[Xml-bin] Some central design issues

[Al Snell]

On Fri, 13 Apr 2001, Stephen D. Williams wrote:

> > I can make a format that's great for streaming and random access reads,
> > but in-place modification is an arse :-(
> 
> Yes, it is!  Solving it in a reasonably optimal way is highly beneficial
> everywhere else.

Is it worth having seperate streaming and random-access formats?

We could start with a streaming one (that works like current XML as far as
the programmer needs to look) then work on a random-access one (that
efficiently implements DOM, but requires a DOM traversal to generate SAX)?

The streaming one is easier to design, and is useful for many applications
(such as SOAP).

Note that many contemporary binary formats do not support in-place
editing; the common access pattern for data is generation (as a linear
output stream) then reading (either the whole thing as an input stream or
random access reading making use of some form of indexing information).

In place update does involve a big jump in complexity that's not necessary
for all applications (although it's crucial for some). Do you think this
justifies making it a seperate format (although there is much scope for
sharing between them in many ways)?

ABS

-- 
                               Alaric B. Snell
 http://www.alaric-snell.com/  http://RFC.net/  http://www.warhead.org.uk/
   Any sufficiently advanced technology can be emulated in software