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XML and Web Services In The News - 25 October 2006
Provided by OASIS |
Edited by Robin Cover
This issue of XML Daily Newslink is sponsored by IBM Corporation
HEADLINES:
XML Schema Considerations for WSDL Design in Conformance With WS-I Basic Profile
Shawn X. K. Hu, IBM developerWorks
This article describes how design decisions in XML schema definition
(XSD) can have significant impact on Web service design. You can
create XML schemas in many ways to meet W3C XML schema specifications.
However, a valid schema does not necessarily mean that it is also
valid for a particular Web Service Description Language (WSDL)
definition. This article describes how to construct a schema properly
for a Web service design to conform with both W3C WSDL specifications
(WSDL v1.1) and WS-I Basic Profile (BP v1.1). In WSDL definition,
there are two message binding styles: document and Remote Procedure
Call (RPC). In the WS-I Basic Profile (BP), the message binding styles
are further restricted. For example, an RPC-literal binding in its SOAP
body must refer to the "type" attribute in wsdl:part (BP R2203), and
a document binding must go with the "element" attribute (BP R2204).
The attribute "element" refers to an XML schema element, and the
attribute "type" indicates both simpleType and complexType in an XSD.
In short, a document-style message is defined based on an XML schema
element, and an RPC message is defined using an XML schema type.
Furthermore, only global-level elements (BP R2206) and types can be
referenced in a WSDL definition. These elements and types are immediate
children of in an XSD. All non-immediate components are local
and are typically nested within another schema component. A component
here refers to a schema element, complexType, or simpleType. Three
main XML schema design patterns are discussed in the following
sections, along with other styles: (1) Russian Doll; (2) Salami Slice;
(3) Venetian Blind.
See also: the WS-I web site
Firefox 2.0 Balances Innovation with Ease of Use
Jim Rapoza, eWEEK
When Firefox 1.0 was introduced two years ago, the goal of the Mozilla
Foundation was clear: take all of the innovations and strong features
from the Mozilla browser suite and streamline them into a stand-alone
Web browser that could compete directly with Internet Explorer and chip
away at Microsoft's overwhelming browser market share. Looking back,
Firefox 1.0 was an unqualified success. Now, with the release of Firefox
2.0, the Mozilla Foundation is focusing on streamlining the Web browser
even further while adding usability features that will make the popular
open-source browser easy for even novice users to pick up. From
improvements in tabbed window management to built-in spell checking to
integrated search aids, new features in Firefox 2.0 make it very easy
for any user to take full advantage of modern Web browser capabilities.
Other new features in Firefox 2.0 include protections against phishing
Web sites, better management of RSS feeds and the ability to restore
previous browsing sessions after a crash. And, of course, unlike the
recently released Internet Explorer 7, which runs only on Windows XP
Service Pack 2 and the upcoming Vista, Firefox 2.0 will run on the
Linux, Unix and Mac OS X platforms, as well as on most versions of
Windows. Users upgrading to the new Firefox 2.0 browser will instantly
notice the updated interface, which uses a new default theme that has
glowing, 3-D-like buttons on the tool bar. Some of the biggest changes
to the interface, however, are in the use and management of tabbed
windows. Firefox 2.0 finally changes the longstanding Mozilla style of
closing tabs through a button on the right side of the browser. With
Firefox 2.0, as with other tabbed browsers, there is a Close button on
each tab. This is a big improvement to the Firefox browser, making it
much easier to close only the tabs the user wants to close.
See also: the Firefox 2 download page
WS-Notification Standard Ratified by OASIS Still Needs Work
Roy W. Schulte and Daniel Sholler, Gartner Research Report
"On 11 October 2006, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured
Information Standards (OASIS), an international standards consortium,
announced that its general membership had ratified the WS-Notification
v.1.3 specification. (Vendors that worked to advance the specification
include AmberPoint, CA, Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi, IBM, Oracle, SAP, Sonic
Software, Tibco Software and webMethods.) WS-Notification was designed
to work with the Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF) OASIS Standard
and the Web Services Distributed Management (WSDM) OASIS Standard. The
delay in reconciling WS-Notification and WS-Eventing shows that the Web
services standardization process has lost momentum. Standards have
remained static for the past year, permitting only primitive
interoperability. Nevertheless, we believe a publish-and-subscribe
standard may yet be achieved. Four key vendors — including HP, IBM,
Intel and Microsoft — announced in March 2006 that they intend to
develop WS-EventNotification, which would unify, and remain backward-
compatible with, WS-Eventing and WS-Notification (although some wire
protocol changes and minor tweaks to programming interfaces would be
necessary). A draft of WS-EventNotification might be published at
year-end 2006, but it's unlikely to be submitted to a standards body
before 2H07 or ratified until 2008. For now, Web services applications
that require publish-and-subscribe communication will continue to be
custom designed. But the new WS-Notification standard offers hope for
the future. Many major vendors support the standard; at least three
have already built prototype implementations. (Among them, Fujitsu
reportedly has made an open-source implementation available through
unicore.forge.net). If vendors follow through on their public statements,
work on WS-Notification will be combined with the parallel work on
WS-Eventing, which may yet result in a meaningful standard for
interoperability. However, until developers work with the converged
specification, it will remain unclear whether useful interoperability
between disparate vendors' implementations can be attained."
See also: the ZDNet blog
Web 2.0 Reaches the Classroom
Juan Carlos Perez, InfoWorld
University of Arizona students are learning how to build online business
communities using technologies often grouped under the controversial
and problematic Web 2.0 concept. As the latest buzzword, the term Web
2.0 has become obligatory in the marketing initiatives and advertising
campaigns of many Internet companies in recent years. Along the way,
it has turned into an overused, cliched, and vague term. This didn't
deter the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management from
naming a new course being offered this semester "Web 2.0: Maintaining
and Developing Online Communities." The undergraduate course attempts
to teach students how new online services like wikis, blogs, and social
networks, along with related practices like content tagging, syndication,
and categorization, can help companies create communities of clients,
employees, and partners. Developed in conjunction with IBM, the course
doesn't focus on the technology behind these new services, but rather
on their business applications to foster online collaboration. As such,
the course is aimed at students of marketing and management of
information systems, and not so much at aspiring computer scientists.
Dojo Releases 0.4 Version of Ajax Toolkit
Frank Sommers, Java Community News
The Dojo project announced the release of version 0.4 of this popular
JavaScript toolkit, including new widgets, a charting engine,
internationalization and accessibility support, as well as a new
documentation engine. Although barely two years old, the Dojo project,
like most things Ajax these days, has gone through a fast and furious
pace of development. Judging from its list of available features, Dojo
aims to be nothing less than a complete API and toolkit for developing
rich-client Ajax applications. Because Dojo is based on pure JavaScript,
Dojo-based applications are not tied to any server-side technology,
such as JSF or .NET. The Dojo project's latest release adds to the
already rich palette of Ajax widgets a charting component, a clock, a
progress bar, and enhancements to an already feature-rich text editor.
Support for internationalization, accessibility support, and namespaces
are also part of this release. Several of these features are available
in online demos. While early Ajax APIs and widget toolkits appealed to
developers mainly as eye candies, Dojo's recent improvements to its
API documentation tool indicate a shift to a more enterprise-ready
focus. The Dojo 2D, or DFX, package aims to support two scenarios:
(1) The drawing starts as a template written in an SVG subset... In
case of IE, SVG is translated to VML using XSLT preserving attach
points. The widget author can modify elements using the provided API.
(2) The drawing is created from scratch. It is created using the
provided API. Our main target is SVG. VML is supported using a
translation layer. Canvas can be targeted later using the proposed
API definition.
Rendell Applauds NASCIO Recognition of Pennsylvania Technology Program
Staff, NASCIO Announcement
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell applauded the National Association
of State Chief Information Officers' (NASCIO) recognition of a
Pennsylvania technology program that enables police, the courts and
other partners in Pennsylvania's criminal justice system to quickly
and easily share vital information. "Once again, Pennsylvania is a
national leader when it comes to using technology to better serve our
citizens," Rendell said. "Our innovative program stood out from among
139 entries from 33 states, which speaks to the depth and quality of
our technology initiatives." The Pennsylvania Justice Network's (JNET)
Global XML 3.0 Document Creation Process was one of 12 winners selected
by NASCIO. The Pennsylvania initiative will receive NASCIO's 2006
Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of
Information Technology in the category of data, information and
knowledge management. JNET's Global XML 3.0 Document Creation Process
set new uniform standards and policies for statewide data exchange,
helping to improve public safety and reduce costs to taxpayers. JNET
is the state's primary public safety and criminal justice information
broker. The program was created by the Governor's Office of
Administration to provide a "virtual single system" for the sharing of
protected information. JNET's secure integrated Web portal offers a
common online environment to over 27,000 authorized users in all 67
counties... To minimize data conflict and standardized message
development between justice agencies, JNET adopted the Global Justice
XML Data Model 3.0 (GJXDM) IOC compliance guidelines. JNET also embraced
the SEARCH Consortium's Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) tool
to improve information exchange efficiencies.
See also: the award description
W3C Last Call Review for Ink Markup Language (InkML)
Yi-Min Chee, Max Froumentin, Stephen M. Watt (eds), W3C Technical Report
W3C's Multimodal Interaction Working Group has released a Last Call
Working Draft of Ink Markup Language (InkML). This document describes
the syntax and semantics for the Ink Markup Language for use in the
W3C Multimodal Interaction Framework as proposed by the W3C Multimodal
Interaction Activity. The fourth version of the Working Draft includes
a few conceptual changes to simplify the definition while achieving
greater expressive power. It also contains many small changes of
details to make element and attribute use uniform accross the the
definition to make it easier to learn and simpler to process. The Ink
Markup Language serves as the data format for representing ink entered
with an electronic pen or stylus. The markup allows for the input and
processing of handwriting, gestures, sketches, music and other notational
languages in applications. It provides a common format for the exchange
of ink data between components such as handwriting and gesture
recognizers, signature verifiers, and other ink-aware modules. InkML
supports a complete and accurate representation of digital ink. In
addition to the pen position over time, InkML allows recording of
information about device characteristics and detailed dynamic behavior
to support applications such as handwriting recognition and
authentication. For example, there is support to record additional
information such as pen tilt and pen tip force (often referred to as
"pressure") and information about the recording device such as accuracy
and dynamic distortion. InkML also provides features to support
rendering of digital ink captured optically to approximate the original
appearance. For example, stroke width and color information can be
recorded. InkML provides means for extension. By virtue of being an
XML-based language, users may easily add application-specific
information to ink files to suit the needs of the application at hand.
Comments on the Working Draft are welcome through 18-December-2006.
See also: Multimodal Interaction Activity
An Introduction to Groovy and Grails
Harshad Oak, BEA Technical Report
Java Web application frameworks have been one of the important reasons
for the success of enterprise Java. One wonders if Java EE would have
been so successful without the Apache Struts framework. Although the
underlying programming language is important, it's often the frameworks
that bring the language into the limelight. If you have been following
the discussion forums, you will have noticed how that's also the case
with the Ruby language and the Ruby On Rails framework. Ruby has been
around for more than a decade, yet only after the Ruby On Rails
framework became a runaway hit did developers start noticing the Ruby
language. Scripting languages like Ruby, PHP, and Python have been
growing in popularity over the past few years and, as a result, a need
developed for a Java scripting alternative and a Rails-like framework
for the Java world. Groovy is the scripting language and Grails is the
framework. In this article I will look at the Web development
capabilities of Groovy and then move on to the Grails framework. I
will develop a sample Grails Web application and look at the various
features of the framework. The best thing about Groovy and Grails is
that everything runs on good old Java and Java EE — so you can develop
applications quickly using the RAD features of Groovy and Grails, and
then deploy applications on a reliable Java EE server. Considering the
noise and hype around Ruby and Rails, there sure was a need for a Java
alternative. Groovy and Grails look well-equipped to fill that space.
Open Tools for MySQL Administrators
Baron Schwartz, O'Reilly ONLamp.com
MySQL provides some tools to monitor and troubleshoot a MySQL server,
but they don't always suit a MySQL developer or administrator's common
needs, or may not work in some scenarios, such as remote or over-the-web
monitoring. Fortunately, the MySQL community has created a variety of
free tools to fill the gaps. On the other hand, many of these are hard
to find via web searches. In fact, web searches can be frustrating
because they uncover abandoned or special-purpose, not ready-to-use
projects. You could spend hours trying to find tools for monitoring
and troubleshooting your MySQL servers. What's a tool-seeker to do?
This article is about tools to discover and monitor the state of your
server, so I won't discuss programs for writing queries, designing
tables, and the like. I'm also going to focus exclusively on free and
open source software. I recommend innotop and mysqlreport, and a
healthy dose of command-line competence. I used to rely on mytop for
my routine monitoring, but now I use innotop, because it shows much
more information, including all-important details about transactions.
When I need to analyze a server to discover what's wrong with it,
it's impossible to match mysqlreport's instant snapshot of server
health and activity. When I need to know about MySQL's resource
consumption and performance, I augment standard command-line utilities
with scripts, such as Giuseppe Maxia's.
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