Development Archives

How to Create Fillable PDF Forms

February 12, 2020/in Development, Software /by Erin Cavanaugh

Compared to traditional paper forms, fillable PDF forms offer numerous benefits – aside from saving trees – including removing issues with legibility, allowing data validation, reducing re-keying errors, and streamlining information storage and re-use.

I, for one, really wish my kids’ school would switch to PDF forms for the myriad back-to-school information pages that we fill out in triplicate every fall. Perhaps I can give the administrators a demo of StyleVision, which just added support for fillable PDF form creation.

Unlike other PDF form design tools, however, StyleVision also provides form workflow functionality via integration with StyleVision Server for extracting and processing the data that end users enter. Let’s take a look at how it works.

PDF Forms

Embedding Images in XML

January 15, 2020/in Development, JSON, XML /by Erin Cavanaugh

One of the really cool features added to XMLSpy a few years ago based on customer requests is the ability to embed external files – such as images – directly in an XML document as encoded text. This gives you the option to package all required data from various external files together in one large XML document. The functionality is also available for embedding images in JSON documents.

Let’s take a look at how easy it is to accomplish this in the XML and JSON editor in just a few steps.

Photo for embedding images

Tags: JSON, JSON editor, XML, XML Editor, XMLSpy

Top 5 Requirements for RMAD Tools

July 24, 2019/1 Comment/in Applications, Development, Mobile /by Erin Cavanaugh

Originally coined by analyst firm Gartner, RMAD (rapid mobile application development) isn’t just the biggest acronym in app development for 2019 – it’s an absolute necessity. Waiting six to eight months for an app ensures that it will be completely obsolete once it’s finally ready for prime time: requirements will change, another app will fill the niche, or end users will already be entrenched with another solution.

In addition, a traditional, non-RMAD approach assumes you have a team of mobile developers ready to tackle the project, and for many businesses, hiring experienced app developers is a lengthy, expensive process. Outsourcing your app development work that well, either. Many have tried, but few have succeeded in getting third-parties to realize the original vision of the app, on time, and while ensuring the integrity of their intellectual property rights.

Luckily, with the increasing prevalence of RMAD tools, developing a sophisticated, full-featured app in a week or two – and with your existing tech team – is suddenly a reality. Of course, not all RMAD tools are created equal. Let’s take a look at the five top requirements you should demand in an RMAD solution.

Mobile app end users

Web Service Error Handling in Mobile Apps

July 10, 2019/in Development, mobile development, Software /by David McGahey

Mobile phones bring a world of information to our fingertips, but functionality of even the best-designed mobile apps can be impacted by Web service errors that occur when communicating with external servers. Intermittent cell phone service in remote locations can also degrade app performance when looking up data.

MobileTogether, the low-code, cross-platform mobile app development tool from Altova, includes features that let developers gracefully handle Web service errors in mobile apps to avoid burdening end-users with unexpected app interruptions or cryptic error messages.

In an earlier post we explained HTTP error handling in a MapForce data mapping. Now we’ll look at the same Web service in a mobile app and describe error handling in MobileTogether.

Updated JSON Schema Support Highlights v2019 Release 3

April 2, 2019/in Data Integration, Development, Software /by Erin Cavanaugh

From updated support for standards and relational databases to several new data mapping options, Altova’s Version 2019 Release 3 product line addresses developer requests and ups the ante with innovative new functionality. Let’s take a look at the highlights.

Tags: JSON, JSON Schema, MapForce, new features, XMLSpy

Implementing Basic Filtering in Your App

October 24, 2018/in Development, mobile development, MobileTogether /by Ty Shuff

There are numerous ways to implement searching and filtering within mobile apps. MobileTogether Designer allows developers to perform filtering on either your mobile app or on the server via a SQL query. Knowledge of each of these methods, along with the use cases for them, is an essential tool every mobile developer should possess.

This video tutorial continues to build out the books database project that has been constructed in previous tutorials. It will cover the steps needed to implement basic filtering in your mobile app. Additionally, it also introduces developers to the usage of user defined XQuery functions which provide a method to centralize application logic.

If you’re new to MobileTogether Designer, please take a moment to view the MobileTogether Demos page where we have provided links to additional video tutorials and demo apps.

Tags: Altova Online Training, Database, mobile, mobile development, MobileTogether

Get Sharp with Altova’s Latest Release

October 17, 2018/in Development, Software, XML /by Erin Cavanaugh

Altova Software Version 2019 introduces over 20 new features to help you sharpen your development game – starting with support for high-res monitors in both XMLSpy and UModel. There are also tools for working with new standards and database versions across the product line, the ability to map and convert data in Google Protocol Buffers format, and much more. Let’s take a look at the highlights.

Altova Version 2019