HP MPower Web 1.0: The Enterprise User's Gateway to Information

Highlights

• Features
• Netscape Navigator Internet Client
• Data Viewers
• HP MPower Collaboration Tools
• HP MPower Web 1.0 Product Structure

The HP family of HP MPower Web 1.0 family of products helps enterprise users share information seamlessly across the Internet and Intranet.

HP MPower Web products offer an integrated and powerful set of Web browsers and tools, providing World Wide Web access and data viewing from HP workstations, servers, and X terminals, with collaboration tools (HP MPower) on the client side. Working with the Enterprise Connectivity Information Access Engine, HP-licensed firewalls and Web server bundles, users can enjoy easy, secure access to mission-critical databases throughout the technical enterprise.

HP MPower Web products include several HP MPower data viewers-as well as a new VRML-based 3D Model Viewer-to support concurrent engineering on HP system platforms. These data viewers and utilities let users capture and view 2D and 3D images, allowing enterprise-wide information sharing.

Future releases of MPower Web products will span the range of HP computers, from PCs through clusters, and include support for high-performance graphics, Graphical User Interface (GUI) services, real-time collaboration, workflow management, authoring, software development, distributed computing, and system management.

HP MPower Web is available as an Instantly Ignited product, separate from the HP-UX core release, that is enabled at boot time.

Features

• Full-featured Internet browser (Netscape Navigator), with embedded Java and Java runtime libraries, and support for frames
• Model Viewer, a 3D viewer of VRML and STL files
• Integrated data viewers and players, including: image viewer, digital video player, audio editor, audio control, and screen capture
• HP MPower collaboration tools, including: Shared X and Shared Whiteboard
• Desktop integration features include:
  • drag/drop to and from the CDE (Common Desktop Environment) desktop
  • attractive visuals
  • helpful "Introduction Manager" and full on-line documentation
  • easy application launching
  • desktop printing
  • interoperation with other Web information sources and commercial Web services (including security), and administrator-friendly installation scripts

Netscape Navigator Internet Client
At the heart of HP MPower Web is the Netscape Navigator Internet Client, which provides:

• HTML support, including extensions for frames, backgrounds, and tables
• Built-in support for GIF, JPEG, and audio file formats
• Support for standard security options (e.g., proxies, SHTTP, SSL)
• Support for embedded plug-in viewers and players
• Interoperability with Web tools on other platforms (PC and UNIXÆ), including all of the features of Netscape Navigator for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 (localized version)
• Java runtime and Javascript support equivalent to that of the Netscape Navigator shipped on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95
• Integrated mailer
• News reading and posting
• Remote control interface
• Support for helper applications (e.g., mailcap, mimetypes)
• Support for 8-bit and 24-bit graphics displays, including support for both true-color and direct-color visual types
• Scalability options for slow connections
• Support for information navigation and UI customization
• Support for cross-platform UI interoperability
• A variety of performance enhancements-Web browser performance scales with the user's system and networking performance
• Support for standard security options (proxies, authentication, and SSL)
• Action and data type definitions for data and media objects
• On-line Web-based Introduction Manager
• Complete on-line application help
• Japanese, German, and French localized versions (V 1.1)
• Support for HTTP 1.0 and URLs for FTP
• Full support for plug-in API specified for the Netscape Navigator on UNIX, including all necessary source files and documentation

Data Viewers
HP MPower Web bundles a number of HP MPower data viewers, as well as the new Model Viewer, to support concurrent engineering on HP system platforms. These data viewers and utilities enable capturing and viewing of 2D images, allowing information to be shared across the enterprise with HP MPower Web collaborative tools.

Model Viewer
The Model Viewer, bundled with HP MPower Web, operates either as a helper application for the Netscape Navigator, or as a standalone 3D viewer. The Model Viewer is an application for visualizing 3D models accessed from the World Wide Web or from a local or network file system. Model Viewer's manipulators let users examine 3D objects and scenes from all perspectives and navigate through immersive virtual environments.

Model Viewer supports collaborative/concurrent engineering:

• Based on industry standards, including WWW, HTML, VRML, and STL (stereolithography format)
• Fully utilizes HP graphics features and performance to provide real-time 3D viewer interaction
• Supports HP ENTRIA and ENVIZEX X Stations
• Supports incremental loading of model components
• Provides convenient and easy-to-use navigation/manipulation methods
• Includes extensive on-line help
• Handles large models and files
• Provides printing support (image capture and print at screen resolution)
• Supports texture mapping and acceleration for all common image formats
• Supports stereolithography (STL) models as VRML inlines and anchors
• Includes action and data type definitions for data and media objects

The Model Viewer unpacks compressed files automatically. The initial release uses Starbase, HP's native graphics language; OpenGL is not required. Model Viewer supports two manipulation models: virtual trackball for model examination, and virtual joystick for navigating immersive models.

Image Viewer
The Image Viewer is an application used to view digital images. The Image Viewer supports many image types, including most standard Web, UNIX, and PC image types. Image Viewer supports the following image file types:

Digital Video Player
The Digital Video Player enables playback of MPEG clips, with visual and audio combined, for rich information transfer across the enterprise. The Video Converter utility lets users convert motion JPEG files to MPEG video clips.

Audio Editor and Player
Audio Editor capabilities enable the creation and enhancement of audio files, which can be sent to other workers throughout the enterprise. Supported filetypes include WAV, L16, L8, L08, SND, A-Law, Mu-Law, and Au.

Audio Control
This control panel provides volume control, output selection, mute support, and stop functionality.

Screen Capture
This utility allows saving windows and regions of the display screen to files.

Image Print
This set of built-in actions allows the printing of images from HP MPower Web, using HP SharedPrint.

HP MPower Collaboration Tools
HP MPower collaboration tools enable enterprise-wide knowledge and information sharing, which allows distributed teams to work collaboratively with easily accessed and viewed information. HP was the first in the industry to offer such tools.

SharedX
Enables collaboration with existing applications and data. The design center of SharedX is non-invasive, real-time, 2D collaboration accomplished by sharing X drawing protocols. SharedX has been an industry-leading collaboration tools since its inception.

SharedX captures and multicasts X drawing protocol and X events to reproduce and coordinate application windows among geographically dispersed displays. SharedX includes:

• Address book functionality
• Collaboration session setup and management
• Collaboration session management
• Collaboration session customizations

Whiteboard
Whiteboard, used with SharedX, provides real-time collaborative annotation for 2D images, including images captured from 3D applications. It also provides image display and drawing, and supports:

• Display and save of 2D image data of various image filetypes
• Markup and text tools for annotating the 2D image
• Image printing

HP MPower 1.0 Web Product Structure
Series 700
B5356AA - HP MPower Web User Environment License to Use (LTU) for Series 700

B5357AA - HP MPower Web User Environment Media Product for Series 700

Series 800
B5358AA - HP MPower Web User Environment LTU for Series 800

B5359AA - HP MPower Web User Environment Media Product for Series 800

(c) Copyright 1996 Hewlett-Packard Company.

June 4, 1996