Revision as of 08:27, 28 June 2006

OpenOffice.org Specifications

Welcome to the web based collaboration area of the OpenOffice.org Specification Project. Specifications are an essential part of the OpenOffice.org development process. They serve as working base for

Development (DEV)
Features will be implemented based on the technical information covered in specifications.

User Experience (UX)
Uses specification to define the user interface (UI) and its interaction model.

Quality Assurance (QA)
Based on specifications the QA derives Test Case Specifications. Tests the implemented feature against the specification.

Documentation (DOCU)
Writes the end-user documentation based on specifications.

I Want to Change Something in OpenOffice.org - Do I Have to Write a Specification?

In general the answer is yes. Especially if one the following question can be anwered with 'yes'.

• Will the change cause a medium or major user interface modification?

• Will the changes modify the configuration settings of OpenOffice.org in any way?

• Will the changes modify the installation process or the installer configuration of OpenOffice.org in any way?

• Will the changes modify the API of OpenOffice.org in any way?

A specification needs NOT to be written if:

• The changes causes a minor user interface modification.
  • (Examples here)

• The changes are not going to be integrated into the OpenOffice.org master.
  • (Examples here)

• The change is an Add-on which is distributed separately.
  • (Examples here)

I Want to Write a Specification, Tell me How Can I Start?

Writing a specification should be as easy as possible that's why we have created a specification template. This template simplifies the process of writing specifications and the best reduces the time to review specifications.

1. Use the official OpenOffice.org Specification Template
   Note: the template requires OpenOffice.org 2.02 or newer, make also sure that the OpenOffice.org proxy settings are configured correctly. They can be found under Tools/Options/Internet/Proxy.
2. After you have downloaded the specification template check if all necessary pre-requisites for writing a specification are fulfilled. This avoids wasting resources and failures during the process of writing specifications.
3. If you can answer each of the following questions marked with the letter Q with Yes? You can start writing.
   

Q1 [Requirement]:

Does a requirement, request for enhancement (RFE), or issue exist?

Q2 [Concept]:

Is a product concept available, which is understandable to the intended readership?

Q3 [Project-Resources]:

Do you have a project team? An OpenOffice.org feature is always being devoloped by an Implementation Team (i-Team). An i-Team consists at least of two distinct persons:

• A developer (required)
• A quality assurance member (required)
• An user experience member (optional, but required if the feature or bug fix affects the user interface)

Q4 [Implementation Team Agreement]:

Do all project members agree on Q1 - Q3?

What happens if I don't have all the pre-requisites?

Well, the consequence could be that your valuable work won't be integrated into OpenOffice.org.

What Else do I Have to Follow?

1. It is strongly recommended to follow the The Three Golden Rules for Writing OpenOffice.org Specifications
2. If need to do a compatitive analyses please follow the Guidelines for Accomplishing a Competitive Analysis on Feature Level

• Specification for OpenOffice.org 2.0.x can be found on the UI Specifications for OpenOffice.org 2.0.x site
• Specifications written before can be found in the section UI Specifications for OpenOffice.org 1.1.x

Feedback and comments

Feedback or comments are welcome please feel free to submit them to "dev at specs dot openoffice dot org"