Microsoft Releases Specs for Binary Formats

SlashDot (/.) ^ | 1/17/2008 | skolima

[TChris]

"In response to requests for even easier access to the Binary Formats, Microsoft has agreed to remove any intermediate steps necessary to get the documentation. They're going to just post it, making it directly available as a download on the Microsoft web site. Microsoft will also make the Binary Formats subject to its Open Specification Promise by February 15, 2008. They're even planning to include an Open Source converter implementation."

[TChris]

Surely this is a mistake. Someone at Microsoft didn't get the memo, and failed to stop this.

Surely, it wasn't done intentionally.

[Boogaloo Baby]

I just saw a pig fly by.

[TheZMan]

This could be huge. Until now you had to rely on linking into the Office DLLs and praying something meaningful came out the other side. It seems now that if you are into document parsing (which I happen to be) or conversion you may be able to write that logic without relying on famously unreliable DLLs to do the work for you.

[Spktyr]

No, what we will probably find is that this is the “old” format - the one that Office 03/07 can’t read unless you hack the registry.

[Rick.Donaldson]

Two words.

Linux.

Wine.

[antiRepublicrat]

Gotta give props to MS where it's due.

[gondramB]

>>”In response to requests for even easier access to the Binary Formats,<<

Did they go with zeros and ones?

[TChris]

Did they go with zeros and ones?

I believe it's bWinBinaryTrueVal and bWinBinaryFalseVal in Windows. ;-)

[gondramB]

:)

[ShadowAce]