ResQ!Net Shapes Graphical Connectivity
With Version 3.0 of ResQ!Net, ResQNet.com Inc. (New York) infuses a variety of new features into its graphical connectivity solution, available both as a standalone product and an add-on to IBM's eNetwork Host On-Demand.
Foremost among the product's additions is a "combined screens" function designed to improve ease-of-use and productivity by allowing users to open multiple applications simultaneously on a single screen. In addition, the tab-order re-sequencing function included with version 3.0 is designed re-order traditional tab sequence for greater management of screens that have been rearranged or redesigned.
"[ResQ!Net v3.0] does on-the-fly GUI conversion in a way that the GUIs can be customized in an easy, drag-and-drop manner," says Jim Shapiro, executive VP of ResQNet.com (formerly Advanced Transition Technologies). "This lets the programmers devote their time to [projects like] Year 2000."
Another version 3.0 feature, essentially a Web link to an existing GUI, makes use of push technology. This "Web Buttons" feature allows the user to open a separate window to view additional information while the original window remains open. One variation of this feature could be to have information scroll along a window much like a stock ticker, according to Shapiro.
The standalone edition of ResQ!Net v3.0 also includes a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) server component designed to improve the security of transactions conducted via the Web. Additional security is provided by a keyboard re-mapping function, allowing users to restrict access to sensitive information.
Network administrators also have the capability to "force" a ResQ!Net session disconnect if the customized version of any screen is not available, he says. Forced disconnect serves a security purpose by ensuring that sensitive information hidden during customization will not be displayed.
"The additional security features we've included in ResQ!Net version 3.0 were included in direct response to the growing need today for companies to provide broader Web-based access to their host applications by occasional users," says Todres Yampel, president of ResQ!Net.com and inventor of the proprietary patented ResQ! Technology.
"The various enhancements in ResQ!Net version 3.0 were not only driven by IBM and our existing customers, but also by Lotus Development Corp., who has expressed an interest in integrating ResQ!Net with its eSuite product line," Shapiro says.
Lotus eSuite is Java-based business productivity software designed to enable the creation of applications, specifically task-oriented applets. ESuite consists of WorkPlace client and DevPack development components.
WorkPlace is a set of business tools distributed from a central server, including a set of business productivity applets such as spreadsheet, word processor and presentation graphics. DevPack is a set of Java-based applets that can be used as modular building blocks by intranet application developers to create more interactive and dynamic Web applications accessible via standard Web browsers. DevPack includes the following applets: spreadsheet, word processor, presentation graphics, project scheduler, chart, SQL/JDBC and CGI gateway; plus sample applications, utilities and developer documentation.