software reviews?

[dappadondem]

Hi guys,

I am very new to the computing environment on this level and would like the pro's and con's of the following software before i download it. also it would be very valuable for you to give me some of the problems i am likely to face using the software as a beginner?

i have read some of the reviews available online, but they all seem a little "sales pitch", i would prefer real thoughts from real people and users.

1 - Altova XML SPY (to create a DTD, XMLand XSLT, how is it with this task?)
2 - Altova Umodel
3 - SAXON
4 - another XML software that you guys may reccomend or think i should stay away from?

thanks in advance

[drhowarddrfine]

1 - Altova XML SPY (to create a DTD, XMLand XSLT, how is it with this task?)
2 - Altova Umodel
3 - SAXON
4 - another XML software that you guys may reccomend or think i should stay away from?

thanks in advance

You should ask this in the XML forum but, from past usage:
1) Very good when I tried it some time ago.
2) Don'tknow
3) Highly recommended and used everywhere.

[dappadondem]

You should ask this in the XML forum but, from past usage:
1) Very good when I tried it some time ago.
2) Don'tknow
3) Highly recommended and used everywhere.

I thought this is the XML forum?
thanks for the response mate, I was hoping for some more detailed reviews of the software, maybe some pro's and con's?

what is so special about saxon, pro's and con's...what can i expect from this software?

would appreciate it.

[jkmyoung]

1 - I currently use Altova 2006 XMLSpy Home Edition still. I've found it to be the easiest to use for quick small projects. I like some of the advanced DTD and xml editing features, but I also do find it tends to be slow on loading bigger documents.

Also it's html browser is too picky. (Wants all markup well formed)

There are still a few XSLT processor bugs here and there, but it shouldn't affect the majority of users, especially new ones.

2 - Never heard of it.

3 - Best XSLT 1.0 and 2.0 engine out there in my opinion. Java based, so you'll need to know that to use it, or configure your dev env accordingly.

4 - Oxygen is pretty solid for larger XSLT projects.
AltovaXML is a rough tool for doing XSLT conversion, but I find Saxon to be better in terms of error reporting and other general usage.

Are there any specific criteria you want us to judge these things on?

[dappadondem]

1 - I currently use Altova 2006 XMLSpy Home Edition still. I've found it to be the easiest to use for quick small projects. I like some of the advanced DTD and xml editing features, but I also do find it tends to be slow on loading bigger documents.

Also it's html browser is too picky. (Wants all markup well formed)

There are still a few XSLT processor bugs here and there, but it shouldn't affect the majority of users, especially new ones.

2 - Never heard of it.

3 - Best XSLT 1.0 and 2.0 engine out there in my opinion. Java based, so you'll need to know that to use it, or configure your dev env accordingly.

4 - Oxygen is pretty solid for larger XSLT projects.
AltovaXML is a rough tool for doing XSLT conversion, but I find Saxon to be better in terms of error reporting and other general usage.

Are there any specific criteria you want us to judge these things on?

hey mate, thanks very much for your helpful response. there is no real criteria other then thefact i have a project to do and i would like to know the best software to use and why?

i need to build a DTD datamodel, stylesheet, and a schema :)
all further assistance much appreciated