Task 601: .RAM File Format
Task 601: .RAM File Format
File Format Specifications for .RAM
The .RAM file format is a Real Audio Metadata file used by RealPlayer (developed by RealNetworks). It is a plain text file (not binary) that primarily contains one or more URLs pointing to streaming media files (typically .RA or .RM files). The URLs often use protocols like pnm:// or rtsp://. The format does not have a strict structure like headers or fixed fields; it is simply text lines. Optional metadata (e.g., title, author) may be included in some cases as key=value pairs, but this is not standard and is rarely seen in examples. Most .RAM files contain only URLs, one per line. The format was introduced in 1995 for streaming audio over the internet.
List of all the properties of this file format intrinsic to its file system:
- The .RAM format is text-based and does not have binary intrinsic properties (e.g., no headers, no fixed byte offsets). The "properties" are derived from the file's content:
- Streaming URLs: A list of URLs (one per line) pointing to the actual media streams (e.g., rtsp://example.com/audio.rm or pnm://server/path/file.ra).
- Optional metadata fields (if present as key=value lines): Title, Author, Copyright, Comment/Abstract. These are not required and are uncommon in standard .RAM files; the format relies on the referenced media file for detailed metadata.
Two direct download links for files of format .RAM:
- https://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/commencement98/commence.ram
- https://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/commencement98/commence56.ram
Ghost blog embedded HTML JavaScript for drag and drop .RAM file dump:
Drag and drop a .RAM file here
This HTML can be embedded in a Ghost blog post. It creates a drag-and-drop zone that reads the .RAM file as text, parses lines, identifies potential metadata (key=value) or URLs, and dumps them to the screen.
- Python class for .RAM file handling:
import os
class RAMFile:
def __init__(self, filepath):
self.filepath = filepath
self.properties = {} # Dict for metadata key-value
self.urls = [] # List for URLs
def open_and_decode(self):
if not os.path.exists(self.filepath):
raise FileNotFoundError(f"File {self.filepath} not found.")
with open(self.filepath, 'r') as f:
content = f.read()
lines = [line.strip() for line in content.split('\n') if line.strip()]
for line in lines:
if '=' in line:
key, value = line.split('=', 1)
self.properties[key.strip()] = value.strip()
else:
self.urls.append(line)
print("Decoded .RAM file successfully.")
def print_properties(self):
print("Properties:")
for key, value in self.properties.items():
print(f"- {key}: {value}")
for i, url in enumerate(self.urls, 1):
print(f"- Streaming URL {i}: {url}")
def write(self, new_filepath=None):
filepath = new_filepath or self.filepath
with open(filepath, 'w') as f:
for key, value in self.properties.items():
f.write(f"{key}={value}\n")
for url in self.urls:
f.write(f"{url}\n")
print(f"Written to {filepath}.")
# Example usage:
# ram = RAMFile('example.ram')
# ram.open_and_decode()
# ram.print_properties()
# ram.properties['title'] = 'New Title' # To add/modify
# ram.write()
- Java class for .RAM file handling:
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class RAMFile {
private String filepath;
private Map<String, String> properties = new HashMap<>();
private List<String> urls = new ArrayList<>();
public RAMFile(String filepath) {
this.filepath = filepath;
}
public void openAndDecode() throws IOException {
File file = new File(filepath);
if (!file.exists()) {
throw new FileNotFoundException("File " + filepath + " not found.");
}
try (BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(file))) {
String line;
while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
line = line.trim();
if (!line.isEmpty()) {
if (line.contains("=")) {
String[] parts = line.split("=", 2);
properties.put(parts[0].trim(), parts[1].trim());
} else {
urls.add(line);
}
}
}
}
System.out.println("Decoded .RAM file successfully.");
}
public void printProperties() {
System.out.println("Properties:");
for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : properties.entrySet()) {
System.out.println("- " + entry.getKey() + ": " + entry.getValue());
}
for (int i = 0; i < urls.size(); i++) {
System.out.println("- Streaming URL " + (i + 1) + ": " + urls.get(i));
}
}
public void write(String newFilepath) throws IOException {
String path = (newFilepath != null) ? newFilepath : filepath;
try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(path))) {
for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : properties.entrySet()) {
writer.write(entry.getKey() + "=" + entry.getValue() + "\n");
}
for (String url : urls) {
writer.write(url + "\n");
}
}
System.out.println("Written to " + path + ".");
}
// Example usage:
// public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
// RAMFile ram = new RAMFile("example.ram");
// ram.openAndDecode();
// ram.printProperties();
// ram.properties.put("title", "New Title");
// ram.write(null);
// }
}
- JavaScript class for .RAM file handling:
class RAMFile {
constructor(filepath) {
this.filepath = filepath;
this.properties = {}; // Object for metadata key-value
this.urls = []; // Array for URLs
}
// Note: JS can't directly open local files without user input (e.g., FileReader). This assumes file content is provided or use with Node.js.
// For browser, use with FileReader as in the HTML example.
decode(content) {
const lines = content.split('\n').filter(line => line.trim() !== '');
lines.forEach(line => {
if (line.includes('=')) {
const [key, value] = line.split('=', 2);
this.properties[key.trim()] = value.trim();
} else {
this.urls.push(line.trim());
}
});
console.log('Decoded .RAM file successfully.');
}
printProperties() {
console.log('Properties:');
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(this.properties)) {
console.log(`- ${key}: ${value}`);
}
this.urls.forEach((url, index) => {
console.log(`- Streaming URL ${index + 1}: ${url}`);
});
}
write() {
// In browser, this would need to use Blob/download. For simplicity, return string content.
let content = '';
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(this.properties)) {
content += `${key}=${value}\n`;
}
this.urls.forEach(url => {
content += `${url}\n`;
});
console.log('Written content:\n' + content);
// To save: const blob = new Blob([content], {type: 'text/plain'}); saveAs(blob, 'output.ram');
}
}
// Example usage (assuming Node.js with fs):
// const fs = require('fs');
// const ram = new RAMFile('example.ram');
// const content = fs.readFileSync('example.ram', 'utf8');
// ram.decode(content);
// ram.printProperties();
// ram.properties.title = 'New Title';
// ram.write();
- C class (using C++ for class support) for .RAM file handling:
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <map>
#include <sstream>
class RAMFile {
private:
std::string filepath;
std::map<std::string, std::string> properties;
std::vector<std::string> urls;
public:
RAMFile(const std::string& fp) : filepath(fp) {}
void openAndDecode() {
std::ifstream file(filepath);
if (!file.is_open()) {
std::cerr << "File " << filepath << " not found." << std::endl;
return;
}
std::string line;
while (std::getline(file, line)) {
std::istringstream iss(line);
std::string trimmed;
std::getline(iss >> std::ws, trimmed);
if (!trimmed.empty()) {
size_t pos = trimmed.find('=');
if (pos != std::string::npos) {
std::string key = trimmed.substr(0, pos);
std::string value = trimmed.substr(pos + 1);
properties[key] = value;
} else {
urls.push_back(trimmed);
}
}
}
file.close();
std::cout << "Decoded .RAM file successfully." << std::endl;
}
void printProperties() {
std::cout << "Properties:" << std::endl;
for (const auto& pair : properties) {
std::cout << "- " << pair.first << ": " << pair.second << std::endl;
}
for (size_t i = 0; i < urls.size(); ++i) {
std::cout << "- Streaming URL " << (i + 1) << ": " << urls[i] << std::endl;
}
}
void write(const std::string& newFilepath = "") {
std::string path = newFilepath.empty() ? filepath : newFilepath;
std::ofstream outFile(path);
if (!outFile.is_open()) {
std::cerr << "Could not write to " << path << "." << std::endl;
return;
}
for (const auto& pair : properties) {
outFile << pair.first << "=" << pair.second << "\n";
}
for (const auto& url : urls) {
outFile << url << "\n";
}
outFile.close();
std::cout << "Written to " << path << "." << std::endl;
}
};
// Example usage:
// int main() {
// RAMFile ram("example.ram");
// ram.openAndDecode();
// ram.printProperties();
// ram.properties["title"] = "New Title";
// ram.write();
// return 0;
// }