Group tackles OpenOffice desktop spec
Published: 21 Nov 2002 17:44 GMT
A group of companies working on Web services specifications is calling for a new standard to handle desktop application documents.
Members of the Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) have formed a working group to develop an XML file format specification for the OpenOffice project.
OpenOffice, an office productivity software package, is an open-source project, meaning it can be modified and distributed for free. Versions are available for computers that run the Linux, Windows, Solaris and Mac operating systems. And companies, including Sun, have distributed their own flavours of it.
The working group is trying to develop a standard data format for the creation of content such as text, spreadsheets and charts. The goal is to develop an interface between the office software and other applications using XML (Extensible Markup Language).
"Our goal is to achieve consensus on an open standard that will protect content -- whether it is an 800-page airplane specification or a legal contract -- from being locked into a proprietary file format," Michael Brauer, a Sun employee and chair of the OASIS Open Office XML Format Technical Committee, said in a statement.
Microsoft, which controls more than 90 percent of the desktop application software market through its Office products, is not participating in the working group, despite being a member of OASIS. Microsoft representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
The working group includes representatives from Arbortext, Boeing, Corel and Drake Certivo.
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