Re: Formatless files
Michael Kay <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.text.xml.devel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
> > > A file has no inherent format. Not true. Every file has an inherent format. > > The format of a file is determined by the programs that use it. The operating systems that have become popular, Windows and Unix, both of which are 40+ years old, have file systems that treat the content of a file as a sequence of bytes. There are (or were) other operating systems that had much more detailed knowledge of file formats. It's an example of a common phenomenon in the history of computing: simplicity and low cost wins over technical sophistication. Something which is now causing the industry huge costs because the popular operating systems are so insecure. > > > How do those excerpts apply to XML? Why are there so many file formats - the XML file format, the JSON file format, the CSV file format, and so on? Isn't that contrary to the idea of formatless files? > There's no such thing as a formatless file. You're talking about files that have a format, but whose format is unknown at a certain level of the system. Michael Kay Saxonica _______________________________________________________________________ XML-DEV is a publicly archived, unmoderated list hosted by OASIS to support XML implementation and development. To minimize spam in the archives, you must subscribe before posting. [Un]Subscribe/change address: http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/ Or unsubscribe: [email protected] subscribe: [email protected] List archive: http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ List Guidelines: http://www.oasis-open.org/maillists/guidelines.php