Signs on the Sand

openxml.biz announced the availability of the OpenXML Writer - open source text editor for creating OpenXML WordprocessingML files (.docx). Supported features include "text formatting options like bold, italic, underline, font color, font name , font size,  paragraph justification and text indentation.  Basic editing functions like cutting, copying,  pasting and spell check are also provided".

OpenXMLWriter is .NET 3.0 application, so you might need to install "Microsoft(TM) .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable Package   (For Win XP/2K users)" in order to run it.

It's not immediatelyt clear for me if this application is just a sample from some microsoftie or free component from one of C# hackers. The site is basically empty and I have no idea who is behind this.

Anyway the idea sounds interesting:

OpenXML Writer is a .Net 3  project that shows how you can create .docx (OpenXML WordProcessingML) documents with the RichTextBox. The RichTextBox exposes a wide range of features that are easily tapped to create a fairly powerful editor. For example, you can turn on the spell check feature in the RichTextBox by simply setting a property.

OpenXML Writer works by transversing the contents of the RichTextBox and converting each of the elements into OpenXML format. It also package the relevant resources into a .docx  file based on the OpenPackaging Convention.

OpenXML Writer has the potential to turn into a full fledge editor in the near future by taking advantage of the many features that the RichTextBox itself supports. Already, many features are being planned, such as the support for lists, images and tables in  OpenXML Writer.

The source code for OpenXML Writer is available for download. It illustrates the techniques of

1. Using the RichTextBox as the editor to format text data
2. Traversing the contents of the RichTextBox and converting them into OpenXML format
3. Packaging the contents using the OpenPackaging Convention into a .docx file

Web-based OpenXML editor would be even cooler.