WebObjects - Version History

Version History

WebObjects was originally released by NeXT Computer in March 1996, but was acquired by Apple Inc. with their acquisition of NeXT in December of that year.

1.0 — March 28, 1996

• Debut release.

2.0 — June 25, 1996

• Pre-release version of WebObjects Builder application.

3.0 — November 1996

3.1

• Supports a subset of the Java APIs (NT only).

3.5 — December 1997

• Enhanced Java support (NT only): all objects and components can be worked on as a set of Java APIs based on a complete implementation of the JDK 1.1.3.

4.0 — September 1998

• First version of WebObjects to run on the Mac platform — specifically Mac OS X Server 1.0 (a public release of the beta OS formerly code-named 'Rhapsody').
• OPENSTEP 4.2 OS no longer supported; Windows NT now uses a new version of the OpenStep base of libraries and binary support called Yellow Box.
• Direct actions introduced whereby actions can be sent directly to an object that can handle it, allowing for simpler, static URLs.
• Direct to Web code-free development assistant introduced.
• WebObjects and Enterprise Objects Framework provide thread-safe APIs. This means that you can write a multithreaded WebObjects application where you couldn't before. This enables applications that can provide user feedback for long-running requests.
• Better tools for managing, configuring and testing the scalability of applications.
• Java capabilities are greatly improved over previous version, however compiled Objective-C is still two to three times faster;
• Possible to build a fully capable Java client either as a stand-alone app or as an applet with the Interface Builder - all sorts of Swing and Java Bean components are sitting on IB palettes for wiring up.
• Developers can now debug applications on a machine that doesn't have a web server present.
• EOF 3.0 adds support for a new database, OpenBase Lite, which ships with EOF 3.0 as an unsupported demo.
• EOF 3.0 introduces new API, mainly in EOUtilities, to facilitate common programming tasks.
• EOModeler adds support for prototype attributes and the ability to create and store complex queries (or EOFetchSpecifications).

4.5 —; March 2000

• Integrated XML support using IBM's alphaWorks parser.
• New WebObjects Builder interface, specifically in the main window toolbar, the user interface for binding keys, and the table editing user interface. A path view, an API editor, and component validation have been added.
• Application profiling tools.
• EOF 4.5 comes with a new sample adaptor: the LDAP adaptor.
• Direct to Web now allows you to create your own visual style and exposes a great deal of new API.
• Java Client extended considerably, including a new user interface generation layer, Direct to Java Client.

4.5.1

• First version to support Mac OS X 10.x and Windows 2000.
• Last version to support HP-UX and Mac OS X Server 1.0.
• Last version which supported the Objective-C API.

5.0 — May 2001

• Major rewrite from Objective-C to Java.

5.1 — January 10, 2002

• Create and deploy Enterprise JavaBeans using the built-in container based on OpenEJB.
• Deploy WebObjects applications as JSPs or Servlets on top of third-party application servers.
• Access and manipulate data stored in JNDI or LDAP directory services.
• Automatically generate desktop Java client applications with rich, interactive user interfaces.
• Utilize the WebObjects template engine and object-relational mapping for seamless XML messaging.

5.1.2 — May 7, 2002

• Contains general bug fixes for WebObjects 5.1 on all platforms.

5.1.3 — June 7, 2002

• Contains targeted bug fixes for WebObjects 5.1 on all platforms.

5.1.4 — August 22, 2002

• Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.2.

5.2 — November 12, 2002

• Web Services support.
• Improvements to Java EE integration
• Java Web Start support.
• Improvements to robustness and stability of Enterprise Objects.
• Major bug fixes led many developers to hail this as the first stable 5.x release of WebObjects.

5.2.1 — March 21, 2003

• Resolved some incompatibilities with the latest Java 1.4.1 implementation for Mac OS X.

5.2.2 — October 22, 2003

• Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and the Xcode IDE.
• JBoss on Panther Server qualification.
• Qualified for Java 1.4.1.
• Fixes for EOF runtime and WOFileUpload.

5.2.3 — March 16, 2004

• Performance and stability update addressing issues with CLOSE_WAIT states in deployment using JavaMonitor and wotaskd and issues related to EOF under high load.
• Qualified for Java 1.4.2.

5.2.4 — May 2, 2005

• Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and the Xcode 2.0 IDE.

5.3 (developer) for Mac OS X 10.4 — June 6, 2005

• WebObjects developer tools included free with the Xcode IDE (v2.1).
• Development and deployment on platforms other than Mac OS X no longer supported by Apple.
• EOModels can be created and edited within Xcode with a new EOModeler plugin that integrates with the CoreData modeling tools.
• WebObjects Builder has UI enhancements and generates HTML 4.0.1 code.
• WebObjects runtime now supports HTML 4.0.1.
• NSArray, NSDictionary and NSSet now implement the java.util.Collection interfaces.
• Axis 1.1 integrated with the Direct To WebServices feature.
• WebObjects is qualified against Oracle 10g using the 10.1.0.2 JDBC drivers; Microsoft SQL Server 2000 8.00.194; MySQL 4.1.10a; OpenBase 8.0; Oracle 9i Enterprise Edition Sybase ASE 12.5

5.3 (deployment) for Mac OS X Server 10.4 — June 23, 2005

• Installer updates the Application Server components in Mac OS X Server 10.4 to WebObjects 5.3.

5.3.1 — November 10, 2005

• Addresses incompatibilities with Xcode 2.2 Developer tools on Mac OS X 10.4.
• Adds a modified Developer tools license that allows WebObjects applications developed with Xcode 2.2 to be deployed on any compatible platform. The license is available at /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaWebObjects.framework/Resources/License.key after installation.
• Adds better SQL Generation in the EOModeler Plug-in design tool in Xcode.
• Improved FetchSpecification building in the EOModeler Plugin design tool in Xcode.
• Adds a "components and elements" window for improved workflow in WebObjects Builder.
• Bug fixes.

5.3.2 — August 7, 2006

• Addresses incompatibilities with Xcode 2.4 Developer tools on Mac OS X 10.4.
• Security improvements.
• Other improvements.
• As part of the simultaneous release of Xcode 2.4, the Cocoa Java bridge is deprecated along with the following WebObjects applications: EOModeler, EOModeler Plugin, WebObjects Builder, WebServices Assistant, RuleEditor and WOALauncher.

5.3.3 — February 15, 2007

• "WebObjects DST Update": Updates WebObjects 5.3 systems to observe the Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes due to come into effect in March 2007 in many countries, including the United States and Canada. Uses the latest DST and time zone information available as of January 8, 2007.

5.4 — October 26, 2007

• License key no longer required or supported
• Deprecations: Java Client Nib based applications, Direct to JavaClient based applications, EOCocoaClient based applications, OpenBase no longer example database, Tools (EOModeler, WebObjects Builder, Rule editor)
• Combined Component Template Parser that reduces .wo components to single .html files
• Generation of XHTML compliant pages
• AJAX request handler for enhanced page caching
• Added support for secure URL generation
• JMX monitoring support
• Entity index management in the model
• Improved the synchronization with the database
• Added support for index generation
• Support for enum in attribute conversion
• Improved support for vendor specific prototypes (EOJDBCOraclePrototype, EOJDBCFrontBasePrototype, etc.)
• Derby support (Embedded database)
• Support for Generics
• WebServices update (Axis 1.4)
• Full support for Apple XML plist (Read and Write)
• Ant build support
• Open Specifications

5.4.1 — February 11, 2008

• "WebObjects 5.4.1 is an update release for the version of WebObjects included in the Mac OS X Leopard tools. This release fixes several bugs in areas such as web services serialization, deployment tools, and database compatibility, among others. This update can be installed on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard."
• Fixed bugs in web services serialization, deployment, databases.

5.4.2 — July 11, 2008

• Addresses WOComponent parser issues
• Includes WebServices data types and API changes
• Includes EOF SQL Generation fixes
• Resolves additional issues

5.4.3 — September 15, 2008

• EOF Database snapshot not updating
• Webassistant not available for D2W apps
• Exceptions when using WOTextField with formatters
• Duplicate primary keys generated by FrontBase JDBC Adaptor under load
• Additional issue fixes