 | |
|
SDN Chat Sessions Transcripts Index
June 14, 2005
This is a moderated forum. MDR-EdO:: Welcome to today's Java Live chat on what's new in the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit. As many of you know, the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit (formerly the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) Wireless Toolkit) has become the standard toolkit for developing J2ME applications on devices that are compliant with the Java Technology for the Wireless Industry (JTWI) specification (JSR 185). The toolkit consists of build tools, utilities, and a device emulator. The latest version of the toolkit, Sun Java Wireless Toolkit 2.3, which was recently made available as a beta release, adds significant new features to an already award-winning toolkit. Our guests today are the lead engineer for the toolkit, Ariel Levin; Jonathan Knudsen, who's written a lot about the toolkit; and product marketing manager E-ming Saung. Our guests are ready, so let's begin. Who has the first question? Mobile Larry: Where can I get a rundown of what's new in the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit (WTK) 2.3 beta release? Jonathan Knudsen: We just posted an article on that very subject. rwmarejka: What development platforms are supported with this release? Jonathan Knudsen: Briefly, the new features are the following: There are other enhancements as well, like proxy authentication and so on. rwmarejka: Is the command-line interface still present and supported? Jonathan Knudsen: Yes, and it's still documented in Appendix B of the User's Guide. [Editor's note: The User's Guide is part of the WTK 2.3 download.]
krital: Are there any plans to support Mac OS X? E-ming Saung: No, there aren't any plans at this stage to support Mac OS X. We are currently targeting platforms that are most popular with our developers. Ariel Levin: The 2.3 beta has been released only for Microsoft Windows. DRuderman: Should we be assured that all MIDlets that run in the toolkit will run on a modern J2ME phone? Jonathan Knudsen: Different phones have different capabilities; not all phones support all APIs. The toolkit allows you to choose which APIs you will use based on what types of devices you're expecting your users to have. dobr_pan4ev: Hi, the new toolkit supports the Location API for J2ME (JSR 179). The new mobile phones from manufacturers like Siemens have Location API. Are they currently supported by telecoms like Nextel, and how precisely can we get locations? Ariel Levin:
JSR 179 defines Mobile Larry: I see that the 2.3 release supports JSR 177, the Security and Trust Services API for J2ME. Does it also support JSR 155, the Web Services Security Assertions? Jonathan Knudsen: We support JSR 177 but not JSR 155. In fact, the Expert Group for JSR 155 has only just been formed. rwmarejka: How is the Java Card side of JSR 177 handled in the WTK? Will it support a card reader? Ariel Levin: Yes, using the Java Card emulator that comes with Java Card Toolkit C Reference Implementation (CRef). We've also bundled it with WTK so that you won't need to download it. midman: Is there a way to connect the emulator to a real Bluetooth device? I like Bluetooth support in the WTK but want to test my application with real hardware. Ariel Levin: Unfortunately, no. Only emulation within the WTK environment between the emulators is possible. Jonathan Knudsen: We don't currently expose the Bluetooth simulation environment. You can communicate between emulators using the simulated Bluetooth environment, and you can track data in the Network Monitor. rwmarejka: Cool, so we can develop Java Card apps and integrate them with the new WTK? Ariel Levin: Yes! Keep your eyes open for real life apps at the 2005 JavaOne conference. Mobile Larry: And speaking of JavaOne, what WTK sessions will be offered there? Jonathan Knudsen: We're having a Birds-of-a-Feather session on Monday, June 27, at 9:30 p.m. We'll cover the new stuff in the 2.3 beta version. krital: With regards to the J2ME Content Handler API (CHAPI), how close is the toolkit to the actual functionality on a phone? Does it work better with some stuff and worse with others? Who does that depend on? For example, if I have Flash Lite installed on a phone, can I launch a Flash UI through J2ME? Can I pass variables to it? Ariel Levin: Since CHAPI was finalized only about a week ago, I don't think any phones out there are supporting it yet. ;-) The possibility of launching content handlers other than Java is totally dependent on what the device manufacturer decided to integrate. rwmarejka: What are your plans with respect to JSR 226, the Scalable 2D Vector Graphics API for J2ME? E-ming Saung: We are planning to have support for JSR 226. krital: Are you taking any steps to improve the emulation and make it closer to the actual device? I realize that some things are not possible, but, for example, the P900/P910 emulation is terrible with respect to the UI widgets and their behavior on the emulator compared to the actual hardware. Ariel Levin: The WTK is a generic product and does not attempt to emulate a specific device. Even our device skin doesn't look like any specific phone. That's up to the device manufacturers. DRuderman: Do the phones or KVMs get certified? Should I have some faith in them when tracking down bugs? E-ming Saung: Can you clarify this question, please? Are you talking about conformance certification of devices? DRuderman: Yes, I wanted to know if devices were certified, or just VMs were, or both. E-ming Saung: The implementations of the supported JSRs on a specific device are certified. So if a device claims compatibility for four JSRs, the device implementation needs to pass the relevant Technology Compatibility Kits (TCKs) for those four JSRs. krital: One particular bug has been there for a while, and I personally find it quite annoying. When you sign a MIDlet from within WTK and if for any reason the URL that the Java Descriptor (JAD) file points to is temporarily unavailable, an error dialog that seems a leftover from the download progress dialog stays there until you restart WTK. Has this been fixed in 2.3? Ariel Levin: We are not familiar with this issue. We would be happy if you sent a detailed description of it to our comments alias: Feedback to wtk-comments. rwmarejka: Is it possible to build an Information Module Profile (IMP) (JSR 195) MIDlet suite using the WTK, since IMP is a subset of MIDP? Ariel Levin: It should be possible, provided it does not have its own APIs. However, if you use MIDP APIs accidentally, you won't know it because it will still build and run on WTK. krital: So we should complain to Sony Ericsson for not developing its own emulator like Nokia has done (and very well indeed)? Jonathan Knudsen: Yes, Sony Ericsson is responsible for its own emulators. They probably created a skin on top of our emulator. But, of course, that will behave like our emulator, not like Sony Ericsson's phone. fuji:
I apologize if this is off topic. I had a question about
JSR's support for discoverable services -- even when the
MIDLet is not running. In other words, the API currently
adds the Service Discovery Database (SDDB) record and
deletes it in the scope of the running MIDlet. Is there a
way to have the SDDB entry persist beyond the running
MIDlet? Is there a Bluetooth equivalent of the Ariel Levin:
Currently, BT is not a valid protocol of the DRuderman: If we are not using the new APIs, should we start using 2.3 anyway? E-ming Saung: Yes, version 2.3 also incorporates bug fixes and other improvements from version 2.2. krital: Is it currently possible or are there future plans to expose the profiling capabilities of the toolkit to third-party tool vendors (JProbe, OptimizeIt, and so on)? Ariel Levin: This is not possible at this time. The KVM, which is at the heart of the WTK emulator, does not support the generic profiling interface. krital: But what about providing a subset of the generic profiling interface in a way open enough for tool manufacturers to use? Ariel Levin: This is not in our current plans. krital: Do you plan to create and support a set of tools similar to antenna for Ant support of the toolkit operations? Jonathan Knudsen: Ant is supported in NetBeans. We try to not overlap with them. Ariel Levin: Actually, it's only for building, not at runtime. As for creating specific device configurations, that's not currently available. Mobile Larry: I read with interest a recent post to the KVM interest list that said: "It appears that the handset manufacturers are only going to allow signed MIDlets to be installed on a device if the MIDlet is signed by them." If that's true, what implications does that have for using the toolkit? Ariel Levin: I don't believe operators will agree to this course of action. The Recommended Security Policy talks about manufacturer domain, carrier domains, and trusted third- party domain. In any case, what you would need to do is get hold of a proper certificate chain, import it into the WTK's signing tool, and sign your MIDlet suite. krital: What is in your current road map besides adding support for new JSRs? E-ming Saung: Our current road map focuses on adding support for new JSRs and features to support the new JSRs. krital: Given that writing an emulator like Nokia's requires a lot of work and resources, and given that you guys have done a lot of work already, do you have plans to allow device manufacturers to customize the WTK in ways different than just providing a skin for a phone? For example, in terms of performance, max heap, network protocol support, multithreading behavior, and so on? Ariel Levin: This is already possible. However, not all areas of the WTK are easily customizable, so it would be up to the manufacturer to decide how much to invest. rwmarejka: Speaking of NetBeans, what parts of the WTK ship with NetBeans Mobility Pack 4.1? Ariel Levin: WTK 2.2 is bundled with NetBeans Mobility 4.1. dobr_pan4ev:
The E-ming Saung: It's really up to the device manufacturers what implementations they decide to use in their phones and whether or not they want to implement that feature. krital: If a third-party product that is not part of a JSR proves successful and popular enough, do you plan to release future WTK versions with, say, trial versions of commercial products? Jonathan Knudsen: As a matter of fact, the 2.3 beta includes Nokia's SNAP Mobile client library, which is a client-side library to enable multiplayer networked gaming. Mobile Larry: Speaking of the NetBeans Mobility Pack, what's the plan for integrating the new version of the WTK into the NetBeans Mobility Pack? Ariel Levin: You can add WTK 2.3 beta as an additional emulator to NB mobility right now! E-ming Saung: Although you'll need to download it separately, the current WTK 2.3 beta will integrate with NetBeans Mobility Pack 4.1. Jonathan Knudsen: You can read more about the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit 2.3 beta. krital: How deep do conformance tests go with respect to JSR or even MIDP support? For example, the HTTP connection behavior differs extensively between phone manufacturers that all claim to be MIDP compliant. This causes huge grief for developers writing applications that should run on a variety of phones. Ariel Levin: All devices must pass the TCK. As far as I know, manufacturers will run additional tests as well. The thing is that it's not always the device that is the problem. HTTP headaches, for example, are caused a lot of the time by the network, proxies, servers, and so on. krital: I am talking of things like HTTP connections not flushing content read unless it exceeds a certain buffer size and so on. Shouldn't that be standard for all phones? Ariel Levin: MIDP mandates support for HTTP 1.1. I guess stuff like that would be defined in that spec. EdO: Well, we've quickly come to the end of today's session. I'd like to thank everyone who participated today -- I thought we had a nice range of questions. And, of course, I'd like to thank our guests, Ariel, E-ming, and Jonathan, for their answers. krital: Thanks, guys. Bye now. EdO: Thanks for your questions. Ariel Levin: Thank you all for joining us today! Make sure to download 2.3 beta and send us your feedback! Jonathan Knudsen: Thank you, everyone. E-ming Saung: Thanks, everyone. We had a lot of great questions. Let us know if you have any additional feature requests or concerns and what you think about WTK 2.3 beta. Jonathan Knudsen: If you have further questions, use the feedback form. | |||
|
| ||||||||||||
Print-friendly Version
