Association of Shareware Professionals The World's #1 Trade Organization for Independent Software Developers and Vendors

PAD FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do Authors need PAD?

A: Authors are constantly asked for information about their products, either in online forms or by email. The PAD dataset contains all the most frequently requested information and it is all in one spot! Many online download sites are already supporting this endeavor. More will follow in their footsteps!

Q: Why should Vendors and Webmasters support PAD?

A: Imagine getting all the information you need in one shot without having to go back to the Author for more info! By using an XML extractor you can obtain the information you need quickly and easily!

Q: What is the PAD Repository?

A: The ASP has set up a free repository where anyone can post their PAD files for Webmasters and other folks to access. This allows others to easily build content for their online libraries or use as a search engine when looking for a program.

Q: How can I get support for PAD?

A: We have a newsgroup set up specifically for this project. Please stop by and post your questions here: asp.pad_support

Q: What does a PAD file look like?

A: PAD uses established web technology, XML! With XML, data can be easily extracted and parsed by any XML toolkit. We already have a complete set of tools available for vendors, authors and end users alike.

If you have IE you can see a sample by clicking here. If you are using other browsers, your browser may ask you to save the file.

Q: The shareware industry can change in a snap; we've seen that with the rapid growth of the Internet. Is this dataset extendable?

A: Yes. As the industry changes, additional fields will be added to the PAD dataset by the ASP, providing updated platform information and any other categories of information that become necessary as the industry grows.

Q: I need information about products that isn't in the PAD dataset. Can I add fields?

A: Yes. By creating simple HTML forms, you can request additional product and author information. See below for more information on creating PAD extensions.

Q: Well this PAD stuff sounds great, but it looks complicated to create. Is there an easy way to generate the PAD file?

A: Yes, we have a full line of FREE tools that will allow you to create and modify your PAD files. We also have tools that will let you create your own HTML template file as well as extractor tools for Vendors/Webmasters to use to easily extract the data.

Q: Where do I put this PAD file?

A: 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. Many download sites ask for only the URL to your PAD file, and they do the rest, importing all your file descriptions, sizes, and product information directly from your web site. It is important that you use an address on your site that won't change, so don't use a version number in the link. That's because some sites are automatically checking your PAD files for changes on a regular schedule, and when they find a new version of the PAD file, they update their lists immediately.

Q: All this sounds great but how much is it going to cost to use this new standard?

A: It is FREE! The ASP has made certain that this standard and the tools supplied are available free to all of the Authors and Vendors that wish to participate.

Q: Do I have to fill in all the fields?

A: Yes. PAD files are used to communicate information between your company and inquiring vendors. If you leave a field blank, and a webmaster has chosen to display that field online, your product entries will be incomplete on that webmaster's site. To use PAD to sell your product you should fill out as much information as possible.

Q: Why do I need to have a URL in the PAD file that points back to my PAD file? (This is referring to the PAD XML URL field on the Web Info page in PADGen.)

A: PAD files are used for more than file descriptions; they are also used for automatically updating web sites. If you do not include this field then sites will not be able to automatically poll your PAD file to see if your product has been updated. If you provide this URL in the PAD file, sites will be able to quickly find your PAD file and update your product listings with no intervention on your part! You should also be including your PAD file in the distribution file that you are sending out. If your PAD file is extracted and this field is not defined, then the vendor will not easily be able to find out the latest details about your product.

Q: What do I name my PAD file?

A: When you include your PAD file in your distribution file you should keep the default filename of pad_file.xml. When you are storing the PAD file on your site you can name it whatever you want, but be consistent, don't use version numbers in the URL, and leave the name unchanged when you update your products. Be sure to include the URL to the online version in your PAD file. (see above) When you put your PAD files online you should put them all in a single directory so that any vendor can easily identify them. Such as http://www.yourdomain.com/padfiles/. Then each product would have a distinct name, like prog1pad.xml, prog2pad.xml.

Q: Can I just fill in the 45-character description field and leave the rest blank?

A: Remember that the contents of your PAD file are acting as your salesperson; fill in all of the description fields and use as many characters as allowed. Some sites might set a default for using the 2000 character fields while others will start at the 2000 and move downwards until they find content. Either way, if you don't use these fields, your product won't have as detailed a description as other products on the same sites.

Q: I have several screenshots. Why can't I point to an HTML page in the Screen Shot URL?

A: Automation is key here. Some sites will display your screen shot directly on their pages as part of your product listing, and some will send visitors to your pages for details and screen shots. Providing a link to a graphic works for both cases. Provide your best screen shot so that webmasters can show it to their visitors.

Q: Can I use the ICO file that I used in my application for my icon?

A: No, you should convert it to a GIF, JPG or PNG file. Browsers do not know how to display ICO files.

Q: What should I use for my icon URL?

A: First, your icon should be the standard 32x32 size. If a site uses the WIDTH and HEIGHT properties in their IMG tag then your image specified in your icon URL could look very strange. Then, use a GIF, JPG or PNG format (see above).