Altova MapForce 2012 released

Adds streaming reading for large files, parse-date and parse-time functions, visual alignment guides and JDBC support.
October 21, 2011
Feature Release

Altova MapForce is a graphical data mapping, data conversion, and data integration tool. It maps between any combination of XML, database, flat file, EDI, Excel, XBRL, and/or Web service, then transforms data instantly or auto-generates royalty-free code for the execution of recurrent conversions. Altova MapForce includes the following languages for code generation: XSLT 1.0, XSLT 2.0, XQuery, Java, C#, and C++. Altova MapForce integrates with Visual Studio and Eclipse to let you access MapForce benefits inside these leading IDEs. Altova MapForce also allows you to easily integrate disparate data sources or create Web services using graphical, drag-and-drop functionality.

The following editions are available:

Updates in 2012

  • Streaming reading for large files - MapForce 2012 includes new streaming reading functionality for large XML, CSV, and FLF (fixed length format) files and databases. This enhanced read feature is equivalent to the direct file output feature introduced in v2011r2. Now the MapForce built-in execution engine can read arbitrarily long input sources and create correspondingly large output streams. Users no longer have to split extremely large XML, CSV, or FLF input files into chunks for processing, and MapForce can even theoretically read an entire relational database in one pass and generate an XML or other output file in a single pass. This is an important feature for extremely large ETL (Extract/Transform/Load) applications. MapForce already has included streaming output capabilities in recent releases and the streaming input capabilities allow MapForce to perform the most demanding ETL tasks.
  • New parse-date and parse-time functions - Users must produce a tremendous variety of representations of date and time in data transformation projects. Sometimes an input data stream includes a value that represents only the date or only the time. These two new functions make it easier to process these formats than the existing parse-dateTime function.
  • 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.
  • JDBC database driver support - Now, in addition to ODBC and ADO drivers, MapForce 2012 supports JDBC database drivers for database connectivity. When the user clicks the Insert Database toolbar icon or menu selection, the database connection dialog now includes a selection for JDBC drivers.
  • New Java API - The same features of the new Java API described above in the XMLSpy section are available in MapForce 2012, allowing Java developers to directly manipulate MapForce functionality via the Java API. New API examples for all programming languages demonstrate API functionality much more extensively than previous versions.
  • Search in Project window - Also as described above in the XMLSpy section, search functionality has been added to the Project window in MapForce 2012. This means users can find files contained in large, complex MapForce projects more easily.

About Altova

Altova accelerates development and integration projects with software, services, and solutions that enhance productivity and maximize results. As an innovative, customer-focused company and the creator of leading software development tools - including XMLSpy®, the preeminent product in its class - Altova is the choice of over 1.5 million clients worldwide and virtually every Fortune 500 company. With customers ranging from vast development teams in the world's largest organizations to progressive one-person shops, Altova's line of software applications and custom-tailored professional and educational services fulfills a broad spectrum of business needs. Altova is an active member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is committed to delivering standards-based platform-independent development solutions that are powerful, affordable, and easy-to-use. Altova was founded in 1992 and has headquarters in Beverly, Massachusetts and Vienna, Austria.

Manipulating a customer database with Altova MapForce.

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