(2011-03-27, 22:39)gwegner Wrote: @Pete does it work with your Leica DNGs?
@all: since adobe embeds the xmp data in the converted DNGs I need the ability to read/write that data from/to dng. Adittionally I need to read the embedded preview.
Using an external tool for that would not be a nice solution in terms of platform independency and so on.
I didn't find the time to dig deeper into that DNG issue yet, and it's not on top of my priority list to be honest but I promise I will look into it again when I have time.
Here is a response to my thread on another forum regarding the DNG standard:
"The standard is open. Here's my evidence.
www.adobe.com/products/dng/pdfs/dng_spec.pdf
Adobe will tell you the binary format of a DNG file. That's as open as it gets.
A Java API is a programming library written in a specific language [hopefully I'm being clear, rather than patronising; please excuse me if you find otherwise] that provides a method for a Java programmer to access the file without their having to read the actual spec. Similar APIs would be needed by programmers in C, Lua, COBOL or anything other language you can think of [RIP DEC STD 32]. And any reasonably competent programmer ought to be able to read Adobe's spec., and produce such an API library.
In contrast, a closed standard would be one in which the binary file format is not publicly available. This forces programmers who wish to fondle a file [or protocols] contents to reverse engineer the data. This is a process that is fraught with both technical and occasionally legal difficulties. Examples of closed file formats that have been reverse engineered by third parties include [or used to] Microsoft's Office files [OpenOffice], and the SMB file access protocol [SAMBA].
There's an interesting middle ground in things like the Lightroom SDK. I think its the case that Adobe don't openly document the format of the Lightroom catalog. But they do have a downloadable API, the SDK, that allows anyone with the appetite for such things to access the contents of the catalog in a programmatic way."
I hope this may be of some use to you when you get around to it. In the meantime keep up the good work!
That's it for me on this topic. I'll leave it to the professionals now.
David