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From: jeffb.bbs@shark.cs.fau.edu (Jeffrey Boser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: To be or not to be a resource.
Message-ID: <8FmJ25w163w@shark.cs.fau.edu>
Date: 6 May 91 20:51:18 GMT
Sender: bbs@cs.fau.edu (Waffle BBS)
Organization: Florida Atlantic University
Lines: 25

With the limitations of the resource fork, and the expense of the
Hunk Manager, has anybody come up with a simple way of storing
variable-length data items in the data fork?

I have come up with a few ideas:  A map in the beginning of the file,
containing offsets of the chunks, which consist of the size, an identifier,
and the data...  the problem I see here is the limitations imposed by
the map, if your map size is fixed, so is the number of chunks, if it
isnt, you have to keep track of the map size and deal with it if it
gets too big or too small.
Or, a map can be generated upon opening a file, but this may take some
time.
Another problem is optimizing disk space, moving a chunk up and down the
fork to close gaps.  ie.. if the map gets smaller, everything after it
would have to be moved up.  This is not a bad thing, but if there is no
map in the beginning, the order can't be changed (if they are identified
by number).

any thoughts?


.....jeff
jeffb.bbs@shark.cs.fau.edu
"Make something an idiot can use, and only an idiot will use it" -RAH
  Like a Bible, maybe?