Multiplatform single-file storage

Question

I need a way to store several images in one/two (some projects seems to us an index too) for both .NET and java. The file-format needs to be easy to decompress (I'm planing to do so on android).

And also, for each file I need to be able to store the following metadata: file-index, name, md5-checksum.

Also, the footprint of the framework should not be to big.

And last, if you got any simple solutions to the problem, I don't need a framework, but could with some guidance probably code it myself.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Zip seems like the obvious choice. You can store an additional file containing any metadata not already provided by zip. The format is well defined and there are a wealth of tools available.