Re: [office] <style:default-style>, <style:default-page-layout>

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

If you define the attributes for a default style then you will need to 
make a specific statement about many locale dependent items such as text 
direction, decimal separators, even typeface.  Locales that use the 
defaults stated by the standard will then be able to have more concise 
markup, since they could assume the defaults.  And locales that differ 
from the defaults would require more verbose markup since they would need 
to override those defaults 100% of the time.

I think that is why standards like HTML have avoided defining default text 
styles. 

I'm not saying it can't be done and even have some value.  But specifying 
such defaults will inherently prefer one set of locale conventions over 
another, which seems unpolitic.

On the other hand, perhaps this matters less with ODF since it is rarely 
hand authored, unlike HTML.

-Rob


Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net> wrote on 04/14/2009 11:28:54 AM:

> 
> Greetings!
> 
> Oliver replied to my editorial notes on these items saying that any ODF 
> application would define its own default styles.
> 
> See: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/office/200903/msg00019.html
> 
> While I can understand why any ODF application should be allowed to 
> define its own default styles, I don't think that answers the question 
> of whether ODF 1.2 should define a set of default styles.
> 
> Although we as technical types probably take a more abstract view of the 

> notion of "interchange," I suspect that users are more clued into the 
> visual presentation of a document as representing successful, or not, 
> interchange.
> 
> That is to say that if a page is by default formatted noticeably 
> different from one ODF application to another, users are going to have 
> the impression that interchange, at least as they understand the term, 
> isn't a feature of ODF.
> 
> Granted I don't have a magic ruler than says how much presentational 
> fidelity is necessary to meet the expectations of users but suspect 
> there is enough experience among some of the software vendors who are 
> supporters of ODF to make an attempt at documenting a default set of 
> styles for ODF applications. Which they are free to depart from if they 
> so choose but that will offer some minimal fidelity between ODF 
> applications.
> 
> Options:
> 
> 1) Default styles are defined in ODF 1.2.
> 
> 2) Default styles are defined in ODF-Next.
> 
> 3) Default styles are never defined, always application dependent.
> 
> I think my preference is pretty clear but this really needs to be a TC 
> decision one way or the other.
> 
> Hope everyone is having a great day!
> 
> Patrick
> 
> -- 
> Patrick Durusau
> patrick@durusau.net
> Chair, V1 - US TAG to JTC 1/SC 34
> Convener, JTC 1/SC 34/WG 3 (Topic Maps)
> Editor, OpenDocument Format TC (OASIS), Project Editor ISO/IEC 26300
> Co-Editor, ISO/IEC 13250-1, 13250-5 (Topic Maps)
> 
> 
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