by Diane Mueller
XML Developers are surely rejoicing with Altova's recent announcement of XBRL support. By adding XBRL functionality into Altova's ever popular suite of development tools of XMLSpy, Mapforce and StyleVision, an army of XML developers will hopefully now be unleashed and eased into developing XBRL-aware applications without having to leave the comfort of their beloved XML tools. This announcement should help spur further mainstreaming of the XBRL standard. The timing is right with the US SEC Mandate fast approaching and numerous public companies looking for help to create re-usable corporate filings workflows.
Altova should find a number of eager early adopters of their Mapforce product which will enable developers to easily design and implement automation into document creation workflows. With Mapforce's graphically mapping capabilities, developers will be able to connect backend data from accounting systems and databases to the XBRL format. With multiple automation options and royalty-free code generation in MapForce enable the creation of XBRL mappings that can be created once and re-used as needed for quarterly or annual reporting.
The ever-popular XMLSpy 2009 now includes its own validation engine that supports the validation of XBRL instance documents created based on XBRL 2.1 and XBRL Dimensions 1.0. This allows users to view and analyze XBRL taxonomies as well as validate XBRL instance documents against taxonomies. XMLSpy 2009 also includes an XBRL taxonomy editor which uses the same editing paradigm as the popular XMLSpy graphical XML schema editor, providing a visual representation of XBRL taxonomies, with intelligent views and entry-helpers for editing and extending them.
It's always nice to have another entrant into the XBRL validation space and it's especially nice to see Altova entering the XBRL game bringing along another whole community of XML developers to the marketplace. I can't wait to see the results of all these newly enable XMLSpies! Welcome aboard.
Also worth noting: XBRL validation is available in AltovaXML 2009 providing developers with a royalty-free XBRL validator for use in their applications.
To see the full news release: www.altova.com/MissionKitv2009_XBRLOverview_020509.html
