On Friday 25 February 2005 12:25 am, Bruce D'Arcus wrote: > On Feb 24, 2005, at 5:15 AM, Van-Couvering,EJ (pgr) wrote: > > First, I take it from the design docs that we propose, in phase one, > > to only allow access to OoBib from within OoWriter. I would like to > > urge that we rethink that decision and somehow allow the database GUI > > to be opened standalone. I have two main reasons for this: > > 1) I personally very often work with the database of my thesis > > notes without any reference document in mind, and it wouldn't make > > sense to me to have to open a document (which I won't use) to get > > access to those notes. Also because I'm paranoid about my notes, I'd > > like to be SURE they will be there for me if I have to use another > > word-processor. I really don't like the feeling of lock-in this > > proposal gives me. > > 2) EndNote and the other bibliographic programs are rather > > expensive - about £70 now ($135) student prices at my institution. > > One of my reasons for wanting to help out on this project is to > > provide an alternative in terms of price - but many people can't > > switch word processors because of institutional reasons (like, we are > > barred from installing programs), so it would be nice to be able to > > give them something they can use. I bet the IS people would consider > > an alternate bib program before they would switch from Word. > > Especially if we can add an IMPORT function, which I didn't see > > anywhere. > > This is a tricky issue. We are planning that the database itself be > independent of OOo, and to use a standard interface that would allow it > to be used elsewhere. > > In principle, I prefer the idea that GUI for managing references (as > opposed to the citations in the document). In practice, we may have > some technical challenges (how to code the GUI to be independent).
I am advocating that the OpenOffice word-processor be modified to allow plug-in replaceable Bibliographic modules. This would leave open the option of having the OOoBib module written in Java (or Python) and be a standalone application. However, if OOoBib is to be fully integrated and be considered a core part of OpenOffice then it really needs to have a completely consistent look and feel, which means using the OpenOffice UI code and widget set and probably means abandoning a standalone option ( I am not completely sure about this). Also there have been opposition in the past to the idea that core or even important components of OOo be written in Java, as the policy has been to keep Java usage optional for users, for what I think are mostly license and size / space reasons. These are issues we can canvas in the OOo community to test what will be acceptable. Of course an important consideration will be who codes the application and what language they want to use. David --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
