XML and Web Services In The News - 26 August 2005

Sun Gives JavaServer Faces Open Source Treatment
Jim Wagner, InternetNews.com
Sun Microsystems is giving more of its code to the open source community under its new licensing scheme, this time with its JavaServer Faces (JSF) reference implementation. The source code for Sun's JSF implementation (Version 1.2) was made available under the company's Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) Wednesday. Sun's JSF reference implementation 1.1 was opened under its Java Research License (JRL) and Java Distribution License (JDL) in June 2004. The JSF project is hosted at Sun's developer community site, Java.net, and includes the source for the 1.0 and 1.1 versions of the Sun implementation. The source code for a "mostly stable" build of JSF 1.2, according to project officials, is located at Java.net's GlassFish Project site. The JSF 1.2 specification is still in the the final stages of becoming a Java standard. A proposed final draft for Java Specification Request 252 (JSR-252) was submitted Thursday. There are a number of JSF implementations and several open source versions, like Apache myFaces and smile. JSF also has competition in the form of Apache Struts, a popular top-level project at the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), though the two are interoperable. What makes Sun's implementation stand above the others is its support for the latest features to be found in JSF 1.2, Kitain said.
See also: JSR #252

Google Talk Gives Boost to XMPP
Cathleen Moore, InfoWorld
Google's entry this week into the IM space gave a high-profile shot in the arm to the open IM protocol XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). The decision to base Google Talk on the XML-based XMPP framework -- combined with Google's considerable market clout -- could shake up stalled IM interoperability efforts, or at the very least gives a big lift to a grassroots Internet standard. Google Talk also allows users to use other clients to connect to the Google IM service. Any client that supports XMPP can connect to Google Talk, Google officials said. This list includes: Adium, iChat, GAIM, and Trillian Pro, among others. When instant messaging started to surge in popularity a few years ago, a hot-button issue crept up around IM standards. At the time, two fledgling IM protocols were making their way through the IETF standardization process: SIMPLE, based on the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) telephony protocol, and XMPP, based on XML. Google's choice to base its Google Talk IM on XMPP shakes up this landscape considerably. The company has said it is committed to enabling open communications, and selecting an open, XML-based protocol for its IM service is a step in that direction. In an interesting twist, Google Talk enables voice call support through a custom XMPP-based signaling protocol and peer-to-peer communication mechanism. Typically SIP, which is designed from the ground up for Internet telephony, is used to support voice. Google officials said it plans to add support for SIP in a future release. According to Gartner research director Allen Weiner, Google Talk holds the potential to bring interoperability to the MSN, Yahoo, and AOL networks. But Google first will have to boost use of Gmail and get loyal IM users to switch to its service.
See also: XMPP references

Reliable Asynchronous Messaging Profile (WS-RAMP)
IBM and Ford Motor Company, WS-I Contribution
A second version of the Reliable Asynchronous Messaging Profile (RAMP) 1.0 has been published. The WS-RAMP document is a profile, in the fashion of the WS-I profiles, that enables, among other things, basic B2B integration scenarios using Web services technologies. Cost, complexity and lack of well adopted standards for B2B exchange have hampered meaningful integration. This profile provides technical guidance, when used in conjunction with architectural best practices and related usage patterns, to support standards-based, cost effective B2B exchange of messages, reliably and securely, between business partners via Web services. [Chris Ferris:] Ultimately, we hope that the RAMP 1.0 profile and the usage patterns which are developed to supplement it are taken up by WS-I, revised as needed, and published in Final form by WS-I. We are eager to see others working on the adoption of Web services use this work as the basis for their own (we are eager to see the Open Applications Group (OAGi), the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), and other industry sector organizations referencing the profile and usage scenarios in their work the same way organizations such as HR-XML have begun referencing the WS-I Basic Profile). Finally we hope this effort will contribute to Web services becoming a useful integration technology, and to that end, we encourage all parties to contribute to this work, and adopt it, and use it in your products and solutions.
See also: The Introduction

New Web Copyright Tool to Exclude Non-IE Users
Anne Broache, CNET News.com
Only users of Internet Explorer and a version of Netscape will be able to access a copyright preregistration system slated for launch in late October. "Other browsers may work well with the version we are using now, but they have not been tested," Julia Huff, the U.S. Copyright Office's chief operating officer, said in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "Because of our tight schedule and resources, we cannot do that testing now." Huff said Friday that the office must go ahead with the new electronic system by Oct. 24 because of a mandate in the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, which Congress passed in April. The office just weeks ago suggested the possibility of browser limitations and began collecting public comments. The idea behind the preregistration system is to let people stake claims on their as-yet unpublished creative works. For example, a moviemaker who preregistered a film would be able to go after those who prematurely release scenes or copies of the work. The World Wide Web Consortium, a global organization that encourages development of Web standards, said in its comments that going ahead with the limited version is contrary to the federal "e-government" strategy.
See also: The W3C letter

IBM and SAP AG Propose WS-BPEL Extension for People (BPEL4People).
XML Cover Pages
An initial informal specification describing a proposed extension to the Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL) has been released by IBM and SAP AG in the form of a white paper "WS-BPEL Extension for People -- BPEL4People." The paper describes business scenarios where users are involved in business processes and defines extensions to WS-BPEL to address these. A formal specification defining BPEL4People syntax and semantics will follow.