On Friday 16 April 2010 04:02, Regina Henschel wrote: [snip]
> > I write an ods-document with Excel 2010 Beta and let the validator > examine it. > > Open an ods file using the Sun ODF > > > plug-in in Excel 2007, everything is OK. Open an ods file natively in > > Excel 2007 SP2 with it's alleged ODF compatibility and ALL the formulae > > become values only > > The start "Open an ods file" is not exact enough. There are Excel-ods > and Calc-ods. Both are valid ODF documents. Essentially you are using a focused XML validator. This is correct. But Microsoft has by their own stated yardstick broken interoperability[1] which was their stated goal. This makes their version worse than a joke, it is a cynical, intentional attempt to lessen the usefulness of ODF via exploitation of a loophole. All other implementations substantially conform with each other where practical. Future versions of ODF will not be compatible with this Microsoft joke. It employs a known strategy of Microsofts which is thankfully being increasingly recognised (see "Embrace, Extend and Extinguish" [2]) Therefore i recommend that what the Validator should do is flag Microsoft's vindictive implementation with a suitable warning about lack of inter- operability and lack of support by other implementers. Anything less would be irresponsible. > You can work with Excel-ods > in Excel without problems and you can work with Calc-ods in Calc without > problems. But you get problems in Calc, when you open a Excel-ods document. > > > And you call that "not broken"? Are you REALLY saying that the Office > > developers are so lacking in knowledge that they couldn't do what the > > Sun developers did? > > Come on! > > The Excel-ods documents are surely valid ODF documents. If someone, for > example a government, demands the use of ODF documents, this can be done > with Excel-ods documents. That is the reason, why I suspect, that there > will be much more such documents in future. > > The crucial point for me is not, what Excel does with Calc-ods > documents, but what Calc does with Excel-ods documents. Not being able to speak either on behalf of the Committee or Oracle/Sun but i would surmise that Calc will rightly continue to ignore this broken doomed implementation. Furthermore i would if i were you, look into the proprietary nature of the Microsoft implementation. I would not be at all surprised if there is a either a submarine patent or one of Microsofts own patents held on something involved in Excels ODF formulas. Microsoft's OOXML promise not to sue may not even extend to ODF. See the recent i4i case as a reference[3]. It has been made patently aware that Microsoft are not willing to conform to International Standards even of their own making unless they are forced to. Office 2010 will not be supporting the full ISO OOXML implementation as expected and thus the standard is now in doubt with no supporting implementations. Refer if you will to the Blog of Alex Brown the convener of the BRM meeting which forced this standard through[4]. Alex's stand is very surprising given he was seen as a warm supporter of Microsoft during the ISO standardisation process. Also read the apologist statement of Doug Mahugh on this sad issue[5]. [1] http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2008/may08/05-21ExpandedFormatsPR.mspx [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish [3] http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20091222145134400 [4] http://www.adjb.net/post/Microsoft-Fails-the-Standards-Test.aspx [5] http://blogs.msdn.com/dmahugh/archive/2010/04/06/office-s-support-for-iso-iec-29500-strict.aspx HTH -- Michael --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
