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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: "Compound file" library?
From:       Sirtaj Singh Kang <ssk () physics ! unimelb ! edu ! au>
Date:       1998-11-03 17:17:47
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On Tue, 3 Nov 1998, David Faure wrote:
[snip]
> > I was thinking of a resource-library system that can store files in a
> > space- and retrieval-efficient way. An application would be to store a
> > logical set of toolbar pics etc in a single file.
> Would other applications be able to access one of those pixmaps even without
> knowing that they are stored in the compound file ?

I will try to make it this way, perhaps KIconLoader will require changes
since this is the current standard for loading pixmaps.

Ideally, the best way should be to specify the full path to the file,
treating the resource file as a directory and the loader handles the fact
that it is a library, ie (contrived example)

	load( "myapp/images/icon.xpm" )

where myapp/images could be either a real directory (stat-ed first),
otherwise icon.xpm is searched for in "myapp/images.kres". 

In practice I have honestly no idea how feasible this is without breaking
KDE apps, and to what level it will work (eg what if myapp is also a
resource? pathnames?). I haven't given the details enough thought yet so
mentioning how I will go about it would be a bit premature. 

> This is for two reasons :
> * Furthermore, even if only using this for new apps, we don't want to put the
> same icon in several compound files, do we ?   ... just a question, in fact.

Well, if they refer to the same path for the pixmap it should be that they
use the same one.

> I vote for the 'zip' suggestion previously made on the list.

Pending I find a library that can handle this format. I have been looking
on the net but have not found anything yet.

> Is gzip like zip ? (can it be non-compressed ?)

Yep.

-Taj.

Sirtaj S. Kang       taj@kde.org         ssk@physics.unimelb.edu.au
School of Physics    Univ of Melbourne   KDE: The Desktop sans Toga

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