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Metalink Download Description Format (XML)

• From: Anthony Bryan <anthonybryan@gmail.com>
• To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
• Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 15:12:42 -0400

Progress continues on the Metalink ID (
http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-bryan-metalink ).

With guidance from Eran Hammer-Lahav, we are focusing on the Metalink
XML file format. We've currently addressed all feedback, and welcome
more.

  Metalink is an XML-based document format that describes a file or
  lists of files to be added to a download queue.  Lists are composed
  of a number of files, each with an extensible set of attached
  metadata.  For example, each file can have a description, checksum,
  and list of URIs that it is available from.

  The primary use case that Metalink addresses is the description of
  downloadable content in a format so download agents can act
  intelligently and recover from common errors with little or no user
  interaction necessary.  These errors can include multiple servers
  going down and data corrupted in transmission.

Other features:
  Structured information about downloads that can be used by search
engines, etc.
  Increased security (checksums, signatures).
  Can combine FTP and HTTP with optional Peer-to-peer (P2P, shared bandwidth).
  Add multiple files to a download queue.
  Transparent usage where people can get the benefits of Metalink
without even knowing they're using it.

-- 
(( Anthony Bryan ... Metalink [ http://www.metalinker.org ]
  )) Easier, More Reliable, Self Healing Downloads