LOS ANGELES - Oracle next week will announce messaging software that uses an emerging technology called XML to let Web applications share data.
The new middleware, called Oracle Message Broker, could make it easier for companies to swap manufacturing schedules, inventories, orders and bills between intranets.
The company plans to introduce the software at the Spring Internet World '99 conference here.
Message Broker uses XML, which is intended to replace HTML for formatting Web documents. You can think of HTML as simply showing text information and numbers on a Web document. By contrast, XML lets computer programs actually work with the document's data. In addition, XML lets Web designers easily create documents tailored for the information needs of specific groups, such as truck manufacturers and clothing retailers.
Message Broker will be a clearinghouse for XML interactions, according to Oracle. Web applications will send out XML messages to Message Broker, which will then route the messages to the receiving applications. In doing so, Message Broker will modify or adapt the XML data for the recipient.
These capabilities may help Oracle set Message Broker apart from traditional messaging middleware products, such as IBM's MQSeries, which today can handle XML as just one more file format, says Kevin Dick, an industry analyst in Palo Alto, Calif.
HTTP is not a reliable protocol for transaction systems, Dick says. Using a messaging system like Oracle's may be a better way to ensure the safe exchange of Internet applications, he says.
Although Message Broker can use the Oracle8i database to store messages temporarily in case of a server or net outage, the database is not required. Oracle8i became the company's first product to support XML when the software began shipping in February.
A critical issue for users will be how well Message Broker runs as XML traffic loads increase. Another performance issue is how the software will perform if it interacts with the Oracle database in processing an XML page. Oracle 8i translates XML into a format that the database can store in rows and columns as a standard relational table.
Also at Internet World, Oracle will announce a new version of its Oracle Application Server, which runs Web applications and links them with back-end databases.
Oracle Application Server Version 4.0.8 adds support for the latest Enterprise Java Beans specification, which lets companies reuse server-based Java components.
The upgraded server software also will be able to run Java servlets. These are Java programs that process information on a server and then create an HTML page to deliver the results to a browser.
Later this year, Application Server will be linked with both Oracle Enterprise Manager, which is used to monitor Oracle software products, and the upcoming Oracle Internet Directory.
In addition, Oracle plans to release a stripped-down version of Application Server to let customers quickly deploy simple Web applications.
