Ecma TC46 – XML Paper Specification (XPS)

1. Ecma/TC46/2007/015 Ecma TC46 – XML Paper Specification (XPS) Martin Bailey – Global Graphics, TC46 Chair Takashi Hashizume – Fuji Xerox, TC46 Vice Chair 6 August 2007

2. Agenda • Why XML Paper Specification, and why now? • Contributors • TC46 Terms of Reference • Ecma International, Key to success • TC46 meeting schedule

3. Our lives revolve around ‘paperwork’ • We all read many documents every day • We each create, comment on, contribute to, update or complete many documents every month • Document workflows increasingly cross boundaries between physical and electronic paper

4. Geographic separation of collaborators or of document creators and consumers is increasingly irrelevant • The number of collaborators on any single project is stable or growing • Deadlines and response times are continually shortening; we live in the “internet age” • Document peripherals (scanners, printers, etc) are more sophisticated and more tightly integrated with PCs and applications

5. As a result the documents we interact with are increasingly created, collaborated on, transmitted, read and stored electronically, rather than printed or written on paper • But the paperless office has not yet arrived, necessitating standards that enable interoperability between document peripherals and software applications

6. As the TC45 introduction said: • Fortunately – The Information Technology Age enabled the creation of documents simply and massively • Unfortunately – It is difficult to share, exchange, preserve information – Billions of documents in binary formats

7. Using XML for file formats … • Simplifies low-level file creation and reading • A wide variety of tool-sets are available • Increases choice of applications because of lower cost of entry for vendors • Increases robustness • Easy schema validation allows more frequent and more complete testing of created files • Improves creator quality • Allows easy diagnosis of faults in document workflows • Schema validation enhanced by grammar-specific test tools • Enables cross-application functionality • XML is now widely used in information transfer • XSL-T (and other tools) can be used to translate between different grammars • Data can therefore be extracted or inserted into XML documents

8. Standardised XML • Standardising XML grammars moves innovation to user-visible issues • Broadens the reach of many products, increasing competition • Differentiation no longer focused on file format handling, but on real user benefits in application functionality • In some cases whole new application categories become economically viable

9. International support for XML-based standards

10. California Minnesota Texas Consistent requirements lead to process for consistent legislation in US states All of these states have now dropped or down-graded the proposed legislation shown here, but it seems that the reason for dropping them was not caused by incorrect requirements analysis.

11. The document life cycle Concept&Design Writing&Editing Archiving Approvals Output&Distribution Review&Comments

12. Different document requirements Authoring document formats Information content is the primary value Full editability and round-trip capability must be retained Document format intimately tied to document usage to maximise retention of semantics Often advantageous to allow re-flow for reading devices with different form factors, e.g. computer screens, mobile devices and printed output Distribution document formats Information content and appearance are both valuable Appearance must often be guaranteed between screen and printed views Confidence in fidelity is more important than editability Document format not tied to semantics, allowing broader application in more use cases Format should be self-contained

13. Authoring & distribution stages Concept&Design Writing&Editing Archiving Approvals Output&Distribution Review&Comments Authoring Distribution Either or both

14. XPS: based on standards XPS is based on a number of other standard (de facto or de jure) technologies alongside XML : Open Packaging Conventions & Markup Compatibility (ECMA-376) ZIP (Physical Package as defined in OPC) Simplifies aggregation of XML and binary content Packaging XML in ZIP is becoming common practice OpenType Standardised cross-platform typeface storage International Color Consortium (ICC) colour profiles Standardised colour profile storage TIFF, PNG, JPEG Widely used image formats, supporting a variety of colour spaces, bit depths and compression algorithms (lossless and lossy) HD Photo Provides extended color support with lossless and lossy compression Public commitment to submit HD Photo to formal standards organization

15. Availability of tool sets Rich and mature open-source tool sets, including open source, are available for: XML ZIP OpenType (rendering) ICC-based colour management TIFF, PNG, JPEG Mostly written in C, C++ and/or Java Minimal cross-platform portability issues Tools for OPC rapidly emerging Developers supporting ECMA-376

16. TC45/TC46 work comparison TC45 Office Open XML Authoring document format Retains semantics and dynamic metadata including styling and template information and support for complex document authoring capabilities Designed to support office productivity applications Word processing, presentations, spreadsheets TC46 XML Paper Specification Distribution document format Emphasises exact fidelity of document appearance Retention of document semantics limited to those sufficient for accessibility Exclusion of programmatic capabilities to ensure fidelity & enable trustworthy documents Designed to support electronic paper scenarios and print environments

17. Other distribution document formats • Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) • Widespread implementation, rich tool set • But: • Not based on XML • Format-specific object & content stream formats • Does not meet common requirements from government and other organizations for XML-based specifications • Requires PDF-specific tool set, cannot be built with standards-based, open-source SDKs • Addresses areas beyond electronic paper (sounds, movies etc) so not always suited for direct consumption by document peripherals

18. Why standardise XPS? • Remove any barriers to adoption, allowing usage in any scenario on any platform • Collaborative effort with interested parties will ensure that documentation meets widespread needs of developers and the industry • Community-based development of future versions can lead to functionality closely aligned with broad-base of user requirements, without being limited by a single vendor’s goals

19. Why standardise XPS now? There has been rapid adoption of the XPS format from users, developers and device manufacturers The launch of a new page description language is a rare occurrence, especially with a significant user base virtually from day one XPS breaks new ground in applicability to both document sharing and all printing requirements, from home inkjets to conventional professional print devices This is combined with an XML base, as widely demanded by diverse organizations in government and business

20. Why is XPS standardisation so exciting? Most file formats are either developed entirely by standards organizations, or by a single vendor File formats developed entirely by standards groups usually take a very long time to reach maturity and widespread acceptance File formats owned and maintained by a single vendor may not achieve a breadth of functionality required by users Microsoft has developed a solid first version of XPS, and delivered tool sets to their user base; several tens of million users already have these tools Multiple vendors have already delivered or announced independent implementations Enabling the standards community to take ownership of XPS will allow even broader input and discussion of new functional requirements in up-coming versions

21. The standardization of XPS gives us the best of both worlds: • Rapid design driven by a single, large vendor, accompanied by implementations by multiple vendors from that specification • Following that with an early opportunity for further community-based development and standardization

22. Autodesk, Inc Brother Industries, Ltd Canon, Inc FUJIFILM Corporation Global Graphics Software Ltd Hewlett Packard Company Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc Lexmark International, Inc Microsoft Corporation QualityLogic Inc Ricoh Company, Ltd Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd Software Imaging Ltd TOSHIBA Corporation Xerox Corporation Zoran Corporation XPS co-sponsors

23. Ecma TC46XML Paper SpecificationTerms of Reference

24. Terms of reference for TC46 • Scope: • The goal of the Technical Committee is to produce a formal standard for an XML-based electronic paper format and XML-based page description language which is consistent with existing implementations of the format called the XML Paper Specification (XPS). • The Technical Committee will use the format called the XML Paper Specification (XPS) as a starting point with the aim to provide a standard, secure, and highly trustworthy format that enables a wide set of applications, devices, tools and platforms to implement compatible paginated-document workflows. • An additional goal will be to enable the interoperability of independently created software and hardware systems that produce, consume or otherwise process XPS content. • The Technical Committee will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance and evolution of the standard.

25. Terms of reference for TC46 • The objective of full compatibility with the existing XPS Format is adopted to: • Guarantee continuous use of the existing base of XPS documents without losing any of the functionality and minimizing disruption caused by market confusion between versions of the same specification • Maximize the benefits of implementing the standard, both to vendors and to users • Ensure interoperability with document peripheral devices already on the market • Guarantee interoperability by enabling standard-based tools for XML 1.0, ZIP etc to create, read and write files conforming to the standardized file format • Support the needs of governments and businesses to submit, distribute, archive and preserve documents using an Open Standardized Format • Enable standard transformations using W3C XSLT (or similar techniques) to extract or repurpose information from the file format • Support integration of custom defined schemas

26. Terms of reference for TC46 • Program of work: 1. Produce a formal standard for an XML-based electronic paper format and XML-based page description language which is consistent with existing implementations of the format called the XML Paper Specification, including: • Produce a fully documented and unambiguous standard for an XML-based electronic paper format and page description language. • Produce appropriate W3C XML Schemas to enable automatic verification of files written to the standard. • Enable interoperability between existing industry implementations of applications, devices, tools and platforms. (cont)

27. Terms of reference for TC46 • Program of work (cont): 2. Assume responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and evolution of this Ecma International standard 3. Support backwards compatibility with implementations targeted to prior versions of the standard 4. Evaluate and consider proposal for complementary or related additional technologies 5. Establish and maintain liaison with other Ecma TCs and with other Standards Setting Organizations (SSOs) as appropriate to facilitate and promulgate the work of the TC • Evaluate and consider contributing the Ecma standard to an ISO and/or IEC TC for approval and adoption

28. Why Ecma International? Excellent industry experience and track record Longevity, credibility, broad acceptance Efficient and effective organization and processes Respected international presence Rapid development of consensus-based standards Successful partnership with ISO submission of ISO approved initiatives & standards ISO standard addresses end user requirement FAST Track program Provision of guidance and direction for submission to ISO/IEC

29. 1st TC46 meeting Held on July 23rd in Cambridge, UK Hosted by Global Graphics Software, Ltd Highlights The meeting was attended by 26 people, made up of Ecma staff and representatives from 17 members. Ecma staff explained some of the technicalities of standards development, and the committee reviewed its scope and work items as approved by the Ecma General Assembly. A technical editor was appointed for the development of the XPS standard, and several decisions about working process were made. A meeting schedule was also defined for the next year, with hosts, locations and dates set as accurately as possible. The committee also discussed potential liaisons with other standards groups, including Ecma TC45 (the Office Open XML standard includes the Open Packaging Conventions used by XPS) and ISO/IEC JTC1 SC29 (recently announced as considering standardisation of HD Photo as JPEG XR).

30. Planned TC46 meetings • 26-28 September 2007, Tokyo, Japan • Week commencing 14 or 21 January 2008, Southwest of USA • Week commencing 14 April 2008, Oxford, UK • 9-11 July 2008, Redmond, WA, USA • 8-10 September 2008, Japan • In addition a telephone conference has been scheduled for 30th August, 2007.