XMLSpy Professional Edition 2007 SP2

XMLSpy is an integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the development of XML projects. XMLSpy can be used, among other things, to import to and export from XML documents (including to and from databases); to edit and process a variety of XML and other text documents; to link different types of XML documents in projects; process documents with the built-in XSLT 1.0 processor, XSLT 2.0 processor and XQuery 1.0 processor; to convert between certain types of XML documents and other document types; and to even generate code from XML documents.
XMLSpy also provides a graphical editing view of XML documents in Altovas popular Authentic View, thus enabling users to enter data into an XML document as they would into a wordprocessor-type application. Authentic View is particularly useful in situations where:
- people not familiar to XML are called upon to enter data into an XML document, or where
- several users input data into, or view, a single document located on a server or shared resource.
Main features:
- Edit XML documents in multiple editing formats
You can edit an XML document as plain text (Text View), in a hierarchical table format (Enhanced Grid View), or in a graphical WYSIWYG view ( Authentic View). For XML Schemas and WSDL documents, you can also use Schema/WSDL View, which is a graphical interface that greatly simplifies the creation of complex schemas and WSDL documents. You can also switch among the various views to suit your convenience. The Browser View enables you to directly view XML documents associated with an XSLT stylesheet and HTML documents.
- Well-formedness checking and built-in validator
All XML documents are checked for well-formedness when you change views or save the file. XML documents can also be validated if a schema (DTD or XML Schema) is associated with the XML document. Other types of documents, such as DTDs, are also checked for errors in syntax and structure.
- Structural editing features
In Text View, features such as line-numbering, indentation, bookmarks, and expandable and collapsible elements help you to navigate your document quickly and efficiently.
- Intelligent Editing
If a schema is associated with an XML document, the auto-completion feature of Text View provides valuable editing help. As you type, pop-up menus containing the elements, attributes, and enumerated attribute values allowed at the cursor point appear. Additionally, the correct closing tags are automatically inserted when you complete opening tags, and attributes selected from the pop-up menu are inserted with opening and closing quotes. You can also enable XMLSpy to automatically insert mandatory elements and/or attributes when an element is inserted. Further, each view has a set of Entry Helpers that enable you to insert document components or specify the properties of the component selected in the Main Window.
- Schema editing and management
You can create XML Schemas quickly and easily in the graphical Schema/WSDL View. This takes away much of the difficulty of knowing XML Schema structures, syntax, and design principles. You can also create DTDs that can be checked for correct syntax, plus convert between Schemas and DTDs, and generate documentation. Additionally, the SchemaAgent feature enables you to access and work with schemas from other servers, thus providing an efficient XML environment for specialized XML Schema management and editing.
- Built-in XSLT 1.0 and XSLT 2.0 processors
The built-in XSLT 1.0 and XSLT 2.0 processors are compliant with the relevant W3C drafts. They enable you to transform XML documents directly from within the IDE using either XSLT 1.0 or XSLT 2.0 stylesheets, and to debug XSLT stylesheets using the XSLT Debugger.
- Built-in XQuery 1.0 processor
The built-in XQuery 1.0 processor is compliant with the XQuery 1.0 W3C Working Draft of 23 July 2004. It enables you to execute and debug XQuery documents directly from within the IDE.
- Transformations of XML documents
XML documents can be transformed directly from within the IDE, either with the internal (built-in) XSLT processor or with any external XSLT processor. To generate PDF from within the IDE, you can specify an external FO processor, and also transform XML to PDF with a single-click after specifying the XSLT stylesheet to use. Furthermore, parameter values can be passed to the XSLT transformation from the IDE itself.
- XPath Evaluation
For a given XML document, the Evaluate XPath feature lists the sequence (or nodeset) returned by an XPath expression. You can use either the Document Node or the selected element as the context node. The Evaluate XPath feature is useful if you are creating an XSLT stylesheet and need to evaluate an XPath expression for use in it. You can also navigate to each node in the sequence using the list of nodes in the returned sequence.
- XSLT Debugger for XSLT 1.0 and XSLT 2.0
The XSLT Debugger for XSLT 1.0 and XSLT 2.0 is compliant with the relevant W3C drafts. You can use the XSLT Debugger to debug an XSLT stylesheet. The Debugger runs the XSLT stylesheet to be debugged on an XML file. The output is generated step-by-step for each step of the transformation, and you are able to see the context node, template being executed, and other details of each step in the transformation.
- XQuery 1.0 Debugger
The XQuery 1.0 Debugger is compliant with the XQuery 1.0 W3C Working Draft of 23 July 2004. It is similar to the XSLT Debugger, and can be used to debug XQuery documents.
- XML project management
The XMLSpy IDE enables you to organize related files into projects that are displayed as trees. A project can consist of schema files, XML data files, transformation files, and output files. A projects files are listed together in the Project window, thus enabling easy access to all the projects files when you are working on a project. Furthermore, you can set project-wide or folder-wide specifications, such as the schema file to validate with or the transformation file to use.
- Authentic View
Authentic View is a graphical view of an XML document in XMLSpy. Users can enter data into the XML document as they would in a word processor. The StyleVision Power Stylesheet that is used to specify the formatting of the XML document in Authentic View and how the data is input is created in Altovas StyleVision product. Note that Authentic View is also available in Altovas Authentic Desktop, which is currently available free of charge.
- Database import
You can import database data as an XML file and generate an XML Schema file to correspond to the database structure. Import of the following databases is supported: MS Access, MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Sybase, IBM DB2.
- Comparing XML files (differencing)
The Compare feature in XMLSpy enables you to detect differences between two XML files. You can set a variety of options to configure the comparison, such as ignoring the order of attributes or child elements, whether entities are resolved or namespaces ignored. The Compare feature can also be used to compare folders.
- Visual Studio .NET integration
XMLSpy can be integrated in your Visual Studio .NET environment if you would like. To do this, all you need to do is download an executable from the Altova website and run it.