xml-dev - re: Binary Data in XML : Turning back the clock

[Dave Winer <dave@userland.com>]

FWIW, we have a bunch of applications that move data between machines using
XML wrappers, and when a bit of data is binary we base64 it. Works across
Macs and Windows machines. No problem. Dave

At 08:28 AM 9/30/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Samuel R. Blackburn writes:
>
> > A couple of weeks ago on this list, there was a thread that was
> > lamenting the slow adoption of XML in the web community.
> > 
> > It seems to me that one of the first problems programmers
> > encounter is XML's inability to handle "binary" data. Once they
> > hit that wall, they drop XML and move on to something else
> > (usually a custom format).
> > 
> > If we could turn back the clock to before 19980210 and get
> > rid of design goal #3, handling binary data could have been
> > so easily handled by adding one element attribute. If the
> > XML spec had included one predefined attribute called
> > "xml:length" binary data would have been a no-brainer to
> > handle. Here's an example:
> > 
> > <BINARY_DATA xml:length="4"><<<<</BINARY_DATA>
>
>This suggestion has a few problems.  What does 'xml:length' represent
>-- bytes or characters?  How can a program change the encoding (say,
>from UTF-8 to UCS-4) without actually parsing the document?  If I'm
>transmitting from an M68K to an 80*86 machine, what happens to byte
>order?
>
>When you do need binary data inline, here's a much simpler solution:
>
>  <BINARY_DATA type="text/plain" enc="base64">PDw8PA==</BINARY_DATA>
>
>You can easily add attributes for the length, checksum, digital
>signature, encryption key, etc.
>
>
>All the best,
>
>
>David
>
>-- 
>David Megginson                 david@megginson.com
>           http://www.megginson.com/
>
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