XML size (was: no subject)

[Derek Atkins]

I for one would love to move back to a binary format...  Then again I
was always saying that moving to XML was a Bad Idea (TM).

In my (hopes) to make the data model more data-driven, IMHO the
easiest way to implement this would be for each data type object
to implement its' own I/O routines.  See src/business/business-core/file/
for an example for XML.

Unfortunately most things currently assume that "file" implies
XML.  Uggh.

-derek

linas@linas.org (Linas Vepstas) writes:

> > The binary format was really a dead-end. It was very brittle, with
> > subtle endian and architecture issues, and continuing to extend it
> > was going to be an extreme headache.
> > 
> > (end quote)
> 
> Except that this statement is completely incorrect.  It wasn't brittle,
> it had no endian or architecture issues, it was easy to extend (a *lot*
> easier than the current xml format) and it didn't need to be a dead
> end.
> 
> The *only reason*  the xml file format was created was so that we could 
> have an HTTP server for gnucash.  Unfortunately, this goal was lost, 
> and the current XML format is *not* suitable as a client-server
> protocol.
> 
> The binary file format is easier to maintain than the xml, and its *a
> lot* faster, and tinier to boot.   This is not new news; this has been
> true since the dawn of XML, and some XML projects have moved away
> from an ascii format to a binary format for speed and compactness 
> (e.g. vrml)
> 
> The binary format was dropped because once we had a working xml,
> everyone was too lazy to maintain two different formats.
> 
> I, for one, would support work to put a good binary file format back
> into gnucash.
> 
> --linas
> 
> -- 
> pub  1024D/01045933 2001-02-01 Linas Vepstas (Labas!) <linas@linas.org>
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-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord@MIT.EDU                        PGP key available