NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/comp/arch/storage/635

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-08 | 2.7 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!att!allegra!alice!andrew
From: [e-mail] (Andrew Hume)
Newsgroups: comp.arch.storage
Subject: Re: R/W Optical Drive file system compatibility
Summary: x3b11.1 update
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 7 Sep 92 05:52:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.23638
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ
Lines: 55

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jack Craig) writes:
> hi rawn,
>
> you should be aware that iso x3b11.1 is an optic filesystems architecture
> for spanning all os's, single drives, autochangers, worms, erasable,
> and cd-wo. it has been proposed/approved to ecma this summer and is
> due to be approved by iso sometime next year.
>
> i dont know anyone besides myself that is working toward a commercial
> offering, but ed bayshore([e-mail]) can tell you more.
>
> jack...


    ummm, let me clarify this a little. i am the technical editor
for this standard and have slightly more up to date information.

    ECMA-167 is a file system format standard for random access media,
both write-once and rewritable. it is intended for optical media
but will work just fine for magnetic media as well.

    this standard was approved by the ECMA General Assembly on June 26
this year and will be published shortly (i expect the last galley proofs
very soon now). some time after it is published, with a worst case
of December, we expect it to be forwarded by ECMA to ISO for fast track
processing (meaning it becomes a DIS straight away and the 6 mth ISO
ballot starts immediately -- actually 2-3 weeks later).

    the format is designed for interchange amongst a large number of
systems but most attention was paid to PC-DOS and Posix systems
(and to a lesser extent, VMS). It doesn't mention jukeboxes explicitly,
but several members of the developing committee will be using it in
a jukebox environment; the appropriate hooks are there.

    the work was mainly done in the USA in the X3B11.1 committee.
We interacted a lot with ISO SC15 and ECMA TC15 and with teh
Japanese National Committee (which is why we anticpate little trouble
passing the ISO ballot).

    there are at least three othe rimplementation efforts underway;
two, apparently, quite far along. as jack said, ed beshore (the
x3b11.1 committee chair) is the right contact point. his full info is

Edward Beshore
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
email: [e-mail]

    there is a bunch of stuff available about ecma-167.
there is a high-level overview, a programmer's guide and a
very recent draft of teh standard. mail me for details.


            andrew hume
            [e-mail]