"Andreas J. Guelzow" <> wrote on 06/11/2010
04:15:07 PM:
> > In that context, it means OpenDocument Format as in a file format. The
> > other possible choices being PDF or HTML.
>
> There are various (related) file formats referred to as ODF: ODF 1.0 and
> ODF 1.1 comes to mind, with ODF 1.2 in process. I am specifically asking
> which version.
>
> And if the answer is ODF1.2 I obviously have some issues with that since
> there is only a moving target with that name.
>
The requirement on the OASIS side is "the TC must explicitly designate one
of those delivered formats as the authoritative document".
Note that "authoritative" is not explicitly defined, but presumably it
means that if there is a difference among the HTML, PDF and ODF versions,
that the ODF version is considered correct.
It should be clear that there are at least two ways for these format
versions to differ:
1) Versions generated from the ODF version, such as the PDF and HTML
versions, may have differences introduced in them during the conversion
process. We have seen in the past, with ODF and with OOXML as well, cases
where the PDF version had errors not present in the original source. Ditto
for HTML.
2) Any of the formats may exhibit differences when viewed by different
editors/viewers. This is obviously true in the ODF version, but also true
with HTML version. However, I have not seen any reports of PDF
differences.
Now, if I were Lord of OASIS, and wanted to indicate an authoritative
version of a specification, I would do one of either:
a) Fully specify the reading environment of the document, e.g., the
application, the operating system, the page size, the installed fonts,
etc. As we know, even the same word processor can render differently
depending on the environment.
b1) Allow publication only in standardized formats, where the standards
have full conformance tests which guarantee perfect interoperability, and
say that the spec is only authoritatively read when read in an application
that 100% passes the conformance tests.
b2) Like b1, but manually validate by visual comparison that the PDF or
HTML versions do not differ in any substantial way from the presentation
of the ODF version.
But no one has given me these powers, and even if they did I'm not sure
this ideal approach would be of much help.
In the end our choices are limited to:
1) Choose the ODF document as the authoritative document. This has the
advantage, when viewed in the same editor, of being closest to what the
editors actually wrote and saw. It has the disadvantage of not being an
approved standard.
2) Chose the PDF or HTML versions. These formats are standards (though it
is unknown whether our posted versions conform 100% with the ODF and HTML
standards). In one sense they are more interoperable, in terms of
app-to-app variation. But if they differ from the editor's intent, then
I'm not sure that really matters.
So I don't see any perfect choice here. Any OASIS TC needs to make a
decision on this consideration, and whether you pick the editable source
or a derived/generated version, there are opportunities for surprises.
Regards,
-Rob
