OpenXML: “What is the Difference Between the System.IO.Packaging and Microsoft.Office.DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Packaging Namespaces?”; Eric White

There are two separate namespaces, each containing a number of classes, which you can use to open and get at the contents of Open XML documents.

System.IO.Packaging is part of the .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5. The classes are in the WindowsBase assembly.
DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Packaging is in an external assembly that you can download and install. The classes are in the DocumentFormat.OpenXml assembly.

Note that neither of the above namespaces help in any way with consuming the XML in the parts. You must still use an XML programming API, such as XmlReader, XmlDocument (or best, LINQ to XML), to consume and if necessary, produce the XML.

[http://blogs.msdn.com/ericwhite/archive/2007/12/20/what-is-the-difference-between-the-system-io-packaging-and-microsoft-office-documentformat-openxml-packaging-namespaces.aspx]

mod date: 2008-11-29T04:45:53.000Z