Zcdsf File Format

See AlternativesToXml. ZCDSF is data serialization format, like XML, JSON, etc.

Advantages includes:

• No reserved words.
• External encoding, rather than Unicode.
• Comments starts with # meaning that a shebang line is possible if you want it.
• Has support for macros.
• Uses delimiters instead of indentation.
• Support namespaces.
• Support references to other parts of the data; these aren't the same as making copies of the data, they are more like pointers.
• External datatype support by use of "host macros".
• Implementation in 35K (this is the size of a Windows executable including the library and a small example program, so the actual implementation is smaller).
• It is cleaner than XML.

Disadvantage:

• Numbers are limited to 64-bits.
• Some error checking is missing from the implementation.
• Implementation isn't quite completely tested.
• The format does not check the schema.
• Some people hate it.
• The computer will not understand what you mean if you try to use VT100 line drawing to enclose an object.
• It is difficult to put pictures in it.
• Less common.

{ What? No Links? Google turns up nothing. Is this someone's pet project or are they messing with us? }

[Looks questionable to me, and the stuff Donald found below is (at best) glancingly related. I suggest it be deleted as there's no useful content.]

It isn't on Google. A link is to: http://zzo38computer.org/textfile/miscellaneous/zcdsf.txt

These lists may be biased so please add more advantages/disadvantages/questions/complaints into the list so that it can hopefully be made perfectly clear and completed.

[A grammar and some examples would be very helpful.]

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---checked out - found the following DoingStuff.DonaldNoyes.20140619

• CDSF
  • CommonDataStorageFormat?
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Data_Format

• CGNS
  • Structured, unstructured, and hybrid grids
  • Flow solution data, which may be nodal, cell-centered, face-centered, or edge-centered
  • Multizone interface connectivity, both abutting and overset
  • Boundary conditions
  • Flow equation descriptions
    • equation of state, viscosity and thermal conductivity models
    • turbulence models
  • multi-species chemistry models
  • electromagnetics
  • Time-dependent flow
    • including moving and deforming grids
  • Dimensional units and nondimensionalization information
  • Reference states
  • Convergence history
  • Association to CAD geometry definitions
  • User-defined data

Unfortunately I do not understand these things very well. That's OK, though.

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CategoryArchitecture