Must-Have XML Tools

I recently tested a pair of XML tools that I would classify as the two best XML development environments on the market today: DataDirect technologies Stylus Studio 2007 XML Enterprise Suite and Altova XMLSpy 2007 Enterprise Edition. Overall, both of these tools are excellent products, and I intend to keep both packages available on my machine. Yes, I installed them on the same machine and they coexist peacefully. However, although both tools are excellent XML editors, they each have unique characteristics and show the influence of their original target audience. If your job involves constant XML work, you might find benefits to having both.

In reviewing these tools, I focused on several feature sets that each tool supports. XML editing is the primary function of each tool and a function that each tool performs admirably—so much so, in fact, that I don't think there are appreciable differences in capability. Next I looked at the tools' support for XQuery, a query language I generally try to avoid using. Each tool has a great set of XQuery-based features. Finally, I tested XML Web services support, one of the areas where I see real value for my long-term use of these tools outside of XML editing.

Stylus Studio 2007 XML Enterprise Suite
Installing Stylus Studio 2007 XML Enterprise Suite is simple. After installation, I found that Stylus Studio had mapped the XML extension to itself. The tool started and ran without problems; however, if you need assistance, Stylus Studio has a set of videos available online that are, in my opinion, extremely valuable. This was good, because as a .NET developer I initially felt a little out of place in the UI. My impression is that this editing environment seems to target those who work more with Java and other non-Microsoft tools, so I think the average Java developer will probably prefer the Stylus Studio environment. The tool doesn't integrate with Microsoft Visual Studio, and in fact it doesn't appear to directly integrate with anything. Although XMLSpy has integration features available, both packaged and as free downloads, Stylus Studio is a standalone environment.

I worked with the Stylus Studio editor, and as you would expect, it's able to read and validate Document Type Definition (DTD) and related namespace declarations. Although the Stylus Studio interface is set up with a focus on things such as links to the "Berkeley DB XML," with the online training assistance it was easy to get started and up to speed quickly. The behavior of such things as the Project display was slightly different from what I expected; however, in a short period of time I was comfortable with the Stylus Studio interface. By dragging and dropping elements from one XML document into another, I was able to quickly start creating an XQuery document. Overall, I found the support for XQuery impressive and liked the fact that Stylus Studio's open architecture let me select from one of several different XQuery processors. One thing that's consistent across the behavior and capabilities of this tool is its adherence to and support of open standards.

This support for open standards was evident when I looked at the tool's XML Web services capabilities. The Stylus Studio environment supports Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) as the basis for locating and manipulating Web services. The interface for working with the XML messages used by the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) format lets you view the raw SOAP message as well as generate test messages to the server, as Figure 1 shows. The tool lets you connect to and send basic data elements to a remote service and view both your outbound messages and the reply messages from that service. However, unlike XMLSpy, the calls to a Web service happen automatically and you can't intercept and review the calling XML. This makes it somewhat more difficult to diagnose connection-related problems. In terms of making calls to a Web service, the tool provides an excellent environment that even supports integration with XQuery and, with a few additional steps, EDI.

One of Stylus Studio's feature sets is its support for industry-standard EDI. I work with people who use EDI, and they felt that having Stylus Studio could help them if they didn't already have Microsoft BizTalk Server. In terms of mapping new message formats, they felt Stylus Studio's EDI support was an excellent feature and, in the right scenario, reason enough to select this tool.

One aspect that I didn't like was the product's Web page devoted to "gripes" about its competitor. Certainly the company can compare its product with the competition. However, repeating complaints about the competition from bloggers who have a history of supporting the company's product is, to put it politely, a distraction.

XMLSpy 2007 Enterprise Edition
Installing XMLSpy 2007 was also smooth. The installation software asked me if I wanted to assign XMLSpy as my default XML editor. After the installation and registration were complete, I opened the tool, which defaults to a sample project. The default project contains excellent examples of several key feature sets, including the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) editor, which Figure 2 shows, and the SQL debugger. However, although the interface layout is similar to Visual Studio, it was also a bit overwhelming.

When working with the XML editor initially, I wondered, "What's going on here?" In large part, my initial questions arose because the tool integrates elements such as the source XML document with its associated Extensible Style Language Transformations (XSLT). When these two items exist in the same project, the edit window for the source XML document will display the document's data based on the XSLT. For a new user, this integration can be a little disconcerting. However, as you explore and use the online training videos and achieve the productivity that such integration supports, what at first seemed like magic begins to make sense. In fact, after I got going with XMLSpy, I found its integration with XSLT an advantage over Stylus Studio.

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