Mork (file format)#Usage
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{{Infobox file format
| name = Mork
| icon =
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| extension = .mab, .msf, .dat
| mime =
| type code =
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| magic =
| owner = Netscape, later Mozilla Foundation
| released =
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| latest release date =
| genre = Database
| container for =
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| standard = None (reference implementation)
| url = Mozilla Developer Center
}}
Mork is a computer file format used by several email clients and web browsers produced by Netscape and Mozilla Foundation. It was developed by David McCusker{{cite web|url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mork_What_Is_It |title=Mork What Is It — MDC |publisher=Developer.mozilla.org |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008061717/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Tech/Mork/What_is_it|archivedate=2019-10-08|date=2007-09-16 |accessdate=2009-08-19}} with the aim of creating a minimal database replacement that would be reliable, flexible, and efficient, and use a file format close to plain text.{{cite web|url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mork_Why |title=Mork Why — MDC |publisher=Developer.mozilla.org |date=2007-09-16 |accessdate=2009-08-19}}
The format was named after the character Mork from the TV show Mork & Mindy.
Usage
The Mork format was used in most Mozilla-based projects, including the Mozilla browser suite, SeaMonkey, Firefox, and Thunderbird. In Firefox, it was used for browsing history data and form history data. In Thunderbird, it is still used for many things, such as address book data (.mab files) and the mail folder summaries (.msf files).
Criticisms
Mork has many suboptimal properties. For example, despite the aim of efficiency, storing Unicode text takes three or six bytes per character.
The file format has been severely criticized by Jamie Zawinski, a former Netscape engineer. He has criticized the apparent "textual" format on the grounds that it is "not human-readable",{{cite web|url=http://www.jwz.org/hacks/mork.pl |title=mork.pl: Perl program to extract metadata from a Mork database |first=Jamie | last = Zawinski |publisher= jwz.org |date= |accessdate=2009-08-19}} complaining that the impossibility of writing a correct parser for the format,{{cite web|url=https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=241438#c0 |title=Bug 241438 – please make history.dat easier to parse (i.e., not Mork) |publisher=Bugzilla.mozilla.org |date= |accessdate=2009-08-19}} and referred to it as "...the single most braindamaged [sic] file format that I have ever seen in my nineteen year career".
In response, McCusker stated that the problems with Mork resulted from "conflicting requirements" and that he merely fixed scalability issues in bad code he "inherited".{{cite web | url = http://www.erys.org/resume/netscape/mork/jwz.html | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050525080139/http://www.erys.org/resume/netscape/mork/jwz.html | archivedate = 2005-05-25 | title = erys: resume: netscape: mork: jwz | publisher = Internet Archive | date = 2005-05-25 | accessdate = 2009-08-19 | url-status = dead }}
The Register lambasted the Mork database with their article "Why has Thunderbird turned into a turkey?"
Obsolescence
{{Update|section|date=December 2015}}
The replacement system, used for storing all user configuration data, is called MozStorage. MozStorage is based on the SQLite database. Beginning with Firefox 3.0, Firefox uses it for its history, form history and bookmark data. The storage engine was also included in Firefox 2.0, but only for use with extensions.{{cite web|last=Paul |first=Ryan |url=https://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060430-6701.html |title=Features cut from Firefox 2 |publisher=Arstechnica.com |date=2006-04-30 |accessdate=2009-08-19}}
Mork was completely removed from Firefox in 2011.{{cite web|url=https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=669040|title=Remove Mork from Mozilla-Central}}{{cite web|url=http://blog.kylehuey.com/post/7168254347/mork-is-finally-gone|title=Mork to be removed from Firefox 7|work=Tumblr |last1=Huey |first1=Kyle }}
Plans existed for Mork to be replaced with MozStorage in Thunderbird 3.0.,{{cite web|url=https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Thunderbird3 |title=Thunderbird 3 Planning |publisher=Wiki.mozilla.org |date=2009-08-10 |accessdate=2009-08-19}} but as of 2025 still used the Mork file format.{{Cite web |title=11050 - Use mozStorage or IndexedDB instead of Mork for the message summary database |url=https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11050 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=bugzilla.mozilla.org |language=en}} As of 2012, SeaMonkey used Mork for at least its POP and IMAP mail folders indexes.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www-archive.mozilla.org/mailnews/arch/mork/primer.txt McCusker's description of the syntax]
- [https://www-archive.mozilla.org/mailnews/arch/mork/grammar.txt Grammar as mentioned in the above syntax description]
- {{cite web |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mork_Structure |title=Mork structure |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116025325/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Tech/Mork/Structure |archive-date=16 Jan 2021}}
- [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mork Mozilla Wiki Mork page] (including links to tools for reading Mork documents)
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