Uniform Office Format

Uniform Office Format (UOF; Chinese 标文通, literally "standard text general"[1]), sometimes known as Unified Office Format, is an open standard for office applications developed in China.[2] It includes word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet modules, and is made up of GUI, API, and format specifications. The document format described uses XML contained in a compressed file container, similar to OpenDocument and Office Open XML.

Uniform Office Format
Filename extension
.uof, .uot, .uos, .uop
Initial release30 April 2007
Latest release
2.0
(2011)
Type of formatDocument file format
Extended fromXML, SVG
StandardGB/T20916-2007
Open format?Yes

The working group that produced the standard was founded in January 2002, and the first draft of the specification was produced in December 2005.

Application support

Office suites

A number of applications list support for the Uniform Office Format; listed alphabetically they include:

  • EIOffice 2009 is said to be based on UOF.[3] It uses binder files with file extension EIO (.eio). In the latest version 5.0.1272.101 it doesn't open or save files with extensions .uof, .uot, .uos or .uop. The documentation of EIOffice states it is possible to publish documents in "Unit Office Format (XML)"[4]
  • OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice from version 3 can open and save files in "Unified Office Format" with file extensions .uof, .uot, .uos, .uop (text, spreadsheet, presentation)[5] (This also applies to version 3 of NeoOffice, a popular variant of OpenOffice for the Macintosh.).[5][6]
  • RedOffice 4.0, a Chinese OpenOffice.org variant, can open and save files with file extension .uof.[7]
  • WPS Office claims read and write support of UOF since 2009,[8] including UOF 2.0.[9]

ODF to UOF

Software is available to convert from ODF to UOF and the other way round.[10] The software was developed between November 2005 and October 2006 by the Open Standard Lab of Peking University.[11]

OOXML to UOF

Software is being developed at ACT (The Institute of Advanced Computing Technology) at Beihang University to convert from OOXML to UOF and vice versa.[12]

Possibility of merging UOF and ODF

At the "World Trade Organization IPRs Issues in Standardization" conference in Beijing (April 2007), convened by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the China State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy, the Chairman of Sun Microsystems called for a merger of OASIS/ISO's ODF and China's UOF.[13] While both formats are open, there are significant technical challenges in achieving a merger, as the two formats have made different fundamental choices in how to describe documents.[14][15]

A comparison document between ODF and UOF is available from the ODF-UOF project on SourceForge.[16]

UOF 2.0

UOF 2.0 was released in 2011, with support from WPS Office.[1]

References
  1. Jianghui Tian (25 January 2011). "应用解读 金山WPS新版首家支持UOF2.0" [The new version of Kingsoft WPS supports UOF2.0] (in Chinese). tech.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  2. Ihlenfeld, Jens (16 August 2007). "Microsofts Office Open XML: Heftiger Gegenwind aus China" (in German). DE: Golem. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  3. Updegrove, Andy (21 July 2008). "Don't Forget UOF: Here Comes EIOffice 2009 (Updated 2×)". Consortium Info]. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  4. EIOffice documentation, Ever more SW
  5. "File formats OOo can open". Wiki. OpenOffice.org. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  6. Kanaracus, Chris (1 August 2011). "LibreOffice Releases 'enterprise-ready' Version 3.4.2". PC World. IDG News Service. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  7. Fulton, Scott M. (21 May 2007). "Microsoft Claims It's Format-Agnostic in Appeal to Chinese Office Users". Betanews. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  8. http://www.wps.cn/news/shownews/id-217.htm
  9. http://www.wps.cn/news/shownews/id-294.htm
  10. Shuangbin, Xie (20 November 2006). "ODF-UOF Converter". Sourceforge. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  11. Shuangbin, Xie (20 November 2006). "ODF-UOF Converter Overview". Sourceforge. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  12. "UOF OpenXML Translator-uofooxml". Sourceforge. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  13. http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070417025728436
  14. Fulton, Scott M. (18 April 2007). "Sun's McNealy Proposes Merging ODF with Chinese Counterpart". Betanews.
  15. New, William (24 April 2007). "Open Source, Standards Get A Boost in China". Intellectual Property Watch. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  16. "Download ODF-UOF Converter Comparison" (zipped .doc). Sourceforge. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  • GB/T 20916-2007 中文办公软件文档格式规范 (GB / T 20916-2007 Chinese office file format specification) updated 1 September 2009 (Simplified Chinese)
  • "Another Open Document Format – From China", Standards (World Wide Web log), Consortium info.
  • "More on China's Uniform Office Format (and much more)", Standards (World Wide Web log), Consortium info.
  • "RedOffice/OpenOffice in China", OOoCon (PDF) (presentation), OpenOffice.org, 2006, p. 35.
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