XML Software Guide: Database and Content Management

Last Modified:     July 29, 2000

We next turn to some of the more commercial applications for XML. It is not surprising that these commercial tools are related to database/content management systems and desktop publishing since both of these industries have been strong supporters of XML since the earliest W3C discussions. (For the reasons behind their interest, see our first article in our XML series, XML: Structuring Data for the Web: An Introduction.) You don't need a crystal ball to guess that these markets will soon become hotbeds for rapid product proliferation.

Unless stated otherwise, all of these applications are commercial products. Nearly all run under Windows and a few support multiple platforms. Most provide trial versions.

TAMINO from Software AG

"TAMINO is the world's first and fastest Internet database management system capable of storing XML documents natively, without transformation to other formats. Tamino also integrates external data sources for global data exchange by transforming them into XML in real time. In addition, customization of server functionality is easily and individually programmable through server extensions. These features make it the most ideal database to get your e-Business up and running quickly and effectively, using already existing data and IT infrastructures.... Tamino is the first database to allow direct storage, integration and exchange of XML data. This guarantees high performance and scalability since no extra layer for data conversion to and from XML is needed. Furthermore, unexpected changes in the format of a data stream (i.e. different types of data, such as relational data, graphics, sound, video or plain text) can be processed based on the embedded meta data - a key feature of XML. Tamino accepts XML objects as input and offers XML objects as output. Central interactive administration of multiple local and remote databases is provided and can be carried out from multiple locations via a GUI that runs on standard Web browsers. To protect your IT investments made in the past, Tamino also provides integrated access to existing data residing in external data sources (e.g. relational DBMS or data created by Office applications) via the X-Node. " [commercial products from Software AG; Windows NT with other platforms such as Unix to follow]

eXcelon from Object Design, Inc.

"eXcelon is an XML application development environment for integrating data. This end-to-end solution lets you leverage all your corporate information - from the structured data in your databases to semi structured and unstructured data in spreadsheets, COBOL files, documents, annotations, and Web pages. And eXcelon is a dynamically extensible platform so you can easily integrate new systems so you can achieve business agility." eXcelon is made up of three components: eXcelon Toolbox, eXcelon Data Server and Xconnects. An XSL stylesheet editor called Stylus is also available.

DataChannel products from DataChannel

"DataChannel's innovative server side XML and WebDAV solutions enable customers to use Office 2000 documents in new and exciting ways," said Jon DeVaan, vice president of the desktop applications division at Microsoft Corp. "The focus on open Web standards in Office 2000 has enabled seamless integration with DataChannel's Web-based content management solution." Read the complete Press Release. [commercial products from DataChannel; all Java platforms]

ADEPT Editor from ArborText

The ADEPT Editor is based on SGML and XML. It allows authors to write text, place graphics and create books, manuals, catalogs, encyclopedias, and similar types of information. ADEPT 7 was selected for Space Shuttle Documentation.

Astoria from Chrystal

"Astoria is a content management solution for organizations producing technical publications and other kinds of structured documents." This technical publishing management tool supports the full document life cycle. Astoria handles graphics, illustrations, tables, Microsoft Word, and FrameMaker; SGML and XML.

Balise from AIS Software

Balaise is a XML/SGML application programming environment, used to build information exchange and translation systems between various forms of structured information storage and representation. Some of the varied uses of Blaise include: converting legacy documents (in RTF or other formats) to SGML or XML, extracting document modules dynamically from a database for transformation and publication, generating multiple output formats from a single source (RTF, HTML, XML, etc.), and compiling tables of contents, indexes, glossaries, etc. Balise Database Interface provides a gateway to ODBC-compliant databases.

Dual Prism from AIS Software

Dual Prism is a content management product that " includes full XML and SGML support, an integrated high-performance application server for on-the-fly generation of HTML and XML, and powerful indexing and searching capabilities. Interfaces to all major relational database management systems (RDBMS) facilitate the dynamic assembly of documents from various information sources."

Konstructor from Omnimark

"Konstructor is an advanced development suite for website content management and delivery applications. At the heart of Konstructor is OmniMark, the premier programming language for building web middleware and business-to-business information exchange applications...You can build rich content repositories that combine the power of relational databases, such as Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server, with search technologies and XML or SGML. The result is complete media independence, and truly effective single sourcing. Konstructor provides unmatched management and retrieval power, drawing on both relational and XML/SGML technologies in a single toolset."

DynaBase from Inso Corp.

"DynaBase provides an integrated solution for automating the development, management, and publishing of high-impact, dynamic Web content that can be personalized for end-users. Through its "add-a-tag" capability, DynaBase provides inherent support for extended tags, an important part of XML. This capability allows publishers to define their own markup tags that can be used, for example, to drive Microsoft's Channel Definition Format (CDF). DynaBase's XML support includes the ability to index, store, search, and write scripts for use with the new markup language....The DynaText Professional Publishing System, along with its DynaTag and DynaWeb companion technologies, provides corporate and commercial publishers with a standards-based (XML or SGML), automated production process for creating and delivering large documents through a variety of delivery mechanisms including CD-ROM, LAN, the Web, and print. " See Inso's XML Community page.

Frontier from UserLand Software, Inc.

Content Management System for Windows and Mac. "Frontier 5 is the first Content Management System that works like powerful systems for print publishing....Frontier is an integrated system built around a high performance object database, outliner, scripting, and a multi-threaded runtime. Everything in Frontier can be customized thru its powerful object oriented website framework. Link management, macros, rendered pages, Frontier does it all, but the sites it generates can be served on any platform, Windows NT, Unix or Mac.... Frontier is well suited to be a leading XML development environment because it is built around an object database whose structure mirrors the structure of XML. A full complement of development tools and runtime features are being built around this database."

Content Management Suite from POET Software

According to POET Software, "The [POET] Content Management Suite is the combination of a framework specific to the needs of the XML and SGML markets, built on top of the POET Object Server. Because it is built on the POET Object Server, the Content Management Suite inherits rich data storage and manipulation capabilities. The framework adds a powerful and yet easy-to-use high-level API, to enable tight integration with tools and applications. This complements the POET Object Server's C++, Java and Active/X APIs. By combining a powerful framework tailored to the needs of the XML and SGML markets, combined with powerful APIs, this repository can be easily combined with authoring, editing and development tools to quickly deliver best-of-breed structured content and document management solutions....Unlike relational databases and file systems, POET Object Server is capable of sorting, manipulating, element-level locking, and querying XML and SGML data."

PyBiz B2B Solutions from PyBiz

XDisect - XML Data Indexing, Searching and Event Triggering - A highly flexible repository for storing evolving and divergent XML documents. It also has a very flexible search interface for dynamic searching. It supports generation of events when fine grained changes happen in the documents in the repository.

eContentMgr - Content Management and Web Publishing - An XML based low maintainance content publishing and management solution. It allows the content to reside in its native repository (e.g. file share, CVS, data) and does not impose any new content management processes. It has standard content management features like staging of content, content history and versioning, standard RSS style content description, customizable web site look and feel, etc.

CEF - Collaboratve E-Business Framework - A collaboration framework aimed at helping portals integrate partner sites and improve the collaboration between these sites. It has features like single sign on, selective sharing of user profile and session between the sites (depending on the business relationship between the portal and the sites and also depending on the user's preferences for disclosure), dynamic profiling - so only the required amount of information and only when needed the information is collected. [commercial products]

XML Software Guide: XML Browsers
XML Software Guide
XML Software Guide: XML APIs