Adding OpenDocument support in Microsoft Office

While the majority of the software industry is gathering around the OpenDocument standard, the notable exception has been Microsoft and its industry-dominating Microsoft Office suite of products. And as the use of OpenDocument files becomes more common, the lack of OpenDocument capabilities will be an increasing headache for Microsoft Office users unable to access these types of documents.

OpenOpenOffice (O3), a partnership between Open Source Victoria, Phase N Australia and the Open Source community, is working together to provide full OpenDocument support in Microsoft Office suite.

O3 is a sort of a Microsoft Office Add-in that will be based on Microsoft Office filters of OpenOffice.org. Following is the developent scheme of OpenOpenOffice:

1. Perl can talk to OpenOffice.org easily and has SOAP server support via CPAN. Build a Perl API to abstract away the translation complexity, and build a simple SOAP server to expose that functionality. Upload to CPAN.

2. C#/.NET can talk to Microsoft Office easily and has a SOAP client.Build a C#/.NET component to hook into Microsoft Office and talk to the SOAP server. Package in a .msi installer and release online.

3. As OpenOffice.org improves, only a server-side upgrade is required. The existing client components will do a better and better job of the translation.

O3 - The OpenOpenOffice Project | O3 Office FAQ