Difference between revisions of "User:Mjb/Workspace"

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== Important links ==
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See [https://web.archive.org/web/20170628060702/http://www.advogato.org/person/mjbrown/ my profile on Advogato] for links to my contributions to the world of free/open-source software.
  
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* [http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ietf_process.html IETF and the RFC Standards Process], from ''The Art of Unix Programming'' by Eric Steven Raymond, emphasizes that Internet RFCs and standards tend to be based more on actual implementation than pie-in-the-sky theory
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== Topics ==
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* [http://osdev.berlios.de/osd-fs.html File system info by Chris Giese] in addition to providing various FAT technical details, gives additional details about encodings, legal characters, and limitations of FAT12, FAT16, VFAT, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ISO9660, Joliet, and HFS+
 
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* [[Wikipedia:en:Comparison of file systems]] covers a lot of ground, and links to separate articles about each file system. Check the discussion page as well.
 
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* [http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/adiehelp/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.wasee.doc/info/ee/corba/concepts/ccor_ipgmc8c.html This page] from IBM's WebSphere CORBA documentation is an example of an implementation expecting to see ":" and "\" in a 'file' URL
 
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* [http://www.infobiogen.fr/doc/info/lynx_help_files/lynx_help/lynx_url_support.html This Lynx documentation] shows how an implementation might treat '~' specially in a 'file' URL
 
  
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== Mailing list posts and notable quotes ==
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=== Misc ===
 +
* In 2020, I made notes on using [[User:Mjb/ia|ia]], the Internet Archive command-line tool.
  
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[http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/uri/2004Jul/0013.html 'file' URI conventions] (13 July 2004) - Mike Brown brings up many issues that complicate the mapping of file system paths to URIs
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=== Video ===
 +
* In 2012, I made some notes about [[User:Mjb/DVD|DVD]] file formats and DVD ripping.
 +
* In 2013, I started some notes on [[User:Mjb/video capture hardware|video capture hardware]].
 +
* In 2014, I started keeping a set of [[User:Mjb/FFmpeg|FFmpeg]] command-line examples.
 +
* In 2015, I made some notes about the [[User:Mjb/Serviio|Serviio]] streaming media server software.
 +
* In 2016, I started keeping track of [[User:Mjb/MP4Box|MP4Box]] command-line examples.
 +
* In 2018, I started keeping notes on [[User:Mjb/AviSynth|AviSynth]] usage.
  
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[http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/uri/2004Aug/0058.html What to do about file:] (19 August 2004) - Paul Hoffman points to a now-expired Internet-Draft that was just RFC 1738's 'file' URI section pulled out into a separate document, and asks about courses of action:
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=== Music & audio ===
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* '''Publish it as-is''' (which would accomplish nothing other than hastening the retirement of RFC 1738)
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* In 2008, with the help of DJ Mark E Quark, I managed to piece together [[User:Mjb/Mark E Quark mixtapes|tracklists]] for some of his classic 1991–1992 mixtapes.
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** "no" — Larry Masinter
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* In 2008–2010, I tried to keep track of DJ [[User:Mjb/Beppe Loda mixes and links|Beppe Loda mixes and links]].
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* '''Prescribe what implementations SHOULD do''', knowing that such a prescription is bound to break many/most existing implementations
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* In 2011, I started making a tracklist for a mixtape recorded in my chill-out room at the 1993 Columbus, Ohio rave [[User:Mjb/Starseed|Starseed]], and documented as much as I could remember about the event.
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** "this would be useful if it were accompanied by documentation of the caveats." — Larry Masinter
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* In 2013, I made some notes regarding [[User:Mjb/RTLSDR|RTLSDR]], which is using software to control special radio-tuning hardware.
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* '''List many more interpretations that current implementations use''', but not say whether or not to do them
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* In 2013, I documented how to set up [[User:Mjb/foobar2000 rip log file view|viewing of CD ripping logs]] in the Windows audio player foobar2000.
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** "I propose a variant of this: list the interpretations known to be in use, labeled with who uses them, in an informative section." — John Cowan
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* In 2013, I documented how to [[User:Mjb/Winamp & SHOUTcast|generate UTF-8 playlists for Winamp]].
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* '''Say more about the wide variety of interpretations, but don't list them''' so as not to confuse readers
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* In 2014, I made some notes about [[User:Mjb/Ripping vinyl|ripping vinyl]].
 +
* In 2014, I started tracking the results of [[User:Mjb/DAE quality testing|digital audio extraction (DAE) quality testing]] on my computers' CD & DVD drives.
 +
* In 2015, I made some notes about [[User:Mjb/CD ripping|ripping CDs]].
 +
* In 2017, I made notes about configuring [[User:Mjb/foobar2000 spectrograms|spectrograms in the foobar2000 audio player]] and other [[User:Mjb/foobar2000|foobar2000 settings]].
 +
* In 2017, I made some notes about my [[User:Mjb/Nakamichi CR-3A cassette deck restoration|Nakamichi CR-3A cassette deck restoration]].
 +
* In 2017, I started some notes about [[User:Mjb/Logitech Media Server|Logitech Media Server]], which I use with my SqueezeBox Boom.
 +
* In 2017, I researched the issue of how [[User:Mjb/Most vinyl contains digital recordings|most vinyl contains digital recordings]], for records mastered after circa 1978.
 +
* In 2018, I relocated my collection of [[User:Mjb/Discogs notes|Discogs notes]], undocumented guidelines, etc.
 +
* In 2019, I summarized [[User:Mjb/Time-constant-based EQ|time-constant-based EQ]] in order to understand how a frequency response curve can be expressed as just "70 µs" or "50 Hz cutoff".
  
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An RFC that says, essentially, "Internet Explorer on post-4.0 versions on Windows platforms does X, while Gecko-based engines on linux platforms do Y, on Windows platforms do Z, while the popular LWP perl library does W, java.net.URI does U…" would feel profoundly weird to me. — Tim Bray [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/uri/2004Aug/0071.html]
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=== XML & XSLT ===
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: Not all RFCs prescribe standards, and this is information that would be profoundly useful to the Internet community. … It would be excellent to have a single reasonably authoritative place to go, rather to have to run one's own experiments all the time. — John Cowan [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/uri/2004Aug/0072.html]
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* In 2005, I started writing a report on [[User:Mjb/Oracle XSLT processor bugs|Oracle XSLT processor bugs]].
 +
* In 2006, I wrote an [[XML, XPath, and XSLT technology quiz]] as potential questions to ask in a technical interview.
 +
* In 2007, I was writing [[User:Mjb/OASIS XSLT Developer Questionnaire answers for 4Suite|OASIS XSLT Developer Questionnaire answers for 4Suite]].
  
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[http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/uri/2004Aug/0076.html RE: What to do about file:] (19 August 2004) - Larry Masinter suggests some topics to cover
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=== Windows 7 ===
 +
* In 2012, I summarized what I learned about [[User:Mjb/Windows 7 folder sharing|Windows 7 folder sharing]].
 +
* In 2012, I summarized what I learned about [[User:Mjb/Windows folders that can't be renamed or deleted|Windows folders that can't be renamed or deleted]].
 +
* In 2012, I summarized what I learned about [[User:Mjb/Setting up Remote Desktop|setting up Remote Desktop]].
 +
* In 2012, I summarized what I learned about [[User:Mjb/Setting application compatibility mode|setting the application compatibility mode]] for multiple programs at once.
 +
* In 2013, I summarized what I learned about [[User:Mjb/Java updates|Java updates]] and affected apps like Serviio.
 +
* In 2015, I summarized how to [[User:Mjb/Make Windows report disk failures|make Windows report disk failures]].
 +
* In 2016, I documented how I [[User:Mjb/Boot sector recovery|recovered the boot sector]] on my Lenovo desktop PC's boot drive after corruption.
 +
* In 2018, I documented how to configure [[User:Mjb/Simple DNSCrypt|Simple DNSCrypt]] on Windows.
 +
* In 2021, I documented my experience using [[User:Mjb/Simplix|Simplix]] to install Windows 7 security updates after January 2020.
  
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== File system path to URI ==
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=== Fonts ===
 +
* In 2007, for Discogs, I researched how the [[User:Mjb/Phonorecord copyright symbol|phonorecord copyright symbol]] renders in various circumstances.
 +
* In 2016, I researched [[User:Mjb/1970s rotary phone dial card fonts|1970s rotary phone dial card fonts]].
 +
* In 2021, I made a list of some of my favorite monospace [[User:Mjb/console fonts|console fonts]].
  
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When converting from any file system path to a URI, questions to consider include the following.
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=== MP3 & AAC ===
 +
* In 2008–2010, I made some notes about [[User:Mjb/MP3|MP3]] editing, splitting, and gapless playback.
 +
* In 2008, I experimented with [[User:Mjb/Winamp & SHOUTcast|SHOUTcast]] stream transcoding.
 +
* In 2008, I used Visual C++ 2005 for the first time, and logged my experience compiling [[User:Mjb/AACGain|AACGain]] with it.
 +
* In 2015, I attempted to use [[User:Mjb/Winamp & SHOUTcast#Liquidsoap|Liquidsoap]] to generate crossfaded SHOUTcast & Icecast streams.
 +
* In 2021, I made some notes about [[User:Mjb/AAC|AAC]] encoding.
  
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=== For what kind of file system is the path? ===
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=== FreeBSD ===
 +
* In 2013, I started compiling random things regarding [[User:Mjb/FreeBSD|FreeBSD system administration]], in order to make room for other things in my head.
 +
* In 2015, I started keeping notes on my adventures in getting [[User:Mjb/FreeBSD on BeagleBone Black|FreeBSD running on a BeagleBone Black]] (plus [[User:Mjb/BeagleBone Black|general notes about the BeagleBone Black]]).
 +
* In 2015, I started keeping notes on running [[User:Mjb/FreeBSD on VirtualBox|FreeBSD on VirtualBox]] on my Windows 7 system.
 +
* In 2015, I massively enhanced my [[User:Mjb/tcsh configuration files|tcsh configuration files]] (.cshrc, .login) to customize my terminal, shell, and core app behavior.
 +
* In 2015, I also started keeping track of my [[User:Mjb/nano configuration files|nano configuration files]] (.nanorc and files included therefrom). nano is a text editor.
  
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* MS-DOS and Windows: FAT16, VFAT, FAT32, NTFS
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=== WWW ===
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* Unix-like OSes: UFS, UFS2, ext2, ext3, ReiserFS V3, Reiser4
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* In 2013, I made some notes about making a [[User:Mjb/HTTPS Everywhere|custom ruleset for HTTPS Everywhere]], which is the EFF's web-browser extension (for Firefox & Chrome only) to rewrite <code>http:</code> URLs to <code>https:</code> URLs when accessing a predefined list of websites that support such access.
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* Legacy Mac OS: HFS+
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* In 2018, I backed up my [[User:Mjb/Custom CSS|custom CSS rulesets]] for various websites before uninstalling [https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/07/stylish-extension-with-2m-downloads-banished-for-tracking-every-site-visit/ the banned extension] I was using to apply them.
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There are differences in how these file systems store directory entries, what characters they allow, how paths manifest in internal APIs, and how paths manifest to the end user of the OS.
 
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=== If the path's file system is not known&#8230; ===
 
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&#8230;what should you do?
 
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* Assume the path is from a default file system for the local OS? Many OSes offer a choice of file systems. How can you be sure you got it right? Is there a "good enough", file system-agnostic fallback?
 
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* Maybe just reject the path? IOW, just say that the file system type must be known.
 
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=== If the path's file system is not recognized&#8230; ===
 
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&#8230;what should you do?
 
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* Reject the path?
 
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* Use a default algorithm, like just prepending 'file:' and doing whatever percent-encoding is required?
 
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=== Is the path 'absolute'? ===
 
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* If it's a UNIX path, whether it starts with "/" is the only qualification, I believe.
 
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* If it's a Windows path, it could be absolute if it matches the regular expression ^(\\|[A-Za-z]:) - that is, it either starts with "\" or a drivespec (an ASCII-range letter followed by ":").
 
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=== If the path is not absolute&#8230; ===
 
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&#8230;what should you do?
 
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* Reject it?
 
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* Create a relative URI reference? ('the/path')
 
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* Create an RFC 3986-compliant, but RFC 1738-offending, URI like 'file:the/path'?
 
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* Attempt to make the path absolute by interpreting it to be relative to the local host's 'current working directory', if such a concept exists in the local OS? What if the path is for some other file system?
 
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* And do you make it absolute according to the file system's conventions first, or do you do an RFC 3986 conformant resolution of a relative URI reference ('the/path') against the base URI that is derived from the current working directory?
 
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=== Does the path contain same- or parent- (. or .., for example) references? ===
 
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Do you attempt to collapse dot segments (or equivalent) in the path or in the resulting URI? Does it depend on whether the path or URI is absolute? A reason to collapse dot segments in an absolute URI is so that the URI can be suitable for use as a base URI for RFC 3986 conformant resolution.
 
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=== Is the mapping between segments in the filesystem path and segments in the path component of the URI well-defined? ===
 
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On Unix file systems, it should be sufficient to percent-encode all non-unreserved characters. Note that '/' may appear *within* a segment, though (you can put a slash in a filename), so be sure to apply percent-encoding to each segment individually.
 
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On Windows, complications abound. (I think I cover these below)
 
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=== If the path purports to be for a particular OS, but does not match that OS's syntax for a path, e.g. 'C:/autoexec.bat' on Windows&#8230; ===
 
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* Reject the path?
 
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* Be as lenient as possible, e.g. replace '/' with '\' for Windows?
 
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* What about '9:\autoexec.bat' on Windows (bad drivespec)? acceptable?
 
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=== If the path is provided as a sequence of Unicode characters&#8230; ===
 
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* Form the URI by leaving unreserved characters as-is, and percent-encoding the rest, using UTF-8 as the basis? (RFC 3986 default)
 
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* Use some other encoding more appropriate to the path's OS?
 
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=== If the path is provided as a sequence of bytes ===
 
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(not Unicode characters, with no additional info about encoding)&#8230;
 
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* Reject it because it can't be decoded to Unicode?
 
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* Assume a default encoding? based on...? How confident can you be about, say, a file system default encoding? (probably not very, on Unix)
 
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* Attempt no decode; just form the URI by converting to unreserved characters only those bytes that, when decoded as ASCII, correspond to unreserved characters, and percent-encoding the rest of the bytes individually?
 
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=== For a Windows path, is it in the form of a local path or a UNC path? ===
 
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("local" may not be the right term)
 
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* local, absolute, with drivespec:  C:\autoexec.bat
 
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* local, absolute, no drivespec:    \autoexec.bat
 
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* local, relative:                  the\path
 
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* UNC:                              \\host\share\autoexec.bat
 
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* Do you map the UNC host name to the authority component? Don't forget to percent-encode.
 
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* Do you leave the UNC share name as the first segment of the path component, or..? And don't forget to percent-encode.
 
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=== Exceptional UNC paths ===
 
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Networked instances of Windows do weird things like refer to network printers like this: '\\http://192.168.0.1/printername', and refer to shared drives like this: '\\sharename\$d$\autoexec.bat'. When are these conventions used? I saw the former today, and the latter a few years back on NT4 systems. Are they documented anywhere, and do you want to attempt to deal with them?
 
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=== Windows case normalization ===
 
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For a Windows path, do you do any case normalization, e.g. in the drivespec? ('c:' -> 'C:')
 
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=== Windows and colon characters ===
 
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Windows uses ":" in the drivespec (and nowhere else, currently). ":" is a reserved character in a URI, but does not need to be percent-encoded in a path segment. Therefore, 'file:///C:/autoexec.bat' is acceptable as a URI, and is equivalent to 'file:///C%3A/autoexec.bat.
 
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There is a convention of using "|", e.g. 'file:///C|/autoexec.bat', I believe because of the ambiguities that arise when you have situations like 'C:/foo' as a relative URL being resolved against, say, 'file:/autoexec.bat' or 'file:C:/autoexec.bat' and so on - things that appear in the wild and may(?) have been canon at one time, but don't play nicely with any relative resolution algorithms.
 
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I haven't much sympathy for "|" and feel it should be deprecated as much as possible. Resolvers should continue to accept it and treat it as synonymous with a drivespec ":". On that note, though, should they treat '''all''' "|" as ":", or just those that appear to be a drivespec?
 
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If ":" or "|" ever become legal characters in Windows paths&#8230; then what.
 
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=== Empty path segments ===
 
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Empty segments in the path: collapse them? Depends on OS?
 
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This gets tricky round-tripping on Windows with UNC paths.. I'd have to experiment again to give you some good examples though. I decided not to worry about it too much).
 

Latest revision as of 11:31, 19 January 2024

See my profile on Advogato for links to my contributions to the world of free/open-source software.

Topics

Misc

  • In 2020, I made notes on using ia, the Internet Archive command-line tool.

Video

  • In 2012, I made some notes about DVD file formats and DVD ripping.
  • In 2013, I started some notes on video capture hardware.
  • In 2014, I started keeping a set of FFmpeg command-line examples.
  • In 2015, I made some notes about the Serviio streaming media server software.
  • In 2016, I started keeping track of MP4Box command-line examples.
  • In 2018, I started keeping notes on AviSynth usage.

Music & audio

XML & XSLT

Windows 7

Fonts

MP3 & AAC

  • In 2008–2010, I made some notes about MP3 editing, splitting, and gapless playback.
  • In 2008, I experimented with SHOUTcast stream transcoding.
  • In 2008, I used Visual C++ 2005 for the first time, and logged my experience compiling AACGain with it.
  • In 2015, I attempted to use Liquidsoap to generate crossfaded SHOUTcast & Icecast streams.
  • In 2021, I made some notes about AAC encoding.

FreeBSD

WWW

  • In 2013, I made some notes about making a custom ruleset for HTTPS Everywhere, which is the EFF's web-browser extension (for Firefox & Chrome only) to rewrite http: URLs to https: URLs when accessing a predefined list of websites that support such access.
  • In 2018, I backed up my custom CSS rulesets for various websites before uninstalling the banned extension I was using to apply them.
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