Visit Altova at DevConnections

The Altova team is gearing up for Microsoft DevConnections 2009 next week! Beginning November 10, you can find us in booth #329 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Want to know more about our recently released "Most Wanted" Software Version 2010? Stop by the booth for a demo of all the latest product updates. We’ll be happy to show you support for additional technologies, such as WSDL 2.0 support in XMLSpy and MapForce, JSON editing and conversion in XMLSpy, and SysML support in UModel. The new version also delivers enhanced support for technologies like XBRL, offers a completely new design paradigm that gives StyleVision users a new option for creating stylesheets and electronic forms, and much more.

Viva Las Vegas!

 

Oh, and if you don't happen to be attending DevConnections, you can catch us the following week at PDC in LA.

XMLSpy's Most Wanted

When we announced that Altova Software Version 2010 included over 70 of the features most requested by our customers, we weren't talking about little tweaks and enhancements, but major new functionality! To show you we mean business, I'll outline some of the most requested features added to XMLSpy 2010 here.

WSDL 2.0 Support

In response to requests from from Web services developers, the graphical WSDL editor in XMLSpy 2010 now supports the latest version of the WSDL standard, WSDL 2.0. This adds to existing support for WSDL 1.1, giving you the choice of which version of the standard to work with. The WSDL editor automatically provides the correct editing environment for the version currently being utilized, and XMLSpy even provides one-step conversion capabilities for migration between WSDL 1.1 and 2.0.

Since the XMLSpy WSDL editor uses a graphical interface (you can, of course, also work in Text View if you wish), you can easily visualize the structure of your WSDL document and edit it using drag-and-drop functionality and context-sensitive entry helpers, which offer the relevant choices based on the selected WSDL version.

Enhanced XBRL Functionality

Since we added support for XBRL validation and XBRL taxonomy editing in XMLSpy 2009, we've received excellent feedback from customers, including some feature requests that we were able to address in v2010.

The new XBRL documentation generation capabilities of XMLSpy 2010 make it easy to generate comprehensive documentation - in RTF, MS Word, or HTML - for your XBRL taxonomies. Multiple options let you choose exactly what to include in the documentation, and the resulting output (snippet shown below) includes hyperlinked components for easy navigation.

Another option for documentation is to print the graphical representation of your taxonomy as it is shown in XMLSpy's graphical XBRL view.

XMLSpy 2010 also includes the new XBRL Taxonomy Wizard to give you a head start when creating a taxonomy. Simply enter the company name, ticker, or other identifier for your XBRL taxonomy, and then select the base taxonomy to extend (if any).

XMLSpy creates the required taxonomy files and prompts you to select the entry points of the base taxonomy. Once you click finish, XMLSpy 2010 displays the newly created XBRL taxonomy files in the graphical XBRL Taxonomy Editor, where you can continue editing and refining the taxonomy in a visual manner.

The new Find in XBRL and XBRL Sort options in XMLSpy 2010 meet customers' requests for quick, easy ways to find data in and navigate through large, complex XBRL taxonomies.

JSON Editor

We've recently heard from a lot of developers working on Web 2.0 and Web services apps in XMLSpy who also use JSON - so we decided to add a JSON editor in XMLSpy 2010. You can compose JSON strings in Text View or Grid View, and even convert between XML and JSON.

In Text View, the JSON editor provides syntax coloring, line numbering, source folding, bookmarking, and more, making it easy to comprehend and navigate your JSON code, and find and edit strings. Intelligent JSON editing populates the Elements entry helper window with a dynamically built list of the elements present in your JSON file, which you can insert with a double-click.

Intelligent JSON editing is also available in Grid View, which provides graphical representation that shows the structure / outline of a JSON document through a set of nested containers. These can be easily expanded and collapsed to get a clear picture of the document's tree structure, and drag-and-drop editing is supported.

A final must-have feature for working with JSON is the JSON <=> XML converter in XMLSpy 2010. One click lets you, for example,  convert an XML file to JSON for transport with JavaScript, or convert data received in JSON format to valid XML. No more JSON vs. XML arguments - XMLSpy gives you the best of both worlds.

Redesigned Scripting Environment & Forms Editor

XMLSpy includes an integrated scripting environment and forms editor that has been redesigned for this latest release. Scripts can be written in JScript or VBScript to access and interact with the XMLSpy API, allowing you to modify and add functionality to your installation of XMLSpy 2010. Improvements and optimizations in Version 2010 include:

• Access to most of the .NET framework
• New form editor controls
• Testing & debugging of macros directly in the scripting editor
• Execution of macros directly through XMLSpy menus
• Improved entry-helpers & auto-completion in the scripting editor

 

Read more about the "most wanted" features in XMLSpy and the rest of the Altova MissionKit.

Please be sure to let us know your most wanted features, either by commenting here on the blog or entering a feature request.

Altova’s Most Wanted Edition – Version 2010 Announced

 

We are excited to have launched the MOST WANTED edition of the Altova MissionKit today! The MissionKit 2010 represents the most wanted functionality as requested by you - our customers. We’ve wrangled over 70 new features into this version of Altova’s XML, database, and UML product line to deliver on your list of demands.

Check out the highlights for each product included in the MissionKit 2010 tool suite below; subsequent posts will cover the new features in each product in greater detail.

WSDL 2.0

One of the features most often requested by our customers is support for the latest version of WSDL: WSDL 2.0. In addition to existing WSDL 1.1 editing and validation capabilities, XMLSpy now supports WSDL 2.0 in the  graphical WSDL editor. It also allows one-click conversion between WSDL 1.1 and 2.0 files.

 

WSDL 2.0 support has also been added to version 2010 of the MapForce data mapping tool, allowing you to connect to WSDL 2.0 (or 1.1) Web services and integrate their functionality into mappings of  XML, databases, flat file, EDI, Excel 2007, and XBRL data. You can also use MapForce to build new Web services based on WSDL 2.0 definitions.

MapForce 2010 delivers a number of other enhancements for data mapping, conversion, and integration.

XBRL Enhancements

Several new features for working with XBRL have been added in version 2010. XMLSpy includes a new XBRL Taxonomy Wizard for getting a head start creating taxonomies in the graphical XBRL Taxonomy Editor.

You can also now generate comprehensive documentation for your XBRL taxonomies, or simply print the graphical XBRL representation. Find and sort capabilities let you work more easily with large, complex taxonomies.

If you’re not familiar with the extensive support for working with XBRL in the Altova MissionKit, check out the XBRL Solutions Center page.

JSON Support

With more and more developers working with JSON in the XML, AJAX, and Web services apps they’ve created in XMLSpy, we’ve received a lot of requests for JSON support. Now you can edit your JSON files directly in XMLSpy, using Text View or the graphical Grid / Tree View with intelligent JSON entry helpers. XMLSpy even supports one-click JSON <=> XML conversion.

Check out the rest of the features most requested by XMLSpy users.

New Design Paradigm in StyleVision

The StyleVision graphical stylesheet design / single source publishing tool now gives you a new, flexible option for designing stylesheets and electronic forms. The new design paradigm lets you create templates within layout containers, and even optionally upload a blueprint image on which to base your design. This way, you can specify your design first and add XML and/or database content after.

This new form-based design option is made possible by new support for absolute positioning in design layouts. Instead of having content and layout elements flow on the page automatically, like a typical web page layout, you can now specify exact X and Y coordinates for each element to absolutely position it on a page.

This feature gives you more control over form design in the manner of desktop publishing applications, but also adds the powerful single source publishing capabilities for XML, XBRL, and database data that have always been present in StyleVision.

Read about the numerous other enhancements in StyleVision 2010.

Authentic 2010 users will directly benefit from many of the new StyleVision features for true electronic forms design described above. The sophisticated e-Forms created in StyleVision 2010 are presented in Authentic's WYSIWYG-interface for XML and database content editing by non-technical business users.

In addition, with the release of Version 2010, Authentic is now offered in Enterprise and Community Editions, both of which are available as either as a desktop application or browser plug-in. The new Authentic 2010 Enterprise Edition requires a paid license and provides advanced features for WYSIWYG XML and database content editing. Authentic 2010 Browser Plug-in Enterprise Edition is offered on a 12 month license term basis. Authentic 2010 Community Edition is available under a free license and is also offered in desktop and browser plug-in versions.

SysML Support

Altova’s affordable UML modeling tool has become even more robust with support for SysML, which is related to UML but optimized for designing software to operate and control embedded systems and other complex devices. UModel 2010 supports all SysML v1.1 diagram types and elements with all the same productivity-enhancing features available for UML and BPNM modeling, including code generation in Java, C#, and Visual Basic.

 

Read about all the new features in UModel 2010.

 

New Diff/Merge Capabilities

Both DatabaseSpy and DiffDog have received some exciting and oft-requested new diff/merge features in version 2010.

DatabaseSpy, the highly-affordable, multi-database query, design, and comparison tool now allows you to compare and merge database schemas between databases of the same type or across different database types (all major relational databases are supported). DatabaseSpy displays differences between database schemas in a graphical manner, and you can generate a change script to merge changes in either direction.

DatabaseSpy 2010 also adds the ability to convert database structures between different database types, for example, to migrate from MySQL® to Oracle® or SQL Server®.

Version 2010 of the DiffDog diff/merge tool for files, directories, and databases includes functionality similar to DatabaseSpy for comparing and merging database schemas, and it also provides the most wanted XML Schema diff feature.

Since XML Schemas are ever-evolving as requirements change, existing XML files often also need to be updated to remain valid. You can now compare two XML Schemas graphically in DiffDog 2010, and then DiffDog will generate an XSLT file to transform any related instance documents according to the new schema. Alternatively, you can choose to generate an Altova MapForce mapping file based on the DiffDog comparison to further refine the transformation between schemas.

Check out all the most wanted features in DatabaseSpy 2010 and DiffDog 2010.

 

Mentioned above are just a few of the more than 70 most wanted features added to the Altova MissionKit 2010. Follow the links to learn more, and stay tuned to this blog for more details in the coming days!

Collect your Handsome Reward

If you’re an Altova customer with active Support and Maintenance Package, simply download and install version 2010, and your existing key code will activate the new version.

New customers can download a free, fully-functional 30-day trial to start working with all these new features today.

What to Do On a Rainy Day in San Francisco?

That was the question for 30,000-plus attendees at Oracle OpenWorld 2009 last week, when weather forecasters were predicting the remnants of a Pacific typhoon would hit San Francisco with winds up to 60 miles per hour and drop rainfall measuring multiple inches.

Fortunately, the best attractions were all indoors. Oracle OpenWorld is one of the largest events held each year at the Moscone Convention Center. The keynote speeches, conference seminars, and partner exhibitions fill all three buildings. Even Howard Street between the North and South halls is closed for an entire block to create room for the lunch pavilion. Oracle OpenWorld is the best place to come for face-to-face education and interaction on all subjects related to every facet of the Oracle ecosystem.

Altova is an Oracle Partner and this is an event we look forward to every year. The Altova MissionKit provides extensive support for database management, query, and design; database integration; database differencing; and database content editing.

We love to meet users whose Oracle databases contain XML and show off features like support for Oracle XML DB data modeling, and the XQuery editor, debugger, and profiler in XMLSpy. We love to talk to users whose Oracle databases don’t contain XML yet, so we can demonstrate how to derive an XML Schema from the tables and relationships in a non-XML database. We also like to meet users who sometimes interact with databases other than Oracle, since the database functionality in Altova tools is never restricted to a single database technology. Due to the Oracle acquisition of Sun this year, MySQL was a popular subject. Our DatabaseSpy demo in the Altova booth highlighted simultaneous connections to Oracle and MySQL databases with interactive functionality to compare and merge data between tables in different database types.

With convenient shuttle service from all the area hotels to Moscone, the question became not “What to do in the rain?”, but “What to do first?”

Conference sessions covered every topic from databases to applications, to middleware, to specialized industry topics, and even XBRL. In Moscone West the Oracle Demo Grounds were always busy, with dozens of individual stations simultaneously active. The Altova booth was a popular spot, as were displays by other Oracle partners, including Amazon, Salesforce, and many more.

To refresh and recharge, there were lots of fun things to do too. We even saw evidence that Paul and Ringo might have been there.

Best yet, when we stepped outside after a long, productive day, the rain had stopped and we were presented with a warm San Francisco night.

Check out our Oracle Openworld 2009 video slideshow on YouTube to see more:

Visit Altova at Oracle OpenWorld

If you're attending Oracle OpenWorld 2009 in San Francisco this week, be sure to stop by and say hello to the Altova team at booth #3750 in Moscone West. We'd love to hear about what you're working on and what you think of the show so far.

You can also enter our raffle for a chance to win a license for one of Altova's XML, database, and data integration tools that supports  Oracle, MySQL, and other relational databases.

The XML Aficionado is attending this year and has shared some of his early impressions of the show over on his blog.

 

HubKey Case Study

 

Overview

HubKey is a technology company offering e-commerce solutions and services to small and mid-sized organizations. Their flagship product, ILXA, is a hosted application that uses the document and workflow management capabilities of Microsoft Sharepoint, combined with the power and flexibility of Altova MapForce and XMLSpy, to deliver a scalable, end-to-end, business-to-business (B2B) solution for outsourced EDI.

ILXA builds an intuitive user interface and superior content management controls and functionality around e-commerce/EDI data sources, giving customers the freedom to quickly and accurately process electronic transactions without the need for costly software and hardware systems.

 

The Challenge

The HubKey team wanted to build a comprehensive EDI management and translation system that would give their clients the ability to track their EDI transactions across a customized workflow and also transform the messages into virtually any other data format.

EDI systems are required to handle a large and constant flow of transactions going back and forth between trading partners. While the actual volume of the data being transmitted is often very small, the amount of individual communications can be overwhelming. HubKey ILXA contains the chaos of EDI automation by giving organizations the ability to view and manage tasks and processes in batches or on-the-fly.

Recognizing an increasing demand for B2B integration systems that comply with both EDI and XML, HubKey decided to build a platform that had powerful support for both data formats and could generate application code to automate these translations. Complex EDI-XML and XML-EDI mappings would run behind-the-scenes, but users would be able to access these mappings, as well as the raw data, for quality assurance and error fixing.

 

The Solution

HubKey ILXA is a hosted e-commerce solution that gives non-technical end users the ability to seamlessly manage their EDI transactions without being exposed to complex data syntax. To easily manage the document workflow, HubKey chose to build their system on top of the Sharepoint platform, creating a customizable .NET application with advanced functionality for a collaborative workflow environment.

The ILXA system draws upon the versatility and quality control capabilities of XML, with EDI-XML conversion powered by Altova MapForce. The end result is sophisticated translation software combined with validation and workflow management capabilities, all in one easy-to-use system.

• Translator - performs virtually any to any document translation for integration with backend ERP and accounting systems or trading partner requirements
• Tasks Engine - gives users a Web-based interface through which to view and orchestrate document management tasks
• Business Rules Engine - handles data validation, alerts, substitutions, and more through generic or specific processing rules devised by the user

ILXA is delivered to customers in the form of a personalized, secure Web portal. Connections are easily set up between backend accounting/ERP systems (including technologies from Microsoft, Sage Software®, Exact®, and Intuit®) and member trading partners for sending and receiving messages via virtually any connectivity option (AS2, VAN, HTTP, etc.). The modularity of the ILXA system, combined with the experienced solution providers at HubKey, work together to make setting up the system a seamless process that can be implemented and up and running within 24 hours.

Translator

Using the data transformation and code generation capabilities of MapForce, ILXA translates raw EDI data into XML based on generic XML Schemas (developed using Altova XMLSpy) stored on the system. Once in XML, the data becomes much more usable within the Sharepoint environment, enabling users to work easily with messages and respond to tasks. Non-technical users can create workflows, assign tasks, and send and receive messages within the ILXA interface without even seeing a line of EDI or XML code.

 

 

However, if changes or adjustments need to be made, ILXA customers are given the freedom to apply these in-house using the data maps saved in the SharePoint document library.

MapForce's intuitive graphical interface enables users to redraw connections, add functions from the function library, and apply filters to the mappings. Any saved changes cause compiled code to be saved back to the system and will affect ensuing automated transformations.

 

 

MapForce generates program code in Java, C++, and C#. HubKey opted to have code generated in C# to make it easily consumable by the Sharepoint platform.

 

Once the data has been translated, users can even launch XMLSpy to view and make changes directly in the XML. The generated XML displays the original EDI format in the file for an easy comparison.

 

Using MapForce, ILXA can also be easily configured to convert data into other EDI specifications, databases, flat files, Microsoft Excel 2007, and Web services.

Tasks Engine

The ILXA Tasks Engine enables users to manage advanced workflows, as well as track and resolve processing and validation errors that occur during the translation process. Users can view all of the documents in their workflow and take actions based on their status. Once an issue has been resolved, the document translation automatically resumes.

 

The ILXA Tasks Engine builds upon the advanced capabilities of Sharepoint to make a document management and publishing system that is ideal as an EDI/e-commerce solution. Users can easily assign, resolve, and review tasks in a secure setting based on assigned permissions and defined roles. The ability to streamline these vital business processes in one central application helps increase the quality and consistency of error-prone large-scale message translation and transmission.

Business Rules Engine

HubKey's patent-pending Business Rules Engine provides customers with a powerful tool for implementing specific rules based on documents, trading partners, and/or date/time parameters. This gives organizations the ability to apply filters to transactions based on customized definitions and constraints that apply to a particular situation.

 

The HubKey team offers its customers the option to have their business rules set up and implemented, or the training to do so in-house.

The Results

ILXA breaks down the barriers to costly EDI implementation, giving organizations an affordable, flexible, and reliable alternative to fully outsourced solutions through a modern, Web-enabled, component-based application. By combining content management functionality with age-old e-commerce business process requirements, HubKey is able to offer its customers a centralized EDI management application with resources and personalized services customized to meet any level of e-commerce data expertise.

Altova MapForce and XMLSpy provide the translation and XML structure behind-the-scenes, but are also available to more technical users to make adjustments and confirmations at the source. This gives HubKey the ability to offer a flexible and changeable solution to their end users, giving them the power to decide upon hands-on EDI management, or an assisted solution that still falls within their budget.

 

Find out how MapForce and XMLSpy can add functionality to your business applications. Download a fully functional free trial of the Altova MissionKit today!

NYC & Company Case Study

Overview

NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the five boroughs of New York City. Its mission is to maximize travel and tourism opportunities, build economic prosperity, and spread the dynamic image of New York City around the world.

In 2008-2009, the company initiated a major rebranding, redefining their Web presence and launching an interactive multi-media center in Midtown Manhattan. At the center of this transformation, NYC & Company used development tools from the Altova MissionKit - UModel, DiffDog, DatabaseSpy, and XMLSpy.

The NYC & Company Web site and Information Center was created together with online powerhouses as Google and Travelocity, reservation sites like Open Table, content providers Time Out, Greenopia.com, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and more.

The Challenge

As the single organization responsible for meeting the marketing and tourism needs of the city of New York, NYC & Company has been tasked with meeting Mayor Bloomberg's January 2006 State of the City goal of luring 50 million visitors by the year 2015 - up from an estimated 43 million in 2006. A large part of the effort behind this push would be manifested in a general Web site rebrand/redesign coupled with the creation of an interactive visitor center.

NYC & Company chose to use existing tools and technologies as much as possible, leveraging their ColdFusion Web site architecture, the Eclipse software development platform, a SQL Server 2005 backend, and the Altova MissionKit. A new content management system was also implemented to manage the large amounts of data and associated workflow.

The Solution

The NYC & Company Web site redesign included a migration from nycvisit.com, which followed a typical convention and visitor bureau site structure, to the much more animated and multi-faceted nycgo.com, a design that promotes the dynamic nature of the resources available and of the city itself.

nycvisit.com on 26 February 2008

nycgo.com on 22 May 2009

UML Modeling

The new design components were drawn out as a UML class diagram, expanding on the data model that was created for the live Web site. NYC & Company used Altova UModel to map out the physical structure of nycgo.com, importing their XML Schema definition to ensure adherence to formatting rules.

The class diagram was used to represent the new Web site structure at a high level, and to model the objects that needed to be built into NYC & Company's content management system (CMS). UML design in UModel also enabled the company to generate documentation so that the developers could share the UI design with those not familiar with the intricacies of UML.

UModel UML Class Diagram of the nycgo Web site

NYC & Company then worked with third party design vendor, HUGE, Inc., to further analyze the UML wire frames and predict user interaction scenarios for the nycgo Web site. Dynamic code was then delivered in JSP, implemented on JRun then subsequently converted to ColdFusion.

Code Differencing

NYC & Company chose to migrate their JSP templates to ColdFusion 8 for its rapid application development capabilities, rich feature set, and intrinsic simplicity.

DiffDog, Altova's diff/merge tool, was an integral part of the development process, helping the development team to ensure that the ColdFusion code was in line with the original JSP. NYC & Company could easily recognize and reconcile any crucial differences using DiffDog's straightforward text comparison interface.

JSP/CFM code differencing in DiffDog

Database Migration

As part of their rebranding effort, NYC & Company successfully migrated their data from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005.

NYC & Company used Altova DatabaseSpy to connect to the database, structure queries, and for database analysis. They also use the integrated SQL Editor to test their more complex SQL queries. This enabled them to do their database management and testing in-house, with non-technical and even non-DBA team members assembling complex SQL scripts with features such as auto-completion, syntax color coding, automatic formatting, and refactoring.

Building Out the Content Management System

NYC & Company used a third party CMS to manage workflow and collaboration for newly designed the Web site.

The CMS was also modified to output XML feeds. Additionally, content sourced from NYC & Company's partners was validated against an XML Schema and then imported into the CMS. Every night, a scheduled task is initiated that delivers the formatted XML feeds to the interactive data center.

XMLSpy, Altova's XML editor, provides NYC & Company with all of its XML editing needs - from validating and saving content, to managing and manipulating it as part of an integrated workflow.

Real-time XML Feeds

The XML feeds that are available on the nycgo Web site, and the interactive wall kiosks and tables at the Information Center are taken from data submitted by NYC & Company's numerous content partners and provide real-time information about attractions and events all around the city. Once accessed, the information can be transferred to any mobile device via SMS.

The walls display touch-screen FAQ stations that inform visitors about top New York City attractions and provide other useful information like how to tip a doorman, places to exchange currency, etc. in English and nine other languages. Users can also buy MetroCards and tickets to exhibits and other popular events.

The same real-time data is also fed to interactive tables, where visitors place a "puck" on a Google map of the city to select their area of interest. They then click on a category (e.g., dining, entertainment, etc.) to get more information.

The Results

NYC & Company offers the latest in travel and tourism to New York City's visitors, which number well over 40 million in any given year and offers a wealth of new experiences and up-to-date information to adventurous locals. The innovative new Web site design and interactive exploration center pulls together the latest in hardware, software, and data management technologies to showcase every aspect of this multi-faceted city to tourists from all walks of life and with all sorts of interests.

NYC & Company was able to leverage the Altova MissionKit to manage large amounts of disparate data from a variety of different sources -from the preliminary UML modeling, to code differencing, database management, and XML editing.

Find out how the Altova MissionKit can help with the end-to-end management of all of your data assets. Download a fully functional free trial of the Altova MissionKit today!

New Online Training - XMLSpy XML Editor

The Altova Online Training team is very excited to have just launched the much-anticipated first module in the XMLSpy training course! XMLSpy Module 1* provides an introduction to XML and the XMLSpy XML editor:

 

 

In this beginner-level module, students start with an overview of XML,  including the anatomy of XML documents and schemas. After a brief tour of the XMLSpy user interface, you'll create an XML Schema and walk through the steps of defining a namespace, creating a content model, adding elements, configuring schema views, and generating sample XML files and schema documentation. Then it's time to create an XML document based on the schema. By the end of this module, you will be able to enter data in XMLSpy's grid view and text view, perform well-formedness and validity checks, add new elements, and modify your schema while working on our XML document.

Detailed tutorials walk you step-by-step through each task, and you can test what you've learned using the interactive quizzes for each chapter.

Check out the free XMLSpy training module* now, or visit the Altova Online Training page for a complete list of available training topics, including MapForce, StyleVision, XBRL, and more.

All Altova Online Training courses are available on-demand and free-of-charge.

 

*See Altova Online Training System Requirements for supported browsers, etc.

XML & Digital Textbooks

Last Sunday's New York Times had an interesting article on the front page about digital textbooks for the K-12 market. The piece was undoubtedly partially inspired by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's (he's from California by the way) recently announced initiative that will replace some high school textbooks with digital versions.

In fact, compared to standard printed texts, digital textbooks:

• Can be more quickly and readily updated by publishers
• Can often be purchased as individual chapters or a complete text
• Are easier to store and transport, if downloaded to a portable computer
• Can be combined with other digital materials, such as portions of other textbooks, periodical articles, instructor-provided materials, etc.
• Can offer enormous cost-savings of because of elimination of materials, shipping and storage costs that are partially passed on to purchasers
• Provide purchasing and procurement efficiencies
• May feature learning tools content such as hyperlinks to related learning modules, electronic annotation by students, keyword searches, additional graphics and pop-up modules that furnish additional information

And so XML will finally have a chance to truly demonstrate its power in the K-12 market. For my part, I cannot think of a better example of the efficiencies of XML publishing than for education. Certainly most, if not all, of the major educational publishers are already using XML workflows internally because of benefits like validation, single source publishing, amenability to standards and metadata tagging, etc.

XML also gives publishers the ability to easily manage multi-dimensional educational content. Educational content, like textbooks and other learning materials, is usually structured around a fairly simple content model using word forms such as titles, paragraphs, quotes, etc.

The second dimension of the content is contextual information - footnotes, glossary terms, highlighting items - anything that may be necessary to target a specific audience. For instance, if a piece of content is to be included in a sixth grade textbook it would have different markup than if it were to be used for an eighth grade classroom.

The third dimension of K-12 educational content is the standards dimension. Standards are in most cases on the state level and are used to ensure that teachers know exactly what topics they are teaching in a particular piece of the content, ensuring they are covering the complete set of standards for state aptitude tests, like the MCAS. The standards dimension itself has the potential for further layering as content producers adopt their own standards to guide teachers to other relevant standards and topics that the content is aligned to.

XML is particularly well-suited to digital publishing of educational content for its ability to easily separate or layer these dimensions and repurpose it in nearly unlimited ways without the need for rekeying information. For example, one company in the article, CK-12 Foundation, develops free "flexbooks" that can be customized to correlate with state standards. Without XML, this would be a nearly (if not completely) impossible undertaking – with XML you can use many of the existing XML content creation tools to streamline the process.

So what has taken so long for the K-12 market to embrace XML-enabled digital learning materials? Well, it appears that the issue is an economical one. We still live in a country where many students do not have access to a computer, and few school districts have the means to provide them. Perhaps in the near future there will be a solution for this problem - and perhaps, just perhaps, California has just taken the first steps to lead us in the right direction.

So, where does Altova fit into this equation? Well, the Altova MissionKit offers support for intelligent XML content creation and editing for both technical and non-technical users. These tools give educational publishers and other content contributors the ability to work with structured XML content in a comfortable atmosphere, with easy-to-use interfaces, entry-helpers, drag and drop functionality, and a wide variety of options that make working in a team environment a flexible and even seamless process.

Visit the Altova website to read more about the MissionKit – or download a free 30-day trial today!

Recent Industry Awards

The Industry Has Spoken…

For us at Altova, being recognized by our industry peers is an honor and something we are proud of and want to share with all of you – our current and future customers. This summer Altova was named to both the 2009 SD Times 100 and Visual Studio Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards.

Altova was named to the SD Times 100 list in the ‘Tools & IDEs’ category as a leader and innovator in the software development industry. Alan Zeichick, editorial director of SD Times magazine, said, “The software development industry has always been led by innovation, and that’s true even in today’s challenging economic climate. When choosing the 2009 SD Times 100 winners, we carefully considered each organization's products and services, reputation with enterprise development managers, and the new ideas and thought leadership that it has brought to the industry. Thanks to companies like Altova, the art of software development continues to advance at a rapid pace.”

And it was the Altova XMLSpy 2009 XML editor that was recognized for excellence with a 2009 Readers’ Choice Award from Visual Studio Magazine. The winners were chosen by Visual Studio Magazine’s readers and honor excellent software in 23 development categories. Altova XMLSpy was named in the category of ‘Web Design and Development Tools’.

Michael Desmond, Visual Studio Magazine editor-in-chief and editorial director of the developer media group at 1105 Media, said, "When it comes to judging the value and capability of developer tools, you won't find a savvier audience than Visual Studio Magazine readers. These are committed developers -- demanding professionals who work with code every day and have a deep appreciation for the tools they rely on.

"This isn't a popularity contest," Desmond continued. "A product that earns a VSM Readers' Choice Award has earned the respect and loyalty, over time, of VSM readers, some of the most demanding users on the planet. I commend all the Readers' Choice Award winners. Visual Studio Magazine readers have put your product on top.”

Check out what the industry is buzzing about and download a free 30-day trial of the Altova MissionKit that includes our full line of XML, database, and UML tools!