Sustainability of Digital Formats
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Introduction | Sustainability Factors | Content Categories | Format Descriptions | Contact |
Full name | OEBPS, Open eBook Forum Publication Structure 1.2 |
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Description |
Open eBook Publication Structure (OEBPS) is an XML-based specification for the content, structure, and presentation of electronic books. OEBPS was developed by the Open eBook Forum, a group of organizations involved in electronic publishing and now known as the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). The format comprises a set of files, including a mandatory package file, which incorporates a manifest listing all the other component files and a spine, which indicates logical reading order. In addition to text in XML, a reader for OEB publications must be able to render still images in JPEG and PNG formats. Content components in other formats may be included, but fallback content must be provided in one of the core OEB formats. OEBPS 1.2 is a tightly constrained update to the prior version (OEBPS 1.0.1). It provides new functionality in the area of presentation control, including, among other things, improvements in the markup vocabulary (now a pure subset of XHTML 1.1), and greatly expanded CSS support. Further details regarding the changes made in 1.2 from 1.0.1 are found in the specification document. Sustainability factors are unchanged from the earlier version. |
Production phase | This bundle of files is likely to be used primarily as a middle-state format, with dissemination to end-users managed through publishers or aggregators who provide in a form appropriate for different ebook viewers/players. |
Relationship to other formats | |
Has earlier version | OEBPS_1_0, Open eBook Forum Publication Structure 1.0.1 |
Defined via | XML_DTD, |
May contain | JFIF, (JPEG File Interchange Format) |
May contain | PNG, |
LC experience or existing holdings | No use of this version of the OEBF standard. OEBPS 1.0.1 is incorporated into the standard for the Digital Talking Book standard maintained by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), which is part of LC. |
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LC preference | Among the preferred XML-based formats for textual works. |
Disclosure | Open standard |
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Documentation | Open eBook Forum Specifications Open eBook Publication Structure Specification Version 1.2 |
Adoption | TBD |
Licensing and patents | None |
Transparency | Text content must be in XML, which rates highly for transparency. |
Self-documentation | The Package file can include Dublin Core metadata. |
External dependencies | None. |
Technical protection considerations | None in relation to publication structure and component files in the core OEB formats (XML, CSS, JPEG, PNG). |
Text | |
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Normal rendering | Good support. |
Integrity of document structure | The logical structure of a document is an essential feature of OeBPS. |
Integrity of layout and display | Version 1.2 provides more control for content providers over presentation than the previous version. |
Support for mathematics, formulae, etc. | Not supported. |
Tag | Value | Note |
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Filename extension | opf |
Recommended extension for the required Package file. |
Filename extension | xml |
For textual content files. |
XML DOCTYPE declaration | <!DOCTYPE package PUBLIC "+//ISBN 0-9673008-1-9//DTD OEB 1.2 Package//EN" "http://openebook.org/dtds/oeb-1.2/oebpkg12.dtd"> |
General | Conforming reading systems must support XML, CSS, JPEG and PNG files. An OEBPS Publication may contain other kinds of files as well (including audio and video files), but must also provide a fallback version of the content in one of those four formats. |
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History |
Version 1.0 of the Publication Structure was created in the winter, spring, and summer of 1999 by the Open eBook Authoring Group. The Authoring Group consisted of over 25 individuals from organizations participating in the Open eBook initiative, which had been launched in October 1998 and was convened and facilitated by NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology.) The Authoring Group included participants representing all aspects of the electronic publishing industry, and was open to any interested individual or organization. Following the release of OEBPS 1.0, the Open eBook Forum (OeBF) was formally incorporated in January 2000. Version 1.0.1, a maintenance release, was brought out in July 2001. OEBPS Version 1.2, incorporating new support for control by content providers over presentation along with other corrections and improvements, was released as a Recommended Specification in August 2002. In mid-2005, the Open eBook Forum changed its name to the International Digital Publishing Forum. As of March 2009, the URLs http://www.openebook.org/ and http://www.idpf.org/ are equivalent. |
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