Metadata in ODF Files

Tutorials – ODF Metadata

Article from Issue 215/2018
Author(s):

It is no secret that the native file format of LibreOffice and OpenOffice, the OpenDocument Format (ODF), is a truly open standard for word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. What most people do not know is that ODF files contain lots of metadata that is very easy to read or modify.

Metadata means "data about data." The text messages you exchange using your phone, for example, are a form of data. The people with whom you exchange those messages, when, how often, from where, and so on are metadata about your messaging habits and connections.

Metadata is really important. I once heard French philosopher Bernard Stiegler observe that "the production of metadata has been the principal activity of those in power from the time of the proto-historical empires right up to today."

On a less philosophical and more practical level, lots of metadata is stored in your office documents, and you'll find many valid reasons for messing with the metadata in office files. This tutorial describes the most common of those reasons and offers a general approach to reading and writing metadata in ODF files – an approach that is quite easy and really extendable, because an ODF file is really just a standard ZIP archive of different kinds of plain text or image files.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Metadata Cleanup Tools

    Digital camera images often reveal personal information embedded in metadata. Several Linux tools let you remove unwanted metadata to help preserve your privacy.

  • OpenDocument Intro^

    OpenDocument format offers a new approach to data storage and document exchange for office applications. But what does ODF mean for the user? What’s inside an ODF file? How portable is ODF? We examine these questions in this month’s cover story.

  • From LibreOffice to ePub
  • Movie Minder

    Smart use of metadata will help you keep your video collection organized and easy to search.

  • Unlock Your iTunes Data

    Read and manipulate data from your iTunes XML in order to share music metadata between applications and across devices.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News