ProductsXMLSpyXML Editing ToolsAuthentic View

XMLSpy® 2012 includes the built-in Authentic View for viewing and editing WYSIWYG Authentic forms created in Altova StyleVision® 2012.

Powerful Editing Views

The seven powerful, synchronized editing views of the XMLSpy® 2012 XML editor are designed to allow developers to work with XML technologies in the mode that best suits their specific needs, allowing ease-of-use and rapid, high-quality development. The XMLSpy® 2012 design pane includes view tabs that allow immediate switching between the different views.

Authentic® View

The XMLSpy Authentic View allows you to view Authentic forms created in StyleVision® 2012. Authentic forms allow business users to capture content and directly access information in XML documents or databases – without having to understand the underlying technology. Users simply fill in electronic forms using the word-processor style WYSIWYG interface, and their content or query is automatically written to or run against an XML document or relational database behind the scenes. The functionality of Authentic View is also provided in the Authentic® 2012 application for business users, which is provided in free or low-cost options in both desktop and browser-plug in editions.

The inclusion of Authentic View in XMLSpy gives you the flexibility to update your XML documents in text view, grid view, or a Word-processor style view. You can also use the Authentic View to preview what business users will see when using Authentic® 2012.

An example application of Authentic forms is a business expense report. Using Altova StyleVision® 2012, you can develop an Authentic form for an XML-based expense report, then configure it to work with Authentic® 2012 so that a business user can edit the content of the form (which gets stored in valid XML format) without having to know anything about working with XML data. The concept of visually editing XML documents using Authentic is illustrated below in the screenshot of XMLSpy Authentic View. This is the same view Authentic® 2012 users will see when using the desktop application or browser plug-in.

In addition to XML, Authentic forms can be based on relational databases, allowing business users to edit content stored in a database with ease. All changes are saved directly to the database according to its content model. An example of an Authentic database form is illustrated below.

Portable XML Forms

Authentic View in XMLSpy includes support for the PXF™ (Portable XML Form™) file format, a revolutionary new way to make editable XML forms truly portable. The benefit of the PXF file format is that all the components required for Authentic View editing and for the generation of output from Authentic View can be conveniently distributed in a single file. The PXF embeds the XML Schema(s), XML instance(s), SPS file(s), etc., and can even include the XSLT files generated by StyleVision that allow the user to publish his data in HTML, Word, RTF, and/or PDF.

After a PXF file has been created, it can be transported, downloaded, copied, and saved like any other data file. Since the PXF file embeds all the components required to edit an XML file in Authentic View and to generate output reports, it is the only file an Authentic user needs to get started.

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 XMLSpy® 2012 (or Authentic® 2012). The embedded XML file will be displayed in Authentic View using the embedded StyleVision eForm design (SPS), and can be edited using the word processor-like Authentic interface. 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 along to another user. In addition, when XSLT files associated with the SPS are included in the PXF, Authentic toolbar buttons allow the user to 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.

Please refer to the Authentic® 2012 product pages for a more detailed explanation of Authentic View and PXF files.

See how the powerful, synchronized editing views of XMLSpy® 2012 will facilitate and accelerate your XML development projects. Download a free 30-day trial of XMLSpy.