[odf-discuss] OOo OOXML filters

[Alex Hudson]

Carlos Moffat wrote:
> I see. That's interesting, as I thought OOXML was a completely different
> animal from the previous (binary formats). That is, I thought
> feature-wise OOXML was a close cousin, of course, but that their guts
> were quite different.
>   

The guts are almost completely different, but the guts is a matter of
parsing. The actual structure and logic of interpreting the data is very
similar, apparently, modulo some of the novel features in OXML (e.g.,
their packaging/linking system).

It would be interesting for someone in the know to do a proper
comparison - e.g., does the string externing in the spreadsheet format
have a binary cousin? (It's not very "XML", but the speed argument was
pretty compelling).

> I believe you! I just don't get the animosity against Novell on this
> one. They're basically doing a job that needs to be done anyways.
>   

Well, indeed.

Michael Meek's response is worth reading:

    http://www.gnome.org/~michael/activity.html#2006-12-11

-- 
Alex Hudson
IT Director, Stratagia Ltd.
P: 0845 226 17 13     W: http://www.stratagia.co.uk/
F: 0845 226 17 14     E: alex (at) stratagia.co.uk