Code editors with a graphical option in addition to the traditional text view are great for developers working with XML or JSON. Graphical editors like Grid View in XMLSpy provide a visual representation of the JSON or XML structure, making it easier to understand, navigate, and edit complex data hierarchies.
XMLSpy introduced Grid View years ago and has been improving on it ever since. The most recent update includes the ability to split the editing pane horizontally or vertically, which is especially handy when working with large documents.
The latest release of Altova software includes ongoing enhancements for graphical XML and JSON editing in XMLSpy Grid View, new tools for working with XPath/XQuery, support for integrating VDA EDI data in MapForce, and much more.
Here’s a quick overview of all the new functionality being introduced.
Data-driven solutions like database and enterprise apps rely on connection to, and interaction with, backend databases. Backend relational databases, however, store data in tables that reflect complex data relationships. This provides numerous advantages for effective data management and data integrity but can make it difficult to access and work with the data stored therein in new ways. App developers need to have a comprehensive understanding of database design principles and the SQL query language just to get started.
In contrast, real world data relationships most often represent parent-child relationships or even deeper hierarchical structure. As such, working with hierarchical data where relationships can be visualized in a tree structure can be much simpler and more flexible, leading to faster development. This approach is also more accessible to developers without extensive SQL expertise.
To make building apps that connect to the backend relational databases that are ubiquitous in today’s enterprise easier, faster, and available to a wider range of developers, Altova MobileTogether takes an entirely unique approach. Its visual Database Wizard lets developers easily build a query that returns hierarchical data, work with that data in the app, and then easily save the data back in hierarchical form, letting MobileTogether take care of normalizing the data and writing it back to the corresponding linked tables. Let’s take a look at how it works.
Altova releases new versions of its app development framework multiple times a year to introduce new features added in response to customer requests and feedback, as well as to add support for newer OS and database versions as they become available.
The latest release of MobileTogether and RecordsManager introduces important new functionality for building low-code and no-code apps.
XQuery Update Facility is an extension of the XQuery language that allows you to make changes in an XML document using “update expressions” that insert, delete, replace, or rename nodes. This extension provides a convenient way to make intelligent updates to XML documents, and XMLSpy has a unique implementation that makes it even easier. Let’s see how it works.
In programming, modularization is the practice of dividing functionality into separate, independent modules. Modularization in app development is an efficient way of organizing app components and enabling collaboration within development teams. A modular approach also helps make testing, debugging, and maintenance of the app easier and more straightforward.
MobileTogether offers some classic – and some unique – approaches to modularization.
Big Data trends have developers working with XML alongside other data protocols such as JSON and Apache Avro, and XMLSpy supports both of these with dedicated editing views and functionality.
Let’s see how specialized Avro support in XMLSpy makes visualizing and searching Avro files, as well as editing Avro schemas, uniquely easy. We’ll also look at some of the advantages of utilizing RaptorXML Server for high-performance Avro processing.
