Why TINY FEMALE JTAG header on DM6467T EVM for programming Altera CPLD?

I guess, the 10-pin SFM connector is a Spectrum Digital factory standard. That means, they have adapters to standard 0.1" header or specialized programmers available and use the connector in all projects. Unfortunately you need an adapter to access the connector. But it's apparently not intended for frequent usage, because it's not mentioned at all in the reference manual.

The Spectrum Digital's USB JTAG adapter has nothing in common with the Altera USB Blaster, except for the name jtag. If the SD programmer tools have an option to program vendor independant JTAG file formats to devices, there may be a principle way to use it with the MAX II device, but generation of the file will be the first issue. I e.g. once managed to write an Atmel processor with an Altera Adapter for test, converting the hex-file to SVF and then to JAM. Long-winded and slow.