XML Spy 2004 Enterprise Edition

asp:review

XML Spy 2004 Enterprise Edition

New features add to an already impressive product.

By Mike Riley

XML Spy 2004 effectively builds on what had alreadyestablished its prior success. New features, built on top of an alreadywell-received XML IDE, don't alter the interface (see Figure 1), and thereforewon't disorient its existing satisfied customer base. What Altova has layeredon top of its solid foundation are a bevy of new features primarily targetingthe XML elite.

Figure 1. The XMLSpy editor's layoutis densely informational yet effectively organized.

Besides support for the beta implementation of XPath 2.0,XML Spy 2004 now includes an XML Differencing Engine, great for quicklyidentifying changes between two XML files. Gone are the countless number ofhours hunting down the most minute changes to manually edited XML files.

Following the trend of several other standaloneWindows-based developer tools, the Enterprise Edition also includes aninterface into Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET environment, effectivelyreplacing Microsoft's XML, XSL, XSLT, DTD, and XML Schema built-in editors withthe considerably more powerful Altova-developed ones.

The most impressive addition bundled into the EnterpriseEdition, however, is Altova's new MapForce 2004 product (see Figure 2), asingle integrated view tool designed to auto-generate custom mapping code inXSLT and Java proxy code for XML to XML and/or XML to database mapping. Withthe continuing rise of XML exchanges occurring between disparate databases,this tool makes the manual mapping process a thing of the past. Consideringthat the standalone version of MapForce costs US$499, the cost of the full XMLSpy 2004 Enterprise package is quite reasonable.

Figure 2. The new MapForce 2004 XML to XML and/or XML to database mappingtool provides a single design interface that can generate code stubs in Java orXSLT.

Product Improvements

The latest release features graphical design and codegeneration of XML Schema files, but unfortunately for .NET developers, thisonly includes facilities for Java and C++ (Visual Studio 6.0-compliant) code.More language output options are expected to be released in future updates.With Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) receiving considerable buzz these days, itwould have been a progressive win for XML Spy to incorporate such functionalityinto their code generation facility via a UML diagram import or export. Perhapsthis functionality will arrive in the 2005 edition.

Although there have been improvements made in the XSLTStylesheet editor, this still remains the product's weakest area. This is goingto continue to be a delicate, or perhaps even precarious, balance for Altova tosimplify the creation of XSLT-based layouts while simultaneously serving thesophisticated needs of developers requiring deep code access to tweak thepresentation layer's underlying structure. And while, as of this writing,XForms is not yet ratified as a W3C recommendation, the inclusion of an XFormseditor and debugging tool would have emphasized Altova's commitment to allthings XML.

Although Altova continues to outpace all of itscompetitors, the program is reaching a Microsoft Word-like state where the80/20 rule is creeping into existence (80 percent of the typical user basemight only be using 20 percent of the tool's capability on a day-to-day basis).However, it still reigns as the top XML editing tool in my book.

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.xmlspy.com/products_ide.html

Price: US$990