Re: OASIS ODF 1.2 Public Review

All,

FYI.


robert_weir@us.ibm.com wrote:
> ==== Rob's Friendly Message from the OASIS ODF TC ====
>
> I'd like to make a quick note that OASIS OpenDocument Format 1.2 is now 
> out for public review, through September 6th.
>
> The announcement is here:  
> http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/tc-announce/201007/msg00004.html
>
> Of particular interest should be the RDFa and RDF/XML support introduced 
> in ODF 1.2.
>
> As you may know, an ODF document is ZIP package containing multiple 
> resources, typically including at least a content.xml (the contents and 
> structure of a document) and a styles.xml (the style definitions).  You 
> can think of these as analogues to an HTML and CSS file.
>
> ODF 1.2 defines a subset of RDFa for use in annotating elements in 
> content.xml and styles.xml: @about, @property, @datatype and @content.  We 
> call this "in-content metadata".  This subset was chosen based on 
> implementor feedback on what would be easiest to integrate into existing 
> word processors.
>
> We also support RDF/XML, where this metadata is stored as a separate XML 
> doc in the ZIP file.
>
> The core specification of this is in ODF 1.2 Part 1, section 4.2.  That 
> would be page 100 in this PDF:
>
> http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.pdf
>
> Also note Chapter 6 of ODF 1.3 Part 3:
>
> http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part3.pdf
>
> Note also that we'll also soon be starting up on "ODF-Next" planning. That 
> would be the place to sync up with RDFa 1.1, etc.  But if anyone does have 
> comments on the support that we do have already in ODF 1.2, such comments 
> are more than welcome, and can be submitted to the OASIS ODF TC via the 
> process described here:
>
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/comments/index.php?wg_abbrev=office
>
>
> ==== Rob's Personal Observations ====
>
> On the implementation front, I'd point to KOffice as a good example of 
> some interesting initial work, where they use RDF/XML to store FOAF and 
> iCal info in ODF documents.  A blog post/video on what they did is here:  
> http://monkeyiq.blogspot.com/2010/01/koffice-rdf-who-what-when-where.html
>
> OpenOffice.org exposes RDF programmatically, as described here:
>
> http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/DevGuide/OfficeDev/RDF_metadata
>
> One should be able to implement specific uses cases by writing an 
> OpenOffice plugin.
>
> I'd expect that other OO-derived editors (Symphony, GoOO, etc.) would also 
> be able to build upon that support.
>
> I think we have enough in ODF now to do some interesting things.  But the 
> next step is for the implementors to take.   All the other enhancements in 
> ODF 1.2 came at the behest of implementors who often had already 
> implemented a particular feature.  In other words implementation lead 
> specification.  RDFa and RDF/XML were different, in that they were added 
> more on speculation, that surely this stuff is important, and having a 
> strong metadata link between office documents and web documents will be 
> critical in the future.  The formats may be different, but there should be 
> one interoperable world of linked metadata.  We now need to figure out 
> what works best in practice, what works in terms of an end-user editing 
> experience, what works for accessibility, etc. 
>
> Also, I think we need some killer applications of metadata in the office 
> editor world.  Many customers have a fear of metadata.  They have been 
> frightened by data leakage news stories and think that metadata is 
> something that you should always strip and remove from your documents, at 
> all costs.  We need to demonstrate the compelling value of metadata that 
> makes them overcome their initial reluctance.  Show them a good hybrid web 
> pages/ documents mashup and I think the scales will fall from their eyes.
>
>
> Regards,
>  
> Rob Weir
> Co-Chair, OASIS ODF TC
>
>
>   


-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	      
President & CEO 
OpenLink Software     
Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca: kidehen

Received on Tuesday, 3 August 2010 15:35:57 UTC