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Corel Office for Java Whitepaper

Corel® Office for Java™ is the first suite of office productivity applications 100% written in the Java™ Programming Language. Merging the expertise of Corel's award-winning product developers with the power and strength of Java, Corel Office for Java offers a platform-independent, document-centric, network-centric, modular and extensible environment for document creation and workgroup collaboration.

 
Corel Office for Java

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Enterprise solution

Corel Office for Java delivers a complete Client/Server enterprise solution that not only includes popular productivity applications but also provides workgroup functionality and back-end enterprise support. The product is rooted in the open standards philosophy with full support of standards such as JDBC, LDAP, ICAT, POP3, and IMAP4.Because it is written entirely in Java, Corel Office for Java is platform-independent on both the client and server. All that's required is a platform that implements the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) or JavaOS. The number of supported operating systems and browsers increases almost daily and include: SUN Solaris, AIX, OS/2, Windows® 95, Windows NT® and MAC®. Corel Office for Java is ideally suited for organizations deploying the Network Computer and fully support NC's by vendors such as Sun, IBM, and Oracle.

The cross platform capabilities of the suite extend beyond executing the applications on multiple platforms: Because Corel Office for Java also uses Java to represent the document, users can create office documents that are immediately publishable to their printer, the intranet, or the Internet. No conversion or reformatting is required. Any Corel Office for Java document can thus be shared across multiple platforms in any computing environment.

The document-centric approach

With Corel Office for Java, the application resides within the document rather than the document residing in the application. This means that users can seamlessly incorporate multiple components into their documents without ever leaving the main window.

For example, a user can start creating a document using the word processor, embed a spreadsheet, chart the resulting data in a colorful bar graph, and the main interface always remains the same. Toolbars and menu items update as required.

This document centric approach is implemented using a container-component framework. Corel's application framework allows containers to contain multiple components which in turn can contain other components and provides for the communication between components and containers, such as in-place editing of an embedded spreadsheet. Compared to Microsoft's OLE, this approach requires much less overhead and is available across platforms. The framework is completely JavaBeans™ compliant enabling open and non-proprietary integration with third-party components.

The network-centric approach

Unlike today's office suites which are centered around a "fat" client, Corel Office for Java is network-centric. This means that applications and application components reside on the server and are seamlessly downloaded to the client as required.

As a result of this network-centric approach, maintenance of software is greatly simplified. To update an organization's productivity software simply requires an update of the software on the server. Software distribution and upgrading, version compatibility, and multi-platform environments are no longer an issue.

This network-centric approach to computing also creates an ideal workgroup environment. Users can share any Corel Office for Java document across the network without giving a second thought to standards, file formats, or individual operating systems. Documents can be viewed with any Java-enabled browser. For example, one team member can edit a document's text and then return it to the network server so that another can change the chart formats while working from home. Meanwhile, server-based version control keeps track of the changes and controls user access.

Extensibility

Because Corel Office for Java is fully JavaBeans compliant, its functionality can be easily extended by adding Java™ Applets for specific features or entire application components. To develop these extensions, programmers can either use pure AWT or take advantage of Corel's Developers' Tools.

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Last Updated: January 13, 1997
Copyright © 1997 Corel Corporation.