Preface
OASIS OpenDocument Essentials introduces you to the XML that serves as an internal format for office applications. OpenDocument is the native format for OpenOffice.org, an open source, cross-platform office suite, and KOffice, an office suite for KDE (the K desktop environment). It's a format that is truly open and free of any patent and license restrictions.
Who Should Read This Book?
You should read this book if you want to extract data from OpenDocument files, convert your data to OpenDocument format, find out how the format works, or even write your own office applications that support the OpenDocument format.
If you need to know absolutely everything about the OpenDocument format, you should download the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) 1.0 in PDF form from http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/12572/OpenDocument-vl.O-os.pdf or as an OpenOffice.org 1.0 format file from http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/12028/office-spec-1.0-cd-3.sxw. That document was a major source of reference for this book.
Who Should Not Read This Book?
If you simply want to use one of the applications that uses OpenDocument to create documents, you need only download the software and start using it. OpenOffice.org is available at http://www.openoffice.org/ and KOffice can be found at http://www.koffice.org/. There's no need for you to know what's going on behind the scenes unless you wish to satisfy your lively intellectual curiosity.
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