It is literally a zip file. If I remember correctly you have to write some xml which describes the layout of the skin and then include any images you need, you then zip it and change the file extension to wsz.
So really you could put anything in a skin.
Winamp uses a pattern called package management for its skins. Same as chrome extensions, etc etc. Most of the time we don’t call it that because the term is more reserved for package sets which provide a wider array of functionality. The iOS app store is a package management system.
The packages, much like boxes being handled by FedEx, contain standardized elements which allow that package management system to find and install the package. Much like how when you ship a box through FedEx the first thing they do is put standardized labels on that contain all the different barcodes that different parts of their process use to route the package.
Like with Chrome extensions, there are certain files that must be there (iirc something like a manifest.json file) and others which can be anything. If you need an image for a button, that image becomes part of the package. If you need a complex set of rules then maybe there’s a little sqlite file or csv file containing all the rules. Or font files, or whatever.
Thing is, the package format is defined by the “box” as opposed to by the “contents of the box”.
A surprising number of “file formats” these days are really just zip files with a standard for the filenames and folders contained within. There’s likely a ton of wonderful secrets like these to be found in the collective dataspace of humanity.
How do these contain random files like this? Isn’t it just a file that applies some kind of visual effect to the media player?
They’re zip files, with the extension renamed. So you could probably have almost anything in one.
Oh so they’re actually created the same way as a zip file? That makes sense I guess. Thanks.
It is literally a zip file. If I remember correctly you have to write some xml which describes the layout of the skin and then include any images you need, you then zip it and change the file extension to wsz. So really you could put anything in a skin.
This is a common design pattern for “packages”.
Winamp uses a pattern called package management for its skins. Same as chrome extensions, etc etc. Most of the time we don’t call it that because the term is more reserved for package sets which provide a wider array of functionality. The iOS app store is a package management system.
The packages, much like boxes being handled by FedEx, contain standardized elements which allow that package management system to find and install the package. Much like how when you ship a box through FedEx the first thing they do is put standardized labels on that contain all the different barcodes that different parts of their process use to route the package.
Like with Chrome extensions, there are certain files that must be there (iirc something like a manifest.json file) and others which can be anything. If you need an image for a button, that image becomes part of the package. If you need a complex set of rules then maybe there’s a little sqlite file or csv file containing all the rules. Or font files, or whatever.
Thing is, the package format is defined by the “box” as opposed to by the “contents of the box”.
A surprising number of “file formats” these days are really just zip files with a standard for the filenames and folders contained within. There’s likely a ton of wonderful secrets like these to be found in the collective dataspace of humanity.
Wonder how using a zip bomb works out…
I was thinking of moving my “system32” porn archive into a winamp skin. Teenage me would be very proud