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Subject: Re: [docbook-apps] Docbook to WordML
Phil Weston [Mo, 26. Jan 2004]: >A direct XSL transformation from Docbook to WordML must (in theory) be a >more reliable process that relying on XML-->FO-->RTF-->.doc given that >(in my experience) the RTF conversion doesn't support all features of RTF >and RTF in itself doesn't support all the features you need to build a >decent, structured Word Doc. RTF includes essentially all structuring possibilities you also have in a .doc file, though honestly, I don't know which additional structuring layers Word 2003 resp. WordML introduces. What RTF is missing is some meta-info, password protection and macros. That said, XML-->FO-->RTF-->.doc is a problematic workflow since semantic information (essentially style names in Word) is lost in the XML->FO step. This is why we have created for our products a DTD that's similar to WordML meaning that it expresses the structural capabilities of the Word application resp. RTF, but in a very concise, non-verbose way (the upCast DTD): <http://www.infinity-loop.de/DTD/upcast/4.0/upcast.dtd> It does not include layout properties as elements, as these are attached to the basic, structuring elements using plain CSS if desired. Our product downCast is an upCast-DTD+CSS to RTF converter. The advantage in an arbitrary XML-->upCast-DTD (or similar)-->RTF workflow (as opposed to FO as intermediate format) is that: (1) style names (and therefore, semantic information) is preserved in the resulting Word document, which makes converting it back to some reasonable XML - once edited - a lot easier, (2) it still suffices to write the RTF generator only for one DTD (3) you don't need to change the XML-->upCast DTD conversion step (i.e. in general the XSLT processing sheet) to change basic layout, since that comes from an external CSS stylesheet most users are familiar with and confident in editing. Another advantage is that with RTF, in contrast to WordML, you are targeting not only Word 2003, but also legacy applications like Word 97, Word 2000, and many custom components using the reasonably documented RTF format as their storage/interchange format (like Mac OS X's TextEdit and the underlying engine). Best regards Christian Roth -- infinity-loop GmbH Christian Roth CTO http://www.infinity-loop.de roth@infinity-loop.de
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