Multimedia for Mobile


Thanks to invaluable feedback from developers building apps in MobileTogether, we’re constantly adding new functionality to the product. Close on the heels of MobileTogether 2.1, which added over 30 new features, is the latest release: Version 2.2.

Additions to MobileTogether 2.2 are focused on integrating multimedia assets in your mobile apps, with new tools for using audio and video functionality to enable seamless interactivity that your end users will love.

 

New in MobileTogether: Audio and Video

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Accelerate Testing in Mobile App Development


Testing by real-world users is a critical step in successful development of intuitive mobile apps for all platforms. A recent in-house experience demonstrated this axiom, and the MobileTogether Instant Deployment proved to be an effective tool to accelerate testing in mobile app development, deliver a new version of an app into the hands of Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 users, and get feedback faster than ever.

FiveKeys

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Advanced Error Handling Actions for Mobile Apps


MobileTogether 2.1 includes new Try/Throw and Catch error handling actions for mobile apps, allowing developers to build sophisticated error-handling routines that improve end-user experience. For instance, if an app wants to connect to a third-party Web service but the server is not available, error-handling actions permit graceful recovery.

MobileTogether error handling actions for mobile apps work the same way for all platforms, saving developers time since there’s no need to customize error handling based on the requirements of each mobile operating system.

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New Features for App UI Design


As the saying goes, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” This age-old advice still rings true today in myriad contexts – even when thinking about mobile apps. A successful app is an extension of the user’s hand, and a beautiful, functional UI is what makes that connection seamless.
MobileTogether makes it easier than ever to build sophisticated UIs to front-end complex programming logic. In its latest release, we’ve added even more options for developing intuitive interfaces for native iOS, Android, and Windows apps.

Mobile app

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Scrolling Tables for Data-Driven Mobile Apps


Mobile device users always demand maximum information in the most convenient package, but small screen sizes can force a trade-off. Mobile app developers are challenged to fit data, navigation controls, and helper information all into a pleasing layout or risk frustrating end users who could be customers, colleagues, or c-level executives. MobileTogether 2.1 introduces scrolling tables and other cool new features to help developers create apps that present data elegantly and work the same way on all devices.

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New Features for Mobile Development


The latest version of MobileTogether is available today, adding even more functionality to this game-changing framework for building and deploying native mobile apps faster than any other solution.

To start with, we’ve completely revised the pricing for MobileTogether, with a new model that’s simple to understand and ridiculously affordable.

In addition, Version 2.1 introduces over 30 important new features added based on real-world developer feedback, from new functionality for building tables, to sophisticated error handling actions, to flexible options for beautiful UI design.

Let’s take a look at how these new features combine to let you build the most sophisticated data-centric apps for iOS, Android, and Windows devices.

MobileTogether 2.1 announcement

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What’s New in XML Schema 1.1?


Since the introduction of XML Schema 1.0, the standard has been widely adopted. Developers have requested several changes over the years, most notably the ability to specify and validate more granular business rules and also to allow flexible schema evolution. There are numerous changes and enhancements in the XML Schema 1.1 Recommendation aimed at addressing these issues.

Let’s take a look at the most notable new features and some resources for learning more or getting started right away with XML Schema 1.1.

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Software Modeling for Projects of Any Size


UModel is Altova’s tool for software modeling with support for all 14 UML diagrams, additional UML-style diagrams for databases and XML Schemas, plus Business Process Modeling (BPM), and SysML. UModel 2016 Release 2 adds code engineering support for C# 6.0, complementing support for Java, Visual Basic, and earlier versions of C#. Creating a UML model from existing code can be a great way to analyze and document an unfamiliar project.

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How to Debug XPath and XQuery Expressions


XPath and XQuery are powerful functional programming languages for selecting and querying data in desktop or mobile applications – and, in fact, XQuery was added to the TIOBE Index in early 2016.

When you’re writing XPath and XQuery statements, it’s vital to ensure your expressions return the desired results, and this can be a frustrating process of trial and error. The XPath / XQuery Debugger in XMLSpy makes it easy to test and troubleshoot your code, in the very same window where you’re developing your expressions.

XPath/XQuery Debugger

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Five Not-to-Miss Features in Altova’s Latest Product Release


I’m excited to reveal some details of today’s Release 2 of Altova MissionKit 2016 desktop developer tools and software products!

v2016r2 introduces over 20 new features and updates to the Altova product line – but that’s a lot to cover in one blog post. Let’s take a look at the top five that are sure to blow your socks off.

New in Altova products

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Don’t Make This App Development Mistake


You’ve done everything right, making sure your app has powerful access to back end data, a beautiful and intuitive UX, and availability for iOS, Android, and even Windows phones. It’s in the app stores and ready for those five star ratings. What could you possibly have overlooked?

You’re too mobile.

 Mobile Development: Don't Forget the Desktop

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Delight Users with Mobile App Features Tailored to the Device


An incredible variety of mobile phones and tablets exist in the world today and new models are announced continuously. All these mobile devices have different specifications and capabilities, which can be a problem for developers creating mobile apps. Tablets have large screen sizes, but don’t necessarily include cellular data, default color sets vary by phone manufacturer, and built-in mobile features may behave differently in each mobile operating system. Fortunately, the MobileTogether Designer provides an integrated development environment that lets users quickly design and build cross-platform mobile app features ideally suited to each end-user’s device.

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Demand These 10 Features for Mobile App Development


“We need an app for that.”

This simple declaration carries with it underlying implications that can be anything but simple to implement: an app must be available for all devices, it must delight end users – and it must be ready yesterday.

As the need for mobility in data centric apps has increased, so has the number of products claiming to provide the best in cross-platform mobile development. But how can you cut through the flowery marketing claims? We’ve put together a list of the top 10 criteria for choosing a mobile development framework.

Data-centric mobile app

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REST Services as Data Sources for Mobile Apps


MobileTogether empowers developers to populate mobile apps with information retrieved from external sources via REST and SOAP Web services, and consume the data received whether it is XML, JSON, or HTML. MobileTogether support for both REST and SOAP provides mobile app developers with access to vast online data resources for a wide range of applications.

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New RaptorXML scripts added: XBRL.US DQC Rules, EFM v35, and EBA Filing Rules


Altova is a member of XBRL.US and has recently joined the XBRL US Center for Data Quality to support the Data Quality Committee’s initiative to address the public’s concerns about the quality and usability of XBRL financial data filed with the SEC.

As such, we are pleased to announce that we have just released a new set of EDGAR Tools for RaptorXML+XBRL Server on GitHub. These new Python scripts for RaptorXML+XBRL Server now support validation against the new Edgar Filer Manual (EFM) version 35, as well as implementing all the Approved DQC Guidance and Validation Rules from XBRL.US.

Data Quality DQC

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10 Reasons to Pick MobileTogether Over Microsoft PowerApps


Microsoft’s recent announcement of their new PowerApps product comes at an interesting time, considering that MobileTogether has been on the market for over a year now. Though Microsoft is a bit late to the game with this offering, their announcement serves to underscore the importance of enterprise mobility and the challenge that MobileTogether was created to solve: businesses need to mobilize essential processes – for all devices – in a reasonable amount of time.

MobileTogether has been filling this need for over a year now, allowing developers and power users with no mobile development experience to build powerful, data-centric apps.  If you can build formulas in Excel or write simple SQL queries, you have the technical skills needed to build a robust, sophisticated app using MobileTogether. While PowerApps may be a boon for Office users who need to mobilize simple productivity tasks via basic apps, MobileTogether lets customers take it many steps further, adding rich functionality for processing, analyzing, and collecting data in ways that add value beyond simple mobile access to services.

And in the 2.0 version of MobileTogether, Altova brought the same ease of developing cross-platform business solutions to building fully native apps for all mobile platforms. This is something that PowerApps promises to do – but you only get native apps from PowerApps if you develop the mobile app by hand via the native SDKs on each platform or use a cross-platform framework like Xamarin and then access PowerApps APIs on Azure. In contrast, building cross-platform native AppStore apps in MobileTogether 2.0 is really just a matter of selecting the “Generate code” command from the menu.

The Microsoft PowerApps announcement can be really confusing to parse, so we’ve put together a list of the top 10 reasons why we believe MobileTogether is superior to PowerApps.

How PowerApps compares to MobileTogether

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ERN Registration for SSL use in Mobile Apps


Apps built with MobileTogether include the ability to use SSL encryption between the mobile app and the back-end server, and with it come restrictions on importing and exporting the app in the United States and potentially other countries. If you intend to submit the AppStore App to Apple’s App Store or Microsoft’s App Store (and potentially others), their submission processes will ask whether the app includes encryption. Since all AppStore Apps built with MobileTogether include the ability to use the OS-provided libraries for SSL use in mobile apps and in particular for the encryption of the communication between the mobile app and server using the https protocol, the answer to this question is “YES.” At some point in the process, this answer will then trigger a prompt to upload your Encryption Registration Number (ERN). So how does one obtain an ERN?

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MobileTogether Continues to Redefine Mobile Development in Version 2.0


To match the speed of business, mobile app development must be simple, fast, and efficient. Your apps must meet user demands on all platforms and mobilize essential processes seamlessly. Sounds easy enough, right? With MobileTogether, it is.

In true version 2.0 fashion, MobileTogether delivers the final piece of the puzzle: you can build your own, custom-branded app to submit to the app stores.

The new AppStore Deployment process is well suited for customer-facing or specially-branded apps. This option adds to existing support for Instant Deployment of enterprise app solutions using the MobileTogether Mobile Apps.  With either approach, you’ll still get your app in end users’ hands in record time – much faster than any other approach.

Build apps in MobileTogether

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New JSON Schema Editor and Data Mapping Debugger Debut in Altova Version 2016


We are excited to announce details of the latest release of Altova MissionKit desktop developer tools and server software products. Version 2016 includes full Windows 10 compatibility and updated relational database support across the product line, and it also introduces some new features that you simply will not find anywhere else.

XMLSpy 2016 includes the first full featured, enterprise-grade graphical JSON Schema editor. MapForce, our data integration tool, now includes a data mapping debugger that will revolutionize the way you define and test data mapping projects. Let’s take a closer look at these new features.

 

Altova Version 2016

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XPath Editor and Tester (Video)


Writing XPath expressions is an important skill for any developer – whether they are for an XSLT stylesheet, complex XQuery instruction, or even selecting data in a mobile application. And while XPath syntax is simple by nature, it’s also powerful, and writing and debugging the most efficient expression to select exactly the data you need can be a challenge.

This quick video demonstrates some of the tools in the XMLSpy XPath editor that make developing and testing XPath, as well as XQuery, easier. By using a point and click interface for interactive, incremental expression building, you’ll get what you need faster and with less frustration.

To learn more about XPath, check out these free resources:

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XBRL Example Files on GitHub


Did you know that Altova has a sample source code repository on GitHub? We are building this out based on customer requests, and at the moment we’ve posted a collection of XBRL example files, code snippets, and Python scripts for working with XBRL data, including instructions for accessing and processing the vast amount of data from filing companies available on the SEC web site, as well as some essential tools for performing validation on EDGAR filing data.

Here are some details on what you can find there.

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Top 10 Reasons Your Business Needs MobileTogether Now


MobileTogether is a cross-platform mobile development framework that finally makes it practical for businesses to connect to their back-end data and create enterprise mobile solutions for their workforce – regardless of which devices they use – in record time. Here are the top 10 reasons you should be looking at this solution for your organization.

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A Cross-Platform Simulator for Enterprise Mobile App Development


In the past it was difficult and time consuming to synchronize development of cross-platform mobile enterprise applications because each mobile operating system required a different tool set or unique steps to build a compiled result.

Altova MobileTogether simplifies and accelerates cross-platform mobile development with the MobileTogether Designer. Using MobileTogether, developers create a single Solution file for Android, iOS, Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, and in HTML-5 browsers on other platforms.

Even better, the MobileTogether Designer includes a Simulator window that lets developers instantly execute the Solution to test logic, view the design as it will appear on a variety of devices, and examine changes in workflow data during execution.

Here is a view of the BizBudget example Solution as seen in the Simulator representations for iOS and Android devices:

MobileTogether Simulator showing iOS and Android devices

Both views were generated from the same solution file, simply by changing the simulation preview device.
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Format Charts and Graphs for Any Mobile Device in Your BYOD Environment


One challenge in development of mobile business solutions is formatting for all the different devices end users will bring. Each mobile OS supports a family of display sizes from the smallest smartphones to the largest tablets. And when you switch to a competing OS, all the screen sizes all change again. The need to support many different mobile devices can slow down development of mobile solutions for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) enterprises.

Pie chart for any mobile device created using Altova MobileTogether

Altova MobileTogether is a cross-platform mobile development framework that lets you build once across multiple platforms:

  • Android
  • iOS
  • Windows 8
  • Windows Phone 8
  • HTML-5 Browser Based Client

Going further, MobileTogether supports all available screen sizes for each OS, with special features to accelerate developer productivity.

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Cross-Platform Mobile Development with Altova MobileTogether


Software engineers have long wanted to create an application once and run it on multiple platforms. With today’s rapidly evolving mobile devices, the problem is even more urgent, as iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Surface tablets all compete for developer resources.

If you’re working on apps to communicate with enterprise users, you risk disenfranchising and alienating influential and important subsets of your colleagues when you build for each device sequentially or deliver unequal functionality.

Altova MobileTogether lets you create a cross-platform mobile solution once and deploy it in seconds to all mobile users in the enterprise, who may run it on iPhones, iPads, Android phones or tablets, Windows Phones, Surface tablets, or even laptop or desktop computers.

And these are not simple .html-based one-size-fits-all Web pages, but true native mobile solutions that take advantage of all the rich interface features users already know, delivering mission-critical data from databases, XML files, or by issuing HTTP requests to remote servers and filtering and formatting the response as necessary.

A mobile sales report application created with MobileTogether

The MobileTogether Designer is an easy-to-use development tool for creating high-quality business intelligence dashboards, interactive reports, enterprise forms, and other mobile applications by using drag-and-drop functionality. You simply drag various controls into the work area and assign data structures and actions to build a cross-platform solution.

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XML Development with Database Integration


Did you know that XMLSpy connects to relational databases? One of the most compelling features of the Altova MissionKit is that numerous tools in the suite include offer deep integration with relational databases, providing seamless access to back end data for bi-directional conversion, integration, analysis, and reporting. image Let’s take a look at what you can do when you connect XMLSpy to your databases. Other database-enabled MissionKit tools will be covered in subsequent posts.All popular relational databases are supported in XMLSpy:

  • Microsoft® SQL Server® 2000, 2005, 2008
  • IBM DB2® 8, 9
  • Oracle® 9i, 10g, 11g
  • Sybase® 12
  • MySQL® 4, 5
  • PostgreSQL 8
  • Microsoft Access 2003, 2007

First step: Connect to and query the database

When you select Query Database from the DB menu, XMLSpy helps you connect to your database with the step-by-step Database Connection Wizard. Then, the DB Query window makes it easy to explore and/or edit data in the database you’re working with, either by opening existing SQL files or creating SQL scripts from scratch using drag-and-drop and auto-complete functionality. Once you execute your query, you can edit the database data in the results window, review changed fields (highlighted in pink), and commit the changes back to the database. Querying a database in XMLSpy

Next: Convert between XML and databases

Another common requirement is converting between XML and database models, and XMLSpy supports this in both directions. You can easily export database data to XML. If no schema is required, you can simply export the data to XML in its basic tabular format. Or, you can use the Create XML Schema from DB Structure option first, then import database data maintaining all the relationships and dependencies defined in the content model. Numerous options are available to specify the format of the schema, whether columns should be imported as elements or attributes, and the database constraints that should be generated in the XML Schema. Get schema from DB data Or, to go in the other direction, it’s just as easy to go from XML to a relational model in XMLSpy. The Export to Database dialog (accessed via the Convert menu) allows you to specify where to start the export, how to handle export fields, and which elements to include. Then, the data is instantly converted and stored in your database. image For times when you want to define a database with the same rules as an existing XML Schema, the Create DB Structure from XML Schema dialog lets you do so with numerous options. Any identity constraints included in the schema will automatically transfer to the database structure. Alternatively, it’s easy to define relationships between elements manually. Learn more about all these features for working with XML and databases in XMLSpy, or check out all the database tools available in the MissionKit.

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