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The Stylus Scoop December 2005 — Understanding Schema-Aware XSLT and XQuery

Dear Stylus Studio Friends,

You wouldn't use XML without a schema, so why are engineers so reckless when it comes to their XSLT and XQuery? In this month's Stylus Scoop, W3C luminary Dr. Michael Kay explains everything you ever needed to know about how to leverage the new Schema-Aware XQuery and stylesheet processing features in Stylus Studio, as well as the scoop on why schema-awareness results in better quality applications.

Also this month, enjoy extra savings (10% off already discounted prices of Stylus Studio 2006 XML Enterprise and Professional Editions!) and get your morning breakfast compliments of the Stylus Studio Holiday Giveaway — get a free coffee machine or toaster/egg poacher (really!) with the purchase of Stylus Studio 2006 XML Enterprise Edition. No Ginsu knives, I'm afraid, but yes, there is more: learn about Stylus Studio's new support for Microsoft .NET 2.0, MSXML 6.0, new XQuery tutorials, and more.

In closing, the Stylus Studio team would like to thank you for your continued support, and we wish you happy and safe holidays — all the best in 2006!

Sincerely,
Ivan Pedruzzi, Stylus Studio Product Manager

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Table of Contents, December 2005

• Schema-Aware XSLT and XQuery Processing in Stylus Studio
• Stylus Studio Holiday Giveaway: Free Coffee Machines & Toasters
• Stylus Studio Adds Support for Microsoft .NET 2.0 and MSXML 6.0
• How Stylus Studio Helped Santa and Saved Christmas
• Featured Article: The Case for XQuery
• True Stylus Studio Stories

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Schema-Aware XSLT and XQuery Processing in Stylus Studio

One of the most significant new features in the Stylus Studio 2006 XML Enterprise Edition is the new support for schema-aware queries and stylesheets. A new article by Dr. Michael Kay, founder of Saxonica, explains why schema-awareness in XSLT and XQuery is something that you should consider using all the time. It's similar to the situation with XML itself: you can create and manipulate XML documents without ever validating them against a DTD or schema, but many experts will tell you that that's not good practice in anything other than a throw-away use-once application. An Introduction to Schema-Aware Queries and Stylesheets covers the following topics:

• Why should a transformation need to be schema-aware, anyway?
• Hello schema-aware world: schema-aware XSLT and XQuery examples
• Writing schema-aware functions in XSLT 2.0 and XQuery 1.0
• Validating XSLT and XQuery input and output files
• The key benefits of XML schema-awareness

Learn all about schema-aware XSLT and XQuery processing in Stylus Studio today!

The Stylus Studio Holiday Giveaway: Free Coffee Machines & Toasters

From now until December 16, 2005, use the coupon code 'HOLIDAY2005' when you check out of the Stylus Studio online shop and save an additional 10% off our already discounted prices on Stylus Studio 2006 XML Enterprise Edition or Stylus Studio 2006 XML Professional Edition at our online shop.

In addition to extra savings, Stylus Studio is giving you your choice of either a SENSEO® Coffee Pod System or a Back to Basics TEM500 Egg & Muffin Two-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher*, absolutely free with any purchase of Stylus Studio 2006 XML Enterprise Edition. Get both the coffee machine and toaster with the purchase of any Stylus Studio 2006 XML Enterprise Edition multi-user pack! But act fast — this offer expires this friday, December 16, 2005, and is available only for purchases made through our online shop.

Q: Why is Stylus Studio giving away toasters and coffee machines?
A: Stylus Studio is celebrating having helped Santa save Christmas (see story #4)

Q: But I already have a toaster and coffee machine. I'd rather have an iPod.
A: These sexy kitchen appliances are also suitable for re-gifting.

Q: Why aren't you offering iPod's? Can't I get an iPod?
A: No. Every other product vendor in the world has already jumped on the iPod bandwagon, so our marketing team decided to go old-school and offer toasters and coffee machines instead of being un-original.

Q: Will Stylus Studio ship to my country? How do I get my toaster/coffee machine? When will I get my appliance?
A: Please visit our web site for the complete offer details.

Stylus Studio Adds Support for .NET 2.0 and MSXML 6.0

Stylus Studio has added integrated support for Microsoft .NET 2.0 and MSXML 6.0. Now you can validate XML documents and transform XSLT stylesheets using the latest and greatest Microsoft XML processing component technologies directly from within the Stylus Studio's XML Editor and XSLT tools. After all, what good is Visual Studio integration offered by those other tools if you're forced to use proprietary XML processing technologies instead of the actual Microsoft XML processing components that Microsoft XML developers are likely to use in their production applications? Avoid the potential headaches by learning about Stylus Studio's new support for Microsoft .NET 2.0 and MSXML 6.0 development can ensure application compatibility.

How Stylus Studio Saved Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, and while Mrs. Claus napped,
Santa did struggle with complex data integration apps.
So many wish-lists, in so many formats!
Legacy! Binary! EDI! and Flat!

Hundreds of suppliers, each with their own system
for procurement! fulfillment! and order processing!
This XML puzzle was not slight, was not small
And if Santa could not solve it? Why, no Christmas at all!

"You've got mail!" said his inbox, and off he did zoom,
and what did he spy, but a new Stylus Scoop!
One click and he learned that Stylus Studio had the fix:
XML Enterprise Edition, Two Thousand and Six!

Converters! Debuggers galore!
Mappers for XQuery, XSLT, Java code generation, and more!
Run-time components! An open API!
And as Santa read on, a tear came to his eye:

Stylus's online store was running a special:
Ten percent off the top, plus a toaster or coffee maker!

So Santa got Stylus, thus Christmas was saved.
Boys and girls 'round the world got the presents they craved.
Mrs. Claus got poached eggs, toasted muffins, and coffee.
And Santa? He's still coding! (He just grooves on XQuery!)

The Case for XQuery

Still pondering whether to use XQuery for your application? The Case for XQuery, by Jerry King (Vice President and General Manager, XML Products) argues that some of the reasons for using XQuery include ease of use, similarity to SQL, the demand for data integration, enhanced developer productivity, an active vendor (and user) community, interoperability with legacy data, the widespread use of XML, and more. Jerry's article appeared in this month's issue of XML-Journal, and you can read it online today.

True Stylus Studio Stories

Here's what one of our customers had to say about the recently released Stylus Studio XML Converters and EDI Tools: "Legacy integration is one of the toughest problems to solve in most of our customer environments. Stylus Studio's EDI-to-XML conversion tools and XML Converters let us quickly integrate legacy data into our Industry Basic Information System (IBIS) using industry-standard XML technologies and components." Dr.Slavomír Lajda, Managing Director at Chirasys s.r.o, a Slovakian systems integrator engaged in delivering advanced ERP solutions for manufacturing and distribution firms world-wide, continued, "Enhanced productivity in our development cycles coupled with thousands of built-in EDI adapters and the ability to easily design custom EDI-to-XML adapters have won Stylus Studio a role on our team."

And Paul Hughes, Contributing Editor at CNET, says in this week's Download Dispatch newsletter: "If you're a high-powered XML developer, chances are you already know about Stylus Studio, one of the most high-power IDEs around for XML. Whether you've heard about it or not, though, anybody who works with XML would do well to check out Stylus Studio XML Enterprise Edition 2006, a major release that just came out last week. Just as it always has, Stylus Studio cuts your dev time by giving you stable, intuitive, well-designed tools that work the way you expect them to, but this release adds even better standards conformance and a lot of new functionality, including powerful XML Converters, screen-saving XML code-folding, a new EDI conversion and validation wizard, and updated XQuery 1.0 and XSLT 2.0 support."

Tell us why you use Stylus Studio! Email us and we'll respond!

 

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