How to use binary data with XML?

[Jonathan Borden]

xml wrote:

> Using mime attachments and such is so inefficient... would they really
> opt for storing binary object attributes using text-encoding approaches?

	MIME parts can be and often are binary. For example when you view a GIF or
JPEG image on the Web (i.e. using HTTP), they are transmitted quite
efficiently as a MIME message of Content-Type: image/jpeg and
Content-transfer-encoding: binary. It is SMTP protocol that results in
transmission with a Content-transfer-encoding: base64 though ESMTP can
handle binary data as well.

>
> ...I'm used to seeing binary and text mix and
> if the binary was inside of a (predictable) XML tag that would be
> just dandy!
>
	Dandy, but something else than XML... this can be your own private data
format. Oh darn that inconvenient spec :-)

Jonathan Borden
http://jabr.ne.mediaone.net


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