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 | Learn about all the additional capabilities you'll get by upgrading from an older version to MapForce!
Click on the version you're using now, then scroll up to see the major new features added in each later release. When you upgrade, you’ll gain immediate access to all this added functionality.
MapForce is available in Enterprise Edition, Professional Edition, and Standard Edition. For a comprehensive list of MapForce features, visit the MapForce Feature Matrix.
Click your current MapForce version in this list, then scroll back up to see what was added in later releases: - MapForce® 2008 release 2 (April 29, 2008)
- MapForce® 2008 (September 12, 2007)
- MapForce® 2007 release 3 (May 30, 2007)
- MapForce® 2007 (October 24, 2006)
- MapForce® 2006 release 3 (June 1, 2006)
- MapForce® 2006 (October 3, 2005)
- MapForce® 2005 release 3 (March 9, 2005)
- MapForce® 2005 (October 3, 2004)
- MapForce® 2004 release 4 (May 17, 2004)
- MapForce® 2004 release 3 (October 21, 2003)
MapForce® 2008 release 2 (April 29, 2008) MapForce 2008r2, Altova’s versatile data conversion, transformation, and integration tool, includes valuable new features for working with databases as well as optimized code generation.
New features in MapForce 2008r2 include:
- Mapping Excel 2007 (OOXML) data
 - Support for data streams for code generation
 - Sample XML Schema generation based on an XML instance
 - Support for SOAP 1.2
 - Support for SQL SELECT statements
 - Inline Primary Key / Foreign Key creation
 - Project generation for Visual Studio 2008

See the What’s New page for a more detailed description of the new features of MapForce® 2008 and the latest releases of Altova’s other award-winning development tools!
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MapForce® 2008 (September 12, 2007) - Support for aggregate functions: SUM, MIN, MAX, AVG, STRING-JOIN
– allows users to perform computations on a range of data within a source field and return a single value to the target. - ValueMap function for transforming field values
– allows users to build a MapForce data processing function that maps one field value to another to ensure that values are written to the mapping target in the desired style. - Enhanced options for XML output
– including options for pretty printing, omitting schema references, and changing and setting encoding options.
Scroll up to see the major features added in more recent releases.
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MapForce® 2007 release 3 (May 30, 2007) - Seamless integration of XML fields in databases in mapping components
– users can map XML data directly to and from XML-enabled databases by assigning an XML Schema to the data (for IBM DB2 9 only in this version).
- Enhanced database connectivity
– via a quick connect wizard to easily access, preview, and integrate database data. - Extended data filtering functionality
– MapForce now supports the SQL-WHERE filter, which allows for precise, high-performance filtering of database sources used in data mapping projects. - Redesigned and optimized code generation

Scroll up to see the major features added in more recent releases.
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MapForce® 2007 (October 24, 2006) - Enhanced Web services support
– Web services can be a source, target, or data processing function in any mapping project. - Improved editing of existing mappings
– added visual cues and support for refactoring mappings when source or target data structures change. - Tighter Visual Studio .NET integration
– for integrating the MapForce user interface and functionality into Microsoft’s premier multi-purpose development environment.
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MapForce® 2006 release 3 (June 1, 2006) - Added integration with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and Eclipse – allows developers to directly harness all the data mapping, content conversion, Web services implementation, and code generation capabilities of MapForce from within their favorite platforms.
- Enhanced EDI Transaction Set Editing – allowed users to easily modify and extend existing standard EDI transaction sets (i.e. EDIFACT and ANSI X12 messages) to meet business requirements.
- More Versatile Visual Function Builder – enabled visual creation of data processing functions that can operate on entire XML tree fragments, allowing for better modularization and scalability of mapping projects.
- Options for Handling Empty Flat File Values – provided ability for developers to choose whether empty fields in flat files are rendered as empty elements or not rendered at all in the data results of the mapping target.
 |  | 2006 Summit Creative Awards
Altova's MapForce product demo was recognized for creative excellence in the 2006 Summit Creative Awards® competition. Altova received a silver award for its creative work in the Flash category. The Summit Creative Awards recognizes and celebrates the creative accomplishments of small and medium sized creative groups and agencies. Click here for the full story.
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MapForce has received many awards, reviews, and compliments since its inception.
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MapForce® 2006 (October 3, 2005) - Introduced Visual Web Services Construction – developers can simply map between operations in Web Services Description Language (WSDL) transactions by dragging connecting lines between data sources and WSDL operations.
- Supported Web Services Implementation – auto-generate required C# or Java code for implementing Web services on a server after mappings have been defined for the transactions in a WSDL file.
- FlexText™ Flat File Parsing – a graphical utility for parsing structured text files and incorporating legacy data into mapping designs.
- Project Management and Code Generation – enabled grouping of related data mappings and Web services mappings into a project, then allows automatic code generation either for individual mappings or for the entire project.
- Enhanced Standards Support – updated XSLT 2.0, XPath 2.0, and XQuery support in compliance with then-current World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Working Drafts released on September 15, 2005.
- Textual Annotation – simplified documentation of mapping projects with the ability to add annotations to mapping connections.
- Support for OLE and ActiveX Control – allowed developers to embed the MapForce user interface and access all its functionality from within their own applications.
- Introduced three editions – tailored to meet customers’ specific Web services and data integration needs:
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MapForce 2006 Standard Edition supports XML-to-XML mappings.
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MapForce 2006 Professional Edition supports XML, database, and basic flat file data mappings.
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MapForce 2006 Enterprise Edition supports all the features of MapForce 2006 Professional Edition with the addition of Web services mapping and implementation, EDI mapping, and the FlexText flat file integration utility.
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MapForce® 2005 release 3 (March 9, 2005) - EDI Output – enabled the use of EDI files in the ANSI/ASC X12 and UN/EDIFACT standards as output targets of complex data mappings. This capability expands MapForce’s previous support of EDI files as input sources.
- ANSI X12 Standard Support – provided full support for all the transaction sets covered by X12, the de facto EDI standard used in North America for electronic business transactions. Files based on the X12 standard can be used as both mapping sources and targets.
- Extended EDIFACT Coverage – supported EDIFACT configuration files for all years starting with 93a through 04b.
- Unlimited Function Input Parameters – allowed the use of unlimited parameters in several data processing functions, such as concatenate, add, and multiply, when using MapForce’s visual function builder. This feature made it easier for developers to perform mathematical manipulations and concatenate multiple parameters.
- Mixed Content Mapping Support – accommodated mapping of mixed XML elements, such as text and sub-elements.
- Accommodation of Null Values – enabled mappings of XML files and databases to use default values when sources have absent or null values, but targets must receive content.
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MapForce® 2005 (October 3, 2004) -
XSLT 2.0 Code Generation – introduced auto-generation of program code required to execute XML mappings and transformations using the new XSLT 2.0 specification.
- XQuery Code Generation – added auto-generation of program code required to execute intelligent querying of XML documents and databases via the new XQuery 1.0 specification.
- Flat File Support – added the ability to use CSV, tab-separated, or fixed-width text files as the sources and/or targets of data mappings.
- Visual Function Builder – enabled the creation and reuse of custom mapping transformation and data processing functions.
- Transformation Input Parameters – allowed the input of outside parameters for use in mapping transformations at runtime.
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MapForce® 2004 release 4 (May 17, 2004) - Introduced two editions – Enterprise and Professional
- Greatly enhanced mapping functionality – provides the ability to map any combination of XML, database, and EDI data into XML and/or databases.
- Added database support – now supports all the most popular relational databases: Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, Sybase, as well as any ADO/ODBC database.
- Introduced MapForce Engine – enabled the user to preview the output of any mapping project even if one or more of the sources is a database or an EDI file, or if the target is a database.
- Allowed users add existing XSLT files as libraries – all named templates in those files automatically become available as data transformation functions.
 |  | Software Development Jolt Productictivty Awards 2004
Altova MapForce 2004, won Software Development Magazine's Jolt Productivity Award 2004 in the Business Integration and Data Tools category. Click here for the story.
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Continuously acclaimed since its inception, MapForce has garnered many other kudos, compliments, and prizes. Scroll up to see the major features added in more recent releases.
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MapForce® 2004 release 3 (October 21, 2003) -
Introduced code generation in C# and C++
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Supported visual mapping of Database Views to XML
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Numerous usability enhancements including zoom, copy & paste, printing, autohighlighting of connections, and much more
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Visit the Business Managers’ Page for more information about the technological and business benefits of Altova products.
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