Binary Data in XML : Turning back the clock

[Tim Bray]

At 07:33 AM 9/30/98 -0400, Samuel R. Blackburn wrote:
>It seems to me that one of the first problems programmers
>encounter is XML's inability to handle "binary" data....
>If we could turn back the clock to before 19980210 and get
>rid of design goal #3, handling binary data could have been
>so easily handled by adding one element attribute. If the
>XML spec had included one predefined attribute called
>"xml:length" binary data would have been a no-brainer to
>handle. Here's an example:

It seems to me that using base64 handles this in a much
more robust and forgiving way.

>Will XML 2.0 handle binary data? Is XML 2.0 on the drawing
>boards yet?

No and no. -Tim


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