On 30.11.2007 22:59, Stefan Reinauer wrote:
Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote:
On 30.11.2007 02:55, Stefan Reinauer wrote:
I disagree. If we start using unused bytes, we changed the format already. There are clean ways that do not require "padding" to stay compatible. If we add a field "header size" we know how many bytes we have to skip without the need to know how to parse all of the header.
The field "header size" needs space. That space could be used in a future version for something real if we reserved it.
reserving space does not solve a real problem. It just adds another static dependency and makes the code more fragile.
Postponing the problem is a bad solution. Especially if you want to argue for 2-4 bytes while wasting them in a "reserved" field.
OK, can we then agree on a good solution? Where do we want to add the header size field and where do we want to add the flags field without breaking alignment? 8 bits for header size, 24 bits for flags?
Regards, Carl-Daniel