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A cry for help

by jlundstocholm 11. February 2008 16:54

Working almost everyday with implementing solutions that support ODF and OOXML I am naturally tasked (or more appropriately: challenged) with ambiguities in the forementioned specifications. At first glance ODF has an appealing simpleness and form, and reading the specification is almost like reading a book in natural "prose". However - the easiness to read sadly comes at the expense of clear language. So - as always when implementing any specifications, you need to have somewhere to go to ask your technical questions regarding how to implement the damn thing or questions about how to read the devil.

And therein lies my problem:

Where do I go to get answers to get these questions about ODF? Where is the website for ODF-development?

I have tried the forums at opendocument.xml.org -but the groups there are almost dead.

I have tried the maillist for the OpenDocument TC, but it is also almost dead.

So please help me - where do I go?

Update: I almost forgot - I have also prowled the Danish blogsphere where the ongoing battle between OpenXml and ODF usually takes place, but noone has been able to give me any pointers to where they usually get their information about implementing ODF.

(or have I been so heavily stigmatised by being pro-choice that noone wants to help me?)

Tags: odf

Generel

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Comments

2/11/2008 6:59:40 PM #

Have you tried Rob Weir directly? He certainly seems to have plenty of time for blogging, so perhaps he might be willing to help you out .

nksingh |

2/11/2008 7:19:56 PM #

Hi nksingh,

Have you tried Rob Weir directly?

Well, I thought about writing to Rob directly, but as I saw a reply from him earlier to a post on mail list activity www.oasis-open.org/.../msg00001.html I am sure he gets my email to the list indirectly.

jlundstocholm |

2/11/2008 10:57:18 PM #

Simple answer -- if you have a comment on a standard, an error to report, a feature request, or something similar, then it goes to the ODF TC comment mailing list:  www.oasis-open.org/.../index.php?wg_abbrev=office

If you want to have a discussion, then use the forums at opendocument.xml.org.  We've recently mail-enabled them and added RSS feeds, so they should be easier to use now.

You could also join a group like the OpenDocument Fellowship (http://opendocumentfellowship.com/).  They are a good resource as well.

-Rob

-Rob

Rob Weir |

2/11/2008 11:52:56 PM #

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your reply. I am not searching so much for a place to submit comments on ODF itself but more about actually implementing it in various solutions. This means looking for places where developers can go to ask questions like

How do I insert an image in an ODF-document?
How do I embed a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in a ODT-document?
... etc

... maybe those of us who have spent an enormous amount of time reading through the spec could be of use in answering questions.

Thanks for the links to the opendocument fellowship website - it looks promising. I look forward to read more on

(development)
develop.opendocumentfellowship.com/index.php

(tools)
opendocumentfellowship.com/resources/dev_tools

jlundstocholm |

2/12/2008 4:06:10 AM #

You're retard, jlundstocholm.

Blind |

2/12/2008 6:45:27 AM #

Hi Jesper,

One of the challenges with ISO/IEC 26300 (ODF) is lack of proper informative text in the standard. One of the arguments against OOXML is that people say it is to voluminous.

- Well for developers who wants to implement OOXML these examples, that makes OOXML voluminous, are very usefull.

My wild guess is that if you gathered what is necessary to implement ODF in a proper way the size would increase from approx. 700 to 1000's of pages. Somehow people tend to forget this fact in the ongoing discussion

Shahzad Rana |

2/12/2008 8:53:25 AM #

Blind,

You're retard, jlundstocholm.
Well - you could be right. I for one don't understand the constant name-calling, but maybe it's just me.

jlundstocholm |

2/12/2008 8:59:01 AM #

Rana,

The point one could make was that simplicity or complexity are coins with two sides. The simplicity of ODF comes with some difficulties with clear and consice descriptions. The complexity (or feature-richness, if you will) of OOXML comes with difficulties in maneauvering through all the content.

It's not black/white or either/or.

jlundstocholm |

2/12/2008 12:14:08 PM #