Altova xmlspy

xmlspy provides a set of integrated tools for development of artifacts related to XML and Web services applications. Keys to this include visual creation of XML Schemas and Document Type Definitions (DTDs), converting DTDs into XML Schemas, editing and validating XML documents, developing and debugging XSLT stylesheets, connectivity with relational databases, converting database schemas into XML Schemas, import/export of legacy data, code generation, editing WSDL documents, debugging Web services sessions, and so on. xmlspy is integrated with Visual Studio .NET, providing the functionalities of the product within the Visual Studio .NET development environment. xmlspy is available in three editions: Home, Professional, and Enterprise. xmlspy is available for Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP environments. For Visual Studio .NET integration, install xmlspy first and then the add-on integration component. The Visual Studio .NET integration add-on adds top-level menus, XML Convert and SOAP, into the Visual Studio .NET environment, which provides capabilities in xmlspy for converting non-XML sources into XML, such as relational databases and text files. xmlspy also provides integration with XML databases such as Software AG Tamino (http://www.softwareag.com/tamino/) and Oracle XML DB (http://www.oracle.com). In addition to these menus , xmlspy integration with Visual Studio .NET further merges the menu structure of the xmlspy tool with the Visual Studio toolset when the tool is actually being used.

VSIP

A full list of the various vendors and tools that are part of the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) Program is available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ partners . If you are interested in developing such a tool, you can register as a tool provider at http://www.vsippartners.com to get access to the VSIP SDK and other support mechanisms.

Probably the most used feature of the xmlspy toolset is its graphical XML Schema modeling and editing capabilities. For instance, if you were to create an order-entry application that integrates with a back-end order-fulfillment application using XML, you would typically define (or perhaps utilize an externally defined standard) an XML Schema for the Order documents. Figure 6.1 shows xmlspy being used within the Visual Studio .NET environment for creation of an Order XML Schema.

Figure 6.1. Using Altova xmlspy.

XML SCHEMA

XML Schema is a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) specification (http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-0/) and represents an XML-based language for defining the rules that represent the structure and data types of a set of XML documents.

Further information and downloadable trial software for xmlspy is available at http://www.altova.com. Altova also provides a companion product called mapforce, which provides visual XML and database mapping capabilities. Mapforce generates code in multiple programming languages, including C#, C++, Java, XSLT for database-to-XML, and XML-to-XML transformations.