Release Notes for PIA Release 1.0

Release Announcements

Release 1.0 Alpha

The PIA group is pleased to announce the beta release of the Information Agency. The Information Agency is a proxy web server (implemented in Java) that provides an environment for document processing agents. This release includes several demonstration agents and serves as an introduction to rapid prototyping of Network User Interfaces using PIA technology.

We recommend that interested users start by installing and running their own Personal Information Agency. (See the Installation manual for instructions.) Once the agency is running, you can view further documentation and try customizing the demonstration agents.

For an extended discussion of using the PIA framework to create Network Office Appliances, see the paper titled Building Network Office Appliances using the PIA Framework (CRC TR-97-??). Future releases will include many more tools for helping developers create useful agents.

Missing Features

While the core agency is stable and unlikely to change substantially, several features have not yet been fully implemented. Most important among these are the security model, the InterForm methods for accessing data structure, and the support for dynamic manipulation of "tagsets" by agents.

Additional Information

The latest information regarding PIA technology can be found on the PIA group's web site: http://pia.crc.ricoh.com:8888/ All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your support,
The PIA Group (Greg, Steve, Rithy)