Apple: WebObjects 5.1 ’embraces Java standards’

Apple has announced the release of WebObjects 5.1, the latest update to the company’s Web application development tools and framework. Apple said that the latest release of WebObjects embraces Java standards, and is providing WebObjects 5 users with a nominal cost upgrade path for a limited time.

WebObjects features automated data access, streamlined page generation, and session management capabilities. The application server is cross-platform and has been used for e-commerce sites, enterprise integration, dynamic publishing and other tasks.

WebObjects 5.1 is now capable of being used to build apps that can run on any Java-capable server. New features include the ability to:

create and deploy Enterprise Java Beans using the built-in container

deploy WebObjects applications as JSPs or Servlets on top of third-party application servers

access and manipulate data stored in JNDI or LDAP directory services

automatically generate desktop Java client applications with rich, interactive user interfaces.

leverage the WebObjects template engine and object-relational mapping for seamless XML messaging

If you’re a WebObjects developer, make sure to take a look at the WebObjects online documentation served from Apple’s Web site. Four new “Inside WebObjects” documents, an expanded post-install guide and over a dozen frameworks of reference documentation are now available in Javadoc format.

System requirements for using WebObjects 5.1 tools include Mac OS X 10.1 or Windows 2000 Pro; WebObjects applications are designed to be deployed on either the Java 2 platform, Standard Edition 1.3.1 or Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition 1.2 runtime environments; qualified deployment platforms include Mac OS X Server v10.1, Solaris 8, and Windows 2000 Server. Data access is provided via either JDBC 2.0 (qualified against Oracle 8.1.7, MS SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition, and MySQL 3.23.2) or JNDI 1.2 (qualified for LDAP access against Netscape iPlanet Directory Server 5.0 and OpenLDAP 2.0.15).

WebObjects is available for US$$699. Eval copies will be available from Apple Developer Connection. WebObjects 5 users are able to upgrade for a nominal cost via the Apple Store, for a limited time only.