11 Aug
2004
11 Aug
'04
11:28 a.m.
I would make the specification unassuming about
anything like
this. For
example, say there is an optional CRC feature. I would make
the default
for the image be that there was no CRC added to the data
segments, unless
a meta tag was included in the header explicitly specifying
that CRCs are
added. This makes it ever so slightly easier to decode the
image data by
someone who knows nothing of the spec. No assumptions are
made regarding
what people in the future will know about these images.
Omitting the CRC when creating the archive is easier than
genrating it and then including it. But when reading the
archive, having the CRC there does not make anything
appreciably harder. You just have to know to ignore
the CRC.
I think - quite strongly - that the protection mechanism
(CRC every so often or whatever), should be mandatory
on creation. It's not hard to generate (or check) these
days and the maths behind it is widely understood. If
our descendants forget how to check them, they can skip
them.
Antonio
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Antonio Carlini arcarlini(a)iee.org