Working entirely in Java, Halcyon has crafted an application server solution that's portable to almost any operating system that has a Java run-time environment and a Web server with a Java servlet API. Yet iASP still allows a very high degree of portability with existing Microsoft Active Server Pages applications. I was able to get iASP up and running quickly under Solaris 6. Unlike ChiliSoft ASP, iASP requires a Java run-time environment, version 1.1.6 or higher. I installed Sun's Java run-time environment 1.2.1, which also required the installation of seven Sun operating system bug-fix patches for Solaris 6.

To install the iASP servlet, I ran iASP's shell-script wizard, which edited my Apache configuration file to make things work. Unlike ChiliSoft, Halcyon wrote its own JScript and VBScript interpreters from scratch in a clean-room environment, making them compatible with Microsoft's JScript and VBScript version 3.2. That makes them free from Microsoft and other licensee restrictions and keeps the cost down. Halcyon says that while it's technically possible to use other scripting languages with iASP, it wouldn't be easy--and probably not worthwhile--to do so.

Halcyon has also written JavaBeans versions of most of the standard installable components that Microsoft delivers with Active Server Pages, such as the Ad Rotator component, Browser Capabilities, and File Access Component. The Permission Checker component is not included.

To test the compatibility of iASP's implementation of Active Server Pages, I used existing sample applications from sites such as www.ymonda.com, www.asp101.com, and www.microsoft.com. While iASP did well with applications that didn't require an external database, it failed on Active Server Pages apps that expected a local Microsoft Access or SQL Server driver, something many Active Server Pages sample applications expect.

As a Java application, iASP works only with Java Database Connectivity interfaces for databases. Microsoft, of course, offers no Access or SQL Server database client pieces for any operating system except the drivers bundled with Windows NT, 95, and 98. JDBC drivers come in many flavors, including JDBC-to-ODBC (Object Database Connectivity) bridges. To access remote Microsoft Access and SQL Server databases running under Windows NT, Halcyon recommends using the Merant (formerly Intersolv) database drivers (www.merant.com), which are the same drivers that ChiliSoft bundles. Sun maintains a list of known JDBC drivers (java.sun.com/products/jdbc/drivers.html). By installing Merant's large 4-Mbyte database server interface under Windows NT, and using a JDBC-to-ODBC bridge client driver under Solaris, I was able to connect an Active Server pages application running under Solaris to an Access database running under Windows NT.

Because iASP is written entirely in Java, it's easy to add components such as Enterprise JavaBeans and servlets, and even to access Corba component frameworks. For COM objects, though, you must purchase iASP's $995 R-JAX server, which lets iASP access COM objects running locally or remotely under NT.

Compared with ChiliSoft's product, iASP still hasn't supported the complete set of Active Server Pages functions. But iASP is rapidly evolving, and Halcyon keeps a list of unsupported functions on its Web site.

As an added bonus, iASP also supports Sun's emerging JavaServer Pages Standard (www.java soft.com/products/sp), an application server standard that uses the Java language for scripting and compiles server-side programs into servlets. You can download free developer's versions of Halcyon's iASP and R-JAX products from Halcyon's Web site.

ChiliSoft ASP
Until Halcyon came along, ChiliSoft had been the only player in the Active Server Pages clone field. ChiliSoft ASP 3.0 reflects a fairly mature product, though one that has been somewhat slow to move to other platforms. Unlike Halcyon's Java approach, ChiliSoft has used C++, and thus its product is more difficult to port. In particular, I was puzzled by why its support seems so dependent on specific software. For example, ChiliSoft ASP 3.0 supports only Apache versions 1.33 and 1.34 under Solaris, not any of the Apache versions before or after.

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