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[ Go to June 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinLab Reviews
-- by Martin Heller
Microsoft Visual J++ 1.1 is a minor upgrade from the initial release of Microsoft's Java and COM development environment. Besides bug fixes, this new version features a Database Wizard, an ActiveX Wizard and an improved Studio environment. However, none of these new features significantly improves the product. The Database Wizard makes it a snap to generate a Java applet for browsing, record by record, a single table in any ODBC-compliant database. The ActiveX Wizard partially automates the process of exposing the public members of Java classes for use in COM interfaces. The resulting Java implementations of COM objects are usable from scripts, but are not full-blown ActiveX controls. The improved Studio environment features VBScript as a recordable and programmable macro language; all the relevant methods and properties in the editing environment are exposed for automation through COM. Although these are welcome additions for developers already using Microsoft tools, Visual J++ 1.1 still lacks the features-support for Java Beans and an intuitive RAD environment-that put Symantec's Visual Cafe 1.0 on the WinList of recommended products.
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