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Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2016 17:38:59 +0100
From: "Nicklas Karlsson (nicklas DOT karlsson17 AT gmail DOT com) [via geda-user AT delorie DOT com]" <geda-user AT delorie DOT com>
To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: [geda-user] A fileformat library
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Precedence: bulk

> As I've mentioned previously I'm talking pcb, which is a more painful
> format to parse (such that so far as I'm aware the parser in pcb is the
> only one).  Personally I find formats like this:
> 
>   device=RESISTOR
>   T 44400 49300 5 10 1 1 90 0 1
> 
> substantially less readable than ones with field names, but they are indeed
> easy to parse.  The pcb format is quite a bit more elaborate and the
> savings from not rolling your own parser are more significant.

Yes this is simple to parse, use little file space but do not have field name. To use little file space and be simple to parse is actually two good properties of a file format.

Lack of field names may be worked around by having a list of field names in the beginning. If this list of field names is sorted according to how often they are used and each row only have to list used values it would probably be a file format with rather good properties.

To enumerate the field names at the beginning of the file may also be a solution. Or maybe to use representation of data structures from a programming language.



Nicklas Karlsson