RE: [office-collab] Let's Keep the Cases Straight

["Dennis E. Hamilton" <dennis.hamilton@acm.org>]

I include everything in "ODF?" that is in the ODF 1.0-1.2 specifications.  I include the provisions of for <text:tracked-changes> and the special ones under the spreadsheet content.xml (I can't look at the spec right now because I am doing server maintenance).

It might be reasonable to maintain the segregation or do a better unification.   I think that applies in all of the cases in which ODF? occurs.   Even though the details I personally focus on are related to <text:tracked-changes>, that is because anything we do is a show-stopper if we don't get this case right.  That may be true for the spreadsheet row-column manipulations too, but I don't feel comfortable with them, at this point, to offer any appraisal.  I'm trusting you to drag our attention to those.

Also, I can see a case where a spreadsheet cell, the content of which is a <text:p> or other text-content pattern, is subject to text-level change-tracking along with spreadsheet row-column manipulations, so I don't see these things staying completely separate.

 - Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Andreas J. Guelzow [mailto:andreas.guelzow@concordia.ab.ca] 
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 15:52
To: dennis.hamilton@acm.org
Cc: office-collab@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: Re: [office-collab] Let's Keep the Cases Straight

On Sun, 2011-04-24 at 15:34 -0600, Dennis E. Hamilton wrote:
> I notice that there is a tendency to view whatever already happens using the ODF 1.x change tracking as part of ECT and that GCT escapes it.
> 
> I think we need to look at the choices in front of us where
> 
>     a.  ODF? is what there is in major circulation now, more-or-less related to what is in the ODF 1.0-ODF 1.2 specifications (the ? related to the uncertainty around bugs and limitations in implementations and the specification too.
> 

The way  read ODF1.0 to 1.2, there are really 2 change tracking mechanisms defined. One for text documents and one for spreadsheet documents. Which one are you referring to?

>     b. GCT is the general proposal that uses the DeltaXML approach as 
> a basis
> 
>     c. ECT is the approach to extending change tracking using ODF? as a starting point.
> 
> That means we have these to wonder about:
> 
>  0. ODF? as it is or maybe tidied up a tiny bit (I number this 0 
> because I don't think we can get away with this)
> 
> 1. GCT
> 
> 2. ODF? + GCT (unless we believe we'll ever get away with abandoning 
> ODF? without a way forward, even if it means a protracted deprecation 
> period, sort of like OOXML part 4.)
> 
> 3. ODF? + ECT (the only place where ECT applies)
 
Since ODF? really consists of 2 parts, one could argue that there are many more possibilities.

Andreas