looking for interest in 'data structure for packaging together multiple data streams a la Zip or Jar'

Well, without getting into a discussion of RDDL, I don't think there's
any overlap between what RDDL does and what I'm looking for help with.

Note that the W3C closed XML packaging activity specifically

"due to a lack of critical mass of interest and resources around any
particular scope of work in this area".

You can sometimes lose critical mass by bringing in lots of related
activities and losing focus. So I'm trying to focus specifically
and exactly and exclusively on the requirements identified in the
document:

"Report on XML Packaging",
http://www.w3.org/1999/07/xml-pkg234/Overview.

That document identifies several requirements:

Collecting Components
   <http://www.w3.org/1999/07/xml-pkg234/Overview#collecting>
  "Collection is a grouping of Components, while a Package takes the
  same group of Components and packages them into one file"

Random Access and the Index File
   <http://www.w3.org/1999/07/xml-pkg234/Overview#random>

   "one might want to efficiently serve up Components of a Package
    as multiple individual files, random access of a Component within
    a Collection is needed"

Metadata Association and the Manifest 
   <http://www.w3.org/1999/07/xml-pkg234/Overview#metadata>
   "there is a great need to associate Components with other Components,
    files outside the Collection and other metadata"

Dynamic Creation and Incremental Processing
   <http://www.w3.org/1999/07/xml-pkg234/Overview#dynamic>
   "Support for dynamically generated information and incremental processing"

Compressing Files 
   <http://www.w3.org/1999/07/xml-pkg234/Overview#compressing>
   "What is truly needed is real compression capability, so that binary data
    can be handled and honest compression delivered"
 
Other things, like knowing which things to put in a package, or frameworks
for negotiating package types, etc., may be interesting too.

I've heard privately from only a few people, but possibly not sufficient
to form a W3C activity despite the renewed interest caused by the XML-protocol
work.

Received on Saturday, 3 February 2001 17:22:15 UTC