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PAD is the Portable Application Description, and it helps authors provide product
descriptions and specifications to online sources in a standard way, using a
standard data format that will allow webmasters and program librarians to automate
program listings. PAD saves time for both authors and webmasters.
General PAD requirements
PAD uses established web technology, XML. With XML, data can be easily extracted
and parsed by any XML toolkit. The PAD file should go in two places. The first
is inside your ZIP file so that anyone distributing your software can quickly
extract the file and retrieve any information that they need. Inside the ZIP,
include the PAD files as PAD_FILE.XML. The second location for PAD files is
on your website. To use PAD to sell your product you should fill out as much
information as possible. All fields has to be filled.
PAD-file creating software:
There are some nice programs helps to create and modify PAD files:
PADGen
2
Easily creates Portable Application Descriptions (PAD) files for all your applications.
Use PAD to get all of the important information to your vendors and webmasters
as quickly and as concisely as possible.
PadEditor
by BB
The finished PAD is in a predetermined XML format which can be read by participating
software sites automatically updating their archives.
RoboSoft
RoboSoft is an advanced software promotion utility for professional shareware
developers. The program provides access to an on-line database of 600+ download
site templates. RoboSoft also includes an advanced PAD manager and generator.
PAD-file structure:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<XML_DIZ_INFO>
<parameter_1>
<parameter_2>...</parameter_2>
</parameter1>
<parameter_3>....</parameter_3>
....
<parameter_n>....</parameter_n>
</XML_DIZ_INFO>
PAD-file parameters:
XML_DIZ_INFO
MASTER_PAD_VERSION_INFO
MASTER_PAD_VERSION
MASTER_PAD_EDITOR
MASTER_PAD_INFO
Company_Info
Company_Name
Address_1
Address_2
City_Town
State_Province
Zip_Postal_Code
Country
Company_WebSite_URL
Contact_Info
Author_First_Name
Author_Last_Name
Author_Email
Contact_First_Name
Contact_Last_Name
Contact_Email
Support_Info
Sales_Email
Support_Email
General_Email
Sales_Phone
Support_Phone
General_Phone
Fax_Phone
Support_Info
Program_Info
Program_Name
Program_Version
Program_Release_Month
Program_Release_Day
Program_Release_Year
Program_Cost_Dollars
Program_Cost_Other_Code
Program_Cost_Other
Program_Type
Program_Release_Status
Program_Install_Support
Program_OS_Support
Program_Language
Program_Change_Info
Program_Specific_Category
Program_Category_Class
Program_Categories
Program_System_Requirements
Includes_JAVA_VM
Includes_VB_Runtime
Includes_DirectX
File_Info
Filename_Versioned
Filename_Previous
Filename_Generic
Filename_Long
File_Size_Bytes
File_Size_K
File_Size_MB
Expire_Info
Has_Expire_Info
Expire_Count
Expire_Based_On
Expire_Other_Info
Expire_Month
Expire_Day
Expire_Year
Program_Descriptions
English
Keywords
Char_Desc_45
Char_Desc_80
Char_Desc_250
Char_Desc_450
Char_Desc_2000
Web_Info>
Application_URLs>
Application_Info_URL
Application_Order_URL
Application_Screenshot_URL
Application_Icon_URL
Application_XML_File_URL
Download_URLs
Primary_Download_URL
Secondary_Download_URL
Additional_Download_URL_1
Additional_Download_URL_2
Permissions
Distribution_Permissions
EULA
ASP
ASP_FORM
ASP_Member
ASP_Member_Number
See also detailed PAD parameters
description
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