Tools Archives

The Importance of Choosing Certified XBRL Tools

May 1, 2018/in Applications, Tools, XBRL /by Erin Cavanaugh

Aside from complying with filing regulations, there are numerous benefits associated with adoption of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language. Standardizing information allows data validation as well as simplified comparison of reported data within an organization – from quarter to quarter or year to year, for instance – as well as comparing performance among multiple companies.

Of course, the benefits promised by XBRL can only be realized through strict standards conformance in the tools organizations use for validating, reporting, and analyzing their XBRL data. Problems have arisen due to lack of consistent interoperability between software tools as well as less stringent validation checks that result in filing errors and diminished data quality.

Altova has always striven to deliver the closest possible conformance with supported XBRL standards and is honored to have received certification from multiple XBRL standards bodies, ensuring conformance and interoperability. Let’s take a look at the specifics and why this is so important for customers.

Financial pros using XBRL

Tags: RaptorXML, XBRL, XBRL tools, XMLSpy

Inform Users with Sound Effects in Mobile Apps

April 3, 2018/in Development, Mobile, Software, Tools /by David McGahey

Sound effects in mobile apps can reinforce functionality and make an app more fun to use. MobileTogether makes it easy and convenient for mobile developers to add a standard set of sounds to user interface actions across all mobile platforms. For instance, developers might want to add sound effects to signify the success or failure of a file transfer or database transaction. Or simply add a keyclick sound to a button as feedback for a user tap.

Multi-Language Localization for Mobile Apps

February 21, 2018/in Mobile, Software, Tools /by David McGahey

MobileTogether includes support to seamlessly localize mobile apps in multiple languages. This empowers developers to build one version of a mobile app that works across many languages as well as across multiple platforms.

Developers can include translations in a single MobileTogether app design for all text phrases required, and when any end-user runs the app, whether on an Android phone, an iPhone, Windows desktop, or any other supported platform, the language for the app is selected to match the language for the device operating system.

With multi-language localization, even text-to-speech functionality is localized to the user’s native language.

SQL Queries with Parameters: Support for SQL Templates in DatabaseSpy

November 16, 2017/in Development, Tools /by David McGahey

SQL queries with parameters, also known as SQL templates, are a flexible and efficient solution for repetitive data reporting requirements, for instance allowing users to easily execute complex join statements with multiple sets of values. DatabaseSpy, the multi-database query, design, and editing tool from Altova, includes robust support for developing, executing, and refining complex SQL queries with parameters, also known as SQL templates.

Prototyping SQL queries with parameters in DatabaseSpy can even accelerate development of queries required in other projects such as database mappings in MapForce or database data sources for MobileTogether cross-platform mobile apps.

Big Data Support

Three-Way File Comparison and Difference Merging

October 31, 2017/in Software, Tools /by David McGahey

Manually comparing versions of a long XML Schema or document to find any differences would be a tedious and error-prone task. XMLSpy has long featured file comparison with highlighted differences in side-by-side windows with merging in either direction. And of course, DiffDog is the go-to comparison utility for text, source code, XML, JSON, and Word documents. Now both XMLSpy and DiffDog support three-way file comparison and difference merging.

Three-way file comparison is especially relevant for files managed in any source control system where two users may have started from the same source file and made different edits that need to be reconciled.

Add to Your Collection of Development Building Blocks

October 3, 2017/in Development, Software, Tools, XML /by Erin Cavanaugh

When it comes to developing sophisticated software and data integration applications, the more building blocks a developer has at his or her disposal, the better. With each release of our developer and server software, we aim to provide customers with unique tools that give them the edge to get the job done – faster, and more efficiently.

To that end, Version 2018 delivers a unique HTTP testing window, 3-way file comparison functionality, support for SQL Templates, super-powered new server options, and much more.

Tags: DiffDog, MapForce, new features, XMLSpy

Text-to-Speech for Mobile Apps

August 28, 2017/in Mobile, mobile development, MobileTogether, Tools /by David McGahey

Altova MobileTogether supports text-to-speech functionality for cross-platform mobile apps, empowering developers to add speech and build a rich multi-media user experience.

Speech can be fully integrated with text anywhere it appears in an app. For instance, an app like the Parcel Delivery MobileTogether example can be enhanced by speaking the next delivery address aloud – especially if the driver is in traffic! Or, text in message boxes of other information blocks can also be spoken by the mobile device.

We created a simple demo to experiment with the functionality of text-to-speech for mobile apps then added text-to-speech features to the Parcel Delivery app.

Text-to-speech for mobile apps