Bug 81479 - Add options to flat XML format to meet needs of development, testing, and bug reporting
Summary: Add options to flat XML format to meet needs of development, testing, and bug...
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: ODF-Flat
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Reported: 2014-07-18 04:03 UTC by helplibreoffice
Modified: 2018-05-21 08:37 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Description helplibreoffice 2014-07-18 04:03:13 UTC
When members of the community are developing code, testing software, or reporting a bug, it would be most useful to have a single data file format specifically suited for all these purposes.

This format would have these requirements:
 (1) the file must contain as much of the data stored in the document/spreadsheet/presentation/database as possible (in order to successfully reproduce the issue)
 (2) the entire file must be in a relatively easy to read format
 (3) the file must not contain any data which could be considered private

The flat XML format works well in this regard, except for #3.

To rectify #3, I propose one or more options for the flat XML format to remove custom user data.  Custom user data can include names of printers, filespecs, fonts, LibreOffice options, lists of installed extensions, etc.

I frequently run into files at client offices that demonstrate major bugs, but cannot submit them because I cannot be sure all client data has been removed.  This proposed enhancement would encourage more submissions of bug demonstration files.

The goal is for bugs to be identified and fixed faster and more efficiently.
Comment 1 Miklos Vajna 2014-07-18 05:42:03 UTC
File -> Properties has an "Apply user data" checkbox, did you try to uncheck it to remove personal data?

Also, from a development point of view, normal ODF is just fine, all relevant developer editors (vim, emacs) can edit the XML files inside ZIP files in-place, no need for flat ODF from our side. See e.g. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Vim#Editing_zipped_XML_files (emacs has a similar feature, too).
Comment 2 helplibreoffice 2014-07-18 19:52:28 UTC
Yes, selecting that option removes some of the data, but not all.

Since ODF files are not legible with a text editor, I can't get any clients to allow publishing them on a public forum.  If clients can't open a text editor and see there is nothing special in it, they won't allow it to be published.
Comment 3 Alex Thurgood 2015-01-03 17:38:48 UTC Comment hidden (no-value)