I spend a great deal of time with XML data transfers, and use XSLT on a regular basis to transform, conform, or calculate the XML into formats that I can use. Originally, I used the mapping tool within Microsoft's BizTalk Server 2002 for complex XSLT. Although it had limitations, the tool presented everything in a visual manner that made editing quick and much less painful.When the time came to upgrade, my first instinct was to upgrade to BizTalk 2002's younger, beefier brother, BizTalk Server 2004. It boasted a ton of enhancements to BT's Mapper, and to BT's entire server package as a whole. Among other things, the mapping tool now supported the W3C standard XML Schema files, improved XSL customization, and integration with the .NET framework.
But was it going to be worth the trouble? The mapping tool is only a small part of BizTalk Server 2004. The entire package weighs in at over 190MB, with adapters to work with web services, SQL Server, and a business rules engine, among other things.
If I upgraded to BT 2004 and simply used it for XSLT programming, it would be like swatting a fly with a tactical nuclear weapon. Successful, but maybe just a little overkill for the task at hand.
That's when I found there was another option. Altova (makers of the excellent XMLSpy), had released their own "2004" application, MapForce 2004. Like BizTalk 2004's mapping tool, it allowed for quick XSLT generation with a visual drawing tool and a minimum of debugging.
Not knowing what else to do, I downloaded the trial versions for both products to try them out, basing my evaluation on ease of installation, usability, and overall functionality.
Their similarities and their differences were both surprising, as was my final choice for the product that I needed to use.
As previously mentioned, BizTalk Mapper 2004 is part of a much larger package. Built to work with the .NET framework, SQL Server, and containing a full application suite, the entire server package takes over 190MB.
That's not including Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server, and several other dependencies it lists (for the full list of dependencies, click HERE).
Still, I was hoping that a custom installation would be simpler. Even when I selected the minimum components for BizTalk Mapper (64MB), I still needed to have Visual Studio .NET, MDAC 2.8,
and MXML 4.0 Service Pack 2 installed before I get started with BizTalk. After the installation was completed, I was taken to a wizard to configure
a SQL database for BT...even though I didn't have SQL installed, and it wasn't necessary for the Mapper.
Installation: MapForce 2004
Installing MapForce 2004 was a breeze by comparison. Built to run on Windows 98/NT/200/XP/2003, the installation weighed in at 5-8MB, depending on which platform you chose to install it on.
As long as you run one of these platforms, and run an 800MHz processor or higher(recommended), you should have no problem getting started with MapForce.
Installation: Conclusion
Comparing these two products at installation time really isn't a fair fight, considering all the dependencies BT Server 2004 has to support,
but I was hoping they could simplify the install process, especially when I was only installing a fraction of the true functionality.
If you don't have the budget to install the prerequisites for BizTalk Server 2004, you might have to go for MapForce out of necessity.
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