Stylus Studio 2007 XML Enterprise Suite

asp:review

Stylus Studio 2007 XML EnterpriseSuite

Sophisticated XML Editing on a Budget

By Mike Riley

XML file editing has certainly come a long way from simpletext editors like Notepad. Along with the complexity associated with schemaswith deep hierarchies and the variants created to handle data integration andtransformation, unassisted hand coding of complex XML today is reserved forpatient geniuses and berhackers. For the rest of us, products like StylusStudio make the process considerably less painful, and even, well, fun attimes.

Having reviewed and used for years Altova s XML Spy (StylusStudio s fiercest competitor; search for reviews of several versions of theproduct on http://www.aspnetpro.com/productreviews/default.asp),I had high expectations of what an advanced XML editing experience shouldentail (Stylus Studio is a product of the DataDirect Technologies division ofProgress Software). Secretly I had hoped that Stylus Studio possessed somekiller innovation that would propel it far past the competition. Although Inever encountered anything as such, what I did discover was a solid productthat addressed criticisms with XML Spy I ve harbored for some time. About theonly area that Stylus Studio lacked competitive parity was its lack of add-insupport for Visual Studio (or even Eclipse, for that matter), thereby keepingXML editing within the confines of the Enterprise Suite.

Figure 1: Multiple window panes canquickly sap away valuable desktop real estate, especially when working on a lowresolution display.

The interface, although not exceptional, was a step abovethe competition. It flowed more easily and had a more intuitive approach towardworking with XML. In other words, it rarely got in the way of the work at hand.The UI also didn t have an obnoxious chrome tube look, though it does defaultto abnormally large toolbar icons. Fortunately, these can be readjusted tonormal size. Even so, I m puzzled by why these commercial XML editors arecompelled to live within non-standard Windows application interfaces. Why they simplycan t emulate Visual Studio s look and feel is something I haven t quitefigured out. At the very least, tools such as Stylus Studio should provideusers with a classic Windows layout for nit-picks like myself who prefer towork in familiar environments with a minimum of gaudy graphics.

Beyond the UI, Stylus Studio s XML support is stunninglycomprehensive, practically covering the entire gamut of meaningful XML formats.This includes XQuery and XSLT editing, mapping, profiling, and debugging; XPathversion 2.0 support in the form of an XPath Evaluator and Express Generator;and something the company calls Sense:X support, an IntelleSense-like behaviorfor XPath syntax editing.

Figure 2: Document wizards providestep-by-step templates for starting new projects.

The product also features Document Type Definition (DTD)visual editing and validation, EDI integration to EDITFACT and X12 formats,built-in XSL:FO transformation to HTML or PDF, XML Schema and XSD documentationgeneration, and an HTML to XSLT stylesheet designer that rapidly acceleratesthe creation of abstracted presentation layers. The WSYWIG XSLT editor isbetter than what I ve seen, but still is not quite as easy to use as, say,Adobe Dreamweaver for simplicity and design elegance. In fact, aDreamweaver-specific plug-in in future editions of Stylus Studio would beextremely welcome to assist with the construction of more attractive XSTLdesigns. At the very least there should be an easy integration between the twovia a selectable external design editor mechanism.

Figure 3: Stylus Studio includes a built-inXSLT:FO processing engine for XSLT output analysis.

Product documentation is comprehensive and well organized.And somewhat related to documentation is Stylus Studio s Web site, one of themost comprehensive product sites I ve seen. The site is packed with extensivedrill-down coverage that documents each of the numerous features, as well asscreencasts demonstrating many of these capabilities. The screencast videosserve a dual purpose of educating customers and potential customers. It s agood marketing strategy that more programming tool vendors would be smart toemploy. The patient student willing to view all the presentations on the StylusStudio site will be well educated about the main attractions the program has tooffer, as well as be able to apply them to various XML development scenarios. Afully functional trial version of the product is also available from the Website.

Stylus Studio offers Web developers and XML gurus acomfortable set of features to accomplish sophisticated XML editing objectives.Although not quite the nirvana I was hoping for, it gives the more expensive,albeit entrenched, competitors something to worry about. If you are looking fora useful, comprehensive XML tool but are budget-challenged, or are notinterested in additional features found in competing products that will gounused, give Stylus Studio a test run. You may be as pleasantly surprised byits power and accessibility as I was.

MikeRiley is anadvanced computing professional specializing in emerging technologies and newdevelopment trends. He also is a contributing editor for asp.netPRO. Readers may contact Mike at mailto:[email protected].

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.stylusstudio.com

Price: US$895