At 05:45 AM 4/29/2009, you wrote:
> Now, I wouldn't agree with the statement "Most native binary formats
> end up "painting themselves into a corner"
Typo :)
I meant "Most NAIVE binary formats" :)
Ha! SO much for spell correcting... =)
I've seen quite a few binary formats where the authors needed to
tack things on in an ungainly way... Mostly because of fixed offset based
fields, or "index" based fields where data at a certain column had a
certain meaning and there was no name associated with that column. Or
because of a lack of ability to nest extra tree data.
There are a few, yeah.
I haven't heard of IFF...
IFF is a ISO-dictated form, it actually is a ISO standard. It's
involved, but basically anytime anyone uses the 4-byte string 4-byte
size chunk it's called IFF (Interchangeable File Format, I think).
It's important to follow the rules, but there are few important ones.
Of course any well written binary format is going to be extensible,
if... that is what is needed of course. Its just a lot harder to write
a good binary format than a simple one.
Since you've never heard of IFF, you THINK it's a lot harder. It's
actually very easy. The IFF rules (see other post) combine visual
intelligibility and raw data. Text is always more comprehendible,
sure, but try loading binary stuff into a text editor. There goes
your inteligibility.
Most binary formats, if not all, are IFF-based. The ones that aren't
are the ones that you mentioned above - the headache ones.
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