XML
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embrace Ill ads.·0ttawa10n~rio-based Core.l·COfP,f ·.·.tori$part, ~· no:i~fl(lf:damg•ngdlffererrtJywith ·its XMetaL content···~ioticfamtiy. ·PtrteAd-user;~I>~ yetdevetOf)E!r~frlendty,lMimrt allows for ; ~'OOnttnt treatfon attd~iWf#/Alithin. ~Ry Windows applicatlfn, and .can be · :~~ as ~ controlJ•iJ.,.>~row&er 0tapptlcatiQll. . . . .. . .· . · · ·• $ ~ - ~ ~ ; ~ : ~ c t man.ager at.Corel, ~id:Mierosoft is "Jegtt. iJTh~~-J;:Wftij,~:it~~{-icrosoftJ S!IYS YQU can use XML for more than Just ·. · ·· · .· · ~-~;that.JOU cantJUitasa f)latform.tocreatecontent: . .. .. tffl#lt'nOVEffGIWardn to •ke advantageofXMLihe adde~re·:tttooe'.l'eSP~ilbte•forra company's edl.fGational ,ffol:ts oootd set .· 11~ coursewareafld havetests·~eaon-ffie..flymr spetiffcn6'tds0f types of jobs. Otfier.b,ig Rames in the XM!, eantent market include .Arbortext lne., Waltham, Mass., and Adobe Systems,tnt;:,.San Jes&; Calif. < .. . . . . . , •Butnot everyone is as. optimistic as Corers Henderson, Austria·based Altova
·.GmbH,imaker of Authentic. 5, an XMl co~ot .creatici11 ·package, Is changing its · buSiness model because of Mrerosoft's. entry mto this market. "Wein be giving it away fo"free;" said Ufl1Y· Kim, Altova's marketing di~ctor; tile company used to charge a,m.fnlmum of$200 for ttle,package~ "It's a very competitive,market, and • •:•Rt IQlt.·m·compa.~ies tr, bui"1new XML syStems."' to drive demand for Alto.v(S·«ber.f)ro(lucts.•-•amongttfftm•.a·fufMl~ ·XMl.;.based lDE.ealled·XMtSpy.· "We don:twant price: tobe a,oeterrent, especiatty in this economic climate: ne said,:SO,dle:~pany .wlll J)tlildJts revenue stream on.la.•otttJr products and an
· .• .ltS~e~ngand ~essfQnat serv~sofferings;
: ,Ftlf,1ts part,·Cambridgel){)CS; in Chartestown, Mass., believes it has a product
/ that wilt survtve•no matter'Nttat ,t,1Jol'O$oft may do· with Offree 11. cambridgeDocs .·. converts:documentsfto.mofd.1formats:into XML.so tttatafldocument& ea.n·~speak· the iame,vmsl()n.ot XML··· . . ····· ·. ~ a(tidolens of oiffereotXMt wnant&; fronl100&e used.in online.publications .,:tQ1~1Plinsuranceandfinancltdorgamzations,and CambrtdgeDocs promisesart~m-. ., _,.ige.ttt"·conversiorrutil~ "We let ~u convert old documents to meaningful XMt so 1ttat-.1enow~'Jktsacl);.parat,aph;saidcompanyco~f(JunderhfanVilk, , · What~ l&dciiagmay help useis XMU,nablt sonrEH>f their old Qff'ice doc-.·. UtMflts, )'irk said; bttOt.Viillno.t do much for data>tn CRM; ERP or other ~pptications. · ·· ""Johanna Ambrosio
36
APPLICATION Dl!Vl!LOPMl!NT TRl!NDS MARCH 2003
Induslogic Inc., Vienna, Va. With a dragand-drop interface, it maps XML documents from one schema to another, and then automatically generates XSLT script.
Be care1'l.1l out there The XML tools market is both young and fast-moving, and some vendors that are here today may not be tomorrow. To make sure you do not get stuck with an orphaned product, check out the supplier's market share. If it is a leading product in its niche, chances are it will be supported even if it is bought by another company. Another option is to check with your computing infrastructure supplier. Most of them - IBM, Sun, HP, Microsoft and others - have an XML initiative ongoing. Some have more than others, but it is worth checking; some are even working with the new players described here. Also remember that whatever your company is doing with XML today will likely morph at some point. A "simple" integration job could become a corporate mandate for every document to be XML-compliant. While that should not stop you from looking for that point solution today, it is something to point out to the higher-ups. Just getting them to articulate an XML strategy might help you figure it out. Above all, keep in mind that a primary job right now is tci educate your business users about why XML is important to them, and what it will let them do. For example, CambridgeDocs' Virk shared this anecdote: "We were talking to a government type the other day. He's a tech guy, and he was talking about how they were going to implement XML in the agency. He went to talk to his business groups - and they don't know about XML, but they do know about needing to dynamically create training documents and other types of content. He was surprised they could do what they needed to do with XML, and said he'd need to go back to his business users to explain it to them and get their buy-in. Sometimes we forget that not everyone knows the benefits of XML, and we think, 'Of course you can do that."'•
Johanna Ambrosw is a freelance writer based in Marlborough, Mass. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]. WWW.ADTMAG.COM
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.
'
'
'k'
embrace Ill ads.·0ttawa10n~rio-based Core.l·COfP,f ·.·.tori$part, ~· no:i~fl(lf:damg•ngdlffererrtJywith ·its XMetaL content···~ioticfamtiy. ·PtrteAd-user;~I>~ yetdevetOf)E!r~frlendty,lMimrt allows for ; ~'OOnttnt treatfon attd~iWf#/Alithin. ~Ry Windows applicatlfn, and .can be · :~~ as ~ controlJ•iJ.,.>~row&er 0tapptlcatiQll. . . . .. . .· . · · ·• $ ~ - ~ ~ ; ~ : ~ c t man.ager at.Corel, ~id:Mierosoft is "Jegtt. iJTh~~-J;:Wftij,~:it~~{-icrosoftJ S!IYS YQU can use XML for more than Just ·. · ·· · .· · ~-~;that.JOU cantJUitasa f)latform.tocreatecontent: . .. .. tffl#lt'nOVEffGIWardn to •ke advantageofXMLihe adde~re·:tttooe'.l'eSP~ilbte•forra company's edl.fGational ,ffol:ts oootd set .· 11~ coursewareafld havetests·~eaon-ffie..flymr spetiffcn6'tds0f types of jobs. Otfier.b,ig Rames in the XM!, eantent market include .Arbortext lne., Waltham, Mass., and Adobe Systems,tnt;:,.San Jes&; Calif. < .. . . . . . , •Butnot everyone is as. optimistic as Corers Henderson, Austria·based Altova
·.GmbH,imaker of Authentic. 5, an XMl co~ot .creatici11 ·package, Is changing its · buSiness model because of Mrerosoft's. entry mto this market. "Wein be giving it away fo"free;" said Ufl1Y· Kim, Altova's marketing di~ctor; tile company used to charge a,m.fnlmum of$200 for ttle,package~ "It's a very competitive,market, and • •:•Rt IQlt.·m·compa.~ies tr, bui"1new XML syStems."' to drive demand for Alto.v(S·«ber.f)ro(lucts.•-•amongttfftm•.a·fufMl~ ·XMl.;.based lDE.ealled·XMtSpy.· "We don:twant price: tobe a,oeterrent, especiatty in this economic climate: ne said,:SO,dle:~pany .wlll J)tlildJts revenue stream on.la.•otttJr products and an
· .• .ltS~e~ngand ~essfQnat serv~sofferings;
: ,Ftlf,1ts part,·Cambridgel){)CS; in Chartestown, Mass., believes it has a product
/ that wilt survtve•no matter'Nttat ,t,1Jol'O$oft may do· with Offree 11. cambridgeDocs .·. converts:documentsfto.mofd.1formats:into XML.so tttatafldocument& ea.n·~speak· the iame,vmsl()n.ot XML··· . . ····· ·. ~ a(tidolens of oiffereotXMt wnant&; fronl100&e used.in online.publications .,:tQ1~1Plinsuranceandfinancltdorgamzations,and CambrtdgeDocs promisesart~m-. ., _,.ige.ttt"·conversiorrutil~ "We let ~u convert old documents to meaningful XMt so 1ttat-.1enow~'Jktsacl);.parat,aph;saidcompanyco~f(JunderhfanVilk, , · What~ l&dciiagmay help useis XMU,nablt sonrEH>f their old Qff'ice doc-.·. UtMflts, )'irk said; bttOt.Viillno.t do much for data>tn CRM; ERP or other ~pptications. · ·· ""Johanna Ambrosio
36
APPLICATION Dl!Vl!LOPMl!NT TRl!NDS MARCH 2003
Induslogic Inc., Vienna, Va. With a dragand-drop interface, it maps XML documents from one schema to another, and then automatically generates XSLT script.
Be care1'l.1l out there The XML tools market is both young and fast-moving, and some vendors that are here today may not be tomorrow. To make sure you do not get stuck with an orphaned product, check out the supplier's market share. If it is a leading product in its niche, chances are it will be supported even if it is bought by another company. Another option is to check with your computing infrastructure supplier. Most of them - IBM, Sun, HP, Microsoft and others - have an XML initiative ongoing. Some have more than others, but it is worth checking; some are even working with the new players described here. Also remember that whatever your company is doing with XML today will likely morph at some point. A "simple" integration job could become a corporate mandate for every document to be XML-compliant. While that should not stop you from looking for that point solution today, it is something to point out to the higher-ups. Just getting them to articulate an XML strategy might help you figure it out. Above all, keep in mind that a primary job right now is tci educate your business users about why XML is important to them, and what it will let them do. For example, CambridgeDocs' Virk shared this anecdote: "We were talking to a government type the other day. He's a tech guy, and he was talking about how they were going to implement XML in the agency. He went to talk to his business groups - and they don't know about XML, but they do know about needing to dynamically create training documents and other types of content. He was surprised they could do what they needed to do with XML, and said he'd need to go back to his business users to explain it to them and get their buy-in. Sometimes we forget that not everyone knows the benefits of XML, and we think, 'Of course you can do that."'•
Johanna Ambrosw is a freelance writer based in Marlborough, Mass. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]. WWW.ADTMAG.COM
