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Collabora Online

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Collabora Online
Developer(s)Collabora Productivity Ltd.
Initial release2 June 2016; 8 years ago (2016-06-02)[1]
Stable release
24.04.8.5[2] Edit this on Wikidata / 6 November 2024
Preview release
24.04.9.2[3] Edit this on Wikidata / 7 November 2024
Repositorygithub.com/CollaboraOnline
Written inC++, JavaScript
Operating systemOnline and CODE: Server: Linux, Clients: All devices with a modern web browser
Apps: Android, ChromeOS, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, macOS and Windows
PlatformOnline and CODE: ARM64, PPC64 and x86-64
Apps: ARM32, ARM64, IA-32 and x86-64
Standard(s)OpenDocument (ISO/IEC 26300)
Available in40 languages[a] for Online, CODE, mobiles and chromebooks[4] 120 languages for Linux, macOS and Windows[5]
TypeOffice Suite, Collaboration
LicenseMPL-2.0 and others
Websitewww.collaboraoffice.com

Collabora Online is an open source online office suite based on LibreOffice, enabling web-based collaborative real-time editing of word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and vector graphics.[6] Optional apps are available for desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and Chromebooks.

Collabora Online is developed by Collabora Productivity, a division of Collabora, which is a commercial partner of LibreOffice's parent organization, The Document Foundation (TDF). TDF states that a majority of the LibreOffice software development is done by its commercial partners, Collabora, Red Hat, CIB, and Allotropia.[7]

Features

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Collabora Online can be accessed from modern web browsers without plug-ins or add-ons. Documents, spreadsheets, presentations and vector graphics can be edited collaboratively.[8][9]

Collaborative functions include comments which other users can respond to, document version history which enables the comparison of documents and restoring, etc. Collaborative functions may also include integrated video calls or chat whilst collaboratively editing documents, features like these are possible with integrations with enterprise cloud solutions such as Nextcloud, ownCloud, Seafile, EGroupware and others.[10] Collabora Online can be integrated with any application.

Web browser accessing Collabora Online Calc 6.4.9 on Android 8" tablet
8" tablet web browser accessing Collabora Online spreadsheet 6.4.9
Screenshot of Collabora Online Writer 6.4 with sidebar toggled on
Desktop web browser accessing Collabora Online word processor 6.4 with the sidebar toggled on

Device support

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Client apps are not required to access Collabora Online which only needs a web browser; However, optional apps are available for most devices that run the following operating systems: Android, ChromeOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, macOS and Linux.[11]

These optional apps share the same core LibreOffice Technology software with Collabora Online, resulting in document consistency between them. Software development of the LibreOffice core therefore normally benefits the source code of Collabora Online server and all of the client apps simultaneously.[12][13] The apps work offline without the need for a connection to a local server or the cloud, support for integrations with cloud storage services is still possible. The mobile apps have touch-optimized interfaces that scale across varying screen sizes. The ChromeOS app which is used in Chromebooks, Chromeboxes and tablets, edits documents in the Play files folders.[14][15][16]

File formats

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Collabora Online supports ISO/IEC international standard ISO/IEC 26300 Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF – odt, odp, ods, odg). It also supports Microsoft's XML formats (docx, pptx, xlsx) and Microsoft's legacy binary formats (doc, ppt, xls). Other formats supported include pdf, png, csv, rtf, and epub.[17][18] Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Publisher, Apple Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and other file formats can be imported, the same as LibreOffice supported file formats.[19]

Applications

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The following applications are included in online and the apps for desktops, laptops and mobile (tablets, smartphones and Chromebooks).

  • Collabora Writer – word processor supporting .odt, .docx, .doc, .docm, .rtf and other formats. It has WYSIWYG editing, format and style options, comments, and is capable of tracking changes.
  • Collabora Calc – spreadsheet editor supporting .ods, .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm, .csv and other formats. Advanced formulas, pivot tables, HTML formula input, conditional formatting and data validation. Spreadsheets with up to 16k columns, charts, sparklines and hyperlinks. Advanced multi-column sort and filter advanced options. When enabled, VBA macro compatibility.
  • Collabora Impress – presentation editor supporting .odp, .pptx, .ppt. Master slides, ability to add text, images, tables, SmartArt, speaker notes, custom timings and transitions.
  • Collabora Draw – vector graphics editor supporting .odg, .vsd. For flyers, newsletters, brochures, diagramming, drawing shapes. (Version 6.4.7+).[20][21] Ability to add text, charts, tables, links, fields, FontWork, text rotation, comments. Options to download as an image or pdf. In Online, Draw functionality is integrated into Writer and Impress.

Server

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Collabora Online allows collaborative real-time editing of word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations and vector graphics.[8] The server or servers can be hosted locally or with a provider, privately hosted cloud services allow applications and data to remain under the control of the respective users. Collabora Productivity supports Collabora Online server instances for Debian, Ubuntu CentOS, openSUSE, Univention Virtual Machines and Docker images.[22][23] It is often integrated with file sharing and collaboration cloud platforms, such as Nextcloud, ownCloud, Seafile and EGroupware, which are functionally similar to Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft 365, these typically include email, contacts, calendar, file synchronization and sharing, calls, chat and video, with apps stores. Close integrations are possible, enabling things like the possibility to edit documents within a chatroom or a video call, as with Nextcloud's built-in video-conferencing tool Nextcloud Talk. Collabora Online server can integrate simultaneously with several cloud solutions such as aforementioned and also Alfresco, Kolab, Mattermost, Moodle, Nuxeo, SharePoint and others.[24]

The server can be installed from packages, or during development, for simplicity, from a docker image. The Docker website indicates that the Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE) Docker image has been downloaded 50 million times.[25] A software development kit (SDK) including API specifications and integration instructions is available, along with sample integration code snippets for several programming languages.[26]

Collaborative functions include comments which other users can respond to and document version history enabling the comparison of documents and their restoration, and other things.[9]

In 2021 a remote work solution was made available by Canonical, Collabora, and Nextcloud which includes the Collabora Online office suite, it installs on Intel NUCs or ARM based Raspberry Pi 4s, it is preconfigured and automatically updates itself, it is called Nextcloud Ubuntu Appliance.[27][28]

In 2022 support for the OpenPOWER architecture was added, complementing existing support for x86-64 and ARM64, this was the result of a partnership with IT service provider 21unity who offer a Nextcloud Enterprise solution called 21unity CLOUD.[29]

Digital sovereignty

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Collabora Online is fully auditable open source software, uses open standards, is self-hostable and does not require an account from a third party provider to edit files. In July 2020, the European parliament published a briefing titled Digital sovereignty for Europe, detailing concerns that citizens, businesses and Member States of the European Union (EU) are losing control over their data, it explains the economic model used by Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft is largely based on the collection and exploitation of online users' data.[30] Judgements such as “Schrems II” show that it is delicate to rely on solutions from the large cloud providers when it comes to processing and storing sensitive personal data.[31] Digital sovereignty has been an increasing concern in the EU for several reasons since the Patriot Act enacted in October 2001, the continuing legal privacy conflicts between the US CLOUD Act enacted March 2018, and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implemented May 2018.[32][33]

The French Ministry's IT infrastructure director stated safety of the data of their citizens and employees as a reason for deploying Nextcloud-based private cloud for the French Ministry of Interior. The Dutch Ministry of Education, the German federal government, and the Swedish federal government agencies are deploying Nextcloud-based private cloud for similar reasons and to increase competition.[34]

Interoperability challenges require effort to maintain digital sovereignty with office suites, such as the interoperability of documents with other office suites, viewing and editing. Some areas where interoperability challenges arise with Microsoft Office include, document standards, font licensing, and secret document display algorithms. Examples are:

  • As of November 2024, Microsoft Office file formats default to Microsoft XML, they do not claim to default to the open standards - OpenDocument (ISO/IEC 26300) or Microsoft's - Office Open XML (ISO/IEC 29500).[35]
  • Microsoft Office 2013 introduced undocumented display algorithms that effect document line breaks in undocumented ways, meaning that even when using identical fonts or metrically equivalent fonts, document line breaks may no longer appear in the same place as originally authored by Microsoft Office, when viewed or edited using another office suite. The undocumented display algorithms were introduced soon after Microsoft switched to use Microsoft XML. It is necessary for competing office suites to work out how this is done.[36]
  • Microsoft Office 2007 introduced new default fonts that are not freely distributable like the previous default Microsoft Office core fonts. Other computer devices are required to purchase a licence for Microsoft office even if they are using another office suite, otherwise viewing or editing these documents could render them incorrectly. To help mitigate this new metrically equivalent fonts were developed with similar widths so that line breaks etc were more likely to appear in the right place in documents, but the fonts would still look different, so documents created in Microsoft Office would still not appear as the author had created them.

Technology

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The core of Collabora Online is written in C++. It uses the LibreOfficeKit, a programming interface that allows the reuse of most of the existing LibreOffice code and the saving, loading and rendering of documents. The basic principle of Collabora Online is that documents never leave the server. The parties working on the documents see tile-rendered images of the document and send their changes back to the server. The visible user interface of Collabora Online is written in JavaScript. For file access and authentication with a file hosting services, Collabora Online uses the WOPI protocol developed by Microsoft. This means that Collabora Online can – in theory – be used with any instance allowing a Microsoft 365 integration.[37]

Reviews

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Various online and print publications have discussed Collabora Online. In December 2016 the technology website Softpedia mentioned the availability of collaborative editing in version 2.0 and the integration with ownCloud, Nextcloud, and other FSS solutions.[38] The technology website ZDNET reported in June 2020 that Collabora Online from version 19 of Nextcloud will be delivered as a standard office package and that within the native video conferencing software Talk direct editing of documents is now possible.[39] The technology blog OMG! Ubuntu! covered the release of the Android and iOS apps pointing out the possibility to use them in offline mode.[40] In September 2020 Linux Magazine compared Collabora Online with OnlyOffice, mentioning the flexibility and platform independence of both tools and pointing out the large set of features Collabora Online draws from LibreOffice.[41]

History

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The former LibreOffice development team from SUSE joined Collabora in September 2013, forming the subsidiary Collabora Productivity.[42] In 2015 Collabora and IceWarp announced the development of an enterprise-ready version of LibreOffice Online to compete with Google Docs and Office 365 (now called Microsoft 365).[43][44] In December 2015, the company's partnership with ownCloud and release of CODE (Collabora Online Development Edition) was announced on Joinup.[45] In November 2016, Nextcloud announced their work and integration with v2.0 of CODE and their future work plans for improving performance, scalability, security and capabilities with Collabora Online.[46] In October 2020, Collabora announced the move of its work on Collabora Online from The Document Foundation infrastructure to GitHub.[47][48] A development version of Collabora Online is available called Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE).[49]

A timeline of major derivatives of StarOffice and OpenOffice.org, with LibreOffice in green. Collabora Online releases are closely aligned with LibreOffice releases.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Albanian sq, Arabic ar, Basque eu, Bulgarian bg, Catalan ca, Chinese (PRC) zh-CN, Chinese (Taiwan) zh-TW, Croatian hr, Czech cs, Danish da, Dutch (Standard) nl, English (United Kingdom) en-GB, English (United States) en-US, Esperanto eo, Finnish fi, French (Standard) fr, Galician gl, German (Standard) de, Greek el, Hebrew he, Hungarian hu, Icelandic is, Indonesian id, Italian (Standard) it, Japanese ja, Korean ko, Lao lo, Norwegian, (Bokmål) nb, Occitan oc, Polish pl, Portuguese (Brazil) pt-BR, Portuguese, (Portugal) pt, Russian ru, Slovak sk, Slovenian sl, Spanish es, Swedish sv, Turkish tr, Ukrainian uk, Vietnamese vi.

References

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  1. ^ "Collabora Productivity releases Collabora Online 1.0 "Engine" for Hosters and Clouds" (Press release). Collabora Productivity. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016. Collabora Productivity, the driving force behind putting LibreOffice in the Cloud, has released the first production grade version of Collabora Online, its flagship cloud document suite solution.
  2. ^ "Collabora Online 24.04 Release Notes".
  3. ^ "CODE 24.04 Release Notes".
  4. ^ "Weblate for translating software projects". Weblate. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  5. ^ "LibreOffice Fresh download – pick language". The Document Foundation. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  6. ^ "Collabora Online in Nextcloud". NextCloud. Archived from the original on 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Collabora Online is a powerful LibreOffice-based online office suite with collaborative editing, which supports all major document, spreadsheet and presentation file formats and works in all modern browsers
  7. ^ "Open-source LibreOffice tells businesses: Get off our Community version, you are hurting development". ZDNet. 2021-02-05. Archived from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2021-08-23. TDF highlights that 73% of commits are from developers employed by these partners, including Collabora, Red Hat and CIB/allotropia
  8. ^ a b Nestor, Marius (2016-12-07). "Collabora Online 2.0 Puts LibreOffice in the Cloud, Adds Collaborative Editing". softpedia.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2021-01-15. ...the powerful cloud-based office suite that promises to protect users' privacy and freedom of expression while editing various document formats online. Collabora Online is mainly targeted at the enterprise world, hosting and cloud businesses.
  9. ^ a b Bärwaldt, Eric (2020). "Collaborative online office solutions". Admin Network & Security. 60/2020. ...insert comments, to which other users can respond. A module for versioning completes the package. If desired, office solutions save different editing states of a document and reconstruct them again as needed. Users always have access to older versions of documents...
  10. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (2020-06-04). "NextCloud gets bigger and better with Nextcloud Hub 19". ZDNet. Nextcloud also has its own built-in video-conferencing and group meeting service: Nextcloud Talk. Here, the most interesting new feature is you can now edit office Collabora documents during video calls or from within a chat room.
  11. ^ Sneddon, Joey (2020-03-04). "Collabora Office Brings LibreOffice to Android, iOS". omgubuntu.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2020-03-15. ...works entirely offline. ...support for integrations with cloud storage services, including NextCloud...
  12. ^ "Apple App Store". App Store. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Collabora Office - This app is available only on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
  13. ^ "Google Play Store". Google Play. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Collabora Office - LibreOffice based editor for Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and OpenOffice docs.
  14. ^ Mehrotra, Pranob (2020-12-01). "Collabora Office suite gets a new layout for Android tablets and Chromebooks". XDA-Developers. Retrieved 2021-01-15. Collabora Office is a popular open-source alternative to the Microsoft Office suite. It's based on Libre Office, and it's available on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. This year in July, a major update for the office suite brought support for ChromeOS devices.
  15. ^ Wallen, Jack (2020-08-04). "How to install Collabora Office on your Chromebook". Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2021-01-20. ...work with documents locally on your Chromebook...
  16. ^ "Collabora Office 6.4 Launches For Android, iOS & Chrome OS". KYM Know Your Mobile. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2021-01-15. ...it works on desktop and mobile, and it will sync up between devices too, so you can start something on your desktop PC and then pick it up later on your phone and/or tablet.
  17. ^ Bärwaldt, Eric (2020-09-01). "Working Together Tools for collaborative office work". Linux Magazine (238/2020). For cross-platform use, the suite not only supports the Open Document Format (ODF) but also all newer Microsoft formats, which makes interaction with other office suites easier.
  18. ^ Bärwaldt, Eric (2020). "Collaborative online office solutions". Admin Network & Security. 60/2020. The software also supports PDF across all modules. If required, users can also convert text files to the ePub format for displaying appear on ebook readers or with desktop software for reading ePub files.
  19. ^ Azizaj, Jona (Nov 2018). "Real time Collaboration with Collabora Online and ownCloud". Linux Magazine. 33: 70–72.
  20. ^ "Create great flyers, newsletters, brochures and more with open source software". opensource.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-08.
  21. ^ "Major new features with macros and Draw in Collabora Online update". 31 March 2021.
  22. ^ Bhartiya, Swapnil (2016-07-19). "Can Collabora and Nextcloud crack Office 365 dominance?". cio.com. IDG Communications. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2020-09-09. Unlike Google or Microsoft, Collabora Productivity doesn't have the massive infrastructure required to offer CODE as a cloud based service. Instead, it offers the entire code as a product that users can install on their own servers.
  23. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven (2021-04-13). "When online suites go down, we need options not on the cloud". Computerworld. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  24. ^ "Collaborative workflows EGroupware". Linux Magazine. 2018/210. 2018.
  25. ^ "collabora/code". Docker hub. Archived from the original on 2018-02-18. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  26. ^ Soika, Ralph (2021-05-07). "LibreOffice Online – How to Integrate into your Web Application". Archived from the original on 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  27. ^ Nestor, Marius (2021-03-25). "Canonical, Collabora, and Nextcloud Deliver Work From Home Solution to Raspberry Pi 4 Users". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 2021-04-15. ...pre-configured and automatically updated in time so you won't have to do any manual maintenance on it
  28. ^ Witmer-Goßner, Elke (2021-01-04). "Complete home office solution for Raspberry Pi and ARM users". Cloudcomputing-Insider. Archived from the original on 2021-04-10. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  29. ^ "Collabora Online goes OpenPOWER". Goodtech.info. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  30. ^ Madiega, Tambiama (July 2020). "Digital sovereignty for Europe" (PDF). European Parliament. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  31. ^ "Auswirkungen des EuGH-Urteils zum Privacy Shield-Abkommen der EU mit den USA". OSBA – Open Source Business Alliance (in German). 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  32. ^ Freest, Roland (2017-08-24). "Cloud made in Germany: Secure servers in Europe". PCWelt von IDG. Archived from the original on 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  33. ^ "Collabora Office on iOS and Android Just got Better!". Adfinis. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2021-01-15. ...touch optimized interfaces: one for tablets and one for phone screens. ...(iOS, iPadOS, Chromebooks, Android).
  34. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven (2019-09-03). "EU turns from American public clouds to Nextcloud private clouds". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03.
  35. ^ "File format reference for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint". Microsoft. 2024-07-23.
  36. ^ Németh, László (2024-10-28). "LibreOffice/Collabora Online Typography". numbertext.org.
  37. ^ "MS-WOPI: Web Application Open Platform Interface Protocol". microsoft.com. Microsoft. 2019-06-18. Archived from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2020-09-09. WOPI defines a set of operations that enables a client to access and change files stored by a server. This allows the client to render files and provide file editing functionality for files stored by the server.
  38. ^ Nestor, Marius (2020-12-07). "Collabora Online 2.0 Puts LibreOffice in the Cloud, Adds Collaborative Editing". softpedia.com. SoftNews NET SRL. Archived from the original on 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2020-09-09. With features like collaborative editing, Collabora Online 2.0 users will always be in control of their sensitive corporate data. [...] It also appears that Collabora Online fully integrates with both the popular ownCloud and Nextcloud self-hosting cloud server technologies.
  39. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven (2020-06-04). "NextCloud gets bigger and better with Nextcloud Hub 19". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2021-01-15. ...the most interesting new feature is you can now edit office Collabora documents during video calls or from within a chat room. Collabora is a SaaS version of the popular open-source LibreOffice office suite.
  40. ^ Sneddon, Joey (2020-03-04). "Collabora Office Brings LibreOffice to Android, iOS". omgubuntu.co.uk. OHSO Media. Archived from the original on 2020-03-15. Retrieved 2020-09-09. The app also works entirely offline. With no cloud or online service features come enabled by default or are required to use any of the included features (though naturally there's support for integrations with cloud storage services, including NextCloud, should you want it).
  41. ^ Bärwaldt, Erik (2020-09-01). "Working Together: Tools for collaborative office work". Linux Magazine (238/2020). Retrieved 2020-09-09. The differences are in the details. While Collabora draws on LibreOffice's enormous feature set, OnlyOffice focuses more strongly on efficient editing of office documents and therefore offers a number of less common functions. Both packages are very flexible when it comes to platform independence ranging from in-house desktop apps, through cloud-based web applications, to desktop editors and apps for mobile devices.
  42. ^ "SUSE Partners with Collabora to Deliver Commercial LibreOffice Support". suse.com. 2013-09-03. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24.
  43. ^ "LIBREOFFICE ONLINE – OPEN SOURCE ALTERNATIEF VOOR GOOGLE DOCS". Linux Magazine (Dutch). 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  44. ^ Brodkin, Jon (2015-03-26). "LibreOffice in the browser revealed in 2011 finally close to reality". Arstechnica. Archived from the original on 2015-03-27.
  45. ^ Hillenius, Gijs (2015-12-22). "New document solution offers openness and accountability". Archived from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2020-09-09. The two companies announced their partnership last week, making available an initial development release of Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE).
  46. ^ Poortvliet, Jos (2016-11-02). "CODE 2.0 Introduces Collaborative Editing of Office Documents in Nextcloud". Nextcloud. Archived from the original on 2020-04-11. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  47. ^ Meeks, Michael (2020-10-01). "[board-discuss] an Online move ..." Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  48. ^ Corbet, Jonathan (2020-10-02). "Collabora Online moves out of The Document Foundation". LWN.net. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-10-19. By having a single Online project hosted by Collabora, a clear brand story easily establishes an appropriate credit for the origin of the product into every reference to it by those using it for free. Just like the other prominent OSS projects we integrate with.
  49. ^ "Collabora Online Development Edition" (Press release). Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 3 July 2021. Collabora Online Development Edition can be set up On-Premise via Virtual appliance, Docker, Linux package, others.
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