ODF-UOF Converter

Overview

I、General Information：

• Title： ODF-UOF Conveter

• Undertaker：Open Standard Lab of Peking University

• Participator：

Director：Chen Zhong, Tang Liyong, Sun Huiping

Team Member：Jing Qi, Chen Yuan, Li Yujuan, Xie Shuangbin, Cao Junling and Zhang Peng.

• Main Work：

    Compare ODF and UOF, the two document format standards based on xml, find the homologous parts and then make bi-directional conversion, including three main parts of content: text, spreadsheet and presentation. The converted document can be opened with corresponding office software and can be displayed correctly.

II、Progress：

The project was initiated in late November of 2005, and finished in October, 2006, lasting nearly one year. The main work in each phase of the project is listed as follows:

• 2005.11~2005.12：Survey, Requirement Analysis and Primary Preparation

    Investigated on the background, the status and the basic knowledge of the two document format standards and the related software, learning about the structural differences and the homologous relationship between the modules; Acquired knowledge concerning RelaxNG and xml; Understood the respective content of content.xml, styles.xml, setting.xml and the relationship between each other in odf format compressed document; Made some early preparations, including getting familiar with eclipse Platform and java Program.

• 2005.12~2006.2：Ascertaining the Technical Route and Comparing the Documents

    Made research according to the requirements, explored on the related technology and the prototype construction, and worked out the appropriate technical solution; Carried out system analysis and functional modules division, completing the system functional definition and design; Made comparison between ODF and UOF document formats, ascertaining the common homologous mode.?

• 2006.3~2006.4：Document Comparison and Program Framework Construction

    Verified the comparison result of the previous stage and continued with the document format comparison, specifically in the homologous relationship between elements, attributes, and element attributes, submitting <ODF-UOF Comparison Document> Version 1.0; Completed the program framework construction; Broke down from the simple document, made conversion and analyzed on the result, making corresponding adjustment to the system functional structure.

• 2006.5~2006.7：Program Coding

    According to the comparison result, made respective conversion to the main parts of text, spreadsheet and presentation, displayed and verified the converting result with Office software of Evermore and China Standard Software; Made reverse conversion referring to the uof document format of related software, and displayed the result with Open Office; Verified the comparison document according to the problems found in the converting process, and submitted <ODF-UOF Comparison Document> Version 2.0.

• 2006.8~2006.9：Testing and Verifying the Comparison Document

    Tested Converter referring to the new version of testing cases collection provided by UOF team; Summarized the problems concerning UOF standard and office software of Evermore and others, and respectively reported these problems to UOF team and related producers; Made verifications to comparison documents, and submitted <ODF-UOF Comparison Document> version 3.0.

• 2006.10：General Testing

    Finished the general test and summarized the problems encountered in the test, providing support to UOF related software integration test.

III、Related Activities：

    In the early stage of the program, we contacted and communicated with the staff concerned in IBM, and discussed about the matters about the kick-off, the schedule and so forth. In order to know about the general information of the program in a short time, the team members joined in the training program of IBM, including the background knowledge of ODF, RelaxNG and other related contents.

    During the process of the program, we communicated with the IBM staff concerned for several times, reported the progress of the program, the technical route and the advance of the document comparison, and consulted the IBM experts on some critical problems.

    Besides, the team members also frequently attended the regular meetings of UOF standard group, and later formally joined in the group as members. When participating the regular meetings, we not only introduced the progress of the program and communicated with the attendants of the meeting, but also introduced the differences between UOF and ODF documents to UOF group,? pointing out some critical differences. Meanwhile, the proposals of the team were all adopted by the UOF group, which helped in integrating the advantages of ODF into UOF standard, and enhanced the improvement of UOF and the integration of ODF and UOF.

IV Completion Report:

After one year’s effort, the team has achieved the goals as expected:

1、 Completed the bi-direction comparison between the ODF and UOF document formats, including comparing the structural differences of the two document, proposing several homologous modes, clarifying the function of the modules and their relationship in each document, making specific comparison between elements, attributes , as well as elements and attributes, and then submitting the final version of <ODF-UOF comparison document>.

2、 Cooperating with IBM staff concerned, after strict working steps including translation, technical verification, English proof, general verification, etc., completed the translation (Chinese-English) of the UOF draft, and then forwarded it to UOF group.

3、 Completed the bi-directional conversion between the ODF and UOF document formats. With the comparison document and the office software currently supporting UOF standard, we started from word processing and finished the bi-directional conversion by modules and phases, including:


• TEXT:

Metadata, hyperlink, bookmark, paragraph, text, table, paragraph-setting, font-setting, table-setting, footnote & endnote, comment, caption, track change, page setup, header and footer, field, frame objects, bullets and numbering.


• SPREADSHEET：

Metadata, hyperlink, page setup, spreadsheet, cell-setting, row-setting, column-setting, table-setting, number format, validation, auto filter, advanced filter, expression, chart, comment.


• PRESENTATION：

Metadata, page setup, slide layout, note master, slide master, show setting, animation-setting, slide, slide animation, slide transition.


The converted result can be opened with corresponding office software and can be displayed correctly.

V、Summary

    During the project lasting nearly a year, there were various difficulties encountered, including the technical and non-technical obstacles. However, with the concerted efforts of the team members, we not only overcome these difficulties, but also excellently fulfill the task in time and achieve the goals at last. Now the project has stepped into the stage of open source, and the team members are expecting the fruit would benefit millions of users in future. Furthermore, we believe that with the publishing of the project, more and more people will be encouraged to publish and share their work results, which must be an impetus to the development of open source business, open standard and related industry in China. This outcome of great significance will bring a reward to the attempts and efforts made by the whole team.