XML-binary Optimized Packaging - XOP Packages

XOP Packages

XOP can be used with a number of different packaging mechanisms. A packaging mechanism defines how the XOP Infoset and the binary chunks are represented.

The XOP specification defines how MIME can be used as a packaging mechanism. When used with MIME, the XOP Infoset is represented as XML in the root MIME part, and the binary chunks are represented in the other MIME parts. Those other MIME parts can be serialized as binary data, avoiding the need to base64 encode them if they were left inside the XML Infoset.

XOP does not mandate the use of the MIME packaging mechanism, so other packaging mechanisms could be used.