OpenFormula
Encyclopedia : O : OP : OPE : OpenFormula
The OpenDocument format (ODF), short for the OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications, is an open document file format for saving and exchanging editable office documents such as text documents (including memos, reports, and books), spreadsheets, charts, and presentations. This standard was developed by the OASIS industry consortium, based upon the XML-based file format originally created by OpenOffice.org.
The standard was publicly developed by a variety of organizations, is publicly accessible, and can be implemented by anyone without restriction. The OpenDocument format is intended to provide an open alternative to proprietary document formats including the popular but undocumented DOC, XLS, and PPT formats used by Microsoft Office, as well as Microsoft Office Open XML format (this latter format has various licensing requirements that prevent some competitors from using it). Organizations and individuals that store their data in an open format such as OpenDocument avoid being locked in to a single software vendor, leaving them free to switch software if their current vendor goes out of business, raises their prices, changes their software, or changes their licensing terms to something less favorable.
OpenDocument is the only standard for editable office documents that has been vetted by an independent recognized standards body, has been implemented by multiple vendors, and can be implemented by any supplier (including proprietary software vendors as well as developers using the non-proprietary GNU GPL). (see main article OpenDocument)
OpenFormula is the name of a draft specification for exchanging formulas in spreadsheets, as well as the name of the project to refine this specification. OpenFormula intends to refine and extend the OpenDocument standard. OpenFormula was proposed and initially drafted by David A. Wheeler, who asserts a trademark on the term OpenFormula for a specification of formulas.
Rationale
OpenDocument is fully capable of describing mathematical formulae that are displayed on the screen. It is also fully capable of exchanging spreadsheet data, formats, pivot tables, and other information typically included in a spreadsheet. OpenDocument can exchange spreadsheet formulas (formulas that are recalculated in the spreadsheet); formulas are exchanged as values of the attribute table:formula.
However, some believe that the allowed syntax of table:formula is not defined in sufficient detail. The OpenDocument version 1.0 specification defines spreadsheet formulas using a set of simple examples which show, for example, how to specify ranges and the SUM() function. Some critics argue that a more detailed, precise specification for spreadsheet functions, including syntax and semantics, should be created to augment these examples. (Wheeler, 2004) (Fioretti, 2005) (Welinders, 2005) (Rathke, 2005).
The OpenDocument committee argued that this was outside their scope at that time. They declared, "A comment was submitted concerning the (inclusion) of a grammar for spreadsheet formulas which conforming implementations should support. While we think that having interoperability on that level would be of great benefit to users, we do not believe [sic] that this is in the scope of the current specification. Especially since it is not specifically related to the actual XML format the specification describes. The TC will work on a solution concerning the documentation of interoperabilty standards that go beyond what is defined in the specification" (OASIS, 2005).
Others have argued that, while the specification is less specific than one might like, the intent is fairly clear (especially since formulas tend to follow decades-long traditions), and also because the vast majority of spreadsheets only use a small set of functions (such as SUM) which are universally supported by all spreadsheet implementations anyway. In practice, many developers look to OpenOffice.org as a "canonical implementation"; since its code is public for anyone to review, and its XML output can be trivially inspected, this can resolve many questions.
OpenFormula is draft work proposing a more detailed specification for spreadsheet formulas. Such work is expected to simply clarify in more detail what is acceptable in a spreadsheet formula; no one expects such work to invalidate any of the current OpenDocument standard. Based on his drafts the OASIS OpenDocument Formula subcommittee is in the process of standardizing the table:formula.
In 2005, Microsoft's Brian Jones noted that OpenDocument did not define spreadsheet formulas in detail (Jones, 2005). However, at the time Microsoft's competing proprietary XML format also did not include this kind of detailed specification for formulas (Wheeler, November 7, 2005).
References
- Fioretti, Marco (September 20, 2005). [OpenDocument office suites lack formula compatibility]. NewsForge.
- Jones, Brian (October 4, 2005). [Comments from Tim Bray on OpenDocument].
- OASIS (January 14, 2005). [Open Office XML Format TC Meeting Minutes 10-Jan-05].
- Rathke, Eike (June 23, 2005). [OpenDocument For Spreadsheets]. (reply to Morten Welinders).
- Welinders, Morten (June 16, 2005). [OpenDocument for Spreadsheets]. (complains that the spreadsheet spec doesn't define anything about formulas).
- Wheeler, David A. (November 1, 2004). [Proposal: More detailed specification for formulas].
- Wheeler, David A. (November 7, 2005). [FYI: Formulas not specified by Microsoft XML, either]
External links
- [OASIS OpenDocument Formula subcommitee]
- [OASIS OpenDocument Formula Wiki]
- [SourceForge OpenFormula Web Site] (Mailing list)
- [OpenFormula Wiki Site] (old draft)
- [David A. Wheeler's OpenFormula Web Site] (older information)
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