May 9, 1997

Visual Tool Creates Server- and Client-Side JavaScript Applications, Supports Dynamic HTML

Elemental Software recently released a preview version of Drumbeat, its visual tool that lets you create server-side JavaScript applications as well as Web pages that include advanced JavaScript and dynamic HTML features.

Drumbeat integrates page and site design, content management, and both client-side and server-side JavaScript development capabilities into one toolkit for use on open server platforms, including Netscape Enterprise Server 3.0. Drumbeat provides a visual drag-and-drop environment that lets business people and designers assemble Web-based applications by wiring together reusable components built by programmers or obtained from third party providers. Unlike earlier Web authoring tools, which support only static publishing of HTML documents, Drumbeat supports dynamic HTML

In addition, you can build applications that access and update corporate databases without writing CGI, Java, or JavaScript code. Drumbeat lets you build database-integrated, profile-driven applications that use the LiveWire server-side JavaScript capabilities of the Netscape Enterprise Server 3.0 to synthesize pages on the fly..

"Elemental Software Drumbeat helps nonprogrammers build dynamic Web applications faster and more cost-effectively by taking advantage of Netscape ONE components," said Mike Homer, senior vice president of marketing at Netscape. "By facilitating the use of HTML and JavaScript to bind together Java applets and other building blocks and by capitalizing on the LiveWire capabilities of Enterprise Server 3.0 to integrate enterprise databases and applications, Drumbeat makes the Networked Enterprise proposition more accessible to users."

Drumbeat supports JavaBeans as well as ActiveX, and it also lets you register plug-ins and custom components, such as legacy CGI scripts and APIs to enterprise and vertical applications. The complete, integrated JavaScript Editor (with built-in syntax checking and debugging) enables users to make components interact with each other and respond to user input.

You can download the Preview version of Drumbeat at no cost from the Elemental Software Web site. Elemental Software will make the release version of the product available in the second quarter of 1997.

New Web Mapping Tool Now in Beta

DevEdge member MerzCom, Inc., released the public beta version of its MerzScope product, a Java-based mapping and viewing package. While traditional Web maps permit the surfer to view only the hierarchical structure of a single web site, MerzScope works with Netscape Navigator to let users produce and view dynamic graphical maps of any collection of Web pages and links.

Written completely in Java, MerzScope consists of a mapping application intended for Web-site designers and a small applet with which users browse the maps and navigate through the Web sites they list. To use the mapping application, you "seed" the application with a single Web page and then start expanding through the URLs on that page. You structure the map by placing pages where you wish, adding graphics and text to enhance the map’s appearance. The map may also be easily revised to reflect any changes on your Web site or in the sites you’d like included on the map.

The MerzScope viewing applet helps to demysitify the complexities of large web sites by allowing users to bypass the standard "top-down" hierarchical approach and navigate freely through the site. The applet includes a "surf-tracking" feature, which keeps a dynamic log of pages visited by the user has and the user’s current position in the map.

"MerzScope is an elegant and intuitive way of organizing and visualizing the vast quantity of information on the Web," said Dr. Lew Tucker, Director of Corporate and ISV relations at JavaSoft, a business unit of Sun Microsystems, Inc. "This is a good example of Java Technology solving a real-world problem."

You can learn more about MerzScope - and download the public beta version - from the MerzCom Web site.

Pictorius iNet Developer Available for Both Windows and Mac OS

Pictorius, Inc., recently shipped the final Windows version of its iNet Developer visual Web development tool and made available a public beta of the tool for Mac OS systems. Pictorius iNet Developer is a complete site development solution designed to give development teams the ability to easily create complex Intranet sites, connect to databases and change content instantly with an easy to use visual interface.

Pictorius iNet Developer provides tools for both IS to build custom functionality into a site and for content providers to update and manipulate a site's content. With the product, IS managers can concentrate on IS related tasks leaving page layout and content creation and maintenance to the appropriate people.

"Pictorius iNet Developer addresses several missing pieces in net application development," said Gary Hobin, Director of Development & Acquisition, Information Systems for Northern Telecom. "The ability to provide our content providers and programmers with one powerful, easy-to-use tool significantly decreases our time-to-market and increases our overall productivity."

Pictorius iNet Developer includes an integrated version of Pictorius' Prograph programming language, an object-oriented, dynamic development environment, that allows users to link objects to accomplish tasks. The visual interface of Prograph, and its integrated debugger, helps users quickly find mistakes and make changes on the fly with the application running. The unique characteristics of the development environment significantly increase programmer productivity and software quality.

The Windows version of Pictorius iNet Developer can be purchased at the Pictorius Web site, where the Mac OS beta version (without the Prograph programming environment) is available for free download. For more information about Pictorius iNet Developer, see the previous news item in Reliable Sources.

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