by Jim Alton

Several months ago I managed to get my hands on an early version of a Minisoft product called Javelin. Javelin is an HP terminal emulation program written as a Java applet. That is to say, it's presented through a Web browser interface. Excited, as I generally am with new toys, I performed the installation and testing almost immediately. I was truly disappointed when Javelin fell apart while running tools such as Glance/XL and Qedit.

It was clear the emulation and screen handling needed more work, but it was an excellent proof of concept using the highly touted Java. When the opportunity recently arose to review Javelin again, I was somewhat hesitant. However, the timing was good and I wanted a little something to play with for a while.

The installation of Javelin is extremely easy: Simply unpack the zipped file into one directory on the Web server, edit the sample configuration and HTML files, and you are up and running. (See Listing 1 for a sample Javelin HTML page for Netscape.) Many of the configurable parameters now exist in both the HTML page and the config file that resides on the Web server.

One thing that will catch you right away is the fact that Javelin needs permission from you to operate. Upon starting Javelin you should see a panel saying that "Software Licensing Corp." is requesting additional privileges.

According to the Java rules, an applet can work with a total of two computers--the one on which it is executing and the one from which it came. If restricted to this model, the Javelin applet would be required to funnel all HP 3000 communication through the Web server. To deal with this problem and provide direct applet-to-HP 3000 access, Minisoft has had the applet "signed" by an authority, in this case Software Licensing Corp. I won't delve into all the details involved with applet signing, but suffice it to say that Software Licensing Corp. is certifying that Javelin from Minisoft won't do anything nasty.

In consideration of the previous evaluation, I immediately went back to those tests. The first test was to call up Qedit with a little C programming code (see Figure 1). No glitches or hiccups; the function keys and screen presentation were perfect. The function keys were even mouse aware. The next test was Glance/XL (see Figure 2), with the same excellent results.

As I played with Javelin a little more, I became amazed by the speed. First, the entire applet is about 130 kilobytes and downloads very quickly, even over dialup PPP connections. Second, the speed of display was phenomenal: on the order of magnitude experienced when going from serial lines to network connections for HP 3000 terminal sessions. In side-by-side tests between Javelin and the normal PC-based Minisoft terminal emulation program, Javelin won hands down.

I was absolutely stunned. Of all the things I would associate with Java, speed is not one.

But it wasn't all fun and games. My testing thus far had been done only with Microsoft's Internet Explorer Version 4.01 and had gone extremely well. Since I also had Netscape Communicator on my desktop PC, I decided to start it up. Same security issue, same speed, same terminal configuration... but what's with the cursor?

Simply pressing ENTER at the MPE command prompt put the cursor on the previous line. After entering Qedit's visual mode, there wasn't a cursor to be found until an update was forced. After leaving Qedit the cursor once again went into hiding.

A quick phone call to Minisoft technical support revealed a problem that plagues any company wanting to embrace Java. It seems the particular version of Netscape Communicator I had installed was fully capable of handling the Javelin applet but there were "minor" changes to the cursor handling routines of the Java runtime engine inside Communicator. This is probably the single largest barrier to widespread implementation of Java applications and applets.

When I was taking the Sun Java training courses, I developed a small applet that contained user interface elements such as text areas, scroll bars, and command buttons. Nothing bizarre or unusual was attempted. Under the Sun appletviewer the applet was perfect. Under Microsoft Internet Explorer, two of the command buttons didn't show up. Two different versions of Netscape Navigator produced two different sets of user interface elements that failed or didn't display. All of these Java runtime environments claimed to be JDK 1.0-compliant.

Until Microsoft and Netscape stop messing around with their Java implementations, developing Java applications will simply be too large a task for most organizations.

Minisoft has done an excellent job with Javelin. It's compact, clean, and quick.

If your environment provides the capability to ensure and control Web browser installation, then Javelin may give you an excellent alternative to traditional PC-based terminal emulation. For more information visit Minisoft's Web site at http://www.minisoft.com.

Jim Alton is an independent consultant with more than 13 years of HP 3000, systems integration, Web, and networking experience. He can be reached at jalton@netcom.ca.