> 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_at_iee.org
Received on Wed Aug 11 2004 - 18:28:15 BST