Technology
1. Reading CD/DVD with ISO 9660 file system.
ISO 9660 is a worldwide standard specifying he logical format for files and directories on CD and DVD with computer data.
ISO 9660 data structures fall into three main categories: the Volume Descriptors, the Directory Structures, and the Path Tables. These structures are interrelated as shown in Fig.1. The Volume Descriptor tells us where the Directory structure and the Path Table are located, the Directories tell us where the actual files are located, and the Path Table gives us short cuts to each directory.
1.1. Primary Volume Descriptor.
There are currently four types of Volume Descriptors defined in ISO 9660. Only one of them, the Primary Volume Descriptor, is commonly used. The other types are the Boot Record, the Supplementary Volume Descriptor, and the Volume Partition Descriptor. The Boot Record can be used for systems that must perform some type of initialization before the user can access the volume, although ISO 9660 does not specify what information must be in the Boot Record or how it is to be used. The Supplementary Volume Descriptor (SVD) can be used to identify an alternate character set for the use by systems that do not support the ISO 646 character set. The Joliet specification utilizes SVD particularly to specify a set of files recorded within Unicode character set. The Volume Partition Descriptor can be used to divide the volume logically into smaller volume partitions, although ISO 9660 does not specify how to do this, only that it can be done.
The Primary Volume Descriptor (PVD) is the starting point in identifying cd/dvd data, it is recorded starting at Logical Sector 16 (which corresponds to two seconds and sixteen sectors into the disc, 00:02:16). The PVD fields used by CDRoller are shown in Table 1.
Table 1.| Byte Position | Field Name | Content |
| 1 | Volume Descriptor Type | 1 |
| 2 to 6 | Standard Identifier | CD001 |
| 41 to 72 | Volume Identifier | d-characters allowed (1) |
| 81 to 88 | Volume Space Size | Number of logical blocks in the Volume |
| 129 to 132 | Logical Block Size | The size in bytes of a Logical Block. Most ISO 9660 discs use a Logical Block Size of 2048, the same as Sector Size |
| 133 to 140 | Path Table Size | Length in bytes of the Path Table |
| 141 to 144 | Location of Type L Path Table | Logical Block Number of first Block allocated to the Type L Path Table, Type L meaning multiple byte numerical values are recorded with least significant byte first. This value is also recorded with least significant byte first. |
| 149 to 152 | Location of Type M Path Table | Logical Block Number of first Block allocated to the Type M Path Table, Type M meaning multiple byte numerical values are recorded with most significant byte first. This value is also recorded with most significant byte first. |
| 157 to 190 | Directory record for Root Directory | This is the actual directory record for the top of the directory structure. See the section on directory records for the format of this data. |
| 319 to 446 | Publisher Identifier | Identifiers who provided the actual data contained in the files. a-characters allowed. |
| 447 to 574 | Data Prepare Identifier | Identifiers who performed the actual creation of the current volume. a-characters allowed. |
| 575 to 702 | Application Identifier | Identifies the specification of how the data in the files are recorded. For example, this field might contain SGML if the files were recorded according to the Standard Generalized Markup Language. |
| 703 to 739 | Copyright File Identifier | Identifies the file in the root directory that contains copyright notice for this volume. If there is no copyright file, this field should contain all spaces. |
| 740 to 776 | Abstract File Identifier | Identifies the file in the root directory that contains the abstract statement for this volume. If there is no abstract file, this field should contain all spaces. |
| 777 to 813 | Bibliographic File Identifier | Identifies the file in the root directory that contains bibliographic records. If there is no bibliographic file, this field should contain all spaces. |
Notes.
(1) d-characters are: A-Z, 0-9, _ (see ISO-9660:1988, Annex A, Table 15)
(2) a-characters are: A-Z, 0-9, _, space, !, ", %, &, ', (, ), *, +, ,, -, ., /, :, ;, <, =, >, ? (see ISO-9660:1988, Annex A, Table 14)
1.2. The Directory Structure.
The ISO 9660 directory structure is organized in a hierarchical manner. At the top of the hierarchy is the Root Directory, the location of which is identified in the Primary Volume Descriptor. When drawn hierarchically, the directory structure resembles the roots of a tree, with the Root directory at the top of the structure, as shown in Fig.2
As shown in Fig. 2, there are distinct levels in this hierarchy. The Root Directory is the only directory at level 1. In the example illustrated by Fig.2, subdirectories Sub1, Sub2 and Sub3 are at level 2, subdirectory Sub4 and the files file1 and file2 are at level 3. To insure compatibility, ISO 9660 imposes a limit of eight levels to the depth of the directory structure.
Every file and directory in an ISO 9660 Volume has an identifying name associated with it. This name is called the File Identifier. The File Identifier must also meet the following conditions:- If the File Name has no characters, then the File Name Extension must have at least one character.
- If the File Name Extension has no characters, then the File Name must have at least one character.
- The sum of the lengths of the File Name and the File Name Extension cannot exceed 30.
ISO 9660 also imposes a limit on the length of the path to each file. The length of the path is the sum of the lengths of all relevant directories , the length of the File Identifier, and the number of relevant directories. The length of the path cannot exceed 255.
A directory in an ISO 9660 volume is recorded as a file containing a set of directory records. Each directory record describes a file or another directory. Every directory has a parent directory. The Root directory's parent is the Root directory itself. Each directory also contains a record for its parent directory. A given directory may contain entries for several files as well as for several directories, all of which have the same parent.
The contents of directory record are shown in Table 2.
Table 2.| Byte Position | Field Name | Content |
| 1 | Length of directory Record | Bytes |
| 2 | Extended Attribute Record Length | Bytes - this field refers to the Extended Attribute Record, which provides additional information about a file to systems that know how to use it (for example: this field is used in Apple extension to ISO9660). |
| 3 to 10 | Location of Extent | This is the Logical Block Number of the first Logical Block allocated to the file |
| 11 to 18 | Data Length | Length of the file section in bytes |
| 19 to 25 | Recording Date and Time | Represented by seven bytes: 1: Number of years since 1900 2: Month of the year from 1 to 12 3: Day of Month from 1 to 31 4: Hour of the day from 0 to 23 5: Minute of the hour from 0 to 59 6: Second of the minute from 0 to 59 7: Offset from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in number of 15 minute intervals from -48(West) to +52(East). Note, while detecting Volume creation Date and Time CD Roller utilizes this field from Root Directory Record of PVD. |
| 26 | File Flags | One Byte, each bit of which is a Flag: 0 - File is Hidden if this bit is 1 1 - Entry is a Directory if this bit is 1 . Bits 2..7 are not considered by CDRoller. |
| 27 | File Unit Size | This field is only valid if the file is recorded in interleave mode. Otherwise this field is 0. Note, if this field is not 0, that record is ignored by CDRoller. |
| 28 | Interleave Gap Size | This field is only valid if the file is recorded in interleave mode. Otherwise this field is 0. Note, if this field is not 0, that record is ignored by CDRoller. |
| 29 to 32 | Volume Sequence Number | The ordinal number of the volume in the Volume Set on which the file described by the directory record is recorded. |
| 33 | Length of File Identifier (LEN_FI) | Byte |
| 34 to (33 + LEN_FI) | File Identifier | Interpretation depends on the setting of the directory bit in the File Flags (bit 1). If set to ZERO, then the field refers to a File Identifier (file name). If set to ONE, then the field refers to Directory Identifier (directory name). |
| 34 + LEN_FI | Padding Field | Present only if the length of the File Identifier is an even number. If present, value is 0 |
| LEN_DR - LEN_SU + 1 | System Use (LEN_SU) | Reserved for system use (for example: in Apple extension to ISO 9660). Note, this field is not considered by CDRoller |
1.3. The Path Table.
The Path Table indicates to the CDRoller short cut to each directory on the disc rather than making the program read through each directory to get to the file it needs. This is done primarily to enhance performance. For each directory other than the Root directory, the path table contains a record that identifies the directory, its parent directory, and its location.
The contents of Path Table record are shown in Table 3.
Table 3.| Byte Position | Field Name | Content |
| 1 | Length od Directory Identifier (LEN_DI) | Length in Bytes |
| 2 | Extended Attribute Record Length | If an Extended Attribute Record is recorded, this is the length in bytes. Otherwise, this is 0. |
| 3 to 6 | Location of Extent | Logical Block Number of the first Logical Block allocated to the Directory |
| 7 to 8 | Parent Directory Number | The record number in the Path Table for the parent directory of this directory |
| 9 to (8 + LEN_DI) | Directory Identifier | This field is the same as in the Directory Record |
| (9 + LEN_DI) | Padding Field | Present (0) only if LEN_DI is an odd number |
1.4. Joliet Extension to ISO 9660.
The basic strategy of CD/DVD volume recognition is the Volume Recognition Sequence, which is a sequence of volume descriptors, recorded one per sector, starting at Sector 16 in the first track of the last session on the disc. CDRoller reads these sectors and chooses a particular volume descriptor from the sequence. This volume descriptor acts as a kind of anchor upon which the remainder of the volume is constructed.
To detect the Joliet CDRoller finds the Supplementary Volume Descriptor (SVD) and checks the Escape Sequences field to compliance with the following USC-2 escape sequences (hex bytes): (25)(2F)(40) or (25)(2F)(43) or (25)(2F)(45). After Joliet has been detected, all identifiers are considered in Motorola ("Big Endian") format and each character consists of two bytes (Unicode character) besides.
While accessing Joliet disc CDRoller considers the following rules of Joliet specification:- The File or Directory Identifiers may be up to 128 bytes (64 unicode characters) in length.
- For each file recorded, the sum of the following shall not exceed 240:
- the length of the file identifier;
- the length of the directory identifiers of all relevant directories;
- the number of relevant directories. - Directory Identifiers may contain file name extensions.
- The Directory Hierarchy may be recorded deeper than 8 levels.
- The volume recognition sequence supports multisession.
1.5. Resume.
- In order to verify type CD/DVD file system as ISO/Joliet, the program reads a sequence of volume descriptors, recorded one per sector, starting at Sector 16 in the first track of the last session on the disc. If Joliet's type is detected, the reading of all disc contents will be performed by the rules of Joliet specification. The multisession feature is also tested at this step.
- Logical Block Address (LBA) of Root Directory is the top level of Directory Structure and starting point to create CD/DVD Image.
- The program tries to read Path Tables (L and M types) correctly in order to get the fast access to each directory (folder).
- If Path Table is valid, its data will be further used in any access to directory (folder) contents such as sub-directories and (or) files.
The compact disc industry started in 1980 when Philips and Sony introduced the Compact Disc Digital Audio Standard. This is commonly called the Red Book. The Red Book describes the Audio Compact Disc (CD) that you find in music stores today. It is the foundation on which all other CD standards are built. Because audio discs are manufactured per the Red Book Standard, all audio compact discs will play in any audio compact disc player. The track type defined in the Red Book is: CD-Digital-Audio (CD-DA), for audio music. The Red Book specifies that the audio data are on the CD in one or more tracks. Each track is normally one song. These tracks are further subdivided into sectors (frames) that are 1/75th of a second in length and contain 2352 bytes of audio data in digital form. A maximum of 99 audio tracks may be placed on a standard Red Book disc.
The direct reading of audio data is known as Digital Audio Extraction (DAE), or as "CD ripping". CDRoller utilizes DAE in order to read an audio sectors (frames) of CD and write the resulting data into a WAV , MP3, MP2, OGG or RAW file. The advantage of DAE in comparing to use of your sound card is that there is no loss of music quality, the data in WAV or RAW files are an exact copy of the data on the audio CD. Using your sound card, the digital data from the disc are converted to analog signal, which is then digitized again by the sound card. Often, the sound quality will deteriorate when going this route, often producing noisy WAV files. Furthermore, DAE is also much faster than ripping audio data with your sound card.
However, Digital Audio Extraction is connected with more problems then simple playing an audio track.
The first problem is that all 2352 bytes of sector contain audio data - there is no positioning information returned in the block read. When reading consecutive blocks, the new reading can start within +-"N bytes" of the intended position. Generally, "N bytes" value limits of 2352 bytes (1/75 of a second), but we found that our old Hitachi CDR-8130 drive "limited" this value -21288 bytes below and +16824 bytes at the top! This effect known as "jitter" results in the clicks and pops in the output file produced by DAE. Some CD drives support a feature known as "Stream is Accurate", it means that drive's controller guarantees itself that new reading always starts where the last one left off.
The second problem is that an audio sector as "raw" sector has no auxiliary field for layered error correction (L-EC), therefore reading block of damaged sectors can result in invalid data, placed into the output file.
Finally, some CD drives simply don't support Digital Audio Extraction - while most SCSI drives support DAE, not all "old" IDE drives do. In addition, manufactures of SCSI units sometimes utilize vendor specific ("non-standard") commands and read algorithms to provide DAE features. Some of these methods are undocumented.
To prevent the appearance of the clicks and pops in the output file, CDRoller utilizes the method known as "Jitter correction" or overlapping. Generally, it involves in use of overlapping reads, and attempting to match the end of one read with the beginning of the next, so that there are no gaps in the data read. These gaps really cause clicks and pops in the output files. For instance, the program might begin reading a block at Logical Block Address (LBA) 100 and read 27 sectors total. While next reading, it would read block starting at LBA 95 and would try to match the end of the first read in the beginning of the second read. Once it finds a match, it would cut off the beginning of the second read, and use only the part after the match. In addition to this way with Fixed overlapping (five sectors), CDRoller also uses Dynamic synchronization - if attempt of matching fails, the program re-attempts the process with a slightly larger overlap area.
To check the errors, CDRoller reads new block of sectors at least twice in both methods mentioned above. If reading error occurres even the synchronization has been applied successfully, the program tries to read and synchronize current block again in order to get two blocks of identical sectors.
The last method named Burst Copying can be applied to CD drives that support "Stream is Accurate" feature. The DAE produced by this method is the fastest, but the program doesn't apply "jitter correction" and no error checking can be also performed.
To detect appropriate read algorithm for user's CD drive CDRoller utilizes as commands described in SCSI-3 and SCSI-2 standards as vendor specific commands found in available manuals.
To provide audio compression, CDRoller supports a wide set of audio codecs and wave formats via Windows ACM (Windows Audio Compression Manager) and external libraries (DLLs). The program converts audio data "on-the-fly", without creating an intermediate WAV file.