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XML Daily Newslink. Tuesday, 11 December 2007
A Cover Pages Publication http://xml.coverpages.org/
Provided by OASIS http://www.oasis-open.org
Edited by Robin Cover

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This issue of XML Daily Newslink is sponsored by
Sun Microsystems, Inc. http://sun.com
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HEADLINES:

* Call for Implementations: Extensible MultiModal Annotation Markup Language
* Sun to Discontinue Developer Tools in Favor of NetBeans
* OASIS SAML TC Releases Bindings and Profile Specifications for Review
* BEA Adds Eclipse to ESB in SOA Move
* W3C Last Call Working Draft for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
* Ulteo Brings OpenOffice to Web Browser
* Use Castor for XML Data Binding

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Call for Implementations: Extensible MultiModal Annotation Markup Language
Michael Johnston (ed), W3C Technical Report

W3C has issued a call for implementations of the "EMMA: Extensible
MultiModal Annotation Markup Language" specification, recently advanced
to the stage of Candidate Recommendation. W3C publishes a technical
report as a Candidate Recommendation to indicate that the document is
believed to be stable, and to encourage implementation by the developer
community. Implementation feedback is welcome through 14-April-2008. The
EMMA specification has been produced by members of the W3C Multimodal
Interaction Working Group as part of W3C's Multimodal Interaction Activity.
EMMA is a data exchange format for the interface between input processors
and interaction management systems within the Multimodal Architecture and
Interfaces, and defines the means to annotate application specific data
with information such as confidence scores, time stamps, input mode,
alternative recognition hypotheses, and partial recognition results. The
W3C Multimodal Interaction working group aims to develop specifications
to enable access to the Web using multimodal interaction. This document
is part of a set of specifications for multimodal systems, and provides
details of an XML markup language for containing and annotating the
interpretation of user input. Examples of interpretation of user input
are a transcription into words of a raw signal, for instance derived
from speech, pen or keystroke input, a set of attribute/value pairs
describing their meaning, or a set of attribute/value pairs describing
a gesture. The interpretation of the user's input is expected to be
generated by signal interpretation processes, such as speech and ink
recognition, semantic interpreters, and other types of processors for
use by components that act on the user's inputs such as interaction
managers.

http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/CR-emma-20071211/
See also the W3C Multimodal Interaction Activity:
http://www.w3.org/2002/mmi/Activity.html

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Sun to Discontinue Developer Tools in Favor of NetBeans
Paul Krill, InfoWorld

Sun Microsystems plans to discontinue its Sun Java Studio Enterprise
and Sun Java Studio Creator developer tools and encourage users to
move to the NetBeans IDE. Version 6.0 of the IDE is being released on
Wednesday [2007-12-12]. While NetBeans has had a lower profile than
rival Eclipse Foundation, which enjoys support from heavyweights such
as IBM and Oracle, Sun stands by NetBeans and touts its growth rate.
The NetBeans e-mail subscriber list, for example, has grown from 124,139
subscribers in 2004 to 506,432 subscribers in 2007. Developed and
released by Sun and the NetBeans community, version 6.0 also provides
features for C, C++, JavaScript, and Ruby on Rails. What began as a
Java IDE has now been extended to other languages. Future versions of
NetBeans will add backing for other languages such as PHP (Hypertext
Preprocessor) and Groovy. PHP support is set for NetBeans 6.1, which
is expected in the first half of 2008. Version 6.0 also features an
enhanced code editor with "smarter" code completion, occurrence
highlighting, in-place renaming, and improved navigation and inspection,
Sun said. Support is included for Java Platform Enterprise Edition
(Java EE) 5 development. A next-generation Swing GUI Builder formerly
known as Project Matisse is included, along with a Swing application
framework and Beans Binding technology, for modification of user
interface controls to accommodate data source changes. Other features
include improved visual tools for building Web applications, Web services,
mobile applications, and UML (Unified Modeling Language) models.
Edit/refactor/debug test/deploy functionality for Ruby on Rails
development is featured; new file navigation for C and C++ developers
is offered, with improved debugger integration. Previous technologies
available as add-on packs, such as the Visual Web pack for building
Web applications and Enterprise Pack for building SOA applications,
have been integrated into NetBeans and delivered through a single install.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/11/sun-discontinues-developer-tools-for-netbeans_1.html
See also the announcement:
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/pr/2007-12/sunflash.20071212.1.xml

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OASIS SAML TC Releases Bindings and Profile Specifications for Review
Staff, OASIS Announcement

OASIS announced that the Security Services (SAML) Technical Committee
has released five approved Committee Draft specifications for public
review. These specifications are followon deliverables to SAML version
2.0. (1) "SAMLv2.0 HTTP POST 'SimpleSign' Binding" provides an addition
to the bindings described in "Bindings for the OASIS Security Assertion
Markup Language (SAML) V2.0." It defines a SAML HTTP protocol binding,
specifically using the HTTP POST method, and not using XML Digital
Signature for SAML message data origination authentication. Rather, a
'sign the BLOB' technique is employed wherein a conveyed SAML message
is treated as a simple octet string if it is signed. Conveyed SAML
assertions may be individually signed using XMLdsig. Security is optional
in this binding. (2) "Identity Provider Discovery Service Protocol and
Profile" is an alternative to the SAML V2.0 Identity Provider Discovery
profile in the "Profiles for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language
(SAML) V2.0" specification. It defines a generic browser-based protocol
by which a centralized discovery service implemented independently of
a given service provider can provide a requesting service provider with
the unique identifier of an identity provider that can authenticate a
principal. (3) "SAML V2.0 Attribute Sharing Profile for X.509
Authentication-Based Systems" is an alternative to "SAML V2.0 Deployment
Profiles for X.509 Subjects." This deployment profile specifies the use
of SAML V2.0 attribute queries and assertions to support distributed
authorization in support of X.509-based authentication. (4) "SAML V2.0
Deployment Profiles for X.509 Subjects" is an alternative to " SAML V2.0
Attribute Sharing Profile for X.509 Authentication-Based Systems." This
related set of SAML V2.0 deployment profiles specifies how a principal
who has been issued an X.509 identity certificate is represented as a
SAML Subject, how an assertion regarding such a principal is produced
and consumed, and finally how two entities exchange attributes about
such a principal. (5) "SAML V2.0 X.500/LDAP Attribute Profile" supersedes
the X.500/LDAP Attribute Profile in the original OASIS Standard "Profiles
for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0." The
original profile results in well-formed but schema-invalid XML and
cannot be corrected without a normative change.

http://docs.oasis-open.org/security/saml/Post2.0/sstc-saml-binding-simplesign-cd-02.html
See also the announcement:
http://www.oasis-open.org/archives/tc-announce/200712/msg00004.html

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BEA Adds Eclipse to ESB in SOA Move
Paul Krill, InfoWorld

Emphasizing SOA, BEA Systems is unveiling upgrades to its enterprise
service bus and legacy integration package, anchoring them to the
Eclipse platform as a standard dashboard for controlling these products.
Also offered is accommodation for the SCA (Service Component Architecture)
for SOA in the ESB. With version 3.0 of the AquaLogic Service Bus ESB,
which ships in the first quarter of 2008, BEA has made tooling for the
ESB Eclipse-based, Patrick said. Eclipse plug-ins will be supported as
well. The Eclipse-based IDE becomes the mechanism for orchestration of
services and composition of service pipelines within the bus. Previously,
the tooling environment was exclusively Web-based. Through deepened
integration with the AquaLogic Enterprise Repository, the ESB can use
SCA assemblies; SCA provides a standards-based approach for service
assembly. Also added to the ESB is multi-SOA domain support, in which
domains for different lines of business can be connected. Paul Patrick,
vice president and chief architect at BEA: "What our ESB does is allow
us to tie to each of these various domains together, into a service
network." The domains can be managed independently and optimized for
the particular line of business supported. A service consumer does not
need to worry about where the service is located. For example, a
package-moving company may have different services for air or ground
transportation. There are shared services and services specific to
these domains. Version 3.0 of the ESB also offers out-of-the-box
integration with the AquaLogic BPM (Business Process Management) product.
This eases the exposing of business processes as services that can be
shared throughout the service network.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/12/BEA-adds-Eclipse-to-ESB-in-SOA-move_1.html

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W3C Last Call Working Draft for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Ben Caldwell, Michael Cooper (et al., eds), W3C Working Draft

W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group has
released a second Last Call Working Draft for the "Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines 2.0" specification, together with Working
Drafts for "Understanding WCAG 2.0 and "Techniques for WCAG 2.0."
Comments are requested by 01-February-2008. Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) covers a wide range of recommendations for
making Web content more accessible. Following these guidelines will
make content accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities,
including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning
disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech difficulties,
photosensitivity and combinations of these. Following these guidelines
will also often make your Web content more usable to users in general.
WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria are written as testable statements that are
not technology-specific. Some topics from the WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference
List: (1) Text Alternatives: Provide text alternatives for any non-text
content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as
large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language. (2)
Synchronized Media: Provide synchronized alternatives for synchronized
media. (3) Adaptable: Create content that can be presented in different
ways (for example simpler layout ) without losing information or
structure. (4) Distinguishable: Make it easier for users to see and
hear content including separating foreground from background. (5)
Keyboard Accessible: Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
(6) Enough Time: Provide users with disabilities enough time to read and
use content. (7) Seizures: Do not design content in a way that is known
to cause seizures. (8) Navigable: Provide ways to help users with
disabilities navigate, find content and determine where they are. (9)
Readable: Make text content readable and understandable. (10) Predictable:
Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways. (11) Input
Assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes. (12) Compatible:
Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including
assistive technologies.

nla_internal_2212306.jpg also the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag

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Ulteo Brings OpenOffice to Web Browser
Martin LaMonica, CNet News.com

Ulteo, a company staffed by Linux veterans, has launched the test
version of a service that lets people run the OpenOffice.org desktop
suite in the Firefox or Internet Explorer browsers. The hosted version
of OpenOffice version 3.2 supports PDF printing. The service is designed
to let people collaborate with OpenOffice documents online and use the
open-source application suite without having to download it. People
can also exchange documents in Microsoft's Office format or PDF. The
service also supports the OpenDocument Format standard. Already several
companies are offering online versions of traditional desktop
applications, including Google, Zoho, and others. Microsoft recently
released Office Live Workspace, which lets people share Office documents
on a hosted Web server. The Ulteo service is aimed specifically toward
people who use the OpenOffice suite. From the announcement: "As well as
offering instant 'no-install' access, Ulteo's service also provides
OpenOffice.org users with instant collaboration capabilities. A user
working with OpenOffice.org on the Ulteo server can invite other people
to work with him or her on a shared document in real time. Invitations
are sent via email and allow access in either read only or full edit
mode, simply by clicking on a link in the email."

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9832336-7.html
See also the announcement:
http://www.ulteo.com/home/en/news/2007/12/11?autolang=en

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Use Castor for XML Data Binding
Brett D. McLaughlin, IBM developerWorks

This article shows how to convert Java classes to XML and transform that
XML back into Java code, as well as how Castor works and how to design
your classes to function well with the API. The most basic operation in
Castor is to take a Java class and marshal an instance of that class to
XML. You take the class itself and use it as a top-level container element.
You always marshal an instance of a class, not the class itself. A class
is structure, and is best equated to an XML constraint model, like a
DTD or XML Schema. A class on its own has no data, and merely defines
the structure for data to be stored, as well as how it can be accessed.
You instantiate (or obtain from a factory or other instance-producing
mechanism) that class to give it a specific form. Then, you populate the
fields of that instance with actual data. That instance is unique; it
bears the same structure as any other instances of the same class, but
the data is separate. Notice what Castor does not preserve in the XML:
(1) The package of the Java class: a Java package is not part of a class's
structure. It's actually a semantic issue, related to Java namespaces.
So you could unmarshall (convert from XML to Java code) this XML document
to any Book instance that had the same three properties, regardless of
package. (2) Field ordering: order matters in XML, but not in Java
programming. So even though the source file listed the fields in one
order, the XML document used another. That's important in your XML, but
irrelevant in your Book class declaration. (2) Methods: methods, like
a package declaration, have nothing to do with data structuring. So the
XML document doesn't do anything with them; they're ignored. Article
prerequisite: you would do well to have some classes you'd like to
convert to and from XML from a project you're working on. There are
sample classes provided with this and the previous article, but your
own mastery of Castor is best achieved if you apply what you see here
to your own projects.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-xjavacastor2/
See also article Part 1:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/x-xjavacastor1/

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XML Daily Newslink and Cover Pages are sponsored by:

BEA Systems, Inc. http://www.bea.com
EDS http://www.eds.com
IBM Corporation http://www.ibm.com
Primeton http://www.primeton.com
SAP AG http://www.sap.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc. http://sun.com

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