Re: [office] Re: ODF Conformance

[Michael Brauer - Sun Germany - ham02 - Hamburg <Michael.Brauer@Sun.COM>]

Hi David,

On 09.02.09 12:03, David Faure wrote:
> On Monday 09 February 2009, Michael Brauer - Sun Germany - ham02 - Hamburg wrote:
>> Hi David,
>>
>> wouldn't it be an option to store the formatting properties in question 
>> as application settings? This would clearly identify them as being 
>> application specific. You may use the name of the style in the settings 
>> to identify the style to which them belong. And to identify a frame, you 
>> can use either its name, or its xml:id.
> 
> OK, why not.
> 
> I'd like to note that any of the "harmful" extensions people have thought of,
> and are trying to prevent, can also be done this way ;-)
>

Well, this is true. Actually, we cannot prevent that applications use 
particular features in unintended and 'harmful' ways. The difference is 
however that we do not make any statement what the intended use of 
foreign elements and attributes are. One can used them for any purpose, 
and everything would be permitted.

Regarding the <*-properties> elements: The reasons the current proposal 
does not allow them within the "stricter" conformance class has 
different reasons than dis-allowing them anywhere else: First, I think 
that application settings actually are more suitable to keep application 
specific formatting properties. And second: ODF 1.1 did already differ 
between documents that allow any content in formatting properties and 
those that do not by providing two schemas. Keeping this separation 
would result in three conformance classes, and two schemas, which would 
make the overall situation even more complex. The non-strict schemas as 
it is further has the issue that is does not validate anything within 
<*-properties> elements, not even the attributes that ODF defines itself.

So, dis-allowing foreign attributes and elements in <*-properties> 
elements is actually an attempt to improve validation and make make 
things less complex.

Having that said: If it would turn out that application settings are not 
sufficient to cover the past possibilities of foreign attributes and 
elements in <*-properties>, then I would have no objections to define an 
extension mechanism there. But I would do so as feature of 
<*-properties> elements, rather than as part of a "loose" conformance 
definition.

Best regards

Michael


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Michael Brauer, Technical Architect Software Engineering
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