December 2, 1996 10:00 AM ET
Developers ramp up for Web
Authoring tools, search engines, upgraded servers in the works for show
By Michael Moeller

New World Wide Web authoring tools, search engine capabilities and Java-based server enhancements will be unleashed next week as dozens of vendors vie for attention at one of the year's last trade shows. Macromedia Inc., Inktomi Corp. and Sanga International Inc. will be among the hardware and software developers releasing new products at Internet World in New York. Macromedia is set to release at the show Backstage Internet Studio Version 2.0, which is designed to let developers build Web pages on the fly using data that's stored in any Open Database Connectivity-compliant database, said company officials in San Francisco. One of the many new features of Version 2.0 is its ability to construct and fill tables dynamically based on information stored in a database. The company also is planning to release a development kit to let corporate users customize Version 2.0. Sanga International will use the spotlight of Internet World to preview and demonstrate its support for Java Beans--a new object container technology--within its Sanga Pages Java server software. Due early next year from JavaSoft, Java Beans is designed to place a wrapper around OpenDoc parts and ActiveX controls, enabling corporate developers to create platform-neutral Java-based applications by combining different object component types. Sanga plans to incorporate Java Beans into its Java-based Sanga Pages server software. The Java Beans implementation will be initially designed for vertical applications, said company officials in Cambridge, Mass. Meanwhile, Inktomi will announce an upgrade to its search engine. The new engine will initially be implemented in HotWired Inc.'s Web search service, HotBot, early next year, said company officials in Berkeley, Calif. Among the new capabilities to be released by Inktomi is the ability to enable a "crawler" to be programmed to search more frequently for new information. Also expected at next week's show: Sun Microsystems Inc. will introduce new Web server software. Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. will jointly announce new capabilities for their respective NetMeeting and Internet Phone products. NetCarta Inc. will release a new version of its WebMapper 2.0. Copyright(c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week