SpreadsheetML

Daniel,

>>part of Spreadsheet_Excel_Writer itself. An option
could set wether to use 
>>the binary or new XML format. Don't you think ?
> Doing that would make things really hard to maintain.

This is the classical situation where a driver based
solution is the best.

-- 
Regards/MfG,
Christian Weiske

Christian,

--- Christian Weiske <cweiskecweiske.de> wrote:

> Daniel,
> 
> >>part of Spreadsheet_Excel_Writer itself. An
option could set wether to use 
> >>the binary or new XML format. Don't you think
?
> > Doing that would make things really hard to
maintain.
> 
> This is the classical situation where a driver based
solution is the best.

That is an interesting approach, could be something like:

Spreadsheet_Writer (as general/factory class)
   - Spreadsheet_Writer_Excel
   - Spreadsheet_Writer_SpreadsheetML
   - Spreadsheet_Writer_OpenDocument

... etc

Or perhaps I did not get the gist of your suggestion?


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Jesus,

> That is an interesting approach, could be something
like:
> 
> Spreadsheet_Writer (as general/factory class)
>    - Spreadsheet_Writer_Excel
>    - Spreadsheet_Writer_SpreadsheetML
>    - Spreadsheet_Writer_OpenDocument
That's exactly what I had in mind.
You have to be careful not to break BC, but if you make a
/new/ package
Spreadsheet_Writer, it shouldn't collide with
Spreadsheet_Writer_Excel.
You need to rename the drivers to
>    - Spreadsheet_Writer_Driver_Excel
>    - Spreadsheet_Writer_Driver_SpreadsheetML
>    - Spreadsheet_Writer_Driver_OpenDocument
then, as the classname would collide with the old package
then.

If you don't want to make a new package it's ok I think,
you just need
to make sure that the interface and constructor of
Spreadsheet_Writer_Excel stays the same.

-- 
Regards/MfG,
Christian Weiske

Christian Weiske wrote:
> 
>>   - Spreadsheet_Writer_Driver_Excel
>>   - Spreadsheet_Writer_Driver_SpreadsheetML
>>   - Spreadsheet_Writer_Driver_OpenDocument

I'm not sure it is a good idea to include OpenDocument in
there. Thing is : XLS 
and SpreadsheetML are both made in Redmond (read Microsoft
labs..).

So we can expect that these two formats will quite reflect
each other. In this 
regard they might be generated with the same API.

OpenDocument Spreadsheet is from a very different school.
And because it is a 
competitor of Microsoft's formats, there is a war,
different designs, etc...

At the end you're gonna end up with a lot of "feature
X supported by driver Y 
but not by Z" diclaimers I think...

Personally, I would keep the Spreadsheet_Excel_Writer name,
and make drivers like :

- Spreadsheet_Excel_Writer_XLS
- Spreadsheet_Excel_Writer_SpreadsheetML

And I would create a new package for OpenDocument.

Otherwise Sun and Microsoft are going to fight each other
inside that package... 
Except if you're into wargames, I wouldn't recommend that
to anybody 

--
   og

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Olivier,


> I'm not sure it is a good idea to include OpenDocument
in there. Thing
> is : XLS and SpreadsheetML are both made in Redmond
(read Microsoft
> labs..).
We're talking about spreadsheets?
Data arranged in a table, sometimes spanning over several
rows and
formatted nicely (alignment, bold, italic, ...) and finally
separated on
multiple worksheets.
Both OOo and Excel have this.

I had a peek into the manual and saw a Format class which
even abstracts
from the inner workings of those things. And since a format
is obtained via
> $format_bold =& $workbook->addFormat();
the OpenDocument workbook can easily return a different
format class
then the excel workbook. They just need to have the same
interface.

-- 
Regards/MfG,
Christian Weiske

Christian,

Christian Weiske wrote:
> 
>>I'm not sure it is a good idea to include
OpenDocument in there. Thing
>>is : XLS and SpreadsheetML are both made in Redmond
(read Microsoft
>>labs..).
> 
> We're talking about spreadsheets?
> Data arranged in a table, sometimes spanning over
several rows and
> formatted nicely (alignment, bold, italic, ...) and
finally separated on
> multiple worksheets.
> Both OOo and Excel have this.

Spreadsheets might also embed rather complex formulas and
macros.. Excel and 
OpenOffice Calc are more than simple grid widgets.

But I quite agree you, since I usually only need to generate
"passive" 
spreadsheet content. However, I think it is important not to
underestimate the 
conflict that's behind those formats.

> I had a peek into the manual and saw a Format class
which even abstracts
> from the inner workings of those things. And since a
format is obtained via
> 
>>$format_bold =& $workbook->addFormat();
> 
> the OpenDocument workbook can easily return a different
format class
> then the excel workbook. They just need to have the
same interface.

I agree a unified interface sounds great. Forget my remark.

The most important thing for me anyway is streaming.
Recently one my customers 
asked me to generate Excel files for large data sets, and 
Spreasheet_Excel_Writer just ate to much memory for the job.

I'm almost sure it is possible to stream both binary and
XML formats.

--
   og

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