[DDI-users] fida-0.9.5 is now released

[Jani Hautam ä ki]

fida-0.9.5 is now released.

fida is an element-wise XML revision tracking and version control
software written in Java. That is, it provides historization
and versioning for XML files.

The software can be used to do both the revision tracking
and the version control of any XML file that uses
a language similar to DDI or SDMX.

Latest news:

- XML element aliasing is now supported.

- New tutorial about XML element aliasing
   http://code.google.com/p/xml-snippets/wiki/AliasingTutorial

- New tutorial about implementing and using a code list
   (aka controlled vocabulary or enumeration)
   http://code.google.com/p/xml-snippets/wiki/CodeListTutorial

- For the busy ones there's the new concise language reference:
   http://code.google.com/p/xml-snippets/wiki/LanguageReference

- The source code is now also available on GitHub.
   See https://github.com/hautamaki/fida

- The official pages are still maintained on Google Code.
   See  http://code.google.com/p/xml-snippets/

- The distribution packages with pre-compiled binaries are available from
   https://sourceforge.net/projects/fida/files/

The newest feature, XML element aliasing, is truly a finishing touch
on fida's capabilities. The program is now able to overcome
all the difficulties discovered over a year ago in the message
thread "DDI identity crisis".

The more advanced problems that were introduced in the message
thread called for a new kind of referencing mechanism.
There are situations (see the new tutorials or the thread)
in which an indirect reference to an XML element is needed, a
nd XML element aliasing gives you just that. More specifically,
it enables the underlying XML element's identity to vary
independently of its alias which, in turn, is used in referencing.

Neither DDI nor SDMX contain any mechanism corresponding
to XML element aliasing. Consequently, this feature
enables new XML languages that are strictly more powerful
than DDI or SDMX. Start designing and testing your own
XML data documentation language with fida today!

If you are new to fida, have a good look at
the introduction tutorial to get started:
http://code.google.com/p/xml-snippets/wiki/IntroductionTutorial

Enjoy!

Jani