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Altova MapForce 2006
AltovaMapForce 2006 is the premier data integration and Web services implementation tool. This
award winning, visual data mapper converts data on-the-fly and auto-generates custom data mapping
code in XSLT 1.0/2.0, XQuery, Java, C++, and C#. With the power to map any combination of XML,
database, text, and/or EDI files, MapForce 2006 is the definitive tool for advanced integration
and Web services projects.
Today, the ability to seamlessly exchange information between internal business units, customers,
and partners is vital for success; yet most organizations store and exchange information in a variety
of dissimilar formats, such as EDI systems, flat files, databases, and XML-based applications. To
efficiently leverage existing investments and interconnect business systems, organizations need the
ability to map between these different data types and effectively convert their data in a
standards-based, cost-effective manner.
Web services and custom data integration applications are two modern solutions that allow
organizations to unify these disparate formats to enjoy the cost and competitive advantages of
seamless information exchange. MapForce 2006 uniquely lets you develop mappings between
data formats in an intuitive, visual manner, then auto-generates the stylesheets or program code
required to implement your Web services and custom data integration applications server-side.
The MapForce visual design paradigm means that you can create Web services and data integration
applications - without having to write a line of code.
MapForce 2006 supports the following powerful functionality:
- Building Web services via a graphical interface
- Mapping XML, database, flat file, and EDI source data to Web services operations
- Auto-generating Java and C# program code to implement Web services
- Mapping any combination of XML, database, flat file, and EDI data via a graphical interface
- Integrating flat file data using MapForce FlexText, a graphical utility for parsing
structured text files and incorporating legacy data in mapping designs
- Auto-generating XSLT 1.0, XSLT 2.0, XQuery, Java, C++, or C# to implement data mappings
(XSLT and XQuery for XML-to-XML mapping only)
- Executing, viewing, and saving output of data mapping transformations
- Processing and filtering data with an extensive library of built-in and user-defined functions
- Creating and saving complex data processing functions via the powerful visual function builder
- Organizing and managing related mappings and Web services files in a handy project view, then
generating code for an entire project
- Accessing the MapForce user interface and functions in your own applications via OLE or
ActiveX control
Simplify Web Services Development
Web services are software components that allow disparate applications to exchange data using a
standard XML-based messaging system. Since they are based on open Web standards and XML-based
protocols, Web services are hardware, programming language, and operating system independent. This
means that applications written in different programming languages and running on different platforms
can seamlessly exchange data using Web services.
Despite the advantages of Web services for exchanging information between disparate systems, writing
the code to implement them by hand can be complicated, time consuming, and error-prone. Altova
MapForce 2006 removes this limitation by allowing you to build Web services visually, then
auto-generating the Java or C# code required to implement the Web service on a server.
To build a Web service, you simply load an existing WSDL (Web Services Description Language) file in
the MapForce project view, and create a mapping for each transaction. All standard WSDL documents are
supported, including those created in the graphical WSDL design view of Altova XMLSpy.
Once you've loaded a WSDL file, you simply define the operations for each transaction included in the
Web service as a mapping design. MapForce represents the transaction's input and output schemas
graphically, and you can easily map data and perform operations by dragging connecting lines to link
elements and dragging in function blocks from the library. Supported data sources include XML,
databases, flat files, and EDI (EDIFACT and ASNI X12) formats, and you can map these in any combination
to and from the operations in your WSDL transactions.
An extensible library of data processing functions is available for filtering and processing data
before returning it to the output schema, and the MapForce visual function builder helps create and
save complex functions for use in other mappings.
Once you've created mappings for the transactions in the WSDL file, you can generate code for a single
transaction - or for the entire WSDL project - in Java or C#.
Now, instead of writing the hundreds to thousands of lines of code required to implement each Web
services transaction, you can define mappings visually and let MapForce generate the code all at once.
Code that used to take hours or days to write is now auto-generated in a matter of seconds. Visual
design in MapForce removes the complexity from Web services development, allowing you to build
standards-conformant Web services applications more quickly than ever before.
Integrate Enterprise Data
In addition to support for building Web services, MapForce 2006 allows you to design data
integration applications for mapping any combination of XML, database, flat file, and EDI data.
- XML mapping support is based on XML Schema.
- Database mapping support includes accessing database views and systems table in any relational database.
- Flat file mapping is supported through MapForce FlexText, a versitile utility for parsing structured text files.
- EDI mapping support includes the hundreds of messages covered by the two most popular EDI standards: UN/EDIFACT and ANSI X12.
You can map XML, databases, flat files, and EDI in any combination, and multiple sources and multiple
targets are supported. As with Web services creation, you define mappings between content models
visually by dragging connecting lines linking corresponding elements in the source(s) and target(s)
and inserting data processing rules. You can choose functions from the extensive MapForce function
library, import your own function libraries, and create and save complex functions using the unique
visual function builder.
The built-in MapForce Engine allows you to execute any mapping and view the output with one click. The
output of the MapForce Engine can be saved as the result of a one-time mapping, or it can be used for
previewing sample results, which simplifies the process of designing and testing complex mapping
projects significantly. Then, with just one more click, MapForce 2006 auto-generates the
software code required to programmatically marshal data from the source(s) to the target(s) for use
in customized server-side data integration applications. MapForce 2006 is the industry's first
and only product to let you choose between XSLT 1.0, XSLT 2.0, XQuery, Java, C#, and C++
code-generation - all from the same mapping design.
With all this power and its exceptionally low price, MapForce compares very favorably against
unwieldy, server-based enterprise application integration (EAI) and enterprise service bus (ESB)
products, which may sell for ten or twenty times its price.
Utilize the Functionality You Need
MapForce 2006 is available in three editions customized for to meet your Web services and data
integration needs:
- MapForce Standard Edition supports XML-to-XML mappings.
- MapForce Professional Edition supports XML, database, and flat file data mappings.
- MapForce Enterprise Edition supports all the features of MapForce Professional edition
with the addition of Web services mapping and implementation, EDI mapping, and the FlexText flat
file integration ultility.
In addition, MapForce 2006 is now also available as an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) or ActiveX
control, which allows you to embed the MapForce user interface and access all its functionality in
your own applications.
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