What if OpenDocument Used SQLite?
This article explores a thought experiment: what if the OpenDocument file format, specifically ODP (OpenDocument Presentation), were built around SQLite? The author argues this would yield significant advantages, including smaller file sizes, faster file saving and startup times, reduced memory usage, built-in versioning, and an improved user experience. The limitations of the current ZIP-based approach are detailed, such as difficulties with incremental updates, slow startup, high memory consumption, crash recovery issues, and limited content accessibility. The author proposes replacing ZIP with SQLite and further suggests splitting content into smaller units within database tables for incremental updates and faster startup. Version control via SQLite is also discussed, allowing for the retention of historical versions and simplifying crash recovery. In essence, the article posits that using SQLite as an application file format can dramatically enhance user experience and performance for applications like OpenOffice.
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