Revision as of 10:00, 7 March 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, User Experience, Quality Assurance and Documentation.

• Currently UI specifications are stored on UI Specifications for OpenOffice.org 2.0.x
• Older specifications can be found on UI Specifications for OpenOffice.org 1.1.x

When do I have to Write a Specification for OpenOffice.org?

A specification needs to be written if at least one of the following questions can be answered with YES.

• Will the change cause a medium, or major user interface modification?
  • (Examples here)

• Will the changes modify the configuration settings of OpenOffice.org in any way?
  • (Examples here)

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

• Will the changes modify the API of OpenOffice.org in any way?
  • (Examples here)

A specification needs NOT to be written if:

• The change causes a minor user interface modification?
  • (Examples here)

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

• The change is an Add-on which is distibuted seperatly
  • (Examples here)

I Want to Write a specification, tell me How Can I Start?

We think that writing a specification should be as painless 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.

• Please use the official OpenOffice.org Specification Template

Note: the template requires OpenOffice.org 2.02 or later, make also sure that your OpenOffice.org proxy settings are configured correctly. They can be found under Tools/Options/Internet/Proxy.

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.

If you can answere each of the following questions marked with the letter Q with 'Yes'? You can start writing. 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.

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 devoleped 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 (optinonal, in case the feature affects the user interface)

Q4 [Implementation Team Agreement]:

Do all project members agree on Q1 - Q3?

"What Else do I Have to Follow?"

It is strongly recommended to follow the The Three Golden Rules for Writing OpenOffice.org Specifications