www.imaging.org Vol. 22 No. 5 ––– September/October 2007

STANDARDS UPDATE David Q. McDowell, Editor

his issue of Standards Update focuses There is also a storage standard, XAM, more control over their documents and on a variety of document format stan- that we will be taking a brief look at. The realize benefits like making their processes T dards being done by several different common thread across all four of these more efficient and flexible which result in industry and standards groups. It is strictly standards is that they are all based in XML, better customer service to the constituencies coincidental that the reports of these vari- eXtensible Markup Language. that they serve. Open Document Format ous activities all seemed to arrive on my These standards efforts are originating (ODF) is viewed as the only desk within a short period of time. So it in different standards development organ- for office documents that is completely seemed like a logical topic for this article. izations prior to being submitted to ISO, vendor neutral. It begins with a piece by Betsy A. Fan- the International Organization for Stan- The Open Document Format stan- ning, the Director of Standards & Content dardization for ratification. OASIS, the dard was approved as an OASIS standard of AIIM. We will also look at some of the Organization for the Advancement of in May 2005 and submitted to ISO/IEC other document-related file format Structured Information Standards (www. JTC1 (International Organization for Stan- standards work that is going on in ISO oasis-open.org) is responsible for the dardization International Electrotechnical and Ecma. Open Document Format and Ecma Inter- Commission's Joint Technical Committee) Betsy’s article, which first appeared in national (www.ecma-international.org ) is for approval as an ISO standard. This stan- the AIIM E-DOC Magazine, does such an responsible for the Open XML and XML dard defines an XML schema for office ap- excellent job of describing several stan- Paper Specification (XPS) standards. plications including the associated meta- dards efforts in the document and storage SNIA, the Storage Network Industry As- data. The schema covers all types of office format area that I felt that it should be sociation (www.snia.org) is responsible documents, including text documents, shared here. for XAM. , charts and graphical docu- AIIM was founded in 1943 as the Before discussing these standards, it ments like drawings or presentations, but National Microfilm Association and later is important to take a step back and review is not restricted to just these documents. It became the Association for Information a few basics so that we can better under- defines XML structures for office docu- and Image Management. AIIM is now stand the benefits each will bring to the ments that will easily translate to other ap- known as AIIM—The Enterprise Content industry. Filename extensions, those letters plications by using XSLT or similar XML- Management Association. The AIIM after the dot in a filename actually tell us based tools. The OASIS developed E-DOC Magazine can be found at about the format of the file. Not only do OpenDocument v1.1 provides an intro- www.edocmagazine.com and the AIIM those letters tell us the format but they duction to the format, describes the meta- home page is www.aiim.org. also tell us what type of data is contained data that is contained in the documents, AIIM is the Secretariat for ISO TC in the file. In many cases the filename and describes the text and paragraph 171, the Secretariat for ISO 171 SC 2, and extension or file type will initiate the content, tables, text fields, etc. OpenDoc- Secretariat for the USTAG for ISO 171. appropriate viewer for the file so that the ument makes use of existing standards Betsy is responsible for all those activities. file recipient will be able to view the file as such as HTML, SVG, XSL, SMIL, XLink, its creator had intended it to be viewed. XForms, MathML and Dublin Core wher- Document and Storage For example, a . file will cause a PDF ever possible to promote interoperability. Formats–ODF, OOXML, XPS, viewer to display the document; a . will The Open Document Format (ODF) and XAM have a word processing application open Alliance (www.odfalliance.org) was formed by Betsy A. Fanning the file and a .tif will display the document in 2006 to promote and advance the use of image using an image viewer. the Open Document Format (ODF) as With this column we are taking a brief In early 2006, IBM, , Oracle, and the primary format for governments. step back from our normal focus on AIIM Sun Microsystems joined with end users Through the use of this open standard, standards work to take a look at four oth- to develop an XML-based Open Docu- the ODF Alliance hopes to enable govern- er standards efforts that bear examination ment Format for office documents. Their ments and their constituents to manage due to their relationship to AIIM's docu- initial goal was to raise awareness of gov- critical documents in a truly open envi- ment and content management area. The ernments to the benefits offered by an ronment that is independent of applications new document formats being introduced open file format and the assurances of or enterprise platforms used to create or to the international standards process in- easy access, retrieval and use that such a access the documents. clude Open Document Format; Office file format would provide. By standardizing In response to numerous requests for Open XML, and XML Paper Specification. the file format governments would have a way to ensure that their organization's in-

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vestment in the Office Suite is is included with Windows Vista and 2007 Sun Microsystems. protected, Office Open XML or OOXML System products. The A new working group was formed in was developed. Office Open XML or XPS viewer is included with Windows April 2007, to create a protocol based on OOXML is an XML based file format for Vista and is available for Windows XP and the XAM specification for storing the all types of electronic office documents Windows Server 2003. The viewer allows metadata that describes fixed content, that will promote interoperability and fur- users to open, read and apply digital such as email, medical records and financial ther enable workflow or business process signatures to XPS documents without data. The working group will create a management in the office. It is intended to needing the full XPS generating software. software development kit to help write simplify the exchange of information XPS allows electronic documents to print applications to the XAM specification. between Microsoft Office products and better, be shared easier, archived and better This latest effort is expected to be completed enterprise applications. Open XML is maintain the security of the information by early 2008 and will focus on email based on the industry accepted XML in the document. archiving. standard and ZIP technologies. It was de- XPS relies on two additional specifi- This effort is being facilitated by signed for the unstructured content created cations- the Open Package Conventions SNIA, the Storage Networking Industry on products developed by the Microsoft which describe the method for creating Association (SNIA) which is a not-for-profit Office products. It is a container format packages of content, resources, and meta- global organization, made up of more with specialize XML-based markup data in a compressed ZIP file and Open than 460 member companies and close to languages being used that correspond to XML Markup Compatibility Specification 7,000 active individuals spanning virtually the individual applications within the that describes the mechanism to support the entire storage industry. For more Microsoft Office product line. It defines versioning and extensibility of XML. information on XAM, please visit SNIA at multiple vocabularies. Basically, OpenXML Ecma International's TC46 chaired by www.snia.org. a modular, componentized representation Martin Bailey, Global Graphics, will con- The amount of adoption that these of the document storing a chart, table or tinue the work on the XPS standard and standards is really up to you, the end executable, for instance, in a separate facilitate its fast track processing at ISO to component that is properly displayed become an ISO standard. XPS is platform when the document is viewed. Using ZIP independent. IS&T REPORTER technology with the file format, means XAM, the eXtensible Access Method The IS&T Reporter is published bimonthly by that the files created using OOXML may be Specification developed by SNIA, the IS&T—The Society for Imaging Science and smaller. OOXML includes Office MathML, Storage Networking Industry Association Technology. a mathematical markup language, which defines a standard access method between while different from the MathML defined application software and storage systems Editorial Executive Editor Vivian Walworth by the W3C (Worldwide Web Consor- to manage fixed content reference infor- Managing Editor Donna K. Smith tium) is compatible. mation storage services. The intent of this Production Editor Itzel Morales XML Paper Specification or XPS is a specification is to provide an interface for Standards Editor David McDowell document storage and viewing specifica- the longevity and mobility of reference in- tion developed by Microsoft that describes formation that is independent from any Articles and letters to the editor in this newsletter do not necessarily constitute endorsement or reflect the electronic paper in a way that it can be specific storage system technology, storage opinions of the editors or IS&T. Advertising and read by hardware, software and the human solution or the location of a storage system copy are subject to acceptance by the editors. eye. XPS provides a page view of the way or data. Possible implementations of XAM the document will print. It describes the include interfaces between applications IS&T is an international, non-profit society whose appearance of fixed format documents by and storage systems that coordinate goal is to keep members aware of the latest using an XML based format so that the metadata to achieve interoperability, storage developments in fields related to imaging science through conferences, journals, and other publica- layout won't change. XPS is viewed as a transparency, and automation for ILM tions. IS&T focuses on imaging in all its aspects, potential competitor to PDF (Portable (information lifecycle management) prac- with particular emphasis on silver halide, digital Document Format) but will not replace tices, long term records retention and printing, electronic imaging, color science, PDF in the instances where dynamic information security. The XAM specification photofinishing, image preservation, pre-press content capabilities are required which will enable storage products to seamlessly technology, and hybrid imaging systems.

XPS cannot handle. By dynamic content, integrate, giving end users more flexibility IS&T publishes the Journal of Imaging Science & we mean the type of content that may be when selecting storage technology. Technology and, in conjunction with SPIE, the contained in a drop-down on a form. The work on this specification began Journal of Electronic Imaging. Microsoft released XPS with a royalty-free in October 2004 as a project between IBM patent license to encourage wide adoption and EMC Corporations. There were later ©2007 Society for Imaging Science and by the industry. The XPS document format joined by HP, Hitachi Data Systems and Technology. All rights reserved.

Society for Imaging Science and Technology 5 Vol. 22 No. 5 ––– September/October 2007 www.imaging.org

users. You and your organization will need plications on multiple platforms. According will be to enable the interoperability of in- to carefully evaluate each of them to deter- to the submitters, one of its objectives is to dependently created software and hard- mine the appropriateness of them for your ensure the long-term preservation of ware systems that produce, consume or organization in light of the technology that documents created over the last two otherwise process XPS content. The Tech- you have installed and make the best pos- decades using programmes that are nical Committee will be responsible for sible decision that you can. The decision becoming incompatible with continuing the ongoing maintenance and evolution of process won't be easy as you will most likely advances in the IT field. the standard. encounter support for each of them in your ISO/IEC DIS 29500 was originally XPS is describes as a document stor- organization. Watch the AIIM Standards developed as the Office Open XML Speci- age and viewing specification developed Watch Blog at http://aiimstandardswatch. fication by Microsoft Corporation which by Microsoft that is intended to typepad.com for developments on these submitted it to Ecma International for describe electronic paper in a way that it standards. Also, visit the AIIM Standards transposing into an ECMA standard. Fol- can be read by hardware, software and the web pages at www.aiim.org/standards to lowing a process in which other IT human eye. XPS is intended to provide a see how you can become involved in industry players participated, Ecma Inter- page view of the way the document will AIIM's standards work. national subsequently published the print. It will describe the appearance of document as ECMA standard 376. fixed format documents by using an XML Thank you Betsy. Ecma International then submitted the based format so that the layout won't standard in December 2006 to ISO/IEC change. It is a key component of the From the ISO Central Office JTC 1, with whom it has category A liaison Microsoft VISTA Office Suite On September 4, 2007 ISO issued a press status, for adoption as an International release that included the following: Standard under the JTC 1 "fast track" pro- cedure. This allows a standard developed ISO 32000, Document management Vote closes on draft ISO/IEC DIS within the IT industry to be presented to —Portable document format—PDF 1.7 29500 standard JTC 1 as a Draft International Standard ISO TC 171/SC2 (Document management A ballot on whether to publish the draft (DIS) that can be adopted after a process applications/Application issues) has standard ISO/IEC DIS 29500, Information consisting of a one-month review by the recently introduced ISO 32000, Document technology–Office Open XML file formats, national bodies of JTC 1 and then a five- management—Portable document format as an International Standard by ISO (In- month ballot open to all voting national bod- —PDF 1.7 for fast-track ballot. If ternational Organization for Standardiza- ies of ISO and IEC. approved, it is the intent of TC171/SC2 to tion) and IEC (International Electrotech- form a Working Group within SC2 to nical Commission) has not achieved the Other Activities carry this standard to completion and to required number of votes for approval. begin the development of the ISO The five-month ballot process ended XML Paper Specification (XPS) version of PDF. on 2 September and was open to the IEC Ecma International has also recently created In discussions within the US shadow and ISO national member bodies from 104 a technical committee, TC46 - XML Paper committee supporting this work it was felt countries, including 41 that are participat- Specification (XPS), to standardize XPS. to be important to provide a statement to ing members of the joint ISO/IEC techni- The published scope of ECMA TC46 is as the technical experts of other national bod- cal committee, JTC 1, Information tech- follows. ies that described the intent of this standard. nology. ECMA TC46 Scope: The goal of the That statement said in part: Approval requires at least 2/3 (i.e., Technical Committee is to produce a for- “The U.S. National Body committee 66.66 %) of the votes cast by national bodies mal standard for an XML-based electronic that proposed and is supporting the work participating in ISO/IEC JTC 1 to be paper format and XML-based page de- of TC171/SC2 with respect to the work positive; and no more than 1/4 (i.e. 25 %) scription language which is consistent with item ISO 32000 wishes to communicate some of the total number of national body votes existing implementations of the format background information relevant to this cast negative. Neither of these criteria were called the XML Paper Specification (XPS). work and urges you to support this work in achieved, with 53 % of votes cast by na- The Technical Committee will use the your own national body deliberations. tional bodies participating in ISO/IEC format called the XML Paper Specification In preparing ISO/DIS 32000, Docu- JTC 1 being positive and 26 % of national (XPS) as a starting point with the aim to ment management—Portable document votes cast being negative. provide a standard, secure, and highly format (PDF 1.7), the source material, ISO/IEC DIS 29500 is a proposed trustworthy format that enables a wide set Adobe's PDF Reference 1.7 (including as- standard for word-processing documents, of applications, devices, tools and plat- sociated errata), was edited to create a presentations and spreadsheets that is in- forms to implement compatible paginated- document that is both easier to read and tended to be implemented by multiple ap- document workflows. An additional goal understand, and more in line with the

6 IS&T Reporter www.imaging.org Vol. 22 No. 5 ––– September/October 2007 style requirements of the international PDF 1.6) and PDF/X-5 (15930-8, Graphic includes provision for unambiguous iden- standards community. technology -- Prepress digital data exchange tification. The key goals during that process using PDF -- Part 8: Partial exchange of This part of ISO 16612 specifies doc- were to ensure that the resultant document printing data using PDF 1.6 (PDF/X-5)). ument layout, content elements, and inter- was technically consistent with the PDF These documents were approved and action of content elements in a trans- Reference 1.7 published by Adobe in are in publication at ISO Central Secre- parency-based graphics model. To make November 2006 and to incorporate the tariat. Publication is expected within the use of this content in a print product and interpretations of that specification next 2 months. corresponding production process requires provided by PDF application developers. the use of JDF, or similar job description We supported this action. vPDF protocol. The members of the U.S. technical TC130 recently approved a new work item Colour-managed, CMYK, Gray, RGB committee who have reviewed the ISO (NWI) for the development of ISO 16612-2 or spot colour data are supported in any draft and PDF Reference 1.7 agree that which has a tentative title of Graphic tech- combination; as are PDF transparency these documents are technically consistent.” nology—Variable printing data exchange and optional content (layers). Files may be The ballot on ISO 32000 closes on —Part 2: Using PDF/X-4 and PDF/X-5 prepared for use with Gray, RGB, CMYK December 2, 2007. (VPDF/X-200X). and n-colorant printing characterizations.” The proposed scope of this standard This work is being done in PDF/X is:“This part of ISO 16612 specifies the TC130/WG2/TF3 under the leadership of ISO TC130 recently completed the final use of the Portable Document Format Tim Donahue of Kodak and Dov Isaacs of balloting of PDF/X-4 (ISO 15930-7, (PDF) Version 1.6, as restricted by Adobe. Graphic technology—Prepress digital data PDF/X-4 and PDF/X-5, for the exchange ______exchange using PDF—Part 7: Complete of all content elements and metadata For suggestions for (or input to) future exchange of printing data (PDF/X-4) and necessary to produce a variable data print- updates, or standards questions in general, partial exchange of printing data with ex- ing job as intended by the sender. Exter- please contact the author at mcdowell@ ternal profile reference (PDF/X-4p) using nally referenced content and metadata npes.org or [email protected]

SUBMIT YOUR PAPERS NOW! NIP24 24th International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies www.imaging.org/conferences/NIP24/ Abstract deadline: June 30, 2008 September 7-12, 2008 CIC16 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 16th Color Imaging Conference November 10-14, 2008 Digital Portland, Oregon Fabrication Abstract deadline: 2008 November 15, 2007 www.imaging.org/conferences/DF2008/ www.imaging.org/conferences/CIC16/

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