The Open XML Power Tools, an open source project on Codeplex to create PowerShell cmdlets for automating Open XML document management tasks, has been released on Codeplex at http://www.codeplex.com/PowerTools. Non-developers can use these cmdlets to build PowerShell scripts that automate processes such as adding a digital signature or watermark to documents, removing metadata, or updating Custom XML parts. The first release includes these cmdlets:

• Accept-OpenXmlChange
• Add-OpenXmlContent
• Add-OpenXmlDigitalSignature
• Add-OpenXmlDocumentIndex
• Add-OpenXmlDocumentTOA
• Add-OpenXmlDocumentTOC
• Add-OpenXmlDocumentTOF
• Add-OpenXmlPicture
• Export-OpenXmlSpreadsheet
• Export-OpenXmlToHtml
• Export-OpenXmlWordprocessing
• Get-OpenXmlBackground
• Get-OpenXmlComment
• Get-OpenXmlCustomXmlData
• Get-OpenXmlDigitalSignature
• Get-OpenXmlDocument
• Get-OpenXmlFooter
• Get-OpenXmlHeader
• Get-OpenXmlStyle
• Get-OpenXmlTheme
• Get-OpenXmlWatermark
• Lock-OpenXmlDocument
• Remove-OpenXmlComment
• Remove-OpenXmlDigitalSignature
• Set-OpenXmlBackground
• Set-OpenXmlContentFormat
• Set-OpenXmlContentStyle
• Set-OpenXmlCustomXmlData
• Set-OpenXmlFooter
• Set-OpenXmlHeader
• Set-OpenXmlStyle
• Set-OpenXmlTheme
• Set-OpenXmlWatermark

Open XML developers will find these cmdlets useful as source-code samples for all of the above topics, and also as samples of how to use Microsoft's Open XML Formats SDK (which was used for the development of the power tools). For detailed information about the Open XML Power Tools see Eric White's blog post "Processing Open XML documents server-side using PowerShell.

Microsoft unveiled today the roadmap for the Open XML SDK that was released last June as a CTP (Community Technology Preview) version. After collecting developer feedback through the CTP release, they've put together a two-phased release plan to get developers a released version of the API quickly (May of this year) and then build on that with additional functionality for a final version in the Office 14 timeframe.

Links to resources for this article:

• Open XML SDK download page
• "How To ..." articles for the SDK on MSDN
• Video interview with Zeyad Rajabi and Eric White
• Eric White's blog
• Doug Mahugh's blog

The Open XML API will be released in two versions. Version 1.0 will include an updated version of the CTP that was released in June 2007, to be released in April 2008 with a final release of Version 1.0 in May 2008. Version 2.0 will be available as a CTP version this summer, and the final release will be part of the Office 14 wave of products and technologies. (Office "14" is the next major release of Microsoft Office.)

Both versions will be free downloads on MSDN, available at the Open XML SDK page. Version 1.0 will include the following functionality:

• Strongly typed access to parts within Open XML documents (a few typical examples: classes for the main body part or style part of a word-processing document, the workbook and worksheet parts in a spreadsheet document, or the presentation and slide parts in a presentation document)
• Simple access to the parts within an Open XML document, relative to other existing APIs (example: one line of code to retrieve or replace a part)
• “Linq-friendly” annotation capabilities, to allow developers to use the SDK with emerging Linq to XML technology (Eric White's blog has a code sample demonstrating this capability)
• Consistency and naming changes per feedback from the developer community since the June 2007 CTP version, including adherence to .NET naming conventions
• The May 2008 RTW (released to web) version will be ready to go live, and developers can build shipping products on it

Version 2.0 will add the following capabilities:

• Content object model including additional classes and methods for simplifying developer work within parts (example: methods for retrieving or modifying a specific paragraph, style, cell, or shape within a part)
• Search functionality, for simple searching of content in all document types
• Validation functionality, to verify that modified or created documents are compliant with the Open XML standard
• High-level “scenario-based” functionality (examples: creating a document from a template, accepting all revisions in a document)
• Shared ML functionality (example: classes for DrawingML chart parts and other parts that can appear in multiple document types)

The functionality in this roadmap was driven by feedback received from developers since the CTP release last June. A recurring theme was that developers want more tools to help edit and manipulate the underlying XML within the parts, and this is reflected in new methods that will be included in the content object model, as well as Linq-related changes as mentioned above.

For more detailed information about what's coming in the Open XML SDK, see Jean-Christophe Cimetiere's video interview with Zeyad Rajabi and Eric White where they discuss the changes in the SDK and show some of the details of how it will work.

To download the latest version of the SDK or for links to more information, see the Open XML SDK page on MSDN.

Accessibility experts reviewed Ecma-376 Open XML (DIS29500) and created Accessibility Guidelines that must be followed to ensure that Open XML implementations are accessible.  This is a working draft and the authors welcome additional feedback and comments.

Microsoft has announced the next Office Developer Conference, to be held February 10-13, 2008, in San Jose, California. This event covers Microsoft Office System technologies from a developer perspective, and will include a variety of sessions and hands-on labs regarding Open XML development. The OpenXMLDeveloper web site was announced by Bill Gates at the last Office Developer Conference, held in Redmond in March of 2006.

The final details of the sessions for the 2008 conference will be posted soon on the conference web site, so check there for more information. Early bird registration is open through November 30.

Update:

I've updated this paper based on feedback I've received from the community. I'd like to thank those people who have provided support in helping clarify the level of Accessibility in the specification.

This report is still in DRAFT form. Again, it is intended to serve as a basis for public comment, and should not be taken as the definitive guide to the accessibility of Open XML. I'd like to thank those who took time to provide input based on what is written in the specification.

Open XML has great support for Accessibility, and we're committed to working with the ATV community as well as the community at large to illustrate how Open XML can be used. I'm attempting to add examples where appropriate as well.

 

Version 1.01 updates:

·         Corrected issues related to checkpoints that were misrepresented or misunderstood in version 1.

·         Updated specification sections where appropriate to allow others to investigate for themselves

·         Removed "fully" and “partially” supported language to be less ambiguous

·         Explicitly stated support for XML Accessibility Guidelines

·         Stated more specifically which checkpoints are and are not relevant to document formats

 

Original Post:

Open XML Formats support accessibility in a number of ways. In explaining this support to its customers, partners and assistive technology vendors, Microsoft has created a preliminary draft report describing how Open XML compares to W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and W3C XML Accessibility guidelines.

Microsoft is donating this project to the OpenXMLDeveloper.org community. By doing so, Microsoft hopes to raise the level of awareness and education of the accessibility support in the existing standard, as well as evaluate Open XML using other accessibility criteria.

This project is open for comment and discussion.  The attached dowload contains the report in DOCX, PDF, and HTML formats.

Altova has announced Open XML support for their flagship product, XMLSpy. As covered in their announcement this week, XMLSpy 2007 Release 3 provides full validation of Open XML documents, intelligent entry helpers, and support for the development of XSLT and XQuery transformations for working with Open XML data.

XMLSpy is a best-selling XML editor that provides functionality for working with many W3C standards related to XML, including XSLT, Xquery, XPath, XML Schema, and more. It also integrates with the Visual Studio and Eclipse development environments.

For more information on XMLSpy's support of Open XML formats, see Altova's features page for the new functionality.

Several of the most active contributors to OpenXmlDeveloper were in Redmond last week for the MVP Summit and an Open XML workshop, so Doug Mahugh interviewed them on some Open XML development topics. The videos are up on Channel 9 at the links included below.

Open-source Open XML API for Java
Julien Chable demonstrates his OPENXML4J project, which is a continuation of the work described in his article on OpenXmlDeveloper here.

Package Explorer for Open XML
Wouter Van Vugt talks about the latest release of his Package Explorer tool, which was originally covered on OpenXmlDeveloper here.

Linux/Java interoperability with Open XML
Sanjay Kumar and Datta Kulkarni of Sonata Software describe how Open XML can be used from a Linux environment, building on the techniques covered on OpenXmlDeveloper here.