New in StyleVision 2012 – Composite Styles for Enhanced Formatting

StyleVision is an intuitive stylesheet and report designer that transforms XML, XBRL, and database content into HTML, RTF, PDF, Word 2007+, and Authentic electronic forms – all from a single design. With the 2012 release (available for download here), StyleVision now offers even more formatting control so that you can design even more visually sophisticated output.

One of the more versatile features introduced in StyleVision 2012 is support for composite styles for output to RTF, Word, and PDF as well as HTML and Authentic electronic forms. This feature allows you to combine styles defined in an XML instance document with those you set in the report itself. You can also build a composite with XPath to control multiple style features of the same design element (e.g., font, background color, alignment).

Support for composite styles means that you can quickly and easily change the look of a design component by selecting an attribute from the XML instance file or by changing the XPath expression. This feature is used most often in cases where the XML document includes HTML fragments that contain style information – now you can use an XPath selector to extract style information from the HTML fragment and apply it directly to an output document.

Announcing Altova FlowForce® Server Beta 1

Altova FlowForce® Server Beta 1 is an exciting new tool for execution of automated data mappings designed to provide comprehensive management and control over data transformations performed by dedicated high-speed servers, virtual machines, or even regular workstations, depending on the size of the task.

To gather user input and accelerate product development, Altova is offering Altova FlowForce Server Beta 1 as a free public beta test to all licensed users of Altova MapForce® 2012 Enterprise Edition and MapForce® 2012 Professional Edition.

Users employ Altova MapForce data mappings for two different types of data transformations:

• One-time data conversions
• Data transformations that are repeated by date or time, when new source data is available, or based on some other external event

While command-line execution, royalty-free code generation, and the MapForce API can assist with automation of repeated transformations, FlowForce Server Beta 1 provides much greater power and flexibility. FlowForce Server Beta 1 is a server-based tool with a Web interface that makes it much easier to implement, manage, or modify data transformation jobs in a busy data processing environment.

FlowForce Server Beta 1 can administer multiple transformation jobs simultaneously, lets users define and adjust a variety of job triggers and actions on the fly, can perform housekeeping tasks like moving output files or cleaning up intermediate work, records detailed logs of all activity, and much more.

FlowForce Server Beta 1 consists of four components that work together as illustrated in the diagram below.

The FlowForce Server continuously checks for trigger conditions, starts and monitors job execution, and writes detailed logs.

MapForce Server is an implementation of the MapForce Built-in execution engine that executes mapping packages previously deployed via the MapForce graphical environment.

The FlowForce Web Administration Interface is a standalone web application that runs in an internet browser and provides the front-end of FlowForce Server.

MapForce Beta is an enhanced version of the Altova MapForce application with an integrated deployment feature to deploy MapForce data mappings to a FlowForce server package.

Altova FlowForce Server Beta 1 is available immediately as a free public beta test to all licensed users of Altova MapForce® 2012 Enterprise Edition and MapForce® 2012 Professional Edition.

Visit the FlowForce Server Beta 1 page at the Altova Web site for more information!

Processing the Groupon API – Epilogue

Rare edge cases can derail loosely coupled data mapping applications. This is especially true when you are consuming large datasets available over the Internet and have little or no influence over the source data.

In this article we describe a debugging technique that lets developers working on data mapping and transformation projects quickly identify and accommodate unexpected data in a stream from a remote source.

The Problem

Last summer we wrote a series of blog posts describing how to work with the Groupon API to retrieve a subset of offers in all Groupon cities and format the list for a web browser or mobile device.

We concluded with a command line to run a MapForce data mapping that calls the Groupon API over 150 times -- once for each Groupon city, then filters the data to extract deals sold on the Internet instead of a physical location, and formats the results in HTML using StyleVision. Every morning we run the command line in a batch file that saves the HTML output on a local server so our colleagues can check it out with any Web browser to find interesting offers from all over the country.

The mapping ran fine for more than two months until one day it failed with this error message: “Source-value “” of type dateTime could not be converted into target-type dateTime.”

Analyze Football Statistics using the Altova MissionKit

In this article we use stats from NFL.com and ESPN.com to show how easy it can be to process and analyze online data in new ways – even when it uses different metrics and is only available in textual format.

We have seen in previous blog posts how easy it is to gather data from the Internet that is widely available in XML formats. But what about interesting data that is available online but not in an XML format, or data that is buried in legacy data processing systems and only available in textual report format?

One such example involves quarterback ratings. The NFL has used a Passer Rating that rates quarterbacks solely based on a passer’s completions, attempts, touchdowns, and interceptions. ESPN introduced a new rating system this year called the Total QBR (Quarterback Rating). The Total QBR incorporates more data, including an expected points average and a clutch play index, that ESPN claims gives a more accurate measure of a quarterback’s performance.

Let’s compare the rankings that these system produce to see if we can garner some useful information. For this example we’ll be using the data importing and analysis tools of the Altova MissionKit to compare the ratings. If you want to try this out yourself, the MissionKit is available to download for a 30 day free trial from the Altova web site. You can access the files used in this example here.

The first thing we need is the raw data to analyze. Let’s use the entire 2010 season as a data source. We can get the table with Passer Ratings from NFL.com and then copy and paste it as a new text file.

We can access a similar table of Total Quarterback Ratings from the ESPN web site and create a second text file.

We now have two text files with tables of data in different orders. The next step is to combine the tables into one file and generate charts.

Mastering Paid Keywords

Anyone who manages paid keyword search knows it is hard work! You can look at vast reports of raw statistics and quickly get lost in trivia. At Altova we designed a better way to analyze and manage the performance data for our Google Adwords campaigns. We can creatively query the numbers to:

· Quickly aggregate results for subcategories of campaigns, for instance by product, geographical region, or any other grouping

· Easily identify trends over time

The chart below illustrates these advantages by collecting data for a single Altova product – SemanticWorks – from multiple campaigns over six individual months.

Starting Out

Like many keyword advertisers, we were viewing statistics in Adwords, downloading CSV files, then spending hours massaging and manipulating the data in spreadsheets to identify and format the information we required.

We wanted more immediate and in-depth reporting of keyword performance while retaining full control of the process and managing everything internally. SQL queries of a database of keyword statistics offer a powerful and flexible alternative.

In the remainder of this post we explain how the database design, data mapping, and reporting features of the Altova MissionKit can be applied to create an architecture to efficiently track paid keyword performance.

DiffDog Takes to the Cloud

Techy folks generally have a good diff tool they rely on to compare and sync files and directories. But what happens when, as more and more info is bound for the cloud, your data lives on servers accessed via URL?

There are myriad applications today that live on servers accessed via HTPP – but let’s take a look at a common example: SVN. Subversion (SVN) repositories include WebDAV as a commonly used server option. WebDAV is a natural protocol for SVN because its concern is hierarchy, structured metadata, and versions. Since WebDAV is an extension of HTTP it gives easy access to basic information about files and folders to any HTTP-aware client, including DiffDog – Altova’s diff/merge tool for files, directories, and databases. However, DiffDog knows a few tricks that set it apart from the other breeds.

Digging deeper with the Twitter API: iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy Nexus

We found some interesting data when we dug below the surface of the iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy Nexus debate using the Twitter Search API.

In today’s world there is a vast quantity of data available online that can be used for research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence. While “Big Data” can be a problem for those who produce it, store it, and compile it, it is highly beneficial for those of us who are looking for answers.

Some of that data is fortunately available to be queried online, and, in particular, there is a vast quantity of data on social media interactions out there.

In this article we will explore how to use the Twitter Search API from MapForce, Altova’s data mapping/conversion/integration tool, to aggregate data on recent user submissions (“tweets”) on two highly popular topics – the Apple “iPhone 4S” vs. the “Galaxy Nexus” as the latest hot Android phone – and extract some statistical data about the users engaged in those discussions.

Case Study: Altova Customer Succeeds with XBRL

XBRL is mandated for most public companies. So why are private organizations and non-profits jumping on the bandwagon? This case study examines a real-world success story.

 

We were really excited when the folks at MACPA told us about their success working with XBRL. They set out to discover if XBRL could be used successfully (without a huge upfront investment) by small businesses and NPOs and ended up confirming not only that, but realizing benefits to their internal financial processes, as well.

January 1 HIPAA Deadline Has Wide Impact

Every day tens of thousands of encrypted data transactions occur between health care providers, pharmacies, insurers, medical billing services, and employers who provide worker health coverage. Everyone in the United States covered by health or dental insurance depends on the automation, accuracy, and security of these largely unnoticed data streams to verify eligibility and process payments for nearly all medical services.

Definition of messaging standards for these transactions are mandated by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), passed in 1992 and administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. By January 1, 2012, all health care enterprises covered under HIPAA are required to transfer data in version 5010, the latest HIPAA standard, based on ANSI X12.

Migrating Existing Data Formats To and From the Latest Standards

Altova MapForce is a powerful and flexible tool used by developers and IT professionals in many industries to automate today’s complex data conversions. The screenshot below shows a portion of a real-world example of a complex HIPAA data mapping in Altova MapForce from one state’s ANSI X12 eligibility file to integrate membership file data for public sector healthcare.

 

Altova MissionKit 2012 Released Today

Fall is bringing cooler temps, shorter days, and beautiful foliage to us here in the Eastern US and parts near and far. As we celebrate the changing season with fresh apple cider and warm sweaters, we’ve also been working hard to deliver Altova Software Version 2012.

This year, Altova’s fall release brings support for HTML5 and CSS3, enhanced functionality for ETL applications, new Java-friendly options, Model Driven Architecture, and more, to the MissionKit software tool suite.

Let’s take a look at the new features in detail here, starting with tools that help developers and designers take advantage of HTML5 to create more sophisticated Web pages and apps.

XML Development with Database Integration

Did you know that XMLSpy connects to relational databases?

One of the most compelling features of the Altova MissionKit is that numerous tools in the suite include offer deep integration with relational databases, providing seamless access to back end data for bi-directional conversion, integration, analysis, and reporting.

Let’s take a look at what you can do when you connect XMLSpy to your databases.

Meet the Altova Team at Oracle OpenWorld

Some people say early October brings the most enjoyable weather to San Francisco, and Oracle OpenWorld and JavaOne will make things even better this year from Oct. 2 – 6. If you’re traveling to the City by the Bay for either event, plan to visit the Altova team at booth 106 in the Moscone South Oracle OpenWorld exhibit hall.

We’ll be demonstrating all the tools in the Altova MissionKit with special emphasis on multi-database support, tools for working with XML in databases, and solutions for compliance with XBRL, NIEM, HL7, EDI, QR codes, and many other industry standards.

Here’s your chance for a personal tour of that Altova tool or feature you’ve been curious to see – whether it’s advanced charting in StyleVision, Java code generation from UML in UModel, or refactoring XML Schemas in XMLSpy. We always enjoy meeting users face to face and hearing about the projects you’re working on too!

You can also enter our Altova product raffle for a chance to win a license for Altova MapForce 2011 Basic Edition. We hope to see you there!

Leverage Your Financial Data with the XBRL Chart Wizard–Part 2

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an XML-based language for reporting and exchanging financial data that’s making inroads across the globe. In fact the US Securities and Exchange Commission now requires public companies to submit financial data in XBRL format.

Altova’s MissionKit, a suite of our most popular software, supports XBRL tagging via XMLSpy and MapForce as well as XBRL rendering via StyleVision. With StyleVision you can create sophisticated financial reports including charts and tables based on XBRL instance files.

This is the second post in our two part series on StyleVision’s XBRL chart capabilities. In our last post we showed you how to call the XBRL Chart Wizard and create pie charts. This time we’ll show you how to create bar charts and line charts.

Leverage Your Financial Data with the XBRL Chart Wizard–Part 1

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), an XML-based language for financial data, is increasingly being used by both public and private organizations across the globe – in fact it is mandated for some companies in countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.

Altova provides comprehensive support for XBRL tagging and XBRL reporting with the MissionKit, a suite of our most popular software. Among the MissionKit tools is StyleVision, a graphical stylesheet designer and report builder, which can be used to support a host of internal reporting and analysis activities for companies that use XBRL.

In the next post we’ll focus on StyleVision’s XBRL Chart Wizard, a powerful XBRL visualization tool that can turn your XBRL-tagged financial data into powerful charts and graphs – if a picture is worth 1,000 words then StyleVision is worth its weight in gold.

Processing the Groupon API – Part 3

Concluding the series in this post, we will apply a stylesheet to transform the XML data created from our mapping of the Groupon API into HTML. Here is an example of the XML output from the data mapping we created last time:

Assign a Stylesheet to Transform XML

The Component Settings dialog for the output component of the MapForce mapping allows us to assign a stylesheet created with Altova StyleVision.

Processing the Groupon API with MapForce – Part 2

In Part 1 of this series we described how to connect Altova MapForce to the Groupon API. We queried the API for a list of Groupon divisions, then used the list to create API queries for all the current deals from every division.

In this part, we will execute the /deals queries and filter the response for the most interesting data.

The list of /deals queries we built previously looks like this:

To process all the queries, we can connect the list as a dynamic file input to a new mapping component.

When we needed a new component last time, we dropped an API /divisions query into the mapping, and let MapForce create an XML Schema automatically. We could do the same thing here by dropping in an API /deals query as an XML input file. There’s just one small issue -- although the Groupon API online documentation clearly describes the queries we can make, it is vague about the information that will be returned. Before we send dozens of queries to the API for all the current deals, we probably want to know a little more about the data that will come back.

The PXF File as the Software Equivalent of Plug and Play – A Database Editing Use Case

A few weeks ago we introduced you to the Portable XML Form (PXF), a file format in which all design elements supporting a StyleVision design including XML Schema and instance documents, SPS design files, XSLT, images, and other external files are embedded.

End users simply open the PXF file in Authentic and can immediately start editing XML and database data.

In this post we’ll create an electronic form for business users to record donations and enter new donors for a fictitious charity called the Green Planet Fund.

Processing the Groupon API with Altova MapForce

We often think of a data integration project as a translation from one singular data input file to some other data set, but Altova MapForce lets you greatly expand the concept of an input file.

For instance, the MergeMultipleFiles.mfd example installed with MapForce illustrates how you can use a filename with wildcard characters to merge multiple input files into a single output.

A MapForce mapping input doesn’t even need to be a physical file – it can be a URL that returns predictable structured data, like the APIs for popular Web sites like Groupon and many others.

UML Class Diagrams in Altova UModel

Altova products have long been recognized for their rich, intuitive user interface. One example is the UModel diagram window, which includes multiple display options for class diagrams to facilitate ease of use and improve information clarity in objected-oriented models.

Class diagram style for projects that generate .NET (C# and Visual Basic) application code

UModel 2011 Release 3 includes a new option for displaying class diagrams for .NET programmers. If your project will generate source code in .NET programming languages (C# or Visual Basic), your classes may contain .NET properties that can be called from outside like attributes, but are implemented internally as methods. To better organize .NET classes, UModel offers an option to display .NET properties and methods in separate operations compartments inside classes.

This view is an optional setting in the Styles helper window for class diagram display and editing. Choosing to display separate .NET properties compartments or a single traditional UML operations compartment has no influence on code generated from the class.

Service Pack 1 Available

Just a quick note to let customers of Altova Software Version 2011 Release 3 know that Service Pack 1 (v2011r3 SP1) is now available for all Altova products. In addition to bug fixes, SP1 includes important enhancements:

 

Support in all XBRL-enabled MissionKit tools for the 2011 US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy. Support for this latest version adds to existing options for working with US GAAP 2009, US GAAP 1.0, and IFRS taxonomies in XMLSpy, MapForce, and StyleVision.

SP1 also provides Firefox^® 5 compatibility in the Authentic Browser Plug-in, which adds to recently announced support for Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer^® 9 in the WYSIWYG XML and database content editor.

 

Please note that v2011r3 SP1 is a new product version (not a patch). All customers with a license for Altova Software v2011r3, as well as any customer with an active Support and Maintenance Package for their Altova product(s), can simply download and install this update.

Visit the Altova Team at FOSE

The Altova trade show season continues as we head to FOSE in Washington, D.C. next week, July 19-21, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

We will be demonstrating the comprehensive support found in the Altova MissionKit for healthcare and financial regulatory standards. If you are looking to build solutions for achieving compliance with HL7, HIPAA, NIEM, or XBRL, we hope you’ll stop by to see us in booth #1428! We’ll be on hand to answer any questions you may have about these topics or the numerous other features added to the latest release of the MissionKit.

As always, we would love to hear about what you are working on and what you think of the show. You can also enter our Altova product raffle for a chance to win a license for Altova MapForce 2011 Basic Edition.

We hope to see you there!

Use Built-In XPath Functions

In developing one of the Altova Online Training courses, I sorted a list of books by the authors. I realized that my author field was a string of the author’s full name, so the books were sorted by the first letter of the string, or the author’s first name. It did not fit into the course to fix the sorting, but you can easily extract the last name from a string and use it for the sorting key using XPath functions. If you then use the books’ titles for a secondary sort key, you run into an issue with titles that start with “A”, “An”, or “The”. I want to use the title for the secondary sort key, but ignore a leading definite or indefinite article.

Let's take a look at how we created this XSLT code.

The Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) transforms data to XBRL in-house

What is XBRL and how can it help your organization? Members of the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) found out how using the interactive XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) format can help not only larger, public companies, but also smaller, non-profit organizations like themselves.

MACPA invested in the Altova MissionKit tool suite to support their XBRL project. Using our XMLSpy XML editor; MapForce, our graphical data mapping, conversion, and integration tool; and the StyleVision visual stylesheet and report design tool, MACPA was able develop a comprehensive system that employs XBRL data for a variety of reporting functions, both internal and external.

A Quick Solution for Complicated Functions

Some data conversions require multiple steps to satisfy today's complex data communication requirements. Altova MapForce 2011 lets you graphically combine a wide variety of mathematical, logical, string, and other specialized functions to build complicated "data equations" to get the results you need.

If you're working on a big, complicated mapping, if you're using an unfamiliar function for the first time, or when your function creates an intermediate result that needs further processing, it is helpful to test your work each step of the way as you build. You can use a simple text file as a temporary target to see the output of your function under construction.

Let's say we want to add a date and time stamp to an existing mapping of an output file to record the time the data was generated. We can easily experiment with the MapForce now function in a new mapping that simply connects now to a text file.

Clicking the Output button at the bottom of the mapping window shows us the immediate result:

Directory Sync Tools: Move over little dog, a new DiffDog is moving in

Altova DiffDog was originally launched in 2005 as a diff/merge tool with XML-aware functionality to help users identify differences between XML files. It even identifies files that are XML-equivalent but appear different in a text comparison because of spacing, line-ending, or attribute order variations.

DiffDog has continually improved over time with many new features including:

• Database content and structure diff/merge
• XML Schema comparison with XSLT generation
• Comparison of files stored inside ZIP archives
• Diff/merge for Microsoft Word documents with side-by-side document view

DiffDog 2011 Release 3 adds a new simplified directory sync feature to its robust folder diff/merge functionality. The Synchronize Directories dialog now includes a button at the top to select a complete directory sync in a single step.

The Fully Synchronize feature produces an exact copy of the source directory, even if the target has newer versions of some files, and deletes files from the target that don’t exist on the source, making this choice a quick tool to backup complex directories containing many files and sub-folders.

DiffDog provides a summary of all actions to be taken before any files are copied or deleted:

If you want to prevent a file being overwritten or deleted from the target directory, you can click Cancel, and then use the Manual Override feature to ignore or reverse the copy direction for any file pair.

Pretty good trick for an app that’s older than 42 in dog years*, isn’t it?

Find out for yourself how DiffDog can faithfully synchronize your directories – download a fully-functional, free 30-day trial!

* Popular myth suggests that one calendar year for a software developer is equivalent to 7 years in the life of a dog. For a more complete discussion of canine lifespan, see the Wikipedia article titled Aging in Dogs.

It’s Here – the Industry’s First Truly Portable XML Form

Hopefully by now you’ve downloaded the 2011r3 versions of the Altova product line released last week. We’ve introduced a bunch of new features and functionalities that put even more power into the hands of IT professionals.

(Note: If you haven’t already done so, you can download the latest versions of all of the tools in the Altova product suite from our Web site.)

One of the features we’re most excited about is the new Portable XML Form (PXF) file for StyleVision and Authentic. The PXF is a file into which all elements required to support a StyleVision design including XML Schemas, database connections, images, etc. can be embedded. Imagine the possibilities! In this post we’ll take an in-depth look at the PXF file format as well as some use cases.

Release 3 of Altova Software Version 2011

 

PXF (Portable XML Form), XML digital signatures, and HIPAA data mapping are just a few of the many exciting new features we’ve introduced today with Release 3 of the Altova MissionKit 2011 and complete product line. Let’s take a look at some of those now. First…what on earth is a PXF?

What is PXF?

PXF is a new file format that – finally – makes editable XML forms truly portable. PXF files are configured in StyleVision 2011r3, where a developer creates a design that generates an interactive electronic form that can then be accessed and edited by non-technical business users in Altova Authentic (or in the Authentic View in XMLSpy).

When the StyleVision design is saved as a PXF, the XML Schema(s), XML instance(s), electronic form, etc., are all embedded in the PXF file. The PXF can even optionally include the XSLT files autogenerated by StyleVision that allow the business user to publish his data in HTML, Word, RTF, and/or PDF – with a single click. After a PXF file has been created, it can be transported, downloaded, copied, and saved like any other data file.

Why PXF?

The benefit of the PXF file format is that all the components required for editing XML content – and for the generation of output reports from Authentic – can be conveniently distributed in a single file. And, since Authentic Community Edition is a free product, PXF deployment couldn’t be more affordable.

There are countless usage scenarios for the PXF file, but one example is to allow a business user to easily get important data into a valid XML document and send it back to the requester or to another department, such as HR or Accounting. The user receives a PXF file by email and opens it in Authentic. The XML file will be displayed in Authentic using the embedded StyleVision eForm design, and can be edited using the word processor-like Authentic interface with access to advanced interactive options, context sensitive entry-helpers, business logic validation, and more. The File | Save command saves changes to the PXF, i.e., the embedded XML is modified and saved. The File | Send by E-mail command makes it easy to send the updated PXF on to another user with a single click. In addition, when XSLT files associated with the SPS are included in the PXF, Authentic toolbar buttons let the user render his data in multiple formats for publishing or further communication.

PXF takes the headache out of getting critical business data into XML - without sacrificing any of the benefits that XML brings to data integration and extensibility.

XML Digital Signatures

To address the growing need for security around XML transmissions, v2011r3 includes support for assigning and verifying XML digital signatures through the implementation of W3C XML Signature technology across multiple MissionKit tools. An XML Signature enables digital authentication for XML transactions by checking the integrity (whether the data has changed since it was signed) and the authenticity of origin (the identity of the signer). In contrast to other digital signature methods, XML Signature is uniquely suited to working with XML data because it includes measures for canonicalization, which involves signing the important data while ignoring inconsequential changes such as whitespace and line endings.

In XMLSpy 2011r3, it’s easy to add an enveloped, enveloping, or detached signature to your XML-based files using either certificate e or password-based authentication.

You can also verify signature(s) on files received. If the file changed at all since it was signed, verification will fail.

Other MissionKit tools with XML digital signature support include:

• MapForce 2011r3: When your data mapping project has XML or XBRL output, you can create an XML digital signature that will be added to output file produced when the mapping is executed.
  
• StyleVision 2011r3: StyleVision designers can configure Authentic eForm output to allow XML instance files to support XML signatures.
  
• Authentic 2011r3: When an Authentic eForm designed in StyleVision has XML signatures enabled, the Authentic user can sign XML data using an enveloped or detached signature as well as verify any XML signatures present when documents are loaded.
  

HIPAA Data Mapping

In addition to new features for Excel® data mapping and other enhancements, MapForce 2011r3 now includes native support for mapping HIPAA 5010 data. Health care enterprises that send or receive HIPAA information will be able to apply MapForce 2011 Release 3 to meet a number of requirements. Users of legacy healthcare IT systems that do not store data files internally in a format compliant with the latest HIPAA standard can use MapForce 2011r3 to map incoming HIPAA 5010 transactions to the enterprise internal format or database. Or, a MapForce mapping can be designed to generate HIPAA-compliant transactions for output from existing non-compliant data. If the enterprise wants to translate legacy healthcare data for internal storage in HIPAA 5010 format, MapForce 2011 Release 3 is the tool for that one-time transformation too!

Native HIPAA support adds to current support for HL7 (Health Level 7) and other EDI standards.

Check out all the features added in the latest Altova release, and stay tuned for more details here on the blog.

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StyleVision Supports XBRL for Financial Reporting Part I – Creating GAAP-Compliant Reports and StyleSheets with a Single Click

Did you know that StyleVision is also an XBRL rendering and reporting tool that will allow you to create GAAP-compliant financial reports with the click of a button ?

In this post we'll show you how ...

Switch Statement vs. Look-up Table in MapForce

One of the great things about working with software developers is you not only get to create new things that never existed before, you also get to see how other peoples’ minds work when they discover alternate solutions to any design challenge.

We received a comment from a software developer on our recent post titled Expandable If-Else Works like a Switch Statement in MapForce regarding one of the examples we used.

The reader suggests that our second example illustrated a problem that would be more elegantly solved in Altova MapForce with Value-Map than by our Expanded If-Else statement.

Here was the original example that received the month as a string of characters and needed to generate the corresponding number:

A Value-Map in MapForce is an alternate solution that functions as a look-up table, whereas an Expanded If-Else acts like a switch statement. Here is how our mapping would look with a Value-Map in place of the Expanded If-Else:

Yep, that’s it.

Rather than copying, pasting, and modifying sets of elements the way we built our original Expanded If-Else, a Value-Map lets us easily create the entire look-up table in its Properties dialog:

We accept the commenter’s point -- Value-Map definitely works better for the problem we chose because it’s much quicker and easier to create! The table from the Value-Map properties is also more concise and easier to interpret in MapForce-generated mapping documentation than our original Expanded If-Else structure.

Of course you can’t always replace an Expanded If-Else statement with a Value-Map. Data entering the Value-Map must equal a single value in the input table to generate a specific output, whereas Expanded If-Else lets you set up a series of conditions with different logical tests.

Sometimes the exact nature of a data conversion project makes it a judgment call to use a switch element vs. a look-up table.

Let’s say your project receives input as a number that represents a wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum and you want to handle ultraviolet, visible colors, and infrared energy individually. In that case we could use an Expanded If-Else to test for ranges of input values. The Expanded If-Else section of the mapping might look like this:

If the input is an integer, you could also create a solution using Value-Map, but you would need to build a very long look-up table. And then what happens later if the project requirements change and the input becomes a decimal number, or you need to filter each visible color separately by name?

Essentially Altova MapForce is a really cool graphical representation of a complete software language toolbox that insulates you from detailed programming language syntax, with a rich collection of components you can assemble creatively to solve your own data mapping, conversion, and integration challenges.

Find out for yourself how easy it is to apply MapForce to your own data mapping projects. Download a free 30-day trial of MapForce.

Visit Altova at Tech*Ed 2011

Beginning May 16, you can find the Altova team in Booth #615 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

As a Microsoft^® Tech*Ed 2011 Silver Sponsor, we will be on the exhibit floor discussing how the Altova MissionKit^® tools are helpful for developers, designers, and DBAs working with Microsoft technologies.

Altova MissionKit products include seamless integration with Visual Studio®, powerful functionality for SQL Server® database management and reporting, integration with SharePoint® Server, functionality for working with OOXML, diff/merge for Word documents, and much more.

Stop by to enter for your chance to win a license for MapForce Basic Edition – our graphical data mapping, conversion, and transformation tool – and to chat about what you are currently working on.

We look forward to kicking of our 2011 tradeshow season by talking with you next week!

Diff / Merge for Databases

You may already be familiar with the diff/merge functionality Altova DiffDog brings to working with source code, XML, and Word files – but did you know you can also connect to, compare, and merge database data and structures?

DiffDog supports all major relational databases and includes a Connection Wizard that lets you quickly connect to one or more. As shown in the screenshot below, natively supported databases include Microsoft^® Access™, SQL Server®, Oracle^®, MySQL^®, IBM^® DB2^®, Sybase^®, and PostgreSQL.

When you compare different database types, DiffDog even resolves datatype naming inconsistencies. This means you can compare the customers table in your SQL Server database with a backup copy, for example, or you can compare the contents of any tables or your entire database schema between IBM DB2 9 and Oracle 11g implementations.

Note: Altova DatabaseSpy includes the same diff/merge capabilities described here.

Database Content Differencing

It's easy to compare database content in DiffDog. Simply connect to the database(s) required, and select the tables to be compared. DiffDog displays the compared components side-by-side, and tables and columns are mapped automatically based on configurable options. You can also change or create mapping connections manually when needed.

After you click the Start Comparison button, DiffDog displays results with informative icons. In the simple example below, the content in the database tables is not equal.

Next, you can launch a detailed comparison of the unequal table to see the content of the compared columns side-by-side, with differences highlighted. Tool bar buttons let you merge changes in either direction.

 

Database Schema Differencing

It's just as easy to compare database schemas in DiffDog to, for example, identify and merge differences between a development and production version of the same database. All database items (e.g., data types, constraints, keys, etc.) are displayed in the comparison components so that you are able to compare the structure of the tables within the database schema.

You can merge the two schemas or selected items using Left and Right buttons on the tool bar, or access more merging options via the right-click menu.

Database schema changes aren't merged instantly - DiffDog always creates a SQL change script compatible with your target database type that you can review before committing the changes to the database.

You can also save the SQL script to a file or open it for further editing in DatabaseSpy.

 

Learn more about the powerful database diff/merge functionality in DiffDog. You can also download a free trial to give it a test drive.

Solution to the Software Testing with State Machines Challenge

Last month in our blog on Software Testing for State Machines with Altova UModel we discovered unexpected behavior in our model of an air conditioning system and challenged readers to improve the design. This post describes one possible solution.

When we ran the Tester application for our model, we saw that the Power switch did not turn the system off when it was in the Standby state. In the state machine diagram in our original model, the only route into Standby from Operating mode is via the Standby button, and the only way out of the Standby state is to press the Standby button again, as seen in the detail below.

We can create an alternate exit to power off the system from the Standby state simply by drawing a new transition line from Standby to the Off state, and assigning powerButton() as the event that triggers the transition. UModel makes assigning the trigger easy by providing a pop-up window listing events that are already defined in the model.

Our completed revision to the model with the new transition from Standby to Off looks like this:

After regenerating the Java code and compiling the new version, we can run the Tester application again. The Debug output message window shows that the system entered Standby in Event 3. Event 4, activation of the Power button, now sets the state to Off.

Find out for yourself how you can enhance the logic of your own state machine diagrams with Altova UModel – download a free 30-day trial today!