IBM's Alphaworks teams have been busy, releasing three Java/.NET interoperability tools or frameworks last week. First is an interoperability tool for Eclipse to host WinForms controls, second is some extensions to their existing Java-COM bridge technologies, third (and perhaps most exciting) is an access technology for Tivoli from .NET.

The Eclipse/WinForms technology uses a helper Java class that wrappers the WinForms control (no changes to the WinForms control itself are necessary) to drive the interaction between the Java/Eclipse code and the control. More details can be found at the Interoperability Tool for Eclipse and .NET WinForms page.

The Java-COM bridge tool builds on top of existing Eclipse Java-to-native technology, according to the home page, saying that "The tool itself is based on the Eclipse technology for developing the Java-COM bridges. Using Eclipse, the user can use the tool (an Eclipse plug-in) to create the bridge(s) from type libraries and then reference the bridge(s) from the Java projects. The resulting application can access COM servers from Java or publish Java functionality as a COM server for access by other COM components." Downloads and more information can be found at the Development Tool for Java-COM Bridge home page.

Finally, IBM's Tivoli has long been one of the more popular enterprise management platforms, and extending its capabilities to within the .NET environment only helps those enterprise environments that find themselves facing a dual-platform (or worse) environment. According to the website,

This technology provides the following functions:

• ability to invoke Tivoli Access Manager AznAPI from a Microsoft .NET environment
• ability to invoke Tivoli Access Manager Administration API from a Microsoft .NET environment
• provision of single sign-on from a Tivoli Access Manager Web security component to an ASP.NET application server
• ability to evaluate Microsoft .NET role membership decisions using Tivoli Access Manager

More information can be found on the IBM Tivoli Access Manager for Microsoft .NET page.

(For those unfamiliar with Alphaworks, this is an IBM collection of technologies much the same as the Microsoft Research site, offering technologies for preview and use, sometimes promoting them to a commercial license but otherwise making them available for use under the usual "at your own risk" disclaimer.)

For those unfamiliar with Alphaworks, this is an IBM collection of technologies much the same as the Microsoft Research site, offering technologies for preview and use, sometimes promoting them to a commercial license but otherwise making them available for use under the usual "at your own risk" disclaimer.

Just to clarify: the alphaWorks free licence limits you to using the software for non-commercial use only and for a 90 day period only. If you want to use it beyond this time limit and/or in a commercial application, you must purchase a licence to do so. Full details here:

http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/content/Licensing+Faq

Mainsoft is IBM partners for .NET Lotus Notes Integration, but I also found out they got a .NET Java tools, which is well known these days. Anybody used Mainsoft's tool?