OpenDocument

The Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF), also known as OpenDocument, is an XML-based file format for spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents. It was developed with the aim of providing an open, XML-based file format specification for office applications.

The standard was developed by a technical committee in the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) consortium. It was based on the Sun Microsystems specification for OpenOffice.org XML, the default format for OpenOffice.org, which had been specifically intended "to provide an open standard for office documents."

In addition to being an OASIS standard, it was published as an ISO/IEC international standard ISO/IEC 26300 — Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument).

Specifications

The most common filename extensions used for OpenDocument documents are:

ODB++

ODB++ is a proprietary CAD-to-CAM data exchange format used in the design and manufacture of electronic devices. Its purpose is to exchange printed circuit board design information between design and manufacturing and between design tools from different EDA/ECAD vendors. It was originally developed by Valor Computerized Systems, Ltd. (acquired in 2010 by Mentor Graphics) as the job description format for their CAM system.

ODB stands for open database, but its openness is disputed, as discussed below. The '++' suffix, evocative of C++, was added in 1997 with the addition of component descriptions. There are two versions of ODB++: the original (now controlled by Mentor) and an XML version called ODB++(X) that Valor developed and donated to the IPC organization in an attempt to merge GenCAM (IPC-2511) and ODB++ into Offspring (IPC-2581).

Introduction

Inside almost every electronic device is a PCB onto which the semiconductor and other components are mechanically and electrically connected by soldering. These PCBs are designed using a computer-aided design (CAD) system. To physically realize the design, the computerized design information must be transferred to a photolithographic computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system. Since the CAD and CAM systems are generally produced by different companies, they have to agree on a CAD-to-CAM data exchange format to transfer the data. ODB++ is one such file format for performing this transfer. Other formats are compared and contrasted below. After the bare board is manufactured, the electronic components are placed and soldered, for example by SMT placement equipment and wave or reflow soldering.

On-board diagnostics

On-board diagnostics (OBD) is an automotive term referring to a vehicle's self-diagnostic and reporting capability. OBD systems give the vehicle owner or repair technician access to the status of the various vehicle subsystems. The amount of diagnostic information available via OBD has varied widely since its introduction in the early 1980s versions of on-board vehicle computers. Early versions of OBD would simply illuminate a malfunction indicator light or "idiot light" if a problem was detected but would not provide any information as to the nature of the problem. Modern OBD implementations use a standardized digital communications port to provide real-time data in addition to a standardized series of diagnostic trouble codes, or DTCs, which allow one to rapidly identify and remedy malfunctions within the vehicle.

History