Re: XML.COM: How I Learned to Love daBomb

[David Brownell <david-b@pacbell.net>]

> > I'll confess to being unfamiliar with ONC-RPC, but if it is only available
> > on UNIX, that doesn't quite cut it.
> 
> It is the underlying serialization (XDR) and remote procedure protocol
> (ONC RPC) for the widespread NFS remote file system protocol, and is
> documented in RFCs 1014 (XDR) and 1057 (RPC).

And was available on PCs (and ISTR Macs too) at the time
those two RFCs were published ... 


> > Also, if it is unable to handle
> > serializing complex graphs of data in a manner that is portable across
> > platforms, that also doesn't quite cut it.
> 
> COmplex graphs, no.  XDR serializes the usual primitive types, strings,
> fixed- and variable-sized octet sequences, fixed- and variable-length
> homogeneous arrays, structures, and discriminated unions.  So it can
> pretty much encode trees, but not arbitrary dags.

Encoding DAGs is an "exercise for the reader", as they
say. I've seen it done in dozens of ONC-RPC applications.
Turns out not to be very necessary, though.

- Dave