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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/ODFTOOLKIT-441?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=15476785#comment-15476785
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Svante Schubert commented on ODFTOOLKIT-441:
--------------------------------------------
I have already worked quite a while on this feature. With a bit of luck I might
integrate something even before the Apache conference in November, though of
course our next release has a higher prio to me now.
> Improving Document Collaboration
> --------------------------------
>
> Key: ODFTOOLKIT-441
> URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/ODFTOOLKIT-441
> Project: ODF Toolkit
> Issue Type: New Feature
> Components: odfdom
> Reporter: Svante Schubert
> Assignee: Svante Schubert
>
> ABSTRACT
> This feature will improve document collaboration by focusing on document
> changes.
> It simplifies collaboration by exchanging only the document delta, thus
> fostering efficiency and meaningfulness.
>
> SCENARIO
> In the future when loading an ODF text document into this library, the
> document is being mapped to a list of high level user changes. This sequence
> of changes is equal to a batch of user actions, creating an equal document
> from the top to the bottom. 3rd party software such as web editors meant to
> receive this list (in JSON) to create their document representation. Similar
> they should gather their user changes as a similar change sequence and return
> them. This feature will enable the library to merge new changes back into the
> document.
>
> Changes have the advantage to abstract from design details of document
> serialization and will remain in general on the logical level known by common
> users.
> In addition, changes are atomic. They bundle the manipulation of sometimes
> scattered feature data into a single change step.
> Atomicity allows two adjacent changes within the change list to be switched
> without requiring further context, easing the alteration of work history,
> such as normalization.
>
> To allow compatibility of changes among office applications from the
> beginning and accelerate their development, there is an ongoing effort of
> standardization changes based on the ODF XML file format.
>
> BACKGROUND
> Prior to the upcoming OASIS ODF 1.3 version only the complete ODF document
> had been standardized. (For instance, its zipped XML files, the manifest,
> signature, encryption and RDF metadata).
> Therefore, the only interoperable way to synchronize changes between
> collaborating office users was the exchange of the complete document using
> change-tracking. Change-Tracking is always stored within the content,
> requiring to process the complete document content.
> This does not scale with multiple users working at the same time on a
> document. For instance, real-time collaboration requires instantaneous user
> feedback. Exchanging the complete documents on every synchronization among
> participants is not feasible.
>
> Similar it is in general less transparent and less safe to receive from a 3rd
> party a document including their changes in opposite to exchanging the
> changes alone.
>
> To alter this disadvantageous situation and be able to exchange predefined
> deltas of an office document, ODF changes are currently being standardized in
> the ODF Advanced Document Collaboration subcommittee of OASIS. An ODF change
> is a typical user change on "logical document parts", e.g. paragraph, image
> or text character. There are three change types in general to add, modify or
> delete. Every high level ODF change is going to be mapped by the
> specification to the manipulation of one or more XML nodes within the
> document. The abstraction from XML changes by these typed operation is
> necessary as most ODF application are not aware of ODF XML during the
> runtime. In contrast to HTML, ODF does not require a common model such as DOM.
> The serialization of changes will be offered in JSON by this feature as the
> common use case is to have the ODF Toolkit in the back end, while a web based
> editor receives such changes and renders the document.
> In addition to that, the ODF Toolkit will be capable to receive user changes
> made by a client to the document and merge them into the document by applying
> one change after the other on its internal ODF XML DOM model.
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