News Briefs and Product Shorts

• Perle Systems recently introduced a new Gigabit version of its 594 controller, its line of controllers that are compatible with IBM's 5494 controller. Perle's new Gigabit 594 controller allows OS/400 shops to implement Gigabit Ethernet local area networks without replacing the investments they've made in SNA and older twinax devices. Gigabit Ethernet is the networking standard that supports data transfer rates of 1,000 megabits per second, and it is the successor to Fast Ethernet, which offered 100 megabit transfer speeds. Perle said its new Gigabit 594 controller overcomes limitations in iSeries support for the System Network Architecture (SNA) networking in Gigabit Ethernet implementations. To implement Gigabit Ethernet on an iSeries, users must install special 1 Gbps input/output adapters. However, IBM does not support SNA traffic directly on these adapters. To get around this limitation, Perle said, it is using the ANYNET protocol to transport SNA traffic from display monitors and printers over the IP network. Perle's products are available through a network of resellers that include Express Systems & Peripherals, Ingram Micro, Seneca Data Distributors, and Tech Data Corporation.

• California Software last week announced it is close to delivering support for RPG IV code in its application migration suite, called BABY/iSeries. The BABY/iSeries suite is composed of a collection of compilers and other programs that allow OS/400 application developers to compile and run their RPG, DDS, and CL code on Microsoft Windows operating systems. California Software, which has owned a good chunk of the market for OS/400 application migration tools since it won the rights to sell the Unibol/400 line, has been working for about a year to build support for RPG IV into its flagship BABY/iSeries product suite. The company said it has been an "extremely difficult project," but that it is confident it will soon deliver the functionality. The Irvine, California, software company demonstrated the new RPG IV compiler last week, during a business partner meeting in Paris, and said it expects to begin shipping the new compiler with the release of BABY/iSeries Version 9 in December.
  
  
• Australian Web-to-host software vendor looksoftware last week announced that its OS/400 application rejuvenation and integration product, newlook, now has support for DBCS, or double-byte character set support. By supporting DBCS, looksoftware opens its potential market to Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan. Leo Chang, the director of looksoftware partner APEX Solutions in Hong Kong, said there has been significant demand for tools like newlook with native DBCS support in all major double-byte markets. "The few products that are available are too complex, with heavy learning requirements and slow implementation times," he said. Looksoftware's products are available in the United States through the company's business partner LANSA.
  
  
• WRQ recently shipped a new version of its host integration suite for OS/400 and other platforms, WRQ Verastream Host Integrator 5.0. WRQ said that version 5.0 is targeted at helping IT departments integrate legacy systems with Web applications by adapting and reusing data and business logic, and allowing developers to gradually build more complex applications through three incremental phases. First, host screens can be made available via the Web, practically unchanged, with the touch of a button. In the second level, legacy functionality is presented in a more intuitive way and gives developers more control over the look and feel of the Web page. Finally, when fuller integration is required and the developers are ready to tackle complex applications, Verastream allows host functions to be encapsulated as building blocks, such as Enterprise JavaBeans and Web services. Verastream supports OS/400, OS/390, UNIX, HP e3000, and OpenVMS platforms. For more information, go to www.wrq.com.
  
  
• FormScape's output management software has been certified for use on J.D. Edwards' latest suite of ERP software, called ERP 8.0. FormScape's products allow companies to separate the process of designing and distributing forms from the software package that generated those forms. J.D. Edwards' OneWorld and ERP 8.0 (which is not architecturally different from OneWorld) are notable and rare for their use of Adobe's PDF format as the native document format. But that reliance on PDF also restricts how companies can use the documents, and it has had the side effect of creating a rich after-market for document management products. J.D. Edwards has created a fairly rigorous certification process that requires document management software companies such as FormScape to prove that their software doesn't corrupt data. FormScape has completed this testing process for ERP 8.0 on all of J.D. Edwards' support platforms, including OS/400, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, and Windows NT.
  
  
• Gauss last week announced that tests conducted to determine interoperability between its enterprise content management application and J.D. Edwards's ERP applications have been successful, and that Gauss has passed all requirements to become a Certified Interface Alliance Partner of J.D. Edwards. The testing was conducted by Gauss recently under J.D. Edwards supervision at the ERP giant's Denver, Colorado, headquarters to determine how well Gauss's imaging and content management suite, called VIP Enterprise, worked with J.D. Edward's complete line of ERP packages, including WorldSoftware, OneWorld, and ERP 8.0, its most recent suite. Gauss sought to use published J.D. Edwards interfaces, including screen captures, hot keys, and user defined menus, to allow employees to activate VIP Enterprise-controlled document transfers and other workflow processes from within their familiar J.D. Edwards screens. Gauss, which acquired Magellan Software's OS/400 and Windows product line about two years ago, said this sort of integration will speed processes occurring in companies' accounts payable, accounts receivable, order processing, human resources, payroll, and procurement departments. Murphy Oil Corp. has already benefited by integrating VIP Enterprise with its OS/400-based WorldSoftware, Gauss said. Before the integration, it would take about 15 minutes to respond to customers' invoice inquiries. "Now it rarely takes more than a two-minute phone call," said Johnny Richardson, a systems project coordinator at the Arkansas company.
  
  
• In a flap eerily reminiscent of IBM's regrettable "Peace, Love, Linux" stunt in San Francisco last year, Microsoft is finding itself in hot water over a bunch of decals of butterflies that have been plastered on public property in New York City. The Associated Press reported that the transportation department of New York has ordered Microsoft to remove the butterfly decals that sprouted up on all sorts of public and private property, including hot dog stands, last week. In its defense, a Microsoft spokesperson said the city gave the monopoly permission to plaster the decals on city property, the AP reported. However, the prospect for long-term damage from Microsoft's guerilla marketing stunt, which uses butterflies to advertise the launch of MSN 8.0, pales in comparison to IBM's, in which images of penguins were spray-painted on city property. IBM eventually paid for their removal. Microsoft's butterfly decals are made of flimsy plastic and rely on static electricity to stick to surfaces.
  
  

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