Black Duck Software announced integration of protexIP/development 4.0 with IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere 7.0 and Rational Software Architect 7.0, part of the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform 7.0, desktop products. Integration of the market-leading software compliance management platform with IBM’s development environment for Web, enterprise Java and Web services applications gives enterprise developers using the Eclipse development environment a fast new way to check code for compliance with hundreds of open source licenses as they work.

The integration builds on Black Duck’s past work with IBM, which started in mid-2005, when Black Duck achieved the IBM Ready for Rational software validation of protexIP integration for Rational Application Developer V6, and continued when Black Duck validated protexIP for use with the Rational ClearCase software configuration management system earlier this year.

Hundreds of companies use Black Duck’s protexIP platform to ensure that open source and third-party software code, binaries and libraries are used according to license terms. Open source code permeates many organizations’ software assets today, making compliance with the complex license terms governing the code a priority for corporate counsel and management. Now, with this updated integration, users of Rational Application Developer will be able to quickly assess if the code they want to use can be used and is in compliance with corporate policy—all without leaving the development environment and opening additional applications.

Black Duck’s validation of the integration between protexIP and Rational Application Developer offers WebSphere developers the ability to instantly check their code against the Black Duck KnowledgeBase to ensure license compliance. The Black Duck KnowledgeBase is the most comprehensive in the industry, with more than 500 million code prints, information on tens of thousands of open source projects, and over 700 open source and commercial licenses.

“Black Duck’s protexIP is unique in its design—it’s the only platform that fully supports the needs of the many individuals and teams involved in software development,” said Douglas Levin, CEO of Black Duck Software. “The platform’s extensibility allows it to be used in a multitude of ways. Our work with IBM to ensure integration with the Rational Software Delivery Platform provides the latest example of Black Duck’s ability to bring the platform to a very broad customer base.”

Black Duck Software’s protexIP/development Enterprise Edition will be available for use with IBM Rational Application Developer 7.0 in Q1 2007. Developers will also be able to access protexIP directly through the open source Eclipse 3.2 development environment.