Compound files, but not Microsoft's

From: marek jedlinski (marek_at_tranglos.INVALID.com)
Date: 02/07/05 

Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2005 05:57:26 +0100

I'm looking for a component that creates and manages compound files, but I
specifically do not want to use Microsoft's "structured storage" OLE
documents (I need platform independence and want to know the particulars of
the format, plus MS implementation has some nasty quirks such as not
clearing the portion of allocated disk space or old/erased data - i.e. a
privacy nightmare).

I am particularly concerned with reliability and speed on loading. Typical
usage scenario is storing a few hundred (occasionally thousands) of
relatively small chunks of data (typically 1-100 kb), to which I need
random access. I don't want to keep all the data in memory, but read each
chunk from the file as I need it and store it back when done. Max size of
the file would typically not exceed 10-20 MB, but will usually be much
smaller (under 1 MB).

Built-in compression and encryption on the fly would be nice, as long as
encryption is robust and standard, e.g. Idea, Blowfish, Twofish, 3DES etc,
but it's not a requirement.

Preferably free (it's for a freeware application), or commercial up to ca.
$150, but price must include source code. Must compile in Delphi 6, so no
.Net.

I was toying with the idea of using a database, like Firebird embedded, but
a database has lots of features I don't need and I am not using DB-aware
controls, I would only be storing and reading hundreds of blobs, which is
not an optimal way to use a DB.

Thanks in advance,
marek 

-- 
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(KeyNote, PhoneDeck, KookieJar, Oubliette, URLInject)
"One tentacle, one vote."

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