New BIG "minor" release of Altova tools

It's called Version 2008 Release 2, but in reality it should be a new major version. Our "problem" is that each year has 12 months whereas our talented engineers are practically cranking out a new major version every 5-6 months. So we have to call one of them the major release and the other one a minor release - but this one is BIG!

We've updated all the tools in the popular Altova MissionKit bundle with tons of new features and usability enhancements that our customers have asked for. I am most excited about the following, which provide big benefits to our users:

• Very Large File Support: XMLSpy 2008r2 contains a number of advanced optimizations for working with very large files. These result in a reduction of memory consumption by up to 75-80% compared to the previous version when opening and validating XML documents in Text View. This means that you can now open and work with files that are about 4-5 times larger than those supported in the past!!
• Extended Open XML (OOXML) Support: XMLSpy was the first XML Editor to directly support Open XML in April 2007 and today we are introducing more Open XML support in these products:
• MapForce 2008r2 now directly supports SpreadsheetML and allows the user to place any Excel 2007 document inside a mapping project to directly transform data from EDI, XML, databases, web services, and legacy text files to Excel 2007 and vice-versa. This new support for Open XML and Excel 2007 is, of course, also available in the automatic code-generation capabilities of MapForce, allowing developers to generate application code for recurring data transformation scenarios in Java, C# and C++.
• StyleVision 2008r2 now directly supports Open XML output in Word 2007 (WordprocessingML) to allow the user to generate multiple rich output formats from one single stylesheet design. StyleVision supports the generation of stylesheets via an easy-to-use drag&drop interface from XML documents as well as from databases and is the ultimate report designer that can produce output in HTML, PDF, RTF, and Open XML from one visual design. In addition, it allows developers the creation of Authentic forms from the same design to facilitate XML-based data entry across an organization with no deployment cost.
• DiffDog 2008r2 now supports detailed XML differencing between Open XML documents, including the ability to directly edit and merge changes across those files. In addition, the directory comparison feature now also supports ZIP file types so that directories and ZIP archives can be compared as well.
• Expanded Modeling Capabilities: UModel 2008r2 now supports the OMG's BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation) and is also the first UML tool to ship full support for C# 3.0 and Visual Basic 9.0 - including accurate parsing of new language constructs in these programming languages that directly support XML. UModel does, of course, also continue to fully support Java 6.0 and provides full reverse-engineering and round-tripping for all the above languages.
• Better Integration Through Global Resources: developers using multiple Altova tools - for example as parts of the MissionKit bundle - can now take advantage of increased integration between these tools. The new Global Resources feature lets a developer define directories, databases, and ancillary files in one central location and those are shared between all applications. In addition, a developer can define multiple deployment scenarios (e.g. test, staging, production) for their XML projects, and also directly connect the output of one application to become the input for another.

The above list has just a few of the highlights that I find most exciting. More details and all the other cool new features can be found on the "What's New" page on the Altova website. There is also a press release being issued today about the new version.

I will also be covering some of these features in more detail on this XML Aficionado blog in the next couple of days - stay tuned...

Open XML is now an ISO Standard

The official press-release came out of the ISO offices on April 2nd and Open XML (OOXML) is now an ISO Standard with the official designation IS 29500.

Microsoft issued a press release today, and states that 86% of all voting bodies and 75% of P-members approved the standard - both measures being above the needed thresholds of 75% and 66.7% respectively.

See also the following blog and media reactions today:

• Brian Jones: "The end of the file formats war"
• Jason Matusow: "Open XML is and international standard"
• Peter O'Kelly: "Ecma Office Open XML Document Format appears to win Approval as an ISO Standard"
• Computerworld: "Unofficial vote tallies show Open XML being ratified"
• CNet: "Unofficial document: Open XML passes ISO vote"
• ZDNet: "Microsoft wasting no time rejoicing in its OOXML win"

There is also an interesting story floating around that Norway allegedly seeks to reverse its Open XML vote to No - but that seems to be irrelevant given the high margins that the tallied outcome has over the minimum requirements for approval as a standard.

To get an early start working with Open XML (IS 29500), check out Altova's support for Open XML in our XMLSpy XML Editor.

You are also invited to read all previous articles on Open XML on this XML Aficionado blog - especially my January 30 tutorial post on Content reuse with Open XML and XSLT.

New York International Autoshow

I spent a day at the NY Autoshow this weekend with my son to take a look at the latest concept cars and the newest production cars from the world's largest and most exclusive automobile brands, and to check in on the progress of UIMA, an XML standard that has the potential to one day be used by cars to communicate with the road and with other cars around them.

Being a technology aficionado, I was very impressed to find more evidence of a move to carbon-fiber and aluminum construction evident with many manufacturers this year. Similarly there was are a lot of new developments with respect to electric and hybrid vehicles that could be seen in New York.

Here is a quick gallery of some of my favorite cars at the show:

Mazda Furai Concept Car

Saleen Raptor

Audi R8

BMW Concept Car

And my favorite of the entire show - and a great example of the use of carbon-fiber and aluminum in a high-end production vehicle - is the Aston Martin DBS:

Aston Martin DBS

Sadly, a few revolutionary cars that I would have liked to see were absent from the show, such as the Tesla or the Gibbs Aquada. And a few other high-end car manufacturers were also missing, for example the Koenigsegg or the Pagani Zonda.

But there was a flying car on display. Well, at least a prototype of one. You just can't have a car show without a flying car:

I was also looking in vain for evidence of any production applications of UIMA or other similar software approaches that would allow XML to be used by cars to communicate with the road and other cars around them. But that technology still seems to be a few years in the future before it reaches production vehicles, as UIMA is presently being standardized by and OASIS TC.

The exciting thing about UIMA is, of course, that it is not only based on XML, but being described by a specific domain model in XMI (which can be used in the UModel UML Modeling Tool), and contains specific Web Services descriptions in WSDL (which can be viewed in the XMLSpy XML Editor and utilized in our MapForce data integration tool). Last, but not least, there are semantic web implications with respect to knowledge integration in UIMA (which result in RDF and OWL information that can be viewed and processed in our SemanticWorks RDF and OWL editor). I will be following UIMA closely and will report on any progress in this XML Aficionado blog.

More photos can be found in this gallery on my photo website. And for more news from the New York Autoshow, please refer to the various in-depth reviews on Popular Mechanics...

New Altova web site design

We just launched a cool new web site design for www.altova.com today:

It provides easier access to the most requested pages, cleaner navigation, and a more pleasing visual appearance. Go check it out at www.altova.com and let me know if you like it...