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2008-02-27

nfoWorks: The Harmony Get-Ready

Technorati
Tags: ODF-OOXML Harmonization, Harmony
Principles, nfoWorks, Microsoft, Interoperability Principles, Document Interoperability Initiative

see also:

2008-04-11: nfoWorks:
What Are those Harmony Principles, Again?

About
nfoWorks and the nfoWorks Diary for
additional updates

ODF-OOXML:
nfoWorks for Harmony?  On February 7, I distilled the Harmony
Principles onto a web page.  I was looking for a reaction and also
giving myself a breather after finally declaring myself on the
matter.  I did begin setting up a web site and laying out a
foundation on which to commence harmonization of open-document standards
by limiting processor implementations to only harmonized
content.

Microsoft
Interoperability Principles Announcement.   When I listened
to the February 21 Interoperability Principles announcement and related
initiatives, I made note of Bob Muglia's comments about a Document
Interoperability Initiative.  The import of that didn't sink in until
I was finally completing my lengthy "Interoperability
by Design" post bearing my impressions and analysis of the
announcement.

Welcome, Document Interoperability Initiative!

here is what the February 21 Interoperability
Principles declaration says will happen as one of the steps under
Principle III on Data Portability:

"Microsoft believes that the industry has a responsibility to come
together to address the interests of users in interoperability and
effective data exchange between widely deployed document format
implementations. To this end, it will launch a Document Interoperability
Initiative that will include an ongoing series of labs around the world
where implementers of document formats optimize data exchange between
implementations, community development of conformance testing suites for
popular formats, and publication of document templates that enable
optimized interoperability between different formats."

During the
announcement teleconference, Server and Tools Senior Vice President
Bob Muglia provided this plain-language statement:

"We're also announcing a document interoperability initiative to
ensure that the documents that are created by users are fully
exchangeable, regardless of the tools that they are
using."

I haven't discovered a web presence for this initiative (and the
related domain names are available).  Meanwhile, I will be keeping my
eye on the Interoperability
Forum, the Open
Source Interoperability Initiative, and of course, the OpenXMLDeveloper.org and any
developer-focused ODF sites I am able to find.

Whither Harmony Principles?

So, maybe I don't have to do anything here?  I'm not sure.
It may be that a lot less original work will be needed to have the harmony
principles are realized in available document processing
appliances.  There is certainly important cross-fertilization with
translation, conformance testing, and templating activities, especially
those that are provided under open-source terms.

I have several reasons for continuing to develop
nfoWorks at this point:

I want to illustrate implementation of document processing as part
of nfoWare, and while digging
into the processing of a full-up open-document format is interesting,
that is heavier and more focused than the level required for
nfoWare.
nfoWorks is a better place for the research,
gathering of materials, and development of detailed implementations that
target the Harmony Principles.

The Document Interoperability Initiative will attract many interests
and energies.  Those that provide compatible open-source artifacts
will be important to draw on in nfoWare as are
artifacts of the related translator
efforts.  Likewise, any unique
contributions that nfoWare surfaces will be
available to the Document Interoperability Initiative, translator
activities, and document-generation projects.  We need to see more
on all fronts.

The more overlap, the less work for me, I say.  Still, the
achievement of any strict implementations of Harmony Principles may not
be the primary interest of others.  I want to cling to that
objective for the important purpose of finding out how much can be
done.  The goal is assuring users that they don't have to worry
whether the documents they are creating are fully interchangeable among
harmonizing implementations of the various open-document formats.
Users will be able to count on the safe interchange of their
documents.

Establishing document profiles for use by communities of
(collaborating) information workers is an open problem.   It
might not even be well-defined.  The Harmony Principles establish a
rigid test, and we need to see how far one can go to honor that.
It is also valuable to learn the conditions under which relaxation (or
qualification) of the principles can be safely tolerated.  Perhaps
more important than that is figuring out how the creation and use of
profiles that constrain documents can be done in a way that makes sense
for the information workers whose labors will be supported and impacted
by them.

That said, I am perfectly happy to give it all away.  I will
shepherd things along with an eye to exactly that outcome.

After defining nfoWorks, I realized that I
should also register a domain name or three.  I have accomplished
that.  Now I am bootstrapping up an nfoWorks.org site so I can start more
notes, checklists, and a repository of prerequisite materials.  At
the moment, that site is as interesting as staring into an empty
excavation waiting for a foundation to be framed and poured. As soon as
the rain stops ...

[update 2008-02-28T16:59Z: I removed an extraneous
work and sharpened up the first item on the connection between
nfoWorks and
nfoWare.  I may long regret that I made the
names so similar.]

posted by orcmid at 2/27/2008
10:44:00 AM, rating

data by NewsGator Online

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