On Wednesday 23 January 2002 03:43 pm, Jim Theriot wrote:
> That approach is opposite to the typical desktop, where there is
> some machine-understandable metadata associated with the file (file
> name extension or resource fork or ...), such that when the user
> selects a file, the system is enabled to detect what class of file
> it is, and thereby which process can read it.
That's exactly the point though. Chances are that I am not going to
get an XML document entirely devoid of context/metadata, be it in the
form of HTTP or a XAR archive. As I said, sniffing at the document is
the wrong place to start establishing how to process it.... the "lowly
XML document" as such doesn't/should not exist.
---
FWIW. I typically do not open files whose identity/source I don't
know.... too dangerous. Someone could be processing the document in a
manner entirely unexpected by me.... like spreading a virus... or
downloading a 1pixel blank image from a web server to track my reading
habits.
