Tim Bray on Microsoft Office

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Wednesday October 23, 2002 @08:53PM from the good-things-where-you-least-expect-them dept.

jgeelan writes "The co-inventor of XML, Tim Bray, has been talking about the newly XML-enabled version of Microsoft Office, code-named 'Office 11' and tells XML-Journal that 'when the huge universe of MS Office documents becomes available for processing by any programmer with a Perl script and a bit of intelligence, all sorts of wonderful new things can be invented that you and I can't imagine.'"

16 of 495 comments (clear)

*when* ? by Monty+Worm · 2002-10-23 21:01 · Score: 4, Funny

when the huge universe of MS Office documents becomes available for processing by any programmer

I beg you pardon? Smelly programmers can keep their hands off my documents. If I wanted you to have them, I'd have emailed them to you as plaintext. I wasn't aware the the Office license meant my documents were common property....

--
... and today's pet project has ... been discarded for lack of time.
imagination by selderrr · 2002-10-23 21:05 · Score: 5, Funny

...all sorts of wonderful new things can be invented that you and I can't imagine...

When will MS ever learn that we don't WANT to imagine how wonderfull the MS Office Universe is ?

--
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
Dogbert the Evil software consultant by choka · 2002-10-23 21:17 · Score: 1, Funny

Dogbert: Here's the new XML-enabled Micro$oft Office 11 our company should upgrade to.
PHB: ...
Dogbert: The suite is saving their documents in a format they have invented called M$ Xtremely Malformed Language (XML), and they are impossible to decipher and reverse-engineer for compatibility.
PHB: (looks closely at the box Dogbert handed to him)...
Dogbert: But that's okay, because you don't undestand anyway.
Skeptical by PizzaFace · 2002-10-23 21:27 · Score: 2, Funny
Three questions about Word's XML format:
- How's it encrypted?
- Do I need a Passport account to open it?
- Thank you, sir, may I please have another?
The new Word XML document format: by Bazman · 2002-10-23 21:29 · Score: 5, Funny

<uueWord2kDocument>
M"@D)("!'3E4 @3$E"4D%262!'14Y%4D%,(%!50DQ)0R!,24-%3 E-%"@D)("`@
M("`@(%9E7)I9VAT("A#*2`Q.3DQ
M($9R96 4@4V]F='=A6]N92!I2!A;F0@9&ES=')I8G5T
M92!V97)B871 I;2!C;W!I97,*(&]F('1H:7,@;&EC96YS92!D; V-U;65N="P@
</uueWord2kDocument>
I can see it now... by dimator · 2002-10-23 21:35 · Score: 3, Funny

<?xml version="1.0"?> <document type="word"> <![CDATA[ @%MYD<V@Q4VEA8^`!AX0>DN6UIJE=^1J;1F\ @! (P@@<$Y(@OL%AS`0B=$<S* 4&A399HT2*S-@*+U&1)+KCS>J4 HJTZ=^F534G%_S8\6=YS7?#59_.U!YI[_^ AU$`HOG^5/N3A9 9'<\V/YP`(T*'MZ6)3UVSCDYF&+B;0H?7I3'O7'(2/H(Z> U= ;N1:`!4*"4U/ATNK5GOO+^B\O?/\QK^3KE>KVYL"PN-3O2'/^9 3/U)I.PP FXG3%*.RR)0.R'/&N!?>U'*;4FK6B,U:B<4@-6O% 1D!!%Z/31&E(R*MCU,HH 15RT`H`P2H$,O5FB!R,`"*`!J5FJ -4@TNEB5)E:'"D;AO4.?>-Z1FGVQN"3O VN6RANM76P&((F=# 3GYM05%C;E%C1F[MQ>P:*".O*3VW,<-9`T:D.^O2BE@* 4N25 U@$0X#X!(B8*+H-1(3'!Y9'%ZF1B%7P9E#"^90&U72560M1E`R F$1;4$ :%/(I$JY3"67*"&E5,4&X.2>R]!F@"#7VLH>;5`>@( "`!IX4A`FK)LG*7O%D P^$G)10Y"^L:FO_^\,GTP-"V:_R/GL %-,**[?^UIWRK2YT.;70-KW8.LG;)[ ]]> </document>

--
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
Re:What will be the default save format? by Rinikusu · 2002-10-23 21:37 · Score: 5, Funny

Stop right there.
If you continue with that line of reasoning, someone's gonna demand that it be called SGML/XML.

Grr.

--
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
Re:Yay Evil Monopoly Of Doom! by jsse · 2002-10-23 21:55 · Score: 5, Funny

I don't beleive any of this crap is goingto happen from MS. Not for a New York second.

Dark-masked B.Gates approaching you:
"I find your lack of faith....disturbing."
what a cool codename by Anonymous Coward · 2002-10-23 22:01 · Score: 4, Funny

code-named 'Office 11'

awesome. Apparently the next version of the linux kernel is code named 2.6! Wow!
1. Re:what a cool codename by Anonymous Coward · 2002-10-23 22:34 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Yep and the release name will be linux 3.0 :-)
Re:I doubt it. by spongman · 2002-10-23 22:08 · Score: 3, Funny

what are you talking about? you can 'muck about' with office documents right now with whatever language you want, Perl included. You don't need XML to do it.
Nice, but redundant statement by cwernli · 2002-10-23 22:21 · Score: 4, Funny

any programmer with a Perl script and a bit of intelligence
and I thought intelligence was a prerequisite to be able to handle perl ? :)
Re:What I heard.... by AnEmbodiedMind · 2002-10-23 22:37 · Score: 2, Funny

More like
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE msword PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD WORD 1.0//EN" "http://www.microsoft.com/word11.dtd"> < worddoc > <![CDATA[ ??????????You'd be lucky????????? ]]> </worddoc>
;)
Re:Yay Evil Monopoly Of Doom! by passthecrackpipe · 2002-10-24 01:36 · Score: 2, Funny

OH NO!!!! An anonymous poster, who I don't know and will never meet has decided to NOT pledge his/her alliance with me on an Internet-based forum. I am shocked! My self-esteem has plummeted! How will I survive this massive blow to my ego!?!

--
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
Re:Tim here with a bit more background by Anonymous Coward · 2002-10-24 04:02 · Score: 2, Funny

Hey, no fair injecting actual information, from a primary source, no less, into a /. discussion! That's totally cheating! #@$! karma whore...
Re:Yay Evil Monopoly Of Doom! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-10-24 04:29 · Score: 1, Funny

Also, how would a "binary, proprietary, encrypted file format" fit into everything else Microsoft is doing with .NET?

It would help binary, proprietary, encrypted MS apps interchange data within a framework.