dictionaries and set of eBusiness protocols, the 10 PIPs enable supply chain trading partners to create standard message documents for use in conducting eBusiness via the Internet. The first 10, of an eventual 100 PIPs, support catalog updating and purchasing. They define common XML dialogs for: Managing product subscriptions, Distributing new product information, Querying product information, Querying technical information, Distributing SKUs, Querying price and availability, Transferring shopping carts, Managing purchase orders, Querying order status, Distributing order status." See description and references in "RosettaNet."

• [December 01, 1999] "Organizations from Around the World Gather to Launch ebXML Global Electronic Business Initiative." - "The Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML), a joint effort of the United Nation/CEFACT and OASIS, attracted the participation of major industry standards organizations and companies from around the world at its inaugural meeting in San Jose, CA, USA. ebXML is an open, vendor-neutral initiative to establish a global technical and semantic framework that will enable XML to be used in a consistent manner for the exchange of electronic business data. More than 120 representatives from organizations as varied as ACORD, Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, Commerce One, DataChannel, DISA, UN/EDIFACT, IBM, OAG, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Inc. and others joined together to launch the ebXML initiative. Project teams were identified at the inaugural meeting and began work on the following: ebXML Requirements, Business Process Methodology, Technical Architecture, Core Components, Transport/Routing and Packaging, Registry and Repository, Technical Coordination & Support, Marketing, Awareness & Education. ebXML project teams will teleconference until the next face-to-face meeting, scheduled for 31 January - 4 February 2000, in Orlando, Florida. Subsequent meetings are scheduled for 8 - 12 May in Brussels, Belgium, 7-11 August in the United States and 6-11 November in Tokyo, Japan." See "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)."

• [December 01, 1999] "Bricsnet Launches the Most Comprehensive E-Marketplace for the Building Industry. Bricsnet.com will enable building professionals to manage the full building process lifecycle online." - "Bricsnet today launched Bricsnet.com, a fully integrated e-marketplace that will enable dispersed building teams to manage the full lifecycle of the building process online. The Bricsnet.com e-marketplace combines, for the first time, capabilities of an application service provider and an information portal to create a work-centric environment where industry professionals can securely access all the software tools and building content needed to make the building process easier and more efficient. Bricsnet.com will provide building professionals with a single Internet destination to design a building, manage a geographically dispersed project team, access information on commercial building components, exchange ideas and knowledge and, ultimately, bid on and procure building supplies from manufacturers worldwide. Bricsnet's e-marketplace surpasses all business-to-business (B2B) building industry alternatives available today. Where competitors offer only fragments of capabilities, such as a project extranet, Bricsnet.com integrates all work-centric applications and building content that building industry professionals need: architectural design software, structural engineering software, project extranet services, global access to localized building product information, e-commerce, and professional discussion forums... Bricsnet.com users will be able to select a product from a global library of information, and drag the product directly into a sophisticated 3D modeling application. These building components can interact with e-commerce and scheduling systems via the emerging XML standard. Bricsnet.com will be much more than just another B2B site with passive, immobile content, it will be an interactive environment designed to streamline the building process."

• [December 01, 1999] "elcom.com Joins RosettaNet - Will Contribute to Implementation of Standards for XML-Based Supply Chain Interfaces. elcom.com to Work with RosettaNet Consortium to Adopt Standards for eProcurement Process Interoperability." - "elcom.com, inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elcom International, Inc., today announced its support for the RosettaNet standards and will collaborate with RosettaNet members in implementing a common set of business interfaces and content standards for automated procurement (eProcurement) systems. The RosettaNet consortium, driven by trading partners and solution providers within the information technology and electronic components supply chains, is developing a set of global process standards that enable businesses to operate more effectively and lower the cost of business-to-business commerce. RosettaNet will harness the global and pervasive reach of the Internet by defining - and leading the implementation of - open and common processes designed to align the electronic business interfaces between supply chain partners. Said Elcom International's Chairman and CEO, Robert J Crowell. 'Participation in the RosettaNet consortium is consistent with our strategy to provide high levels of XML-oriented interoperability with supplier back-end systems. In 1994, we pioneered the concept of virtual sourcing, and we are committed to emerging standards which enable PECOS Internet Procurement Manager, our remotely-hosted automated procurement system, to extend supply chain integration. As RosettaNet's XML standards becomes more widely adopted, interfacing between PECOS Internet Procurement Manager and supplier's existing legacy and ERP systems will become easier than ever. We believe our strong technology foundation, combined with our legacy in supply chain integration, will enable us to assist in the accelerated implementation of industry-wide adoption of the RosettaNet standards.' elcom.com's PECOS Internet Procurement Manager is a second generation Internet-based automated procurement system designed to offer the many benefits associated with procurement automation without a large up-front financial commitment and without the IT personnel and resources burden typical of first generation eProcurement offerings. These benefits include reduction in product costs, improved operational efficiencies, outsourced content management, reductions in maverick spending, implementation of new services such as just-in-time delivery, and improved analytics enabling more informed decision making. elcom.com's offering, delivered through the combination of technology, content, and services, will take full advantage of the emerging RosettaNet standards." See also "RosettaNet."

• [December 01, 1999] "Acxiom Corporation Announces XML Support For Online Data Delivery. Format Provides Developers with Multiple Language and Platform Options." - "Acxiom. Corporation announced today the Acxiom Data Network now supports XML (eXtensible Markup Language) as its basis for providing InfoBase data products over the Internet to qualified, registered businesses. The addition of XML, a flexible document format for the Web, now allows developers to integrate the Acxiom Data Network with multiple languages and platforms. Translating XML-provided data to serve multiple applications, over multiple platforms, is a clear-cut process. With XML, developers now have the option of integrating Acxiom Data Network technology with ActiveX/COM objects on Windows platforms or writing their own interface with any platform and language that supports XML. In addition to support of the XML format, a new Acxiom Data Network software development kit, SDK 1.3, was recently made available. This new kit enables developers to integrate the functionality of Acxiom's InfoBase data products including InfoBase TeleSource, InfoBase Profiler and InfoBase Enhancement into their own applications. Applications can access Acxiom data products in a real-time, on-demand environment simply by utilizing the same software programs companies use everyday for decision support, marketing automation, contact management and sales force automation."

• [December 01, 1999] "The E-Content Company Announces XML-based PowerPoint Authoring. Will Enable e-Business to Leverage PowerPoint Information Assets for Customer Relationship Applications." - "The e-content company, a division of Interleaf, Inc. and leader in delivering powerful XML-based content management solutions for e-business initiatives, today announced the addition of Microsoft PowerPoint as an integrated authoring tool within BladeRunner for the creation of XML content for e-business applications. Marking an industry first, users of BladeRunner will be able to generate XML content from PowerPoint to gain greater access and leverage valuable information stored in this popular presentation software. PowerPoint is the latest addition of software tools to extend the authoring capability of BladeRunner further into the popular Microsoft Office suite. BladeRunner is the first complete content management solution for the extended enterprise that enables companies to create, manage, and deliver e-content - targeted, timely, personalized, intelligent and medium-aware business content - for web-enabled applications, using eXtensible Markup Language ('XML') as its technology backbone and Microsoft Word for content creation. Companies are able to apply intelligence, structure and style to their business information, generate output in a variety of formats, and dynamically integrate that information with other electronic and business processes in support of their e-business initiatives."

• [November 30, 1999] "Chrystal Software Announces Eclipse. Interactive Content Significantly Improves Effectiveness of Business Web Sites." - "Chrystal Software, a Xerox New Enterprise Company, today announced Eclipse, an innovative solution incorporating traditional Web pages and new, interactive content. Eclipse integrates with leading authoring software, Internet browsers, Web servers, and Web design software, and supports eXtensible Markup Language (XML) standards. Chrystal Software will be demonstrating Eclipse at XML '99 in Philadelphia, PA, December 6-9. With Chrystal Software's Eclipse, businesses that want to add interactive content to their Web sites can do so rapidly and incrementally. Eclipse incorporates traditional Web site content, allowing the Webmaster to continue using familiar HTML editors, file system managers, and other tools. New, interactive content is defined and managed in a complementary fashion. Eclipse uses XML in a myriad of ways. As visitors move through the Web site, Eclipse combines XML user profiles and actions to generate interactive content requests. These requests are fulfilled with XML content, determined by a combination of content and tag searches. The resulting interactive content is styled and delivered to the visitor in rapid fashion. Very often, this interactive content is combined with other Web site content such as HTML and graphics files. The personalization is transparent to the visitor."

• [November 30, 1999] "ACORD And IFX Forum Announce Cooperative XML Standards Development." - "During semi-annual Standards Subcommittee Meetings in San Francisco, ACORD announced a reciprocal membership agreement with IFX Forum. Both organizations set information technology standards for message transmissions in financial services industries. They will cooperate in the development of XML standards for the electronic exchange of data in the insurance and banking industries. The collaboration is typical of recent announcements of alliances between standards bodies to consolidate development. The arrangement will combine the insurance expertise of ACORD and the banking expertise of IFX Forum. The organizations will focus on the base IFX specification and the proposed ACORD Insurance XML specifications to produce a framework supporting XML-based transaction services. Joint participation is underway. ACORD and IFX Forum have exchanged memberships and committed to participation in each other's working groups. ACORD participants are assessing the base IFX specification and supplying IFX Forum with recommendations. In turn, IFX Forum will route insurance-related issues through the ACORD standards process. According to Kevin Schipani, ACORD's group manager, research and development, 'ACORD's XML working groups have followed IFX developments for several months. We are recommending adoption of key functionality into our own early XML specifications. We appreciate the opportunity to add value to the IFX base specification as we develop compatible insurance services.' The IFX specification defines a messaging standard for secured Internet Protocol (IP)-based banking business messages over the public Internet or private networks. The significance of XML and IP for the insurance industry is the progression from batch store-and-forward Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transmissions to real-time messaging. Insurance business benefits include fast, reliable rates, quotes, applications, policies, claims and other transactions among a variety of trading partners-carriers, producers, rating bureaus, third-party administrators and service providers." See "ACORD - XML for the Insurance Industry."

• [November 30, 1999] "Stack Overflow Launches The Mozquito Factory -- The World's First XML Authoring Environment Designed for XHTML." - "Stack Overflow AG today announced the commercial availability of the Mozquito Factory, the world's first XHTML authoring environment. XHTML bridges HTML -- the lingua franca of the Web -- with the power of XML, bringing richer Web pages and more flexible Web applications for a wide range of platforms and browsers: from desktop PCs to televisions to kiosks to automobiles and mobile devices. Written entirely in Java, the Mozquito Factory is a client-side, stand-alone authoring environment. The Mozquito Factory significantly reduces authoring costs for complex, highly dynamic Web interfaces -- saving hundreds of hours of programming time. Built upon a modular framework, the Mozquito Factory combines three independent applications into a powerful toolkit: (1) Mozquito Engine: to enable current browsers, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0 and higher, to process the extensibility and display next-generation data formats and standards, including XML and XHTML. (2) XHTML Validator: to automatically validate any XHTML or XML document, optimize markup, and invoke the Mozquito Engine upon successful validation to view the Web page. In addition, the XHTML Validator displays error messages to help users improve their authoring skills and easily learn about new tags and attributes. (3) Factory Editor: to author and edit highly dynamic XHTML, XML and forms-intensive Web sites without scripting or programming. With the Mozquito Factory, users no longer need to worry about incomplete implementations caused by the browser wars or tiresome cross-browser scripting in JavaScript/JScript/VBScript or Java Applet