Altova MapForce 2013 Professional Edition - Installed Users

What’s new in MapForce 2013 Release 2?

• Deploy to FlowForce Server functionality - Makes it easy to deploy mapping projects to FlowForce Server for automation.
• MapForce Server Development Edition - Allows users to automate execution of MapForce mappings on a local system, with faster performance and reduced memory footprint.
• Support for new Databases and Database Versions - Informix 11.70, PostgreSQL versions 9.0.10/9.1.6/9.2.1, MySQL 5.5.28, IBM DB2 versions 9.5/9.7/10.1, SQL Server 2012, Sybase ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) 15/15.7 and Access 2010/2013.

What's new in Altova MapForce 2013?

• Support for SQL stored procedures - Enterprise and Professional only
• New API for integration into Java programs - Enterprise and Professional only
• Support for integration with Eclipse 4.2 (adds to support for earlier versions) - Enterprise and Professional only
• Support for US GAAP 2012 XBRL taxonomy (adds to support for earlier versions) - Enterprise only

What’s new in MapForce 2012 Release 2?

• Sorting database input components - MapForce users have long been able to sort database data through ORDER BY statements in SQL queries. However, SQL queries that operate inside the database are not always sufficient for complex data mapping tasks. MapForce 2012r2 adds additional database sorting functionality to the existing MapForce SQL-WHERE component to become SQL-WHERE/ORDER
• Sorting structured data - New Sort component for general-purpose sorting of structured data.
• Support for logical files in IBM iSeries databases - MapForce now includes support for logical files specific to IBM iSeries databases.

What's new in Altova Mapforce 2012?

• Visual alignment guides - Complex data mappings with many components and functions can appear very cluttered on the screen. MapForce 2012 introduces new horizontal and vertical alignment guides to help users organize a mapping as they drag elements into place.

What’s new in MapForce Basic 2011r3?

• Save individual values or entire sub-trees in intermediate variables  

What’s new in MapForce Basic 2011r2?

• Expandable if-else component (switch statement)
• Reverse existing mapping
• New function to retrieve node name
• Ability to search Function Library

What’s new in MapForce 2011?

Chained transformations
Chained transformations enable users to create complex mappings in which the output of one mapping becomes the input of another. This is a feature that adds to MapForce's ability to execute fully automated transformations. Each chained component becomes a modular entity in an interdependent transformation sequence, allowing for conversions to be made on-the-fly. MapForce users can create chained transformations using any number of mapping components connected to a final target component. Preview and code generation features can be displayed/generated for intermediate components, as well as for the final mapping result. Intermediate mapping components will also now have a "pass-through" button in the title bar. This button will enable users to define the set of data that gets passed on to the following component.

Integration with StyleVision for output components
Integration with StyleVision lets MapForce users automatically render results of their XML and XBRL mappings using an associated StyleVision template design. This means that these components can be previewed as HTML, RTF, PDF, or Word 2007+ documents. This feature for MapForce essentially combines its capabilities with those of StyleVision, meaning that users can now automate report generation from virtually any data format - as long as it can be mapped to an XML Schema or XBRL taxonomy.

Formatting of numbers, dates, and times
One of the most frequently requested features, this enables MapForce users to easily convert numbers, dates, and times to their string representations using a variety of different formatting functions. For example, the simple format-number function below converts a numerical input (e.g., 12345) to a monetary one in with a USD prefix, comma separating the thousands digits, and two decimal places (e.g., $12,345.00).

Two new parameters in auto-number function
The auto-number generator function in MapForce has been updated to include two additional parameters, global-id and restart-on-change, adding to the ways in which you can manipulate data between source and target format(s). Global-id assigns a global identifier to an auto-number sequence, making it accessible throughout the data mapping project, including in user-defined functions.  Restart-on-change allows users to restart auto-numbering every time the value supplied this parameter changes, enabling them to create intelligent numbering sequences.

MapForce includes English, German, Spanish editions. MapForce supports the following functionality:

• Graphical data mapping 
• Executing and saving mapping output  
• Bi-directional XML, database, flat file and EDI data mapping 
• Advanced data processing functions  
• Mapping data to WSDL operations 
• Visual function builder for creating custom functions 
• Building Web services  
• Project view for organizing mappings 
• Mapping multiple sources to multiple targets 
• Seamless integration with Eclipse and Visual Studio  
• Parsing flat files using FlexText utility 
• OLE and ActiveX controls 
• XSLT 1.0, XSLT 2.0, XQuery generation
• Java, C#, C++ program code generation

Simplify Web Services Development

Despite the advantages of Web services for exchanging information between disparate systems, writing the code to implement them by hand can be complicated, time consuming, and error-prone. Altova MapForce removes these drawbacks by allowing you to build Web services visually, then auto-generating the Java or C# code required to implement the Web service on a server.

To build a Web service, you simply load an existing WSDL (Web Services Description Language) file in the MapForce project view, and create a mapping for each transaction. All standard WSDL documents are supported, including those created in the graphical WSDL design view of Altova XMLSpy.

Once you’ve loaded a WSDL file, you simply define the operations for each transaction included in the Web service as a mapping design. MapForce represents the transaction’s input and output schemas graphically, and you can easily map data and perform operations by dragging connecting lines to link elements and dragging in function blocks from the library. Supported data sources include XML, databases, flat files, and EDI (EDIFACT and ASNI X12) formats, and you can map these in any combination to and from the operations in your WSDL transactions.

An extensible library of data processing functions is available for filtering and processing data before returning it to the output schema, and the MapForce visual function builder helps create and save complex functions for use in other mappings.

Once you’ve created mappings for the transactions in the WSDL file, you can generate code for a single transaction – or for the entire WSDL project – in Java or C#.

Now, instead of writing the hundreds to thousands of lines of code required to implement each Web services transaction, you can define mappings visually and let MapForce generate the code all at once. Code that used to take hours or days to write is now auto-generated in a matter of seconds. Visual design in MapForce removes the complexity from Web services development, allowing you to build standards-conformant Web services applications more quickly than ever before.

Integrate Enterprise Data

In addition to support for building Web services, MapForce allows you to design data integration applications for mapping any combination of XML, database, flat file, and EDI data.

• XML mapping support is based on XML Schema
• Database mapping support includes accessing database views and systems table in any relational database
• Flat file mappingsupport includes CSV, tab delimited, and fixed-width text files. Support for arbitrary or mixed layout flat files is also provided through MapForce FlexText, a versatile flat file parsing utility
• EDI mapping support includes the hundreds of messages covered by the two most popular EDI standards: UN/EDIFACT and ANSI X12

You can map XML, databases, flat files, and EDI in any combination, and multiple sources and multiple targets are supported. As with Web services creation, you define mappings between content models visually by dragging connecting lines linking corresponding elements in the source(s) and target(s) and inserting data processing rules. You can choose functions from the extensive MapForce function library, import your own function libraries, and create and save complex functions using the unique visual function builder.

The built-in MapForce Engine allows you to execute any mapping and view the output with one click. The output of the MapForce Engine can be saved as the result of a one-time mapping, or it can be used for previewing sample results, which simplifies the process of designing and testing complex mapping projects significantly. Then, with just one more click, MapForce auto-generates the software code required to programmatically marshal data from the source(s) to the target(s) for use in customized server-side data integration applications.

Altova provides free technical support for all customers for 30 days after the date of purchase.

If you wish to receive priority technical support beyond that date and receive software updates throughout the year, you need to purchase a "Support and Maintenance Package (SMP)" for your software. The Support & Maintenance Package is available in a one- or two-year plan. Please note that you can only add Support and Maintenance Package (SMP) to a product at the time you purchase the license (or up to 30 Days after you purchase).

Services included:

Priority Technical Support - Priority Technical Support is provided via a Web-based support form. Altova will respond within 1-2 business days during European or US business hours (MO-FR, 8am UTC - 10pm UTC, Austrian and US holidays excluded).

Free Minor & Major Versions - You will receive all maintenance releases and major software versions that are released during your Support Period. Updates that you receive cover the specific edition of the product that you have purchased and typically include many additional features.

Maintenance - During the Support Period you may also report any software problem or error to Altova using the same support process described above. If Altova determines that a reported reproducible material error in the software exists and significantly impairs the usability and utility of the software, Altova agrees to use reasonable commercial efforts to correct or provide a usable work-around solution in an upcoming maintenance release or update, which is made available at certain times at Altova's sole discretion.

Support Period

The Support & Maintenance Package that is currently offered with Altova products covers the product for which it is being purchased for a period of either one or two years. The support period begins on the day you purchase the product license and extends for a period of exactly 12 or 24 months, depending on whether you purchase the one- or two-year option. SMP may be purchased at the time you purchase a product license and during the 30 day period immediately thereafter. You may also renew an existing SMP for an additional one- or two-year period. During the Support Period, you will receive Support & Maintenance services from Altova as defined in section "6. SUPPORT & MAINTENANCE" in the Altova end-user license agreement ("EULA") or in the SMP Terms of Use, as applicable.