SupportFAQXMLSpyProject Management

Project Management FAQ

• What is an SPP file?
• What is the difference between an SPS and an SPP file?
• Does XMLSpy® 2008 support source code management tools?
• Is it possible to see the differences between a checked out file and the one still in Visual Source-Safe?
• Does XMLSpy® 2008 support public DTD catalogs?
• When I add an external folder to my project which is under source control, why are the source control options for that folder and it’s contents unavailable?
• I have an xsl processing instruction in an xml file, and this file is contained in a Spy project (.spp). XMLSpy® 2008 Enterprise Edition transforms the xml file using a different xsl file than that which is referenced in the processing instruction. Why is this?

Project Management FAQ Answers

• What is an SPP file?
  An SPP project is a virtual project which can contain subfolders and files. An SPP is used to organize folders and files which are not necessarily in the same physical location. An SPP file can be useful when wanting to batch process a number of XML files for example. If you would like to transform many XML instance files with one stylesheet you could create a folder in the SPP project, put all of your XML files in this folder, and then set the properties of the folder so that all XML files in the folder will be transformed by that particular stylesheet.
• What is the difference between an SPS and an SPP file?
  These two files are not to be confused with one another as they are completely different. An SPP file is a virtual project in which you can organize your XML files, style sheets, DTD's, Entities etc. An SPS file, otherwise known as a StyleVision Power Stylesheet, is a form based template. This template is created in StyleVision® 2008 and must be opened in the Authentic view, Authentic® 2008 Browser Edition or Authentic® 2008 Desktop Edition. The purpose of a StyleVision Power Stylesheet is to provide an end user, who has little or no knowledge of XML, with a user friendly interface to create valid XML files.
• Does XMLSpy® 2008 support source code management tools?
  Yes, XMLSpy® 2008 supports Microsoft Visual Source-Safe (or compatible products) and generic web servers, such as FTP or WebDAV servers.
• Is it possible to see the differences between a checked out file and the one still in Visual Source-Safe?
  Having checked out a file from your project, click on the file in the project window and select the menu option "Project/Source control/Show Differences". If a dialog appears select the appropriate entries and confirm with OK.
  The differences between the two files are highlighted in both windows.
• Does XMLSpy® 2008 support public DTD catalogs?
  Yes, catalogs are supported in XMLSpy® 2008.
• When I add an external folder to my project which is under source control, why are the source control options for that folder and it’s contents unavailable?
  The adding of files to source control requires knowledge of every file independently and 'External Folders' are retrieved 'on the fly', SCC can not be used for External Folders.
• I have an xsl processing instruction in an xml file, and this file is contained in a Spy project (.spp). XMLSpy® 2008 Enterprise Edition transforms the xml file using a different xsl file than that which is referenced in the processing instruction. Why is this?
  It is possible to set project settings in a Spy project. These settings will take precedence over those in an individual file. The project settings can be set on a project or folder level by right clicking on the project name or one of the virtual folders and selecting "properties". If you select "Use this XSL" in the properties window of a project folder then this xsl will be used to transform any xml file contained within that folder regardless of whether or not one of the xml files contained within the project folder contains an xml processing instruction referring to a different xsl file.