Document Standards

“The intention is to standardise on a file format to facilitate the exchange of information between agencies. This does not preclude the use of other file formats.”

Options for Consideration:

# / Option / Benefits / Disbenefits / Agency Interoperability / Business Functionality
1 / Standard: ECMA-376 1st Edition / -Compatible with many Open Source products. / -Microsoft Office 2010 cannot write in this format.
-Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable. / Low / Medium
2 / Standard: ECMA-376 2nd Edition / ISO 29500 / -Native format to Microsoft Office 2010. / -Microsoft Office 2007 and Open Source products cannot write in this format. / Medium / High
3 / Standard:
ISO 26300 (ODF) / -Compatible at the document format level across varied applications. / -Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable.
-Retention of document structure or information cannot be guaranteed between applications. / Medium / Low-Medium
4 / Standard:
ISO 26300 and ECMA 2nd Edition / -ECMA 2nd Edition - Native format to the most common product used by Agencies (Microsoft Office 2010). / -ECMA 2nd Edition not compatible with Open Source or Microsoft Office 2007 applications.
-Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable. / Medium / High
5 / Standard:
ISO 26300 and ECMA 1st Edition / -Compatible with many Open Source products. / -Microsoft Office 2010 cannot write in this format.
-Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable. / Low / Low-Medium
6 / Suffix & Standard:
“odt/ods/odp” and ECMA 2nd Edition / -ECMA 2nd Edition - Native format to the most common product used by Agencies (Microsoft Office 2010). / -ECMA 2nd Edition not compatible with Open Source or Microsoft Office 2007 applications.
-Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable. / Medium / Medium-High
7 / Suffix & Standard:
“odt/ods/odp” and ECMA 1st Edition / -Compatible with many Open Source products. / -Microsoft Office 2010 cannot write in this format.
-Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable. / Low / Low-Medium
8 / Suffix “odt/ods/odp” / -Compatible at the document format level across varied applications. / -Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable.
-Retention of document structure or information cannot be guaranteed between applications. / Medium / Low-Medium
9 / Suffix:
“doc/xls/ppt” / -Compatible at the document format level across varied applications. / -Deprecated document standard. Continued vendor support is questionable and limited. / Medium / Medium
10 / Suffix:
“docx/xlsx/pptx” / -Most well-known document suffix used by Agencies. / -Limited compatibility with products depending upon the application and version used. / Low / High
11 / Suffix:
(low fidelity)
“rtf/csv/pdf” / -Highly compatible document format / -Lowest document fidelity and functionality.
-Non document format-specific functionality will not be interoperable given Agencies’ primary use of other formats. / Medium / Low
12 / Application Specified: Microsoft Office 2010 (or latest version) / -Provides highest level of compatibility, interoperability and functionality across all Agencies.
-Provides the highest level of compatibility for non document-specific functionality currently used.
-Highest retention of document structure or information between Agencies. / -No Agency Interoperability disbenefits. / High / High