11 Aug
2004
11 Aug
'04
2:47 p.m.
On Wed, 11 Aug 2004, Steve Thatcher wrote:
would you rather have one format that allows for easy
data access and
re-creation of media or only be able to re-create media and have a
difficult interface in EVERY emulator that needs to access the data?
Personally, I would rather have exactly ONE specification that can be used
in multiple ways depending on how the person making the archive wants it
to work. Whether this is convenient or not for an emulator is not the
primary concern.
Again, the primary concern is archiving images.
Allow the archive to be used in an emulator is a lesser concern.
From a usage standpoint, I think putting the burden on
the emulators is
not a reasonable approach.
Why? They have the full advantage of being able to be written any way the
emulator writer needs to. The archival specification is of a single
purpose: to archive data media.
There are a variety of emulators available do
not have to deal with track sector access of information. One uses an
import command to bring ms-dos files in for example. To have to write an
outside utility that has to know what the image file type is, know the
physical layout of the disk, know how the OS accesses files on the disk
just to retrieve file data is not a good idea.
Why? The spec is documented and available everywhere. If an emulator
writer doesn't know how to read a spec then they can use their own image
format.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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