Complex ∞DL data structures are supported by a simple proprietary platform-independent serialization
format. A DataObject is stored as a linear sequence of DataItems with unique names. Each DataItem
can be accessed independently and loaded into memory on demand. To access, ∞DL DataObjects that are
opened for read create in-memory indices of DataItem byte addresses in the file, which supports access
of individual DataItems in nearly constant time.
∞DL will have a set of Viewers optimized for a specific archetypical format coupled with tools to
access and extract subranges of data. Any number of parallel views can be opened on any DataItem,
and each view can be adjusted to focus on a subrange of data. ∞DL Viewers provide simple statistical
summaries for the data being viewed, specific for each DataItem type.
∞DL will provide APIs for custom data processing plug-in modules. The plugins will have as an input
the DataItem presented in the selected view(s), and will yield one or more DataItem objects displayed
in their own views.