Altova releases major upgrades to XML tools suite -- ADTmag

Altova releases major upgrades to XML tools suite

By ADT Staff
June 6, 2006

The latest version of Altova’s XML tools suite, generally available last week, adds features such as CSS support in StyleVision, hyperlinked error messaging in XMLSpy, and Visual Studio and Eclipse integration for MapForce.

A totally revised StyleVision features a new visual design interface for creating stylesheets to transform XML and database data into multiple output formats, such as HTML pages, PDF reports, RTF documents, and Altova Authentic electronic forms. It can create all of these output types from a single design, according to the company.

XMLSpy is an XML editor and IDE for modeling, editing, transforming, and debugging XML-related technologies. In addition to its advanced XML, XML Schema, DTD, XSLT 1.0/2.0, XPath 1.0/2.0, XQuery, WSDL, SOAP, and code generation capabilities, new features included within XMLSpy 2006 release 3 include:

• New XSLT 2.0 and XQuery profilers. Developers can see which parts of the code take the longest time to process and optimize it more easily by focusing on problem areas.
• Enhanced error handling. Detailed messages about each error appear in a validation window, including hyperlinks to errors and relevant troubleshooting information.
• Tracepoints in XSLT debugger. This feature allows developers to trace the output of any instruction node to verify that XSLT code is producing the desired output.
• Improved restriction handling for XML schema development. The XMLSpy graphical schema editor prevents users from creating illegal or invalid restrictions.

MapForce 2006 is a data integration and Web services implementation tool that can convert between XML, database, flat file, and EDI formats and map data to WSDL operations. Version 2006 integrates Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and Eclipse, allowing developers to directly harness all the data mapping, content conversion, Web services implementation, and code generation capabilities of MapForce from within their favorite platforms.

XMLSpy 2006, MapForce 2006, and StyleVision 2006 are available individually or together as part of the Altova XML Suite 2006, which also includes SemanticWorks 2006, a visual RDF/OWL editor for the Semantic Web, and SchemaAgent, an XML Schema Management tool. The products may be downloaded for 30-day free trials.

Altova Authentic 2006 Desktop and Browser editions and the AltovaXML standards processor are also immediately available. They are offered under free software licenses and can be downloaded and used for no charge.