• Laurens L (unregistered)

    How would frist be saved?

  • Warren (unregistered)

    Ah, the beauty of XML. It can store anything, in any format, including many that shouldn't have been considered for more than 30 seconds.

  • Lance Triasakov (unregistered)

    TRWTF is XML.

    I've seen worse though: XML containing base64-encoded JSON containing base64-encoded XML containing base64-encoded gzip'd CSV.

  • amomynous (unregistered) in reply to Lance Triasakov
    Lance Triasakov:
    I've seen worse though: XML containing base64-encoded JSON containing base64-encoded XML containing base64-encoded gzip'd CSV.
    And yet it's probably more efficient than this GE XML thing.
  • (cs)

    two words: CDATA Base64

    OK some more then: Remember those words when you are forced to make your existing interface 'XML-compliant' by your pointy haired boss/client for no apparent or reasonable reason.

    Addendum (2014-09-11 07:27): two words: CDATA Base64

    OK some more then: Remember those words when you are forced to make your existing interface 'XML-compliant' by your pointy haired boss/client/Enterprise Architect for no apparent or reasonable reason. For example: legacy interface between two systems, fixed width data. Enterprise Architect declares: All External Interfaces Shall Use XML To Comply With Our Fabulous SOA. (Systems at hand are tightly coupled and will never interface with other systems, not allowed by same Enterprise Architect.) Fix: wrap messages in CDATA tag in Base64 encoding (no nasty character escaping), done!

  • anon (unregistered)

    I propose saving this shit with the file extension .piz

  • Pista (unregistered)

    Any further resistance is futile, XML has taken over. Polish your parsers and prepare to worship your Master!

    BASE64 rebels will be trashed and tied between Holy XML tags.

  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to Lance Triasakov
    Lance Triasakov:
    I've seen worse though: XML containing base64-encoded JSON containing base64-encoded XML containing base64-encoded gzip'd CSV.
    Wow. Looks like some architecture astronaut finally made it to interstellar space.
  • HandsomeStan (unregistered) in reply to Gyske

    Terrible. Just ... terrible.

  • QJo (unregistered) in reply to Warren
    Warren:
    Ah, the beauty of XML. It can store anything, in any format, including many that shouldn't have been considered for more than 30 seconds.

    30?!?!?

  • (cs) in reply to QJo
    QJo:
    Warren:
    Ah, the beauty of XML. It can store anything, in any format, including many that shouldn't have been considered for more than 30 seconds.

    30?!?!?

    That's cumulative. It allows for it having been mentioned in the presence of at least six people and for several seconds spent telling the PHB who brought it up "no."

  • (cs)

    Schneider Electric's Unity Pro does largely the same thing when saving as "XML". There's a tiny bit of human-readable project data at the start then miles of binary crap enclosed in XML tags.

  • (cs)

    Oh, it's not that bad. After all, that XML should compress really well.

  • (cs) in reply to Lance Triasakov
    Lance Triasakov:
    TRWTF is XML.

    I've seen worse though: XML containing base64-encoded JSON containing base64-encoded XML containing base64-encoded gzip'd CSV.

    ...and then pasted into a Word document and checked into Sharepoint before being emailed to everyone in the company triggering a reply-all storm of cosmic proportions.

    There's a wooden table involved somewhere, but it is only used for banging heads against.

  • RedWizard (unregistered) in reply to Lance Triasakov
    Lance Triasakov:
    TRWTF is XML.

    I've seen worse though: XML containing base64-encoded JSON containing base64-encoded XML containing base64-encoded gzip'd CSV.

    Oh no. TRWTF is GE. XML is merely one instance of that mess.

  • (cs) in reply to Lance Triasakov
    Lance Triasakov:
    XML containing base64-encoded JSON containing base64-encoded XML containing base64-encoded gzip'd CSV.
    Needs more cowbell ASN.1
  • Yo (unregistered)

    Love ASN.1 TLV rules!

  • ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL (unregistered)
    ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x50⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4b⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x3⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽
    PK 0x03 0x04... so that's a zip file in XML. But hey, it's compressed!
  • ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL (unregistered)

    Oh, and that's not all! I wondered what those two bytes were before the PKZIP header. It turns out that's the length of the following data, which is the TAG_DSlength value minus two.

  • abcd (unregistered)

    PROTIP: Turn data into big data by encoding it as XML.

  • garaden (unregistered) in reply to ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x50⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4b⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x3⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽
    PK 0x03 0x04... so that's a zip file in XML. But hey, it's compressed!

    Awesome catch. That just makes it 10x better.

    Indeed:
    ddd:
    thirst
    water
    What if everything you ever needed...

    ...came in a ROCKET CAN

  • (cs)

    Mr. PHB,

    TIA for the TLAs.

    -FNG

  • not an anon (unregistered) in reply to ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x50⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4b⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x3⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽
    PK 0x03 0x04... so that's a zip file in XML. But hey, it's compressed!

    WHO CAME UP WITH THIS IDIOCY? I mean...the creator of PKzip would weep at this torture being inflicted on one of his lovely creations...

  • (cs) in reply to ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    Oh, and that's not all! I wondered what those two bytes were before the PKZIP header. It turns out that's the length of the following data, which is the TAG_DSlength value minus two.
    So we have the data length, the data length again, the data, and an end of data marker because I guess we don't trust either of the data lengths.
  • (cs) in reply to HardwareGeek
    HardwareGeek:
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    Oh, and that's not all! I wondered what those two bytes were before the PKZIP header. It turns out that's the length of the following data, which is the TAG_DSlength value minus two.
    So we have the data length, the data length again, the data, and an end of data marker because I guess we don't trust either of the data lengths.

    Well yeah, it's so that someone can spoof the data length and read past the end of data marker. Isn't all software created like that?

  • (cs) in reply to HardwareGeek
    HardwareGeek:
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    Oh, and that's not all! I wondered what those two bytes were before the PKZIP header. It turns out that's the length of the following data, which is the TAG_DSlength value minus two.
    So we have the data length, the data length again, the data, and an end of data marker because I guess we don't trust either of the data lengths.
    I sincerely hope they're not delivering it as a document fragment but if they are, not only will this be a ZIP in XML, it'll be in XML that isn't well-formed. (I've only come across one program that actually did anything that nasty. Naturally, it was written in Java.) After all, we might as well go for a full-house of awfulness.
  • (cs) in reply to ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x50⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4b⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x3⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽
    PK 0x03 0x04... so that's a zip file in XML. But hey, it's compressed!

    Oh god .. I just had a minor heart attack then .. What I didn't put in the story was that the XML file is actually exported from the application as a zip file - but with a file extension that is not "zip". So we have a zip file masquerading as another file type, that contains XML that contains a zip file.

    Now I am curious as to what is in the inside zip file.

  • (cs) in reply to OzPeter

    You know it's going to be XML, don't you?

  • Chris (unregistered)

    It's zip files containing XML files all the way down.

  • ROFL (unregistered) in reply to Chris
    Chris:
    It's zip files containing XML files all the way down.

    ++ Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

  • Ammwoe Karbornik (unregistered) in reply to OzPeter
    OzPeter:
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x50⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4b⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x3⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽ ⧼TAG_DSdata⧽0x4⧼/TAG_DSdata⧽
    PK 0x03 0x04... so that's a zip file in XML. But hey, it's compressed!

    Oh god .. I just had a minor heart attack then .. What I didn't put in the story was that the XML file is actually exported from the application as a zip file - but with a file extension that is not "zip". So we have a zip file masquerading as another file type, that contains XML that contains a zip file.

    Now I am curious as to what is in the inside zip file.

    We need to go deeper...

  • asdf28 (unregistered)

    A long time, on a laptop long since lost, I tried writing a java thingamajig to basically run "find ./" manually, and save the output to some nested zip files.

    Its' most impressive failure was going into an infinite loop. In ~/.openoffice/, there was a symlink to ~/, which it followed, scanned, scanned, reached ~/.openoffice/ and its' symlink, and restarted scanning at ~/.

    Java novices and symlinks don't mix.

  • Thomas (unregistered)

    I was expecting something along these lines:

    (bdata) (bdigit position="1")0(/bdigit) (bdigit position="3")0(/bdigit) (bdigit position="2")1(/bdigit) (/bdata)

  • Norman Diamond (unregistered) in reply to Chris
    Chris:
    It's zip files containing XML files all the way down.
    A whole day later and no one has posted a quine to do this?
  • Anonymous Coward (unregistered)

    If it's a binary blob it should use binary XML like XMPP does http://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0239.html

    Note the date of this specification :-)

  • Sir Galahad the pure (unregistered) in reply to HardwareGeek
    HardwareGeek:
    ¯\(°_o)/¯ I DUNNO LOL:
    Oh, and that's not all! I wondered what those two bytes were before the PKZIP header. It turns out that's the length of the following data, which is the TAG_DSlength value minus two.
    So we have the data length, the data length again, the data, and an end of data marker because I guess we don't trust either of the data lengths.

    If only there was a way to, you know, group elements together with XML... that would be great!

Leave a comment on “XXL XML”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

Log Out

« Return to Article