New Software Release : MapForce 2011

  On September 8, Altova released v2011 of the MissionKit with powerful new features across the entire product line. MapForce has benefitted from the addition of advanced data integration functionality like chained transformations, integration with StyleVision for rendering transformation output, new formatting functions, and extended support for the UN/EDIFACT and ANSI X12 EDI formats. Let’s take a closer look at the exciting new features in MapForce 2011 including:

• Chained transformations
• Integration with StyleVision for output components
• Formatting of numbers, dates, and times
• Extended support for EDIFACT
• Extended support for X12

Chained transformations Support for chained transformations lets you create complex mappings where the output of one mapping becomes the input of another. This is a powerful feature that adds to MapForce’s ability to execute fully automated transformations. Each chained component becomes a modular entity in an interdependent transformation sequence, allowing for conversions to be made on-the-fly. You can create chained transformations using any number of mapping components connected to a final target component. Preview and code generation features can be displayed/generated for intermediate components, as well as for the final mapping result. Intermediate mapping components also now have a "pass-through" button in the title bar that lets you define the set of data that gets passed on to the following component.  

For example, the mapping above shows a chained mapping where the pass-through button is active and sample data is assigned to component A. The output preview offers two separate sets of data: XML that conforms to the Contacts.xsd schema and incorporates a subset of data mapped from the Employees.xml sample file, and XML that conforms to PersonList.xsd using data from the Employees sample file. In both cases, the data has been amended with the relevant constants and functions that are shown in the MapForce design pane.   Integration with StyleVision for output components Support for Global Resources throughout the MissionKit has already offered you some integration between Altova software applications… But this feature takes that integration to a whole new level, allowing you to render XML and XBRL output from your data mappings into HTML, RTF, PDF, and Word 2007+ using an associated StyleVision template design. This essentially combines MapForce’s any-to-any data mapping capabilities with a sophisticated rendering engine, meaning that you can now automate report generation from virtually any data format that can be mapped to an XML Schema or XBRL taxonomy. In the example below, a StyleVision design has been associated with the mapping by simply right-clicking the output file and browsing to select a suitable SPS file using the Component Settings dialog.     Once the SPS file is entered or selected, you will be able to simply click on the relevant format tab (i.e., HTML, RTF, PDF, or Word 2007+) to view rendered data.   Formatting of numbers, dates, and times Probably one of the most requested features, this lets you easily convert numbers, dates, and times to their string representations using several different formatting functions. For example, the simple format-number function below converts a numerical input (e.g., 12345) to a monetary one in with a USD prefix, comma separating the thousands digits, and two decimal places (e.g., $12,345.00).     This post really just scrapes the surface of what the new MapForce release has to offer -download a free 30-day trial of Mapforce today to experience all of these new features and more!