On 12 Sep, 08:30, Steven D'Aprano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Which is why I previously said that XML was not well suited for random > access.
Maybe not. A consideration of other storage formats such as HDF5 might be appropriate: http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF5/whatishdf5.html There are, of course, HDF5 tools available for Python. > I think we're starting to be sucked into a vortex of obtuse and opaque > communication. I don't know about that. I'm managing to keep up with the discussion. > We agree that XML can store hierarchical data, and that it > has to be read and written sequentially, and that whatever the merits of > castironpi's software, his original use-case of random access to a 4GB > XML file isn't workable. Yes? Again, XML specifically might not be workable for random access in a serialised form, despite people's best efforts at processing it in various unconventional ways, but that doesn't mean that random access to a 4GB file containing hierarchical data isn't possible, so I suppose it depends on whether he is wedded to the idea of using vanilla XML or not. It's always worth exploring the available alternatives before embarking on a challenging project, unless one wants to pursue the exercise as a learning experience, and I therefore suggest investigating whether HDF5 doesn't already solve at least some of the problems or use-cases stated in this discussion. Paul -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
