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| Resources for Your Developer Toolbox |
| Theresa W. Carey |
Program Testing Tools.gif){kind=small} Quality Information Systems has announced the release of QCIT, a group of test automation tools that doesn't require you to learn any special programming language or proprietary scripting language. With QIS tools, you don't have to write a program to test a program.QCIT test automation tools fall into two basic categories: test management tools and test automation tools. The test management tool, called QCIT Manager, tracks, manages, and reports on test plans and test cases, requirements, defects, organizations, projects, test scenarios, pass/fail results, and more in a hierarchical database. QCIT Manager can be implemented as a standalone test process management system, with QIS automation tools, or with other vendor's automated test tools. The QCIT test automation tools are called Architect and WinEZ. Architect tests character-based applications on mainframe, AS/400, Unix, and OS/2 platforms while WinEZ tests Windows®-based or GUI applications. Both applications are language-independent and reside on the desktop. Users can select from among the package's integrated modules, including Requirements Management, Project Management, Product Management, Test Management, Defect Management, and Automated Testing modules. QCIT is a client/server application that can work in both the Graphical User Interface (GUI) world or mainframe, AS/400, RISC, VAX, or HP/Unix, all via PC emulation. Quality Information Systems TCP/IP Toolkits.gif){kind=small} Catalyst Development Corporation recently announced the release of Secure SocketTools editions of their collection of royalty-free controls and libraries. Secure SocketTools now supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) data connections over the Internet or on local networks. SocketTools Secure Visual Edition includes client interfaces for SSL-compliant versions of applicable protocols plus all the standard Visual Edition components. The 32-bit ActiveX® (OCX) controls can be used with any visual development environments such as Visual Basic®, Visual C++®, and Delphi.SocketTools Secure Library Edition includes client interfaces for SSL-compliant versions of applicable protocols plus all the standard Library Edition DLLs. It's ideal for languages such as C/C++, Delphi, FoxPro®, Clarion, scripting tools, or languages that don't handle ActiveX components well (or at all). SocketTools Secure Enterprise Edition enables rapid application development with ActiveX visual/secure visual controls plus DLLs/secure DLLs for developing core application systems. Included in the packages are the following components: HTTP/HTTPS, Gopher, FTP/FTPS, Image Viewer, SMTP/SMTPS, MIME, NNTP/NNTPS, Ping, POP3/POP3S, RCMD, Telnet/TelnetS, DNS, SocketWrench/Winsock, RAS, Terminal Emulator, Finger, Audio Player, Time, and Whois. Most of the details of the standard SSL protocol are hidden within the controls, enabling developers to produce secure client applications with only small additional considerations beyond those needed for nonsecure versions of the same applications. The components support synchronous (blocking) and asynchronous modes of operation, and also include the ability to log the Windows Sockets function calls for debugging purposes. All are thread-safe and can be used in multithreaded containers, such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer. Catalyst Development Corporation Peer-to-peer Distributed Processing.gif){kind=small} Metagon Technologies LLC has introduced DQbroker Extended Enterprise, which provides a scalable, peer-to-peer (P2P) distributed processing model that enables the company's flagship product, DQbroker, to deliver secure, cross-country data integration to corporate trading partners via the Web. DQbroker Extended Enterprise connects business partners in a dynamic environment, allowing access to disparate data from multiple applications and platforms.DQbroker Extended Enterprise incorporates high-level security features to provide secure Web access to inter-corporate data. DQbroker Extended Enterprise accesses data across Microsoft Windows NT®-based servers and workstations and many other platforms, including IBM, Unix, and Sun. The system can access a multitude of data sources, including DB2, FoxPro, Informix, Neon, ODBC, Oracle, Progress, Sequential, SQL Server™, Sybase, and VSAM. By treating its data and structure as a data source, DQbroker Extended Enterprise can also provide real-time access to PC-based data, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. DQbroker Extended Enterprise is a distributed query processing engine with servers that utilize TCP/IP to communicate as network P2P servers. Global Views, a DQbroker feature, enables authorized trading partner data from multiple sources to be accessed as though it were a single source of aggregate information. Global Views provides secure restriction and control of customer access to specified data. Metagon Technologies LLC Binary Object Import and Export.gif){kind=small} TECA Inc. has released TECA LoadBlobPro 1.0, a graphical import and export utility that enables the addition of BLOBs (Binary Large Objects) to your SQL Server database. LoadBlobPro is able to import and export any PC file type to and from a SQL Server image column. LoadBlobPro can be used to transfer PC files to and from a SQL Server database, including image files (.bmp, tif, .pcx, .tif), audio files (.wav, .mp3, .wmf), executable files (.exe, .dll, .ocx), and application files (.exe, .doc, .xls, .ppt).An integrated file system explorer allows users to navigate the PC file system, while a built-in database viewer enables the interactive selection of the SQL Server image column. In addition, LoadBlobPro supports set selection, joins, and recordset updates using custom SQL select statements. LoadBlobPro comes with an integrated file viewer that enables previews of most of the common PC file types. TECA Inc. InstallShield Upgrade.gif){kind=small} InstallShield Software Corporation has rolled out an updated version of their flagship program, InstallShield Express version 3.03. Enhancements include support for BDE 5.1, Microsoft Access 2000, and DAO 3.6, strings for eight additional languages (Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, and Finnish), environment variable support, upgrade creation support, and numerous performance enhancements.The ability to support other languages can be attained by translating the strings in the project's string table. With the upgrade creation support feature, users can build the installation to automatically identify a previous version of the application on the system and install over it. The user does not need to view or interact with the maintenance mode dialog. Additional new features include the ability to conditionally include any file type based on the target machine's operating system, installation to the root drive or any specified directory on the target system, the ability to set a DATABASEDIR or SUPPORTDIR property, and custom actions that can be run at specified times. InstallShield Software Corporation Real-time Data Readings.gif) NetAcquire Corporation (formerly Real Time Integration Inc.) is shipping NetAcquire Publish/Subscribe, a real-time communications middleware product that allows NetAcquire server hardware to publish data readings acquired from real-world analog, digital, and serial signals. The published data travels over a regular network to one or more subscribing computers. NetAcquire Publish/Subscribe takes a single command to subscribe to data. Data sources are identified by configurable names, so data subscribers need not know any details of the underlying network communications.Complete data subscriber applications can be created in less than five executable lines of C, C++, or the Java language. NetAcquire Publish/Subscribe is designed for high-performance real-time applications, supporting data update rates of hundreds of thousands of events per second. NetAcquire reduces latency by avoiding unnecessary data buffering and by using real-time network protocols. NetAcquire Publish/Subscribe can be implemented wherever real-time measurement data must be efficiently distributed over a network, including factory automation, satellite telemetry processing, remote Internet monitoring, and laboratory testing. NetAcquire Corporation SQL Server Training.gif) AppDev Training Company has added multilevel SQL Server 2000 classes, CDs, and videos to its line of training programs. The course is comprised of three levels to cover a variety of development backgrounds and subject matter.Level 1, "Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server 2000," is a one-day overview that brings developers up to speed on SQL Server 2000 regardless of their development backgrounds. It covers SQL Server 2000 features, designing and creating a database, and building basic queries using Transact-SQL (T-SQL), the language of SQL Server. In Level 2, "Programming and Maintaining Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000," participants learn how to build effective views, stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions using T-SQL. This two-day class also covers SQL Server tools for maintaining, securing, and tuning databases. Level 3, "Extended Features in Microsoft SQL Server," is a two-day class that covers advanced features for maintaining, analyzing, searching, and distributing data, as well as the safe integration of data with Internet and cross-platform applications. Instructors Mary Chipman and Andy Baron, co-authors of Microsoft Access 2000 Developer's Guide to SQL Server (SAMS, 2000), have received Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award every year since 1995. For a schedule of AppDev's SQL Server 2000 training, and for an outline of each seminar in the series visit the company's Web site. AppDev Training Company Windows-based Apps on Internet Devices.gif) Menta Software Inc. recently announced the availability of WinToNet, a thin client software solution that offers the native delivery of Windows-based applications to any Internet device, regardless of platform. Utilizing Sun's Java Virtual Machine, WinToNet can deliver Win32®-based applications to a wide variety of client platforms such as Macintosh, Linux, Solaris, and Windows. For desktop users, WinToNet can be employed with a URL or Web page icon from a browser, enabling Windows-based desktop applications to run transparently from a Windows NT-based server. As Java-enabled palmtop and wireless technologies emerge, WinToNet will also bring the Windows environment to these devices.WinToNet incorporates a technology called Adaptive GUI, which accommodates the varying screen resolutions of desktops, laptops, and in the future handheld devices by automatically scaling the display screen to match the resolution at the client. WinToNet does not require any disk space on the client. It downloads a small (approximately 300KB) Java-language applet that enables access to applications, local storage, and print devices. Once a user ends their WinToNet session, WinToNet automatically removes the Java-language applet from workstation memory. Microsoft Client Access Licenses (CALs) and application licensing are the user's responsibility. Menta Software Inc. The Bookshelf.gif){kind=small} ibooks.com will convert more than 250 Microsoft Press® publications using its electronic publishing technology, and will make them available on the ibooks.com Web site (https://www.ibooks.com), as well as affiliate sites. Users can conduct simultaneous full text searches of the entire bookstore to quickly find specific information. ibooks.com's secure, sneak-previewing technology allows users to open electronic reference books and preview pages before purchase in order to make a more informed buying decision. Users can also store an unlimited number of books on their own personal digital bookshelf and instantly access them over the Internet. With the Microsoft Press collection, ibooks.com now has more than 2,500 titles under license. Other publishers include O'Reilly, IBM, Oracle Press, Sam's, Sybex, John Wiley, and Que. Microsoft Press titles that will be available on ibooks.com include Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit, Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Step by Step, and Distributed Applications for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 MCSD Training Kit.O'Reilly's newest release, Securing Windows NT/2000 Servers for the Internet: A Checklist for System Administrators by Stefan Worberg, provides practical how-to advice for those who want to ensure the security of their systems. This book is not for novices. By carefully following the detailed instructions provided by Norberg, you can increase the security of your Windows NT and Windows 2000 servers, and alleviate the threat of Internet intrusion, sabotage, and information theft. To check out Stefan's "Top Ten Windows NT/2000 Internet Security Tips," see: https://security.oreilly.com/news/securingnt_1100.html. Chapter 1 is available online at https://www.oreilly.com/catalog/securwinserv/chapter/ch01.html. Quick TakesAn international group of developers has released RDF Site Summary (RSS) 1.0, an XML-based application that enables Web sites to describe and syndicate site content and metadata. RSS lets Web content providers keep their readers current with news, discussion, and other events of interest on their Web sites and sites of related interest. RSS 1.0 is extensible via modules based on XML-Namespace technology. This lets content providers plug functionality into a basic syndication platform, which ensures compatibility. Check out the RSS 1.0 specification proposal at https://purl.org/rss/1.0/, and participate in the RSS-DEV Working Group at https://www.egroups.com/group/rss-dev. O'Reilly Network's RSS DevCenter offers feature articles, tools, audio roundtables with RSS developers, and more, located at https://www.oreillynet.com/rss..gif){kind=small} Incognito Software has launched DNS Commander 3.0, a secure, scalable, and multiplatform domain name system (DNS) solution designed to streamline the management of any Internet name server. DNS Commander is designed to make complex network administration tasks simple, with features such as wizards, templates, and diagnostic tools to ensure both data integrity and domain-level security. DNS Commander 3.0 includes a new Web interface, server synchronization wizard, domain templates, DNS import wizard, and domain and resource record-level security. To download a demo of DNS Commander 3.0, visit Incognito's Web site at https://www.incognito.com..gif){kind=small} Brightcode LLC has developed Site Sentry, an ISAPI filter that watches all traffic coming to a Web site, performs statistical analysis on the traffic pattern, and makes a determination if the user is human or mechanical. After detection of scraping, Site Sentry will either divert the user to a selectable page or just observe the traffic and collect evidence of the act. Learn more at https://www.brightcode.com.Send your New Stuff to Theresa at newstuff@microsoft.com. |
| Theresa W. Carey is a freelance writer who lives in California. Her byline has appeared in Barron's and PC World. |
From the March 2001 issue of MSDN Magazine