Software Review: XMLSpy 2008 From Altova

Written by T. Michael Testi

MLSpy 2008 is the latest version of Altova's integrated development environment (IDE) for XML. XMLSpy allows programmers to create XML-based applications and Web services in a more dynamic and easier to understand environment. The version that I am reviewing is XMLSpy 2008 release 2 which came out on May 7, 2008 and it is based on the Enterprise version. There is also a Professional version and if you would like to view the differences between the two, you can check out the feature comparison list.

What is XMLSpy 2008? It is a XML development environment for designing, editing, and debugging enterprise class applications that involve XML, XML Schema, XSL/XSLT, XQuery, SOAP, WSDL, and Web service technologies. Its aim is to be a productivity enhancer for J2EE, .NET, and database developers. Along with being an XML editor, it offers a code generator, file converters, a debugger, a profiler, and integration into Visual Studio .NET and Eclipse.

One of the other main features XMLSpy includes is the ability to edit XML documents in multiple formats. I personally think that this is one of those kinds of features that once you get used to it, it's hard to work without XMLSpy. You can look at your XML document as a text doc, a grid format, and as a WYSIWYG view. Next it has a built-in well-formedness checker and validator. If there is something wrong with your document, you don't have to wait till it fails and then try to figure out what is wrong with it; XMLSpy does it for you.

You also have intelligent editing such that if a schema is associated with your XML document, the auto-completion feature of Text View provides help in editing. There are structural editing features like line numbering, indentation, bookmarks, as well as expandable and collapsible element to aid in navigation.

You can create schemas quickly and easily, there is support for XInclude and XPointer, a built-in XQuery 1.0 processor, and you can transform your XML document as well. You have debuggers, project management, database import, and the ability to compare XML files. If you are using Java, C++, or C# to manipulate data in XML, you can generate code containing class definitions for the schema. That is a lot already.

So with all this, what's new with XMLSpy 2008 Release 2?

• Very large file support – has been enhanced to work with much larger files. These result in a reduction of memory consumption by up to 75-80% as compared with the prior version when opening and validating XML documents in text view. This now means that you can work with files 4 to 5 times larger than before. This will be very beneficial to those with databases and other large applications.

• Detailed find-and-replace in XML Schema editor – now adds to the robust find-in capabilities that already exist in XMLSpy by adding the ability to find-in Schemas. Here you can find within single schemas and across complex multiple schemas as well.

• Enhanced XSLT details in info window – now places an XSLT tab in the XMLSpy info window which provides information for developers working with XSLT stylesheets. This tab allows you to view the associated schema and XML Instance files as well as any included or imported XSLT documents. The toolbar buttons allow you to organize some or all of the files into an XMLSpy project or even add the files to a ZIP archive.

• New XSL Outline entry helper window – complements the XSLT tab and aids in the optimization of XSLT development. When working with a XSLT 1.0 or 2.0 stylesheet, it lists the templates and functions in the current XSLT file as well as those in any included or imported file. Here you can view or edit each template's mode, priority, and associated comment directly in the XSL outline window.

• Support for Java, C#, JavaScript, and VBScript in XSLT 1.0/2.0 engines – now allows those who embed program code in Java, C#, JavaScript, or VBScript to add advanced functionality to their XSLT stylesheets. Now, not only can you take advantage of XMLSpy's XSLT editing and transformation capabilities, but you can also test, perfect, and optimize them using the XSLT debugger and XSLT profiler.

• Support for SOAP 1.2 – now allows you to create and test Web Services messages using SOAP1.2 by checking the appropriate box in the SOAP request settings dialog.

• Project generation for Visual Studio 2008 – gives you the option to generate a Visual Studio 2008 project file when generating C# or C++ code in XMLSpy.

• Visual Studio integration extended to include Visual Studio 2008 – now offers seamless support into Visual Studio 2008.

XMLSpy 2008 is available from Altova. It is $1090.00 USD for the Enterprise version and $539 for the Professional version. Still unsure, you can download a 30 day trial version as well.

If you work with XML with any regularity then you need to do yourself a favor and check out XMLSpy 2008. Right out of the box it will begin to save you time and money in making sure that your data is correct and allowing you to see your data in a whole new way. As you progress in your learning of XMLSpy 2008, you will find yourself using more and more of the toolset and becoming even more productive. I highly recommend XMLSpy 2008.

 

Technorati Tags: Altova,XMLSpy,XML,Web Services,Visual Studio,SOAP,Software,Programming

Software Review - NetAdvantage For .NET Suite- NetAdvantage AppStylist 2008 Volume 1 From Infragistics

Technorati Tags: NetAdvantage,Infragistics,AppSylist,Presentation Layer,Software,Development

Written by T. Michael Testi

 

This is the third part of a three-part series that will cover what is contained in the NetAdvantage For .NET Suite. The three products are NetAdvantage for ASP.NET, NetAdvantage for Windows Forms, and NetAdvantage AppStylist. You can go online to explore more about the products in this suite. The goal of this series it to define what each product does and what it can do for you.

Infragistics over the years has positioned itself as a leader in the development of the presentation layer technologies. By creating high quality, reusable presentation layer tools for ASP.NET, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Tablet PC, and Java Environments, they are able to provide their customers with the ability to accelerate the development process by reducing development time.

The NetAdvantage For .NET Suite is compatible with Visual Studio 2008, and Visual Studio 2005. It works with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista. Infragistics products are subscription-based which gives you updates and upgrades for the period of the license, usually one year. So when you see the terminology "2008 Volume 1", this means it is the first release for this release of the product for that year. The license is also developer-based which means that the developer can install it on more than one machine, but they are the only one who has the right to use the license.

So what is NetAdvantage AppStylist? It is a revolutionary product that lets application developers and graphic artists peacefully coexist within a company. It allows each to do their job without stepping on or getting in the way of the other. It allows one to determine and develop the functionality while the other designs the look and feel and branding.

NetAdvantage AppStylist is really two products in one. One is for ASP.NET and the other is for Windows Forms. It is a standalone application that works outside of the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE and therefore allows visual designers to create and edit style libraries for use with these Infragistics products. It is meant to allow graphic designers to collaborate more efficiently with developers in creating polished, professional applications.

The Application Styling Framework (ASF) divides the space between the developer space and the designer space to let each accomplish their tasks. The designer should not be concerned with how the developer implements the design and the developer should not be concerned with any aspect of the look and feel of the application. By reducing the job cross-over, NetAdvantage AppStylist can speed development.

Some of the features of NetAdvantage AppStylist include

• Styling similar elements – such that when a graphics artist wants the column headers on a table to appear like the column headers in a list or tree without having to re-specify these setting for each control, they now have that ability from within their own IDE.

• Target components by type – will let a regular appearance to be applied across all controls of a particular control type without the developer having to tediously go in and change all of the properties within an application.

• Target individual instances – lets you change individual instances of a control type to look different than the others all without the developer having to change anything within the application.

• Coexistence with the Infragistics Object Model – In Windows Forms it merges its style settings with those of the control at appearance resolution time. On the Web, it is based on the client machine as part of their browser's routine CSS class resolution.

NetAdvantage AppStylist For Windows Forms will make the graphics artist feel right at home and allow them to become productive much more quickly through tooling that has been designed to work like the graphics media programs that they are already familiar with.

To work with NetAdvantage AppStylist you create/open a style library and base a new style library on an existing template. You can then customize the color palette of the style library. In the past, these color changes would need to have been coordinated between the graphics and applications designers, which really means that when the graphics designer wanted a change, the developer would have to stop work and make these modifications.

Then, to see the results of the changes, the graphics designer would have to wait until a test build has been completed to see the results. Now, in NetAdvantage AppStylist the graphics designer has access to every control and UI interface available so they can see what things will look like.

Once everything is complete, the graphics designer saves the style as an .isl file which the application designer then includes into the Windows Forms code. The developer then can implement it with as little as a single line of code: Infragistics.Win.Appstyling.StyleMangager.Load("MyStyle.isl");

When the application starts running, the appearance is defined by the new Style Library. Throughout the system, all controls are now updated to use the new styles without the possibility of errors or missed controls. If the graphics designer changes their mind on something, they just present an updated .isl file.

By technological differences, NetAdvantage AppStylist For ASP.NET works a little differently from the Windows Forms version. Here the style libraries are folder-based instead of file-based. Designers use .wsl files that describe the contents of their style library, but because the style library is now composed of separate .CSS and image files organized by style set and control type, style libraries can span multiple files in a nested folder structure.

Those appearance settings that can be styled for the Web conform to the style properties as defined by CSS and supported by major browser vendors. By defining a style using a Web site's web.config file, the new style can be set without ever taking down the site or rebuilding it.

From there the workflow is basically the same as it was with Windows Forms. You begin with a template and modify it to the look and feel that you want. You then save the .wsl file and then update your site to take advantage of it.

I think that this is a tremendous addition to anyone using either NetAdvantage for ASP.NET or NetAdvantage for Windows Forms. Even if you are not using a graphics designer and the developers are doing the layout, this will be a tremendous productivity boost to anyone.

There are two licenses that you can purchase NetAdvantage AppStylist. First is with Priority Support for $1,195.00 USD, and Standard for $695.00 USD. For the Studio it is $1,490.00, and $995.00 respectively. Priority support includes one year of priority phone, 24-hour chat and rapid response online support. As an added bonus, with either license, along with the updates, upgrades, and product releases, you also get the C# code for all ASP.NET tools and designers. You can even download an evaluation copy. There are no features disabled during your evaluation period.

If you are tired of having to repeatedly go back and forth with designers on your ASP.NET or Windows Forms application interfaces, having to spend more time then you want on the look and not enough time on what really counts—the product—then I highly recommend you take a look at Infragistics NetAdvantage AppStylist.

Software Review - NetAdvantage For .NET Suite- NetAdvantage For ASP.NET 2008 Volume 1 From Infragistics

Technorati Tags: NetAdvantage,Infragistics,AppSylist,Presentation Layer,Software,Development

This is the second part of a three-part series that will cover what is contained in the NetAdvantage For .NET Suite. The three products are NetAdvantage for ASP.NET, NetAdvantage for Windows Forms, and NetAdvantage AppStylist. You can go online to explore more about the products in this suite. The goal of this series it to define what each product does and what it can do for you.

Infragistics over the years has positioned itself as a leader in the development of the presentation layer technologies. By creating high quality, reusable presentation layer tools for ASP.NET, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Tablet PC, and Java Environments, they are able to provide their customers with the ability to accelerate the development process by reducing development time.

The NetAdvantage For .NET Suite is compatible with Visual Studio 2008, and Visual Studio 2005. It works with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista. Infragistics products are subscription-based which gives you updates and upgrades for the period of the license; usually one year. So when you see the terminology "2008 Volume 1", this means it is the first release for this release of the product for that year. The license is also developer based which means that the developer can install it on more than one machine, but they are the only one who has the right to use the license.

So what is NetAdvantage For ASP.NET? It is a toolkit for creating ASP.NET Web-based applications. It contains an extensive set of over 35 visual and non-visual controls including AJAX grids, charts, toolbars, menus, listbars, trees, tabs, and much more.

The NetAdvantage For ASP.NET is a complete toolset for building the presentation layer of your ASP.NET applications. The ASP.NET Controls and components are built on server-side and client-side architectural frameworks. They communicate and interact using JavaScript objects and XML. The server-side is designed to operate within the ASP.NET Framework and much of its functionality is derived from classes, structures, and events in the framework. The client-side objects are implemented as JavaScript functions on the pages that are invoked at the time that each event occurs.

So what is new with NetAdvantage For ASP.NET?

• Full Support for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 – is new in NetAdvantage For ASP.NET. Included is support for the integrated development environment (IDE), and all .NET controls and components have been tested within this new environment.

• Aikido Framework – is the first release of Infragistics new Web User Framework. It is an architecture built into NetAdvantage For ASP.NET that supports the creation of lightweight, cross-browser, XHTML and CSS-based AJAX controls. Currently based on the Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX extensions 1.0 and ASP.NET 2.0, it is meant to remain aligned with the new ASP.NET 3.5 programming paradigms as they arise. The goals for this framework are to provide high-performance, standards compliance, major browser support, and the ability to make the object model simpler to understand and employ.

• Web Splitter – is a new ASP.NET splitter bar that provides a clean and elegant way to separate content within your Web application. It gives your user the ability to resize, expand, and collapse the content contained with the content pages. You can split horizontally, vertically, and resize your content panes.

• Web Dialog Window – can display as a simple DIV section in your HTML page and is able to bypass many of the pop-up blockers that are present in today's browsers while still appearing to the end user as a pop-up window. You can set the dialog box to behave as a modal or modeless dialog to better control your application. There is a customizable header, and it resizes just like the dialogs on your desktop. You can tell it where you want it to appear on the page. And it takes care of remembering whether the user has minimized, restored or maximized its appearance.

• Web Image Viewer – is a new sliding image control that provides end users with an easy-to-use Web interface for viewing images that can also serve as a navigational control. The images can be oriented horizontally or vertically through a single property setting. There is a custom configurable animation behavior that determines how the images appear as they are scrolled through. It can be data bound to a custom data model that has the file path to use for accessing the images, the target URLs when they are clicked, as well as the tool tip to be displayed.

• ITypedList Data Binding for WebGrid – is a new grid and combo box control that fully support data binding against the ITypedList interface,

• Web Hierarchical Data Source – is a non-visual control that lets you combine disparate data source controls such as SQL data sources, Access data sources, etc. The designer wizard takes you through step-by-step identifying the parent-child relationships. It then exposes the multiple sources as a single data source to other ASP.NET controls.

• Web Chart – adds a tree map chart type. This gives you the ability to display large amounts of data sets as nested rectangles where the size of the rectangle regions correlate to the importance of the data the rectangle represents.

• Web Slider – is a new control that is an AJAX-enabled track bar that lets you present users with an easy-to-understand way of entering data values that are incremental and are confined within a range.

As with NetAdvantage for Windows Forms, NetAdvantage For ASP.NET, it can seem quite overwhelming when you first begin. Infragistics though, has put together some really good help documents to get you started. In the case for NetAdvantage for .NET Studio, you are provided with a getting started guide and then a developer guide which takes you through the best way to learn the product. Since this is a subscription-based product, you are also shown what you need to do to upgrade your application as new releases are made, as well as how to deploy your application.

There are two licenses that you can purchase NetAdvantage For ASP.NET. First is with Priority Support for $1,290.00 USD, and Standard for $795.00 USD. For the Studio it is $1,490.00, and $995.00 respectively. Priority support includes one year of priority phone, 24-hour chat and rapid response online support. As an added bonus, with either license, along with the updates, upgrades, and product releases, you also get the C# code for all ASP.NET tools and designers. You can even download an evaluation copy. There are no features disabled during your evaluation period.

If you are tired of having to repeatedly design your ASP.NET application interfaces, having to spend more time than you want on the look and not enough time on what really counts (the product), then I highly recommend you take a look at Infragistics NetAdvantage For ASP.NET.

Software Review: NetAdvantage For .NET Suite- NetAdvantage For Windows Forms 2008 From Infragistics

Technorati Tags: NetAdvantage,Infragistics,AppSylist,Presentation Layer,Software,Development

Reviewed by T. Michael Testi

This is the first part of a three-part series that will cover what is contained in the NetAdvantage For .NET Suite. The three products are NetAdvantage for Windows Forms, NetAdvantage for ASP.NET, and NetAdvantage AppStylist. You can go online to explore more about the products in this suite. The goal of this series it to define what each product does and what it can do for you.

Infragistics over the years has positioned itself as a leader in the development of the presentation layer technologies. By creating high quality, reusable presentation layer tools for Windows Forms, ASP.NET, Windows Presentation Foundation(WPF), Tablet PC, and Java Environments, they are able to provide their customers with the ability to accelerate the development process by reducing development time.

The NetAdvantage For .NET Suite is compatible with Visual Studio 2008, and Visual Studio 2005. It works with Microsoft Windows XP and Vista. Infragistics products are subscription-based which gives you updates and upgrades for the period of the license; usually one year. So when you see the terminology "2008 Volume 1", this means it is the first release for this release of the product for that year. The license is also developer based which means that the developer can install it on more than one machine, but they are the only one who has the right to use the license.

So what is NetAdvantage For Windows Forms? It is a toolkit for creating Windows Forms. It is contains an extensive set of over 50 controls and components that have been designed to provide you with the ability to create modern user interfaces for your Windows Forms applications.

The NetAdvantage For Windows Forms toolset is built on the Presentation Layer Framework (PLF); a layer that resides between the Microsoft .NET Framework, and the NetAdvantage Windows Form Elements. Some of the advantages of providing this layer is that it gives you a more stable, more consistent, and more extensible environment such that you can derive your own classes from any public component class that is not sealed, and it contains a shared set of common assemblies. It also means that once you have learned some of the Windows Form controls, the rest will require little effort.

While it is beyond the scope of this review to go through each and every feature, I will try to provide some highlights to the product. You can check out the Infragistics site to explore a more complete list controls and components. The NetAdvantage For Windows Forms consists of the Toolset which includes the Frameworks, which, as explained above are build upon the PLF, the Code Libraries that are a repository of the .NET objects that augment a given application, the Assemblies that map the control to the DLL, and the Controls and Components that you will include within your application.

The NetAdvantage For Windows Forms gives you the ability to change the look and feel of your controls and components. When learning how to use this package you will be presented with ways to set the visual styles and behaviors by using presets, themes, and appearance objects to your applications.

You can also upgrade your existing Windows Forms projects with NetAdvantage For Windows Forms so that you can make changes where you need to, and add new functionality as time permits.

So what is new with NetAdvantage For Windows Forms?
• Full Support for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 – is new in NetAdvantage For Windows Forms. Included is support for the integrated development environment (IDE), and all .NET controls and components have been tested within this new environment.

• Vista Veneer now supports on WinTree. – This takes what was provided in version 2007 Volume 3; the Microsoft Windows Vista look and feel for the WinToolbarsManager components, and now provides them on the WinTree control. In the Windows Vista Display Styles include Scolling, Expansion indicators, colors, tool tips, and headers

• Select Nodes from any Level – is now available is to allow users to select as many tree nodes as they want in as many different levels of the tree control. This does not require any additional work on your part. You can manipulate the selected nodes collection based on the tree nodes coming from different levels.

• WinTrackBar – is a totally new track bar control that allows your users to choose values from a range; but not just a single range, rather as many as your application requires. It comes with a full array of looks and feels. If you are using the Office 2007 theme, this includes the ribbon style, and the collapsible Outlook pane. You can also style the control to implement your own Windows Vista track bar.

• New Close Button – has been added to the WinTab and WinTabbedMdiManager controls that will allow you to add tab closing functionality much like is found in Firefox and Internet Explorer tabs; this exists in the newer versions of each where you can have multiple websites open at one time and subsequently close each tab.

• WinListView – has been enhanced to allow end users to resize each column, resize by double clicking the right side of the column header, as well as controlling the resize process through the API. The AutoFitColumns turns this on, and the ColumnAutoSizeMode handles how the control reacts with the double click. By using the PerformAutoSize method, you can auto size whenever you need to.

Is there learning curve to using NetAdvantage For Windows Forms? Of course there is. As with any development product you need to spend the time to learn the it and integrated it into your workflow. This package was build under solid development principles that makes the learning curve diminish as you get deeper into learning the product. There are also a lot of helpful designers like the UltraWinGrid Designer that will help guide you through some of the many choices available.

When you first get into NetAdvantage For Windows Forms, it can be quite overwhelming, but Infragistics has put together some really good help documents to get you started. In the case for NetAdvantage for .NET Studio, you are provided with sections that pertain to the studio as a whole as well as for the NetAdvantage For Windows Forms product. They do a good job of presenting where you need to go to get started learning.

There are two licenses that you can purchase NetAdvantage For Windows Forms. First is with Priority Support for $1,290.00 USD, and Standard for $795.00 USD. For the Studio it is $1,490.00, and $995.00 respectively. Priority support includes one year of priority phone, 24-hour chat and rapid response online support. As an added bonus, with either license, along with the updates, upgrades, and product releases, you also get the C# code for all Windows Forms tools and designers. You can even download an evaluation copy. There are no features disabled during your evaluation period.

If you are tired of having to repeatedly design your application interfaces, having to painstakingly change the look and feel of controls and components, or having to spend more time then you want on the look and not enough time on what really counts; the product, then I highly recommend you take a look at Infragistics NetAdvantage For Windows Forms.

Temporary Projects in Visual Studio 2005

If you ever wanted to do a quick temporary project in Visual Studio 2005, let Donn show you how.



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