revised proposal to enhance annotations

[Oliver-Rainer Wittmann - Software Engineer - Sun Microsystems<Oliver-Rainer.Wittmann@Sun.COM>]

Dear TC members,


this is my revised proposal to enhance annotations. I'm trying to
address the concerns made to my first proposal.

My intention:
In ODF 1.0/1.1 already exist an annotation feature. This feature allows
you to insert a annotation at a certain position in the ODF document
content. It isn't possible to annotate an arbitrary part of the ODF
document content. My intention is to enhance the existing annotation
feature is such a way, that an arbitrary part of the ODF document
content can be annotated.

My motivations:
- Such a feature for the annotations is requested for OpenOffice.org Writer.
- This feature for the annotations is also possible in the Microsoft
Office file formats. Thus, it supports the interoperability of ODF with
these file formats.

My constraints:
- An application, which supports ODF 1.0 respectively 1.1 shall not lose
an annotation, which annotates a certain part of the ODF document
content. Only the feature, that the annotation annotates a certain part
of the document content, can't be kept - the annotation has still be
kept. Thus, the change to the ODF specification shall be as backward
compatible as possible.
- Don't misuse any other ODF feature to represent that an annotation
annotates a certain part of the ODF document content, which only
OpenOffice.org Writer can understand. (E.g.: Insert a special named
bookmark containing the annotation and the annotated part of the ODF
document content. Interpret the special named bookmark and the fact,
that it contains an annotation, into an annotation which annotates a
certain part of the ODF document content.)

Thus, I propose to introduce the following new element and new attributes:
- new optional attribute office:name of type string for existing element
<office:annotation>.
- new element <office:annotation-end> with mandatory attribute
office:name of type string.

The new <office:annotation-end> element with its attribute office:name
matches with a <office:annotation> element, that has the same
office:name attribute value. The <office:annotation> element must
precede the matching <office:annotation-end> element. In case of such a
match the <office:annotation> element denotes the start of the annotated
ODF document content and the <office:annotation-end> element denotes the
ed of the annotated ODF document content.

A <office:annotation-end> element without a preceding and matching
<office:annotation> element is neglected.

Note:
Thus, the annotation feature becomes similar to the bookmark feature -
the bookmark feature has start and end elements to bookmark a certain
part of the ODF document content. I didn't propose to introduce also an
new <office:annotation-start> element for my intention, because of the
above mentioned constraint to be as backward compatible as possible.

Comment:
One of the replies to my original proposal states, that an xml:id should
be introduce to the <office:annotation> element in order to apply
further meta data to the annotation. I've no objections to this
proposal, but it is out of scope of my intention. Thus, I suggest, that
the meta data SC should proposed this in its meta data proposal.


Regards, Oliver.

-- 
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Sun Microsystems GmbH    Oliver-Rainer Wittmann
Nagelsweg 55             Software Engineer - StarOffice/OpenOffice.org
20097 Hamburg
Germany
http://www.sun.de        mailto:oliver-rainer.wittmann@sun.com
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