HIT SOFTWARE ON Monday announced a new release of its XML middleware. The product, Allora v3.0, enables access to a relational database as if it were a set of XML documents. Allora v3.0 provides a way to construct applications around XML formats, providing for consistent data handling and a common data dictionary for disparate data sources, according to the company. HiT refers to the product as an XML-relational database bi-directional transformation platform. Allora features jAllora, for Java, and winAllora, for Windows systems. New features include scripting, dynamic parameter support, and XML predicate query support to export data from relational databases to XML, or to transform XML documents into relational data. Standard scripting languages such as JavaScript and VBScript are now supported. In addition, a plug-in is included for Microsoft BizTalk Server with a native BizTalk parser and serializer plug-ins, allowing XML-based process integration with major relational databases with no need to develop SQL code. Licensing fees for Allora 3.0 begin at $2,995. The jAllora product is available now while winAllora 3.0 ships in August. Software Development