> Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 09:49:57 -0500 > Subject: Re: [Freenet-dev] A clear point by point comparison of the metadata > formats > From: "Scott G. Miller" <scgmille at indiana.edu> > > > Isn't the separation: "Node-readable part" and "Client-readable part" > > where the client-readable part is always encrypted until a client decrypts > > it > > ... regardless of what it contains? > No, not really.. We have the following areas of data storage in a > document: > > Public metadata (Storables)... Unencrypted, sent with the routing > message > Private metadata (Document Metadata) ... Encrypted, attached to the > document > Private data (Document data) ... Encrypted, following the metadata
Why is this an issue? Why even separate private data into metadata and data? All the very first line of the client-readable data needs to say: "Look at me ... I'm a FNP message of type n" or maybe the shorter: "FNP-type=redirect.v.0.1" Surely checking for those characters to show up at the beginning of the file is not difficult nor time-consuming. If the clients are interested in using FNP messages (which I suspect most of them will be), they will look for something along those lines as the first bits of data in the file. If it can't interpret the first line then it will do its thing to find out how best to handle the file (i.e. interpret is as a graphics header/mime header/ play the mp3/save it to a file/pass it along to something smarter). The network should have no business dictating the format of the metadata but can certainly have some special formats to keep things consistent and clients interoperatable from day-one. There is nothing saying that all future FNP messages will not have a separate data section that contains a binary package with some useful function. So using the anomylous condition of data-length=0 might not be that future-proof (or might force future designers into an uncomfortable box since they don't want to trash all the previous redirects that have been inserted into the system). Additionally, I thought data-length=0 was being saved for continuously streaming data (webcams and such)? But I guess that would be the data-length value in the public metadata. Mike _______________________________________________ Freenet-dev mailing list Freenet-dev at lists.sourceforge.net http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/freenet-dev
