It's been busy at the JCP for Spec Leads, Expert Groups, and Executive Committees over the summer. Quite a number of new proposals were submitted and were approved to be developed as JSRs; even more moved to new development stages, drawing closer to the finish line. And, I might add, that all happened at a balanced pace, meeting both the initial JSR development commitment and satisfying the rigors of developing complete RIs and TCKs in most the cases. Here are some of them.

Portlet Specification 2.0, JSR 286, posted its Public Review Draft. This JSR sets out to develop a binary-compatible updated version of JSR 168, Portlet Specification 1.0. It plans to add functionality that was not addressed in the first version of the specification. If you want to check out the details of the draft, you have until August 21 to review it and send your comments to the Spec Lead and Expert Group. The JCP EC will vote on the Public Draft between August 21-August 27 (http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/pr/jsr286/).

JSR 196, Java Authentication Service Provider Interface for Containers, was recently voted on by the JCP Java SE/EE EC and approved as a finalized standard with 10 votes out of 16. You can view the ballot results at http://jcp.org/en/jsr/results?id=4307. In the Spec Lead's words, Ron Monzillo, Sun Microsystems, the specification defines a standard interface by which authentication modules may be integrated with containers in such a way that these modules may establish the authentication identities used by containers.

At the beginning of its development, JSR 297, Mobile 3D Graphics API 2.0, from Nokia Corporation, with Tomi Aarnio at the helm, published its Early Draft Review, which can be downloaded at http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/edr/jsr297/. The Spec Lead and Expert Group tell us on the JSR Public Page that "the proposed specification is a new revision of JSR-184, Mobile 3D Graphics API for J2ME" and promises "to extend and enhance Mobile 3D Graphics to better leverage state-of-the-art hardware."

Led by a Star Spec Lead, Jaana Majakangas of Nokia, JSR 293, Location API 2.0, published its Public Draft in June. You can send your comments to the JSR's leads until September 4. We learn from the JSR Public Page that JSR 293 is intended to be a successor to JSR 179 and more. Visit http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/pr/jsr293/index.html to learn more about the approach of this JSR.

A proposal for a new release of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 6, was recently submitted by Spec Leads Bill Shannon and Roberto Chinnici of Sun Microsystems and was approved on July 16 by the JCP Java SE/EE ECs. The new release of Java EE 6 plans to focus on extensibility to allow third-party libraries/extensions to fit easily with the rest of the Java EE programming model. It also sets out to develop rules for profiles and define the Web profile for Web application developers. You'll find a detailed description of the JSR on the Public Page at http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=316.

Linda DeMichiel proposed a new persistence project, JSR 317, Java Persistence API, on behalf of Sun Microsystems. The purpose of the Java Persistence 2.0 specification as described on the JSR Public Page is to augment the Java Persistence API to include further features requested by the community. Visit the JSR Public Page for details on the aspects the Expert Group plans to consider (http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=317).

Another JSR from Sun Microsystems, Enterprise JavaBeans 3.1, JSR 318, is on the Java SE/EE EC approval ballot at the time of writing (http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=318). The Enterprise JavaBeans 3.1 specification sets out to accomplish two things: further simplify the EJB architecture by reducing its complexity from the developer's point of view and add new functionality in response to the needs of the community.

JSR 283, Content Repository for Java Technology API Version 2.0, from Day Software, entered Public Review recently. The specification is the successor to JSR 170, the first standard for content repositories. JSR 283 adds several enhancements to the API to make it easier for companies to simplify their repository architecture, increase efficiency, and reduce cost. To download the Public Draft, go to http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/pr/jsr283/. You have until September 4 to send in your comments to the Spec Lead.

Nokia and Motorola, co-Spec Leads of JSR 272, Mobile Broadcast Service API for Handheld Terminals, published the Proposed Final Draft 2 of the specification at http://jcp.org/en/jsr/stage?listBy=proposed. The JSR is targeted at defining a common Java API to control and access digital broadcast content from mobile devices.

JSR 256, Mobile Sensor API, has an updated Final Release that you can access at http://jcp.org/en/jsr/stage?listBy=final. This is another Java ME JSR from Nokia. It fills the need for a standard way of manipulating sensors for Java ME applications. To accomplish this, it has defined a unified way to manage sensors and access sensor data.

Nakina Systems, a manufacturer of telecom network management systems, the Spec Lead of JSR 254, OSS Discovery API, published the Proposed Final Draft for the specification. The JSR is essentially a standardization platform for OSS components and an alternative to vendor-proprietary APIs. Check the draft at http://jcp.org/en/jsr/stage?listBy=proposed and send your feedback to the Spec Leads.

Two individual developers, Werner Keil and Jean-Marie Dautelle, partnered as co-Spec Leads to drive the development of JSR 275, Units Specification. They recently published the Early Draft Review of the spec, which you can get and review from http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/edr/jsr275/index.html.

JSR 225, XQUERY API, published its Public Review Draft 2. If you are interested in XML and XML-related technologies, check it out at http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/pr/jsr225/index.html. The JSR is spearheaded by Oracle's Jim Melton and sets out to develop a standard for querying XML data.

JSR 142, OSS Inventory API, published its Maintenance Draft Review 3 at http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/maintenance/jsr142/index3.html. Developed by MetaSolv Software, the specification addresses the need to provide standardization conventions that allow interoperability of OSS components and reduce the cost of their integration in an end-to-end OSS solution.

This summer brings more changes to the JCP. If you checked the JCP.org Web site recentlyand my blog (http://jroller.com/page/OnnoKluyt),you know by now that I'm stepping down as Chair of the JCP and moving on to new roles and responsibilities within Sun. Patrick Curran, who is a veteran of the software industry and has a long-standing record in conformance testing, is taking over from me as Chair of the JCP. Congratulations, Patrick!

Stay tuned for news and comments from .me in SYS-CON publications as I step into my new role.