Word 2003
Office 2003, expected in mid-year, will have built-in XML support in Word, Excel, and Access. A second Beta version has been released. We have installed a copy, and saved a Word file as XML for you to examine. Samples and a brief discussion of WordML mark-up are here.
Articles and Screenshots
Here are links to other articles that discuss the new features of Word 2003.
- Microsoft limits XML in Office 2003, ZDNet, 11/04/2003.
- Open for Business, Infoworld, 03/01/2003
- Microsoft Office embraces XML, xmlhack, 16/12/2002
- XML for the rest of us, Jon Udell, Infoworld, 15/11/2002
XML features
XML support differs substantially between the standard and professional editions. In the Pro edition, you can create a mapping between Word styles and XML elements, and constrain author input to be valid against an assigned XML Schema. This seems like a good thing, but unfortunately the simpler XML DTDs are not supported, and Schemas are too complex for most people.
In the standard edition, and also if you don't have your own XML Schema, Word exports to its own WordML schema. This schema is sort of an RTF with angle brackets, and although it is well-formed XML, it does not really support hierarchical structures, but is more linear in design. For example, lists are treated linear sequences, not hierarchical structures, and character level formatting is also handled in a strange way. However, some clever coding could address some of these problems.
Disadvantages
While you may want XML support, you probably don't want a lot of the other stuff bundled into Word 2003, such as Rights Management Services (RMS), and the License restrictions. With RMS, you could potentially lose the ability to open your Word documents without paying subscription fees to Microsoft. The Microsoft End-User License Agreement (EULA) requires that you give Microsoft permission to access your PC for the purpose of checking that your software is licensed.
Andrew Grygus has written a long but excellent article called 2003 and Beyond, which includes more detail on the exact issues with Office 2003.
Available Word to XML converters
If you can't wait for Office 2003 to be released, or you don't want to buy it, there are still plenty of specialist vendors of Word to XML conversion applications. We maintain a list of Word to XML converters, including our own modest offering, YAWC Pro.
