NCSA Habanero is a collaborative framework and environment containing a set of applications. Through Habanero you can interact with other people on the Internet using a variety of applications that share state and events. Habanero is written in Java, and will run under any operating system that supports Java v1.1.6 or greater.

The Habanero framework or API is designed to give developers the tools they need to create collaborative Java applications. The framework provides the necessary methods that make it possible to create or transition existing applications and applets into collaborative applications. Using the Habanero Wizard, developers can easily convert applets by selecting the objects and events they want to share. The Wizard then rewrites the code to take advantage of the Habanero API.

The Habanero environment provides the necessary environment to create collaborative work environments and virtual communities. The environment includes a server that hosts sessions and a client that interacts with sessions using a variety applications called Hablets. Sessions can be recorded, persistent, access restricted and can even be anonymous. The Habanero client provides the interface to define, list, create, join and interact with a session. The client provides session information, user identification, a notification mechanism, record and replay capabilities, security, a list of active users and tools, an address book and the capability to easily create session definitions. The client has two user interfaces: one is used to pre-define sessions off-line and the other is used to interact with active sessions on-line in realtime. The Habanero client is capable of interacting between multiple sessions, each with multiple tools and it can be defined as a helper application for a web browser giving it the capability to join sessions and replay recorded sessions from a web page.

Habanero version 3.0 (alpha-1 release) is now available. An extensive set of documentation is provided.

The Habanero and ISAAC research projects have ended, but we are making our final materials available to researchers and other interested parties. The software itself may be useful as an experiment in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), however it can be difficult to install To install the full ISAAC (asynchronous support) suite requires the installation of specific versions of multiple associated software packages (e.g., Jigsaw, Jini, object databases, etc.), as is documented on our web pages. While this is clearly undesirable, it was completely impractical for us to attempt to obtain no-cost redistribution licenses for all these materials to support distribution to the general public. It would have also been a waste of our research funds to redundantly develop such capabilities.

Offsetting this, we are leaving our 2.0 Final version of Habanero available on the web. There is, however, no staff support available.

Potential commercial users/licensees are invited to contact the former Principal Investigator for further information.

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Habanero^® is a registered trademark owned by The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Copyright 1996-2001. All rights reserved.   Java^(TM) is a proprietary trademark owned by Sun Microsystems, Inc.