Developer Product Briefs

Transform Data Between XML and Databases

Check out the latest VS.NET add-ins, including a component that lets you bidirectionally transform data between XML formats and relational database structures.

• By Editors Visual Studio Magazine
• 09/01/2005

Proposion Report Adapter 1.0
Proposion Report Adapter is a set of extensions for integrating Lotus Notes/Domino into Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services. Proposion Report Adapter helps you use the Report Designer client to create professional reports that draw data, including images and attachments, directly from Notes and Domino databases. Users can visit the Report Server at run time using their Web browser and access cached or up-to-the minute versions of the report and view them interactively or download them in a variety of formats, including HTML, PDF, Excel, TIFF, CSV, and XML. Proposion Report Adapter also allows any Reporting Services report, whether or not it's based on Notes data, to be run automatically on the server and delivered to subscribers via native Notes Mail or deposited in a Notes database. Starts at $795.
Proposion
Web: www.proposion.com
Phone: 978-388-7342

Updates:

Allora 4.1
Allora is a middleware tool that lets you bidirectionally transform data between XML formats and relational database structures. Version 4.1 includes a multiple SELECT feature. This option allows you to work with multiple sub-maps that are then joined in real time with XSL, a W3C language for transforming XML documents. Rather than use database-specific SQL dumps or flat files that cannot contain table relationships or constraints, you can persist the complete database structure and data into XML for easy access or transport, and you can re-create it on any other database platform at a minimum cost. Other enhancements include support for namespace definitions, complex database expressions, NetBeans 4.1, and stored procedures in Oracle packages. Contact vendor for pricing.
HiT Software
Web: www.hitsw.com
Phone: 408-345-4001

AspLib 3.01
AspLib is a component library that features an integrated, all-in-one pack of 18 different components to facilitate your ASP.NET development cycle. These components allow you to give your Web applications a Windows-style interface. The AspLib component library offers Binary Image, Button, Calendar, Checkbox, ColorPicker, ComboBox, DualSelectBox, and ToolBar, among many other components. It also features a Web-based WYSIWYG editor for editing HTML pages online. You can use it to create tables, links, and pictures; manage CSS styles; change text color, size, pattern, and font; and add snippets and insert images. Its design with Word-style toolbar buttons lets you start editing HTML pages without any training. $299.
Astron Digital
Web: http://asplib.net

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2005
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2005 allows you to use any HTML editor for your source content, convert RoboHelp and other HTML Help projects, and generate NetHelp, a browser-independent, HTML-based help system. You can use styles from a customizable stylesheet to define help systems within your favorite HTML editor or Word. Version 2005 also features D2HML (Doc-To-Help Markup Language) and FrontPage integration. NetHelp lets you publish your documentation on the Web so that your audience can view it regardless of their platform. Doc-To-Help Enterprise 2005 $999.95; Doc-To-Help for Word 2005 $749.95.
ComponentOne
Web: www.componentone.com
Phone: 800-858-2739; 412-681-4343

ComponentOne Studio Enterprise 2005 Vol. 2
ComponentOne Studio Enterprise 2005 Vol. 2 adds a new component, Barcode for .NET, as well as more than 60 updates to .NET WinForms and ASP.NET WebForms components already included in the Studio Enterprise subscription. Barcode for .NET allows you to create barcodes dynamically as image objects and display them in your .NET applications. You can add barcodes to reports, grid cells, Web pages, standard .NET PrintDocument objects, and more. You can print, save, and manipulate barcodes to fit any application, and you can add control symbols and checksums automatically. New features were also added to Chart for .NET, WebChart for ASP.NET, Menus and Toolbars for .NET, Reports for .NET, and more. $999.95; upgrade $749.95.
ComponentOne
Web: www.componentone.com
Phone: 800-858-2739; 412-681-4343

Ektron CMS400.NET 5.0
Ektron CMS400.NET delivers an infrastructure to create, manage, publish, and reuse Web content, Microsoft Office documents, and other assets, while Webmasters and site administrators retain site control. It provides Web content management functionality, including WYSIWYG editing, workflow/approval, versioning/history/audit trails, metadata support, task management, and more. Advanced features include integrated document management, an online forms engine, a calendar module, XML indexing for advanced search, content translation/localization, RSS support, and a new Explorer-like interface. An open API lets you customize the Ektron system. Version 5.0 supports Macromedia ColdFusion, Microsoft ASP, JSP, and PHP, and ASP.NET sites. Contact vendor for pricing.
Ektron
Web: www.ektron.com
Phone: 866-435-8766; 603-594-0249

Enterprise Blocks 2.5
Enterprise Blocks is a set of .NET Web controls that help you perform data analysis on SQL Server databases. Version 2.5 includes new and upgraded ASP.NET Web controls, as well as member properties filtering and drill-through to detail data. The Enterprise Blocks catalog and workbook Web controls are available as SharePoint Web parts. The Enterprise Blocks add-in for Microsoft Reporting Services provides drag-and-drop OLAP inside Reporting Services against Analysis Services databases. The add-in for DotNetNuke allows these end-user documents or objects to be saved into and retrieved from the Windows file system as XML documents. It exposes the Windows file system allowing end-user navigation to content from inside DotNetNuke. $495.
Enterprise Blocks
Web: www.eblocks.com

Franson GpsTools 2.20
Franson GpsTools allows you to develop GPS, mapping, and basic GIS applications in Visual Studio. Version 2.20 includes vector map support, which lets you draw polygons and polylines, as well as display, save, and manage ESRI Shapefiles. It also lets you access GPS position, speed, and satellite information, without any knowledge of low-level GPS protocols. It supports almost all geographic coordinate systems on earth with a new custom grid and custom datum feature. You can define raster maps and draw icons, lines, ellipses, rectangles, and other objects on them. You can connect these maps to the GPS data, where you can rotate and zoom them. You can also draw objects on multiple layers. Starts at $49.
Franson Technology
Web: http://franson.com
Phone: +46-8-612-50-70

InstallShield 11
InstallShield 11 keeps you up to date with support for the latest technologies and industry standards to avoid installation failures. It lets you author installations across all platforms, operating systems, and devices. You can create Windows Installer, InstallScript, and cross-platform installations and extend them to configure database servers, Web services, and mobile devices. Version 11 supports Microsoft's recent MSI 3.1 release, IIS 6.0, DIFx 1.1, and third-party objects, including DirectX, Crystal Reports, and WMI. It also includes more than 20 InstallScript enhancements, including the ability for installations to install and register 64-bit files. Starts at $1,399.
Macrovision
Web: www.installshield.com
Phone: 800-374-4353; 847-466-4000

Proposion N2N 2.0
Proposion N2N is a native .NET data connector for integrating IBM Lotus Notes and Domino into Microsoft's .NET Framework and Visual Studio .NET development tools. It provides an implementation of Microsoft's ADO.NET managed data provider specification, the standard interface for accessing any data source from .NET applications. Proposion N2N lets you create, update, and delete documents in your Domino database. The connector can invoke Domino agents, allowing .NET applications to leverage investment in LotusScript and JavaScript libraries. Proposion N2N also includes the N2N Query Analyzer, programming examples and sample code, and integration into the Visual Studio .NET development environment. Starts at $795.
Proposion
Web: www.proposion.com
Phone: 978-388-7342

SftTabs/ATL 5.0
SftTabs/ATL 5.0 offers 66 customizable tab-control styles designed specifically for use with Visual Basic 6 applications. Version 5.0 introduces six new tab styles; gradient-fill backgrounds; built-in MDI-style Close, Minimize, and Restore buttons including tooltips; new button styles; simplified deployment using registration-free activation on Windows XP; and online help, printable documentation, and design-time enhancements. The tab control supports many different styles and tab locations. Tabs can use different colors, display images, use special fonts, and display multiline text with various alignment options. Scrollable tabs offer several button styles, which can use custom images. The product supports development of wizard-style dialogs and similar multipage dialogs. $350.
Softel vdm
Web: www.windowscontrols.com
Phone: 941-505-8600

VBdocman .NET 2.0
VBdocman .NET 2.0 is a Visual Basic .NET add-in that allows you to generate technical documentation from VB.NET source files automatically. It parses source code and creates tables of contents, indexes, topics, cross-references, and context-sensitive help automatically. You can add additional descriptions manually, or let VBdocman .NET extract them from source code comments. You can add C#, XML, or JavaDoc comments in your source code. Version 2.0 features a WYSIWYG comment editor that helps you write your XML comments. It allows you to insert tables, lists, pictures, links, and other formatting directly into your source code. $229.
Helixoft
Web: www.vbdocman.com