Re: [widgets] Zip vs GZip Tar

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 2:28 PM, timeless <timeless@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 7:48 PM, Gregg Tavares <gman@google.com> wrote:
> > I'm sorry if I'm not familiar with all the details of how the widgets
> spec
> > is going but the specs encourage comment so I'm commenting :-)
> >
> > It seems like widgets have 2 uses
> >
> > #1) As a way to package an HTML5 app that can be downloaded similar to a
> > native
> >     executable
> >
> > #2) As a way to package an HTML5 app that can be embedded in a page but
> > easily
> >     distributed as a single file (ie, do what Flash / Silverlight /
> Unity3D
> >     currently do except based in HTML5 / EMCAScript)
> >
> > Use #2 would benefit tremendously if like Flash / Sliverlight / Unity3D
> the
> > application could start as soon as it has enough info to start as
> supposed
> > to
> > having to wait for the entire package to download.
> >
> > To accomplish that goal requires using a format that can be streamed.
> > Zip is not such a format. Zip files store their table of contents at the
> end
> > of
> > the file. They can have multiple table of contents but only the last one
> > found is valid. That means the entire file has to be downloaded before a
> UA
> > can
> > correctly figure out what's in the file.
> >
>
> That's incorrect. Zip is streamable. Go read the format.
>

I have read the format in extreme detail as well as implemented plugins
that support asset streaming for Firefox, Safari, IE and Chrome.

It's not streamable.