License and registration, please

OK, just a license will do. What, you've avoided integrating Visual Basic for Applications because of its license for internal corporate use? Maybe you should turn to the new corporate licensing program for VBA announced by Microsoft last week.

Independent software vendors frequently license VBA for packaged applications to help customers meet specific business needs. Microsoft's new corporate licensing program provides noncommercial redistribution license for VBA, allowing corporations to develop VBA-based customizable applications for internal use. With VBA embedded in corporate applications, departments and subsidiaries are able to tailor applications to meet their specific needs. Extending the application doesn't require that you distribute the source code, which eliminates the need for supporting multiple versions of the app.

The new licensing structure is part of Microsoft's release of a VBA 6.0 Software Development Kit. The VBA 6.0 SDK also includes tools aimed at simplifying VBA integration for all developers. Features of the SDK include a wizard for fast integration of VBA into a Visual Basic application, additional sample code, and more comprehensive documentation -- all of which will speed the process of developing in VBA, according to Microsoft.

The VBA 6.0 SDK is now available for evaluation. It can be ordered free of charge online. 

It's a security issue

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to secure your on-line music delivery and streaming media. Your weapon: the RPK Encryptonite Software Toolkit.

RPK Security has released a Secure Digital Music Initiative version and a Java version of its Encryptonite Toolkit. At the heart of both is RPK Security's encryptonite engine, which combines elements of public-key encryption systems (authentication, digital signatures, and key management) with the speed of symmetric systems. 

The SDMI Toolkit is a high-speed encryption solution for companies building SDMI-compliant devices and software for secure digital music delivery. The Toolkit helps developers add strong security to streaming and downloaded digital-music delivery applications without performance degradation. 

The RPK Encryptonite Toolkit for Java helps software developers add strong encryption to stand-alone Java applications or applets. It performs at 95 percent of the speed of native code versions, RPK Security says the toolkit is intended for high-data-flow and resource-limited applications like streaming media, secure music and video delivery, videoconferencing, e-commerce, and embedded applications.

Among the Java toolkit's features: it allows development of fully transparent, browser-based security applications; it enables on-the-fly encryption; and it builds security into Web pages, eliminating the need for customers to download and install client-side software.

RPK's SDMI and Java Encryptonite Toolkits are delivered as C/C++ libraries for Win95/98/NT, HP/UX, Sun Solaris (C only), Linux, a Delphi 3.0/4.0 VCL component for Win95/NT is available as are, DLL, and ActiveX packages.  Pricing starts at US$695 per toolkit per developer. Deployment license fees are based upon the application.

Hardcopy capture made easy

Xerox Corp. today announced FlowPort, a server-based software solution, that helps incorporate paper documents into the electronic office environment. Research conducted by Xerox shows that we do not function in a paperless society. On the contrary, today's typical electronic office uses more paper than ever before. 

Xerox tackles the problem of how to integrate paper documents into digital office workflow with FlowPort's PaperWare feature. Using encoded DataGlyphs (technology developed at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center), FlowPort reads directions from a specialized paper interface (completed by the sender) and distributes the paper document accordingly: e-mail, remote print, or Internet fax. FlowPort also stores and retrieves documents.

"For many organizations, many mission-critical documents exist only in paper [form]," says Mark Hill, vice president and general manager of Xerox's Office Solutions Business Unit. "FlowPort provides an intelligent and powerful solution for easily digitizing, storing, and retrieving hardcopy documents, offering seamless information movement into an organization's electronic workflow."

In an interview with Developer News, Mr. Hill stressed FlowPort's ease-of-use. "One of the targets in FlowPort's creation process was that it be simple to use. For hardcopy capture, FlowPort is the easy and economical way to go."