Adobe releases J2EE product

Publishing software giant Adobe Systems released a new Java-based server application for handling documents based on the company's portable document format (PDF). The new LiveCycle product will allow interchange of data between PDF forms and documents and backend databases. LiveCycle, based on Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), also will work with Adobe's other PDF-based server products, including upcoming and bar code reading extensions.

Adobe is in the midst of a brad effort to expand PDF, already widely used for electronic distribution of documents, into a broad foundation for exchanging corporate data. J2EE support will allow more IT administrators and developers to work with PDF, said Eugene Lee, vice president of product marketing for Adobe. "Web service becomes a much more viable path for us," Lee added.