WaveMaker to ship upgrade to AJAX apps framework

WaveMaker Software will offer on Wednesday version 3.1.1 of WaveMaker Visual AJAX Studio, a framework for building database-driven AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) Web applications.
Featured in the upgrade is automatic form generation. "We can now take the time it takes to create an online Web form and really reduce it to a few seconds," said Rick Saletta, WaveMaker director of marketing. Users could migrate from an application like Oracle Forms, he said.
The product will be available both commercially with support or as an open-source product under the Affero General Public License, which requires that source code be made available to any network user of work authored under this license, WaveMaker said.
Also highlighted in version 3.1.1 are improvements to make it easier for users to add custom widgets, which are application components offering capabilities like windows and panes. Users can add widgets to the product's directory without the need to do JavaScript coding. Widgets themselves have been improved in the release.
Visual AJAX Studio utilizes the Spring Framework for Java and Hibernate object-relational mapping technology. It can work with any database supporting Hibernate. Minimal AJAX custom coding is required in the product, Saletta said. The product can leverage Web 2.0 technologies while adhering to a CIO's architectural, security, and data policies, WaveMaker said.
The company positions the product against rival offerings from companies like Nexaweb and Bungee Labs, believing products from other companies require use of proprietary technology, such as Bungee Labs's use of the Bungee Logic language with its online hosted service, Bungee Connect.
WaveMaker is considering offering its product as a hosted service similar to Bungee Labs, but no decision has been made, according to Saletta.
Other features in version 3.1 include simplified navigation, bug fixes in such areas as data binding and the product's data model, and certification that it can use the IBM DB2 database and the Internet Explorer browser.
Users can download Visual AJAX Studio 3.1 for free while annual subscriptions featuring professional support services cost $10,000 per Java Virtual Machine instance.
WaveMaker formerly was known as ActiveGrid.