Re: [office] Versions and ODF-Next: was Thoughts on ODF-Next

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net> wrote on 01/18/2011 07:54:58 AM:
> 
> Greetings!
> 
> I have changed the subject line to make it a little more obvious what is
> under discussion.
> 
> What I am missing in this discussion is what advantage is there to
> having a designation, say ODF 1.3, that identifies *different* versions
> of ODF?
> 

Advantage:   If there are more than one vendor who can read the same draft 
of ODF then they can handle in a more coordinated way any incompatible 
specification changes between that draft and subsequent versions.

> Or to put it differently: What is the disadvantage in *accurately*
> identifying the version of ODF that is being implemented?
>

Disadvantage:  This may not be sufficient.  In practice, early 
implementations of a draft may have incompatibilities as much caused by 
differing interpretations of the same specifications as by the use of 
different versions of the specifications.  That is one reason why we 
encourage early implementation, why we have plugfests, etc.  Merely 
knowing that someone has implemented "ODF 1.3 CSD01" may not tell enough. 
You may need to look also at the <meta:generator> element in meta.xml.

Also, we need to remember that a given editor may actually implement 
several versions of ODF, and even a given ODF document may be conformant 
to several versions of ODF.  So having a string that says "I am conforming 
to this version of the spec" will not reflect the fullness of the facts 
and circumstances.  If a document conforms to ODF 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 
(including all CSDs of them) as well as ODF 1.3 CSD01, then any single 
value of a "version-supported" attribute would be a lie.  And what if 
(hypothetically) there was an error in ODF 1.2 CSD-02, making the document 
conformant to all previous drafts except that one.  Even a 
"latest-version-conformant-to" attribute would not work there. 

So no objections per se to adding an attribute for this kind of 
information, though I don't see in practice how it could be made accurate 
or useful.

-Rob

 
> 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)
> 
> Another Word For It (blog): http://tm.durusau.net
> Homepage: http://www.durusau.net
> Twitter: patrickDurusau
> Newcomb Number: 1
> 
> 
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