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The OpenDocument Format (ODF) is an open XML-based document file format for office applications to be used for documents containing text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical elements. The file format makes transformations to other formats simple by leveraging and reusing existing standards wherever possible.
As an open standard under the stewardship of OASIS, ODF also creates the possibility for new types of applications and solutions to be developed other than traditional office productivity applications. ODF is defined via an open and transparent process at OASIS and has been approved unanimously by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as an international standard in May 2006. It is available for implementation and use free of any licensing, royalty payments, or other restrictions.
From a technical point of view, ODF is a ZIP archive that contains a collection of different XML files as well as binary files like embedded images. The use of XML makes accessing the document content simple because content can be opened and changed with simple text editors if necessary. In contrast, the previously used binary file formats were cryptic and difficult to process. The ZIP compression guarantees relatively small file sizes, in order to reduce file storage and transmission bandwidth requirements. ODF was the first broadly used document file format that used the concept of a ZIP package containing different XML files.
ODF uses the same set of XML files for different application types. In addition, definitions for elements like tables are consistent across application types as well. The OpenDocument format has a long tradition of openness. The first work on the file format started as early as 1999. Right from the beginning ODF was designed as an open and implementation neutral file format. The open specification process started in 2000 with the foundation of the OpenOffice.org open source project and the community efforts within its XML development project. An even higher level of openness was established in 2002 with the creation of the OASIS Open Office Technical Committee (TC).
Many organizations and companies are participating the ODF specification process. In addition, a growing number of applications implement the OpenDocument file format.
The OpenDocument Format was designed to be vendor neutral and implementation agnostic. In order to simplify transformations and to maximiz interoperability, the format reuses established standards like HTML, SVG, XSL, SMIL, XLink, XForms, MathML, and Dublin Core. ODF files of different application types (e.g. word processor, spredsheet) include the same set of XML files within the ZIP packages.
| Feature | Benefit |
| OASIS standard | Open, transparent specification process with multi-vendor participation |
| Approved by ISO as ISO/IEC 26300 | Well known and broadly accepted standard |
| ISO standard Relax-NG schema types (ISO/IEC 19757-2:2003) | Well known and broadly accepted standard |
| Supported by multiple applications | Choice between free open source and commercial implementations including OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, KOffice, IBM Workplace, Textmaker, Abiword/Gnumeric, Google Writely, and AjaxWrite. |
| Broad industry support | ODF guarantees long-term viability. The OASIS ODF TC, the OASIS ODF Adoption TC, and the ODF Alliance include members from Adobe, BBC, Bristol City Council, Bull, City of Largo, Corel, EDS, EMC, GNOME, Google, IBM, Intel, KDE, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, Software AG, and Sun Microsystems. As of June 2006 the ODF Alliance has already more than 300 members. |
| Shipping products since September 2005 | ODF files can already be created and used today. The first products with ODF support started shipping in September 2005. |
| Free open source “reference” implementations | ODF is supported by multiple free open source office applications including OpenOffice.org, KOffice and Abiword/Gnumeric. OpenOffice.org, for example, is developed by large community including vendors like Sun Microsystem, Novell, Intel, and Red Hat. Due to the availability of the source code, support for additional platforms or languages can be added by anyone. |
| ODF implementations available for all major desktop platforms | Applications with ODF support are available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, the Solaris OS, Apple Mac OS X, and FreeBSD.< |
| Open standard W3C XForms technology is used for forms | The forms concept integrated into ODF is based on the W3C standard XForms which is supported by multiple applications and vendors. |
| Reuse of existing standards where possible | Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and to make interoperability as simple as possible, ODF reuses established standards like HTML, SVG, XSL, SMIL, XLink, XForms, MathML, and Dublin Core. |
| Very mature | The first work for the ODF file format started as early as 1999 (see the ODF history). |
In a world where paper documents increasingly get replaced by electronic records, long term access to the data becomes critical. This is especially the case for legal contracts and government documents which stay valid and relevant over decades, or even centuries.
Like paper and pens have been available from multiple vendors, and not just one single source, document file formats and the applications creating these file formats need to be supported by and available from multiple vendors. This guarantees long-term access to data, even if companies disappear, change their strategies or dramatically raise their prices.
Open standards that are equally accessible and do not favor one particular vendor, help maintain a diverse ecosystem of vendors. This as well causes competitive pricing, thus ensuring the best use of money from investors or tax payers.
Open standards also lower the barrier of entry, allowing new companies to join the ecosystem. For example, the SQL standard for relational databases allowed the emergence of various implementations including free open source and very specialized high-end database management systems. As long as only standard SQL features are used, database management systems can be exchanged without much effort. Vendor lock-in only happens based on special features not included in the SQL standard. Thus, vendor lock-in becomes a voluntary choice, not a mandatory one.
In the case of public documents provided by governments to their citizens, it is also important that no citizens, or at least as few as possible, get excluded from data access. For example, nobody should be forced to buy software from one specific vendor or for one specific operating system platform. Public data should be accessible to citizens independent off their income and their physical abilities.
Review answers to frequently asked questions on OpenDocument below. Post new questions and additional comments at the FAQ Forum. See also: OpenDocument Accessibility FAQ.
OpenDocument is advanced as an application-independent format by a vendor-neutral OASIS Technical Committee with the participation of multiple office application vendors. The basis for the OASIS OpenDocument TC's work indeed was the OpenOffice.org XML file format, but even the OpenOffice.org XML file format was developed as an application-independent file format that is not usable by the OpenOffice.org application only.
The OpenOffice.org XML specification went through a one-year review phase within OASIS. This review resulted in more than 100 changes to the schema, and additional specification and editorial work. After its approval by the Committee members, OpenDocument also went through a one-month public review phase, and a final approval process by the full OASIS membership, which represents over 600 organizations.
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OpenDocument was developed in a completely open, publicly visible, vendor-neutral, royalty-free standards process that allows input from the entire user community
OpenDocument is one schema for text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical documents. There are no distinct schemas for the different kind of office applications.
OpenDocument is highly interoperable by making use of existing standards like HTML , SVG , XSL , SMIL , XLink , XForms , MathML or Dublin Core wherever possible.
OpenDocument has a package concept and can be used as default file format for office applications without disadvantages in file size or integrity.
There are some standards that address single features of office applications, like SVG for graphic content or HTML and XSL-FO for text content, but none of these covers all features of office applications. The OpenDocument OASIS Standard covers the features required by text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical documents, but also 'borrows' from similar, existing standards wherever possible and permitted.
OpenDocument version 1.1 is a minor update to the ISO/IEC 26300/OpenDocument v1.0 OASIS Standard. Compared to the version 1.0 specification, v1.1 contains several accessibility-related enhancements, error corrections and clarifications, plus a few other minor enhancements.
OpenDocument is royalty-free. It can be used without charge by anyone.
Yes. The OASIS OpenDocument Technical Committee will extend OpenDocument 1.0 to encompass additional areas of applications or users, and also will adapt the specification to recent developments in office applications. The team has also formed the OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility Subcommittee , which gathers feedback from the disability community and from developers and users of accessible applications that implement OpenDocument. All those interested in participating in the further development of OpenDocument through the Technical Committee and/or Subcommittee are encouraged to join this effort. Non-OASIS members are welcome to join the consortium at any time.
The term "custom schema support" frequently is used to describe the possibility to interleave an office application schema with XML tags from some other schema. Because this is a feature of XML and XML Namespaces in general, it is supported by OpenDocument. It is important to distinguish between the OpenDocument format and applications that implement it, however. No applications at this point exploit this feature, but this is inherently supported by the OpenDocument format.
Another definition of "custom schema" support is the possibility to include an instance of a non-office-schema into an office document. This feature is provided by OpenDocument, due to its partial inclusion of the W3C XForms Recommendation.
Absolutely. Several companies that are members of the OASIS OpenDocument Technical Committee are very much committed to delivering office products that are highly interoperable with Microsoft Office, especially on the file format level. Some of these companies deliver products that have included MS office document filters for more than a decade. The membership of these companies in the OASIS OpenDocument Technical Committee actually ensures that the requirements of MS Office users are considered within OpenDocument.
No. Backward compatibility with binary documents is technical impossible for an XML file format. However, applications may support legacy binary format as well as OpenDocument, and in this way may provide backward compatibility with binary formats for office application users.
- OpenDocument Accessibility FAQ
- OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility Subcommittee.
Review answers to frequently asked questions on OpenDocument Accessibility below. Post new questions and additional comments at the FAQ Forum. See also: OpenDocument FAQ.
The OASIS OpenDocument Accessibility Subcommitee was formed in January 2006. Participating in this effort are topic accessibility experts from Design Science, IBM, the Institute for Community Inclusion, the U.K.'s Royal National Institute for the Blind, and Sun Microsystems, as well as several unaffiliated individual experts.
Yes, The U.K.'s Royal National Institute for the Blind is building a DAISY talking book converter for OpenDocument v1.1 rich text documents.
This depends on the application. StarOffice and OpenOffice.org, for instance, make full use Adobe PDF tags for accessibility when OpenDocument files are exported to PDF, so long as the user selects the "Tagged PDF" option.