ProductsXMLSpyXML Editing ToolsXML Notepad

Use this page to compare XML Notepad from Microsoft to XMLSpy from Altova.

Microsoft's XML Notepad provides a simple user interface for browsing and editing XML documents. While XML Notepad is well suited for entry-level XML work, Altova XMLSpy provides users with the all the specialized XML development tools required to build today's advanced XML and Web applications. In fact, XMLSpy supports seamless integration with Microsoft Visual Studio, giving users access to all its functionality directly inside the Visual Studio environment they are already working in. XML Notepad is a light-weight tool that's separate from Visual Studio and does not support integration with the IDE.

 Click here to download a fully functional, free 30-day trial of Altova XMLSpy!

Please see the table below for a list of advanced XML editing features that are available in XMLSpy, but that you won't find in XML Notepad.

Entry-helper windows

Graphical XML Schema Editor

Database schema <=> XML Schema conversion

XML Schema documentation

Schema-based program code generation in multiple languages

Specialized support for XSLT 1.0 / 2.0

XSLT 1.0/2.0 editor

XSLT Info window

XSL Outline window

XSLT 1.0/2.0 debugger

XSLT 1.0/2.0 profiler

XPath Analyzer

Intelligent XPath auto-completion

Automatic XPath generation for XML nodes

XPath execution across a project and/or multiple files

XQuery Editor

XQuery Debugger

XQuery Profiler

Support for database integration*

Specialized support for viewing & editing OOXML in Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2007+

Specialized support for transforming OOXML with XSLT

Specialized support for processing OOXML with XQuery

Validation & editing of XBRL instance files

Graphical XBRL Taxonomy Editor

Graphical WSDL 1.1 / 2.0 editor

WSDL documentation generator

SOAP 1.1 / 1.2 client

SOAP debugger

*Databases supported by XMLSpy include:

• Microsoft® SQL Server® 2000, 2005, 2008
• IBM DB2® 8, 9
• IBM DB2 for iSeries® v5.4, 6.1
• Oracle® 9i, 10g, 11g
• Sybase® 12
• MySQL® 4, 5
• PostgreSQL 8
• Microsoft Access™ 2003, 2007

See how the powerful, synchronized views of the XMLSpy XML notepad can help you visualize, understand, and edit any type of XML file - Download a free 30-day trial of XMLSpy.