From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1E0aZI-0006ql-8S for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Thu, 04 Aug 2005 03:55:10 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1E0aZC-0006pL-OS for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Thu, 04 Aug 2005 03:55:04 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1E0aYn-0006Ka-DU for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Thu, 04 Aug 2005 03:54:37 -0400 Received: from [195.129.94.252] (helo=srv94-252.ip-tech.ch) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA:24) (Exim 4.34) id 1E0aV2-0003Zi-7t for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Thu, 04 Aug 2005 03:50:44 -0400 Message-ID: <42F1C589.40608@kberg.ch> Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 09:36:41 +0200 From: Mike Kronenberg MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: [Qemu-devel] news on the OS X cocoa port References: <42DF6E93.3010705@kberg.ch> <41e41e7a0507210312259ae3d5@mail.gmail.com> <42DF9604.2090503@kberg.ch> In-Reply-To: <42DF9604.2090503@kberg.ch> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Reply-To: qemu-devel@nongnu.org List-Id: qemu-devel.nongnu.org List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , To: qemu-devel@nongnu.org Mike Kronenberg wrote: > I'm thinking of a new way to store the images and saved VMs, too. > Maybe we could make something like vpc: A package with the config, > disk-images and saved VMs, located in ~/Documents/QEMU PCs/ QEMU guest PC Format, a Proposal This should serve as a base for the discussion on a Structure/Format to save preconfigured/saved guest PCs. Structure: all the Files needed by the VM are stored in a folder. The folder has an ending of .qvm (QEMU Virtual Machine). Mandatory Files: - Harddiskimages Configuration File (configuration.plist) Other Files: FDImages CDImages Thumbnail (thumbnail.png) VM State File (saved.vm) Host dependent Files: PkgInfo (OS X) info.plist (OS X) Format: As a general format, I propose XML. To be more exact: PropertyLists. You find the definition for PropertyLists at: http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd Why XML? We live in a small world, the QEMU community started out from France and has now it's followers all over the world. The developers and (hard)core users may stick to ASCII characters. But this is not the case for a broader community. Localized Operating Systems and less interested/educated users will fast break compatibility of simple text/ini files. (There might even arise difficulties with ASCII/MacRoman) So XML is the choice in the long run. Why PropertyList? Because they are easy to handle. Datatypes/Values and Variable Names are stored as pairs: author Mike Kronenberg date 2005-07-27T22:00:00Z What should be covered by “configuration.plist”? Version About Arguments PC Data Temporary There is no particular Order, Data is accessed by key. 1.Version Simple String to define the version of this configurations.plist file. Format: 1.0.0 2.About Author name, Date, Copyright/left. Place for further Descriptions. 3.Arguments To have the highest compatibility, we should stick to a simple option/value Scheme here, with boolean YES/NO for arguments with no value, like -enable-audio. There should be no host dependent switches here. 4.PC Data PC Name, PC Description, PC Status, emulated CPU and other guest PC related “Meta” Information. 5.Temporary “Nice to have” data, host dependent switches – shortly everything that is NOT needed to guarantee the operation of QEMU. Sample configuration.plist: About author Mike Kronenberg copyright © 2005, Mike Kronenberg date 2005-07-27T22:00:00Z description This is a sample PC configuration. Arguments -boot c -cdrom /dev/cdrom -hda Harddisk1.raw PC Data name My new PC state saved system qemu-system-x86_64 Temporary Version 0.1.0 Waiting for Your Suggestions... Mike