# Presentation: 797086

## Microsoft Office XML Formats

## Agenda

- The role of XML in Microsoft Office
- Transitioning to open file formats
- Benefits of the Microsoft Office XML Formats
- File format compatibility and deployment
- Resources and additional information

## Achieve industry alignment using standardized technologies
Enable data interoperability between documents, applications and systems
Capture and reuse information to and from many data sources
Build intelligent applications that improve data context and quality

- Enable data interoperability between documents, applications and systems
- Capture and reuse information to and from many data sources
- Build intelligent applications that improve data context and quality

**Shared service oriented architecture**
**(fx http, XML, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI)**

- The Role of XML in OfficeBuilt –by design– for Interoperability

**Documents**

## The Role of XML in OfficeEvolving Customer Scenarios

| Scenario | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Document AssemblyServer-based or user-assisted construction of documents from archived content or database content | Create sales reports from financial and forecast data stored in a CRM system |
| Content ReuseMuch easier to move content between documents, including different document types | Apply content stored in Word documents to Web pages quickly and efficiently |
| Document InterrogationQuery document repositories based on custom data, content types or document metadata | Search for all documents containing a specific company name or sales contact |
| Document SanitizationRemove unwanted content like comments or embedded code from your document when appropriate | Remove all tracked changes and comments from a Word document before it is published |
| Document ArchivalEnsuring document formats can be consumed long into the future without vendor-specific clients or applications | XML-based document archives include the data and presentation information |

**Notes:**
Support for XML in Office System enables many of the important scenarios that are driving customer needs today. Office users place increasing demands on the software, which drives innovation from Microsoft. As we continue to innovate on our Office platform, we, in turn, enable the advancement of these scenarios for our customers. 

This is an important and evolving relationship with our Office customers. We have a great partnership with the users of Office to enable new kinds of work with the Office System. This helps our customers – and Microsoft move forward.

Document Assembly is an important scenario for organizations that construct documents from content that already exists. Rather than forcing users to re-create content repeatedly, XML can be used to aid in the migration of content between documents. This enables a “building blocks” approach to document creation, and represents a huge time savings.

Content ReuseWhen content is published in multiple locations, the ability to reuse content is critically important. This enables businesses to work from a single source of business information, for example the financial data stored in a sales tracking system. In stead of having many users copy and paste the data, they can use the back-end system as a data source to populate a template area of a document. This goes a long way to ensure accuracy and data integrity throughout an enterprise.

Document InterrogationThe ability to reuse content and to maximize the value of this portable data is predicated on the ability to FIND it. The support for custom schema in Office enables users to tag data in a way that is meaningful to them, so if they ever did need to reuse or republish that content, they can quickly search for these tags, like company name, for example, to get to the content they have stored on their system

Document SanitizationThe increased awareness of compliance and information privacy is placing new demands on software to protect sensitive information. The ability to detect and remove comments, document versions, personally identifiable information ensures that sensitive data is not leaking outside the organization. This is important especially for client-facing communications.

Content TaggingBy adding a tagging schema to content, organizations can dramatically improve their content searches, as well as improve the value of the information stored in documents. Even with all the emphasis on search technology, the lack of a tagging taxonomy that is relevant to your business can prevent you from having the most efficient search possible, which reduces employee productivity.

## The Role of XMLExample Customer Solutions Using Office 2003 and XML

| Customer | Scenario | Solution | Benefits |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| North Carolina State Highway Patrol | Troopers spent a great deal of time manually filling out forms; administrators then reentered data and physically managed the paper-flow process | Used InfoPath 2003 to capture a Weekly Report of Daily Activity to automate and integrate reporting processes with the legacy back-end reporting system | * Saved 7,176 person-hours per year * Eliminated double data entry * Reduced paper handling * Improved report accuracy * Standardized reporting processes |
| BMC Software
Provides enterprise solutions to manage IT infrastructure | Needed to increase the quality and efficiency of its contracting process and help employees comply with best practices for contract negotiation | Deployed a contract process automation and management solution based on Word 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services | * Contract approvals up 25 percent
* Lost profits recaptured by complying with best practices
* Fast adoption, minimal retraining
* Positive ROI in one year |
| Irish Continental Group 
Principally engaged in the transport of passengers, cars, containers and freight | Their concessions approval process used an unreliable paper trail from slow manual systems that were inefficient, incapable of being properly tracked and depended on personnel not being sick or on vacation | Used Word and Excel with Windows SharePoint Services and other technologies to manage a single digital copy of a concession form moving through a series of workflow steps | * Higher levels of efficiency for information workers. 
* Reduced costs with faster information flows, reduced stationery costs and quicker processing of data. 
* Faster development time of systems that are easier for end users. |

**The Role of XML****Example Customer Solutions Using Office 2003 and XML**

**Notes:**
There are several examples of how XML is being utilized in Office today. The appendix of this presentation contains a longer list of case studies that demonstrate how customers are taking advantage of this capability now.

But I did want to highlight three interesting case studies that demonstrate the value of XML usage in Office today.

The North Carolina State highway patrol had a challenge in that the data collected by officers during traffic stops and arrests was being re-keyed into a system. This caused a large number of errors, as well as absorbing the time of a lot of people within their department. To address this problem, they introduced InfoPath 2003 for the collection and reporting of Information. They were able to integrate the data they collected directly into their systems, eliminating the need for data re-entry. Additionally, the validation of the data entered into the InfoPath forms substantially reduced the amount of errors in the data submitted. This effort resulted in substantial time and cost savings, which is very important for a government agency.

BMC Software had a slightly different challenge. They had a difficult contract approval process for interacting with their supporting vendors. A lack of a clear, documented contract process was holding up contract approvals for projects. To help address the problems in their contact processes, they began to use Word 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services to structure their document management processes. The resulting solution improved their contract approvals by 25%. This is because they were able to use Word to create pre-defined document templates to quickly construct contract documents.

The Irish Continental group had a similar problem with the data that was being exchanged in their concession approval process. The approval process was largely dependent on one person physically handing data to another person, creating a slow, inefficient approval process. To solve this problem, they implemented Word and Excel in conjunction with Windows SharePoint Services. This enabled them to have everyone in the process operate from a single source of business data, dramatically reducing the time it took to improve their approval processes. This improvement also removed the dependency on people to complete complicated tasks.

## The Role of XMLExample Customer Solutions – Office 2003

| Customer | Product | Solution |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Advisory Board Company, The | Excel custom schema | XML data-driven charting and presentation data for automated presentation development. |
| Northumberland College | Word custom schema | XML-based tool to automate the processing of self-assessment reports. |
| Siemens | Word custom schema | Data collaboration system |
| CLE British Columbia | Word custom schema | XML-based authoring and document-publishing system for book-publishing  |
| Wortmann AG | Excel custom schema | Extract geographic data from Navision and import it into Excel 2003. |
| Moore Medical | InfoPath | Drug and product information entered via InfoPath 2003 updates to a legacy ERP system. |
| Cooper Tire | InfoPath | Track the movement of tire molds within and between facilities. |
| Open University, The | Word custom schema | Content Authoring Tool—create XML structured documents that can be easily published via print and the Web.  |
| Ohio State University Medical Center | InfoPath custom schema | Uses Web services to improve the flow of clinical and other data related to operating room activities. |
| McGraw-Hill Construction | Word custom schema | An online service creates customized customer-defined views of construction information and integrated data housed in previously isolated databases.  |
| Continental Airlines | Word custom schema | Solution puts Advisories into the hands of maintenance personnel more quickly, improving the bottom line and favorable audit results |
| PGGM | Word, InfoPath custom schema | Document info system automates doc handling, updates data, and archives electronically. XML Web services provide integration between desktop and server  |
| Austrian Broadcast Corporation | InfoPath custom schema | Journalists use InfoPath 2003 forms to write and save stories in an offline mode, then submit and route automatically.  |
| Austrian Ministry of Interior (BMI) | InfoPath custom schema | InfoPath forms are used with SQL Server to collect info about a work item and upload the information to the database, drive workflow. |
| Danish InfoStructure Base | XML Reference Schemas | Open publishing format for documents endorsed by government |

- The Role of XMLExample Customer Solutions – Office 2003

## Transitioning to Open file formats

- Advocating customer choice for file format usage
- Broad array of open file formats are required to address the total need
- Broad array of open file formats expands integration opportunities
- Utilize current broad-use file formats in addition to developing standards
- Migrating existing documents to XML-based document formats
- Potentially impacts billions of documents over the past 10 - 20 years
- Support across many applications and systems must be enabled
- Layout, presentation and data integrity are mandatory during conversions
- Maintaining the fundamentals
- XML migration should not sacrifice performance, file size, or security
- Conversion tools available for users and for converting legacy documents

**Notes:**
To support many of the common scenarios for using XML in Office, the document formats used by Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint will be transitioned to XML-based file formats.

When undertaking an effort of this magnitude, it is important for Microsoft to consider several factors... 

## Microsoft Office XML Formats A new, XML-based file format for Word, Excel and PowerPoint

- Open, transparent file formats improve interoperability
- Ecma Open XML Formats on track for standardization
- Office XML Formats provide XML-based formats for templates, add-ins, macro-enabled documents and more
- Royalty-free format licenses enable integration by any technology provider
- Compact, robust file format
- ZIP compression of the format reduces file sizes
- Segmented data storage improves data recovery and the ability for developers access to file contents programmatically
- Full support for compatibility, migration and deployment
- New file formats are now *default* file formats
- Backward compatible to Office 2000 with addition of compatibility pack
- Bulk conversion tools available

**Notes:**
To achieve our vision around file formats, the next release of Office will introduce important changes:

We will introduce a new, XML-based file format for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. These new file formats will be the default file formats for these applications. This means that when I install Word, and I create a new document, that will be saved using the new format by default.

These new file formats will be backward compatible to Office 2000, to ensure that users of prior Office releases can open, edit and save these documents.

This new file format will be a compact, robust format that offers smaller file sizes, and improved data recovery. Because the contents of this new file format will be segmented and stored inside the file by data type, the ability for developers to access, query, modify or repair file contents will improve tremendously.

Microsoft will also continue to support open, transparent file formats. This new file format will have a fully documented, open, published file format specification. That specification will be available with a royalty-free license to ensure broad integration capability by any technology provider.

Let’s take a look at some of the details of this new file format for Office.

## New Word, PowerPoint, Excel Formats

| New Microsoft Office Word File Formats |  |
| --- | --- |
| .docx | Word Document (.docx) |
| .docm | Word Macro-enabled Document (.docm) |
| .dotx | Word Template (.dotx) |
| .dotm | Word Macro-enabled Document Template (.dotm) |
| New Microsoft Office Excel File Formats |  |
| .xlsx | Excel Workbook (.xlsx) |
| .xlsm | Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (.xlsm) |
| .xltx | Excel Template (.xltx) |
| .xltm | Excel Macro-enabled Workbook Template (.xltm) |
| .xlsb | Excel Binary Workbook (.xlsb) |
| .xlam | Excel Add-in (.xlam) |
| New Microsoft Office PowerPoint File Formats |  |
| .pptx | PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx) |
| .pptm | PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation (.pptm) |
| .ppsx | PowerPoint Slide Show (.ppsx) |
| .ppsm | PowerPoint Macro-enabled Slide Show (.ppsx) |
| .potx | PowerPoint Template (.potx) |
| .potm | PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation Template (.potm) |
| .ppam | PowerPoint Add-in (.ppam) |

**Open XML Formats**
- File formats submitted to Ecma International for documentation and standardization
**Macro-enabled Formats**
- Separates documents that are allowed to execute embedded macros / VBA projects
**Excel Binary Workbook**
- New, Excel binary file format optimized for large workbooks
- ALL file formats available via royalty-free license program

## Office XML Formats Architecture Modular format improves developer capabilities with minimal user impact

- Office “file”
- Operates identically to any other Windows desktop file. User sees and interacts with the desktop file exactly as they do with today.

- Internal operation
- Different types of data within each file stored as discreet, ZIP-compressed XML components
- Users would not see these components unless they un-ZIP the file to view the document parts
- Applications and systems could modify and extract individual parts without using Office applications
- The corruption or absence of any part would not prohibit the file from being opened

**Notes:**
One of the important things to remember in this description is that for the end user – the person creating documents, presentations and spreadsheets – the file format change will have minimal impact. Users will still create, edit, open, save and print documents in the same way they do today. For end users, their use of desktop files will not change.

(click once to forward the animation)

Where the biggest change is evident is what is happening “under the hood” of this new file format. Internally, the different types of data within the file are segmented and stored separately. The “file container” or the Word document, for example, is still just a file. The difference is how the data is structured internally within the file.

As you can see from the example, items like comments, charts, embedded code and custom XML are all stored within separate components within the document. Each component (and the entire file itself) is compressed, and fully described in XML syntax. Because of this efficient file structure, developers have much improved access to the specific types of content within a file. As a result of the compression, the file sizes are much smaller.

Applications and systems could use this modular format architecture to access and modify specific file contents. For example, a developer could write a tool to search a document repository and ensure the correct logo is used on all corporate letterhead; or, search a document repository and remove tracked changes from documents that are meant to be published.

Another interesting feature is the isolation of macros and embedded code. If desired, a file can be prohibited from executing this code. In fact, a separate file format enabling the use of embedded code will be created to cleanly separate files that are and are not allowed to execute macros.

Another key benefit of the file format architecture is data recovery. Because of the segmented data storage, the corruption or damaging of a single part of the document will not prevent the other parts (or the remainder of the document) from being opened. This is important for helping to ensure the integrity of the documents that are created.

## Improved IntegrationEnabling access to document contents through XML architecture

- Custom XML data store hosts content stored in custom-defined schemas; separates content from presentation.

- ZIP Container compresses document contents

- Easier programmatic interrogation and removal of unwanted content.

- Separate content storage enables simplified access and programmatic manipulation of document contents.

## Compact File FormatFile size reduction due to ZIP compression

- Dramatic file size improvements

| File Size compared to Office 2003 
(average using multiple test documents) |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  Word | Excel | PowerPoint |
|  24% | 22% | 74%* |

- * Additional PowerPoint file size improvements planned for Office 12

**Notes:**
The ZIP compression used in the new file format has benefits for the sizes of documents created by Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well. Mileage will vary for different documents, but in early testing we are seeing some trends in file size reduction. In some cases with PowerPoint files, the new file format, combined with some other investments we’re making, will result in substantial file size reduction for some documents.

This will certainly represent a step forward for customers who are seeking to reduce storage and bandwidth requirements due to smaller file sizes.

## Robust File FormatEnabling safer documents and improved corruption recovery

- Modular architecture improves recovery of corrupt files
- A damaged object no longer destroys the entire file
- Making documents safer
- Easily scanned for specific content
- Format architecture enables programmatic detection and removal of any personally identifiable information, comments, tracked changes
- No VBA code in documents by default; Optional solution format supports VBA
- Migration to new format without Object model changes

**Notes:**
The architecture of the Microsoft Office Open XML Formats will improve capabilities in the area of Trustworthy Computing as well. 

Ensuring private data remains private will be easier with the new format, due to the modular architecture. Because certain data types are segmented and stored separately, documents can be scanned for the presence of personally identifiable information, and that type of data can be removed without impacting the remainder of the document. For example, a developer could create a solution that examined all word documents for the presence of comments before that document is published to the web.

Microsoft Office Open XML Formats makes documents safer because of the separation of embedded code within the files. To cleanly separate the files which are and are not allowed to execute embedded code, a new solution format will be introduced to enable the execution of embedded code. This will be a file format that is identical to the Microsoft Office Open XML Formats, but will have a separate extension indicating that the file contains embedded code. This will be a tremendous help in notifying enterprises which documents are allowed to contain embedded code, and which files are not.

To ease the transition to this new format for developers, no changes are planned for the VBA object model, enabling the macros that are currently in use to be carried forward to the new file format.

## Royalty-free File Format Licensing

- _[Office File Format Licensing](http://www.microsoft.com/office/xml/default.mspx)_
- Royalty-free license for XML file formats
- Royalty-free license for Binary file formats
- _[Fundamentals of Office file format licensing](http://www.microsoft.com/office/xml/janletter.mspx)_
- The technical documentation is available for anyone
- The schemas are based on the W3C XML standard
- The license is royalty-free
- The license is perpetual
- The license is very brief and available to everyone

## Ecma Open XML Formats

- The goal of the Ecma Committee is to produce a formal standard for office productivity applications which is fully compatible with the Office Open XML Formats.
- The aim is to enable the implementation of the Office Open XML Formats by a wide set of tools and platforms in order to foster interoperability across office productivity applications and with line-of-business systems.
- Ecma will also be responsible for the ongoing maintenance and evolution of the standard.

- Standardizing Office XML Formats

## Ecma Open XML Formats Co-Sponsors 

- Apple
- Barclays Capital
- BP
- British Library
- Essilor
- Intel Corporation
- Microsoft Corporation
- NextPage Inc.
- Statoil ASA
- Toshiba

## www.OpenXMLDeveloper.org
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 

Open to anyone free of charge to enable broad participation and development of solutions using the Open XML Formats on any platform

- 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
- Open to anyone free of charge to enable broad participation and development of solutions using the Open XML Formats on any platform

- Building Open Communities

## File Format CompatibilityEnsuring Free Document Exchange With Prior Office Releases

- Office 2000, XP, 2003 will open, edit and save new Office formats
- Will recognize new Word, Excel and PowerPoint file format extensions
- Will save back to the new format when a file is edited
- Office 2007 users can change the default file format if desired
- Current .doc, .xls, .ppt file formats will be supported in Office 12
- Default file format can be set by users during deployment or after

| Office release | User Experience with new file formats |
| --- | --- |
| Office 2007 | Default save as Open XML Formats
Office 97-2003 formats fully supported
Compatibility Mode ensures features are also compatible |
| Office 2003
Office XP
Office 2000 | Native support for Office XML Formats (Compatibility Pack installed)
No “Save As” required when saving Office XML Formats |

**Notes:**
Any file format change comes with careful consideration to our current customers. The exchange of documents and content with users of prior Office releases is obviously a key success factor in the deployment of new Office tools, and Microsoft has paid close attention to this need when implementing the new file formats.

A patch will be made available for Office 2000, XP and 2003 to enable those versions of Office to open, edit and save the new file formats. When a user of Office 12 sends a document in the new format to a user of a prior Office release, those users will be able to operate with the file normally. This will prevent communication loops from being disrupted, and enable Office 12 users to continue working in their new documents without worry of compatibility challenges.

For those users who will need to delay the transition to the new format, Microsoft will provide extensive deployment controls for the new file formats. Users can select which file format will be their default at the time of installation. This will ensure maximum compatibility when dealing with other Office users, as well as ensure customers can migrate to the new format only when they are ready to begin receiving its benefits.

## File Format Compatibility

- Enforcing “Compatibility Mode”
- Artwork, Charts, Diagrams use Office 2000-2003 format
- Office 2007 features disallowed by Office 2007 interface
- Compatibility Checker identifies incompatible features
- Enabled for Office 2003 AND Office 2007 formats

**Office 2003, XP, 2000**

**Office 2007**

- Enabling “Full Functionality Mode”
- Enables full Office 2007 functionality
- Rehydrates disabled Office 2007-specifc content (for supported features only)

**Office 2007**

- Downgrade to Compatibility Mode
- Office 2007 features downgrade to Office 2003 features
- Compatibility Checker assists in downgrade process
- Some artwork is rasterized (can be ‘rehydrated’)
- Some structural information lost (XML Bindings, Building block information)

**Office 2003, XP, 2000**

**Office 2007**

## File Format Deployment

- Office Migration Planning ManagerProactively Identify File Format Issues

- “Light Scan” identifies document age to help prioritize conversions
- "Deep Scan" identifies and prioritizes issues found with each document
- Customizable severity levels
- Examples of compatibility challenges:
- Loss of version history
- Change in rendering or layout
- Calculation change due to formulae changes

- Office File Conversion ToolUnleash data through XML

- Uses output from the Microsoft Office Migration Planning Manager
**Not a requirement** for Office 2007 deployment
- Converts old documents to the new Office XML formats
- Runs documents through an open-and-save-as process.

- Application Customization Options

- Controllable file format defaults (Office XML Formats or 97-2003 Binaries or others)
- Automatic enforcement of Compatibility Mode

## For more information

- Microsoft Office 2007 system preview
- www.OpenXMLDeveloper.org
- www.Ecma.org