I think he was referring to what I said about putting multiple hold files or such into the same file.
Step 1: Download DROD source code (2.0 works fine)
Step 2: Compile drodutil (may require some hoop-jumping, I don't feel like explaining it here)
Step 3: Have your two files, and run "
drodutil uncompress Filename Destination"
for each.
Step 4: Open the resulting XML files, and copy everything between the "
drod"
tags from one into the other.
Step 5: Recompress by running "
drodutil compress Filename Destination"
.
There you go.
EDIT: Do not upload any such file to any special CaravelNet systems - Schik says that the forum doesn't like those.
EDIT2: Ooops. I completely missed the question. That was dumb.
Anyway, what DROD does is simply stores the data in raw format into the database files. DROD uses a data storage library called
Metakit which works on any platform. I have played around with it myself, and once you get used to the API, it's pretty good. Another good way to store data files is in base 64. This is the format used by DROD in the XML hold, demo, and other files. Once again, the data is not converted into any particular format - it's stored in a pristine original state, then read back into a buffer which can then be passed to an apropriate library handler. However, this involves direct byte-by-byte manipulation - if you are using a higher-level language, you may not have the same power. Zipfiles are supported by nearly everything these days, though, and they work fine.
EDIT3: I might as well leave the instructions up, as they're good instructions.
[Last edited by coppro at 04-15-2007 10:49 PM]