March, 2006

A summary of the draft spec's key concepts for developers. The goal is to save you some time in getting started if you're 100% new to Office Open XML....

The guys at Sonata have submitted another instructive Java code sample. This one shows how to do some basic document management chores such as adding or removing parts from the Open XML Format package. It's packaged as a simple utility. Click here for...

Submitted by: Sanjay Kumar Madhva, Srinidhi H. S., Pujari Yerriswamy (Sonata Software Ltd) In a prior article on OpenXmlDeveloper.org, we demonstrated that it is possible to create a word document by creating a few XML files and assembling them into a...

The members of the Open XML Formats Developer Group represent a wide variety of organizations, but they all have one thing in common: they're excited about working with the new formats. Here are some quotes from the founding members of the Open XML Formats...

The Microsoft Office Systems Developer Conference 2007 is wrapping up in the next hour, and it's been a great event for developers working with the Open XML Formats, with lots of learning and networking opportunities for the attendees. At the file formats...

The initial draft of the Ecma standard for the Open XML Formats is available at this link: http://www.ecma-international.org/activities/Office%20Open%20XML%20Formats/TC45_FD_XML_docform.zip It's a massive document, nearly 2000 pages total, which contains...

This sample project shows how to extract embedded objects inside Open XML documents. The example here, written in C# and .NET, shows how to work with an Excel object embedded in a Word 2007 document. Contributed by Stephen Peront of Xinnovation....

The Open XML Formats can be used from any language or platform, and this article is a great example of that flexibility in action: sample Java code that generates a valid Open XML Format word-processing document. The resulting document can be read by products like Microsoft Word 2007, even though it was generated with no use of Microsoft tools or APIs....

Want to try opening and reading Open XML programmatically, but don't have software that can easily create them? These sample documents are what you need: samples of simple Open XML word processing, spreadsheet and presentation files....

Links to blog posts that contain useful technical information for developers. Open XML is a new standard, but there's some good information already available if you know where to look....

03/21/06. The Open XML Developer Group was formed to provide Open XML Formats developers with a forum for the free exchange of ideas, tips and tools related to Open XML Formats development. The group's charter members include ISVs, software publishers, manufacturers, system integrators and other organizations who are committed to supporting the Ecma Office Open XML file formats....

03/21/06. It's official: we're now live! We have 40 members already signed up — the founding members in the announcement below — and the doors are open to anyone who wants to join! This article tells you all the details about what to expect and how to participate....

01/31/06, Cupertino, California. The second face-to-face meeting of the TC45 committee was hosted by Apple, with 22 members attending....

01/13/06. Dr Dobb's Journal interviewed Brian Jones of Microsoft about the Office Open XML file formats and the Ecma standardization process. The interview is available as a Podcast....

12/15/05, Brussels, Belgium. Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, the British Library, Essilor, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, NextPage Inc., Statoil ASA and Toshiba join together to form TC45, the Ecma technical committee that will draft the new Open XML standard....

11/21/05. Microsoft's decision to standardize on the Open XML Formats for the next release of Office was based on a variety of criteria from Office developers and users. Brian Jones explains some of the thinking behind the decision....

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