New in Altova Software 2026
From BSON to XBRL with OCR in between, Version 2026 of Altova adds important new support for several industry standards and technologies. For customers of Altova desktop developer tools, server software, and regulatory solutions, this release includes a mix of new tools and functionality alongside updated support for new database and standards versions across the product line.
Let’s take a look at the highlights.
New in MapForce
Visual guide for new users
The visual, drag-and-drop interface in MapForce makes data mapping straightforward, but, as with any tool, new users may find it tricky to know where to begin when starting with a blank project. A new MapForce guide bar helps walk you through creating a mapping step-by-step.
The guide bar steers users through inserting source, target, and data processing components for data mapping by choosing among the supported formats listed in an easy to understand, visual Component Gallery. Once all the mapping steps are complete, the guide tells you how to execute it, validate output, and save the results.
By clicking through the guide, you can define a working data mapping project quickly while also learning about the extensive functionality available in the software. It’s a great way to get started in MapForce.
For new and experienced users alike, the new Component Gallery is also available via the Insert menu, offering a quick and easy way to set up projects with larger icons and informative descriptions for each option.
OCR for PDF data extraction
MapForce includes the powerful PDF Extractor that lets users visually define the structure of a PDF document to efficiently extract its data for use in a data mapping project. New, built-in support for OCR (optical character recognition) allows the MapForce PDF Extractor to process a broader range of inputs, including older documents, digitized paper archives, and scanned or handwritten forms.
When you run OCR on a scanned PDF in MapForce, the PDF Extractor displays detected content in a tree view and overlays recognized words on the document. Words in green meet the confidence threshold, while red words do not but can be manually edited along with the tree. You can also define a ScanArea to process only a selected region or section of a large document.
When OCR and editing are complete, you can save the results and continue creating your PDF data extraction rules in the PDF Extractor.
Decision tables
A new decision table component is now available in the library of MapForce data processing functions. A decision table is a structured way to represent business rules or logic by laying out all possible conditions and the corresponding if/then/else actions in a tabular format. For instance, a decision table for assigning discounts to product sales might list conditions like customer status and purchase amount in various combinations along with the associated discount for each combination.
Such a set of conditions can be helpful in a data mapping project to define how to process data when multiple criteria need to be evaluated.
Rather than requiring users to configure each possible condition and action separately, the decision table component makes it easy to define numerous criteria for processing rules at once, and then compress them into an easy-to-understand mapping function that processes input data according to the defined rules. The decision table shown above is used by the mapping to write the appropriate discount amount to the target data structure.
New in XMLSpy
BSON editor
BSON (binary JSON) is a binary-encoded data format that extends JSON. It was developed to store and transmit data in the popular MongoDB NoSQL database.
Adding to existing support for editing JSON Schemas for BSON, XMLSpy now includes a BSON editor that provides similar functionality to working with traditional JSON documents. This includes:
- Intelligent editing of BSON documents in graphical Grid View (shown below)
- Validation of BSON against JSON Schemas
- Conversion between BSON and JSON or YAML
- Generation of BSON instances from JSON Schema
- Querying BSON data with XQuery
New in DatabaseSpy
Huge speed increases
DatabaseSpy, Altova’s multi-database query and design tool, just got a whole lot faster. In the latest version, the software is able to retrieve data with practically the same speed that the underlying drivers can pass rows to it, making working with thousands or even millions of records lightning-fast.
This means less waiting time when running SQL queries, browsing results, or testing different query structures. Sorting is also optimized, with instant results returned when a column is sorted.
Support for the 15 relational databases DatabaseSpy connects to is often updated to include newly released database versions. In this release, DatabaseSpy – and all database-enabled Altova software – now support:
- Firebird 5.0
- MariaDB 11.4 and 11.8
- PostgreSQL 17
New in XBRL add-ins for Excel
Support for xBRL-CSV Table Constraints 1.0
Often used in regulatory and financial reporting, xBRL-CSV is a compact, machine-readable format that represents XBRL data in CSV files for efficient handling of large datasets. Adding to support for generating reports in this format, the latest release of the Altova XBRL add-ins for Excel introduces support for xBRL-CSV Table Constraints, a new set of extensions that enable basic but extremely efficient validation checks.
Use of this standard is particularly relevant for DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) reporting in the EU since those reports use xBRL-CSV. The Table Constraints extension gives tools/regulators a way to define constraints that DORA reporters must satisfy and then verify them efficiently.
XBRL-CSV Table Constraints are supported by Altova’s EBA, EIOPA, and WIP XBRL add-ins for Excel as well as in XMLSpy and RaptorXML+XBRL Server.
Update Now
In addition to these highlights, you can read about the numerous additional new features and updates added across the product line.
Or, get started right away. Version 2026 is available for immediate download, either for a free, 30-day trial or to update your existing licensed software.