PRNewswire -- Sun Microsystems today announced that it has been working with the Apache Software Foundation on a new technology initiative, called Batik, an open source, Java technology-based toolkit for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Batik was released in beta form today by Apache and is the third Apache project to which Sun has donated code and technical resources. Other projects include Jakarta, a collection of initiatives around JavaServer Pages technology (JSP) and Java Servlets technologies, and Xerces 2, a best-of-breed XML Parser.

The Apache Software Foundation's XML-Batik Project received contributions from a number of industry leaders including CSIRO, Eastman Kodak Company, ILOG, and Sun Microsystems. As with all Apache projects, the project exists through volunteer contributions to ensure each project continues to exist beyond the participation of individual volunteers, to enable contributions of intellectual property and funds on a sound basis, and to provide a vehicle for limiting legal exposure while participating in open-source software projects.

These projects with Apache are testament to Sun's commitment to deliver the best tools and technologies to developers who are building next generation, network-centric applications. Through partnerships, such as with the expert developers of Apache and the open, inclusive Java Community Process (JCP) 2.0 program, Sun continues to listen closely to developers' requests and quickly deliver on their requirements. Apache is also deeply involved in the JCP 2.0, having served on the interim Executive Committee (EC) and being voted onto the EC again last month in the JCP 2.0 elections.

"Apache is highly recognized by the developer community as a cutting edge group, and we're pleased to work with them on the Batik project," stated George Paolini, vice president, Technology Evangelism, Sun Microsystems. "Sun has long been a proponent of making our tools and technologies open to the largest possible audience in order to promote standards-based application development for the Web, and our continuing work with Apache supports this objective."

"The Apache Software Foundation promotes projects such as Batik to demonstrate the positive results of a collaborative development process, where individuals join forces across national and corporate boundaries, to build upon each other's work, and create a regularly improved product for the benefit of the global community. Without spending any funds on research, marketing, or advertising, Apache developers have been building high-quality and cutting-edge software for over 5 years now; software that by its nature promotes open standards and an open Internet," said Brian Behlendorf, President of the ASF.

Batik Project
SVG's cross-platform, vendor neutral format for graphics, based on XML and developed through the W3C, is perfectly suited for the Internet and likely to become a solution for delivering graphics over the Web. The Batik project provides a toolkit, comprised of several modules, that enables Java technology developers to build Web-based applications that can handle SVG content.

Sun has been instrumental in jumpstarting the Batik project at Apache, is contributing development resources, and has donated code, such as the SVGGraphics2D generator software, which allows Java technology-based applications to export graphics to the SVG format, as well as image encoders, and components such as gradient paints and filter effects. Other modules for Batik include: an SVG viewer that can be easily integrated into any Java technology-based application to display SVG images; an implementation of the Document Object Model (DOM) in SVG; and SVG transcoders, which allow SVG images to be converted to other formats, such as JPEG or PNG.

The Batik toolkit itself is written completely in Java technology code, which means developers can rely upon the Java platform's promise of "Write Once, Run Anywhere" when using Batik. For more information about the Batik project or to download the toolkit please see http://xml.apache.org/batik/.

Java Servlet Technologies
In June 1999, Sun donated the source code for JSP and Java Servlets technologies to Apache, which is developing the official reference implementation -- called Tomcat -- for both technologies. The JSP and Java Servlets specifications continue to be developed under the JCP program, and Tomcat is developed consistently with these specifications. JSP and Java Servlets technologies are key components of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). Tomcat is included under the Apache license in Sun's reference implementation for J2EE technology. Many of the J2EE licensees include and support the Tomcat implementation in their J2EE products. Tomcat 3.2 implements the JSP v. 1.1 and Java Servlets v. 2.2 specifications. Tomcat 4.0, currently an alpha release, includes the new features from the latest JSP v. 1.2 and Java Servlets v. 2.3 specifications. Tomcat software, in binary and source distributions, is available for download under the Apache software license at http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat.

Two other components of the Jakarta project to which Sun has donated assistance are Struts and Taglibs. Struts is an open source application framework for JSP and Java Servlets technologies, while Taglibs is a repository for reusable, custom tag libraries compatible with the JSP technology specification, version 1.1 or later. Custom tag libraries are a powerful feature of the JSP technology architecture that allows application developers to provide access to rich dynamic content capabilities through a familiar tag syntax that is friendly to Web designers. The JCP expert group working on the standard lag libraries is considering Taglibs as a repository for the reference implementation.

For more information on Jakarta, visit http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/ or http://www.java.sun.com/jsp.

Apache's XML Project
Sun has also donated XML parser technologies to Apache as part of an industry project called xml.apache.org. The project was created in response to the overwhelming demand for open source XML and XSL tools triggered by the rapid adoption of XML. Sun donated to this effort its experimental Java technology code-name Project X and XHTML Parser technologies, which are now available through Apache as "Crimson." Java Project X is a high performance, fully conformant XML parser, written with Java technology code, that provides essential functionality for reading, manipulating and generating XML text. The XHTML Parser is an experimental parser for reading and writing Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) and is based on the Java Swing(TM) HTML parser in the Java Foundation Classes. Crimson is used as the default XML parser with the Java API for XML Parsing v 1.1, which was announced in an early access implementation today. The forthcoming best-of-breed XML parser -- Xerces 2 -- from Apache may include code from Crimson as well as the existing Xerces and is in development.

For more information on the Apache Software Foundation's XML parser project, please visit http://www.xml.apache.org or http://www.sun.com/xml.

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