• odfconvert: is a command-line tool that converts an OpenDocument file with the help of  any user-provided XSL style sheet. For example convert from .odt to html.

• odt2html.py is a python command line script that makes a basic conversion of an .odt (OpenDocument) text into a HTML file. Other conversions are possible by changing the loaded XSL style sheet.

In 2005, Banco do Brasil began a process of migration to the open source software suite OpenOffice.org. The migration commenced with the installation of the package “OpenOffice.org 2.0”. As of February 2007, this suite is found installed in more than 71,000 workstations, distributed among the branches and corporate offices.

UK's Bristol City Council is leading work on open source office software, drawing on their experiences evaluating StarOffice (based on OpenDocument). They have gathered a wide range of information to support their decision to adopt it and implement it across 5,500 desktop computers.

Robin Cover tracks the OpenOffice.org community with its goal to "create the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format." 

Robin Cover's site supplies a provisional collection of references on XML file formats used in office applications.

This white paper is published by the ODF Alliance.

This Linux Journal article by Kamran Husain highlights the basic structure of ODF files, and some internals of the underlying XML files and shows how to use Python to read the contents to perform a simple search for keywords. The code also can be the basis for more advanced operations. In the spirit of openness, open-source software is used to read the ODF files, which in this case are Python and the OpenOffice.org package.

The city of Haarlem – capital of North Holland – has migrated 2000 desktops to OpenOffice (which supports the OpenDocument format). Jan van de Straat, Director of R&D for the city, found that OpenOffice did not lack any functionality that was used and needed by the city’s employees.

Published in Dutch by the OpenDoc Society, this 180-page e-book provides an interesting read on ODF-products in general. It contains several chapters on ODF and accessibility tools, a business case checklist, and some hints on migrating to ODF. The book was sponsored by the Dutch Department of Economic Affairs. OpenDoc Society is currently seeking funding to translate the book into other languages.

This overview of Lotus Symphony was delivered at the annual Lotusphere event in Orlando, Florida, January 20 - 24, 2008. Details regarding the new beta 4 release with respect to programmability are provided in addition to product roadmap objectives.